original yellow/green label MONO pressing of this mind melting texas garage/psych debut. 100% groundbreaking and amazing. higher minded acid punk at its best. ROKY ERIKSON sets the world on fire… cover is nice with very minimal ring & edge wear. just starting to crack a little at spine, but not split. clean back cover. small name in pen on one label. vinyl has some hairline and a few other odd marks, nothing major at all. like every first press mono theres a blemish in the wax towards the end of side one, but its no big deal. not mint but a keeper for sure with super shiny wax, and the thick, loud mono mix blasts through any of the minor flaws. totally essential, and the stereo mix doesn’t come close…VG++/VG++.
the 1972 debut album by turkish ethno psych-rockers 3 hur-el. the three hür-el brothers, onur (bass), haldun (drums, percussion) and feridun (saz-guitar + vocals), were one of the very few turkish groups at the time not playing covers, but only self-penned compositions. having played together for their whole life (other projects included trio istanbul, biraderler, alizeler, and oguzlar, and all three brothers were members of the selçuk alagoz orchestra), they formed 3 hur-el in the late 1960’s, releasing two wonderful albums as their all-too-brief recording legacy. feridun created the double-neck saz-guitar (a combination of electric saz and electric guitar in the same body), and haldun’s drum set was an assemblage of darbukas (a turkish percussive instrument also used in north africa and the arabian peninsula) in different sizes, made by the copper masters of the beyazit bazaar in istanbul! the hür-el debut is a brilliant set of turkish ethno-influenced folk-rock with a psychedelic progressive feel, some great electric guitar and fantastic eastern percussion. this very rare album is now available again on vinyl (the cd version on world psychedelia also in stock), with remastered sound from the original mastertapes. includes an insert with detailed liner notes and photos.
this is the second album by turkish ethno psych-rockers 3 hür-el, originally released in 1976 on the diskötur label. comprised of three brothers, onur (bass), haldun (drums, percussion) and feridun hürel (saz-guitar, vocals), they were one of the very few, if not the only, turkish groups at the time not doing any covers, but only self-penned compositions. hürel arsivi is an absolute killer of an album and easily one of the top turkish psych records ever released. it has a more western feel, with brother feridun here infected by a fuzz-virus and his own two-arm guitar (one for guitar, one for saz). also there’s much more heavy drums than percussion, in an astounding blend of psychedelic rock and traditional turkish instrumentation, and of course, plenty of distorted fuzz guitar and electric saz. includes an insert with detailed liner notes and photos.
released 10 march, 2007. performed and recorded by michael gibbons (bardo pond) over the course of 2006 in the lemur house, apocatastisis is a meditation on restoration and awakening. an inner voyage in seven parts consisting of guitars, effects, sitar, tabla and violin. a truly special record. from a one-time pressing of 677 hand-numbered copies. housed within sleeves that were individually silk-screened by alan sherry (siwa).
acid mother’s temple’s glorify astrological martyrdom is sure to appeal to the myriad amt fans who have made crystal rainbow pyramid a new fan favorite. professionally recorded mega riffage for a super defined clean sound. kawabata and company deliver this focused rock explosion full of hyper repetitive heavy hooks and freaked out pitched up vocals. cover art by seldon hunt… tour only lp, very limited stock.
mysterious woods bootleg. four beautiful acoustic versions of “rain on”, “twisted tongue”, “to clean” and “the number”. one sided, white label twelve inch with a pasted-on cover image. very limited, origins unclear… awesome little document and sure to not hang around long. recommended.
afcgt = 3 parts a-frames + 2 parts climax golden twins. this is a vinyl release of their self release cdr that was limited to about 75 copies. those lucky enough to have heard that cdr, along with those who have caught one of this beast live in the past year know just what to expect. not quite as robotic and structured as the a-frames, not quite as loose nor remotely as mellow as the twins ever are. raw, noisy, dirty, psyched out punk rock. this record is in the red all the way through, and by the end your speakers should be nearly as blown out as the amps used to record these tracks. this is a supergroup set to lay waste to all other supergroups. pressed in an edition of 550 on 180 gram white vinyl. packaged in a tip-on style gatefold jacket with silk-screened art.
original french pressing on the vertigo I.R.I. offshoot. totally great deep krautrock trance sounds with long flowing tracks. for me its the perfect kraut sound : total cosmic trip-out but also a deep groove. sweet one! beautiful laminated single cover. pressed on heavy deep BLUE VINYL. lamination starting to lift along spine, otherwise nearly perfect. just a few very lite hairlines on vinyl. NM-/EX++.
much anticipated first proper release after a string of ear tugging & increasingly impressive private press cdrs. a real shinning spirit in these somewhat goofy times of “folkpsych” abuse, this guy nails it like its in his DNA. way beyond a simple formula, this is a complete tonal voyage. opening the album with a dark ritual of dueling reeds and buzzing drones, things than erupt into some seriously burning psych raga excursion built from totally heavy, jamming, acoustic guitar licks, eastern grooving hand percussions, stoned backwards or fuzzed-out electric guitar splatters, and subtle creaky drones. the vocals are nearly unintelligible but swirl beautifully through most songs like floating smokey ripples. woozy, headbobbing, and completely THERE. yow… pressed on 180gm audiophile vinyl & packaged in a custom fabric textured, golden hued, heavy gatefold cover with black & blood red printing, plus insert. un-numbered limited edition of 750 copies… last few copies!
reissue of a 1978 self released lp by one of the greatest ethiopian vocalists of all time. this material has not been reissued in any form since its original release. recorded at the end of the ‘golden age’ of ethiopian urban music, mahmoud is in top form belting out transcendent intense vocals over the ibex bands’ hypnotic soulful sound. as good as it gets & as close to universally perfect music as ever has been made. old school thick “tip on” sleeve. beautifully remastered by timothy stollenwerk.
near passerine devotionals is a new, vinyl-only label residing near toronto, ontario, canada. for our debut release, npd is proud to deliver this mammoth caustic-drone masterpiece from oklahoma’s native sons, ajilvsga (brad rose – he who runs the digitalis imprint, and nathan young – not the wolf eyes guy). trading in their guitars for synthesizers, this prolific duo has unloaded a pair of rocket blasts that are sure to flip your skull. the a-side is ear-meltingly delicious, slowly ramping from deepest drone to sheets of piercing skree. the flip takes the pummelling even further, incorporating a sinister rhythm and ghost-vox from brad’s wife, eden. it’s the soundtrack to your beheading… we feel that this is some of the best ajilvsga action yet! and it’s on vinyl!! comes sheathed in a 12″x18″ poster on heavy stock silkscreened by the mighty vgkids; artwork courtesy of evan caminiti (barn owl)… limited to only 300 copies.
this lp was recorded in new zealand in 2004, and is the duo recording of new zealand guitarist donald mcpherson and japanese guitarist tetuzi akiyama. a beautiful meeting of 2 virtuoso acoustic guitarists, both thoroughly schooled in the vast world of improvising. donald mcpherson, a native new zealander has been playing the guitar since the tender age of 12, studied at the otago art school in the ’80s. and in the ’90s he released a number of extremely limited lathe-cut folk records. this record finds tetuzi and donald playing melodic folk improvisations that grow and morph into compositions that on each listening uncover some new layer of beauty. both playing on acoustic guitar, they have a level of communication and understanding of each other’s playing that allows a musical connection to grow and blossom into a full-length recording of delicate melodic mayhem – 180gm vinyl, heavy fold-around covers with insert, hand numbered edition of 550.
the japanese guitarist tetuzi akiyama performs an improvised set as a duo with canadian percussionist jeffrey allport on july 1, 2006. this recording is of the first and only time these two well-regarded improvisers have ever played together. living on opposite sides of the pacific, this show became an opportunity for allport and akiyama to each perform some of their most advanced techniques in improvised music with a player whose style was truly compatible. allport approaches every side of his drum, the rim, the snares, the steel clamps, and of course, the skin to produce a challenging repertoire of sounds that defy the drum’s gambit, segues from tibetan drones to electronic clicks and cuts, distant steamships to nearby popcorn. akiyama’s preternatural improvisations along the neck and body of his guitar meditate patiently on each bluesy sound, almost as if his fingers were playing along the surface of a slow-moving river. every note that akiyama plays becomes a sensational interruption causing ripples, splashes, and oxbows in the flow of the music. performed live at a sold-out western front, vancouver’s oldest and most significant artist-run venue, akiyama and allport propose a rich new vocabulary for music. two tracks on vinyl mastered by toshimaru nakamura. this lp documents an unprecedented collaboration between two modern masters of far left improvisation.
tetuzi akiyama has been a major player on the free music/improv scene in tokyo for going on 20 years. pre-existence first came out on cd as a part of the great ’wooden guitar’ series from locust. akiyama’s playing here is one of a minimalist approach, discovering and investigating the empty spaces between each note. he does not follow the takoma guitar school style of finger-picking, but a far more warped primitive country blues feel, with a meditative quality. you never know where you are going to be led with his guitar, down roads rarely traveled. with his dense tapestry of sounds, akiyama evokes emotions that at times are uncomfortable, but of real beauty. open your ears and let the music take you far far out there? 180gm vinyl, heavy textured covers, and hand numbered to 550. awesome.
amanaz was formed in 1973. 3 songs are in the native language bemba, and 9 songs in english, recorded in kitwe, the 3rd biggest city in zambia up north. musically is goes in the same direction as blo, the witch and question mark, but this album is way cooler and stoned with amazing fuzz guitar all over which sounds like an african version of early cream. the cover make it look very traditional but after a few spins you are aware that this one is very special. it’s soo cool, so tight produced and easily to compare with uk underground albums with a touch of african beats. still completely unknown, so this album has not been scored yet by the collectors scene. a real surprise… new edition of 300 on 180gm yellow vinyl. great album!
first full-length album from mark mcguire (emeralds, etc…) and julian gulyas (synaptic foliage, etc..). expansive guitar and synthesizer compositions recorded in the dead of winter. limited to 500 copies on black vinyl… pretty awesome one if you’re digging this sound!
original mainstream label pressing. 2nd, and best, album from TED NUGENT lead heavy psych crew. way more psychedelic then their debut but still a nice garage edge. pretty hard not to dig the long tripped-out title track. cover fully in shrink. NM-/VG++.
2nd lp from this psychedelic soul shack up out of chicago, some pretty cool moments in the groove bag from the period. sleeve VG++ with light edge, corner, shelf wear, some writing on back cover (and label), lp EX.
amolvacy is aaron moore from volcano the bear, dave nuss from no-neck blues band, and sheila 16 of the laboratory theater group, nyc. the band creates compositions from its improvisations centered around strong elemental percussion, radical theatrical vocals, and classical acoustic instruments. recurring themes in amolvacy’s texts are the pain of relationships, the affirmation of the feminine in myth, the hero’s journey, and continuous need to flame the passions of the heart. “a la lu la” specifically addresses the gap of language in facilitating accurate communication, a gap that only music at its most primal can fill. the back of the album features text by jose da fonseca & pedro carolino, two portugese who in 1855 created an english phrasebook titled “english as she is spoke,” but who faced just one problem: they didn’t know any english. the linguistic train wreck that ensues mirrors the play of language, sound, and unintentional humor on “a la lu la.” clear vinyl in custom die-cut sleeve.
so concludes “lover go from hence”, a tale of tumultuous romantic upheaval on the new amolvacy record ho ho kus. here we have hearts wrenched from guts and firmly planted in the dirt; but also sprouting new romance, seduction, and… the church? and the french??? francois rabelais wrote garantua and pantagruel – a major influence on this album – in the early 16th c. to caricature the faux morality of his time. amolvacy offer ho ho kus in the same cantankerous spirit, but this time perhaps to parody their own morality. love, marriage, sex, affairs, betrayal, and loneliness are all exposed in naked vulnerability and placed on the chopping block for emotional dissection. lead vocalist sheila donovan (ex-tall boys) is a longstanding member of the laboratory theater company in nyc, and her partners are aaron moore of volcano the bear and dave nuss of the no-neck blues band. together they are the amolvacy family. all things were shared in the making of this record, nothing hidden, no secrets left untold… clear vinyl, elaborate die cut sleeve, quite limited.
a first vinyl edition fully remixed for wax from the cd masters that first appeared on a ltd cdr from deserted village in 2006. plaintive semi abstract vocals strain and wind over ecclesiastical notes held so long that your head becomes the organist’s domain. rarely have vocal harmonies been this ethereal or perfectly held. not the glottal gymnastics of joan la barbara but rather the complementary visions of two unique artists in absolute accord. much of side b feels more improvised but throughout the whole there is an economy of note, a tension of control and an element of perfection to the detail of performance. housed in an ultra heavy card sleeve with cover art by paul santoleri and labels by helena espvall. ltd edition of 400 copies. housed in uber thick sleeve and pressed onto deluxe virgin 180gm vinyl… awesome this one finally made the jump to vinyl. wonderful sounds & beautifully presented. highly recommended!
caethua and debbie diaper have been teaming up off air well before thursday and tend to use those nights of their radio show inside outsider sounds to wind down after the week has just flown by. put to tape and assembled in the last months of their sorely missed studio, walking on ice. layers of loops and vocal sound forms, a.d. illustrate for the listeners a spelunking holiday that goes on a little too long, just a little bit further, the mouth is just around that corner. a small light illuminates a small cavern just fine…… what did you see? featuring andy neubauer of impractical cockpit, doggerella decided upon, flak mask, curtain call, uke of spaces….. etc, and caethua of sports, uke of spaces corners and sax wand fame. 300 pressed. screen printed on painted recycled jackets.
portland guitar wizard marisa anderson”s long awaited solo guitar record. marisa has been a fixture on many a music scene for years & years playing with everyone from the evolutionary jass band to tara jane o’neil to the dolly ranchers. in any context, she can’t escape her rag/blues/folk roots no matter how hard she tries. on this lp featuring only guitar – no vocals & no overdubs – we are treated to a very intimate sounding home recording filled with delicate grace. comparisons to john fahey & his ilk who do their hoodoo mystical rewrite of folk music is bound to occur, but close listening reveals a very original & yet truly rooted in the old style record that we hope will stand the test of time nicely.
kokura was recorded under dark skies and howling winds, deep in the bowels of a japanese club as the country shook outside. kokura is the fruits of a collaboration between acid mothers temple/mainliner main man kawabata makoto, argentinean guitarist anla courtis (reynols) and japanese underground musician rokugenkin. based around hushed, mellow guitar drones and hypnotic, yet restrained guitar wails, kokura is the first fruits of their labors and captures the sound of life beneath a hurricane. like sunn o))) on half volume! – limited edition of 400.
a talisman, a living mandala. recorded in buenos aires, 1992-93 (!) and now brought to life by the chants of birds, this is anla courtis ‘ornitology’, a poem about the secret forces of nature and the most sublime forms of communication hidden in the forest. earth, water, wind and fire the elements that are all living inside these three gems, starting with a spectral ballad, “quetro”, and exploding into the second track, ‘escua’, 16 minutes of epic guitars flying over an endless sea of visions. the last track, ‘tersina’, is the final redemption, and it comes through as a primitive-electronic assault! pure magic. 140 grams vinyl, limited to 105 copies only, screenprinted artwork (by canedicoda), half of the covers come in yellow with green print, half in green with dark print.
really wonderful & totally mysterious one here, with no artist credit at all. received this as an anonymous demo and managed to sort out this release, which is essentially a straight reproduction of the demo cassette transfered to the vinyl format… totally mesmerizing hushed, raw, bedroom acidfolk sounds, steeped in alchemical spiritual depth, profound lonesome melancholy, and seriously intense & haunting intimacy. magical poetic songs from a true searcher, battler of the spirit sorrows, and rejoicer in all mystical beauties. there is a gripping sadness that permeates these recordings, but also flashes of joy, redemption, and in the end a powerful hopefulness. indeed, this is living, breathing music from the true inner/ancient soul – zero hint of hipster folk trip here… nothing but intricate yet meditative acoustic guitar figures, mournful viola, and those vocals, all wrapped in gauzy 4-track haze and far distant street sound hum… you really just gotta hear this one to understand… pressed on 140gm vinyl and packaged in a stark foldout art paper cover with paste-on color front art & screen printed back. numbered edition of only 150 copies.
cult new wave band the art museums tell sordid tales of artists, lovers, and poseurs. bay area psych burnouts josh alper and glenn donaldson converged in san francisco in the summer of ’09 to record anglophile jams on a tascam 388 tape machine (state of the art home-recording circa ’85). rough frame is their debut lp for the woodsist label. they would make a hi-fi studio record if they had the money, but reviewers would probably still say it was lo-fi. the art museums are into: art, poetry, whaam! records, and films about mods. the art museums are not into: flared trousers, drip coffee, or dirty sneakers.
green-colored vinyl. recorded in leeds, june 2007. originally released as cd-r limited to 100 copies. “classic ashtray navigations, two hallucino-kinetic tracks each side.”
original uni-pak cover US pressing of kraut psych prog jazz fusion. some pretty wild & out-there sounds, not far from soft machine’s “third” in spots. VG++/NM-.
original press of rare & odd exploitation orchestrated popsike, like a mix of MILLENNIUM and THE ANIMATED EGG! punch hole. vinyl has various marks & needs a good cleaning, but nothing too major. nice psychy cover art. VG+/VG+. $30.00
two of europe’s finest collide on a 12″ 45 rpm platter loosely inspired by the club single. on wet wheel/hot wheel, neil campbell of astral social club succumbs to the heartbeat throb of house but tops the bass with a frenetic squall of darting alien melodies. on cursory listen, the elements congeal into honest-to-god body music, but the track is riddled with stutters and gaps that the flooded synapses fill with aural afterimages. on the reverse, jan anderzen of tomutonttu buries the dance influence, retaining only the genre’s neon shimmer and linear logic. ‘syvat svyät’ overflows with cuckoo loops that briefly cohere into musical shapes before casting off, replaced by an ecstatic march of manic squiggles. one must focus to follow the train of musical thought, but anderzen’s humor and intuition reward the effort. issued in an edition of 300 hand-stamped, 150-gram lavender lps in matte sleeves screened with consummate skills by alan sherry of siwa.
featuring two tracks of fearless sonic bliss and two long journeys to a state of sustained ecstasy astral social club’s “plug music ramoon” was recorded in one day on analogue 2″ tape. the lp combines percussive sticks and bells, resonant electronics, keyboard odysseys and some experimental vocal work from helmsman campbell. whilst club member john clyde-evans’s laptop contributions provide much of the backbone groove of the album, stewart keith adds light and shade on a variety of keyboards and toys. together they weave a rich tapestry of sound and noise. but it’s campbell’s dense guitars that thicken the very stem of these four tracks and leads his astral social club to conjure up his visions. this limited edition 12″ comes housed in a gorgeous hand-printed silkscreen sleeve. limited edition of 500.
neil campbell & mel delaney. rec. west yorkshire, winter 2008/09. new asc effort on qbico, a duo this time. this is the social club for astral spirits… red & pink vinyl.
a vision artifact of ancient future harmonies and inner cosmosis. supreme inner cranial reverbational reflections of where you are. unspoken language and incorporeal communion. recorded by jason meagher at black dirt studio, vinyl pressed at rti, housed in custom stoughton gatefold jackets lovingly adorned with screen printing, color photo and hand drawing. hand numbered ed. of 320… total zoner of a full length from paul & rafi’s post death chants duo. way deep vintage/future sound voyaging. other-worldly tones & moans. a recommended trip for fans of sus & jakob, angus maclise, and all stoned-avant sound art.
awesome florida private press outsider acidfolk / bar rock from another dimension. really brilliant stuff, but takes some time to penetrate fully. this guy must have had some great & strange drugs on hand. a very unusual mix of stunning on-the-edge acidfolk and dosed bar room hoe-down folkrock. totally bent lyrics and a really strange but consistent vibe. the folky cuts are really amazing, and they alone should have gained this album much more of a reputation by now. a really fun, weird & deep trip, but must be taken on atlantis’ terms. totally awesome & beautiful fantasy cover art. edge wear & a little ring wear. faint sticker stain. nice wax. VG++/EX-.
4th vinyl release on the label, and the first wax for this maine crew after a cassette release on sloow tapes. two long midnight fireside all acoustic jams from sparrow (prisma, the bummer road, etc.) nemo (drona parva, time-lag records, etc.) and the three members of visitations. tranced percussive strings, ghost vocals, and creaky rhythms all wrapped up in each other and slowly unfolded… numbered edition of 299 with stamped labels and full color paste-on art front & back. zero info.
here is another unknown us beauty. recorded in 1968 august played a lot in small clubs. the clubowner gave them the chance to record an own album. they played it straight onto tape with no overdubs in a couple of hours. only 100 copies or less where pressed. the music reminds me a lot of lazy smoke. it has that pepper style but the sound is more rough. beautifull compositions played in a garage style – recorded usa, 1968. 180gm vinyl, heavy covers, numbered to 450.
real nice original copy of his first lp. cool cosmic country dobro sounds on this great label. good stuff. very minor cover wear, sparkling wax. EX++/NM-.
here is your introduction to phase two. while there is a certain degree of continuity in the approach, ii is a noticeable extrapolation of the avarus sound. the albums six tracks span collage-esque pieces of audio junk to deconstructed song forms to subtly dense instrumentals. waves of stretched electronics, distorted clank and warbling bass throb create layers of chaotic wreckage until a sudden collapse reveals an underlying stasis. unnoticed patterns now conscious pull the listener into another time/mind continuum. step into the g-a-p. the lp is presented in a full cover printed sleeve with suitable “found” photo art – for you to figure out what its all about – limited to 400 or so copies… slightly bumped corners, reduced price.
all-new exclusive avarus! fourth secret eye full-length and tenth release overall from this incredible finnish band that pretty much defines modern psychedelic kraut improv. primitive, primal and tribal, desolate and mournful, dreamy and pastoral, motorik and hypnotic. buzzing, clattery, droning, stumbling krautrock flecked with shimmering free-noise, avant ambience, delicate folk fuckery, and chaotic caveman psychedelic space rock. avarus iv starts where the rasvaaja lp ended. the iv, too, consists of tomas regan’s careful high-quality recordings. on the iv avarus makes and even longer dive in the warm and clear pond, into which the water is poured from both kraut and space rock, and from micro music and slapstick. the recording was made after the us tour, which guarantees the firm harmony satisfying the most demanding listeners. the delicate talent and the hilarious team spirit guarantee a recordful of heart-warming harmonies and surprising turns delighting an unprejudiced mind. the wondrous adult rock of avarus is born from an uncompromising love for music. the finished recording deserved a fantastic cover, too. this in mind, the graphic visionaries amanda and pauliina spent their summer holidays swimming, drinking beer, and drawing their kaleidoscopic davy crockett epos inspired by music. lp only – 160 gram virgin vinyl, pressed in czech republic, direct metal mastering, full-color labels and jackets, all-exclusive new jams. limited to 200 copies… sure to go quick, so don’t miss out if you’re a fan.
long touted as the forefathers of finnish freeform psychedlic music, avarus, a collective bearing members from the anaksimadros, kemialliset ystävät, maniacs dream, and more, document their first tour of the united states on “kirppujen saari”. the sounds contained show a departure and growth from typical avarus recordings. the a side long track begins with a psychrock romper complete with full “band” instrumentation, slowly it deconstructs itself into the abstract electric/acoustic stylings and sonic spattering familiar to their previous work. slowness builds into full on clatter filled walls of vocals, toy keyboards, horns, strums, and other acoustic junk, creating a unique and massive drone. the opposing side is pure acoustic drones composed of vocals, horns, and tribal beats. room filling ambiance, corner clatter, and morphing silence also find a way to unobtrusively build themselves into the piece. in an edition of 350 lps on coke bottle clear vinyl with printed labels by bart of sloow tapes and proprinted full color foldover art by the band… nice one!
original brazilian first pressing of fantastic south american psych. tropicalia vibes, wild fuzz, effects, regional flashes. from the city recife which had a small but great & unique scene (LULA CORTES, ZE RAMALHO, FLAVIOLA, etc.). later pressing altered track list, this is the unaltered original. very fragile & super weird textured cover. layout by LAILSON of SATWA. tiny price sticker tear on back, corner bends, but very clean art. long lite paper scuffs on wax, but plays real nice. VG++/VG+. rare!
restock of 2005 release, last copies… xmas 2004, brooklyn. brian sullivan and nate nelson of mouthus meet up with karl bauer of axolotl for some sonic celebration and let the tape machine roll. two side-long psilocybe-inspired scoops of shimmering and stumbling drone / zone / sludge ragas. better dust off your bib. full color printed photo-collage covers, insert.
originally released in 2005 as a limited edition cd-r on yellow swans’ jyrk label, this three-way collab now gets a proper run on wax. recorded in oakland at the huffin house before the swans made the retreat back to portland. despite the weight of these players when they rock alone, this jam really never gets into full on white out territory. instead, it’s loaded to the brim with wavy neon distortion and soothing low end that occasional drops out into huge washes of emptiness. the opening passage of gms guitar flecks sympathizing with karl’s string wash is alone worth the price of admission. red vinyl with lime green splatter. edition of 500.
first ever correct reissue of this chicago area 1968 private press holy grail. one of the most legendary & valuable garage / psychedelic lps ever, this ones been seeing massive hype and huge price tags for decades now, all with good reason. for a 60s private press lp it’s got a truly remarkable number of things going for it that set it apart from literally every other lp in this bag. an album of all original material that amazingly combines the best elements of garage, psychedelia, and teenage self release realness without hitting any of their many pitfalls along the way: totally crude garage production values, crackling on-the-edge energy, and wild punk-minded rave-ups – without any covers, flat sameness, or throw-a-way filler. beautifully inspired mind-expanding sonic depth, confused, fantastic lyrics, relentless jangle, swirling reverb, unhinged fuzz / feedback outbursts, and constantly flowing textures – without any pretentiousness, blues jamming or self indulgence. exquisitely personal, human, painfully lonesome, and achingly moody – without any macho posturing, stoned goofs, or bad diary poetry… then there’s the fact that these guys came up with gorgeous unique songs, both singers have great distinct voices that are constantly playing off each other, and the band takes a wide-open approach that spans pop sensibility, acid experimentalism, and heartbreaking teen ballad moves, and combines them into a sound totally their own. would seriously be too good to be true if it didn’t actually exist, and it barely ever did… recorded and mixed in just 10 hours at a makeshift studio above a pharmacy, and locally pressed as an edition of only 150 copies, the few remaining original lps are true artifacts… which makes it totally confounding that all past reissues have sadly not even come close to capturing the crystalline, biting fidelity of the original album. we’ve fixed that once and for all with total top-notch mastering from a pristine original copy, to bring you just as close to the soul-piercing experience of spinning the real thing as possible… pressed on highest quality 180gm virgin vinyl. packaged in an exact reproduction heavy weight reverse tip-on cover, made just like the original, plus exact repro metallic printed labels. one time vinyl only pressing of 500 copies.
tough to find and in demand doomy heavy psych original with a very strong BLACK SABBATH sound that they pull off quite well. promo sticker on cover. lite ring wear, but otherwise very solid cover. EX-/EX-.
limited edition pressing of 1000 copies on vinyl heavy enough to hold some of bardo pond’s headiest jams. this is the first of four vinyl only bardo-related releases coming out simultaneously on important records. gazing at shilla is bardo pond’s first release on important. the two pieces, both very different in sound and feel, have sat patiently in the bardo archive waiting for the most opportune moment for release. ‘eight-thousanders’ and ‘kali’ are both entirely improvised pieces with no overdubs. slide blissfully into a smokey heaven and then forget your mind in a lower world of strange tones on side a. if you’re still able to flip the record when the needle hits the runoff groove, you’ll find yourself exposed to the goddess kali’s naked blackness. bardo is out. are you in?
limited edition of 1640 copies. in early 2008, bardo pond and three lobed recordings teamed up to assemble batholith, a collection of tracks that were close to the band’s heart but for various reasons had never been released. the result was an extremely cohesive and vital statement that was positively received by both old and new bardo pond fans. during the compilation of batholith the band had to agonize over the wealth of material that they were sitting on in constructing the ultimate tracklisting – there were too many good songs! the band approached this “problem” by structuring two sister albums, batholith and peri, each possessing their own musical themes and each fully capable of standing independent from the other. for this reason, peri is every bit as potent as its predecessor. the meticulous sequencing of peri’s five tracks provides a classic bardo pond experience. while the initial description of the material might lead one to think that these tracks are “outtakes” or cutting-room floor type material, neither conclusion could be further from the truth. the band is quite excited to finally see all of the material on peri venture into the public. for example, “chicken gun” will be recognizable to the band’s longtime fans. a former live staple from 1996 through 1998 (even making an appearance in the band’s set at the first terrastock festival), it is a propulsive and fiery rocker every bit as monumental as some of the band’s classics such as “lb.” and “tommy gun angel.” “the path” is a subtle number featuring floating flute work from isobel sollenberger. the album-closing “silver pavilion” is the sort of meditative psychedelia that has been bardo pond’s calling card over their lengthy career. the track dates to the band’s extremely fertile, yet barely documented, period between the release of “dilate” and “on the ellipse.” “silver pavilion’s” slow, enveloping build properly see the listener to the door and is reminiscent of such flawless bardo closing tracks as “rm,” “aldrin” and “night of frogs.” peri is pressed on 180g rti vinyl and is housed within heavy “old-style” one-pocket stoughton gatefold jackets bearing new collage work from michael gibbons. the record is from a one-time pressing of 1640 copies and, as an added convenience for our vinyl-loving friends, will come packaged with a glass-mastered cd (not cd-r) of the material present on the wax… all copies here are accompanied by a bonus cd (tlr-068) of previously unreleased bardo pond material, only available as a special pre-order bonus.
recorded by george mitchell in 1978, this lp was originally released by the southland label under the name ‘william robertson.’ due to cecil’s superstitions and legitimate fears of the taxman, he insisted that it come out under a false name. cecil was an unusual blues musician, giving each song its own feel and rhythm. another underrated american original. this is a co-release with big legal mess records.
since first bearing witness to barn owl’s mythically desolate amplifier alchemy last year, nnf has been rabid fans/fanatics. but like lots of badass bands, bo are a rolling stone, heavy on the transformation tip, and the bo of today is an altered beast from the one that folkily fingerpicked bridge to the clouds and their self-titled disc way back when. and in case we’re not being clear: this is a beautiful thing. from our mouths a perpetual light burns with the sun-dead majesty of a death valley burial ground, all wasted waterless expanse and cracked earth smoke blowing in the dry wind. heavy western drone revelations bleed into forlorn guitar drift, downcast percussion plods across the plain, a skull on its side lies in the sands. evan caminiti and jon porras have somehow flawlessly evolved barn owl into a blazing new universe, and from our mouths… is the first mission statement from their new spectral/aesthetic outpost, a stunning and timeless eight-song suite of grim cinematic electricity. tune in, drop dead, rot on. in swank matte jackets with ‘four-armed demon warrior-yogi’ artwork by the band… very limited repress on this great one, in slightly altered packaging.
real nice private press electronic new age with thick drone / kraut vibes. darker then most too, especially when the rhythms kick in. good stuff. tiny corner bend but SEALED NM/S.
seriously rare japanese first pressing! super think gatefold cover. big four page foldout insert with lyrics. super clean black/silver labels. lovely wax. minor cover wear mostly to the edges, and a starting but very neat spine split. awesome vintage audiophile pressing! sorry, no obi. EX-/NM-.
this one is two side-long triple guitar jams by ben chasny (six organs of admittance, comets on fire), elisa ambrogio (magik markers) and brian sullivan (mouthus, eskimo king, white rock). extremely dense and crunchy – hold this one back to set the mood at your next summer of love party. like our other vinyl releases, this one will be pressed on 180g rti black vinyl and will come from an edition of 845 copies. look out for the beautiful and heavy wrap-around silkscreened covers (by alan sherry of siwa) on this one. as a bit of a first for three lobed (and a trend that we hope will continue with most of our vinyl releases from this record onward), packed in with the lp is a pressed cd (not cd-r) of the same material present on the album. the cd is not available separately and is included as an element of convenience and portability for all you vinyl folks (and also as an effort to help convert a few of you cd folks into vinyl folks!).
alt.vinyl is pleased to be releasing this collaboration of two of the us’ free folk/ experimental luminaries..marcia bassett from zaimph and double leopards on guitar and electronics…and helena espvall of espers on cello and electronics. a killer cut first recorded in philly in late 2008 and now mixed specially for vinyl by patrick klem (the man behind many a 3 lobed release) and sounding like a knife wrapped in silk. coruscating drifting harmonies that will appeal to the improv raga community echoing the early works of no neck blues band, sunroof, six organs and sunburned. warm yet sharp, effortless and complex… artwork by derek moench, audio mastering by patrick klem. ltd edition of 400 on 180gm vinyl… massively heavy covers!
hand-numbered edition of 200 copies lp on manuel mota’s private headlights imprint documenting a heavyweight duo set from marcia bassett of zaimph, hototogisu, double leopards, ghq et al and improvising portuguese bassist and guitarist margardia garcia. garcia is one of the major new generation european free players, coming out of the same scene as mota, and she’s just as capable of generating swans-style industrial entropy as she is playing explosive fire music. here bassett uses keyboard and guitar to create austere arcs of industrial-strength drone that garcia anchors with tactile, questing strings, giving the whole thing an odd avant-classical backbone. – volcanic tongue.
handmade covers. a confusing, odd record. 2 lock grooves begin the edith side. bedroom meanderings that steve stapleton might be proud of. released around 9/11/01. really! tons of confusing inserts. 200 pressed.
real nice copy. killer boston garage/psych burner. very cool album gushing with good ideas. lots of experimentation, lots of cool fuzz, snotty acid lyrics, weird effects, etc. gatefold cover. original inner sleeve. small punch hole. NM-/NM-.
last ever copies!!! recorded in 1970 but not released until 1996. follow up to their highly heralded album ‘welcome’ which is a classic psych album. this one is psych flavored pop/rock. comes with paste-on sleeve… long out of print high quality archival release.
devastating psych noise power drones by ernesto gonzález, an 18 year old kid from venezuela who moved to belgium with his family 3 years ago. thick layers of hototogisu-like guitar drones interfere with endless tape loops and warm washes of analogue jungle color tone to work up to an overwhelming fuzz guitar climax, leaving listeners helpless, ecstatic, puzzled and bemused. ernesto has been making music for over three years now, has various solo as well as collaboration projects going on, has released a slew of amazing selfmade cdr’s and has recently also become a full time member of belgium’s finest: freefolk/krautrock outfit silvester anfang, who’ve got an lp coming out on eclipse later this month. a promising new star in the psych drone skies’85 djid hums is the vinyl debut of bear bones, lay low: over 45 minutes of pure psych drone bliss pressed on heavy high quality 180g vinyl, complete with paste-on art and flashy insert, housed in a thick cardboard jacket with resealable plastic sleeve. limited to 525 hand-numbered copies.
ernesto gonzález traded the chavez regime for comfortable living in a dreary place called waterloo, near brussels. he picked up the guitar, practiced his hendrix skills, got introduced to the world of scorching fuzz, demented kraut rock jams, drone lords and kosmik trance and decided he could as well do all that shit by himself. after his debut on gipsy sphinx, vallée de dith is his second official solo outing, leaving the drone in second position and focussing heavily on kraut rock work-outs. this is the ultimate south-american take on moolah, ash ra temple and neu!: excellent riffing, brain-melting space synth and far-out hippy meditation. probably the best venezuelan album since angel rada’s upadesa. phill niblock hated it!
recorded live to tape in two days, after a sleep deprived month of beefheart style creative lockdown, begushkin – dan smith’s 8 headed hydra – lay to rest the twilight folk of 2007s nightly things and reemerge with the wicked & strange hard rock gypsy shake of king’s curse. smith yells and carries on like a man posessed with tales of the damnation of a robber king and the band plays it ultra tight & ultra heavy. king’s curse is higher tier creep rock…. ‘at times like an impossible mixing of leonard cohen, will oldham, and michael gira stirring up a series of haunted gypsy hymns. mournful and melodic with half-seen shadows walking through the trees at night, and fever dreams swooning in the moonlight. mysterious like lyrically compressed american gothic short stories.’ george parsons, dream… 180gm limited vinyl version.
the first ever official vinyl reissue of this folk-psych gem from new york city, usa. originally released in 1977 by winter solstice -group’s own- label this is a very rare (r3-r4) album nowadays. and hopefully it deserves every cent that you will spend for purchasing an original copy. its strange mixture of haunting melodic folk and dreamy psychedelia. both male and female vocals participated by roger and wendy penney (who had also presented the extremely rare “roger & wendy” lp back in 1972) while autoharp, violin, percussion and sound effects (wah wah, fuzz, phaser, delay) offer a “unique” atmosphere. this is an official, fully licenced and autographed, vinyl edition. exact reproduction of the cover and label with extra 4-pages insert with bio, photos and lyrics. all in high quality special papers. pvc protective outersleeve. includes one extra unreleased track from 1974. limited to 400 black vinyl copies, 180gr, copies. pvc protective outersleeve… top quality reissue of this pretty great private press oddity.
totally unreleased (on vinyl format) album by legendary nyc psychfolk duo. all the recordings range from the late 60′s to the late 70′s. our opinion is that “the missing tapes” is their best till today offering. just take a listen to “did you love me” and “lost worlds” songs. original, unique and bizzare sound not unlike their first album (see anazitisi records arlp 70-21f). half of the 10 songs are penned by roger penney while the other 5 are covers on: dennis deyoung’s “come sail away”, joni mitchell’s “circle game”, richard farina’s “swallow song” (what an adaptation!!!!), fred neil’s “dolphin” and an exceptional “high flying bird”. from the original 2-track master tapes with excellent sound quality and licenced by roger & wendy. it includes a 12-pages large booklet with story, lyrics & photos, decorated by wendy’s paintings. fully laminated. pvc protective outersleeve. 180gr. vinyl as usual. limited, to 200 black and 100 coloured copies, edition… black vinyl copies here. highly recommended if you dug their s/t lp!
a stunning new album including 5 long jams (23 minutes each side) which balance perfectly between the homey “strange maine” sound, the collage aesthetic of “the grove” and the extraordinary singer / songwriter approach as heard on “dead songs”. if it wasn’t released by phase!, it would certainly top a position in the 2011 top-13 albums! comes in an edition of 350 copies w/ 2-color awesome screenprinted jacket + insert… really sweet new one from this great group, looks & sounds awesome. press note that all copies seem to have a odd marking on the vinyl, but this does not effect play. recommended!
much anticipated proper full length release from this wonderful maine duo after a long running string of self released cdrs & a collaborative 7inch with visitations. colleen kinsella & caleb mulkerin have been key personages of the portland / south portland sonic underground for over a decade, as members of cerberus shoal, threads, fire on fire, etc. while those groups have no doubt left an impressive body of sound, the intimacy and directness of their big blood recordings take things to a higher plane of personal expression, freed from the group mind / “serious” band trapping of their past musical outlets. here they are free to romp in their personal microverse, following whim & fantasy through the gates of acoustic transcendence. all of the off-the-cuff spontaneity, intimate home fidelity, and deep personal charms of their older releases are as present as ever, but the the duo’s scope is now focused to a crystalline clarity of vision. dead songs is as sorrowful & joyful in its mirrored symmetry as the infinite life cycle itself, flowing on cleansing waves of inner release & spirit absorption… wailing fuzzed-up garage folk anthems mesh into twisted poetic acidfolk and drift to expansive melancholic meditations of boundless depth. two voices howl, swoon, alternate & join, lyrical layers peel away endlessly, tiny amps weep in pain, crude percussion booms thunderous, and ragged, beautiful hooks unfurl straight out of the void… packaged in a suitably gorgeous full color heavy 60s style gatefold cover with clear varnish overprinting, large offset printed vellum insert, full color art labels, etc. pressed on the highest quality 180gm virgin vinyl. limited edition of 700 copies.
very rare french original of their third & final album. totally essential damaged powerpop wonder from an amazing band on the verge of total collapse. totally unique to this pressing fully laminated alternate cover art. beautiful EX++/EX $60.00
“common wealth” is bird by snow’s 4th lp, and their 1st record made outside of their own lo-fi home studio. but bird by snow stays true to their analog roots by conducting ceremony with tape alchemist tim green who recorded and produced this album and has cast countless other magic spells with artists such as joanna newsom, daniel higgs, wolves in the throne room, and a multitude more. this lp comes on deluxe heavy white vinyl, with a beautifully printed color jacket, and 8-page color 10″ booklet! all together in this photo. “common wealth” is a watershed of song, an album of arrangements that behave more like an ecosystem. the interdependence of the instruments that dwell in the wilds of this record give the impression that the sounds here create themselves and all other sounds simultaneously. this album begins when a shaker wakes in the darkness, the first sign of approaching warmth, like spring thaw on a frozen river. the icy shaker that floats on the water is joined by skin drums resounding from the hillside, and by pump-organs migrating over-head with geese. the cirrus clouds are spectral piano trills; the marching cumulous clouds, piano bass-lines. steel drums, autoharps, vibraphones and dulcimers burst suddenly from under rocks like crawfish. voices high and mellow dance on the surface of the water with flecks of sunlight. the boulders churning in the deepest pools are the bass, the cymbals, and a thundering gong. and the flow of the river itself, the invisible energy, is guitars, electric and nylon. this river flows between an ancient glacier and a vast ocean. the mind glacier melts into poetry, lyrics that travel with those sound sediments back to the source: the endless ocean of gratitude, and openness. this is how “common wealth” passes from vinyl to needle to speaker to you and beyond, as a river passes through the world… very nicely present release on white wax with big color booklet and download coupon.
to you, children of the zeitgeist, we give ‘sky,’ offered in the same generous spirit as this bountiful world itself. ten songs of reggae-infused, psychedelic, folk music. existentialism you can dance to! open-hearted sound-fields, vast and colored with tiny blue-grass orchestras, authentic dub banjo, black cloud back-beats, and (if you can believe it) california soukous guitar! open eyes wide, and take in ‘sky,’ bird by snow’s outrageously lush follow-up lp. cloudy or clear, day or night, let us be absorbed in the one-always-giving moment, and know the sky not as vacuous hole, but as container (whole). limited to 300, on beautiful tranparent-blue vinyl. hand silk-screened gold covers, with a lovely hand-made booklet too. recorded at home on 8-track cassette tape, mastered by george horn… who mastered “zuma” by neil young and crazy horse… last copy.
a new calf sparkles in the field at dawn with after-birth upon her. standing strong and brave with wobbly legs in a precarious world. with totally fearless surrender she steps forward, still wet from the inner universe of the before birth being. with the same naked abandon we offer this 3rd long-player by bird by snow. ten free-pop-mantras, ancient-babies of modern song. the most fertile bird by snow record (so far) each side of this album has its own name, in order to give the tunes more mind-space to flourish and expand side a is ‘songbread’ and side b is ‘another ocean.’ in this record-world we find bbs harvesting perspectives in an old-growth forest of ontology & swimming joyfully in wide-wonder-waters of multi-instrumentalism. cellos, drones, pianos, field-recordings, tape-collage & all manner of drumming, strumming & singing confer and conspire here. many of these songs have been two years in the making, grown and regrown on musical tours through the generous world. songs with fresh-washed faces, and crow’s feet in the corners of their eyes. ‘songbread / another ocean’ is also some of gnome life’s most beautiful and ambitious packaging! the cover is a color lithograph poster, and the lp also includes a deluxe handmade booklet of literature, lyrics, ideas, and points of entry. and a second semi-transparant poster of poetry called: “slow poems” by fletcher tucker (a.k.a. bird by snow). this edition is limited to 550 copies, and is on completely clear vinyl, and comes with a cd! recorded at home on 8-track cassette tape, mastered by john golden.
birds of delay is a leeds duo whose first half lives in london (and loves whitehouse and rush) and the other in berlin (and loves farley jackmaster funk). with several releases on labels such as chocolate monk, american tapes, troniks, hospital productions, or their own: alcoholic narcolepsy, luke and steven have been crafting and sculpting their psychedelic-electronic-noise-drone sound for over half a decade. but who cares and what does that sound description mean anyway? if you ask them, they’ll simply tell you a living room at the bottom of a lake is a projection into a total rainbow bliss zone! edition of 240 copies.
during the last euro tour of wolf eyes, john olson (of american tapes, spykes, guam river etc – ) and mike connelly (of gods of tundra, hair police, failing lights etc – ) decided it was enough! they screamed “i’m not going to bed!!! i never wanne sleep again!!!”, they missed their flights and stayed in antwerp with the ultra audiobored horror crew for 7 more weeks without food and drinks, just dry weed and cancerbags to suck on! after that intense test to see if they could adapt to the antwerp life style, they finally met up with legendary belgian eccentric cacti and hat collector cassis cornuta, this psychadelic character brought his whole space synth and tape lab over to radio central to record an intense last gasp jam with the hardly breathing olson and connelly, the end result is an amazing trip to space and back to the mental hospital! like pouring lighter fluid and tabasco up your genitals or like olson states it so beautifully; like pissing on your own hand, freezing it and then using it as a lollypop for 5 days! comes in a gross 6 panel cover design and with an etch on the b side! – very limited. amazing packaging!
it goes without saying that polytheistic fragments is an instrumental release — who among us would want it otherwise? in the tradition of his classic debut, salvador kali, this new record features equal amounts of improvisation and composition. sir richard’s powers lie in his ability to captivate with just the sound of his guitar, but he doesn’t completely abandon studio processes, which allow polytheistic fragments to communicate a greater wholeness: all sir rick, all the time, if you will. we have come to expect a few solo acoustic guitar pieces with the gypsy stylings of his hero, django reinhardt — and as if to tenderize our consciousness and prepare it for the ride, ‘cross my palm with silver’ meets and exceeds our expectations. ‘rub ‘al khali’ is an ode to the oud, a northern african lute of sorts. on ‘free masonic guitar,’ sir richard manifests free form acoustic playing wholly in his own style. peppering the mix are the sounds of electric guitar and lap steel guitar, bringing contrast and color. ‘hecate’s dream’ is a dreamy praise to a dark greek goddess, but ‘tennessee porch swing’ and ‘canned goods and firearms’ switch gears to good old down home americana and country twang. sir richard is renowned for his prowess and mastery with the guitar, but the piano playing on polytheistic fragments shows a fluid, meditative style. ‘saraswati’ is a lengthy river piece bathed in hindustani serenity, while ‘cemetery games’ is a short celebratory skeletal dance, with more light-heartedness than spook. in a record with so many spirits, bishop fills in the space where necessary and rounds out the feeling with catchy tunes such as ‘elysium number five’ and ‘ecstasies in the open air.’ polytheistic fragments shows that the divinely inspired sir richard bishop cannot be contained in one form.
another album of acoustic guitar music from sir richard bishop — are you ‘freakin’ nuts? the freak of araby is a new direction for our distinguished gentleman, and just in the nick of time as well. sir rick’s had it up to here with solo acoustic guitar records! the freak of araby isn’t even a solo record! and there’s no acoustic guitar on it! so let’s have no more of this kind of talk. over his years with sun city girls, richard bishop threw a wide variety of music and sound against the wall — and all of it stuck. among those who know, he’s reasonably fluent in any number of international music traditions, playing them for (mostly) fun and (sometimes) profit all over the place. the freak of araby is the debut of sir richard bishop and his freak of araby ensemble, a talented quartet of players getting deep into the middle eastern mystic with hand drums, percussion, bass, drums, electric guitars and a heavy dose of moroccan chanters, all of it captured with depth, detail and sympathy for the eternal enigma by engineer scott colburn. but a sir richard bishop album with a backing band — how did this happen? after recording a cover of ‘ka’an azzaman,’ written by elias rahbani, one of lebanon’s finest songwriters, something dawned on sir richard. half-lebanese by birth (it didn’t just occur to him later), he found himself suddenly possessed to really dig into middle eastern sounds. a pair of original melodies not fully developed at a prior recording session had the arabic inspiration, so these were reattacked and finished in short order. soon, sir richard’s head was flooded with some of the classic sounds spun for him by his grandfather back in his (way) younger days, like farid al-atrache, oum kalthoum and fairuz, along with other personal favorites, such as the guitarists omar khorshid and mike hegazi. in addition to the studio improvisation, ‘taqasim for omar,’ the whole of the freak of araby is dedicated to these inspiring players. check ‘em out. in addition to his soul-stirring electric guitar playing, sir richard grabbed a couple of moroccan chanters and blew the house down on ‘blood-stained sands,’ providing an epic (not to mention epochal, heh heh) finish to this journey to the center of one-half of the family tree. this is music meant to be played live, and sir richard’s freak of araby ensemble intends to play it everywhere there’s interest in hearing it. so get your freak on.
repressed… this is an essential document by one of america’s most original and inventive unaccompanied guitarists working today. while my guitar violently bleeds is a splendid three piece gem in which the good sir branches out & nods to points west, east & otherworldly. classic spaghetti western tinged spidery fretwork(“zurvan”), fushitsusha style feedback drenched psych decay (“smashana”) and a brilliant lengthy raga epic (“mahavidya”) round out the proceedings by the sun city girls master musician.
since its discovery in the late ’90s, dave bixby’s legendary $2000 private press album from 1969 is considered by all serious record collectors as the king in the loner/downer-folk genre. after being involved in ’60s michigan folk and garage-rock bands such as the shillelaghs and peter & the prophets, bixby started playing acoustic guitar and experimenting with lsd. after a year of drug abuse he felt broken. starting a soul-searching, spiritual journey, he wrote ode to quetzalcoatl and most of the material for his second album, harbinger’s second coming in just a month and a half. assisted by fellow musician brian macinness, who played some guitar parts on the album, bixby recorded this record in a living room using an echo-laden 4-track machine. the sound is lo-fi and sparse: just acoustic guitars and some occasional harmonica & flute, added to bixby’s haunting, emotional vocals, spiritual lyrics and solid songwriting. the opening cut, the eerie and painful “drug song” sets the mood perfectly for the rest of the album. never again has an acoustic folk album sounded as intense as this. reissued for the first time under license from dave bixby himself, and carefully remastered from vinyl (no master tapes exist) at shadoks music studios. includes an insert with extensive and detailed liner notes by matvei procak — the guy who found bixby in 2006 — plus some rare pictures. this vinyl release also includes a free mp3 download code… recommended!
black boned angel return with their second riot season release, following the eternal love/eternal hunger vinyl lp (repose 013lp). sharing a similarly bleak ground to corrupted, sunn 0))) and earth, new zealand’s black boned angel return with their fourth full length album verdun, and perhaps their most sombre and fully-realized work to date. the battle of verdun was fought between the german and french armies, and was one of the critical battles during world war 1 on the western front. it resulted in more than a quarter of a million battlefield deaths and at least half a million wounded. verdun was the longest battle and one of the most devastating in world war 1 and indeed in history. over the course of 50 minutes, bba soundtrack that brutal conflict with their trademark dark ambient drones and doom-laden riffs.
fully re-mastered vinyl edition of what was originally a europe-only cassette released in an edition of 80 copies from the solo project of spencer clark of the skaters/vodka soap/monopoly child et al. spencer describes black joker as being more drone-focused and with faster percussion than the recent monopoly child sets. indeed, the percussion is thrifty and up-front, with arcs of criss-crossing time signatures generating maximum space/time confusion. the combination of trance-informed momentum and bubbling electronic sci-fi tones sounds closest to one of the sun ra arkestra’s most future-visioned takes on “ancient aethiopia” while expanding on the classic post-angus maclise feel of all of the best skaters material. comes with pro-printed 80s style 12” maxi-sleeves with liner notes by fortean authority, itinerant visionary and skaters road mangler in-absentia charles berlitz.
the josh/roy anti-society drone/drums duo drops its first (and last?) lp. a dripping cavern of red-eyed vibes and numb inner examination. uncomfortable, epic. edition of 270. comes with a poster. co-released with illinois sweatshop arbor.
real sweet green label US first pressing of their total killer. rarer glossy version of the embossed cover. with the rare fold-out poster! poster looks awesome. EX+/NM-.
amazing & insane french acid folk psych one-man-band. this dudes plays everything : acoustic & electric guitars, bass, drums, kazoo, sitar, etc. some totally monster psych tracks! amazing multi-layer vocal harmonies… insanely rare brazilian original pressing on the highly collectible stream machine label, with a unique track sequence & different cover design from the belgian & french pressings, and 10 times as rare as either of those. fragile waxy cover is amazingly clean, as is the vinyl. good luck finding another of these pressings, much less one thats not trashed. absolute best condition you could hope to find for this one. NM-/NM-.
this vinyl-only split-lp release is a meeting of two of the most interesting bands coming out of hamburg, germany at this moment, both continuing the long tradition of both challenging and explorative music coming from this city in the last decades. from krautrock to the origins of the so-called neue deutsche welle from experimental sound artists to some of the finest pop ambient, hamburg is regularly spitting out some of the most singular artists on this planet. both aosuke and black to comm have absorbed influences from all these sources (and a million others) while working towards their very own individual vision. the two brand new tracks by black to comm are continuing the massive organ/voice drone alchemy of the last double-lp while refining and personalizing his sound, reaching new heights of blazing sonic mysticism. aosuke have decided to home-record their new material, continuing their loop-oriented, monotone yet highly melodic ambient journeys. working with repetition and small abstractions, all instrumental “loops” are played by hand and recorded live without overdubs (one of the main principles of the guitar/electronics duo), creating surprisingly concrete dormant and somnambulistic soundscapes while fortunately completely lacking the washy and drowsy effects of most ambient music. black to comm is the one-man project of marc richter who is the brain behind the dekorder label as well. so far he has released two albums on his own label (“rückwärts backwards” and “wir können leider nicht etwas mehr zu tun…”). aosuke is the duo of tobert knopp and ulf schütte, the latter being a label head as well (tape tektoniks). last year they have released their debut “monotone spirits” album co-released by hamburg’s audiolith label and south germany’s meudiademorte label.
this vinyl-only split-lp release is a meeting of two of the most interesting bands coming out of hamburg, germany at this moment, both continuing the long tradition of both challenging and explorative music coming from this city in the last decades. from krautrock to the origins of the so-called neue deutsche welle from experimental sound artists to some of the finest pop ambient, hamburg is regularly spitting out some of the most singular artists on this planet. both aosuke and black to comm have absorbed influences from all these sources (and a million others) while working towards their very own individual vision. the two brand new tracks by black to comm are continuing the massive organ/voice drone alchemy of the last double-lp while refining and personalizing his sound, reaching new heights of blazing sonic mysticism. aosuke have decided to home-record their new material, continuing their loop-oriented, monotone yet highly melodic ambient journeys. working with repetition and small abstractions, all instrumental “loops” are played by hand and recorded live without overdubs (one of the main principles of the guitar/electronics duo), creating surprisingly concrete dormant and somnambulistic soundscapes while fortunately completely lacking the washy and drowsy effects of most ambient music. black to comm is the one-man project of marc richter who is the brain behind the dekorder label as well. so far he has released two albums on his own label (“rückwärts backwards” and “wir können leider nicht etwas mehr zu tun…”). aosuke is the duo of tobert knopp and ulf schütte, the latter being a label head as well (tape tektoniks). last year they have released their debut “monotone spirits” album co-released by hamburg’s audiolith label and south germany’s meudiademorte label.
black to comm is the solo venture of dekorder label boss marc richter. having released two and a half albums on his own label he is slowly establishing himself as one of the more prolific drone artists out there with a forthcoming album on the american digitalis label, a collaborative cd with datashock on ikuisuus, a 7″ on the irish trensmat label and a collaboration with xela in the works. “fractal hair geometry” is richter’s most refined and original work to date, picking up where the electrifying drone works of his monumental double-lp left off. like the last records this album is centered around recordings of a variety of vintage organs. while “wir kennen leider…” often featured pure harmonium sounds and spacious recordings of chuch organ and mellotron, the new album opts for a more electronic, effects-laden sound, sending an old farfisa compact deluxe and casio sk-5 through an armada of analogue & digital effects pedals. the results are massive one-chord drones layered into dense & ecstatic, flickering & pulsating clusters of psychedelic electronic sound. additional wordless vocal effects, hyperventilating & sizzling drum machines and hypnotic violin and guitar noises make for a hyperactive sound that never stands still even though most of the music is pure drones (sometimes consisting of more than 50 recording layers). decidedly simple but gorgeous melodies shine through the mist from time to time, making a black to comm record always much more accessible than your average drone album. there’s even a heavy 4/4 bass drum smuggled into a track dedicated to the late leigh bowery, one of the most enigmatic creative figures of the mid-80′s uk club scene (and singer of minty). guests include jonna karanka (aka kuupuu) on piano, guido mebius on trumpet and current black to comm (live) band members renate nikolaus on violin and ulf schitte (of datashock, aosuke, etc.) adding electronic sounds. along the lines of the music, seminal german artist oliver ross has created a massive multi-layered neon-coloured collage artwork which is printed on special ultra-heavy cardboard stock.
the whole album is very dream-like, mystical and fascinating, like being in the middle of a fog bank and loosing your sense of direction but always knowing that you’ll find your way out one way or the other. – mats gustaffson/the broken face. finally, here’s the vinyl version of the debut album by hamburg’s black to comm. strictly limited edition of 222 copies, hand screened grey cardboard sleeves, full colour insert, postcard and gold stamped labels – sweet stuff.
banjos and fiddles, boards and bones in hand, the black twig pickers dove into a living tradition of old-time music that surrounds their homes in southwest virginia and never looked back. both scholars of the regional sounds and advocates of an ecstatic and highly personal approach to the music, the twigs hold down local dance and bar gigs, play all manner of celebrations, and, every so often, hit the road. along the way, isak howell, nathan bowles and mike gangloff kept company with some of underground america’s heavyweights and haunted the doorsteps of appalachian fiddle and banjo masters. ironto special is an album of traditional appalachian old-time tunes (and two originals) that they’ve learned through study of both local old-time musicians and old-time records and field recordings. the instrumentation is all-acoustic and features some of the old-time usuals — fiddle, banjo, guitar — and some implements less routinely heard in today’s old-time scene like washboard, bones, fiddlesticks, mouth harp and jaw harp. plus (on one song) a one-of-a-kind baritone resonator 12-string guitar. old-time music served, and continues to serve, a variety of functions in appalachian life: from dance music to somber solo performance, to raggier blues and everything in between. ironto special is an attempt to celebrate this variety in the old-time tradition through the band’s process of learning and growth as they explore the music’s many facets.
quite scarce original copy of this fantastic late date private press acidfolk jewel that has quickly become hugely in demand. easily in the same realm as BOBB TRIMBLE, JEFF EUBANK, T KAIL, etc., but equally in its own bag musically, i personally enjoy this album above any of those.. gentle hallucinogenic psychedelia with gorgeous dreamy male/female duo vocals, lush guitars, flute, synth, bongos, 12-string, electric bass, plenty of reverb, etc. total acid love-nest euphoric vibe. if not for the somewhat dated arp synth it would be very tricky to place this one in time what-so-ever. it has a early 70s feel, but without sounding at all retro. includes the very rare & beautiful thick booklet insert which has lyrics, notes, poetry, and many illustrations printed on thick textured art paper. top copy. booklet is NM. cover has some tiny tiny signs of wear but nearly perfect. same for the vinyl. NM-/NM-.
blank dogs are actually singular: it’s the insanely prolific one-man brooklyn-based band of mr. blank dog. we don’t know too much about the biography of the guy behind the bedroom new-wave pop/punk and he’s usually covering his face with masks or bedspreads, but that’s fine. the aura of anonymity allows you to focus on the sounds — and, really, he might be releasing a ton of things, but there’s definitely a higher jam-to-crap ratio. it’s like joy division vocal lines with the cure’s synth and guitar melodies filtered through ancient submerged keyboards and eroded recording equipment. and that voice? all the feedback in the world can’t hide his knack for melody. blank dogs have been making plenty of rumbles in the noisier and more secretive outposts of the underground (half his discography’s sold out), but troubleman unlimited’s just repressed his very recommended full-length on two sides (on yellow vinyl in an edition of 500) and in the red’s releasing a 20-song double lp (or single cd) called under and under . it’s all new material. he’s also playing his first shows in nyc, so if you want to take a peek, you can. all this to say: seems like blank dogs is on his way out of the basement. –stereogum
underwater peoples records is proud to offer alex bleeker’s passion fueled project as our first ever lp release. built solely on love, our label strives to deliver uniquely genuine pieces of artwork. it is a special privilege to find ourselves linked to this heart felt treasure. alex bleeker & the freaks self titled album was recorded live on june 11th, 2009. the bulk of the session took place in the basement of julian’s childhood home, in ridgewood, nj. the group consists of alex bleeker (real estate), matt mondanile (real estate, ducktails), martin courtney iv (real estate) and julian lynch. some of the songs mirror the boys collective disposition, that of a gentle and warm young man. others however, invite the listener in for a glimpse at that same boy’s restless, virile soul. a sensitive type may describe it all as raw, live, honest rock and roll with heart. alex bleeker & the freaks have been friends since high school and as healthy, red blooded american men so often choose to do, they’ve channeled their romantic energies into an electrified musical powerhouse. it’s as classic and genuine as an adolescents playboy collection or a fat, bald man in a red corvette. – up.
two florida 19 year olds make mature pysch pop, receive blog love from stereogum, i guess i’m floating, indie rock café, and kanye west, sign to kanine records and release debut album “season dreaming”. limited run of cd and vinyl lp with printed inner sleeve and digital download card. track listing: 1.the warm current’s pull 2. heavy cloud hustle 3. the dinosaur ride 4. anxious place 5. the planets explode 6. sleeping habits 7. jimmy dove 8. kissing minutes 9. ghosts 10. shells. vinyl is limited 500 one time pressing only.
warehouse find of the last copies of this 2003 reissue…. very rare arizona psychedelic trio from ’69. fuzz guitar, psych-y leads and great cuts like ‘ride the ship of fools’, ‘cry for love’, and ‘visions’. plus two incredible bonus tracks never before heard.
the great orthochromatic wheel is the blithe sons first full-length release since 2004. in the years since the california duo of loren chasse and glenn donaldson may have traversed poppy fields and swam to aqua cities though mostly they’ve remained active with their jewelled antler offshoots: ov, of, and child readers (chasse) or skygreen leopards and flying canyon (donaldson) and both in thuja. these five songs combine nature’s melodic pull and minimalist songs forms summoned by a miniature orchestra of eclectic instruments. each lp side flaunts a different depth of the sons, one recorded outdoors and the other inside. the indoor set consists of slow-motion ballads built on hymn-like organ, nylon string guitar, analog drum machine & stark percussion. the outdoor side offers a web of exotic wind-instruments & battery-powered electronics reverberating in cavernous hall cut in the side of a sea-cliff. limited edition of 500 copies. contain a download coupon for mp3 version of the album.
german original pressing. pretty classic uk psych pop, with all the right early pink floyd and “sgt. pepper” moves firmly in place. nice fragile metallic printed laminated cover has some very faint but large marker on front. large marker on one label. EX-/EX-.
perhaps the rarest greek rock album, released back in 1972 in very small quantities (300-500copies) and never again re-released in vinyl. here, we talk about a combination of psych-folk and flower power hippy rock with male and female vocals, great melodies and an acid overall atmosphere. acoustic guitars, sometimes heavy and sometimes fuzzy electric guitars, organ, bass and drums create one of the best greek psych albums, although overshadowed and low promoted back then. blue birds was one of the very first greek modern bands as well as one of the most long-lived. although they had started in 1963 as a garage-beat band they delevoped in a hippy band producing some fine singles & #136;êas well as this album- in the early 70′s. as the original release, this reissue is housed in an envelope-like gimmix heavy cover, contains the poster and the greek lyrics sheet. extras are a 4-pages insert with english lyrics and band’s bio and a full-coloured, high quality, psych post-card – killer album and another very high quality exact repro greek reissue. recommended.
there where only 4 good and rare albums on the danish spectator label: terje, jesper & joachim (which we have just done on lp and now on cd), moses (we are still working on a deal), days (we are about to negotiate a deal) and the rarest of them all blues addicts. what a guitar work this is. ivan horn really kicks ass with his extra heavy guitar. as good as the heavy cream songs, in parts as creative as jimi hendrix. the musical range and the guitar style is as good as the best early eric clapton work with the far out techniques of jimi hendrix. all own composition, long tracks, extra heavy guitar, english vocals & heavy drum sounds. ivan horn: guitars, vocals & kazzo, mich brink: bass, gibber thomsen: vocals & congas, henning aasbjerg: drums. if spectator would have kept rock music their musical style instead of switching to jazz, those 4 bands would have been successful on the international rock circus… recorded denmark, 1970. great crude b&w art, heavy covers, 180gm white vinyl, insert, 450 numbered copies.
interest in this has surged recently and quite rightly too, as this is one of the best acid-punk lps ever. clearly inspired by “electric comicbook”-era blues magoos, these long island kids had a problem with both drugs and their attitude! their originals are excellent vox organ/fuzz teen garage psych and the reworked cover versions pretty demented as well. the cough syrup high school-play vibe of “deaf, dumb ¨ blind” must be heard to be believed. not a perfect album, with a few sections that drag on, but the highs are higher than on almost any other lp of this kind. possibly the best on the label, at least if you prefer the 60s teen-garage approach over hippie longhairs. – acid archives… heavy covers, 180gm vinyl, limited to 1000 copies.
described by kris kristofferson as “one of the three best songwriters in the country,” kentucky native jay bolotin’s songs have been championed by the likes of merle haggard and porter wagoner, among many others. yet jay’s eponymous debut – released on the major subsidiary commonwealth united label – had the halflife of a mayfly when it went into circulation in 1970 and today it remains as phantasmic as the prairie ghosts that have long populated his native kentucky. however hasty or uncertain the release of the album may have been some 40 years ago, one thing is certain: in a darkened room in new york city at the end of a kentucky childhood, a 20 year old jay bolotin cut a singularly enchanted album of unhurried, low key loner ballads with the confidence and honesty of a seasoned journeyman. jay bolotin is an unqualified singer songwriter gem that will appeal to fans of leonard cohen, townes van zandt & alex chilton. features kenny lyon on bass & mark taber on piano & harpsichord- both veterans of the providence, rhode island scene, the fugs’ bobby mason on percussion and david mowry on guitar. deluxe 180 gram vinyl featuring new liner notes and lyrics inserts. remastered & reissued for the first time since it’s elusive ‘release’. “dear father” featured on numero group compilation lonesome heroes.
tie yourself on a feedbag of slightly decayed dog bones and crushed plastic kids toys you found in a cheeze whiz dumpster, throw you inhabitations out the window and dance your ass off to these highly damaged, anthemic, home made synth and drum songs. this is analog plunger punk at its best!!!! featuring: members of child bride, dreamhouse, blue shift and riddlin’. 600 pressed. full color cover.
an allez-taeia of the body, earth breath and sweetness, a great sigh beneath the world tree. an attempt this time to say a few things simply, and be gone. about letting go of places that are family, not holding on too tight, the condition of waking up one morning and suddenly finding yourself alive on this great green planet, surrounded by the infinite… gorgeous solo outing from death chants / aswara member, and the first release on his new humito label. lovely screen printed wrap-around paste-on art on heavy black cover. limited to just 200 copies. highly recommended!
long gone limited to 500 copy reissue on this collectible label. smokin’ west coast heavy blues psych with consistently burning electric guitars moves through the whole album. heavy 60s style gatefold cover with extensive notes. very clean copy. NM-/NM- $50.00
previously reissued on cd by sunbeam, now issued on deluxe lp format as well; 180 gram pressing. the third and final album by the edinburgh-based duo of david mcniven (ex-human beast) and angie rew was barely released in 1971, but has gone on to become one of the most treasured “acid folk” albums of all time. comprising the epic, 21-minute title track and four unforgettable stand-alone songs, amaryllis features a heady, trippy blend of true acoustic melodies as well as outstanding support from musicians including danny thompson and terry cox of pentangle, and is an essential purchase for all fans of psychedelic singer-songwriting… highly recommended lp sounding better then ever on nice audiophile vinyl. nice!
beautiful original copy of this exceptional & very rare xian folkrock / garage / psych private press. only 300 copies pressed. top of the heap for this kind of thing without question. other then one lame blues song (slightly redeemed by some pretty hot electric guitar) every track is a complete winner. the sound is quite varied, with each track a unique experience. all together, an utterly charming album best taken as a whole. ranging from moody melancholy electric folkrock with chiming velvet underground like electric guitars, to unhinged raw fuzzed-out garage rock, to glassy-eyed zoned-out folk. both the male & female vocals are wonderfully youthful, sincere, and totally earnest. loads of awesome cheap go-go organ, perfect raw garage production, nice harmonies, unique song writing, and the drummer is nuts! really really cool album, with lovely obscure-o cover art to match. very very minor storage warp which has zero effect on play. cover fully in shrink. NM-/NM-.
this is heather woods broderick’s debut album — from the ground is built around warm, reverberating atmospheres and familiar yet striking melodies, gently wrapping around the listener and finding magic in subtlety. her soft voice matches the delicate neo-classical arrangements that are as light as a feather. careful attention has been paid to the album’s understated production, giving the feeling that these are lullabies pulled straight from the still morning air. broderick’s songs make the case that sometimes starting out somewhere simple is often better. at the core is heather and her guitar and throughout from the ground that combination is its greatest strength. plucked and strummed chords provide the foundation from which these songs take flight. the record is populated by lyrically-engaging songs and impressive instrumentals that take the listener into a world full of indian summers and pink sunset skies. it’s inevitable that anytime from the ground comes up, the fact that heather woods broderick is, indeed, the older sister of everyone’s favorite ultra-talented multi-instrumentalist peter broderick is mentioned, but his string arrangements and production on the album cannot be overlooked. they add another layer to compositions that are already stunning, further making the case that from the ground is an alluring yet subtle force to be reckoned with. from the ground was originally released on cd by preservation records (australia). this limited lp edition features new artwork and a previously-unreleased bonus track. vinyl cut at dubplates & mastering, berlin. includes a hidden locked groove.
as atlantic records partner and president jerry wexler said to phil spector (who released the lp via a distribution deal with warner bros.): ‘thank you for the test pressing on lenny, i think it’s fantastic. many of the bits in this lp surpass in brilliance, insight and compassion anything i’ve heard of lenny’s. i had come to the point where his juridical musings were beginning to put me off, and i was beginning to his obsession with his trial (and trials) as a bore. i have a new insight. lenny really achieves new dimensions as a prophet when he addresses himself to the nature of the law, the judge and the policemen in the same sense as the old testament prophets did when the attacked kings and commoners alike, exposing the unending cop-outs and rationalizations which with people protect their paltry possessions and nurse their hard-won neuroses and precious foibles. those in power are better able to perpetuate their grip on their baggage, both material and psychic, than those they oppress; but both haves and have-nots are uptight in this regard. when lenny is really popping and cooking, as he is in this lp, i get so turned on that i get a euphoric kick. it is a case of terrific rapport and shared viewpoint, and the electric like viewpoint, and an electric-like phenomenon and awareness takes place, perhaps what james joyce refers to as an “epiphany” in portrait of the artist. lenny induced this in me many times in clubs, but i don’t remember it happening listening to his records until this time.’… perfect SEALED NM+ original copy with very small cutout.
original press and another texas psych winner on this cool label. some ring wear. vinyl has odd pressure marks both sides and two needle scratches. plays well overall. VG+/VG.
his rarest & best. original 1970 WHITE LABEL PROMO pressing. absolutely perfect brooding, drifting, freeform avant psych folk masterwork. just stunning. great fidelity. timing strip on cover. faintest wear, sharp corners, tight seams. original label inner sleeve. very clean labels & vinyl, a lite paper scuff or two away from perfect. EX++/NM-.
his rarest & best. awesome SEALED copy! absolutely perfect brooding, drifting, freeform avant psych folk masterwork. just stunning. missing a little shrink at bottom edge, and some starting cover wear there. neat punch hole. looks perfectly flat. SEALED NM.
red records #1… a lucky few got to hear this little gem as the tiny self released cdr edition, but here’s the real deal. an absolutely lovely album and surely joshua’s finest dose yet. oozing with a perfectly warm lo-fi bedroom glow, and full of joshua’s most direct & achingly melancholy song forms. totally hitting a whole new level of intimate vibrations, full of fragile hushed vocals, gentle acoustic guitar plucking, somber dirges, and electronic bagpipe mantras. beautifully formed lyrics step up the forefront as a rare treat, and the effect is just as stunning as it is simple. we just can’t get enough of this one. the kind of record you’ll want to spin again & again to soothe a busy mind… truly psychedelic folk music for late night soul searching… lusciously hand packaged in a custom creamy art paper heavy 60s style gatefold cover with full size, full color paste-on front artwork, screen printed back cover & interior, printed labels, hand stamped spine, and pressed on 180gm bright red vinyl. hand numbered limited edition of 300 copies.
based in western massachusetts, joshua plays occasional live shows that never fail to stir the spirit-pot. whether beaming layered vocals and effects-trammeled whistling (whistling!) into the anticipatorily puckered o-minds of the audience, paying tribute to the great jansch, or rambling down forgotten paths w/ archaic stringed instruments, the guy never fails to heat up brain coils that i’d forgotten i have. in many ways, however, his most potent material is crafted in dark singularity, late at night, w/ tape rolling and moist nodes of fever pulsing gently in the dark, soft air. on this album, helped by kindred souls from tower recordings, six organs of admittance, and dredd foole, joshua achieves a kind of dream-loaded perfection that is the purview of very few. as the fools in the mainstream underground rush towards a platonic ideal that dehumanizes the process of creation, joshua embraces the quivering meat wheel that rotates in the center of all humankind. it is nothing less than a pinnacle of splendor. subtlly acknowledging influences that range from c.o.b. to the guild of temporal adventurers, it moves through the fair like a wraith. – byron coley… long out of print private press masterpiece. metallic gold spray painted recycled covers with paste-on art. highly recommended!
burnt hills are a collective from albany, ny. every monday they use to jam and host shows at the heldberg basement, which is also the headquarter of flipped out records, exquisite label and mailorder active for 25 years. if you are lucky enough to attend one of their shows, you will probably realize that you are experiencing something more than a concert… it’s in fact a proper ritual that finds its perfect expression in a music that combines the freedom of free jazz, the fire of garage rock and the hallucinations of the best psychedelic music. lights out is just burnt hills at their best. just a little warm up and the hills explode like a bomb blowing up continually in a furious jam, where heavy vibrating vocals, pulsating rythm section and wild guitar wipe outs move along with perfect cohesion and fluidity. we are completely sucked into the vortex of this groove when a slow comedown begins to the end of the side, with that great solo guitar pattern drawing the last beaufitul images and then… lights out! paste on covers, with hand stamped label. limited to 150 copies, numbered.
hand picked from the treasure trove… a beautifully crushing live recording! professionally mastered and cut to sweet black wax. the full band blazing away at the pinnacle of their cosmic live explorations… stunning dual sided screened artwork… as with all “holy room” releases, this will be a one time only pressing…limited to 139 numbered copies, black jackets with “deluxe gold flake” screen printing!
soar through the cosmos as five guitars radiate microwaves towards the sun’s core, a bass levitates over the rings of saturn and shimmering percussive clatter seals up a black hole at the edge of the universe…. co-released with noiseville…. edition of 300 copies, with paste-on art front & back.
clare hubbard (“caethua”) creates haunted movements, encompassing scapes of “coldness” and comfort, throughout this lp with each sorrowful ballad surrounded by terms/phrases of meditation and experimental sound collages using saxophone, singing bowls, electronics, guitars, bells, water, and recordings made while on a boat trip traveling throughout the length of the st. lawrence river. dark ambient psychedelic folk… real nice album packaged in a screen printed recycled cover with paste-on art. swirl colored vinyl.
caethua is the project of maine residents clare hubbard, now collaborating with andy neubauer. as caethua walks deeper and deeper into the fogged up landscape, they bring with them a walter carlos take on baroque tinged psyche folk, and post industrial tinted lenses for which to look through. with a handful of releases under her belt on a variety of labels, the summer is over is one of hubbard’s most realized works. eight sonically perfect songs filled with heart-melting vocal melodies, and dream provoking lyrics. tastefully accompanied by her piano, guitar, saxaphone and well placed soundscapes. she is joined on this record by the multi-instrumentalism of andy neubauer (impractical cockpit, ancestral diet, flak mask, village of spaces) who compliments this masterpiece with bass clarinet and cello. recorded at the pool recording studio by alex yusimov and artfully mastered by tim stollenwerk. this is a split release between turned word and the debut release on the new mississippi records imprint, water wing records. edition of 500… nice fancy covers & heavy full color inserts. lovely stuff.
dennis callaci and simon joyner are two of the foremost channelers of “the song.” simon is known for his solo recordings, with releases on jagjaguwar, truckstop, shrimper, and sing eunuchs!, among others. dennis plays in refrigerator and was the sole voice behind the criminally underheard paste. they are singer-songwriters in that they write songs and sing them, but that appellation dumbs down and sanitizes what they do. i think it is more accurate to say that both have a way of tapping into the stream of collective creativity that flows from god-knows-when through to the present and beyond. their songs have a gravity to them, an”old soul,” as it were, that cannot be mistaken. there are a few stylistic precursors to their work precursors that have been well-documented previously but the songs they write and sing tap into something more ineffable, timeless, and grave. stranger blues set comprises three of simon’s songs and two by dennis, all recorded live in the callaci living room to what seems to be a single microphone. the nontraditional (or better: non-studio) setting adds a palpable sensation of space to the recordings by space i do not simply mean the warmth of the room tone, but actual space: backing vocals and spare piano or guitar lines arise in such a way that you are aware of the physical geography of the room. you can hear simon singing along with dennis from an actual distance away; his voice is (literally) distant and all the more forlorn. the guitar lines that dennis adds to flesh-out simon’s songs have the same eerie effect. this sense of space underscores two seemingly contradictory strengths about stranger blues. on one hand, these songs are beautifully lonely and spare, highlighted by the echoes and distance in the room. at the same time, it is clear that two songwriters who know and love the other’s work, who are very much working in tandem to build upon each others strengths. single edition of 500 one-sided lps. silkscreened and hand assembled chipboard jackets in a”traditional” catsup plate brown butchers tape design scheme.
first ever reissue, deluxe & legit, of this quite rare 1976 southern california private press gem. it’s a strange, fantastical, and totally distinct album that will have you sucked in almost instantly. this one is extremely hard to pin down – think something like a loner powerpop rock opus, heavy on the psychedelic production values, studio dreamer vibes, and timeless hooks. the songs are unusual but infectious, the production is breezy & expansive but not polished, and the vocals are constantly morphing yet always effective. in fact, the hazy chameleon-like personality here might be one of the best things going for the album, as not only does eddie seem to be channeling a handful of different vocalists, but the whole mood & sound shifts around unexpectedly as well. even the potential low points somehow work, and there’s surprises around every turn. the often questioning, self-reflective lyrics add yet another layer of mystique to the trip. musically the most mellow points hover around gorgeous, airy, rural-tinged, floating psychedelia with beautifully layered acoustic & electric guitars, tinkling keys, and lush mellotron. when things pick up they’re truly rocking, with tight punchy rhythms and eddie firing off big chunky guitar riffs like he’s playing to the packed stadium behind his third eye. all the studio tricks at hand are put to full use with sweet leslie guitar effects, special tones, backwards solos, elaborate multi-tracked sound fields, and some of the most wonderfully bent synthesizer soloing ever laid to tape. the perfectly strange & beautiful cover art seals the deal… mastered from the artist’s well preserved & great sounding master tapes. pressed on highest quality 180gm virgin vinyl, and packaging in an exact reproduction heavy old-style cover, with exact repro labels. also includes a double-sided heavy stock insert with a bunch of great vintage photos of eddie rockin’ the marshall stacks at the ‘false ego’ sessions, plus new notes from eddie, his wife donna-davi, and album producer robert berry. one time pressing of 700 copies.
evan caminiti is a guitarist full of big ideas and even bigger sounds. currently known as one-half of the san francisco bay area avant-droners barn owl, caminiti has spent a great deal of time the past few years playing and recording gorgeous solo explorations focused primarily on the guitar but, when need be, accented by additional instrumentation. following several prior releases, caminiti’s abilities have been honed to the razor-sharp point of his new lp, west winds. three lobed recordings is proud to present this album, caminiti’s most mature and meditative to date. west winds is a discourse on solitude and cosmic exploration set primarily to an open tuned guitar. it is a logical successor to caminiti’s strong, large(r) scale solo debut, psychic mud shrine (digitalis, 2009) and calls to mind roy montgomery, hex-era earth, and popul vuh. the album is the result of caminiti’s six-month-long focus on each song’s form and musical composition. over that span of time, caminiti assembled and came to know each song intimately, constructing a series of strong structural bases. that knowledge permitted him to record the final takes accentuated by numerous potent improvisational flourishes as heard on west winds. this long-form approach of adding chaotic, off-the-cuff elements to such long-crafted tracks is basically the opposite approach to that which is used within the context of barn owl. through its contemplative tone, west winds is the perfect soundtrack to your next night alone in the literal or figurative desert. it is a bold and cohesive statement from a young artist already capable of recording greatness… includes free download. limited edition of 600 in a cool screen printed cover. already sold out at source so don’t sleep on it.
US press spiral vertigo label SEALED original from this way overlooked liverpool talent. this lp gushes with ideas and hits on everything from acidfolk to full on psych to classic uk prog featuring members of BADFINGER. gatefold cover. SEALED NM.
canamii’s concept is a great obscure south african progressive folk rock album with excellent female vocals by claire whittaker. it reminds of the best uk mid ’70s progressive groups. a must have for all spriguns, renaissance and early curved air fans. insert with group photos and lyrics included. limited edition, deluxe 180 gram vinyl, from the original master tapes, exact reproduction of the original artwork.
car commericals are generally uncomfortable; probably shifty-eyed loners that barely leave the basement. their brand of strictly personal suburban ooze was borne deep within the recesses of new jersey, just east of i-95. more specifically, this music springs from inside that unspeakable zone deep within the mind where feelings get very messy. david sutton and daniel dimaggio, the duo known as car commercials, make mysterious fake rock clatter for heavy petting (yeah right). following a brief stint as gt performers, daniel and david began to make duo recordings as car commercials a few years ago, releasing their creepy missives in small runs, mostly for sutton’s leaf leaf label. the two have tapped into an aspect of nonsensical nihilism that makes jad fair’s early recordings so alluring, but have forgone his obsession with cartoon horror and monster movies in favor of faces of death i thru vi. eric’s diary is the second lp release from car commericals, following the out-of-print judy’s dust lp (cenotaph) from early 2008. those confounded by judy’s dust will be pleased to know that eric’s diary is where things get…intense. breathe deep, and prepare to scratch yr head faster than you can say ‘home blitz.’ lp edition of 200 with full color paste-on sleeves… great!
here is a great surprise for us. an unknown uk album with such a great musical potential. musically it is a very powerful guitar dominated underground rock such as black sabbath, blue cheer, dark or grannie. the rarity factor is way above all those other rare uk albums, which stay in low pressings of 99 copies and 15-20 such as dark. this one has been pressed only 4 times ever. in september 1971 eugene carnan entered a uk-wide competition for ‘best new band’ run by the famous melody maker magazine, they recorded the album in 1972 and took it to london to eden studios for a demo pressing and cut 4 acetates. eugene carnan a 3 piece band are from sheffield, uk with guitar & vocals, bass and drums. all own composition. a killer album from beginning to end…. 500 numbered copies, 180gm vinyl, insert, etc.
this is the companion release to the tom carter cd titled shots at infinity 1 being release on important simultaneously. shots at infinity 2 is two long live tracks in the same mode as shots at infinity 1, but more cut loose and blown out, recorded in nemo bidstrup’s record store and burnt hills’ basement jam zone. tom carter is a guitar player best known for his work with acclaimed psych-drone iconoclasts charalambides. since 2000, however, he has become increasingly active as not only a solo artist but as a collaborator. he has performed with improvising musicians as diverse as thurston moore, jandek, tetuzi akiyama, matt valentine, and many others, as well as being a key member in groups like badgerlore (with ben chasny of six organs of admittance), friday group, mudsuckers (with robert horton and the yellow swans), and zaika (with marcia bassett of the double leopards and hototogisu). carter’s solo work covers a lot of territory, but latter-day sightings show him to be concentrating on looped guitar drones of immensely stacked beauty, with heaps of psychedelic melodic content missing from the repertoires of many noise and drone bands. his influences include everyone from lamonte young to david crosby… limited vinyl.
nice clean copy of this very good and pretty overlooked album, featuring JIMMY PAGE on guitar. heavy gatefold cover. orig. inner sleeve. tiny saw cut to spine. EX+/EX++.
during the last euro tour of wolf eyes, john olson (of american tapes, spykes, guam river etc – ) and mike connelly (of gods of tundra, hair police, failing lights etc – ) decided it was enough! they screamed “i’m not going to bed!!! i never wanne sleep again!!!”, they missed their flights and stayed in antwerp with the ultra audiobored horror crew for 7 more weeks without food and drinks, just dry weed and cancerbags to suck on! after that intense test to see if they could adapt to the antwerp life style, they finally met up with legendary belgian eccentric cacti and hat collector cassis cornuta, this psychadelic caracter brought his whole space synth and tape lab over to radio centraal to record an intense last gasp jam with the hardly breathing olson and connelly, the end result is an amazing trip to space and back to the mental hospital! like pouring lighter fluid and tabasco up your genitals or like olson states it so beautifully; like pissing on your own hand, freezing it and then using it as a lollypop for 5 days! comes in a gross 6 panel cover design and with an etch on the b side! – very limited. amazing packaging!
super rare french private press underground basement folk psych kinda like BOOK OF AM on a lo-fi bad ergot trip! totally raw, damp, dark vibes but with real strong energy & intensity. trad folk delivered like wild pagan romps, mixed with deeply psychedelic acidfolk originals. all acoustic but really blown-out with guitars, autoharp, banjo male/female and great mystical flute work. all english lyrics. pretty unknown album but this one leaves a strong impression on everybody lucky enough to hear it. future reissue on time-lag records… very small pressing with crude screen printed cover. this copy has the very rare paste-on back cover insert. cover has general age wear, sticker stain, small top & spine splits. nice wax with just hairlines & lite scuffs. cheap pressing but plays well. VG+/EX-.
private press tough hardrock / metal. great looking front cover could easily be 60s private acidfolk till you see the dudes on the back! i am kinda curious about the “special effects guitar tracking unit” invented by the guitarist… should be CLEAR WAX. very minor corner wear but STILL SEALED NM-/S.
ceylon mange is the trio of dylan nyoukis (chocolate monk proprietor and sound molder in blood stereo, decaer pinga), karen constance (blood stereo, smack music 7) and bill nace (x.o.4, vampire belt). the maiming path extends from the group’s previous mind melts with two side long (de)constructions that are assembled from a variety of mangled loops and electronics, guitar feedback/slaughter and cromagnon vocals. the results are a murky stew, as each emerging sound creeps upon the listener like a blackened sloth nightmare. it’s the type of organic brain tangle that is rarely unleashed by the spirits these days. the lp is pressed in an edition of 410 and housed in a full-colour printed sleeve featuring karen’s outsider artwork – killer dirty droning noise. out of print first pressing.
a great puerto rican garage psych group who sang in english, with pleasant multi-part vocal leads sitting atop more engrossing latin rhythms and instrumental flourishes, fine fuzz guitar work and screaming farfisa organ. this is the first time reissue for lp of this rare central-south american psychedelic vinyl – elaborate lp-only reissue, super heavy full color gatefold sleeve, poster and obi – awesome album!
long-, long-, long-, loooooong-awaited and singular entry in the charalambides and klang industries discographies; one of those “does it really exist?” items that’s finally seeing daylight, or moonlight. a stark, unsettling and beautiful slice of duo charlambides invocation/incantation, taken from the period between jason bill and heather leigh murray’s tenures with the band and featuring extraordinary chord organ and vocal work from christina and some signature lap steel mastery from tom. fans of the band’s most recent, more song-based work will find this relevatory, long-time listeners will say “ahhhh” and settle in for the flight. heavy vinyl, limited pressing, cover handiwork by tom, the first release in years from klang and a sign perhaps of a truly epic revival… nice!
new release of eldritch origin featuring historic recordings of two nearly-complete sets from the “market square”-era charalambides lineup, featuring the core duo of tom & christina carter + jason bill. one side is from the cooler, nyc, at the 1995 cmj fest (swirling vox sound courtesy kurt wolf), where strapping fieldhands got their fender twin stolen, and bill orcutt & i witnessed the unrepentant use of string-eze by the gtrist from cobra verde. the other side is from the 1994 siltbreeze festival at the khyber pass in philly. both sets consist of freak-rock tracks from “market square” & “strangle the wretched heavens,” heavy on analog atmosphere & ecstatic/blown-out gtr/vox interconnectivity.
charlie nothing was the fractured-psyche pseudonym of author, father, horsekeeper, organic farmer, beekeeper, philosopher, clown and inventor of the dingulator (guitar sculptures made from american car metal), charles martin simon. charlie’s only visible offering to the record buying public was really anything but. due to it’s rarity, the psychedelic saxophone of charlie nothing, issued by takoma records in 1967, has been a source of consternation for in-the-know types for years. outside / inside, the second and only other charlie nothing lp, originally issued by everitt enterprises in 1969, thematically follows with two sidelong flute-based instrumentals. nowhere on wax will you find more palpable preserved air of a real-time dropout scene than with these sides of nothing. it is a wonder that these records circulated at all outside the vacuum in which they were created. nothingness, a california existentiality looping back on itself, preserved and disseminated as evidence. there are indeed very few records like these. fully authorized / fully legit.
nice original copy of this monster rare deranged heavy french acid psych scorcher! really insane album thats a total top shelf item for heavy psych collectors. chico’s vocal are downright out of this world, babbling & screaming stream of consciousness madness and senseless, wordless free expression. think DAMO SAZUKI and MALCOLM MOONEY rolled into one face-tripping frenchman and you’ll be pretty close. the band is equally unhinged with relentless hendrix worshiping guitar pyrotechnics, driving bass, and heavy-ass drums… mix that all with production & wild studio/tape effects/loops from avant genius JEAN-PIERRE RAWSON and you’re in for one hell of a powerful trip. stunning full color (not like the recent reissue) fragile laminated flip-back cover. cover has a tight small bottom seam split, beginning very minor spine crack, and a small half inch tear at opening. all barely noticeable, and looks just about perfect from the front. label are near perfect with a couple faint spindle marks on either side. heavy wax has a handful of lite hairlines & paper scuffs, but full of shine and full fidelity preserved. nice keeper copy for sure. very rare, unique and recommended album. EX+/EX.
summer 06 family underground (dk) recorded with dave nuss of nnck at black dirt studios in the woods of upstate ny. the yield was as characteristically unhinged as one might expect: sweeping electronic sounds backed with wood and bone percussion spirit-conjure. however also harvested was some new and especially tasty crop: sung and spoken song, electric guitar/conga “rock,” and an odd ghostly sheen coating the entire proceeding.…
susan christie was a philly-based sophomore folk singer who had one novelty hit for a major label and never quite recovered…and afterwards, her psychedelic take on country standards and hand crafted tales of inner-city solitude that was backed by a break heavy folk-funk rhythm section was never accepted as a commercial viability by record company big-wigs: they obviously couldn’t quite muster their ‘nostradamus’ sensibilities to foresee what future hip-hop producers and djs would be feeding into digital music-machines 30 years down the line! luckily three-fifths of a handful (literally three!) privately pressed vanity copies were manufactured in early 1970, one of which became the source material for this b-music release, nesting in the finders keepers’ ever-expanding library of obscure, obtuse, obsolete and obsessive vintage music from the ’60s and ’70s. the uber-legend john hill (who penned the mind-blowing acid rock floor-filler ‘love love love love love’ for wool) produced this release: which features 8 tracks including a twelve minute drugsploitation epic called ‘yesterday – where’s my mind’ featuring the enigmatic susan flipping vocal styles between janis joplin and margo guryan (who was in fact a close friend of susan’s at the time of recording.… pretty wild & great one. nice gatefold covers. limited.
1968 hollywood, usa. the churchill downs recorded 16 great tracks at the studio from famous producer gary s. paxton. the band was very young at the time but the musical output was on the highest level you can imagine with a damn good production. how a band like this not become famous is a mystery. fantastic compositions, great multi vocal singing, strong guitars, organ, drums, bass, effects, everything you desire to get catchy underground songs with tons of great ideas in it to make those songs unique and out of bounce and not middle of the road. it is just what we love about the productions of phil spector and andrew loog oldham. the churchill downs are one of the best us unknown albums among beauregard ajax and public nuisance. with don adey on guitar and vocals, gary dalton stovall guitar and vocals, dirk acree bass and vocals, mick newton keyboards and vocals, al stigler and fred darling on drums. if we could go back in time, let’s say 40+ years and release this album in 1968 we would have been rich. why this album was never been pressed is still a mystery. so for the first time ever those great songs made it onto vinyl. we love it… numbered edition of 500, 180gm vinyl, 2 page insert, etc.
nice import only WHITE VINYL pressing. great 1976 archival recordings from ex-QUICKSILVER guitar hero. cover is still in shrink. some loose dirt under the shrink, but cover very clean. nice wax. EX++/EX+.
years passed since the last full length – and circle bros turned from a pure ambient-esque unit into a more song-oriented unit; expect adventurous singer-song improvisation. circle bros is the project of wim lecluyse, the man behind morc records. just as with morc records, circle bros doesn’t focus on quantity – this is the first circle bros full length album since late 2001. on haven, you’ll still hear echoes from the classic drone-outfits likes of windy and carl or azusa plane, but the sound palette is no longer focussed just on guitars. organ, vocals and sound-collages give the recordings a very warm tone, and sometimes refer to the experimental pop- and folk structures of e.g. richard youngs, grouper or castanets.
… really nice new album from this overlooked project. screen printed covers, limited edition of only 143 copies.
arkades catches a session finnish group, circle, recorded exclusively for wfmu during their us tour, september 19, 2005. comprising two lengthy pieces taking up a side each,”the greatest kingdom” and “the ghost of the highway,” the record focuses on the bands often spacy improv underpinning and applies new meaning to a vision which strides powerfully over the line dividing apocalyptic dread from a semblance of hope. agonized wailing, screams and torrents of molten sound dance ghostly shapes over psychedelic keyboard patterns, distant clattering, moonlit guitars and a rhythm section so carefully tempered that its impossible not to feel the chemistry at work. coupled to a fantastic sleeve which illustrates a homage to spaghetti western films and includes fitting notes by wfmu’s program director, brian turner, arkades proves what these new wave of finnish heavy metallers are capable of when they leave most of the rock at the door. file somewhere near acid mothers temple after having been given the kinda makeover only the scandinavians have the formula for. indeed, this is sweet shit – limited!
beautifully presented album from this great band. white wax, clear gloss on white cover, metallic printed label, limited to 500 and looong gone. with label insert. NM-/NM.
a lovely vinyl reissue on etude records of a long obscure climax golden twins gem. originally issued in 1995, on cassette, eerie fragrance or eyeless fabrication or exclude frank or eat fuck or etc (forever) was climax golden twins second official issue after a self-released double seven inch gatefold record. cassettes–the cockroach of the industry–were a necessity at the poorer end of the music spectrum prior to cdrs and file sharing…the good old days…ef was a collage of noise, found sounds, punk rock disasters, chinese climaxes, broken records, and tape failures mastered directly to cassette on a reverberant wooden floor in an old building in seattle, washington. it seemed an inauspicious start and little presaged the ambient/dreamy/art installation/field recording/anomalous records darlings cgt were to become with releases such as lovely, dream cut short in the mysterious clouds, locations, etc. however, secret free hillbilly noise epilepsy has always lurked under the button up shirts, white wine sipping and gallery-opening snack-munching. the noise informs the dreams which informs the ambiance which informs the chaos and so back to the beginning and vice-versa. etude records discovered cgt through their work on the horror film session nine and have been wanting to release something ever since. part band, part art project, climax golden twins were discovered lurking under a desk in a laboratory in the early 1920s. reconstituted around 1993 or 4 (just add gin), they perpetrated various audio artifacts on an unsuspecting (and cold) world (see extensive and largely mythical list below). these days they are the cgt in afcgt. and they released victrola favorites recently on dust to digital. their laboratory origins lead to a an unhealthy interest in early recording and the era of music on 78rpm records and cylinders, a time of acoustic sound reproduction when oral traditions ended and the home entertainment industry and the information age devoured our puny lives. that’s a mouthful. this era was a pivotal one in understanding how humanity arrived where it is today, though climax golden twins denies all knowledge of where that might be.
fresh off a new killer kranky full-length, bi-continental teutonic duo cloudland canyon grease the gears on a piston-pumping motorik ramp into futurist motion, gliding drones & mechanic rhythm. seamless & dreamless. on the b nnf extended family m beast drop 2 perfect soul caravan wanderlust blues drifters. real gorgeous, and a great teaser for their in-the-works full-length for drag city subsidiary language of stone. with art by crops + rawber best friend diva dompe.
beautiful 2nd pressing of this great dark krautrock synth dronefest. different cover art from the philips pressing. thin fully laminated cover almost perfect other then one tiny corner bend. equally clean wax. NM-/NM-.
originally released in 1972, this is the second album by legendary german ambient pioneers dieter moebius and hans-joachim roedelius. moebius and roedelius essentially create ambient electronic soundscapes that ebb and flow, droning on in a suspended world of anti-gravity where machine has conquered man.
delight in the stream is the first solo vinyl outing for john clyde-evans (aka tirath singh nirmala) in close to a decade. recorded during a year-long stay in india, the album seamlessly weaves together an array of piercing bowed objects, flutes and voice with electronic and audio embellishments over the course of three extended tracks. the scattering of sounds swirl around to disorienting effect yet still manage to mesmerize as the music draws itself out. pressed in a limited edition of 300 copies.
turner has been kicking around the nyc folk scene for quite a few years now, but this is, perhaps inexplicably, his first foray onto wax. while most singer / songwriters’ these days seem to draw most of their water from iron and wine via pavement and back again, turner sounds like he began his musical education listening to gershwin player piano rolls and quit buying records somewhere around the time dylan brought it all back home. lyrically, turner can turn a phrase with the best of ‘em, and the gloriously ramshackle accompaniment is mungo jerry meets herman dune sharing a squat in tin pan alley. this lp combines two of turner’s self-released cds, and is as good an introduction to his wonderful music as any. here’s what jeweled antler head honcho glenn donaldson sez about turner:”cody is pre-war, old testament & a confederate general from big sur.” err’nuff said, no?
walking up walls is the second solo album from long-time musician and visual artist alice cohen. in contrast to her previous studio efforts, these are raw home recordings with an intensely personal vibe. the sixteen short song-sketches alternate between densely layered shoegaze burners and shimmering, ethereal drifters. exploring shadowy corners and using the musical equivalent of automatic writing — this was considered to be a sonic diary and not originally intended for release. for reference points think pink opaque-era cocteau twins filtered through the early ’90s lens of new zealanders like alastair galbraith & sandra bell.
there can only be one bongo joe, and that is the incredible george coleman. bongo joe is perhaps the world’s only virtuoso player of the empty oil drum, a man so ingenious that he could even turn petroleum refuse into something musical and sublime. recorded on the streets of san antonio in 1969 by chris strachawitz (arhoolie records). bongo joe drums on his oil cans with a thunderous, tympani-like effect, while discoursing rambling, insightful and hilariously funny lyrics that are often times more stories than songs. as joe himself put it, ‘i rap but not that bullshit they’re putting down now. i play fundamental beat music.’ whether draping his drums with an american flag or washing them in swirls of psychedelic green and red paint, there’s something beyond the typical street-corner busker in bongo joe’s persona, unbridled quality that isn’t just musical, but draws on a tradition of pure entertainment. one of the true treasures of the arhoolie catalog for many years. try ‘innocent little doggie’ (if you think joe was just a novelty act, listen closely to the poignant insightfulness of the lyrics), ‘transistor radio’ (more wry commentary) and ‘dog eat dog.’ one of our favorites, available on vinyl for the first time in 39 years.
after 2004′s critically acclaimed blue cathedral, one might have expected comets on fire to blast off into the cosmos in an infinite flurry of lysergic spasmodicism. surprising, then, that they should turn in an earthy, more accessible and downright beautiful album as their follow-up. then again, it is a completely logical progression, but in reverse, sort of. on avatar their astonishing new album, comets display development in every direction: as musicians, as songwriters, as arrangers and as singers (?!), without sacrificing one ounce of the intensity that is expected from our heroes. as on blue cathedral, the diversity of the material is staggering. avatar veers from swinging, bluesy explorations to piano-laced, progressive power balladry, to pure tribalism, evoking everyone from the allmans, to quicksilver, to procol harum, to some insane fela/sun ra/crazy horse hybrid, yet remains wholly comets on fire. though they play cleaner and clearer, their firepower is evident and abundant. they have shifted gears and opened themselves up completely. you should do the same.
blue cathedral is the third album from comets on fire and their first for sub pop. it is also the bay area band’s most varied and richly textured album yet. with their first two albums, (2001′s self-titled debut/self-released and 2002′s field recordings from the sun on ba da bing!) they established themselves as flag-bearers of modern psychedelia. however, where their previous efforts are full-tilt psychedelic affairs, blue cathedral is harder to pin down (which elusiveness we heartily support). their trademark sound is here enriched by more structured, keyboard-driven jams, churning blue oyster cult-ish chooglers and slow burners reminiscent of harvest-era pink floyd. they recently opened a string of dates for sonic youth and have also played shows with rocket from the tombs, dead meadow and dead moon, sunburned hand of the man and more. they also made a big fan outta lord head on high, julian cope, who said of them: comets on fire deserve our gratitude for their distillation of all the best rock riffs since high rise’s take on blue cheer. naturally, we agree.
now expanded to a four piece, common eider, king eider have crafted yet another blast of high-end wind chill that whips through the empty spaces in your skull. more stories of flora and fauna that hang beautifully in dynamic rooms of piano, strings, voices; and stargazing guitar explosions born of layer after layer of feedback. this ghost world is all gray and black, with a high condensation of loss penetrating throughout. moonlight occasionally lights the path, but for the most part, prepare to be lost in the woods. liz harris (grouper) and tom carter (charalambides) on the tracks ‘ennui’ and ‘earth liver’ add to the overall sense of dread… cool foldout poster cover.
bill cooley and alan munson were two friends in santa barbara, california, living their early 20s writing folk-rock songs for their pleasure. that was 1972, and they decided to put these songs into the studio, self-produce the album and press a tiny quantity of 500 pieces hoping it could help getting a contract with a major company. this never happened, as you would have guessed, and sure this fact helped making their sole album, ‘in debt,’ a major collectable item for folk-rock and psychedelic rock listeners and collectors. being a private pressing, you can easily imagine it’s not a big production, but who cares. this album has the right feel and you won’t need anything else to make it one of your faves. all tracks are original compositions, and the style is very personal. it’s folk-rock, but many tracks are psychedelic too, in their own way. but don’t look close for influences, they will not come to mind easily. bill and alan had their own psychedelic folk-rock style, and the raw, sometimes amateurish feel that these recordings have give the album the final distinctive touch. never reissued before in any format, now here we come with a splendid reissue, with the collaboration of the guys. remastered sound taken from the master tapes… great stuff.
live at the hint house might be considered a field rec. in as much as it is a recording of an ambience or soundscape. made on my first ever trip to mainland america to play music this is the 2nd set of that evening, the 1st set had been an acoustic one of songs and slide guitar. at the start of the 2nd set i quickly realised that my guitar was not working and rather than stop and attempt to find out what was wrong i decided to just continue and improvise with what was at hand on the table in front of me. a casio sk1 sampler keyboard, a yamhaha su10 sampling unit with some pre-recorded samples loaded, a mini disc with some tropical ambience rec. from malaysia and a pitch shifter delay pedal. i was not very happy with what happened that night and when matt zwed gave me two cd-rs the next day i don’t remember giving much attention to the 2nd set. five years on, coincidently to the day as i write this, i realized he had captured more than me trying to get through the piece. it was me, the people in the room, the dog that ran around barking, the traffic sounds coming through the door that was open right behind me and a whole host of magically transported tropical birds and insects that suddenly found themselves reciting whatever it was in the loft space on the edge of harlem, competing or colluding with all of the above to produce a piece of urban exotica. – mike cooper… black vinyl, cover design/collage by mike cooper. rec. in nyc, 2000.
way obscure private press unknown 2nd lp from this maine folk duo. their first and only other lp ‘for a few lovin’ moments’ is great soft folk with moody/dark undercurrents and has gained a following. this 2nd lp is far rarer, but in more of a live lounge mode. still, cool if you’re a fan and theres a couple solid originals. very obscure looking cover. mostly white cover is kind of dirty. very cheap pressing. VG+/VG+.
dancing wayang records are excited to release the first duo album by london-based double bassist john edwards and us drummer extraordinaire chris corsano called tsktsking. the album was recorded at eastcote studios, london in december 2008. limited to 500 copies it comes housed in hand screenprinted wrap-around sleeves. the accompanying insert features exclusive and humerous liner notes written by uk sax pioneer evan parker. defying the drum and bass’s classic roles as rhythm instruments, edwards and corsano’s tsktsking is a beautifully melodic album. at times corsano’s drumset sounds like it’s got strings whilst edwards’s double bass takes its fair share of scrapes and slaps. extended passages explore the most subtle and some unexpected sounds that can be summoned from metal and timber. equally, possessed progressions and untamed eruptions of energy and power are conjured up. these two musicians prey and pounce on their instruments like it’s their last chance. john edwards is one of the most gifted double bassist playing in the uk and europe. since taking up his instrument in the late 1980s he has become an unparalleled force and choice collaborator for musicians such as evan parker, charles hayward (this heat) and john butcher. in 2008 he released a solo bass record on evan parker’s psi label and continues to push the instrument’s boundaries into unexplored territories. chris corsano is one of the most in-demand free drummers working today. after several years living in manchester and edinburgh where he forged fruitful relationships with mick flower (vibracathedral orchestra) and heather-leigh murray (scorces, jandek), he is now based in massachusetts, usa. first encountering free improvisation in the mid 1990s, corsano is now at the forefront of expanded drumset improvisations both solo and in collaborations with artists such as paul flaherty, thurston moore and six organs of admittance… high quality screen printed covers. limited to 500 copies.
deluxe first ever reissue of this brazilian private press monster rarity. originally custom pressed in 1980, ‘rosa de sangue’ is the closing chapter of the amazing recife psychedelic movement that flourished & centered around the work of lula cortes, beginning in 1973 with the release of satwa, and the creation of ‘abracadabra’, lula’s loose art/music/design collective. leading up to 1980 lula had produced & privately released satwa in 1973 (brazil’s first private press lp) as well as marconi notaro’s ‘no sub reino dos metazoarios’ lp that same year (featuring the recording debut of ze ramalho). he then started the legendary but incredibly short lived ‘solar’ label, releasing only two albums: 1975’s ‘paebiru’ double album, and a year later the lone album by flaviola. as if that wasn’t enough, he was also heavily involved in other productions and performed on many seminal albums coming out of the region, including many collaborations with alceu valenca… by the close of the 70s the heavily utilized rozemblit recording studio / pressing plant had been destroyed by repeated floods, abracadabra had run its course, and along with lula’s marriage, the solar label was no more. so ‘rosa de sangue’ was conceived as a bookend & tribute to this closing era; as lula himself states “i want to close all of this with a golden key”… and a golden key it is. entering a small local studio with a head full of songs and his freshly road tested ‘mountains band’, lula created an album simply overflowing with ideas. along with his power trio backing, he was further assisted by many old friends dropping in, including, among many others : alceu valenca, flaviola, ze de flauta & paulo rafael. with hints of the past era and of things to come, it is a truly wild audio experience, covering many styles & moods. from crazed ethno folkrock, to magical, gentle, jungle folk psych zones, to hard hitting, coke dusted fuzz rock, to insane mutant disco dance floor groove, to tweaked americana, to acid vocal raga trance, and way beyond… all throughout lula’s beautiful tricordio work pins things down, and for the first time he is the main vocalist (this is, after all, his first “solo” album!) his is a smoke & booze steeped voice darting between crazed abandon, deep sadness, and glowing soulful humor. when things are mellow, you could easily imagine you’re hearing an outtake from marconi notaro or paebiru, but the next moment you’re dropped into a raging street party or dimly lit booze drenched bar scene vibe… frenzied guitars all over, including some tough fuzz, as well as powerful rolling bass groove, soaring violin, moog weirdness, dusted backup vocals, and great drum kit / regional percussion interplay. psychedelic at heart, but brimming with flashes of tropicalia, punk, prog, and pure hot blooded rock & roll… a bizarre & amazing album. but of course, the story doesn’t end there… at some point while the album was being recorded & pressed lula signed a major label contact which would produce 1981’s far tamer ‘o gosto novo da vida’ lp. when his new label got wind of ‘rosa de sangue’s eminent release, they were displeased to say the least. as soon as the pressing was complete, the entire small edition was seized & destroyed, making this album by far brazil’s rarest. so rare, in fact, that even among the most hardcore brazilian collectors the original lp is often only rumored to exist, often cited as ‘unreleased’… a few copies did however survive, and now, 29 years later, the world can finally hear this “golden key” from a truly visionary artist… packaged in a heavy vintage style cover with exact reproduction original artwork, including the huge full color, double sided, foldout poster insert, plus an extra insert featuring new liner notes from lula cortes as well as translated song titles. 180gm audiophile virgin vinyl pressing with exact repro label art. limited edition one time pressing of 1000 copies.
this is the third volume of work for folkways by one of the most important acoustic guitarists of the 20th century, originally released in 1965. produced by musician alice gerrard and recorded by folklorist/musician mike seeger, when i’m gone is the perfect introduction to the queen of folk-blues. an absolute classic lovingly reissued in a perfect replica of the original folkways jacket and including a reproduction of the original information booklet… top notch official reissue of this gem.
rare original first pressing stereo copies of the sole lp from this too short lived and all time teenage garage psych classic. overflowing with killer fuzz hooks, punk-ass vocals, primitive grooves, and some awesome moody folkrock tracks. 100% solid. SEALED EX-/M.
brand new lp with dirty sounds from cousins of reggae, montreal based 2 man mind fuck. utilizing guitar, drums, turntables and voice. ( featuring blake hargreaves of dreamcatcher, fluorescent friends…& liam thurston of orphanage…) go for a trip via 2 different pieces, heavy, loud, hit electric noise & fatal attack. first vinyl release for parisian noise anti brutal pro violence lubriphikatttor (with members of zaraz wam zagram, tg, napalm jazz, ero babaa…) long tune ‘babypute’ / death of flowers & elaborated destruction… 319 copies in silkscreened covers.
extremely rare arizona private press rural downer acidfolk that is hardly ever offered. desperate sounding vocals, tabla, haunting flute, female backing vocals in a few spots, and some nice acidic electric guitar weaving through in places. not totally striking on first listen, but seems to grow quickly on all who hear it. seriously crude cover art is too much to believe! some info from the artist himself : “mike craig daughter of the moon reordered at desert sound recording studio (1973) released new years eve (1974) after the success of mike’s first album the producers decided that a second album was needed to be put out in a hurry. they determined to take mikes music in a different direction. the album cover was to be controversial and odd so artist/model maggie blackburn was commissioned her cover turned out to be odder than was hoped for. there was no time to change it so it went to press. the all female back up band (cantaloupe island band) was brought into the studio and the album was recorded (in the early 1970’s female bands were considered novelty acts and were not considered to be serious musicians) mike was frustrated with the direction his music was going in. by the time the recording was done mike severed all ties with this band and became reclusive. this album was doomed when it went to the record pressing plant the first stampers had a flaw on them and an unknown number were pressed with the flaw in them before there quality control people found it. by this time the producers of the album were mad at mike for not wanting to work with or go on the road with the girl band. so they pulled there money out leaving mike with the rest of the bills. mike went to the record plant and took the stampers so no more of the albums could be made. the record plant had shipped out possibly 200 of these albums before mike was able to stop them.” … so there you have it. only 200 or less copies pressed! solid cover with only mild general wear. perfect labels. vinyl is virtually unplayed, but has a handful of lite hairlines & paper scuffs from poor storage over the years. solid copy for sure, and not likely to be popping up for sale again any time soon. VG++/VG++.
crash coffin’s eponymous album was originally released privately in 1974 on the mus-i-col label. it is very rare and sought after by early ’70s us psychedelic collectors worldwide. not unjustly so, since it contains one of the best psychedelic songs ever recorded (‘god loves the loser’) and a couple of other great moody psych tracks. it contains 2 unreleased bonus tracks from the same period. limited edition of 500, deluxe 180g vinyl, heavy original cover and insert with group history. insert also contains a sketch of what the original cover was supposed to become — if it were not for lack of funds — that led to an original release with plain white covers — half of them carrying crash coffin’s signature.
great title! damaged underground sounds from EDDIE FLOWERS and co. hand stamped labels. paste-on cover and hand stamped ESP ripoff back cover. EX++/EX+.
super strange tennessee private press from 1980 that has some real charms. sexually confused drug addled amateur folkrock with nature concerns and some rather deep, moody, and very cool tracks. its a fun unique listen all through. i dig this one, especially the way its simultaneously early 70s throw-back and proto mid 80s lo-fi girl folk. not many albums can make that claim… awesome cover art too. VG+/EX+.
another scarce private press college comp ala PERSPECTIVE, RIGHT OF LITTLE REST, TOOL SHED, etc. this ones from earlham college, richmond indiana. from nice trad folk (mattie groves, lark in the morning, etc.) to cool downer folk originals, and even a cool avant electronics piece. a few real gems, a few duds, but over all a cool one. nice ultra obscure crude b&w cover. pressing is poor causing slight warping, but it plays fine. only a couple hundred or less pressed. VG++ /VG+.
stunning original copy of this private press teen acid garage monster. one of the best in the bag, which has had a huge rep since the dawn of interest in obscure garage/psych with good reason. snotty howling brain-dead vocals, relentless ripping fuzz/wah guitar, crisp & loud grooving organ, echo effects, pounding caveman drums, acid lyrics, etc. the handful of fast fuzz psych blasters are total crushers. to my ears the slower numbers work well in the context also, giving some variation and still keeping plenty of raw edge, especially ‘flower girl’ with its beautiful chiming bell melody. i don’t think this guy could sing softly if he tried… set apart from 90% of other such tiny private press lps by the amazingly high quality recording and pressing which is total top notch. amazing crisp clear fidelity, both in the actually recording & in the impressively hi-fi pressing, which is a pretty powerful combination. this one jumps out of your speakers and right up into your face. only 500 copies pressed so always a rare one. amazing thick full color metallic printed cover art adds to the vibe perfectly. high quality thick wax too. cover is amazingly perfect in full shrink. shrink has a small tear on back where the cover was signed by grady pope in 1985, with the shrink then clear taped neatly back into place. pristine vinyl. NM/NM.
first memoirs vinyl lp release! the essence of outsider psychedelic electronics composed and performed by phil todd (ashtray navigations, inca eyeball, hitler airbag etc). influences include cccc, jean-claude eloy, master wilburn burchette, metal machine music, incapacitants, old fairground rides, the sound of low flying planes over ls6 especially the latter etc. punk’s not dead, it just stinks of silver spraypaint – crazy silver spray painted recycled covers with paste-on art. numbered/limited edition of only 200 copies, so act fast!
the much-anticipated blast-off release for speer and his band. recently rewarded 5 stars in time out mag by the music editor, this album is a landmark in laid-back blues and country songwriting, feat. members of nnck and sunburned. -s@1. the inimitable mr. speer coined the term himself upon titling his pre-helix full length releases… forgotten country. not so much a forgotten people of a state or a rural area. not so either some south’s gonna rise again moonshine. more so a return to a way of presenting a music in the context of a tradition (something those boys in the band are pretty high on.) but this isn’t your grandfather’s bakersfield we’re dealing with. tho’ the tongue of the balladeer may spin tales ripe with a cast of characters including “the pastor” randolph healey, cheese frog, the man from hhs, uncle ernie, that guy with the black mustache and red caddy who stole your girl, and the true born sons of levi, he sings them not only with the twang of the roadhouse, but tainted with the grit of the streets of the big city. as one casual listener once noted to the band after a performance, “you guys play both types… country and psych.” and it’s true that the sounds contained on after hours do act on the mind as much as they tug at the heartstrings. replete with tales of mental instability, infidelity, drunken advice, wartime hucksters, heartbreak, and redemption, the first album by d charles with his backing band will surely immediately stand out amongst the shards of gothic americana that litter our fair sonic landscape… beautifully done release on this great new label! 180gm vinyl, heavy screen printed flipback covers, heavy insert. recommended.
it is a tremendous understatement to say that it is with grand excitement that three lobed recordings is proud to announce the release of distillation by d. charles speer & the helix. for the last couple of years we have been continually excited by each of the fruits that have resulted from speer/helix collaboration. for our money, last year’s after hours album was one of the best released by anyone. distillation only ups the ante from that prior full length by elaborating upon some of the musical themes from the late 2008 “in madagascar” 7”. the resulting album presents a tightly focused modern honky tonk quintet more than happy to blur the lines between country, psychedelia and the overall american musical tradition. consisting on this album of d. charles speer (aka dave shuford from the no neck blues band and enos slaughter), hans chew (last seen providing some ripping piano accompaniment on “fishtown flower” from jack rose’s the black dirt sessions), marc orleans (enos slaughter, sunburned hand of the man), jason meagher (no neck blues band, coachfingers) and rob gregory (the suntanama), the helix are a seriously experienced and talented crew. distillation was recorded over time between the winter and summer of 2008 at the band’s home away from home, meagher’s black dirt studios in westtown, new york. margot bianca guests on backing vocals on a few of the album’s tracks. the album starts off in monstrously infectious form with the leadoff track, “mason dixon crime”. the track’s propulsive, rolling rhythm, dueling guitars and soaring chorus offer the perfect foil to speer’s ever-present baritone vocals. to those new to the band, “mason dixon crime” provides the perfect introduction to speer’s captivating narrative gift. he is a singer who is capable of simultaneously spinning a masterful tale using a delivery that leaves the listener feeling like there is something hidden and secret being held just out of sight. other prime examples of this gift are evident throughout “open season” and its soaring climax, the plaintive “time changes things” and the swaggering album-closing “shorty (a bastard cat).” while speer’s vocal range is one of the band’s calling cards, the helix also features the unique voice of hans chew’s blazing piano. while chew aims for the fences throughout the rollicking “hardwood floors”, he really gets cut loose (and to spend some time on lead vocal duty) on the seriously jamming “life insurance.” one would be remiss to think that the helix is a one (or two) voice affair though – it is a totally solid full ensemble presentation as is evidenced by the jaunty full band workouts presented within both the instrumental “helical” and the rockin’, rollin’ and beer swillin’ “gravedigger.” distillation is pressed on 180g rti vinyl and housed within an old-style stoughton gatefold sleeve bearing new artwork from both turner williams and the band. as a bit of a first for three lobed, the album will be accompanied by a download coupon for drm-free mp3s of the album. distillation is from a one-time pressing of 891 copies.
a true solo endeavor, this lp is the debut of d. charles speer on long player. recordings over a span of 4 years have been assembled here into a rumination on loss in its many forms – loss of direction, loved ones, home, mental acuity, money, and emotional stability. pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl and limited to 500 copies.
original deluxe reissue of very rare german private press heavy psych with serious west coast leanings, burning duel electric guitars, etc. long out of print & very limited. fragile textured cover & ultra-fragile textured insert. first release on this high quality & collectible reissue label. top copy. NM/NM.
dag are haugan is certainly for most people not the most common name. being half of the legendary norvegian outfit alog made him one of the most original musicians of the last decade. at the start of our label we did carry his debut 7 on myke droner stating it as classic a couple of years further we received this wonderfull demo. you can call it guitar-glitch if you want – the result comes close to a beatless gas, a more guitar-driven novisad, etc – pressed on vinyl-only, with artwork from rune grammofone s kim hiorthoy, this album will make you reconsider electronica (aka the glitch/microsound-movement), while the guitar world will be surprised to see how both, old and new traditions can be melted into one brilliant artwork. the music is very introspective creating different state of minds. sometimes you discover yourself headbanging to what is generally called ambient, while some other tracks put you in a kind of warm blackout. those fans who were waiting for the ideal mix between rocket girl and mego might have found what they been looking for. ltd to 500 copies worldwide.
rare cleveland heavy psych with prog flashes. nice mostly black cover design thats usual very worn, but this copy looks nice. just slight wear, worse on back, and a cut corner. lovely wax. EX-/EX++.
daughters of the sun formed and started playing shows in the fall of 2005 with an original lineup that included chris rose of vampire hands on guitar. the band has played the twin cities and midwest since their formation and have recorded a number of albums. the band honed their recordings in their twin cites practice space, but thier eastern psychadelic/shoegazer sound can be attributed to members time spent living in india. this is documented in live field recording on their rings lp. the band summons the mystique and instrumentation of the world’s oldest music balanced against the spiritual limits and possibilities of technological sound. artwork designed and printed by josh of knife world… real cool soundsfrom this newish group, in an awesome multi-color art paper screen printed cover with insert. limited to only 300 copies. fans of the more zoned early raccoo-oo-oon recordings would be well advised to grab a copy. recommended.
vinyl version of their debut originally released by the band in 2007 as a screen printed cd. the lineup consisted of bennett, nick and ryan. recorded at old blackberry way with neil weir. mastered at magneto by brooce templeton. visions of the ocean head was made available on vinyl for the first time in december of 2010 by modern radio, pressing of 300. jacket artwork was painted and designed by lisa luck… cool to have these jams on vinyl now. good stuff.
quite rare MONO PROMO original. way tougher to score then the stereo version, and far superior sounding to these ears. totally killer LA garage/psych burner with great pop sense, serious avant learnings, wicked acid fuzz, awesome effects, and amazingly good use of string/horn arrangements on a few cuts, which is quite a feat itself. the whole thing gushes with cool sounds: garagy organ, harpsichord, strange timings, off-kilter harmonies, dissonance mingling with pop hooks, driving rhythms, pounding bass, even a homemade ‘plasmatar’ that spews burning square wave raga fuzz through the relentless acid psych of ‘mirrors of wood’. front man warren hansen was clearly just busting with creativity. overlooked or underrated by some, but to these ears this kills 90% of the mega-hyped, mega-bucks psych lps out there. think early VELVET UNDERGROUND jamming west cost garage pop ala LOVE and you’ll have a hint of the sound here. awesome. cover has printed promo marking on rear cover. bottom few inches on cover have some moisture damage, mainly just some mildew stops and minor discoloration which blends into the front cover art pretty easily. otherwise a nice cover with just some ring wear on back. hairline scuffs on the wax, but plays great. these mono promo copies total kill the stereo version! VG+/EX-.
clarinettist gareth davis and guitarist steven r smith (hala strana, mirza, thuja) have already collaborated to stunning effect back on 2009’s “westering” released on the important label. this alt.vinyl release sees them gain another notch in history’s belt. the at-first-glance bizarre pairing of these two instruments might conjure up images of anchorless skronk and scratch, however “the line across” is anything but. with each side of the vinyl containing just the one ambitious piece, this duo creates seas of organic drone that live and breathe. unspooling like wisps of smoke, the tones of “other forms of consecrated life” simultaneously conjure exotica and melancholy. what davis and smith manage to pull off here is the sound of flickering reflections in canal tunnels, something beyond drone and soundscaping; 3/4 cloud cover sporadically parting to reveal abyssic drops within it. it is not all intangible drift though; raw guitar sequences (even rhythm parts) appear in the sound as clarinet echoes and violin/fiddle tensions make textures from foreboding trails of drones. if a piece of shorthand could be applied to steven r smith’s playing here, then picture a colour haze or earth trading instrumental punches with derek bailey through a styrofoam cup phone. on the flipside is “the natural history of devastation”, a piece that falls somewhere on the fields far beyond descriptions and sounds of grace and mourning. there are unconscious nods to a gybe! sound here, layered stately string sounds and the chiaroscuro of feedback and waves of black moving across the vinyl. this track is a slow lull of strangled clarion call, orbison’s cold fingers on the guitar and banks of fog leaving only loss in the sound’s wake. things might not at first listen appear like they’re going to be ok in the morning, but familiarity with “the line across” shows that they might just end up close to perfect after all… deluxe edition in super thick textured covers & pressed on 180gm vinyl. limited to 500.
from denmark 1970; lp in edition of 450 numbered copies, glossy heavy sleeve, 180 gram pressing, insert. the danish group days was formed in copenhagen in the winter 1967/1968 by peter lindhe (drums), john kjaergaard (vocals/rhythm guitar), ole fester (vocals/bass) and lars reinau (vocals/lead guitar). the band’s repertoire was mainly rock and blues oriented with cover versions of songs from john mayall’s bluesbreakers, cream, jimi hendrix and the rolling stones. during 1968/1969, peter lindhe and lars reinau started writing original material to the band and the repertoire started changing from rock/blues cover versions to self-composed, more lyrical songs with elements of the beatles, procol harum and (early) deep purple. in 1969, jørn anker (hammond organ) joined the band and he, too started contributing new original songs to the band. the days lp was recorded in the early summer of 1970 and in 1971 the band split up. days is one the the rarest albums from denmark which also came out on spectator (blues addicts, terje jesper & joachim, moses). it is full of amazing prog tunes with great organ elements and strong fuzz guitar. a killer album from beginning to end.
de kift emerged from a dutch squatters’ movement and the punk waves of the late ’70s and early ’80s. their debut vinyl lp yverzucht was released in 1989. ferry: guitar & brass (svatsox); wim: drums (rondos, the ex); jacco (grrr): bass; maarten: vocals (pistache b.v.). de kift were a tremendous and original force at the time. sparse, rhythmic, angular, yet energetic music. staccato punk with fanfare elements. maarten’s lyrics were recited, spat out and crooned, bleak reflective explorations of the dutch mental state of the times. maarten (as well as jacco) departed the band after debuting yverzucht. out of the ashes, emerged a new conceptual, literary de kift that would play on for 20 years. de kift were part of the squatter movement. playing benefits, raising funds, eyebrows and soundtracking a lifestyle on its last legs.
the a side was recorded at the first no fun festival in march 2004 (brooklyn) and features a little comedy to start with and then things get heavy – and the second side is the very first vg kids/wolf den ypsi street level throwdown – our set was live on a 6 color shirt screen press and nate brought a fog machine that blasted out the room and into the parking lot night of the vg complex – near the end you can hear people chucklin cause its absurd – that night was also the first”offical” sick llama, and mi debut of failing lights – great night – dm had a weird 7 small speaker set up on the heads of the press and spun it slighty for that dead-universe dying electronic creeping blast sound – sweet cover art. limited to 500.
when dead western’s soften your screams into sings lp (put out by kdvs) hit the mailbox my first thought was how lovely the sleeve looked, then turning over to see a photo of actual naked modern hippies in a forest (one of which was climbing a tree) i immediately thought i had this whole deal figured out. west coast, future arthurfest participants, etc.; i know pretty much what to expect here. well, it took me a good couple minutes to figure out what speed this thing played at, and when i did discovered this thing to be a real treasure outta left field. fragile instrumentation, heartfelt songs, but a truly alien voice delivering what i can only describe to be what you’d expect peter jefferies in the persona of the pink panther to be, or something similar. woozy, deep, resonant bass vox wobbling around the grooves here which i now know belong to sacramento musican/artist fixture troy mighty who i remember from the free jazz-leaning noiseniks antennas erupt. the variety of instrumentation, while being minimal, is also pretty rich in emotion. – brian turner, wfmu… really stunning album which is visually as beautiful as beautiful as the music. multi-fold, layered screen print & photo art. recommended.
the deadnotes are eugene carchesio, stuart busby and leighton craig, from brisbane in queensland, australia. armed with an arsenal of trumpet, guitar, drums and casio, the trio make a glorious, semi-spontaneous sort of eccentric pop music that’s drawn comparisons (rightly or wrongly) to the likes of ennio morricone, maher shalal hash baz, the magic band, moondog and even the minutemen. since their formation in 2005, the band has written and recorded hundreds of miniature odes to this & that, some of which have seen release in limited cdr editions on craig’s kindling imprint. the 30 tracks that comprise orange trumpet, the trio’s defining statement, are amongst their earliest creations.trained in the ‘school of error,’ the deadnotes’ fractured take on pop form touches upon the sounds of their brethren in brisbane, from the experimental (the lost domain, et al.), to skewed pop (small world experience, et al.), to the city’s moody punk past (the five minutes, et al.). more accurately, orange trumpet plays like a minimalist, mariachi-informed version of grow-up’s the best thing; it’s brimming with ideas & presented with loose abandon. a jaunty melancholy that echoes tori kudo and tenniscoats, is present throughout, regardless if the boys are shuffling thru haunted dirges, garage-y workouts, or other points in between. carshesio’s classic recordings as dne are undeniably a touchtone here as well… orange trumpet is released in an edition of 400 numbered lp copies with full color jackets.
limited edition tour lp for their upcoming joint tour across europe. one side for each of these amazing uk guitarists. cam has two tracks, one beautiful long guitar piece followed by an insane electronics track, that sounds almost like autechre’s more weird static work. spoono is jack allett who is also half of towering breaker. his side consists of three incredible tracks that will no doubt prick up the ears of fans of jack rose. limited to 350… paste-on found photo cover art. great album.
i am very pleased to be releasing the debut lp from sheffield-london-brighton guitar master, cam deas. this follows his two long sold out cdrs on blackest rainbow, and proves once again that he is off the chain! ok, so there’s always gonna be the immediate comparison to james blackshaw, but the sound is different, more aggressive almost and raw… this guitar playing has an edge, its deep and its powerful. the lp consists of three tracks, the a side is an epic almost 20 minute piece entitled ‘the waters of kvaloya’ recorded by ben nash. the b sides and albums title track begins with almost a minute of near silence distant drone, that develops with stomach wrenching string twangs. the closing piece is ‘as spring fell from the leaves’, which was originally issued on ‘for the silver waters, sing!’ cdr last year on br, but has been considered by people who’ve bought his releases and seen cam live as possibly one of the best things he has composed, total genius, with a real blissful, but eventually dark, vibe. this track definitely deserved to be put on wax. mastered by ben nash. limited to 300 copies… really great stuff. fans of jack rose, james blackshaw, etc. will need this one.
red records release #8. deluxe vinyl version of the long gone time-lag cdr from about 4 years back… this group lasted just long enough to leak out a small but highly rewarding series of under-the-radar cassettes & cdrs over a year or two, with this album standing as a clear peak both in terms of scope & execution. as great as the recent offerings from various members have been (aswara, rafi bookstaber, muntjac, moonpie, etc.), there’s a certain youthful charm here that’s hard to miss… a slow & spacious album full of alternating melancholy/ecstatic vibes with raga-esque acoustic guitars, chiming electric guitars, slippery liquid flute, harmonium, sparse percussion, blissed female/male vocal bits, low level bass drone, kosmic synth tickles and damaged tape warble, plus one beauty of a ‘song’… flickering neon smoke rings of sound dissolving into the atmosphere… totally stoned-out, bedroom cult, eyes to the ceiling, half naive, home-fi psychedelia… pressed on 180gm bright red vinyl & packaged in a deluxe heavy 60s style black art paper gatefold cover with white ink screen printed interior and full color paste-on art front and back, plus stamped & hand numbered spine & printed labels. limited edition of 288 copies.
death vessel is joel thibodeau’s work as both a solo artist and band leader. his music, captured on the resplendent record stay close, is an eloquent distillation of a life’s tales. born in berlin, germany before the wall fell… raised in kennebunkport, maine before senior bush’s presidency… this musician lived a childhood where the ghosts of cold war casualties and seaport tragedies haunted the alleyways and beaches. leaving maine as a teenager, thibodeau moved to boston, providence and new york. in providence he was a founding member, songwriter and performer of the group string builder. now as then, thibodeau captures the surreal and the sublime in wondrous song. thibodeau’s vocal delivery is astonishing. perhaps his singing is best-described as descendent from ‘the high lonesome sound’ — unleashed upon the world by roscoe holcomb in the early 1960s. with this voice, death vessel delivers stunning lyrical poetry that transcends the ‘whisky ‘n’ haystack’ imagery of its neo-folk contemporaries. thibodeau brings this same unusual experimentation to the acoustic guitar (his primary instrument). the daringly melodic plucking of strings and the odd tempo changes provide expertly unexpected accompaniment. stay close was originally released on cd in 2005 by north east indie. new chicago imprint immune is proud to present the album on the lp format for the first time. this version of the album contains a bonus track exclusive to this release — a live/acoustic version of ‘deep in the horchata,’ recorded in 2005 with micah blue smaldone playing accompaniment.
their time in the studio was overseen by engineer jim vitti, whose work with parliament/ funkadelic seems to have informed his decision to record death in raw fashion with little polish, showcasing the organic power relationships within the trio. the songs recorded there make up ?for the whole world to see, which today blasts from the speakers as a fresh and inspired early entry in the category of punk rock. death had a single pressed, politicians in my eyes b/w keep on knocking, selling them at their shows and on the street. things weren’t really going anywhere when they heard from columbia records’ president clive davis. he was interested, but he had one demand — they’d have to change their name. david, acting as the band’s leader, would have no part of it, a decision that ultimately brought an end to death. moving to new england, david, bobby and dannis reconnected with their faith, forming the christian rock-n-roll band the 4th movement, whose self-released early-80s album joined death’s 45 as a sought-after obscurity for the next generation. 2009 is the time that death is finally here …for the whole world to see. …for the whole world to see is the first full-length release ever for the band called death — with only one 7″ single to their name, and that usually goes for about a grand per. that’s $1000! for those who do have the single, the remastered sound here will break you up… great album!
quite rare wild instro funky psych soul with hot fuzz & organ, breaks galore, etc. really great eye-catching acid cover art. handful of lite marks on wax but nothing major at all. EX/VG+.
following their premiere full-length in her gentle jaws, self-released in december ‘07 exclusively as a free download, the album has already found its way to over 90,000 hard drives. the stir across the internet, as well as in their own backyard, is testament to some breathtaking songwriting and arranging. a musical piece to be heard as a whole saturated in color, and drifting into dream. limited one time 500 pressing only. on tour now with the pains of being pure at heart, cymbals eat guitars, and school of seven bells.
new age kraut cosmic softness. radio station copy with call letter, sticker, notes in pen (about how “this is NOT jazz”. pretty funny.), etc. real nice wax. VG/EX+.
diagram a is dan greenwood whos based in the providence/ma area, makes all his own electronics and use to do a label called sound probe…most recently he was on the rrr new england noise box set… first ever vinyl release on bill nace’s open mouth label. screen printed covers, clear vinyl, insert. limited to 300 copies.
essential debut album by the ethereal and mesmeric la based former front woman of cult alt.indie band blackblack and of pocahaunted. this is the real diva coming out, quirky, catchy alt.pop for those hankering after a hook and looking for a middle ground somewhere between the cure and joy division. variously described as a psychedelic cassette tape princess and a mythical creature lady diva, fresh from playing with os mutantes and ariel pink, is touring across europe from april, so enjoy the record and catch the live show and get in on the ground floor. pressed on 140 gram glitter vinyl in an edition of 300 copies.
moving to the outer fringes of psych-folk, the dove azima is a deeply american recording. this solo project of zack hay has folk sensibilities much like john fahey’s and hearkens to roots music from an era before the cultural tributaries of rock, country and folk had parted ways. american avant gardists have also crept much more into hay’s sound since his last, more straightforward album, bronze horse. hay himself had written of his interest in naive experiences with guitar and he seems to have stumbled upon the steel string’s extended faculties ala eugene chadbourne; extended guitar techniques in general are almost never as visceral and hypnotic as they are on this lp, however. hay’s detuned meditations sometimes can sound as weird as jandek or sometimes lush and heady like harry partch’s microtonalities. like a decayed american flag you found buried in the woods, the dove azima is one of the more brilliant pieces of americana i’ve ever heard. it begs for many repeated listens and one oughtn’t neglect such a request. -nat roe, wfmu… pressed in an edition of 321 on 180 gram vinyl, with stumptown printed jackets.
top condition original swirl label german pressing of their 2nd and final album. a real wild underground psych folk trip. folky INCREDIBLE STRING BAND inspired flights of fancy with big doses of fuzzy electric guitar soloing setting this album far apart from their more gentle debut and adding a distinctly acid flavor. a pretty unique sound all things considered, but will certainly appeal to fans of FRESH MAGGOTS or SUBWAY. packaging in one of the coolest lp covers ever created : a fragile fully laminated di-cut multi-panel double-sided fold-out piece of art that is as strikingly beautiful as it is ingeniously designed. notoriously easy to damage, this one is amazingly clean with just one very subtle tiny 1/2inch tear. vinyl is equally clean with just the slightest tiny hairline here & there. NM-/NM-.
interested & rare obscure topical private press. spoken commentary from various nam draft dodgers. a pretty intense time capsule. striking b&w cover art. EX+/EX-. $40.00
original 1973 private pressing. totally wonderful conceptual electronic / folk / psych epic. one man’s (bill holt) introspective home studio labor of love. some folks can’t hang with the sound, but i love this one. two side-long tracks (and long sides too) of intricately layered tape samples, electronic tones, moog, acoustic guitar & vocals. they’re actual songs, though, not experimental noodling. something like bedroom acidfolk stretched to the point of minimalism and them dosed with period samples, which are clearly deeply considered and precisely placed, not just tossed around. cool stuff… lite ring wear. sorry, no insert. side one has couple ugly marks from getting dropped on the turntable spindle i’d guess: they’re wide marks not sharp scratches. plays through with just mild surface noise, which is pretty inevitable anyway since the sides are very long & very quiet. side two is nearly perfect. VG++ cover, VG+ side one, NM- side two.
the dredd foole catalog is wide (and deep) and yet this new release manages to carve another distinct tributary into the swamped landscape. as the title implies, songs to despond ya falls on the songwriting end of the foole spectrum, and he takes full advantage of the opportunity to flesh out his bardic impulse. the results are raw and immediate, devoid of electronic effects, and all the more timeless for it. of course, whether he’s offering up ballads or free-hootin’ and -hollerin’, dredd foole always tugs at the heart and mind of anyone receptive enough to leave those doors open just a crack.
first time ever vinyl reissue of the hard-to-find sole album by u.s. duo drnwyn. wonderful record that has some very cool psychedelic moments (especially the track ‘the madman and the angel’), and a good number of fabulous folk rock mid-tempos. there’s drums, bass and lots of acoustic guitars in here, but also electric leads, keys, mandolin and multi-part vocals with some female chorus as well. but most important, very well-crafted songs from start to finish. this was a private release back in 1978, and a very recommended album for those into folk-psych and folk-rock. remastered sound and 500 copies only.
two killer journeys… dremcrom and relax, hunter. both recorded live. one side completely in the analog realm; from the boys’ cassette deck straight to 180 gram black wax. strictly limited to 300 copies. hand screened on thrifted album covers turned inside out. no two alike. side a – ‘dremcrom’ is a sideways drift through the earths crust which confirms that the core truly is molten. drunjus bore a hole straight to the center of your brain. live at the infamous wisco biker bar… side b – ‘relax hunter’ is a more galactic affair. with enough molten fuel to get their ship airborn, drunjus escape the atmosphere and enter a 300 year cryogenic sleep… co-released with tree tapes…
red label stereo pressing. quite rare version before the name was switched to LUCEY. truly wild story behind this album, as most of you reading this probably know by know. this is actually BOBBY JAMESON. the label had this album in the works with CHRIS DUCEY, but ducey backed out at the last moment, with the covers already printed… so they called bobby in to record the album instead, writing original songs that were already titled by ducey. a handful of copies were released with the “ducey” title, before the label switched it to “lucey”. around the same time the real ducey cut the rare & amazing CHRIS AND CRAIG 7inch with CRAIG SMITH aka MAITREYA KALI… would love to have heard his version of this album… oh, and word is thats BRIAN JONES on the cover! anyway, although the backstory is pretty great, its really the music thats the best part. its a lonesome westcoast moody folkrock gem, through & through… cover has few inches of splitting to top & bottom seem. one corner bend. tiny tear on front, two slightly larger ones on back. pretty decent all together, and real cool item. VG+/VG+.
the “must have” debut album (1971) from psychedelic guru armando nava and his band, recorded after their failed trip to nyc did not produce the stardom they had been promised—pain and disappointment sparking great song-writing on this, the first mexican psych album in english. after an extended stint as the house band at tijuana strip joint fantasitas, los dug dug’s relocated to mexico city in 1966. they quickly garnered a rabid fan following there, which resulted in the dug dug’s signing to rca records and cutting a series of singles (the band also headlined a pair of 1967 films, el mundo loco de los jovenes and cinco de chocolate y una de fresa). upon returning to tijuana in 1968, los dug dug’s took up residence at the popular sans sous ci club. an american tourist was so impressed that he offered to bankroll a trip for the band to new york city. the group played a handful of live dates and recorded a few demos, but having no money to pay the union fees necessary to earn them the opportunity to play nyc’s larger venues left them with little choice but to return to mexico. los dug dug’s immediately began work on their first lp for rca mexico, little knowing at the time that it would become a classic of psychedelia. long-simmering creative differences between band leaders nava and jorge de la torre forced the latter’s resignation after the album was completed; by the time the resulting psychedelic opus appeared in 1971, the first incarnation of los dug dug’s was essentially no more. all that remained was this heavy, explosive album, a record which captures the fever/dream humidity of flower children running amok on a july afternoon. essential… nice legit version of this killer side.
later pressing of early bootleg originally released by TMOQ. mustard brown xerox insert. blank white cover. excellent material & pressing quality. SEALED NM.
another bootleg. highlights from the film. this one was essential before you could just go rent the dvd! pink xerox “album covers” version on the insert neatly taped to blank white cover. track list in pen on back. bright RED vinyl. b&w “smoking pig” labels. includes a folded original poster from a 1982 screening, pretty cool. EX+/NM-.
very early version of this bootleg with blank labels & stamped white cover. sticker residue on front, and tape residue on back. clean label. odd lite marks on wax. VG+/VG+.
nice 360 label original press of this total classic, his 1st post motorcycle wreck rural folkrock masterpiece. few very lite paper scuffs, plays awesome. EX+/EX+.
this is a cold vision of a dark trash covered future full of sci fi nightmares and strange out of body experiences. this is the final kites recording and is perhaps the strangest and most chaotic piece in the prolific discography. annihilation synth and tape collage, cut up, sped up and dialed to oblivion. earth crown steps it back, slows down the pulse, lets the edges of the static curl around the drone to the breaking point, where the damage is let loose, purged out and built again. this lp is a reminder of how cold, desolate, and haunting life can be. silkscreened by shawn reed, art by kites and earth crown.
UK original pressing. wild heavy / strange psych from this beefheart damaged freak crew. leather textured gatefold cover very clean other then a tiny 1cm tear at right edge. few hairlines on wax. EX++/EX++.
great UK pop psych only released at the time in the US on this tiny label. produced by GEORGE MARTIN. recently reissued and much acclaimed. SEALED original copy here. neat drill hole through center. staple marker in corner. maybe a reseal? still very looks very nice so vinyl is presumed mint. EX++/M.
resistant to the clutches of anubis, the members of egypt have emerged from a six year hiatus to produce an archival release dating from the dclxvi dynasty. after serving as priests to hathor, the mistress of life, the great wild cow, for five years, these egyptian numerologists have honed their aesthetic reeds to razor sharp points. these tracks include glossalalia praising the pantheon, an illustration of the electromechanistic migration of the soul as well as ecstasy soaked instrumental excursions. look for these adepts appearing at your local oasis soon! 180 gram vinyl, full color covers, 500 copies!
an ultra-deluxe, limited edition of 475 copies of an lp on many hard-core psych collectors’ top 10 lists. insanely rare and impossible-to-describe 1973 brain-fryer from minneapolis is utterly soaked with mystic, thoroughly-dosed higher key psychedelia. damin eih rambled off to india to clear his head after leaving behind this lone, legendary offering, never to be heard from again. painstakingly and spectacularly re-mastered from two virgin copies of the original vinyl, this treasure is now rescued from the deepest catacombs of psychedelic fatso obscurity for you to hear. 180 gram vinyl, original insert reproduction, and 28 pt. craft stock with old school paste-on sleeves—this is nicer than most shadoks releases in all respects)… nice upgrade of this awesome lp. recommended!
long gone bootleg reissue of this amazing minneapolis private press basement psych-out jewel. loose slicks front & back. numbered edition of only 300 copies. NM-/NM-.
quite strong uk psych rock with great guitar sounds, cool effects, etc. produced by JIMI HENDRIX and featuring help from ROBERT WYATT and NOEL REDDING among others. large promo stamp on back cover. still pretty overlooked. VG++/VG++.
‘i was lucky to see uruguayan music born. before el kinto it didn’t exist, and if it did i did not know it or like it.’ nosvaldo fattorusso. an exact replica of the original clave label lp release of fourteen crucial tracks by these uruguayan legends, whose line-up includes members of totem and limonada, and features the compositional abilities of poet/panhandler and acid casualty eduardo mateo and his alter-ego, candombe legend ruben rada. el kinto began their brief but eventful life in music playing in the dark shadows at orfeo negro (black orpheus), a night club near the portones de carrasco in montevideo, uruguay. inspired by the way tropicalistas like os mutantes were transforming the pop music of brazil, el kinto embraced their own native music formsnbut, as always, they went a step further: they integrated candombe and bossa nova into beat music, but they also added their own notion of ‘psicodelics.’ they experimented with newness in all its varietynnew sounds from their guitars, new types of vocal delivery, new ways of striking the drums (with little brooms, with gavels or their hands). as one journalist noted in 1969, ‘el kinto, directed by the brilliant mateo, and amplified to the maximum… creates a frenzy of rhythmic music in whichnwith force and convictionnpure wave ‘beat’ is synthesized with the warmth of the african drums.’ the result of the group’s tireless experiments is music which sounds fresh and engaging today. in a world dominated by the commercialization of everything – including (although it is difficult to comprehend)nthe arts, all we can say is, thank god for el kinto! now, on to the presentationnthe highest quality mastering and pressing (done at acoustech mastering/rti in california, the same people who master and press every title that audiophile label classic records makes); the resulting lp is housed in a poly-lined sleeve, inside an ultra-heavy 1960′s style jacket, which is housed in a loose-fitting plastic sleeve. inside you will find a double-fold insert packed with photos, detailed band history, and lyrics for this most important of uruguayan bands, printed on 100% recycled paper. the lp labels are replicas of the sondor originals. a top of the line pressing all the way. limited edition of 500 copies.
finally available on vinyl! we’ll let joe himself shed a little light here : touring the east coast in 2003, someone asked, “you’re from indiana – have you ever heard of the bible bird man?” i hadn’t, so i did some research. his video had already been stolen from the library at earlham college, but i stole it back and returned it. i began to imagine what the musical equivalent of his evangelical bird act might sound like. i wrote a song about the bird man, thinking of releasing it as a “re-issue” of a central indiana country-gospel group that had never existed – the bible birds. then i thought maybe i would do an elephant micah album of covers originally written by this (non-existent) bible birds band. in the end of course the concept kind of dissipated and it just became an elephant micah album. i recruited beth remis from static films (and more recently pillars and tongues) to help arrange/sing harmonies for the songs, and generally bring them up to pseudo-gospel snuff. we played the songs around the upper midwest once with ben racher on a portable pump organ and jason henn on upright bass. all of us got together in indianapolis in 2006 and recorded this. i drove everyone crazy with my insistence on weird recording methods. i think i was kind of trying to approximate the timbres of the hymn sing broadcast on salem, indiana’s WSLM. who knows? i was critical of the results and didn’t finalize them for several years. here it is finally, a kind of “prequel” companion to the ‘hindu windmills’ (TIME-LAG 035) album. - joe o’connell 2010… so there you have it. an overlooked chapter from this wonderful artist finally seeing the light of day, and a perfect companion piece to the highly praised ‘hindu windmills’ album. both albums are clearly united by their warm, lo-fi intimacy, sparse production, and stunning song-craft. strikingly simple & beautiful stuff… packaged in a lovely three color screen printed heavy stock tri-fold art paper cover, with heavy stock offset printed lyric insert. limited edition of 500 copies.
rainbow label first press of very strange obscure protest folkpsych that reworks old war songs into weirdo jug band folkrock pop. fully in shrink. NM/EX.
the band kissing spell changed their name to embrujo in early 1970 due to the political climate in chile causing it to be less than ideal for a band with an english name. embrujo is the spanish translation of the word spell (bewitched). so embrujo is the same band as kissing spell and the album came out on arena records in 1971. among the great albums from chile like blops, aguaturbia, los jaivas and escombros, this album is just amazing, just like their first. beautiful compositions and instrumentation, very well played, strong vocals and poetic lyrics; we would vote this album as one of the best from the of south america. chile seems to be ‘the county’ for extraordinary pop and underground songs going right into the heart. what a shame that after 1973 until 1990 (pinochet dictatorship), no more bands could work anymore. we are missing a lot of great future albums by those bands… originally released in chile, 1971. 500 copies, 180gm vinyl, insert, etc.
totally killer & little known washington teen private press gem. these young brothers nail the late 70s male teen ethos like few others. a great mix of fuzzed-up, psych tinged rockers, wide-eyed hazy ballads, power-pop, and loose, raw party funk grooves. heavy doses of cheap fuzz petals, sweet sweet heart tugging vocals, dreamy floating keys, big grins, magically simple but effective bass/drums chug, and amazing/crude riffing galore. every song is great and starry-eyed sincere like only a couple small town teens in the late 70s could do it… the ultimate summer evening beer buzz sentimental trip for sure. recorded in the shed of their parent’s farm! you just sorta need to hear this one to believe it. maybe not everyone’s trip, but i’ve seen some folks flip-out for this one, and its a huge fave ‘round here. gonna be a future biggy no doubt. highly recommended. flat & clean SEALED with just one very mildly banged corner.
this is a collection of rare and unreleased tracks by these crazed heavy industrialised weirdos from sweden! all recorded between 1986 and 1988. originally formed in 85 by kai parviainen and mats lundberg (who later got replaced by landgang) enema syringe played heavy monotone simple noise industrial the way it should be done; straight forward, loud, heavy and simple!! brutal toy synths and repetitive beats dominate the whole recorded archive and the few live sets this duo did, spiced with horrific sounding lyrics in swedish (usually about funnier things then the usual industrial fan would hope for like farts, massage shops, etc – ) all of the tracks on this lp are recorded without any mixing possibilty straight onto two channels with a marantz amp and a tape deck, prophet one, casio rz1 drummachine, casio toy synth, an old rhythm box and vocals thu headphones and a crappy mike! these beats are the best fist in the airpumpers ever, reminding of early throbbing gristle, club moral or more recent wolf eyes and meerk puffy! the lp comes with liner notes by kai parviainen, a discography, and is completely remastered. artwork by dennis tyfus. limited to 400 copies.
this is my fifth solo release as es. kesämaan lapset was recorded during a three year period. it is a mix of soundscapes and pop tunes. you can hear influences varying from contemporary indie to ancient classical music. it’s a summer album and a childhood photo album. the name translates as “the children of the summerland”. it an homage to the pekka streng album “kesämaa” (summerland) which is one of my favourite finnish albums ever made. it also refers to finland of course. i’ve been travelling a lot these past three years and every time i return here it feels more and more like home. i’ve used lots of instruments, from high-end analogue synthesizers and upright pianos to cheap flea market casios. i’ve recorded parts of this abroad and at home in my studio and in my bedroom. there are a few special guests: laura laurila plays violin, tuomas eriksson (risto) plays trombone and elissa määttänen who has sung on most of my albums is present again to give her special voice to the tracks. i hope you enjoy the album. it is not as ambitious a work as my previous double album sateenkaarisuudelma. but this one is meant to be listened to in many more situations and it might just fit as music for a house party too… -sami sänpäkkilä.
after what seems to be an interminably long gap and born into an inextricably changed world, espers iii walks among us, finally and finely. it’s not as if espers completely disappeared following their acclaimed first and second albums and tours. they played the odd show here and there – but with time and focus given to meg baird’s solo album dear companion, the valerie project and helena espvall’s collaborations with masaki batoh and others, not to mention the launching and flight of greg weeks’ language of stone label, three years passed like a day or two in the life of espers. picking up the threads with ease, espers iii was intended to be an aural reversal of the layered sound of ii. the goal was to record fewer tracks in order to achieve a stronger, more oxygenated sonic presence. where ii was almost claustrophobic in its density and darkness, iii was envisaged as being somehow lighter, effervescent; perhaps even of a cheery disposition at times. under these auspices, recording started in late 2008 and spilled into the spring and summer of 2009. as more time passed in the recording process, a growing dementia within both song and lyrics emerged, making even the most ethereal songs on iii seem oddly unwholesome to all involved.
most do not know much about music from bolivia, like us. what’s flashing our minds are the andes, la paz and flute music by indios. but there are some great rock & underground bands such as wara, climax and most of all estrella de marzo. this album (still unknown to most collectors) is not only special because it’s from an country not many listeners know much about. this album is so great, so much underground, so unique and well crafted, that it goes into a strong competition with most “classic underground releases” from south america. if you are in to wild fuzz guitar ala zappa, and if you like kissing spell from chile, beautiful vocals with strong lyrics and great beats , you will love this album. the early pink floyd has also influenced this album for us it was one of the big musical discoveries for this year. every track is great, high spirit progressive underground rock, as good as it can be. this album “a los ninos con amor” (to children with love) was recorded in 1974 with, keyboards, guitars, drums, bass & vocals. 500 numbered / heavy sleeve / 180 gram pressing / 2 page inserts.
recently discovered & increasingly highly rated & in demand private press ssw folkrock with some psychy vibes. really solid album, up there with BOBB TRIMBLE for quality as far as 80s privates go. some really amazing songs, great vocals, and a cool vibe all over. great weird cover art as well. only 500 copies pressed. SEALED MINT.
total monster by these 2 old-tymey duos. ex-c give you a home where the ragged riffs roam (including a sick meat puppets cover!), and pdx colossus y swans lay down a 10-dimensional lava lamp of frying wires and poignant dissolution. housed in a jacket with perhaps the boldest pair of maya miller art-damage compositions she’s ever dreamed up. leave this one on the turntable forever.
very rare and little know georgia private press. deep & fragile late night mystical mood. definite religious vibes, but definitely not xian, instead having quite a cultish atmosphere that sets this one well apart from just about anything else. odd instrumentation including mandolin, flute, guitar-synth, piano, etc. along with more typical 6 & 12 string acoustic guitar and such. male & female vocals. highly gentle, melodic and trance inducing stuff. great bizarre b&w ‘brain’ cover art too! just about perfect fully in shrink copy with just handful of tiny mildew spots under shrink. sparking wax has a tiny storage edge warp that does nothing. NM-/NM-.
completely unknown portuguese lp from 1973 that sounds like a cross between peruvian psych such as laghonia & traffic sound, and a uk lost gem on harvest or deram, with 2 great vocalists, seering guitar and a real groove. this reissue is the second in the golden pavilion series, fully licensed, done in association with acalanto and limited to 450 copies in black vinyl and 100 in coloured golden brown vinyl… all copies here are the golden vinyl edition of 100! special low price!
bermuda telepaths is the latest title lifted out of the fruit-and-photocopy-strewn outer limits recordings archive and into the ears of the world at large. recorded under the never-again-used explorers moniker and first edited into album form about a year ago, this hallucinatory patchwork trip into the ether synthesizes all of olr’s deepest loves – boombox fidelity, quick cuts, keyboard loop sorcery, underwater pop, general mind surfing – into a humbly hypnotic whirlpool of energies. apparently there was a concept/thesis behind the album’s genesis somehow involving psychic powers, lizard people, and the bermuda triangle, but the details are hazy. which befits the audio in question. read your palm. take a walk in your thoughts. explore away. black vinyl lps in jackets with artwork designed by the artist, plus a copy shop poem insert. edition of 330.
flowers is the latest full length from seattle’s bleak and ominous factums and is their second for the sacred bones label. recorded between 2006 and 2007 but only now seeing a proper release, flowers is dark and disturbing. the album has twenty two tracks that fluctuate from sound collage to soundtrack-esque moments as well as more structured songwriting. this album also has flashes of abrasive electropunk that has garnered them well-deserved comparisons to chrome, cabaret voltaire, throbbing gristle and much of the early wax trax catalog.
primitive future indeed! its 4000 a.d. and human kind’s fate from a binge of manifest destiny has finally collapsed on itself. now we’re back to the basics. the jungle is in charge again. the factums have crafted a soundtrack to this dark and mysterious place. a world where the listener is the prey and this record is the hunter. this is exploratory music, a melding of rusted out kraut debris, dead c. carnage and lost in time sci-fi rock moves. ed. of 400 copies.
fusion is a dirty word, implying clinicism and a dry sense of conscious matchmaking. “bow low bright glow” is a more a communal excavation and re-presentation of buried european folk and sufi-hearted music than any form of experiment. family elan are alone in their field. here, chris hladowski has put together a collection of original numbers, visions created from lost/found tapes and traditional pieces (including a absolutely gorgeous “the blackplanets of her eyes”) that are a fitting companion to family elan’s “stare of dawn” debut. alongside hladowski’s voice, there’s the vocal input of nalle’s hanna tuulikki – a voice as easily capable of gentle qawwali as it is folk song. this is a record of heavy treble intricacy, hladowski’s saz and bouzouki playing encompassing drones, folk, dervish progressive work and a woozy shimmer over and through the entwining melodies. family elan are more than just a project or a band, hladowski has endowed the music here with a such a unique voice that shaky shorthand comparisons would be pointless and a short sell. music that hints at the devotional rarely feels as inclusive, as communal and as enjoyable as this… deluxe super thick textured covers, 180gm vinyl, limited to 500. beautiful stuff!
denmark’s drone demons release another one. a helium rug would float, which is exactly what your melted mind will do while listening to this record. whistling blown by the birds of hell. this has been in the works for quite some time. originally intended to come out last summer on their us tour, but we didn’t want to flood the market (they already had 3 lps coming out the same time). edition of 300 on black vinyl with bi-color stencil. the front cover is what you will look like after listening to this. your mind will split open unleashing the helium rug from within. artwork by zachary fleming.
crushing new full-length by this legendary danish drone squad. 2 massive side-long black holes, mastered by pete swanson of yellow swans. hand-numbered edition of 450.
quite rare tri-color label original UK pressing. easily their best one. pretty tripped-out with loads of effects, weird guitar sounds, feedback, etc. hitting an almost SF SORROW sound & production quality. front laminated flip-back cover. original label inner sleeve. lite general cover wear with clean art & no splits. inner sleeve taped at edges. tiny warp has zero effect. scuffs on wax but plays awesome. VG++/VG+.
monster rare original 1966 MONO pressing of holy grail level PA teen garage classic. no need to hype this one, as it should be well know to most, as its been well loved since the dawn of garage enthusiasm, and already reissued way back in 1983. apparently pretty tough to find even when new in 1966, as it was a very small single pressing on a regional private/micro label. one of the strongest openings of any lp of this type, starting with the ferocious version of “fight fire” thats a top level chugging raw fuzzed-up garage classic, right down to the tweaked feedback/tape delay surge of the opening seconds. this is followed by an equally strong band original for one wicked back-to-back lift-off. the whole album is great from there, if not quite as in your face. good dark moody ballads mix with high energy rockers, all with that very special ‘66 sound. the bright & beautiful front cover, mysterious back cover without even song titles, and the great colorful label design totally seal the deal. a true monster. front cover very very clean barely any wear. neat 2inch top seam split and some mild edge/corner wear. white areas on back cover slightly yellowed with age, but not bad at all. nice clean labels. surface paper scuff marks on the wax front being taken out of the inner sleeve for 40 years, but its all superficial stuff. this lp got played a lot, but was never abused. plays fantastic! EX-/VG+.
old euro reissue of mega rare japanese heavy prog psych sitar burner, pre FAR EAST FAMILY BAND. deep space pink floyd vibes with a tougher edge. NM/NM.
finally available, the first licensed reissue of michael farneti’s elusive good morning kisses lp from 1976. this south florida marvel has eluded collectors for eons and we are thrilled to get it back into circulation. 500 exact repro copies were pressed at rti with crisp, heavy jackets produced by stoughton… limited to 500. great high quality reissue. nice.
great and underrated post JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE album from NOEL REDDING. sweet rural psych sounds with solid songs & great playing all through. fairly common, but this one is WHITE LABEL PROMO and the heavy gatefold cover is fully in shrink. ‘not for sale’ marks rubbed out on label. hairlines & scuffs on wax, but retains great fidelity. perfect cover. NM-/VG++.
clear and discovery were origianlly released as two companion cdrs by james ferraro (of the whole skaters / lamborghini crystal / 90120 / splash / nirvana axis) and comprise the august 1974 (taj-mahal travellers) of his discography. both albums contain absolutely beautiful whirling hall-of-knives-style synth drone that makes one want to reference klaus schulze or bobby beausoleil. clear bursts with flam beats and a cluster of melodies muffled like a calliope wrapped in a soggy tarp, while discovery is comparable to daft punk’s album of the same name but played in reverse at 16 rpm through a boombox in a boiler room. these two records contain the sounds of pulling out with tapping beats of fluid dropped on a soft convertible top (open), much like those fictitious giorgio moroder songs for the upcoming olympics in atlantis or a reworking of that award-winning song from revenge of the nerds-or is it “wonderwall”-into a theme for a future ski jump at the great pyramids. are you ready for the lizard people to compete? now available as mastered vinyl lps with a digital download.
clear and discovery were origianlly released as two companion cdrs by james ferraro (of the whole skaters / lamborghini crystal / 90120 / splash / nirvana axis) and comprise the august 1974 (taj-mahal travellers) of his discography. both albums contain absolutely beautiful whirling hall-of-knives-style synth drone that makes one want to reference klaus schulze or bobby beausoleil. clear bursts with flam beats and a cluster of melodies muffled like a calliope wrapped in a soggy tarp, while discovery is comparable to daft punk’s album of the same name but played in reverse at 16 rpm through a boombox in a boiler room. these two records contain the sounds of pulling out with tapping beats of fluid dropped on a soft convertible top (open), much like those fictitious giorgio moroder songs for the upcoming olympics in atlantis or a reworking of that award-winning song from revenge of the nerds — or is it “wonderwall” — into a theme for a future ski jump at the great pyramids. are you ready for the lizard people to compete? now available as mastered vinyl lps with a digital download.
‘in chameleon ballet, i wanted to create a work of magic that simulates a dream atmosphere of post-industrial landscapes, with the waking memory of a romantic alien encounter occurring in the dream. dedicated to the mystery of night and the magic of dreams’ –james ferraro. ‘debut limited edition album by this new sci-fi synth project by james ferraro of the skaters et al., with 1980s minimal wave moves bisected by the kinda keyboard patterns you might’ve found on an edgar froese solo album or post-body love klaus schulze, then exploded with barbarous invocations, syruped-vocals and some black drone atmospherics. or, as the cover art suggests, urban landscapes as visioned by showroom dummies illuminated under 3 a.m. neon. another killer.’ –david keenan. remastered and expanded version of the cd-r release on new age discs — this has an additional previously-unreleased track. limited edition of 425 copies. black & white printed covers.
original pressing of their debut. solid texas psych album with a few great tracks, like ‘where do you go’ with snakey fuzz leads and a great flute break. nice clean cover, much used wax, but plays ok. EX/VG.
very cool & very rare brazilian private press hardly known by anybody until the shadoks reissue last year. great stuff from recife, the home of LULA CORTES, ZE RAMALHO, AVE SANGRIA, etc. sunbaked folk psych pop magic. i’m told it was never commercially for sale, only sold at an art gallery. always trashed if it turns up at all, this copy is very nice! thin fragile laminated cover is almost perfect. vinyl has a some scattered marks but nice full gloss. EX++/VG++.
one of the rarest lps from the exclusive mushroom-label finally gets its official release on vinyl! often labelled as folk, simon finn’s debut album from 1970 is actually more in the singer/songwriter vein but totally different to everything else you can find in this genre. with a couple of guest musicians (e.g. kenny elliot from second hand) simon finn created ten songs of an eerie, angry, unsettling and, if you hear the track jerusalem, even disturbing nature. shortly withdrawn after its release, this demanding album is nearly impossible to find these days so finally here is your chance to listen to this fascinating music. limited edition of 500… first legit reissue of this wonderful lp. recommended!
strange and rather charming cultish religious private press folk psych thats more of a compilation than a proper band release. a few real gems, nice obscure cover art, and a great homemade vibe throughout. with insert. nice clean wax. VG+/EX+.
lovely timeless contemporary german acidfolk underground with sweet female/male vocals, sitar, electric leads, drones, etc. gatefold cover has very minor edge wear. EX/EX+.
aria nativa is more than paul flaherty’s third solo saxophone album; it merges rhapsodic avant garde music, patriotic dream verse, and mortality into a frighteningly pure work of audio, visual and literary sledge. recorded during a pair of 2007 performances, its four pieces capture lifeblood in stunning detail from foot stomps to gut hollers and crowd roars as flaherty’s free power blues dips into the well of wretchedness yet raises with fists of mirth. it’s the sorta record that splays naked the artist for all: equal parts wise ass and universal vision. from his early 1970s woodshedding through a dozen plus albums each with drum buddies randall colburne and chris corsano, and collaborators bill nace, wally shoup and sunburned man of the hand, flaherty remains a total wildcat — on and off the alto/tenor horns. for this lp his massive tonal craft is equally matched by ken hill’s gorgeous cover shot of a snow blown grave and “no more america” — ken delponte’s epic poem that spans nearly five decades and fills the back jacket, framing the atmosphere the music was recorded under. each 500 copies contain a download coupon for mp3 version of the album that includes a bonus track of “no more america” read by the author.
based in turners falls, ma, flaming dragons of middle earth are the brainchild of visionary wheelchair-bound ‘band shaman’ danny cruz, who leads an ensemble of rotating non-musicians, artists, oddballs, kids with down syndrome etc in weekly jams at a community resource centre, playing what he describes as ‘mud lightning metal’. cruz is heavily into sun ra, captain beefheart and roky erickson and has a fascination with zombies, punk rock, metal, horror movies and the aesthetics of the free form freak. the seed of contempt is the first available document of their wild reign, capturing a bunch of jaw-dropping sessions recorded onto cassette between 2007 and 2010. cruz’s vocals are somewhere between nate young of wolf eyes and don van vliet and his cosmo-philosophical lyrics touch on cartoons, anarchy, radical politics and evil in the night, with titles like “i am the creator sun ra”, “know my name of blood”, “hunger in the world is a problem”, “bush no on cnn” and “anarchists of punk rock”. the music ranges from wasa wasa-style destructo blues as played by the familiar ugly through odd piano/vocals tracks ala richard youngs’ “advent”, brokedown folk with weeping brass, unaccompanied vocal rants and wonky big band jams that channel cryptic nnck-style environments via the la freak scene around wild man fischer and weirdo lafms satellites like ace & duce and smegma. the seed of contempt goes well beyond mere real people interest: it feels like a bunch of kids mainlining everything that’s great about the wildest, freakiest rock/roll and free improvisation of the 20th century. funny, sad, exhilarating, confusing, effortlessly out – it’s hard to believe such a purely-conceived document could even exist in the current cynical/know-all post-wikipedia world. if this hadda come out on some private press side in 1970 then acid archives would have already erected a monument. but this is real – if you wanna drop in and jam with them, the invitation is there: every thursday at 5pm at the brick house, turners falls, ma 01027. tell em we sent you. if you can’t make it, this lp will take you *there* all the same. consider us blown away. “sun ra’s good, it’s a good jazz band, good methods he had.” massively cool cover, heavy vinyl, with insert. highly recommended. – david keenan
official lightning tree version with stunning sound quality. among the crown jewels of sought after 1960’s american psychedelic records the flat earth society’s waleeco is a legendary album that more than lives up to its reputation. recorded in 1968 for of all things a candy bar manufacturer (waleeco being the name of the said confection) the album was only made available to candy fiends that sent in a few wrappers and $1.50. anyone lucky enough to take advantage of that offer obtained a beautiful psychedelic rock/pop masterpiece that took in everything from dreamy west coast styled acid rock, laid back sunday morning acoustic folk, driving garage psych rock and full on trippy psychedelia. restored from the original master tapes to its true stereo this 180 gram reissue in a stunning psychedelic sleeve, is the ultimate edition of this period classic that sits head and shoulders above a sea of re-issue mediocrity … highly recommended new england teen psych classic!
scare long gone 300 copy reissue of very rare private press rock, with a good psych edge, congas, nice fuzz, etc. altered cover art : front/back paste-on with metallic printed front. numbered edition of 300 copies. NM-/NM-.
“i want to be a rocker. everybody else has walked away from rock. i want to walk towards it.” – henry flynt. taste the magic! nova’billy is another edible audible from henry flynt’s dusty lower manhattan bunker and it stands as one of the fullest, most beauteous document of flynt’s tenure with a full working rock band to date. for less than one calendar year between 1974 and 1975, henry flynt’s hard driving, heavy jamming agit country rock band, nova’billy embraced bareknuckled deep fried groove attacks, bearded hippie jam band workouts & a monstrous melange of blues, boogie and free jazz squeal into a musical soufflé that could only have come together with flynt cooking up what was proven to be, time and again, an impossible vision within the confines of the soho art orbit of the 70s. after a couple performances at anthology film archives and studio sessions in richmond, virginia and manhattan, the band postered soho in a last ditch effort to get some traction with the hipsters that read, “party on down to the kitchen. stoned country music for rock country”. the gig, like all the others before it, was poorly attended. nova’billy played what would be their last live gig at the kitchen on june 27, 1975. nova’billy covers a damned fine and important moment in henry flynt’s musical career. if the insurrections laid the foundation for his anti-war primitive garage rock sound, the emergence, nearly a decade later of nova’billy is the realization of henry’s own vision of obtuse personal politics (“i was a creep”), provocative leftwing posturing (check their version of the world communist anthem “the international!”) and a gleefully recombinant spin on southern music. 13 cuts and 60 minutes of old glory! … double 180gm vinyl. limited edition. gatefold covers. nice!
our man flynt shatters the categories once again with this surprise collection of his short lived basement rock protest band, the insurrections, from 1966. let there be no doubt in anyone’s mind: flynt’s version of protest music isn’t your cultural-commissar school of folk posturing. it’s aggro and flynt is an unhinged showman on helium induced vox and the electric guitar (his teacher was none other than lou reed). imagine a mix of sky saxon (of seeds fame) with a dash of roky erickson thrown in on vocals, a little bit of the cramps’ scary monster dramatics thrown in for good measure & the swamp chugalug laziness of vintage pussy galore and you get an idea what flynt was up to at this phase in his non-career. features legendary sculptor walter de maria on drums, confirming our hidden suspicion that in every great artist there’s a desire to rock & beneath every fine gallery, there is a basement. photos by george maciunas. 180 gram limited edition virgin vinyl, heavy whiteboard jacket… we still have 2 copies of the original bo’ weavil vinyl version with glossy covers & limited to 500.
this is the limited (500 copies) vinyl pressing of henry flynt’s i don’t wanna originally released on cd on locust. he’s made his mark with his brand of ecstatic north indian raga inspired minimalism on c tune, the full bodied experimentalism anthologized on raga electric and the avante-hillbilly bumpkin fiddle joyride on last year’s back porch hillbilly blues volume 1 & 2. now it’s time to make a place in your heart for i don’t wanna! in which flynt shatters the categories once again with this surprise collection of his short lived 1966 basement rock protest band, the insurrections. let there be no doubt in anyone’s mind: flynt’s version of protest music isn’t your cultural-commissar school of folk posturing. it’s agro punk & flynt is an unhinged showman on helium induced vox and electric guitar (his teacher was none other than lou reed). imagine a mix of sky saxon (of seeds fame) with a dash of roky erickson on vocals, a little bit of the cramps’ scary monster dramatics thrown in for good measure & the swamp chugalug laziness of vintage pussy galore and you get an idea what flynt was up to at this phase in his non-career. features legendary sculptor walter de maria on drums, confirming our hidden suspicion that in every great artist there’s a desire to rock & beneath every fine gallery, there is a basement. photos by george maciunas… original first uk pressing. way recommended avant-garage psych!
pretty typical folk-boom sound, but featuring a very young SANDY BULL on banjo. sandy’s got one solo cut, and also one banjo/guitar duet so pretty cool for those tracks alone. nice thick laminated gatefold cover with attached booklet. private label? promo sticker on cover. EX-/VG++.
private press xian psych rock/pop made to turn teens onto jesus, or something along those lines. pretty rockin’ for that type of thing. beautiful cover fully in shrink. NM-/VG+.
pretty obscure 2nd album of uk arty rock that gets pretty heavy at times with strong prog vibes, but also tosses in lots of folk instruments. ring wear and tiny bit of clear tape at spine. VG+/EX-.
fuzzy underground album recorded back in 1978, and released as a private pressing of 500 copies… the band formed in baltimore, maryland by danny amburn, john holt, joe klimas, mark beyder and bob wells. their album, heavy at places, is full of fuzz-guitarwork with 60′s garage & british invasion influences and low-budget production (think of boa or shadrack chameleon albums) while a couple of songs have a wild and underground approach to rural rock. this album exists in a time warp. it’s from the midst of the first punk era, but sounds genuinely 60s garage the way no neo-garage band ever did. the fuzz guitars are everpresent, and the songs are pure garage pop and garage rock, rocking hard without ever sounding remotely “hard rock.” the sound is as cheap as can be, which only accentuates the coolness of the fuzz. despite some awkward singing, there are a lot of catchy melodies here, and i can imagine that baltimorians who discovered “nuggets” in the late 70s went nuts over this band. a few songs flirt with rural rock, but basically it’s teen-sounding angst, just as cool as their punk peers. – [am] taken from the acid archives. first ever official reissue, fully licenced by danny amburn and the band. exact reproduction for the cover and labels. it includes extra 4-pages laminated insert with bio, lyrics and photos. pvc protective outersleeve. 180gr. vinyl as usual… limited edition of 400 (plus 100 on colored vinyl). great crude private press album!
this is the first record from u.s. minstrel-folk chanteuse josephine foster on fire records. graphic as a star is based upon the poems of the 19th-century american poet emily dickinson. josephine lays stair-steppy melodies beneath a collection of dickinson gems and sings them with a burnished soulfulness like the purple sunsets so often described in the poems. massachusetts mountains, pearled spider-webs and folk hero william tell, are all present in this unforgettable meeting of dickinson’s poesy and foster’s music, making a natural and inevitable whole. ms. foster is a colorado-born artist whose songwriting draws from far corners of the musical spectrum to form a truly singular body of work. her voice is sometimes compared to singers as disparate as grace slick, shirley collins or tiny tim, and it’s certainly difficult to pigeonhole her varied music. she says her craft is strongly shaped by “tin pan alley on my maternal side, rock and roll on the paternal side, western folk music by birth, art-song and classical music via my adolescent passions.” a personal introduction to graphic as a star from josephine herself: “as to the source of these interludes, i wrote them this past winter while living in this remote, half-abandoned spanish mountain village, a deadly quiet place with occasional interruptions of goats’ bells, donkey brays, and the church bell announcing the passing of another old neighbor every day or so. i had just a few books with me, and one was the poetry of emily dickinson. her poems proved such good company, that in a few short weeks appeared this ‘song cycle.’ whether for the irony of distance and homesickness being 3 years away, or through inevitable kinship with this long-dead lady, these songs seem to veer more towards america than ever before. back in music school, i heard a few musical settings of dickinson made by classical composers, but it’s my hope to unite some of her poems into more intimate and intuitive musical settings, being so lyrical and transparent as they are.
previously released on cd by bo’ weavil recordings, now available on vinyl. this is colorado-based josephine foster’s (born heller, the supposed) debut release for bo weavil recordings, and her third full-length album. this coming gladness is transcendental fin de siecle songs from one of the great unsung voices and songwriters of our modern times. josephine foster unites rarely united royal realms: self-penned operatic art songs cast in freely-rendered blues with electric guitars and drums beating the path along with harp and piano flourishes. she has a voice that was trained for opera, but creaks like ancient mountain folk floating out from a dusty victrola. she surpasses any “weird-folk” labeling through the sheer timelessness of her songcraft — making baroque balladry sound new yet remembered from some not-too distant shared american past. joining her on this recording is electric guitarist victor herrero and drummer alex nielson… beautiful. limited vinyl in a nice full color textured cover. sure to vanish pretty quick.
after many years as half of the highly influential skaters with james ferraro, 2 solo albums on olde english spelling bee (black joker and monopoly child star searchers) and countless tapes and cds, spencer clark has taken it to the next level. layers of cosmic and alien sounds inhabit their own world and act as metaphors you can access subconsciously or explicitly. clearer and more lucid than previous releases of his, this is a singular record of inner space exploration that operates completely outside the retro kraut-new age-synth trend so prevalent right now. being more hi-fi than his past recordings, spencer says ‘i have made an alien space fusion music that is an aural symbol for the pre-birth outer space-self’s new arrival.’ in this new zone, spencer channels a more personal and spacious side of his vision, combining the rhythmic side of monopoly child with the abstractions of his vodka soap project. this marks the first lp release on clark’s pacific city sound visions label. it stands as his biggest statement yet and will surprise and please. a beautiful record. now it’s yours to explore.”-on location at hotel california, scott simmons… great new one, maybe spencer’s most realized yet. packaged in a 12”x12” full color 12 page book.
early uk pressing textured ‘big i’ pink label. heavy blue psych wailer. non-laminated gatefold cover has 1inch sticker tear, one creased, edge wear. nice wax. VG+/EX-.
when tim cohen told shayde sartin he was writing a song called “be my hooker,” the fresh & onlys bassist looked at the singer/guitarist and said… “‘there’s no way we’re gonna have a song with that title, dude,’” explains sartin. “but sure enough, he laid a riff down and i was like, ‘jesus christ, i can’t believe you pulled something meaningful out of such a stupid line.’” welcome to the push/pull dynamic that’s fueled the fresh & onlys’ steady stream of releases over the past year, including last spring’s self-titled lp (castle face) and this fall’s grey-eyed girls (woodsist). and to think it all started the old-fashioned way – with sartin and cohen simply hanging out after work, playing their favorite punk (buzzcocks, the mekons) and classic rock (country joe and the fish, cued up alongside slabs of psych from the group’s homebase, san francisco) records alongside a growing collection of empty beer cans. “i can’t really explain what happened or why,” says sartin. “i guess we listened to records until we were on the same page, and from that point on, we never stopped recording.” as simple as all of that sounds, the duo first bought a tape machine five years ago. when that failed to produce any concrete cuts, cohen focused on his previous avant-pop band, black fiction, and sartin split his time between session and live work for such bands as the skygreen leopards, papercuts and citay. not to mention his close friend kelley stoltz, who ended up releasing the first fresh & onlys 7″ (the limited imaginary friends ep) in early 2008. with so much music hitting shops in such a short time (sartin says the band already has boxes of backlogged tapes), you might think the fresh & onlys camp have a problem with quality control. quite the contrary; sartin and cohen are very careful about what they release. and while the duo writes and records the band’s songs, the arrangements are usually fleshed out with guitarist wymond miles, drummer kyle gibson, and backup singer heidi alexander. “if we take a song into the studio or a live setting and it doesn’t have wings,” says sartin, “then we just ditch it and keep the charming demo version.” the final mix of grey-eyed girls sounds like a natural bridge between the raucous garage rock of the group’s debut and the full-on studio record they plan on wrapping for in the red later this year. that goes for the galloping grooves of “happy to be living,” the shadowy post-punk of “invisible forces,” and the firework finale freak-outs that drive “the delusion of man.” not to mention a stack of hook-slinging tracks that nix any ‘clowning on bitches’ assumptions you may have. “we’re not trying to hide melodies or do the blown-out thing,” says sartin. “a lot of those bands are great, but i don’t want to ever cater to what’s popular. it’s not that i’m being reactionary; we’re just trying to make recordings that are as rich and ear-friendly as possible.” it’s working.
ghost town is the first full-length solo release from parts & labor singer/electrician dan friel. characterized by its anthemic melodies, complex electronic arrangements and huge distorted beats, ghost town has massive universal appeal. “music-box melody shoved through the speaker cone of a subwoofer salvaged from the trunk of a totaled jeep” – pitchfork. the first 100 records shipped will be on red vinyl… all copies here are the limited to 100 red vinyl version.
if any one group can legitimately qualify as the ‘great lost psychedelic band’, then frumious bandersnatch are that group. the few tantalizing glimpses of the combo afforded by their sole release from the 1960s have engendered an enormous reputation. the subsequent fortunes of its members in groups like journey and the steve miller band have only added to the phenomenon. frumious bandersnatch were amongst the second wave of the 1960s san francisco rock renaissance, but they had no allegiance to folk or jazz or any of the other influences that shaped the major players such as the dead or the airplane. instead the group came together in the culturally-arid environs of contra costa county in the east bay, over the hill from politicized berkeley and working-class oakland, and a world away from cosmopolitan san francisco itself – key document of this great overlooked west coast psych band. extensive notes. 180gm vinyl. the cover is a blown up version of the great art from their sole 1960s release, their mega rare private press 7inch.
super rare original first press / first version of their debut later rereleased simply as “the fugs first album” on ESP-DISK a couple years later. all time classic NYC underground folk psych dope grope beatnik freak masterpiece. less hyped, but for me as much of a cornerstone as “the velvet underground and nico” or “the psychedelic sounds of the the 13th floor elevators” for its general blowing-things-wide-open factor. recorded by HARRY SMITH. featuring THE HOLY MODAL ROUNDERS. unique MONO mix thats different even from the ESP MONO version. awesome folkways style double pocket leather textured cover with heavy wraparound paste-on art. includes the always missing original insert! vinyl has some lite paper scuff and a few lite scratches, but nothing major and really plays well. super clean cover with crisp clean graphics and just a faint name in marker on the back. NM-/VG++.
super rare original first press / first version of their debut later rereleased simply as “the fugs first album” on ESP-DISK a couple years later. all time classic NYC underground folk psych dope grope beatnik freak masterpiece. less hyped, but for me as much of a cornerstone as “the velvet underground and nico” or “the psychedelic sounds of the the 13th floor elevators” for its general blowing-things-wide-open factor. recorded by HARRY SMITH. featuring THE HOLY MODAL ROUNDERS. unique MONO mix thats different even from the ESP MONO version. awesome folkways style double pocket leather textured cover with heavy wraparound paste-on art. includes the always missing original insert! with xerox repro insert VG+/VG(+)
fursaxa is tara burke. formerly a member of the siltbreeze band un, tara started her fursaxa project in 1999 after un disbanded. since then fursaxa has released six full length albums on the acid mothers temple label, ecstatic peace, time lag, eclipse, last visible dog, and atp. in addition there have been 3 self released cd-rs and a cd on her own sylph recordings. in the summer of 2008 fursaxa started recording her seventh full length record mycorrhizae realm at hexham head studio in philadelphia. this studio recording is a first, as all of the previous releases have been recorded at home on a four track. in addition to recording, fursaxa has played live music at venues in the us, uk, and europe, touring with bardo pond, black forest/black sea, christina carter, jack rose, spires that in the sunset rise, and brightblack morning light to name a few. over the last couple of years fursaxa has been collaborating more and more with other musicians as well. espers member helena espvall and tara have a duo called anahita, and sharron kraus and tara have the duo tau emerald. and in september of 2006 fursaxa became part of the valerie project, which was a live soundtrack for the 1970 czech film valerie and her week of wonders. tara really enjoyed playing with these musicians and decided to engage greg weeks, mary lattimore, and helena espvall, all fellow valerians, for her next album. greg recorded the album at his studio, mary played harp on 4 songs and also co-wrote 2 of the songs, and helena played cello on 3 songs. it is an exercise in symbiosis… limited vinyl version. awesome.
fully mind-blowing dream collaboration from alastair galbraith, alex neilson & richard youngs. all serious international underground sound weavers in their own right, this trio collaboration lifts things ever higher… for the last 20 years or so alastair galbraith has quietly been releasing some of the most stunning outsider/psych/folk/drone work to ever come out of his new zealand homeland, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have him back on the scene. richard youngs makes a nice uk parallel with a vast and equally impressive catalog of sub-underground avant/drone/folk wonderment to his name. and while alex neilson’s name might be a bit new, he’s been bending many a mind under his directing hand solo guise, as well as collaboration with mv & ee, taurpis tula and others. oh yeah, and that small fact that alex & richard backed jandek at his first ever live performance is pretty cool too… musically, things are way fucking deep in the zone here folks. side one glides along in slo-mo dream state hover with richard’s beautiful and unmistakable vocals soaring and refracting in to echoes, quietly fluttering and droning electronics, otherworldly sounding synth melodies, rolling splashes of free percussion, backwards effects, and syrupy sound pools of acoustic strings. beautifully lulling and deeply psychedelic… but the second you flip the lp the bottom drops right out with with a real electro jammer, blasted with throbbingly heavy free drumming, vibrating walls of synth, and yowling bird-of-prey electronic squeal… and things just get more abstract from there… really amazing stuff for those who dig a headspinningly deep listen… packaged in a stark but beautiful full color offset printed & debossed heavy art board cover, with debossed insert. 180 gram virgin vinyl. vinyl only numbered edition of 900 copies.
great private press eastern mystical acidfolk jewel. way deeper/darker than the average ssw private press. twisted mantric lyrics, with amazing use of the acoustic guitar, plus bells, violin, etc. seriously unusual & psychedelic. SEALED NM+.
sacramento’s ganglians want an island somewhere where they can soak in the sun and prowl the canopy by night. it’s not often that they do get out, but they can get down for that. recording sometimes as one, sometimes as four it’s a real game to figure out where the entity comes from and where it’s going. first and foremost it’s about uncertain pleasures. it’s a bit like choose your own adventure. there’s ‘codeine balladry’; a slightly upsetting tempo that is quickly flushed into an aural high, the next moment you’re in the toy strewn abyss of the bedroom and then out to the tribal caves of the natives. the planets align and the sun beats down, palms tingling, and you are on the island they’ve built, the scenery constantly shifting for a better view, of you.
black label MONO original. underrated garage pop, with a few really good cuts. their 3rd and last. cover fully in shrink, just very lite paper scuffs on wax. NM-/EX++.
previously issued as a download only release via the night people website, home of many if ryan’s physical releases, this superb recording of fragmented blown out percussion, loose guitar ragers and feedback frenzied weaved with church organ, it’s gotta be said that ryan garbes has got some wild and weird shit going on what was one of my highlights of, well i can’t remember when it first appeared on the np site, maybe 2007 or 2008? get ready to have you mind squelched by this former member of raccoo-oo-oon and current jammer with shawn reed in wet hair. issued in an edition of only 100 copies with paste on covers and insert, stamped labels and pressed on heavyweight black virgin vinyl.
sweet hassle is the debut lp from ryan garbes (wet hair, raccoo-oo-oon), fresh from his 7-inch on arbor and his cassette on nna. a man in a small college town hours away from the influences that foul a musician’s mind, garbes has a lot of time to hang, especially in the recording studio. on sweet hassle, he incorporates heavy velvets live bootleg vibes straight from the bedroom soundboard, with a touch of melodic electronic drone and a byrds dusting. “… as if lou reed had done a record for creation…” – raven sings the blues. limited edition of 500 copies.
new full-length outing from torontosaurs gastric female reflex. exposing their vulnerable underbellies by offering the gift of song, as transmitted through the cackle of thirty meter bronze age jump ropes, and then swatted with limitless spools of tape culled from businessmen’s faculty tape recorders – very limited pressing in totally insane heavy marbled/screenprinted cover.
with gazheart, celebrated visual artist rita ackermann (voice) & the no neck blues band’s dave nuss (found percussion) created a playful spontaneous sound that seemingly bridged the gap between the broken pop sounds of certain strains of the no wave movement, sound poetry and catchy, otherworldly art folk using the barest of resources available to them. one time pressing of this special edition one-sided lp features an original etching by visual artist rita ackermann on the flip side. gazheart is housed in a plain jacket with two opposing drawings for front & back by ackermann.
awesome & little known new england private press loner/outsider folk gem. first could tracks are a little weak, but they improve with repeated plays and the rest of the album is truly fantastic. very real, deep, downer introspective lyrics, a unique voice and some very cool guitar work give a definite acidfolk edge. real nice obscure cover art too. SEALED NM/NM.
hartmut geerken is an incredible and misterious writer, filmaker, musician, composer and big traveller coming from the south of germany. his musical work is unfortunately not well-known by the mosts: during the last 40 years he was working stablely with famodou don moye, art ensemble of chicago, john tchicai and many others, and in 1971 he invited sun ra and the arkestra in egypt, where hartmut was living at the time, being also the founder of the cairo free jazz ensemble. on this live recording from 1989, he’s performing on prepared piano and short waves receiver, with the collaboration of grace yoon dancing and playing percussions. “mappa” was a series of long performances (lasting usually around 4 hours each) the duo was acting on those years, and “mappa #9″ is the first released witness of this experience. the sound is a burning and explosive vortex of fire, without a single moment of breath. one-sided pink vinyl (some are sprayed!) unique pieces ltd edition of 117 numbered copies.
quite tough to find original uk private pressing from this uk underground figure who lurked in the shadows of many great artists. the fact that he co-wrote PINK FLOYD’s ‘atom heart mother suite’ and had the creation of this lp funded by PETE TOWNSHEND gives you a pretty good idea of the scope. a very strange outsider type album that covers library type electronic mood music, avant folk, electro-acoustic experimentalism, piano & chorus jams, field recordings, and spoken word. on the NWW list, so you know its pretty far out. truly beautiful archive worthy copy here. fragile laminated cover has a tiny corner bend, one very small crease, and a couple very tiny spots along the spine where the lamination is just starting to lift a little, but not peeling. very minor flaws and really looks just about perfect. crisp spine, no ring wear, no damages. labels & vinyl are even nicer, looking brand new other than two tiny storage scuffs. played once by me and thats probably the first time a needle touched these grooves, so really impossible to upgrade. NM-/NM-.
original yellow label pressing of this very rare whimsical baroque guy/girl folkrock duo. gentle and lush sounds with crystalline production, big arrangements, and an all star backing band including VAN DYKE PARKS on harpsichord and an early appearance of RY COOTER laying down some spot-on electric slide guitar. truly stunning front cover artwork has barely a speck of ring wear. very clean in general with large ‘demonstration – not for sale’ stamp and small price sticker residue on back. side one has only some minor lite scuffs, side two has more lite marks and one lite zigzag needle scratch, so call it strong VG++ side one, VG+ side two. NM- cover.
we will go ahead and say it now – we are lucky enough to be able to release ghq’s strongest collection of studio material to date. “crystal healing” is a massive collection of the band’s unique and mesmerizing brand of acoustic drone goodness. get ready to have your socks knocked off. like all of our other recent vinyl projects, this record has been wonderfully mastered and pressed onto some super-sweet sounding rti 180g vinyl. the record will be housed within hand-numbered heavy stock “old style” one-pocket gatefold sleeves and come from an edition of 855 copies. the jacket itself features some stunning new artwork by michael pare. “crystal healing” was be our second vinyl release to feature a special pressed cd (not a cd-r) of exclusive additional material accompanying all pre-ordered copies. the numbered edition of 212 bonus cds that accompanied pre-order copies of the lp contained two exclusive tracks (titled “pyramid merchandise” and “blue silence”, both from the “crystal healing” sessions) are out of print and no longer available direct from three lobed… another lifted slab from the burning trio of marcia bassett, pete nolan & steve gunn. very sweet and really done right production wise.
limited edition of 300 copies in a heavy stock screen printed jacket. a zamuro is a dark south american vulture of great size. zamuro is also a solo composition piece for portable synth and analog filter. side a on this lp is a live realization of this piece recorded at the compound in san francisco in 2006 (mastered by lasse marhaug). carlos composed and performed this piece live on several tours in the us/europe/japan all trough out 2006 and 2007, if you saw him live in those two years this is the piece he performed. this was the most complete version of it that made it to tape. side b is a studio piece recorded live on a much larger modular synth, based around the same theme, but with structural and tonal variations not in the original composition. .this is pure psychedelic electronic music. cover illustration by megan ellis. screen printed at monoroid.
the sky done clouded over after glory fckn sun’s debut album, yielding this brooding and corrosive follow-up. the new zealand sorta-super group of antony milton , ben spiers, and simon o’rorke concoct a slow-burning behemoth of metallic shivers and distortion churn, dark enough to invoke the dread name haino. spectra is an unsettling mind-meld: spiers desolate soundscapes bleed into milton’s heavy drones, which are complemented perfectly by o’rorke’s restless percussion. group improvisation is the natural language of these three; even listing their solo and collaborative albums over the past decade would take way more effort than i can muster. suffice to say this is a stellar and unique record to add to their massive discographies. in an edition of 300 red 160 gm. vinyl records, housed in silk-screened, heavy-gauge recycled stock jackets.
goofball moog version of the all the hits, packaged in a very odd ‘fully nude puppets’ laminated cover. lite sticker residue on cover would clean up easy if you’re inclined. otherwise all pretty pristine. NM-/NM-.
throw mutations-era beck, the monkees, and gram parsons into a blender and you would get something roughly equivalent to tucson, az’s the golden boots. this is a double ep 12″ that is comprised of coyote deathbed surprize tour-only ep, and the ev ep, which was originally intended to be released on the trust series. when i received those tracks, i couldn’t, in good conscience, allow there to be only 25 copies. i feel that way with a lot of the lathe cuts i release, but this one was just too good! so here it is… deluxe, expanded release of ev/cds + cassette. because of the foul-up at the pressing plant during the initial run, we never got any of the “swirl” vinyl that i really wanted for this release. so, i ordered an additional 250 on pink and orange vinyl. and they look great! unfortunately, i had already cleaned off the screens for the covers before i knew i would need more. dmitri from golden boots suggested doing an alternate cover and including a new cassette as part of the packaging. and thus, ev/cds/tf was born!
original first japanese RED VINYL pressing. great & groovy japanese garage psych blues GS burner. great stuff & quite rare. nice gatefold cover has creases to both bottom corners, otherwise super clean. original inner sleeve. plays awesome, nearly perfect, with amazing fidelity. EX-/VG++.
very scarce german original pressing (rarer then the french version) of their awesome tripped-out debut. can’t say i’m a huge fan, but i really dig this first one: already plenty of acid, but light on the gnomes… lovely laminate gatefold cover with totally different front cover art from the french version. super clean cover & wax. vinyl looks like it was played a couple times at most, cover has a small punch hole. laminate has mild general storage wear. there is a small sticker that should come off easy with the product of your choice, so i’ll leave that to the new owner. EX+/NM-.
YELLOW LABEL MONO PROMO copy of obscure soulful southern california popsike. some great floating harmonies, and nice accents of flute, electric harpsichord, etc. stereo cover has DJ MONO sticker. cover & labels have radio numbers in marker. vinyl looks nearly unplayed with one or two lite scuffs. EX+/NM-.
this lp features members of the skaters, jewelled antler collective and davenport, all kicking up dust in a rickety old barn. a spontaneous happening, the few hazy nights leading up to pasturefest 2004 may not be easily recalled, but the christening sounds, emanating from a ramshackle farm in the vales of southeast wisconsin, are imprinted here on this unassuming lp. featuring an alternate b-side jam (of music pulled from the same session) not found on the cassette version. otherworldly and just down right cosmic! … very limited vinyl in inside-out recycled old lp covers, with screen printed art.
extremely odd & quite funny private press by a bunch of goofy dirty minded singing doctors! tracks like “at your cervix” pretty much give you the idea… plain white cover is pretty worn, but vinyl is very clean, though it could use a clean. pretty rare one for real weirdos. VG(+)/EX-.
horn of plenty is a nostalgic amalgamation of found sounds and layered vocals bound to thrill followers of animal collective, sufjan stevens, nick drake and the unicorns. while the album pushes the boundaries of mellow into undiscovered territory, grizzly bear is not sure if they fall under the newly coined “freak-folk” category or hte new-folk genre, but they’d like to offer up wood-temp or cave-core. v magazine likened them to neil young on cough syrup. for the first time, the full horn of plenty album is available on vinyl. 180gm pressing w/printed inner sleeve. limited 1,000 pressing.
sublime frequencies is honored to be releasing the third lp by the now legendary group doueh. group doueh have been playing in and around their native dakhla, in the western sahara for over 27 years. sublime frequencies’ discovery of the group, via a song heard on a radio broadcast in morocco in 2005 and an exploratory mission in 2006 that landed hisham mayet in the group’s compound after chasing an overland trail all the way to the mauritanian border sealed the band’s relationship with the label. a successful european tour (with label-mate omar souleyman in 2009) ensued and western audiences were finally able to witness the power of the group’s mighty live shows. doueh’s guitar heroics and wife halima jakani and bashiri touballi’s soaring vocal interplay entranced all who were present. this lp showcases a different side to group doueh’s far-reaching arsenal of sounds. the songs represented on this album adhere to the roots of saharoui music — drawing from the classical repertoire of ancestral mauritanian musical modes. using the traditional moorish instruments such as the tinidit (three string mauritanian lute), ardin (kora-like harp played traditionally by women), tbal (clay drum) and the kass (tea glasses) along with guitar and korg synth, group doueh manage to attain heights of spiritual poetry that this music aspires to convey. halima’s ardin playing and most importantly, her vocal prowess, take this music to blissful and exalted realms. doueh’s tinidit and guitar overlays showcase the technical virtuosity and command that this master has over the region’s stringed instruments. this is the music of group doueh’s roots and the band truly takes these traditions to cosmic heights. recorded by group doueh and hisham mayet on location in dakhla, west sahara in 2010. this limited edition vinyl lp comes in a beautiful full-color gatefold jacket… recommended!
self-released second vinyl pressing of the split by inca ore and grouper. initially self-released on tape in 2007. this version has new black and white artwork. though it’s a proper split, each side resonates strongly with the other–hissing and dream-sick, songs whispered in the dark. inca ore’s side is feverish and haunted, much of it recorded while on a somewhat nightmarish journey taken through mexico several years ago. grouper’s side is distorted and pitch-twisted wurlitzer and guitar songs, recorded during a rain heavy winter, about unexplainable disappearances, invisible structures.
restock… this record showcases two very talented musicians in their prime. steve’s side clearly displays his guitar wizardry, while remaining honest and heartfelt. after several years with ghq, steve has sharpened his skills and it really shows. if you’ve had the pleasure of seeing him perform live, you know exactly what i mean. shawn’s recent collaborations with warmer milks seep through on his side of the album. bleaker and darker than steve’s side, shawn tells his tale through guitar, piano, synth and tape manipulation. it’s completely engrossing. with it’s many crooked bends and turns, it will lead you to a sort of discomforting fulfillment that gets more intense with each listen. edition of 500 on black vinyl in a pro-printed jacket with full color artwork by mary kidd.
three lobed recordings is extremely excited to be releasing sand city, a blistering new collection of original compositions from steve gunn and john truscinski, otherwise known as the gunn-truscinski duo. steve gunn is one of the most exciting american guitarists working today. his solo discography, as well as his work with ghq, should be well known to folks who have followed three lobed recordings over the past several years. percussionist john truscinski is a stalwart of the american underground in his own right through his dedicated work in x.o.4 (with bill nace and jake meginsky), slaughterhouse percussion, as well as with ghq (as last seen on the outfit’s everywhere at once from the oscillation iii series). sand city is an extremely mature and thoughtfully-crafted album that conjures some of the most potent moments of both fantasias-era sandy bull and the more guitar-centric sun city girls albums while firmly charting its own raga-based territory. it is an exceptionally strong collection that should leave listeners rapt for years to come. hand-numbered edition of 624… awesome album! recommended.
actually credited to MISS NELSON & BRUCE… nice original pressing of totally bent nyc electronic childrens music that certainly blew the mind of those few kids who actually heard this stuff at the time. EX-/VG++.
odd colored carpet of bizarre 3d fields dominate the bright and lurid psychedelic forests you’ll have to run thru to grab a mug a brew at the end of the trip! hop on the back of a giant pink elephant and let go, eventually follow his tiny dick-like tail if u are too small to climb up this pink turt in space! but do give it a try and check out what’s left? thats right: nothing! just a puddle of restless throbbing poop in different colours. the elephant turns out to be a puddle as well and the sounds you’re hearing are all on the most psychedelic hair police lp so far! this is definitely way different then any of their other recordings, way more high bliss, blown out delayed voice and hardly any harshness. originally recorded as a hair police radio special for radio centraal in antwerp! thick black and neon blue eye destructive cover design and a psychic laser etch on the b-side of this 180 grams wax!
exact reissue of this totally obscure late 60s dutch beat psych album. two covers from the hair musical, but beyond that its all fuzzy psych go-go beat action. nice, cheap, and very limited.
awesome original copy of this very rare & really great slab of basque progressive folk psych. stunning electrified folkrock setting with beautiful femme vocals, sounding nearly straight out of the early 70s uk scene, ala TRADER HORNE, SPIRIGUNS, FAIRPORT CONVENTION, but with a unique spanish flair. amazing heavy laminated gatefold cover and including the very rare thick booklet insert. super clean top copy here. a tiny bit of wear on two corners, and a few ultra-lite stray hairlines on wax only. as clean as you’ll ever find. NM/NM.
little known new england late-date private press loner folk psych, late 70s or maybe 1980. took me a few spins to get into this one as it doesn’t open real strong, but it really takes off with cool electric guitars, rural moves, electric piano, and a strong neil young influence popping up with good effect. cool cover too, its totally got the right look. with lyric insert. cover has mild ring wear & clear tape along most of the top seam. some age spots on the wax but looks barely played. VG+/NM-.
very rare original pressing of the sole release by this arty post-hardcore group featuring FUGAZI members. only 1000 copies pressed. packaged in a manilla envelope with paste-on art. tons of feedback, tape loops, etc. pretty far out for these dudes. ultra-fragile cover has splitting seam & general dirty/wear. vinyl is well played, but still sounds good as its a loud, lo-fi beast anyway. VG+/VG+.
unknown to most ’60s/’70s collectors until its discovery a few years ago, this is the beyond rare second album released by loner/downer folk legend dave bixby, recorded around 1969, the same year as his first one, the now-famous ode to quetzalcoatl. musically, second coming is equally as good and very similar to the first one, but this time the recording took place in a professional studio, so the sound is improved. bixby is joined by brian macinness on guitar, sandy johnson on vocals and don degraaf on bass and production duties. don was in fact leader of the, in the end, destructive religious cult known as “the group” or “the movement,” of which bixby and brian were part of. the sound is more up-front and the songs are slightly optimistic compared to the ones on ode to quetzalcoatl, and there’s plenty of acoustic 12-string raga guitars and harmony male/female vocals. the lyrics deal with cosmic imagery, psychedelics and religious/biblical references, but this goes much deeper than any xian record you’ve ever heard — titles such as “cosmic energy,” “time to clear your mind,” “rainbow,” and “circus world” point towards some sort of new age/post-revelations utopian consciousness. reissued for the first time under license from dave bixby himself, and carefully remastered from a clean vinyl (no master tapes exist) at shadoks music studios. includes an insert with extensive and detailed liner notes by matvei procak — the guy who found bixby in 2006 — plus some rare pictures. also includes a free mp3 download code… recommended.
this first album of the turkish band hardal (mustard) with the title nasil? ze raman? (where from? where to?) was recorded in turkey in 1979 by sikri yiksel (guitar), aydin sencan (bass), cahit kukul (guitar) and sedat avci (drums). the band was only known by a very small insider-group, but those fans just adored hardal. the secret of hardal’s small popularity is that in 1979 the turkish rock scene was comatose. cem karaca left to germany, erkin koray moved to canada, edip akbayram got stuck because of his political ambitions. only baris mancho was still on the road. to start a new band was tough in turkey. hardal also recorded 2 albums later. the music is the best turkish progressive underground you can think of. filled with guitars, synth sounds, great eastern vibe vocals and harmonies, pumping rhythms. as good as the best koray tracks for sure. this album was never reissued before, so we are sort of proud to present it to most people for the first time. from turkey, 1978. edition of 500 numbered lps, glossy heavy sleeve, 180gm pressing, with insert.
nice minneapolis private press that sounds earlier then the “78 release date. quite solid laidback psych jamming with a distinct DEAD vibe, nice organs, great guitar, and sweet obscure palm tree cover art. still pretty underrated, but gaining interest (and rarity) quickly. slight ring wear, but otherwise very nice. EX-/EX-.
blissed-out post NEU! cosmic krautrock rhythmic zone-out masterpiece. the perfect mind-drift music. orange label. laminated gatefold cover. lamination starting to lift at opening, but real nice shape otherwise. lovely wax with just a couple nearly invisible marks. EX-/NM-.
one copy only. wild solo release from nautical almanac dude. co-released with about 20 other labels. insane fake leather, painted, screen printed, etc. cover. edition of 555. long out of print.
twig harper has been a force in the noise/experimental scene since the mid ’90s with his group nautical almanac, touring worldwide and releasing recordings on hanson, load, and heresee. he also runs tarantula hill in baltimore – a space that includes a performance area, recording studio, esoteric library, and rooftop beehives & gardens. daniel higgs is best known for his work as the lyricist and frontman of lungfish, whose work on dischord records has spanned 3 decades. he is also a very prolific solo artist with works on thrill jockey, holy mountain, northern liberties, open mouth, and ideal recordings. clairaudience fellowship is released on lp-only in an edition of 1,000 copies housed in full-color jackets with a coupon for drm-free mp3 download. the download coupon includes one additional bonus track that is not on the lp.
quite rare sole release from this short lived thrashy punk all girl supergroup featuring KIM GORDON, LYDIA LUNCH, and SADIE MAE. original inner sleeve. liner notes by BYRON COLEY. very minor seam wear. EX++/EX++.
nice very early black label liberty pressing of this monster debut. classic cosmic spacerock psych epic. super clean awesome gatefold cover is SIGNED by NIK TURNER. looks like it reads “stay stoned ham” ??? labels are perfect. nice vinyl is super shiny and looks barely played, but there are some real lite paper scuffs from the inner sleeve. plays awesome. NM-/EX.
odd 2nd pressing on alternate label (orig on reprise) in amazingly clean shape. another gem from this genius. small sticker residue on back, otherwise like new. NM-/NM-.
lunes is the second album by the texas psychedelic duo headdress. written in the desert but recorded during an endless new york city winter, the album is a dark meditation on americana. guitarist caleb coy and organist ethan cook sculpt a cold, expansive sound made ripe for these turbulent times. it’s the blues shaped by the avant-compositions of la monte young and dylan carlson. it’s drone rooted deep in the american tradition… includes download coupon.
lovely copy of this highly rated micro label heavy psych burner. really very good for for this type of thing, with solid songs, great guitars, cool organ, and never too much of a macho or blues vibe going on. great weirdo cover art. very very minor storage warp that has zero effect on play. perfect in shrink NM/NM.
wild collaborative lp by these 2 deep psych visionaries. one side is a studio collab merging hw’s pummeling psych-frenzy with cascading waves of io-keyboard bliss. the other side is a rare, unhinged live recording of the single time these outfits ever performed together…imagine hw with a freaked out lead singer. strange and great.
heavy winged are a sprawling north american trio made up of drummer jed bindeman, bassist brady sansone and guitarist ryan hebert. over the last few years, the band have released a cacophonous splatter of cassettes, vinyl and cd-rs for not not fun, digitalis, aurora borealis and a handful of other esteemed imprints. most of these have been mercilessly grimy signifiers of their buzzing free-rock style, and were recorded poorly to almost accentuate the harsh guitar tones and double-time blast beats. this latest jagged offering, however, is a rare beast in the heavy winged canon, offering a higher-fidelity peek into their muddled world. this time around, the band escaped to a “real” studio to record two slices of extended sludge rock, which come across as wider than ever, thanks to some fresh recording techniques. something like an unholy union between the sheet-noise of yellow swans and the blissful sub-harmonic transcendence of early mogwai or sonic youth, sunspotted is an album that takes tried-and-tested sounds and bends them beyond recognition. sure, plenty of bands have made distorted, blurred, guitar noise before, but rarely with the conviction and wit of heavy winged. with their early explorations into doom and metal, we find the band on a high, framing their high-octane jitter into something that could almost be mistaken for beautiful. just as the aforementioned yellow swans took their sound from the outer reaches of noise to something, dare i say it, pretty, heavy winged have focused their three individual powers to come up with an album that revels in its depth and shimmering beauty. it might take a few listens to reveal its layers, but sunspotted is a challenging and rewarding listening experience. standing at the top of the band’s already estimable catalog of albums and eps, this album finds them at a key moment, a moment where they have found a balance between fidelity and grit, harmony and discord. step in, turn it up and let yourself descend. cut at berlin’s d+m.
quite good solo acoustic guitar private press with obvious nods to the takoma school, but also filled out with guest musicians in spots for a bit different sound. great cover art & label design! two small stickers lower spine, and some faint sticker residue front. VG++/EX+.
strange & cool finnish prog / folk / psych that covers a lot of ground, with varying success. some great moments, though. the 2nd of many releases. fragile gatefold cover, with thick insert. very thick vinyl. lots of scuffs on wax, but still sounds good. EX+/VG.
fully licensed legit deluxe reissue of this completely unique slab of outsider private press psychedelia. long whispered about by the most inner circle of obsessive psych collectors, but up till now heard only by a lucky few. a true legend for sure, and rightfully so, as the bizarre story surrounding the lp is nearly as twisted as the music itself. ex-road runners drummer stephen david heitkotter recorded and pressed the lp in california sometime before 1971 as a demo only edition of no more then two dozen copies in blank white covers, then distributed it only to a handful of local san joaquin radio stations before the pressing plant destroyed the masters due to non-payment. within months of his failed attempt at radio stardom stephen was committed to the state mental ward, and that was that… but what an album he left behind… deeply damaged outsider/real people westcoast basement loner acid-garage-blues from a genuinely insane person, recorded at the very edge of oblivion. the sound of a last gasp at the teetering edge of the darkest void. a murky disjointed trip wobbling between acid-scorched un-reality and pure all-encompasing blankness… full electric band setting, but whether this was a purely solo endeavor or an actual band recording will remain a mystery forever. those close to stephen at the time swear he was already too far gone to assemble even a jam session, so the solo theory seems likely, making the musical deconstruction meltdown that much more disturbing. semi-tight playing disintegrates into meandering sonic smear at every turn, then somehow resolidifies and churns onward while bent deadpan vocals funnel garbled surrealisms from nowhere to nowhere. the scarily hyper-real yet ultra-weird otherworldly presence is as thick as it comes, and only enhanced by the raw/crude/muffled recording fidelity… not recommended for the weak of heart… co-released with earmonger records. mastered from the best possible original copy and pressed on 180gm audiophile vinyl. exact reproduction labels, including some wild hand embellishment from the man himself. heavy blank white 60s style art paper covers with hand stamped title. heavy insert with extensive liner notes. one time vinyl only limited edition of 1000 copies. no cd, no repress.
very rare soundtrack from one of the few ‘serious’ biker flicks. musically pretty tame, but much in demand as an historical piece non the less. if you collect biker soundtracks, this is a big one. amazing heavy black gatefold cover with big color photos of all the key original hell’s angles members, and a great cover shot of founder SONNY BARGER kicking back on his bike for the cover. big punch hole and minor crease to upper right corner, otherwise only very faint wear. looks quite great. nice clean wax with just a couple hairlines. EX+/EX+.
hematic sunsets is an alias (an anagram to be exact) for german soundartist asmus tietchens from hamburg. tietchens is a self taught artist with more than 50 lp and cd releases on numerous labels (nurse with wound’s united dairies, sky records, the mille plateaux sub-label ritornell, staalplaat, selektion, recent albums on richard chartier’s line label and a massive reissue series on die stadt, to name but a few). his solo works are mainly concerned with the manipulation of concrete sounds and (most recently) pure sine waves (on his mengen series) and their placement (assemblage?) in time and space. while his solo efforts are often austere formal works (yet never lacking a twisted humour), hematic sunsets is a different beast altogether. reminiscent of his sky-era attempts with rhythm and melody, the aroma club series is tietchens warped, almost parodic (per)version of lounge music. each record of the series is based on the sounds and rhythms of one particular (preferredly cheap) organ/keyboard, usually a yamaha product (this time it’s the psr 36). while the last club lp was recorded with several guests (felix kubin, michael rother…) and the 2007 x-mas 7″ was a collaboration with long-time “producer” okko bekker, “aroma club paradox” is another solo effort (collaborating with several fictitious anagrams/characters though). the result is a timeless and completely unique take on muzak using cheap keyboard sounds usually associated to drunk wedding bands or your grandmother’s home organ family music. tietchens elaborately transforms the cheesy associations into cold, bloodless, almost unhuman pop tunes totally lacking the sensationalism and pseudo-fervour of most music, especially modern pop music. limited edition of 500 copies in baby blue heavy vinyl!
uk original on the original TRACK label. front laminated sleeve. silver/black labels. pretty rough vinyl, but not totally trashed. cover is nice. VG++/VG(+).
bronze ‘guitar player’ label stereo original of this awesome powerful femme folk slab. pretty much the essential take on ‘high flying bird’. sweet clean copy. NM-/EX+.
one of the most gifted abstract sonic pilots from the vacationland stable, portland, maine, artist matt lajoie enjoys a larger-than-
sasquatch reputation for his free folk personality and unpredictable takes on spectrasound techniques. although he and his merry band are one of the most charismatic tribes of the new england underground you gotta see them live they blossom from psychedelic occurrences that lead to bursts of pacifist oblivion which can only be redeemed inside their studio output. the momentum lajoie deploys in his polar expressions indicates a supply of time-manipulated balance. an accretion of bucket brigades warping wildly at first breath, generally considered a condition of primitivism, this is searchlight abandonment
with purely spirited jams more akin to the tapers pit than slam continuance. in fact, the only thing slammed here (other than the
muted poetry echoing like buoys in golowins harbor) are the in the red meters on fire signs from fire music providing ease with earth, wind and air. long may we inhale. this is a heady atmosphere, an atmosphere for heads, and it not only delivers the contempo dreamlike aspect at the apex of its form, but transcends it to those revolving with them. take this fucker for a spin. – matt valentine, vermont, 2011.
gnomic no-fi plunk, wheeze, rattle and moan courtesy of an unfortunately monikered (well… at least to english language readers anyway…it probably means something just lovely in finnish…) supergroup comprised of jonna karanka aka kuupuu, laura naukkarinen aka lau nau and merja kokkonen aka islaja that draws from the seemingly eternal well of stoned detuned mischief that feeds the viaducts of the finnish underground. the sheer density of acts positing variants on this same post-amon duul/siloah-like freakout stylee there gives rise to questions of bandwagon hopping, but that’s a discussion for another time. for the here and now, this first release of theirs is a choice manifestation of heavy-lidded third-mind acoustic weirdity that’s as ungainly as it is mystically/chemically blasted… yay to hertta lussu ässä finally on wax!
both carolyn hester coalition albums are fine examples of u.s. west coast-style hippie fuzz psychedelic folk rock, like neighb’rhood children, birmingham sunday and similar outfits. they were recorded in 1969 and 1970 on the metromedia label and are considered to be a must have for u.s. dreamy folk-psych music collectors. first ever reissue on vinyl. limited edition, deluxe 180 gram vinyl, exact reproduction of the original first pressing.
must have for u.s. dreamy folk psych music collectors. first ever reissue on vinyl. limited edition, deluxe 180 gram vinyl, exact reproduction of the original first pressing.
hevoset is the duo of two of the most enigmatic individuals of the finnish underground, namely jan anderzen and jani hirvonen, both hailing from tampere. anderzen is ringleader of a mysterious multitudinous beast known as kemialliset ystevet (fonal records), a part-time member of avarus and islaja and records solo as tomutonttu (ultra exzema, beta-lactam ring records) with a new album coming out on dekorder this year (hopefully). hirvonen is best-known under his uton monicker with two lp’s on dekorder and a stream of releases on last visible dog, digitalis, ruralfauna, jewelled antler, pseudo arcana and his own ikuisuus label. while most one-off meetings between so-called experimental and improvising musicians often sound like bad excuses for a few beers and endless jams this is quite the opposite – a heavy weight championship finale of two like-minded whizkids cross-fertilizing each other with idea after idea, leading to some of the weirdest and quixotic recordings you will have heard of the two. everything you loved about kemialliset ystevet, uton and tomutonttu is contained in hevoset…..and more. rural psychedelia, out-of-tune plucked and strummed strings, overloaded organs and effect pedals, jani hirvonen’s sweet wordless vocals, ecstatic improvised drone collages, bells, backward loops, jungle percussion and tons of unidentifiable sounds and noises shaped into tight 4 – 6 minute tracks…. awesome.
awesome previously unreleased material from japanese heavy psych legends. the title really saws it all… marbled yellow vinyl. very limited pressing. with insert. perfect NM/NM.
over the past few years higuma’s evan caminiti (of barn owl) and lisa mcgee have slowly evolved their sound from shamanistic acoustic dirges into shimmering metallic blast-off hymns, hair-raising eulogies to the cosmos. pacific fog dreams is a set of seven such songs, all beautifully distant and drenched in layers of earth-toned echo, balanced in dream time between melodies and all out electric whitewash. delayed strums hang in a beyond background, a ghost world of songs from some other place and time, channeled onto the hiss of a cassette tape to remind you. caminiti’s guitar is often on the verge of taking the whole thing down, sporadically billowing into colorful feedback, huge blocks of impenetrable sound. mcgee’s vocals are sometimes discovered, but just as distant smears, or riding the peaks, coaxing out phrases of hidden origin, maybe singing of intimacy, memory, nature or magic.
one of the all-time 60′s classics, coming out from the california desert of antelope valley where hms leader merrell fankhauser lived for a couple of yyears. this was released on uni in late 1968, and gosh it’s a killer!!!! flower power psychedelia, great all original songs, this is one of these albums you shouldn’t miss under any circumstance. make yyourself a favour and get one of these wonderful reissues we have for you, with remastered sound, original artwork and an insert with liners by merrell and a great photo from his own archive.
way obscure early 70s private press lounge psych. male/female vocals. pretty typical covers scene for the most part, with a couple total duds, but one real highlight in the extended “ramblin’ man” with a hot endlessly extended dueling electric guitar solo and frantic amped-up drumming. if the whole album sounded like this it’d be a total rural / southern guitar psych killer, and totally worthwhile for this track alone. some other good moments as well. great thick cover looks like another generic sunset photo at first glance, but its actually a painting. great loser band photos on back. very little info. cheapo pressing looks a little weird & hazy, plays fine. VG+/VG++.
we’re proud to announce the first-ever vinyl reissue of homestead & wolfe’s lone and excellent album. one of the most unknown artifacts that ever came from the american psych-folk land. originally released in 1975 by topo records. this is an official reissue, fully licensed by ernie bringas (h&w founder) and anopheles records. it has an exact reproduction of the original cover, label, 4-page insert and poster as well as extra triptych insert with bio and photos. two extra tracks are also included… despite being recorded at gold star in l.a. and featuring heavy session names such as hal blaine and al casey, this irresistible femme-vox melodic folk rock/psych delight has remained mysteriously unknown for 30 years. you’ll be hard-pressed to find faults with its mix of various late 1960s california styles, ranging from lyte neighb’rhood child’n top 40 psych over carolyn hester coalition/yankee dollar folk moves into all-out west coast acid rock a la ill wind. – acid archives… beautifully done deluxe reissue! recommended & highly limited.
real nice copy of scarce irish micropress heavy psych / progfolk lp. probably their best, with some wild heavy fuzz guitar/organ moves! gatefold cover with original art inner sleeve. EX–/EX–.
hototogisu is the duo of marcia bassett (double leopards, ghq, un) and matthew bower (skullflower, sunroof!, total). for the past few years, they have been delivering intense guitar/electronics based drones of gargantuesque scales. robed in verdigris is their 16th release and only the third on vinyl. 3 tracks spread over both sides of extreme sunshine and ecstasy. a total assault of metaphysical vibrations. limited to 500…this one vanished in a wink, so act fast if you don’t wanna miss it forever!
since arriving on london racks in the summer of 1970, catherine howe’s debut album has been unavailable in its original format. less than 20 lp copies survived reflection records’ demise, and the album sat in the can until numero’s 2007 cd issue. produced by the legendary jazz pianist bobby scott, this orchestral-folk master stroke has once again been set to lacquer, remastered and restored directly from the original master tapes specifically for this deluxe vinyl release. gatefold package includes replica lp art and complete annotation on the sessions and history of this forgotten brit-folk treasure. “it’s like some missing link between sandy denny and karen carpenter, or between ladies of the canyon and dusty in memphis. if you buy no other reissue this year, buy this.” – barney hoskyns, guardian uk.
released march 3, 2008 as an installment in the oscillation iii series. sold only as a part of the set. lp released december 8, 2008 from a limited edition of 998 copies. wild life, howlin rain’s contribution to oscillation iii, consists of two fifteen minute plus monster jams. the first is an amazingly inspired and completely improvised wailing twin guitar, rock meditation on paul mccartney’s “wild life.” “black sangria” rounds out the disc with a completely improvised piece covered in heavy jazz fusion and free, latin jazz rock overtones. the band featured a slightly different lineup for these session, a lineup that in part feels like a comets on fire mini-reunion (above and beyond ethan miller on guitar/vocals is ben chasny on guitar, utrillo kushner on drums, ian gradek on bass and joel robinow on wurlitzer electric piano/nord keyboard). wrapped delicately in two paintings by raeni miller (ethan’s wife). 180g rti vinyl and housed within an “old style” lp cover.
finally the official vinyl reissue of stan hubb’s 1982 crystal lp is available. 500 faithful repros were made of this confounding slab of stoner rock, each including a replica of the original 16 page booklet. crystal was recorded in hubb’s rural sonoma county living room and just like the original, this reissue was mastered and cut by paul stubblebine, pressed by rti and housed in heavy, old-style jackets… limited to 500. great high quality reissue of this killer unknown slab. recommended!
really nice canadian private press rural acidfolk with full band, loose feel, female backing vox, etc. great suiting cover art too! cover looks good with just minor general wear. vinyl is much played with various mark. mostly surface stuff but a couple worse needle marks. some surface noise but still a good player copy. very slight warp does nothing. VG+/VG.
great legit reissue of new zealand fuzz & wah fueled heavy acid guitar psych power trio monster. probably at their peak here. heavy 60s style cover. fully in shrink NM/EX+.
human skab was a 10-year old boy from elma, washington who played african music with buckets and spoons. thunder hips and saddle bags is a 1986 cassette recorded by young travis roberts with his neighborhood pals and siblings. it was injected into the underground network of tape traders, zine scribes, college djs, and freak seekers who were universally bowled over by its bewildering and utterly poignant snapshot of the mid-1980s. skab’s music — an orchestration of pots n’ pans, three string guitar, poorly-tuned upright piano, broken bottles, toy guns, a garden rake, and a “snake mountain” microphone — is a response to fear of nuclear war with the soviet union, he-man cartoons, twisted sister, the coolness of dinosaurs, the uncoolness of john wayne, and ronald reagan. roberts captures the fervor of do-it yourself ethos, punk energy and the rawness of early american folk by acting on his wild child imagination and enigmatic sense of song. these rare recordings have never been made widely available until now. this reissue includes the complete 1986 cassette. the cd and mp3 version contain a bonus 1987 radio interview. the 16-page booklet in the 500 edition lp and cd contains liner notes by roberts and cousin franky along with many full-color photographs and news clippings. as bruce pavitt wrote in the 1986 sub pop zine: the skab zips around the living room shooting toy guns. he hits the family piano with his fists. he tries real hard to play guitar. he makes up songs about terrorism and radiation and throwing rocks at windows. cool!
landing out of nowhere and traversing historical sonic planes with freeform light-speed, the hunter gracchus arrived at my desk. continuing the recent leaking tap, (so obscure and secretive no one seems to have really cottoned on yet), of european free-music, folk and psych that has been seeping into the underground, hunter gracchus sound both fresh and devastatingly contorted. listening to the fragile and intoxicating sounds generated by the hunter gracchus, your surroundings are skewed into displacement. when describing the output and production of sound experienced on the record, hg used the foundation of non-studio based recordings, stating “where the microphone’s presence seems inconsequential to the performance you hear and its placement is determined more by remaining inconspicuous than maximising fidelity.” this is a keen observation and sits well with the overall experience that the collective creates. spatial awareness is delivered through raga styled drones, but also, more inventively, through anarchic freeform playing. hg also site the bedouin music by deben bhattacharya and the vibracathedral orchestra as having influenced their sound; this alludes to what you will hear, but be prepared for a unique sound-world, all of its own (and straight out of sheffield!) an abundance of acoustic instruments are blown, strummed and plucked alongside inventive percussion that clangs both traditional and (seemingly) found objects. the improvised nature has a difficult narrative that paddles murky water through perilous terrain. this is imagined through the music, but also signified through lengthy and descriptive song titles, e.g. “elkadia priests’ ransacking of the pnac offices”. a mythology is an adequate accompaniment to a challenging and overwrought listen. there are moments where the peaceful rolling of hypnotic free folk is suddenly disrupted by chaotic, (close to a nervous breakdown), improvised attack. the de-tuned gypsy-shanty of the final track on side a, twists and turns like a serpent of rust and soiled canvas. the tort strings scrape and roll in unwavering tones that arch beyond the inevitable outcome one might assume, (then again this is the point of freeform music). side b has pastoral marches with balkan overtones that allude to foreign tradesmen and portside harlots. this has a similar disjointed glow that fans of lauhkeat lampaat will immediately warm to. this has a similar, yet rawer, feel to the recent part wild horses mane on both sides record. the record displays a combination of deep folk understanding, along with a distinctly western european ability to juxtapose misery and hope. the closing track hits a fantastic high with a mix of subtlety, drone, vocal wavering and distortion. the sounds implode in glorious sonic hollers that over lap and consume themselves in the form of an ouroboros. 8/10 — peter taylor, foxy digitalis.
half of the six songs on jana hunter’s carrion are unreleased hangers-on from the writing sessions that produced her most recent full-length, there’s no home, while the other half are alternate renditions of works that appeared on that release. but this is no mere grab bag of remnants; it’s a real tight product, all around. “paint a babe” is a throw-back to hunter’s earlier material, written and recorded simultaneously on a borrowed four-track recorder. a real sad, longing song. “a goblin, a goblin” took a little more time to create: this strong, sturdy number, replete with violins and creepy harmony, tells the tale of an indignant outcast. “you will take it and like it,” turns one central, pretty and proud guitar part over and over and over, with others mirroring it, leeching from it, grabbing on like little parasitic danglers. the original version of “there’s no home” is here, the track that spawned an entire record title, followed by “sleep” (titled, as it was originally, “ooh uuh”), from the recording that ended up on a lullaby compilation. concluding carrion is an acoustic re-presentation of the country-minded “oracle,” stripped down to one guitar, one melody, and one harmony, as it was originally conceived in its creation as homage. cd on gnomonsong. limited to 500.
new recordings by michael. on this lp we find hurley stretching out on six longer than usual compositions that are heartbreaking & beautiful as anything he’s ever done. side one features hurley on a creaky pump organ. side two starts out with two newer compositions – just michael on guitar & vocals. the record ends with a stunning version of tea song (which michael originally wrote & recorded way back in 1963). a sustained feeling of loss & need for redemption haunts this record.
michael hurley is one of the most beloved cult figures of the greenwich village folk scene and his songs have been recorded by everyone from the holy modal rounders and the youngbloods, to vetiver and cat power. first songs, recorded in 1964 when hurley was only 22 years old, shows that his charming, bumming, hippie, wino persona was fully formed at an early age. the album features the first recorded versions of such snock classics as ‘the werewolf song’ and ‘captain kidd.’ reissued on lp for the first time ever, with deluxe packaging including faithful reproductions of the original jacket and insert… about time this was on vinyl again! highly recommended.
way rare & utterly brilliant debut from true american visionary michael hurley (“mike” at this point). although it would be over six years between this album and “armchair boogie” in 1971, it is quite clear michael had a clear & unique vision of his own brand of folk music even at this young age (only in his early 20s). these are deeply wonderful & timeless recordings that deserve a place in the history books. finally reissued on vinyl this year, but sooo tough to score as an original, and a very cool artifact on all levels. essential… cover is very clean overall. spine looks like it was once taped. tape is gone, but spine is yellowed from it. no idea why it was there to start with since the spine is undamaged. date & name in ballpoint pen top right corner. small corner bend bottom right corner. sadly, no insert. vinyl has only faint storage marks and a few ultra lite long scuffs. typically cheap folkways pressing, so this copy sounds as good as any you’ll find. name in pen on one label. EX-/EX+.
ihre kinder, formed in 1968, were the pioneers among the politically and socially engaged groups in germany. their third album, 2357004 (also known as jeanscover) was originally released on kuckuck in 1971 and it is considered to be their best. a great german progressive krautrock effort, that should be part of every serious ’70s progressive rock collection. limited edition, deluxe 180g vinyl, original jeans cover and insert, exact reproduction of the original first pressing.
the path of spectrolite is the latest full length recording from imaginary softwoods. early comments have praised this album and state that while this recording retains some of the icy drone sound from some previous softwoods releases, this is a great progression and a bit more active. an extremely beautiful album entirely of sounds created by synthesizer and voice, this is an essential piece of the imaginary softwoods discography that you are sure to love… first pressing.
facilidad? is impractical cockpit’s 7th full length lp since their inception more than 10 years ago in the cold and blustery minneapolis winter of 1998. after several “relocation efforts,” the band settled for 6 years in the vibrant port of new orleans just after the turn of the new millennium, honing in on their signature approach to noise infused songwriting. always brewing up their own slog of psychedelic punk the cockpits have managed to stay true to their all-analog asthetic no matter how difficult this can be on shoe string budgets. after their crew was totally displaced by the horrific events of hurricane katrina, the band re-formed in new orleans in the spring of 2006 to spend a month writing a new album, unavoidably inspired by the desolate depressed post katrina landscape. mountains of molding garbage lined the streets as cats claw and ivy tore through watermarked walls of recently abandoned buildings. the national guard paced through the streets in armored vehicles, and constant gunshots rang through the thick stillness of decay and toppled over trees. after putting together a live set there, which was to later become this album known as facilidad?, the cockpits embarked on a 2 month tour, with a 2 week recording session scheduled right in the middle. traveling in a home made vegetable oil powered motor home as a 5 piece band, with 2 dogs, and a battery of instruments, they played the album all the way through every night of the tour. the set varied wildly from night to night. the result is this multi-track recording, a culmination of all of their previous efforts summed up in an opus. balkan informed brass arrangements get smacked to tape alongside the thick improvisational gumbo of triaged hand crafted paper reed horns and drum machines. plywood gets smashed to shit and an abandoned warehouse stairwell provides an echochamber for choral arrangements complete with barking dog. on the albums closer “guru’s plume,” a homemade electric violin gets heavy usage, played in the northern louisiana michot family tuning of ebeb. shrill reverb drenched vocals are softened by intense but loosely slung rubber band looped keyboards while talismans are shaken is a steel tea cup. now somewhat disbanded, each member of impractical cockpit seems to be digging themselves deeper into whatever sonic obsession they see fit for these crucial times. but that’s not to say that this is the last time we’re likely to hear from impractical cockpit. produced and engineered by ipcp, jeremy harris and ryan fontaine. recorded to 8 track 1/2 inch tape. mastered by peerless mastering. 500 pressed. full color covers.
600 pressed 5 color silkscreened cover and extensive booklet. recorded to 1/2 inch 8 track in minneapolis wintertime after a long tour with band fluency/solvency at an all-time high, even though a serious bicycle/carwreck and subsequent surgery made drummer don godwin dust off his drum machines and stow away the ludwigs. this is one of ipcp’s more structured albums to date despite maximum rock and roll magazine saying “its’ like confusion is sex era sonic youth only without the songs.” sounds like they skimmed it. this album has been likened to black humor, flipper and early cabaret voltaire… cool spaced sounds in an awesome cover.
recorded in new orleans and originally released by trd/wd in 2001 on very limited cassette. remastered by don godwin summer 2010. edition of 295 copies in recycled german thrift shop record sleeves. includes insert.
the 12″ in dedication to alarmist, a post-animal band from portland or from 2004-2005. they influenced the people that saw them play and took your carpet for a joy ride once or twice while you knew them. nick b (drums) aka tunnels donates some tracks of psychedelic pop unlike other recordings under the same name. recorded during the last few days of the band and after the break up. eric c.(guitar) aka ghost to falco brings you 2 tracks one almost like a 1 minute western dirge the other more in the traditions of ghost to falco style recordings. james s.(vocals) aka argumentix dabbles in the world of industrial beats and stories of a world left behind in 3034. assisted on these recordings by hando on sax. eva aka inca ore(vocals) delivers a chopped and screwed version of some of her recordings mixed with clips of alarmist live shows she picked up from friend mansion a few years after the fact. on the first track of side crocodile you can hear the ode to alarmist by m.remy (u.s. girls) as she calls in to a radio interview the band was doing. non of the 4 solo artist sound anything like what alarmist was doing and non of the solo projects sound a like. this is a great collection of eclectic music. pressing of 300. 12″ black vinyl.
eva saelens’ life quest has taken her from michigan to oregon to oakland back to portland and back again, with several overseas explorations and inner journey road trips thrown in for good measure. whatever path she’s on is long and winding and hidden in the shadow of overhanging cherimoya trees. fortunately she maps her migrations with haunted, exotic breath-and-electricity sphinxes ranging from 2006′s brute nature vs. wild magic to last year’s brainwashing birthday of bless you lp. 2009 finds her offering up another psychic harvest unto the world, silver sea surfer school, a new nine-song pipeline ride that floats through a whole new web of voice orbs and tape hiss and keyboard balladry. if anything, silver sea is saelens’ weirdest hour, layered in abstract environments, whispers, distant poetry, free percussion loops, with sudden passages of heart-dissolving ghost-piano beauty (“shine on from the heaven above,” “adventure in light”). heavily impressive, and a brave pearl-dive into even more personal waters for the inca ore lifeforce. lps come in jackets with art by saelens, plus a full-color insert. edition of 500 (40 on clear ocean-water vinyl, 180 on marbled blue/white, 280 on black).
long gone 500 copy reissue of legendary west coast test pressing only release from 1969. features members of STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK. pretty hot. color paste-on art. few fingerprints on black back cover, otherwise tops. NM-/NM-.
solid and pretty obscure major label garage psych artifact. quite rare WHITE LABEL MONO PROMO copy. never seen another mono copy. cool 3D-eque cover art. little ring wear. small radio call letters in marker on front cover & both labels. original inner sleeve. very clean wax. EX-/NM-.
the inner space is the stuff of legend. this obscure outfit is best known as the antecessor band of can and not much is known about them except it featured the core members of can (irmin schmidt, holger czukay, michael karoli and jaki liebezeit) and lasted just a few months before renaming themselves the can and releasing monster movie. they left two ultra-obscure seven inches as their only recorded legacy and only the first of them is credited to the inner space, it contained two songs taken from the soundtrack of 1969′s underground film agilok & blubbo. originally released by the german vogue label in 1969, it currently fetches prices around the 300 euro mark in the collector’s circuit. given the obscurity of both the band and its recorded output, we’re proud to present, for the first time to the public, not only the aforementioned singles but the complete soundtrack to peter f. scheneider’s offbeat political satire agilok & blubbo. previously unavailable until now, the original master tapes of this soundtrack have been stored in the archives of legendary german producer and music publisher hans wewerka who produced the recording sessions back in 1969. here you can hear history in the making, the first step of a group of musicians who’ll go on to achieve fame, success and recognition over the ’70s, helping define a sound (often called krautrock) that has been highly influential to this day. those familiar with can’s output will recognize some of the band’s characteristic sound, albeit in an embryonic form. songs like ‘agilok & blubbo’ or ‘kamera song’ already hint at their later pop brilliance whereas the short cues and extended free jams found elsewhere in this soundtrack reminds us from the heterogeneous roots of a bunch of musicians coming from rock, jazz and avant-garde backgrounds. all in all, an excellent glimpse into the early stages of an innovative band developing its own musical language. this reissue includes detailed liner notes by wah wah’s very own raül g.pratginestós and comes illustrated by original b/w shoots from the movie production… a very cool document and pretty essential for any serious can / krautrock fan.
debut vinyl release from natural snow buildings’ solange gularte’s solo project, isengrind. modlitewnik continues solange’s fantasticly far out occult psych-folk-drone trip outs, 12 tracks across the length of this lp, considerably shorter pieces in comparison to her work with mehdi in natural snow buildings, isengrind retains a certain amount of the sound of the duo, but it is a whole other beast, in many ways much stranger and darker, but still hauntingly beautiful with some fantastic blissed out vocal drones, dreamy guitars, and psyche soaked dark drone zones. heavyweight vinyl, housed in a pro-printed full colour fold over sleeve with all 4 panels featuring stunning artwork by solange, the inside of the cover is especially spectacular. one time pressing of approx 600 copies… already sold out at source.
islaja’s third album is a journey deeper into the world that for us is a dream and a fairytale, but to her a reality. islaja as a concept has turned into a star that is expected to shine with brilliance. but she is something else. the songs tell us about the decay of our age, its demise and immorality, its plunge into heartless consumer culture. islaja herself does not burn in that same fire. her fire is an inner fire. behind her eyes and in her heart you can see and hear her true charisma. true dedication and utter disrespect for the artificial authority made by men. yet she is not the self-destructive nico or the eccentric bjerk. but a good woman. a tough one. her eyes can burn a hole in you. her songs are poems and stabbing knives.’ –sami senpekkile; islaja is merja kokkonen, a young visual artist and musician living and working in helsinki, finland. islaja records her music at home using a rainbow of instruments to accompany her personal vocal delivery sung in finnish. she has performed with avarus, kemialliset ystevet and is also a member of hertta lussu esse, a free-folk super trio with lau nau and kuupuu very sweet one.
real weird on here… credited only to zager & evans “with others” but side two of the lp is the full first side of the awesome J.K. & CO. “SUDDENLY ONE SUMMER” lp, which is a classic slice of teen dreamer psych. so, half an original of a killer lp for way less cash. promo copy with sticker on cover. VG++/EX+.
the first jomf studio release since the critically acclaimed 2005 cd, flags of the sacred harp. produced by adam forkner, valley of fire contains three brand new finely crafted songs and a 20 minute classic psychedelic dirt road journey. the record represents two equally fascinating aspects of jomf, songwriting and musical arrangement. over the years jomf have spent equal time writing and arranging classic american folk and blues and long, freeform compositions, drawing comparisons to 1960s and 70s ensembles like ash ra temple, amon duul, amm, faust, can and the art ensemble of chicago, while at the same time developing a song crafting style passed down through generations. valley of fire picks up the trail of flags of the sacred harp and wanders down a similar path, adding elements of krautrock and classic west coast american production to create an incredible, original album. the cover of valley of fire is an original watercolour painting by american artist jo jackson, who creates mystical paintings and shows her work around the world… covers have banged corners, so reduced price.
way rare BLOOD RED WAX WHITE LABEL PROMO original pressing of their 2nd album, the follow up to their masterpiece debut ‘vacant world’. this ones something of a different trip, but still plenty of charms and some lingering moody dark angst and fuzz guitar splashes. quite rare in this form, and the fidelity of the red wax promo pressing is mindblowing. front cover art is clean & bright, but seams are worn & splitting. mild foxing on back cover & white labels. vinyl has various scuffs & marks, including a couple feelable ones, but amazingly the incredible pressing plays nearly perfect. VG+/VG+.
jackwacker crawled out of the bleak bubble of the early 90′s bloomington, indiana followed by a short lived relocation to madison, wisconsin, where they soon dissolved. thriving briefly as outsiders of the midwest no-wave scene, they shared bills amongst folks like couch, duotron, the scissor girls, the flying luttenbachers, to live and shave in l.a., zerobot and lake of dracula. stearing clear of flacid progressive rock virtuoso noodling, jackwacker have instead created the perfect juxtaposition of primal noise and know-how rock sounds. plainly speaking, they just fucking rock.
original press of long time psych fave with backing from BOHEMIAN VENDETTA. everybody seems to be a fan of this one, and its held up well over a lot of years and hype. there’s a real starry-eyed quality here that just doesn’t pop up on a lot of these “psych” records…. beautiful copy still in shrink with just a (fairly large) cut corner. vinyl played a couple times at most and would be perfect if not for some slight storage haze. NM-/EX+.
cool educational album of indian classical music theory / instruction. with notes. great cover design. library stickers on back, otherwise clean. EX/EX.
this album is a legendary artifact for all 60s and 70s music collectors, original copies in good condition change hands for about 500 us$. the spirit of the music is a tasty combination between aggressive groovy fuzz-garage-hard rock and atmospheric psych-folk with moody vocals and a poetic message, comparable to world in sound’s legendary phantasia or dr. hooker. in between perfectly arranged songs like ’you don’t walk on my street,’ ’i remember’ and the psych-trip ’sleepers,’ you’ll hear weird spoken word themes as guatamalan strange, electronic silver and heavy-riff instrumentals. this was the debut release by michael james, who’s still active in the music business with his own label, empath records, and the groups children of the risk, michael yonkers and mounting santa feat. dr. fink of prince’s revolution. this lp-reissue is produced from the original analog master tapes… deluxe reissue of this total obscurity.
original YELLOW LABEL PROMO MONO pressing of his first proper lp. the story is an epic one, but this is the guy who made the CHRIS DUCEY / CHRIS LUCEY album a couple years earlier (which actually had a uk release under his real name & with a different title.) the sound here isn’t far from the great ducey / lucey album, but more baroque with typical CURT BOETTCHER production. nice stuff. lots of marks on wax, still plays better then it looks. VG+/VG.
the 1978 release of corwood industries #0739, ready for the house, began one of the most compelling, disturbed, and singular legacies in musical history. in the 30 years since this unique debut, jandek has released 53 albums of mournful, atonal music that continues to defy classification and accessibility. and while the past three decades of intense productivity have yielded a depth of discussion, a handful of legendary live performances and even a film documentary, no amount of time or experience can prepare a listener for the experience of ready for the house. beyond stark, beyond oblique, beyond outsider, the first jandek lp (originally credited to the units) explores musical territories no one even knew existed, with just a hollowed-out voice and a lonely, detuned guitar. in 1985, it had infamously sold less than ten of the 1000 copies originally pressed, however by 1999, when it was issued on cd, the vinyl had completely disappeared, with original copies changing hands for hundreds of dollars. this exact vinyl repress on corwood industries, is the first time ready for the house has been available on vinyl for nearly 20 years, finally giving collectors and fans the opportunity to own one of the most peculiar, solitary, and strangely magnetic records of all time.
long awaited follow up to the “true story of abner jay” lp. abner jay was a man who had a grand sweeping vision of what folk music was. in his lifetime his expression of what folk music could be encompassed some serious stylistic variations. sometimes he was a one man band traveling troubadour playing an electric banjo, harmonica, & drums who tried to hoodwink audiences into believing that he was 150 years old & the standard bearer for authentic americana. sometimes he played in electric straight up r&b bands such as “koko joe & the jobhunters”. sometimes he claimed to be the “black bob dylan” strumming an acoustic guitar & singing socially conscious urban folk. on this lp we find abner in all of these modes & more. (he also does a pop song about a submarine disaster & a beautiful gospel song) culled from a mix of abners’ 45′s & lps spanning the period 1964 – 1973, including abner’s first long lost lp, which we reproduced the cover image for this lp from. we hope that this release will help to further the current wave of understanding that abner jay is an important artist who deserves a wider audience than he ever received during his lifetime. comes with a self promotional pamphlet penned by abner & a color photo of abner. housed in an old school tip on sleeve. we are very proud to get this incredibly hard to find material out into the world.
restock/repressed… compilation culled from abners’ self released lps & 7″s featuring hits such as ‘i’m so depressed,’ ‘cocaine’, ‘vietnam,’ & ‘the reason young people do drugs.’ abner jay was a one-man band singer/songwriter deserving of a wider listening audience than he received in his day. this is the first vinyl release of his material since the 1970s. great soulful folk & r&b music. most copies of the lp include a press photo of abner, transcriptions of his spoken word pieces, a reproduction of an informative pamphlet about abner & a press statement penned by abner himself. tip on jacket.
debut vinyl lp from manchester’s david a. jaycock (who is also a member of big eye family players), david had a 7″ on the excellent great pop supplement and presets follows on from that fine release. presets features 12 tracks of melancholic folk almost entirely performed by david on a variety of instruments, and it’s a real step forward to darker areas than his previous releases on great pop supplement, early winter recordings and the red deer club. the record retains some of the more haunting vocal and guitar moments from aforementioned excursions, and at times is comparable to ben chasny’s six organs of admittance, but it has a much stranger and hard to place approach and sound, with some fantastic dark creepy tracks, blurring creaking, clunking objects with something that sounds like guitar, transformed into something far more sinister… but somehow at the same time retains a feeling that everything isn’t quite as bleak as it seems. edition of 250 with pro printed sleeves. pressed on virgin vinyl.
brand new split lp featuring heavy hitting uk bleak dudes… a-side is jazzfinger’s ‘killed in a clear sky’, one solid slab of fucked up tapped guitar drone and distant errie whir… like a storm of electric feedback, slashes and cuts. far out, and a real killer 20 odd minutes to make you lull out. b-side is a collaboration between culver and fordell research unit, another side long piece, that starts off with some bassed up doom chugs and slogs that sound like fucking something that could lay down by some southern lord brutality, but then it punches you in the face with its distorted churning hell. limited to 280 white label lps in black sleeves with hideous brutal artwork by french.
danish label reverse recordings have just released a jazzkammer/opec split lp. our side is a 20 minute turntable freak-out, while opec offer a more subtle but no less intense soundscape. 323 copies, silkscreened covers and a proper vinyl mastering by the good rashad at d+m in berlin. — lasse marhaug (jazzkammer) — another sweet one on this hip label. two color screen printed art on a heavy clear vinyl sleeve, screen printed round art paper insert, numbered to 323.
danish label reverse recordings have just released a jazzkammer/opec split lp. our side is a 20 minute turntable freak-out, while opec offer a more subtle but no less intense soundscape. 323 copies, silkscreened covers and a proper vinyl mastering by the good rashad at d+m in berlin. – lasse marhaug (jazzkammer) – another sweet one on this hip label. two color screen printed art on a heavy clear vinyl sleeve, screen printed round art paper insert, numbered to 323.
top copy of this very rare and mysterious french private press acidfolk beauty. backing band features a member of heavy french prog group ARCANE V. super fragile hushed late night mood that really doesn’t sound like much else. nylon string acoustic guitar, xylophone, flute, etc. unusual arrangements all through, always simple yet strange. lyric are all in french, but the vocals are soft & lovely. one very sweet meditative electric guitar track too. really cool one for the right listener. very fragile laminated cover has just super lite corner wear. thick board printed insert is perfect. vinyl has just some faint storage marks and a couple paper sleeve scuffs. about as clean a copy as you’ll ever find. NM-/NM-.
original BLACK LABEL MONO pressing of their pre-GRACE SLICK debut, with SKIP SPENCE on the drums! still underrated compared to their later lps, but a great west coast garagy folk rocker that might just blow you away when you hear it with its original thick, powerful, mono mix sound. cover has some ring wear & dirt, but no real damages. vinyl has seen a lot of play but still sounds pretty great in mono. VG+/VG.
portland / oregon-sacramento / california: 580 miles. one of the longest trip for the first jennifer gentle north american tour. they play at the academy of fools, a sort of garage converted as an art gallery: a big open space, low ceiling, completely empty, walls without anything, no stage, no audio system, just a microphone. it seams the beginning of a bad night, on the contrary due to the wonderful view and the beautiful californian sun, or just for themselves and their fans, the jennifer gentle decided to play anyway; not their usual repertory to much noisy but just an improvisation made by their instinct. the result was a hypno jam session, relaxed, honeiric. the day after jennifer gentle play at the davis kdvs radio, where they propose and records the same jam of the previous night, which became the”sacramento session”. back to home, working on marco’s improvisations with different sounds, manipulated, mixed and remixed, they found the specular image from a distorted mirror of the”sacramento session”:”5 of 3″ is the perfect b side, the balance and overturn of that californian night. we would like also to remark you that”sacramento session / 5 of 3″ is not the jennifer gentle new studio album, but is instead a combo of a jam session together with a studio manipulation. packaging in a de-luxe and elegant fold-out cover – opaque red vinyl. very limited edition.
hangzhou’s li jianhong has been performing alone and in the duo d!o!d!o!d! for several years, but he only caught western ears last year with the monumental san sheng shi, released by philadelphia’s archive cd. oceanic and desolate, lovers with cloisonné bracelet cements li as a distinctive voice in modern noise. the two halves of this record are an ideal introduction to li’s music: “lovers in misery” offers a restrained, electric swell; “time in the mirror” wallows in hototogisu-an guitar hell. without sacrificing pacing for density, li has crafted an album that decimates the retrograde psychedelic guitar landscape and trivializes the petty violence of much harsh noise. edition of 350 180gm lps in heavy-stock linen-paper sleeves hand-screened, -cut, and –glued by reuben little of 43rd parallel press.
good maine private press xian folk pop. nice teen female vocals and a lot of pretty wild synth set this one apart from the bulk of these local xian lps. i dig it. cover in in shrink but split 2/3rds of the way across the top seam. VG+/VG++.
exploratory psych concept record that shoulda been on ESP disk, great loner moves/doo wop experiments/hard rock orbit/rural jams. songs like “moonbeam”, “mama neptune”, “vapor lady”, etc..a beautiful copy. gatefold sleeve. cut out. EX++/M-.
with its immediately recognizable m c escher cover, this intriguing folk/rock/psych release from 1974 is another incredibly rare album enjoying its first legitimate reissue. a joint effort’s final effort was originally recorded and released by canada’s university of new brunswick on its little records label (little records 101); despite its lack of wider recognition, this is generally regarded by those who know as a diverse and eclectic album with a number of outstanding tracks. one pundit described it as ’a weird mix of early csny, with shades of perth county conspiracy and a dash of early eagles thrown in.’ the first side, with the superb ’winter’ is particularly impressive — largely acoustic hippy folk rock with the occasional electric guitar thrown in for good measure. side two, however, is an altogether rockier affair with standout tracks ’greed for goldand,’ an up-tempo fuzzed-out cover of ’a horse with no name’ combining effectively to elevate final effort to a different musical plane. original cover has been reproduced as well as rare original insert.
guitarist /composer glenn jones claims a lengthy and rich relationship to what his longtime friend john fahey so famously dubbed ‘american primitive guitar.’ aside from being seduced by punk in its latter-’70s heyday and brandishing the electric for a large portion of his career (including 20 years as a founding member of post-rock instrumentalists cul de sac), it was the acoustic steel-string and the seemingly multi-directional genres born from fahey’s homespun takoma imprint that informed much of jones’ early musical vision. he’s also an accomplished writer and producer, penning notes for many of fahey’s reissues as well as his final posthumous album red cross; it was from jones’ personal archive that the robbie basho live concert album bonn 1st supreme he produced for bo’ weavil recordings (entrusted to him by the late basho, whom he befriended in the latter years of his life) was exhumed. in short, he’s an authority on the subject, both as a player and scholar, and with two gorgeous, critically-acclaimed solo albums under his belt, jones is widely and justly recognized as one of the major voices of the international wave of acoustic steel string players that seemingly crested in the wake of fahey’s death. barbecue bob in fishtown is jones’ latest, a disarmingly elegiac foray into wider and deeper streams of ever-chiming steel string. returning to martha’s vineyard where jones recorded his previous masterwork (against which the sea continually beats, strange attractors, 2007), barbecue bob in fishtown explores the possibilities of classical composition within american folk forms and solo instrumentation. it’s precisely this stylistic melding which sets jones apart from his modern-day acoustic underground brethren. jones is able to discover and project wide-screened cinema from just 6 & 12 strings, coaxing vivid panoramic images from his sparkling fingerstyle playing. experimentations with tuning and various capos of his own invention are wed with delicately expressive playing and a remarkable compositional prowess. barbecue bob in fishtown also finds jones’ performing solo on 5-string banjo for the first time on record, exhuming the spirit of clive’s original band as seen through a dock boggs-esque prism. barbecue bob in fishtown distills the best qualities of jones’ musical vision into a finely honed summation of his distinctly singular style. a timeless recording, one to be held up as one of the best examples of the genre by a unique player dubbed by writer bill meyer in signal to noise as ‘…an elder amongst the disciples.’… limited 180gm vinyl version.
extremely rare southern california acetate lp that could very well be one-of-a-kind, and its a good one too. this is not the well known british artist with the same name… totally mellow laurel canyon / topanga valley lonesome ssw folk / folkrock with strong original songs, good warm vocals & nice guitar. mostly just the guy singing and acoustic guitar, but with occasional great female backing vocals, second guitar, sparse piano, flute, violin, tambourine, etc. adding some welcome variation. everything is nicely loose, but wouldn’t be a stretch at all to hear this was a canned major label project. not mind-blowing, and while there are a few pretty haunting tracks its not “downer” either, just a real nice dose of that sweet soft introspective melancholy westcoast sunset sound. i dig it, and its a grower… hand typed labels. MONO pressing. various marks on wax but nothing major and plays really well the whole way through, especially for an acetate. heavy textured plain black cover. cool item. EX/VG++.
uk original press. rather strange lp on many levels: if the mix of christmas themes and mod beat psych isn’t enough to get you curious, the cover photos of the band, dressed in full SS gear, inside christmas ornaments, should do the trick. all weirdness aside, mostly a pretty good lp! laminated flipback cover. VG++/VG++.
orange you glad is the debut full-length lp from julian lynch, following a string of self-released cd-r’s and a recent split 7″ with his childhood friend and frequent collaborator matt mondanile of ducktails on the underwater peoples label. a talented multi-instrumentalist, julian has had a busy summer playing countless shows both solo and as a member of predator vision, ducktails, and real estate offshoot alex bleeker & the freaks. this album is comprised of 4-track home recordings made in his hometown of ridgewood, new jersey and also in madison, wisconsin where he is a graduate student in ethnomusicology. his interest in indian & south asian music blossomed several years ago when he was living in washington, d.c. and working for smithsonian folkways recordings. this exposure to their vast library of world music has informed his output, and he blends instruments such as harmonium & tabla with guitar-rock instrumentation. also of note is his use of circular breathing techniques on the clarinet — often a focal point during his meditative live shows.
guerssen records is proud to release on vinyl nothing less than an essential album to anyone with a minimum interest in psychedelic music. this very rare 1968 uk album, originally released on the major minor label, features essential psych classics such as “dandelion seeds” and “my clown.” this is the definitive vinyl reissue of this beauty, pressed on 180 gram vinyl and housed in a high-quality carton cover with old-style backflaps and a fantastic 4-page insert with photos and extensive liner notes by uk psych authority david wells. also included is a full-color reproduction of the rare-as-hell original promo poster… great upgrade of this total classic.
the first legitimate re-issue of this mega rare californian psychedelic monster. this is one of the best and most sought after psychedelic gems ever recorded, with amazing and fluid heavy fuzz guitars, superb organ, drums and fantastic songwriting. recorded in new york in 1969 while the band was living in a farm in vermont. the original was pressed in a run of 50 demo copies only! no names or hints are given on the original lp but after over a decade of excruciating search, miguel rodriguez, the man behind finding darius, garrett lund, stonewall and many more, finally found the band members! so here is your chance to listen to one of the great mystical albums of the psychedelic private press collectors’ realm at the fraction of the cost of the original, in amazing sound. this gem comes in a gatefold cover with unseen pictures and full band history, released in full collaboration with the surviving band members… great to see this finally get a high quality legit reissue! been a long time fave ‘round time-lag since way back. recommended!
long gone shadoks reissue of this mega rare & great japanese acid folk private press. for me the best japanese reissue on the label. a great mix of deep folk moods, acidic fuzz leads, a few rockers, all english vocals, really great fun/surreal/weird lyrics. instantly enjoyable & just grows on you with repeated spins. tiny corner bends & the very faintest starting cover wear. vinyl & insert just about perfect. recommended. NM-/NM.
“misora” (which can be roughly translated as beautiful sky), the 1972 debut album by sachiko kanenobu, a woman generally acknowledged as japans first female singer-songwriter. it’s a near-perfect folk masterpiece, alternating full-bodied arrangements (produced by harry hosono of yellow magic orchestra and happy end) with sachiko’s lonesome guitar and pure, soaring vocals. discovered as a precocious 18 year old in osaka, sachiko was signed in 1968 to japan’s first ever independent record company, urc (underground record club), who changed japan’s musical landscape irrevocably in the late 60s and early 70s with artists like happy end, folk crusaders and kenji endo. sachiko was the only female artist on this era-defining label and the very fact that she wrote and sang her own songs made her a rarity among japanese women. limited reissue of 500 copies, in gatefold cover and with a 4 page insert featuring extensive linernotes, lyrics translated into english by sachiko herself, and never before seen photos from the singers own archives.
new reissue of ohio psych, folk, rock and strange from ’71-’72. originality was not an issue with the jammers. they are ‘real.’ 500 legit pressings, black vinyl with bonus non-lp 45! also with band history insert and a real sharp looking glossy cover. ‘waiting for the messiah’, ‘midnight watch’.
debut album from this massive free ensemble from louisville which features a revolving cast of over 50 musicians including members of sapat, valley of ashes, virgin eye blood brothers, son of earth, taiwan death and the belgian waffles. the hermit consists of three extended pieces that offer spaciously abstract atmospheres as well as moments of righteous cacophony. utilizing a multitude of brass, reeds and percussion the album careens through numerous passages where intricate harmonics are created from the densely layered sounds. when the full force of the ensemble is unleashed individual elements appear and quickly recede into the squall. as the music nearly becomes unhinged, the sound disintegrates into a godzilla-like rockist thud propelled by the rhythm section and soaring horns before drifting to a sparse conclusion. the lp comes in a full colour jacket with homespun artifacts gracing the cover – very limited.
the new decade begins with a groovy explosion of sound and colors: ladies and gentlemen, here comes the new rock syndicate. band leader kawaguchi masami is a veteran of the tokyo underground scene, being former miminokoto, broomdusters and lsd march member, both seminal projects in the development of a certain way to make rock, looking back at the tradition with a new approach, open to psychedelia, noise and free improvisation. as it happens, masami’s activities soon became the object of a passionate cult among music lovers and record collectors. ‘the psychedelic sounds of the new rock syndicate‘ is the definitive statement of masami as songwriter and ferocious guitar player, finding in kikuchi akira (bass), kiyasu (drums) and hasegawa yohei (guitar on ‘dazzling light’ and ‘(theme from) new rock syndicate’) the perfect partners in crime for this unbelievable new studio work. the album opens with an almost sabbattesque anthem (‘why’) where a heavy riffage is accompanied by lamentous vocals; second piece (‘affected dance’) is a deconstructed blues jam, with a touch of narcoleptic magic and simply beautiful. side b is where the miracle actually happens: every single track is a banger, a compendium of 50 years of rock music compressed in 18 minutes of fire on wax. songs like ‘repetition’ or ‘tottemo’ have been rotating non stop here since when we got the master recording. every other word is useless: a monument. first edition 250 copies, with spectacular artwork by standard in-fi visuals… nice one!
from all belgian projects maybe the best known. started the köhn project around 1997 and released three full albums on our label. right from the start köhn wasn’t happy with only providing the hip electronica world only an exploration of sounds, but decided to combine these sources to deliver a kind of pop from another angle. you’ll bump into pure electronica, pop melodies, ambient pieces and musique concrete. his soundpalet is music history uptill now. still: he did find his own signature. proof of this can be heard on the epic dble cd ‘koen’ which is mainly a sum of years of experience within a thin field. köhn also provides soundtracks to short movies and animations, produced music for dance performances/theatre plays and commercials. in between all this he tours the world (with or without visuals from hendrik dacquin) setting fire to most stages and plays in de portables. besides all this he also releases albums as jurgen deblonde on tomlab to break in completely into pop-territory. but 2003 is the year that both projects coming together more and more. other projects: jurgen deblonde, ed nolbed, frambooz, de portables, burda moden. the comeback we were all waiting for! ever since his “bruce willis” album (western vinyl, 2003) jürgen de blonde mainly focussed on music for dance and theatre productions. untill recently when he relived his old synthesizer festish. this finally resulted in “we need more space in the cosmos”, an ode to lost hero’s such as klaus schulze and jean-michel jarre. the album recalls eighties electronics, i.e. an era when kraut rock culminated into new space ages and cosmic television soundtracks. but still the köhn trademarks pop up from the very first second. his unique approach to music that made him differ from the likes of aphex twin and oval in the nineties, now shows the man as a cosmic courier of the 21st century. comes in a limited edition sleeve from the yves jeanson geometrical abstraction art collection.
totally unknown and quite great west coast private press. self recorded in various bedrooms in palo alto, california. essentially a solo endeavor with one friend adding excellent drums to a few tracks. floating, introspective loner folkrock with psychedelic flashes. filled with beautiful layered guitar tapestries enhanced by understated but persistent use of phasing, backwards effects, echo, fuzz, reverb, etc. really magical post-hippy west coast guitar action for sure. the vocals are warm & deep and float through the music perfectly. primitive by nature for sure, but the home production job is top notch. solid all through, and 2/3rds of the tracks are truly amazing. serious grower qualities upon repeated listening, with many sweet subtleties. the stark b&w cover art captures the urban loner mood perfectly. recommended. pristine SEALED NM+ with insert.
this beautiful super-heavyweight lp, which comes packaged in a sweet full-colour sleeve reunites the uk’s premier free drummer alex neilson, who’s played, amongst others, with motor ghost, directing hand, trembling bells, tight meat duo, josephine foster, bonnie ‘prince’ billy, jandek, mv&ee, richard youngs, baby dee and alastair galbraith, with nmperign member greg kelley, whose reinvention of the trumpet is as crucial now as anthony braxton’s reinvention of the sax was 30 years ago. a screeching, soaring, scattergun array of noises come maniacally out of greg’s horn, unlike anything we’ve ever heard and he successfully straddles no wave, concrete and free jazz in a way that makes those genres seem like trite pigeonholes. limited to 500 copies.
this is the first release from finland’s kemialliset ystävät since 2007. kemialliset ystävät equals jan anderzén. he is one of the few finnish musicians to have achieved renown in the international experimental circuit. in the case of anderzén — who also plies a trade as a visual artist — this is not a matter of juxtaposition between experimental and mainstream, or a calculated career choice. using music and images, he is busy creating a world that is a law unto itself, a world of exceptional freedom and beauty. earlier ky albums have been peppered with contributions by individuals such as islaja, the members of avarus and sami sänpäkkilä. it is not easy to distinguish who plays what on kemialliset ystävät recordings. rather than a side project consisting of solo parts, the band is an ecosystem within anderzén’s reality. one of the essential techniques applied by anderzén is collage, in sound as well as image. he is no conventional instrumental virtuoso; his music is created with a fluctuating array of instruments and equipment. the focus is less on instrumental prowess and more on the overall sound and impression as well as the tension between the various materials. as a manipulator of these elements, anderzén is in a league of his own. his sampler-based solo performances as tomutonttu have left no doubt about that. a close listening of anderzén’s music reveals its near-architectonic precision. he is known for an exceptionally painstaking approach to creating his music. all this hard work is readily evident in the finished product, not as an accentuated complexity but rather as a clear, independent vision. kemialliset ystävät is like a natural phenomenon. it is difficult to imagine anyone having consciously constructed it, such is the ease with which it presents itself to us. to be in the presence of anderzén’s work is captivating in the same way, simple yet inexplicable, as it is to stare into fire. it truly takes a master to create such an experience, but listening to this kemialliset ystävät album evokes just that: a feeling of lightness.
this is the fourth full-length album by kemialliset ystävät on the fonal label, originally released in 2007. pulsating, radiant and turbo-charged, this music shares the groove of a junk pile and a wild foal. it comes with the lovely smell of the chemical they spray on apple trees. it’s a highly ambitious effort originally planned to become a defiant message in a bottle, limited edition of one, addressed to the man. kemialliset ystävät has been rocking out for some time now and there is no end in sight. without all the experiments of the past, this record would not exist, and there’s still plenty of fresh perspective in the mix, too. listen to roope drum his belly, laura play tambura and jaakko go berserk on a chinese flute. lots of energy went into the mixing: a million voices from friends are twisted into one hypnotic, over-the-top sound textile that vibrates and grows in every direction, resembling a living organism, a merry beast. give it a hug and you will gain power — it is like shooting up echinacea. wrap it around you and tune in to the blizzard. sit down and blast as loud as possible.
third album of texas xian coffee house folk, with the same vibe as their first, though without a real stand-out track. not bad and some nice female vocals. in shrink. EX-/VG+.
their first album. texas xian coffee house folk that gets too chipper at times but opens with a great moody guy/girl folk duet with heavy echo effects which is well worth hearing. some other ok moments too. nice crude b&w cover art. VG+/VG.
private press west coast communal hippy eastern guru worship folk psych with many voices, many guitars, many odd precessions, flute, violin, etc. a few really lovely tracks. writing on cover (signed maybe? hard to tell) price in marker, some ring wear. super clean wax. VG+/NM-.
real sweet tan label original copy of this rather amazing lp thats been getting a lot of attention since the NEW AGE ‘ALL AROUND’ lost recordings lp was finally released a couple years back. a pretty magical mix of powerful stoned folk blues with eastern mystical raga elements perfectly integrated. a totally groundbreaking sound for the early date, and a cornerstone of folk psychedelia for sure. this was his sole release of the era, coming out just months before his very early death. highly recommended album and just getting tougher to score. tiny punch hole, small corner bends/wear, and an 1inch bottom seam split, but otherwise super clean with beautiful crisp cover art. near perfect wax. oh, and sounds WAY better then the recent bootleg reissue! EX++/NM.
original copy of this super cool & rare lp, one of the most unusual of its type from the era. could go on & on about this one, but think lo-fi intelligent dorm room garage folk through a crude new-wave filter and you’ll be close. really strange, demented, fun, catchy, raw, thoughtful, dumb, etc. all at the same time. very small private pressing and it seems all but 50 copies were destroyed by the band. very crude cover with wrap-around paste-on xerox cover. NM-/NM-.
pretty cool & very obscure west coast communal hippy folk psych private press with male/female vocals, chanting, hand drums, flute, etc. some tracks are sorta eastern jazzy folk improvs, some are tighter mellow acidfolk. cool very crude paste-on front & back cover art. vinyl is pretty clean other than one deeper scratch that causes some ticks during the first two tracks on the second side. VG++/VG+.
so i would imagine that youd have one look at the photo of king darves we have here and think “oh brother! another guy with a beard getting over what looks like a bad case of the clap and an acoustic guitar. wheres my axe?” so were not gonna put it up here. (mystique, dig?) but its really not like that, i tell you! the bedrock of king darves new brunswick based concoction is certainly folk based but theres no headband and hes not singing of pixies in the moss. this is somewhere between rolled cigs and the foggy vision of big pink from somewhere on jersey avenue, or maybe a one-manned meat puppets. this kid has really cobbled something together in his kitchen sink! the sun splits for… the blind swimmer will shock and please when the prettiest sound of his deep, rich voice comes out of yr headphones, and itll make you tap yr toes and nod yr head like a little jersey goil. – tony rettma.
king george discovery – peace of mind, was recorded in sweden in 1968 with the us musician king george clemens on guitar & vocals. a close friendship to jimi hendrix, who toured also sweden in 1968, dropped many tracks from the release plan when the band was recording an album which also came out that year. all tracks who where competing with the music of jimi hendrix was not released, until now. a collector from england found the unknown tracks who where pressed only as a demo lp for the band. what a great find. some tracks where placed on youtube and collectors where starting raving about this album. it is soo good, the guitar work is amazing, as psychedelic as it can get. we could release this album in cooperation with king george clemens and we are proud to have this treasure released on vinyl and later onto cd. it’s just great! one of the most important release this year for sure! 500 numbered / heavy sleeve / 180 gram pressing / 2 page inserts.
orig UK press from ex-FLEETWOOD MAC dude, post mental therapy. pretty cool album with some loner/acidfolk flavors. fancy textured ‘book’ gatefold cover. EX-/EX+.
bronze guitar player MONO first pressing of their debut. real thick cover & vinyl. scuffs on wax, much worse side two, but nothing deep and plays nice. EX/VG++.
really cool & quite obscure private DIY label release that doesn’t turn up much. 1000 copies pressed. early ones had totally hand made covers, and this is one of those. blank white cover with extensive hand stamping & colored marker embellishments, making it look like some far out bootleg but its actually a legit release. includes a 3 page insert that totally breaks down every angle of the albums creation, including itemized release costs personal, recording gear, mastering, label philosophy, etc. a pretty inspired little package for & a true artifact of the era. usually trashed, this one is really nice! cover very clean & white with just a small name in pen. was sealed with marking tape at open, maybe came that way? just a few hairlines on the wax. name in pen on label. EX++/NM-.
orig WHITE LABEL PROMO pressing of nice quirky singer-songwriter / folkpsych from south african dude via england & arizona. nice stuff with a touch of donovan flavor. mild ring wear. VG++/NM-.
after quite a while a new private press album from this wonderful finnish crew who seem to operate in their own little world. dreamy, mellow, soothing progfolk with acid flashed, sweet female vocals, mellotron, violin, etc. really lovely subtle stuff. their two earlier lps flew out of here quick years ago, and chances are if you dug those you’ll need this one too. nice. numbered edition of 500 copies with double-sided insert. 180gm vinyl.
field recordings get a whole new meaning on this album. sharron kraus and michael tanner (of plinth and united bible studies) took their instruments to the rheidol valley in wales and improvised songs, inspired and accompanied by the nature sounds. the result are eight very diverse experimental yet traditional sounding folksongs, that are very much related to both artists’ solo output. comes in beautiful screenprinted sleeves, in an edition of 250 copies. sharron kraus is a singer/musician/songwriter with a gift for beautiful and heartbreaking songs from a deep- seated storytelling mythology. her music, rooted in the folk traditions of england and appalachia, is characterized by soil-rich vocals, haunting banjo, fine acoustic guitar, and visionary word-craft. she is like the roving storyteller, bringing tales of terror, sadness and joy to a stranger’s hearth on a dark and stormy night. not surprising, kraus has been featured in the wire, arthur magazine, ptolemaic terrascope and broken face. her fanbase includes veteran folkies shirley collins and archie fisher as well as indie figureheads michael gira, david tibet , and sonic youth’s thurston moore. her list of collaborations is just as impressive in the past, she worked with the likes of the iditarod, fursaxa and meg baird and helena espvall of espers. though this record is the first one that has michael tanner’s name on the sleeve, he’s far from being a newcomer. most of his solo-output has been released under the name plinth, on labels like second language or apollolaan. he also recorded and played live with the likes of pantaleimon, united bible studies and tex la homa. before this album, he already worked with sharron on her album ‘the fox’s wedding’… quite lovely stuff.
a real classic of ’70s underground rock, the 1975 self-released sole album by kentucky band kristyl is now reissued and fully legit for the first time. regarded as one of the best guitar psych-rock albums from the ’70s and a true collector’s gem, this wonderful disc includes seven original songs with stunning guitar-work from the band’s leader sonny devore. despite being a private pressing, the recording quality is great, still revealing serious fuzz-wah, twinned guitar and blues supported by some subtly repentant xtian vocal themes. limited vinyl edition of 500 copies only, including an insert with photos and liners by kristyl fan patrick lundborg (the acid archives).
archive lp of material recorded by tori kudo and some fellow travellers during a stay in new york in the summer of 1981. originally released on cassette the approach on these recordings was a long way from the creepy organ driven “noise tenno” lp that tori and reiko released a year earlier. about half of ‘atlantic city’ consists of songs, teeth bared and falling apart as they come together but still in a style similar to tori’s subsequent work with maher shalal hash baz. the other half is made up mostly of extended guitar jams nodding equally to rock and blues but retaining tori’s rather unique take on the idioms. cover and insert art on the lp is adapted from drawings drawn and photos taken in ny and atlantic city in 1981… beautifully packaged & fully screen printed as always. great stuff. recommended.
although finlander jonna karanka has been slowly leaking out little kuupuu jewels for six years now, somehow it’s taken just that long to materialize her first ‘proper’ album. maybe it has something to do with the time she’s devoted to her beautiful artwork, or her time spent in a highly impressive string of other bands, included HERTTA LUSSU ASSA (with ISLAJA and LAU NAU), ANAKSIMANDOS, AVARUS, and many others… but, you know, i always figured kuupuu music didn’t have much to do with ‘time’ anyway. it’s music from another reality, to put it bluntly. a beautiful place no doubt, but somehow totally other. you could call this music a lot of things, all without really saying much… post-everything? pre-birth folk? bedtime acid-art? naive avant-garde loop witchcraft? maybe something like a thousand memories & vague images folded into each other and spooled out infinitely like a sloppy film loop… the sound of tiny bioluminescent insects systematically devouring an urban cityscape in hyper-speed, while just as quickly slithering neon flora entwine the metallic gray remains, only to then be gobbled themselves by a leaderless army of pulsating micro-robots. got that? now play backwards in slow motion… surreal might just be an understatement… packaged in a stunning ultra-heavy laminated full color gatefold cover with full color art labels, all created by jonna. pressed on audiophile 180gm vinyl. limited edition of 750 copies.
unilintu is the second of two vinyl-only lps on the dekorder label compiling the best material from kuupuus first four cd-r and cassette releases, this time presenting a slightly darker and even more coherent sonic vision compared to last years gorgeous yökehrä lp… awesome vinyl slab of kuupuu femme drone folk psych greatness. sweet full color photo cover. highest recommendation!
jonna karanka aka kuupuu is one of the main movers of the (deservedly) much hyped finnish psychedelic free folk scene. originally hailing from tampere she is known as a core member of avarus, anaksimandros, kukkkiva poliisi and maniacs dream. additionally, she has recently started hertta lussu esse with lau nau and islaja and has collaborated with tomutonttu (aka jan anderzen of kemialliset ystevet) and paavi (as lussu ja paavi). “yekehre” is the first of two vinyl-only lp’s on the dekorder label compiling the best material from her first four cd-r and cassette releases, all of which immediately became much sought after collector’s items, fetching ridicolous prices on the ebay market. this lp is a beautifull collection of haunting (sometimes spooky) home baked freeform folk songs, strange lo-fi loops, vocal drones and psychedelic cut-ups, made using weirdly tuned plucked and strummed strings, bells, clattery percussion, unidentifiable wind instruments, backwards tape loops and a ton of other noisemakers all played and recorded by herself; accompanied by her distinctive voice (often looped and layered) with vocals sung and whispered in her native finnish language making the whole atmosphere even more haunting and mysterious. jonna karanka creates an intimate space where the listener feels like sitting next to her in a small chamber or outside in the woods where kuupuu sings a lullaby just for him. we’re proud to say that this has to be one of the most exciting debut albums of the year. housed in a full colour sleeve with beautifull design / drawings / collage artwork by jonna karanka herself… awesome release. highly recommended!
shrine presents a summer of 2004, post-midnight, outdoor field recording made on the footpaths of japan’s largest shinto shrine and documents the first time meeting of japanese improvising duo kuwayama-kijima with nyc’s carter thornton (izititiz, zashiki-warashi, enos slaughter). constructed with a mixture of cellos, violins, guitars, sticks, leaves, rocks, toys, security guards and wind, the music drones, hisses, screeches and whines with the humid japanese dark within which it was created. limited to 500 vinyl copies.
here is one the the best and longest album we ever did. side a has 8 tracks studio (25 minutes) and side b 7 tracks live (28 minutes). this band from guadalajara, mexico never did a complete album (only 7 inches and an comp. on orfeon). la fachada de piedra (the stone facade) is a 6 piece band with 2 guitarists. the cream influenced bluesy underground blows you away. all english vocals, original songs, effects, screaming guitars (like eric clapton & peter green in best action) with hendrix style drug-out psychedelic… long out of print. extra heavy thick covers, 180gm vinyl, only 350 copies.
brand new tour only limited to 100 copies splattered vinyl with signed posters!! shifts between tracks of classic la otracina free-form freak-out brilliance and their current vocal-heavy jams, which put the progressive psych back into early heavy metal while exploring realms of dark doom-sludge thunder and the graceful complexity of early canterbury jazz-rock. refusing to be quantified, it is clear that la otracina remain in an orbit of their own, seeking out the cosmic weird and channeling it through hard rock power!
lagger blues machine came from belgium and was founded in 1970 by christian duponchell, organ, jean-luc duponcheel, drums, jose cuisset, guitars and michael maes, bass. in 1971 the band joined the musicians vincent mottoulle, organs and carmelo pilotta, flute and saxophone. the band played very interesting progressive-rock and raised up soon to an important live-band at whole of belgium. so they performed with great success at end of october 1970 at the pop-festival, bruselles, together with warhorse and wishbone ash. in 1972 their only album was recorded which was very well done and can be considered today as a very important album in prog-rock history of the seventies. the official reissue, which is presented here, comes with an interesting insert and 180 gram vinyl – slightly banged corner. low price.
monster rare original peruvian pressing of killer south american garage psych burner. impossible to find debut album from these legends, and one of the rarest south american albums. great songs all through, tough fuzz guitars, groovy go-go organ, wild percussion sounds, cool tripping all english lyrics, regional folk flavors, and plenty of acid. very fragile & always trashed cover has just mild wear and some creases. nice metallic silver printing. super thick vinyl is visually VG to VG+, but plays way better EX-. a great player copy of a top shelf gem.
original press of this real cool instrumental acoustic guitar album on tiny FOLKWAYS offshoot label ASCH. heavy folkways style paste-on cover, with notes. cover a bit faded, quite a bit at spine. VG++/VG++.
awesome original copy of monster rare top shelf west coast private press beauty. highest (6) rarity rating in hans pokora’s book, plus the “masterpiece” symbol. one of our all time fave private press artifacts. really great rural, stoned folkrock psych with a strong basement vibe all through. the sound is acoustic based, but with full band backing adding organ, drums, electric guitar, etc. really deep down & out mood, pained vocals, perfect wobbly harmonies, and a little country folk flavor. very charming homemade production with a great real people feeling. every song is great, but its hard to pick a standout track. the whole thing is really on the edge, with songs taking odd turns when you least expect it. quite unique & really fantastic. certainly in my top 5 US privates! signed by david lamb on the shrink. cover has a few tiny discolorations on the white back, but otherwise perfect SEALED NM.
outside of philadelphia i was born and raised, and in the playground i spent quite a few of my younger days. at the time i had a preference for brunettes but years pass and we change. when my tendencies turned toward blondes i began to hear the call of the big rotten apple and at eighteen, away i went. gone were the lonely, sweaty summer nights of pa. the crickets were still cricken’ but not in my ears. i was in new york and i was looking for action. some crave love, some seek danger but i was on the hunt for open mics and not to brag—i found ‘em. in a section of the city once referred to as alphabet on the lower east side there lurks a lot of white guys with acoustic guitars. this minor mass of songsters would meet one, two and sometimes three times a week in the back of bars, smoking, drinking and sharing with each other our newest creations. it was there that i met some good friends and came of age beginning to play my own shows and tour. one of the most endearing and standout qualities of slim’s live shows is the sureness that one is always entering a genuine gospel-like musical experience full of little miracles. be set free has captured this charisma and spirit -the “hold your heart” moments and “raise a drink” dance vibes shine throughout with lush string arrangements and the fine sonic talents of drummer malachi delorenzo and new bassist jeff ratner. langhorne’s stronger than ever vocals lead the journey blending his poetry through the beautiful chaos and bearing a wisdom that reflects a broken heart battling the perils of true hope. be set free is langhorne’s most cinematic and cohesive effort to date. slim has truly reached a point of light where these songs come from wide-eyed maturity and mastered craft. gut wrenching lyrics and gorgeous merry melodies-it would be easy to categorize it as folk, but this time-it’s much more complex than just that slice of pie. sweet hallelujah choruses bleed throughout tracks like “land of dreams” and “say yes” and turn to the darkness of blues filled “i love you, but goodbye”.
we’re proud to present the first ever reissue of this monster rarity. one of the best xian psychedelic albums. privately pressed in 1972 in tiny quantities (200 or 500 copies as the band recalls), nowadays is very hard to obtain any and because of its hand-made and fragile cover it’s more common to find it without the cover or just with a trashed one. musically begins as a country-rock flavored band with grateful dead and quicksilver influences. but from the last track on side a and then, the album is “taking off”. a real “killer”. a combination of westcoasty folk-rock and moody psychedelic rock with superb male/ “dreamy”-female vocals and dual-guitar works. here’s an album that’s desperately in need of a reissue. it’s an early christian rock record, which, like wilson mckinley, is basically a record of its time with christian lyrics rather than something that has true roots in any christian musical tradition. much of it is lovely folk-rock, and there are a few very, very beautiful songs. the vocals are dreamy and, dare i say, heavenly. it’s not as consistent as, say, azitis or “spirit of elijah,” but the best songs here are the pinnacle of this genre. [am] taken from acid-archives of interest to the greek music collectors too, as lcs had in their ranks dimitri tsapatori and wis wife viki. our reissue is strictly limited to 400 black & 100 coloured copies. it shares the original cover and labels artwork. extra 16-pages, big shape (30×30 cm) booklet with extensive band bio, photos and lyrics. fully authorized and licenced by the band. 180gr vinyl as usual. pvc protective outersleeve.
very obscure spokane, wa. private press xian psych. an unusual album that adds lots of sax to a solid westcoast acidrock sound. not jazz or fusion, or really even horn rock, just psych with lots of sax as another layer to the sound. it actually works pretty well, and in the context makes for a unique musical personally. great guitar work all through. these guys ‘converted’ WILSON McKINLEY! great strange heavy gatefold fantasy cartoon cover art. cover has general wear. lots of lite marks on wax but nothing major. name in pen on label. VG+/VG+.
in a genre built on obscured and unsung genius, corridor of faces transcends and stands out as a true psyche masterpiece. rising above any number of recently unearthed late-60s anglo-pop platters, the sole offering from small town massachusetts phenomenon lazy smoke is a cohesive, solid, classic album in every sense. ten songs that weave into one-another, painting some beautifully drifty sonic picture as they go. the first remarkable trait of lazy smoke’s sound is the lead vocals’ uncanny similarity to john lennon. if that likeness was the whole story, we would have a beatles sound-alike on our hands, and that would be that. upon digging just a little deeper below the surface, we instead find a darker tone and a patient, eerie and almost shut-in feeling resonating through the songs. while bands like the beatles and the left banke were singing about love, lament and hallucinated travel experiences, the songs on corridor of faces get sincerely dark right away. even the seemingly-light teenage love-themed ‘sarah saturday’ shares an undercurrent of on-the-edge uncertainty and dread. it’s this undercurrent that calls to mind comparisons to forever changes-era love and the more damaged end of the pop spectrum. originally privately pressed in ma in an edition of only 500 copies in 1968… includes liner notes & photos.
nice WHITE LABEL PROMO copy of this cool one from LOVE frontman & musical visionary. gatefold cover has punch hole & faint name in pen (blue on blue). original inner sleeve. EX/EX.
long delayed vinyl reissue of this classic mid-2000s slab of voice-storm magic by pedal steel songstress heather leigh. originally on fag tapes. freshly remastered and with all new art by heath moerland. edition of 400.
promised for a long while now, november finally sees the release of this incredible album of rustic, very english, psych folk. boasting not only the songwriting prowess of adam leonard and the playing of the owl service’ steven collins but the majestic presence of pat gubler (aka pg six) across this beguiling, charming album. drawing from a wide ranging, genre crossing mix of inspirations for the record, adam quotes ’69 roy harper, tower recordings and klaus wchulze’ mighty “irrlicht” album on ohr, alongside a passing nod to syd and robyn hitchcock (check out the killer take on “the man who invented himself”). contractually agreed pressing of just 150 copies in numbered, pro-printed, psych forest sleeves…
“hasenlove” is the debut musical release of hamburg visual artist antonia leukers. she’s a founding member of “institut hasenbart”, a 10-piece artist collective dedicated to a meta-scientific research of hares and related social, zoological and aesthetical phenomena in reference to the art world and pop culture. leukers has previously created stitched, sewed and animated sculptures while casually growing cucumbers, working for a local in-vitro fertilization hospital and advising young people on erotic issues as a german dr. ruth for a popular online magazine. inspired by a journey to island, hearing local travel guides spontaneously interweaving their narrations with sudden outbursts of folklore chanting and an encounter with wolfgang miller’s (die tedliche doris) strategy of transforming and combining his (pseudo-)scientific, documentary and social research into a musical and artistic performance she started to elaborate her fellow artist’s lectures with musical renditions. as a passionate diy home-recording artist she has soldered her own microphones, used cheap toy instruments, gameboys and minidisc recordings of kitchen sounds to create her very own bricolage comic universe. by recycling corny aor mainstream rock/pop songs into some oddly disturbing and wonderfully weird rabbit love songs with newly-made german lyrics and combining these with some truly strange original compositions (ranging from freeform collage to distorted techno to deranged singer/songwriter stuff), she has created a musical love story in 7 parts. spiritually influenced by (though not really sounding alike) german “neue deutsche welle” artists such as der plan and theatrical and surreal performance bands like the residents her versions of popular love songs sound like a teenage/female andrew lloyd webber on bad acid. this 1-sided vinyl-only picture-disc lp is a strictly limited edtion of 300 copies. both the gorgeous design and ornamental etching on the b-side have been done by fellow hasenbart founding member renate nikolaus… all copies here include the VOM LIEBREIZ DES HASEN fanzine, an amazing 40-page fanzine accompanying the above lp with gorgeous art, lyrics, illustrations, photos, articles… screen printed & xeroxed… very cool & unusual art object!
a very obscure and nearly impossible-to-find piece of american acid folk-rock recorded in 1968 by mark levine — an underground dylanesque singer-songwriter, here backed by top-notch musicians like ry cooder and mike deasy. a complex and enjoyable piece of music from the outer fringes of the late ’60s featuring explicit lyrics (sex & drugs), and trippy liner notes and cover art.
2nd private press album from this canadian. his first was downer folk, but here he’s in a rather strange & uniquely effective goner lounge psych mode with full band, lots of keys, some charmed femme vocals, and jazz tinged electric guitar. definite outsider sound here. some makes me think this is what HACKAMORE BRICK would sound like if they got totally dusted and turned up as a bar band 6 years later… anyway, takes a few spins to absorb, but a real worthwhile trip. tiny storage warp that does nothing. in shrink. NM/NM.
lichens is rob lowe’s (90 day men) vehicle for performance and recording solo and with collaborators. lichens is a transfixing experience that loops wordless vocals into curtains of ghostly drone which lowe makes witchier with the addition of both acoustic and electric guitars, percussion and other effects. recorded live as a one-time improvisation without overdubs, the three tracks on the psychic nature of being reveal and extend already mesmerizing lichens live performances. holy mountain’s deluxe vinyl edition of the psychic nature of being comes housed in a sturdy old-style tip-on jacket that features original artwork by mr. lowe not available on the cd version… top notch space-out trance sounds. awesome album & great cover art too.
although they sprung ready-made from of the ashes of legendary candombe/beat group el kinto, one of the best-kept secrets from uruguay’s musical mythology is nevertheless the group of musicians who recorded one album as limonada. so what happened? the story starts with the end of el kinto, when band leader and iconoclastic maniac eduardo mateo decided to embark on a solo career (see our lion productions collection of his early music for more details), and the other members of el kinto said ‘let’s do something together.’ and so it was that in the middle of 1970, limonada recorded their one and only album, ‘limonada’ (sondor 33.111). it is a strange record, with backwards tape splices and abrupt song changes, that remains at the same time absolutely accessible and very groovy, in a tropicalia sort of way, which might explain why it was an immediate success. in truth, it’s a profound mystery why the limonada lp – one of the ten best sellers of its time within three weeks of its release – seems to have vanished from the consciousness of even the most devoted fans of obscure music. until now, of course. now, on to the presentation – the highest quality mastering and pressing (done at acoustech mastering/rti in california, the same people who master and press every title that audiophile label classic records makes); the resulting lp is housed in a poly-lined sleeve, inside an ultra-heavy 1960′s style jacket, which is housed in a loose-fitting plastic sleeve. inside you will find an insert with historical background on the uruguayan scene, details of the band’s past, plenty of photos, as well as a brief overview of the legendary sondor label, printed on 100% recycled paper. the lp labels are replicas of the sondor originals. a top of the line pressing all the way. limited edition of 500 copies.
nice sealed MONO original of very pleasant moody early folkrock with decent overdubbed arrangements. pretty dated, but a nice vibe & mood throughout, and well worth checking out if you dig his great ‘photographs of feelings’ lp. SEALED NM+ with a small punch hole.
lp version. limited edition of 500 copies worldwide. this is the second album from swedish folk siren lisa isaakson and her band lisa o piu. this is the follow-up to 2009′s critically-acclaimed debut album when this was the future. to get inspiration for the creation of behind the bend, lisa spent time in a small cottage located deep in the vast woods of vastmanland, sweden, where she enjoyed the last breath of the summer. every evening she and david svedmyr walked further into the woods to an old rowing boat that lay on the edge of a forest lake. in the light of the magically ever-glowing swedish summer midnight sun they paddled across the lake and then further along a forest creek with lush green trees that hung down over the fresh running water and water lilies. this is the kind of set and setting where you travel into another world… and they did. the initial recordings were made under a vaulted blue ceiling with gold stars in the old 15th century timber church of hjulsjö, sweden. the new album is filled with delicious and bewitching watery woodland folk hymnals — eloquent yet eerie. the harp has been given more space, the violin plays a greater role, the 12-stringed guitar plays graceful melodies and all is led by lisa’s gossamer vocals, as delicate as a wavering candle flame. come along for the ride… very lovely stuff here once again.
awesome copy of the 3rd and final lp from these garage psych legends. way easier to find then their first two, and not as monstrous for sure, but still a pretty great album & quite tough to find clean. heavy gatefold cover has promo sticker on back. just a couple tiny marks on vinyl which is otherwise super clean. EX++/NM-.
portland, or-by-way-of-michigan garage gang little claw first tripped our radar with their self-released why not 7 inch, which was/is raw and physical and swingin’ in all the ways you want a 7” to be. their la live shows proved even more ripping and charged; we were sold. so we sprung at the offer to enshrine their latest (and best) album, human taste, on vinyl for the world’s turntables to adore. packed with classic, cracked anthems (“frozen in the future,” “colors you drown”), basement weirdo stompers (“modern vampire,” “breathing tape,”) and naked art-punk riddles (“lay to waste,” “summerphile”), the lp’s two sides are slyly sequenced to seduce, blind, and devour, demonstrating a rad range of attacks, escapes, claws, tongues. it’s a great late summer record: between styles, beyond genres, and aggressively alive. taste the taste. black vinyl lps in jackets with art designed by the band, plus a pro-printed, double-sided 11×17 poster/insert. edition of 600.
adagio830 is proud to release the debut full lenght lp by our friend christian deroeck. after touring the us this fall for almost 4 weeks and released this album on cd by himself – this is the proper vinyl version. all records come w/ heavy cardboard cover, spot uv, poster inlay and heavy vinyl. christian deroeck spent most of the past decade writing, touring & recording with the brooklyn indie/punk band meneguar. in late 2006, he and bandmate jeremy earl decided to combine their bedroom recordings and release them together, as woods. they recorded two albums together and toured the us and europe. in early 2008, for several reasons, christian left both bands. he spent the summer of 2008 working as a carpenter in eastern long island. inhabiting a tiny basement room, he began working on the songs that shape on the knife. in the fall he moved back to brooklyn and teamed up with his old friend, multi-instrumentalist dylan edrich (chain and the gang), and little gold was born. recorded to tape at emandee studio in brooklyn, on the knife is a deeply personal take on love and loss, and was very much shaped by christian’s departure from his previous bands. like his earlier work with woods, the songwriting is earnest, and of course there are a few indulgent headphone tracks as well. now joined by stand-up drummer patty conway, little gold has begun to incorporate more improvisational and psychedelic sounds into their mellow, country-rock oeuvre, and in the process are becoming a notable live act around nyc… recommended!
weird freedom, the second full-length from brooklyn’s little gold sounds like a celebration, and with good reason. it is the inaugural release for the band’s own loud baby imprint, and it’s little gold’s first lp as a proper band. shortly following his departure from folk feral enthusiasts woods, christian deroeck assumed the little gold moniker and in 2009 released the wayfaring bridge-burner on the knife. in support of the record, deroeck toured for several months, picking up and putting down members along the way. upon returning to brooklyn in the winter of 2009, he teamed up with brian markham and pat broderick of psychedelic shredders ancient sky, and a new sound began to take shape. in stark contrast to the melancholic, country-tinged on the knife, weird freedom is a rock band getting weird in their new skin. while on the knife explored lonesome americana themes of isolation and addiction, weird freedom strips away the overt sad-sucker aesthetic in lieu of fuzzy power pop more akin to deroeck’s earlier work with meneguar. little gold has sped and turned up, plowing through 10 tracks in just over 30 minutes, including a frantic, feedback-drenched cover of “oh, dad!” an unreleased wooden wand gem. while the band is busy kicking the shit outta the barn, deroeck’s cryptic lyrics take the shape of beautiful, multicolored earworms, inching their way into your heart. thanks in equal part to markham’s easy-breezy basslines, washed-out harmonies, and broderick’s powerfully mellow drumming, weird freedom is a warm feeling, a summer record in every way. a record to blast while speeding with the windows down, singing along to tales of bike accidents, chainsaw surgery, and the joy of breaking up with someone you didn’t really love. lp pressed on sky blue vinyl in an edition of 500 copies.
black label original press west coast garagy psych funk with powerful female vocals. three small library stickers & one small sticker tear on the otherwise nice cover. one small sticker on each label. nice thick wax. VG+/EX.
real obscure private press southern rocker. not amazing but at its best theres a cool JIMMY CARTER & THE DALLAS COUNTY GREEN vibe going. great looking cover is perfect in shrink, but vinyl is rough. plays ok. with lyric insert. NM-/VG-.
red/plum label UK original pressing of well know british heavy rock supergroup. front laminated cover has some creases, mostly along the spine. just a little dirt on the unlaminated white back cover. clean labels & equally clean wax. VG++/NM-.
real clean original first press. classic texas garage psych and only the 3rd release on the label. if you dig the elevators & golden dawn then you pretty much need this one too. thick cover, aqua/silver labels, the real deal. NM-/EX+.
beautiful SEALED original of their mighty second album with the wild side-long ‘revelation’. another total classic from ARTHUR LEE and co. this came out of a pile of all mid 60s first pressings so very confident this is tan/gold label rather then the later red label pressing. its got the right look & feel too. no cuts, bends, tears, etc. super crispy & flat. SEALED NM/S.
amazing STILL SEALED MONO original 1966 pressing of the amazing debut from ARTHUR LEE and co. totally classic slice of cali garage magic. everybody goes on and on about ‘forever changes’ but for my money this is just as great, easily top of the heap for ‘66 major label garage lps, and the mono mix kills the stereo. usually trashed, rarely clean, and just about never sealed! neat cut corner bottom right, original price sticker (5 for $1.38!) crispy, clean & flat, barely even any wear on the shrink. SEALED NM/S.
in early 2008, thrill jockey released gyromancy, a limited edition art book & cd release from robert a.a. lowe & rose lazar. gyromancy featured a 3″ cd of music from robert a.a. lowe and was accompanied by a 72 page perfect-bound book featuring the art of both lowe and rose lazar. thrill jockey is now happy to present eclipses, a limited edition lp-only release again featuring the music of lowe and the visual artwork of both lowe and lazar. eclipses is an extension of gyromancy. remaining in view of what came before and altering the vision. pushing out beyond natural terrestrial landscapes into those slightly more cosmic or alien in scope. it makes an appropriate addendum to the onset of this particular phase. the music was recorded at home by lowe utilizing semi-modular and polyphonic analogue synthesizers. accompanying the full length lp is a 12″ x 36″ double-sided full color poster showcasing the artwork of both lowe and lazar. this is again included to properly voice the images, which end up as a sort of storyboard to the music.
robert aiki aubrey lowe (lichens, singer, 90 day men) constructs haunting, beautiful, at times hypnotic rhythms and melodies using synthesizers. his love of the warm, bubbling, physical sounds of the synthesizer permeates these seven songs, which seem simultaneously strangely familiar yet also somehow distant and alien. fazo iv: la kvalito de speguloj (phase 4: the quality of mirrors) is a further extension of lowe’s exploration of sonic vocabularies and emotional landscapes. because the modes lowe utilizes are tonally and melodically universal to his ear, he has titled the album in the language of esperanto– the universal language constructed to foster international understanding and peace. this notion of univeral understanding comes through in waves on fazo iv. there is a certain tranquility in these tracks– something very meditative and therapeutic; a calming honesty that leads the mind inward and transcends language. limited edition of 300 lps pressed on 150 gram vinyl with full color 11×17 poster insert.
with parallel suns samara lubelski has flown into a higher orbit with her merger of the fuels of folk, psychedelia and pop. they combine into a potent mixture that gives her compositions a vibrancy that shimmers in the reflection of their power. the music streams down and ends up in your ear through dappled arrangements that are warm and bright while still having them shaded with darkness from both the lyrics and sound… limited vinyl version. by far her best yet, and thats saying a lot. recommended!
original copy of this totally amazing & much in demand downer folk psych masterpiece. really can’t think of many as deep, sad, and beautiful as this one. ultra smooth booze soaked deep vocals, intense melancholy, stoned-out atmosphere, lifted ragas, sitar, 12-string, autoharp, tamboura, etc. totally unique & massively recommended. whole first side is deep acidfolk ssw stuff, second side goes all out stoned raga jamming. includes a color repro of the often missing insert. mindblowing stanley mouse cover art seals the deal. cover has a very minor starting split/bend to one corner and only the very faintest wear otherwise. very clean graphics. vinyl is nearly pristine unplayed. beautiful copy of this essential album. EX++/NM.
second full-length album by julian lynch. recorded in madison, wisconsin and ridgewood, new jersey in 2009 and the beginning of 2010. download coupon included… sweet new one. recommended.
obscure soundtrack album with some great funky tracks, loads of breaks, etc. doesn’t seem like a reissues, but not totally convinced this is a first pressing, so its cheap… EX+/VG+.
through a mutual admiration of each other’s work magic lantern & the hop-frog kollectiv have created two stunning masterpieces for a collaborative release. the hop-frog kollectiv’s somba is based on recordings on silvertone and hammond organs donated by shea m. gauer of open books and features yanqin (chinese dulcimer), ruan (moon guitar), been, electric guitar, midi guitar & flutes. the title comes from the regionally known name of three clans in the atakora mountains of the sahara desert who’s ancestral and family ties govern their society through their belief that the dead are permanently among us and constantly influencing us. magic lantern’s underwater dynasty was recorded for ukelele, guitar, flute, piano, bells, hand drums & voices. this piece could alternatively be titled underwater raga. the magic created by the interweaving flute and string melodies creates and epic soundtrack to an atlantis like hesse-esque world that’ll take you to the outer places you’ve always needed to explore. this is magic lantern’s follow up to their highly acclaimed wax release on not not fun entitled high beams. this lp is limited to 300 copies.
private press uk old school pink floyd inspired psych with fuzz, cosmic synth bleeps, sitar, female vocals, violin, and plenty of spacerock moves. packaged in an insane huge foldout day-glo op-art cover. no pvc sleeve. EX++/EX++.
a formality and restraint the markers have never exerted on their previously recorded material is present on boss. now the markers are jainists, with their mouths masked so as to not inhale even one tiny insect, here pursuing the killer gentle with a vengeance. recorded in the cavernous dark of echo canyon west, with producer lee ranaldo working the boards like a diviner, boss documents the markers with a previously unheard fidelity and orchestration. idiosyncratic song structure and melodies interspersed with a destructive drum stomp are reminiscent of the early electrified blues of junior kimbrough, or the black hole rhythms of kousokuya. mixing a gentle vulnerability with a winded egomania, the markers have always had a musical tunnel vision; boss is that vision made manifest… self released edition of only 500. screened covers. wicked.
traditional japanese folk instruments processed through the lens of acid mothers and lsd march instigators. new psychic territorial landscapes the cosmic cartographer mapped yesterday before tomorrow.
acid mothers temple main man kawabata makoto links up with lsd march guitarist michishita shinsuke to create another amazing platter of fantastic sounds and vibes. maru sankaku shikaku (circle triangle square) finds the duo moving on from the electric guitars of their previous duo releases to an all acoustic album featuring ethnic instruments from around the globe. two side long pieces mesh drone music with an ebb and a flow usually found on soundtracks or the soundtrack in one’s head. new psychic territorial landscapes the cosmic cartographer mapped yesterday before tomorrow. limited to 500 copies on swirled colored vinyl in a gorgeous gatefold sleeve.
the fabulous third lp by mandrake memorial, one of the best bands of the us psychedelic sounds history, is the release chosen to open our new wah wah deluxe series. this marvelous 1970 lp from the poppy label is reissued for the first time ever on full 180 gram vinyl glory, housed in its original escher gatefold sleeve and complete with a colour insert that reproduces the original lp insert plus contains some interesting texts courtesy of poppy label founder kevin eggers and mandrake memorial member craig anderton. for those unfamiliar to this top band’s sounds, we’ll just add that their three lps shall be up there with the best works of the best bands that came out from the states in the psychedelic era. think of the west coast pop art experimental band, pearls before swine, united states of america and the likes. puzzle is a masterpiece that not only benefits from the master work of the mandrake members, but also from that of producer ron frangipane. the combination of talents delivers a perfect mix of classic psychedelia with beautiful orchestra passages.
david maranha’s recordings stretch back over 20 years with the portuguese avant trio osso exótico, as well as collaborations with z’ev and minit. a followup to marches of the new world (2007), antarctica is made up of two side-long excursions into monolithic drone-rock. in the vein of tony conrad & faust, “venus in furs,” la monte young and terry riley, maranha’s ensemble is driven by keyboards, strings, and hypnotized-heartbeat percussion. like the great white expanse of the titular continent, it can be taken in simply as a glorious wash of sound; listen to it closely, however, and you’ll hear the smallest details jump out in high relief: a feather can move a mountain. an edition of 300 copies in silkscreened covers. digital download coupon included.
looong gone private reissue of impossibly rare texas demo only heavy guitar psych scorcher. numbered edition of only 150 copies! fragile cover has a tiny sticker tear that vanishes into the artwork. wax has micro storage hairlines only. NM-/NM-.
original private pressing of this ultra stoned-out teenage garage psych beast. only 250 copies pressed. wasted vocals, blazing up-front organ, frantic drumming, etc. nice chiming guitar sound. some cool surprising use of flute & massively echoed drums in spots… not trashed but certainly not for mint freaks. cover has fully split top seam, repaired from the inside with clear tape. general edge wear, white is somewhat yellowed, and bottom right corner is bent about 1inch. amazing b&w art remains very sharp. includes the cool custom fidelity inner sleeve. metallic labels are very clean. vinyl is well used with many surface scuffs and a handful of lite and not so lite scratches. still an enjoyable listen, but there is surface noise throughout. still a pretty sweet & seriously rare slab at a fraction of the cost of a mint copy (if you can find one). VG+/VG.
brooklyn-based musician and visual artist jason martin records on 4 track near his upstate ny hometown in a haunted cabin by a lake that used to be a valley of towns and indian settlements. some of them were his ancestors. this album crashes through deconstructed folk, gospel-tinged noise, a nick lowe-esque pop song about women turning men into horses to whip and ride through the woods (actual legend from the region), while soundscapes string it all together. well-researched liner notes explain the history, while the lp puts it into sound. with a nearly 20 year-long discography, jason made music throughout the 90′s with schenectady’s expansive cable-access tele-audio-visual collective brown cuts neighbors, and has been in dozens of groups including atlantic drone, evolution revolution, corcraft (w/ j.mascis of dinosaur jr + suzanne thorpe of mercury rev), the bunnybrains, denim and diamonds. his love of glamorous, paganistic animism surfaces in his music as well as videos, drawings, and performances. this lp is no exception as it creaks, moans and shimmies with voices of the undead in catchy little ditties such as “witch”, ”white horse”, “body in the water” and other hits… tiny private press edition of only 99 copies packaged in a metallic screen printed cover.
goofball moog version of the all the hits, packaged in a very odd ‘fully nude puppets’ laminated cover. lite sticker residue on cover would clean up easy if you’re inclined. otherwise all pretty pristine. NM-/NM-.
goofball moog version of the all the hits, packaged in a very odd ‘fully nude puppets’ laminated cover. lite sticker residue on cover would clean up easy if you’re inclined. otherwise all pretty pristine. NM-/NM-.
travel back in time to 1969 with our official reissue of one of the most highly sought after west coast psychedelic rock records ever recorded. a heady trip, filled with grooving reverb-soaked jams! prized original pressings command more than $1000!! in the tumultuous spring of 1968, the mary butterworth band was formed. contrary to rumors, the group originated from southern california and enjoyed being thrust onto the incredible scene that was developing during this remarkable time for music. after a year or so of performing throughout the region in places like the marina palace in seal beach and others, they decided to record and release a debut album on their own label. in 1969, on a shoestring budget, their album was recorded, manufactured and released. however, the limited pressing was pre-sold to fans and friends only, and never even made it into stores. it disappeared as quickly as it arrived, as did mary butterworth, who disbanded not long after the album’s release, never to perform together again. after a decade or two, word of the album had spread to rabid collectors of vinyl records and late 60s music. somewhere in europe during this time, a bootleg vinyl was released and the legend of mary butterworth continued to grow, driving the price of the original pressing up into the hundreds of dollars. it would go on to be bootlegged a handful more times in various countries, further driving the price of the original pressing through the roof and continuing to enhance the reputation of this long lost piece of 60s psych rock history. here it is 2011 and mary butterworth returns from the past once again, this time in the form of an official licensed, from the master tapes, limited edition vinyl reissue of the impossibly rare and sought after 1969 debut album.
private press arizona folkrock with some country/rural vibes, female vocals, etc. all originals other then a cover of gram nash’s “wounded bird”. perfect in shrink. NM/NM.
echoing like a long lost werner herzog soundtrack, totem two is a record of subtle meditations and deep electric hallucinations from the crystal caves of the northwest to the orchestral desert portals of turkey. totem two finds mmob exploring the disappearance of the mystic and the schisms of our age. in times when forces move against our souls, these are the first sounds of music that can only be described as no-age, a resistance is making itself known. featuring members of earth, asva, burning witch, the diminished men, and more, as well as special guests from secret chiefs 3 and the thriving istanbul music scene. mmob has now solidified into a 7-piece cosmic psych force. like a reverse dark side of the new age sound, on the totem series master musicians of bukkake perform ritualistic electric excursions into the outer and inner reaches. relying more on the electric power of psyched guitars, analog synth chants, and exotic heavy percussion. this totem trilogy echoes with the delusions of a west coast death cult. outer-spaced gamelan, dusty fuzz rock from celestial deserts, meditations of a deranged krishna gathering, and the blurry acoustic guitar majesty of the cascade mountains all reveal themselves here in epic form. master musicians of bukkake’s newest offering in the totem trilogy, totem two marks yet another psychic and sonic shift from their first record visible sign of the invisible order (abduction records 2005/lp via important records 2010) and its predecessor in the trilogy totem one (conspiracy records 2009). on totem two, master musicians explore and meditate deep on the death of the mystics, the forgotten ones, the schisms of our time, and the inability to realize the primary clear light for what it is. totem two shifts from electronically altered bön cult rituals to outer spaced sufi sects. finally succumbing to the fully orchestrated no-age darkness of the religion of the future only to end in delusional ‘enlightenment’ atop mt. shasta, scrawling the deranged rambling of new age psychosis on the crystal walls of a cave. every sound and note played is put to tape by a group with a singular purging purpose. recorded, mixed and produced by randall dunn (six organs of admitance, sunno))), earth ,etc.), at aleph studios in seattle, wa. ‘perede kaldirma’ was recorded in istanbul, turkey at the legendary ada studios, november 2009. featuring a collaboration between mmob and turkish musicians from the istanbul music scene, it features amazing ney solos by serkan bagkenesen. over the years, ada studios in istanbul has been the host for records by erkin koray and baris manco to name a few. inspired by and for lovers of: popul vuh’s work with werner herzog, early vangelis and tangerine dream, as well as philip glass’ kundun soundtrack… limited vinyl version with obi strip.
beautiful original copy of obscure breezy soft psych harmony pop for fans of FREE DESIGN, SMALL CIRCLE OF FRIENDS, MILLENNIUM, etc. tiny cut corner. in shrink. NM-/EX+.
original very first UK pressing (A1/B1 matrix) of their 2nd & final lp. much loved avant prog psych fusion madness featuring ROBERT WYATT, post SOFT MACHINE. original art inner sleeve. sweet vinyl. EX+/NM-.
this group has been called mountains of matallama, mountains of matalama, mountains of mata llama, mountains of mattallama, mountains of mata lama, mountains of mattalama, mountains of mattalamma, and on down the line. for the record, this record, and the rest to come this is matta llama. residing in ny matta llama have been playing together longer than they would like to admit. what do they play? blood music. the music works like that of the circulatory system chugging and pounding. at other times it can turn out a wispy, crispy tune of flickering light. all of this delivered via drums, keys, guitar, and bass with the occasional seasoning of vocalizations and in/organic dripping. with this, their first record, they offer 5 cuts culled from years of rehearsals at the hint house. these impromptu rock excursions gleam with but a taste of their musical existence, and with that expect more to come. matta llama. with deluxe foldout poster and fancy matte cover art! 500 copies.
orig US pressing of this fantastic solo debut from IAN MATTHEWS, post FAIRPORT CONVENTION. a really wonderful & underrated album that nails its own vibe perfect. heavy gatefold cover, orig lyrics inner sleeve. ring wear & name in pen on cover, super clean wax. great fidelity. VG+/EX++.
anopheles records is proud to announce our latest archival release, the first ever authorized, high quality vinyl lp reissue of baltimore, maryland’s maypole, whose sole album, & #145;the real,’ was recorded in three days in july 1970, and released in early 1971, shortly before their label folded, dooming the album to stillborn status commercially at the time. the lp is an ambitious, 50-minute feast of tight harmonies, powerful arrangements, fluid improvisation, and flat out great songs, and serves as a touchstone for twin guitar-driven, west coast-styled psychedelia, soaring power pop, and blistering hard rock. if you’ve been looking for an lp to file next to your public nuisance and morgen lps, then this is your tonic. the stature of maypole has been muddied by the previous cd reissues, but this lp edition gets it right. featuring state of the art remastering and pressing, a high quality full color ‘tip on’ jacket featuring original artwork, and a full color insert loaded with lyrics, photos, and complete historical notes by maypole founder, dennis tobell, this is the closest to ‘classic psychedelia’ anopheles records has delved in to date, and we’re glad we didn’t settle for something second rate.
cool femme folk cosmic country album on vermont micro label. really nice vibe to this one if you dig the sound. her next album was produced by LARRY MURRAY of HEARTS & FLOWERS, which makes perfect sense. top seam & spine mostly split, but not much ring wear and vinyl is clean. with insert. VG/VG++.
genesis reminds of the best early ’70s uk progressive records and is practically impossible to find even in bad condition. limited edition, deluxe 180g vinyl, from the original analogue master tapes, exact reproduction of the original first pressing.
mccully workshop is one of the most important south african rock groups. their 2 first albums, inc. (1970) and genesis (1971) are considered to be among the best, rarest and more expensive south african psychedelic/progressive rock albums — sought after by all serious collectors worldwide. inc, is a great psychedelic album. limited edition, deluxe 180 gram vinyl, from the original analogue master tapes, exact reproduction of the original first pressing.
reissue of the arhoolie lp originally titled fred mcdowell – volume 2. a beautiful set by the mississippi blues legend. one of fred’s best. intense delta blues… licensed from arhoolie.
mega rare west coast deep loner/downer acidfolk rock with great moody intense vocals, wonderful songs, and powerful bass/drums backing. amazing and wild reverbed acoustic guitars flying everywhere through the whole album. one of the only full lps pressed on this mainly garage 45 label, micro quantities made, likely less then 100 pressed. really fantastic album that’s a personal fave and remains too overlooked… well used copy but cleans ones go for $1500+ and are almost never offered. cover has sticker tear / rubbed area, corner crease, and heavy edge wear & splitting. very little ring wear, though, so not looking too bad from the front or back. vinyl has many hairlines & a handful of scratches, but nothing too deep. first 30 seconds of each side has lots of noise, but the fidelity improves quickly and its a decent player copy of a true rarity. VG/VG.
the debut solo release from former ash castles on the ghost coast member and current iron kite and rubble player shawn david mcmillen. five epic, mostly instrumental songs performed with bowed bass and metal, indian goat bells, analog synth, a rusty old autoharp, amplified springs and an abundance of guitars. features guest appearances by bc smith (iron kite, etherea planes indian) and matt martinez (friday group). one-time vinyl-only edition of 500 copies, packaged with eye-blistering artwork by mcmillen reproduced in a sickening black cast created with multiple passes of ink.
this lp was recorded in new zealand in 2004, and is the duo recording of new zealand guitarist donald mcpherson and japanese guitarist tetuzi akiyama. a beautiful meeting of 2 virtuoso acoustic guitarists, both thoroughly schooled in the vast world of improvising. donald mcpherson, a native new zealander has been playing the guitar since the tender age of 12, studied at the otago art school in the ’80s. and in the ’90s he released a number of extremely limited lathe-cut folk records. this record finds tetuzi and donald playing melodic folk improvisations that grow and morph into compositions that on each listening uncover some new layer of beauty. both playing on acoustic guitar, they have a level of communication and understanding of each other’s playing that allows a musical connection to grow and blossom into a full-length recording of delicate melodic mayhem – 180gm vinyl, heavy fold-around covers with insert, hand numbered edition of 550.
debut vinyl release from this new duo that makes up two thirds of jazzfinger (ben jones and sarah sullivan). based around the idea of used broken keyboards, ben and sarah make some totally fucked and pretty heavy noise jams. there’s some searing moments in this beast, particularly across the two part ‘burning of the light fields’ which spans all side a, and most of side b. the closer is ‘planatary wasp,’ which pretty much would be what jeff goldblum would have sounded like if he’d turned into some kind of rancid badass wasp instead of that pussy fly! turn it up and get ready for your neighbors to come knocking with an asbo for ya. limited to 300.
debut lp that came and went in 72 hours. whacked out, moog mayhem that recalls the likes of cluster and harmonia in tandem with early stereolab and holy fuck. 200 numbered copies sold out at source.
bronze label original press of what is essentially the 2nd SERPENT POWER album, and the rarer of the two. its nearly as good too, though more subdued, and interspersed with david’s poetry. the poetry actually works quite well in this context, and the duos vocals are as sweet as ever. ‘pure of place’ is a total gem with a perfect little fuzz solo. nice clean cover but small price in marker top right corner. side one EX, side two VG+. plays real nice. EX cover.
switching instruments and experimenting with recording techniques, meneguar has cooked up a totally unique (and surprising) record. the in hour channels the spontaneity and aesthstetics of swell maps, the pop hooks of the zombies, and lyrical collage of guided by voices. everything was home recorded at their little xanadu in brooklyn, rear house, home base to jeremy earl’s woodsist label (blues control, sic alps, wooden wand, jana hunter) and the changing roster of meneguar’s alter egos (woods, shepherds). only six months since their last record, the in hour represents a serious departure that still holds true to the band’s undeniable pop sensibility.
the baby believes the womb is the universe. at birth there is a glimmer of light and a shifting of space. i was there, but now i am here. then there are still but 2 things : me and the universe. and then what happens is other people. from a note sounded in 1960 and held for a long time, a continuum of sound has been sluiced along a diagonal of personal ecstasy, and some have come to call it a drone. surrounding the drone is a genre, and within, wheat and chaff often comingle all too comfortably. but with tones as thick and texturally luxuriant with spiritual resonance as their long, glorious hair, messages are the two worthy gurus currently contributing to the echo. messages evoke the womb. and when the womb smiles, it whispers messages, and then there is the first glimmer of light.
golden trees is a minimalist psych-folk masterpiece. a supergroup of sorts, helen rush, pat gubler and samara lubelski have created seven songs characterized as much by quiet and restraint than by their acclaimed musicianship. the lyrical lines in these songs appear suspended between pregnant pauses of silence and subtle instrumental flourishes. on one side of the gap, samara lubelski’s violin invokes the velvets and other avant string-players. on the other side, p.g. six layers effects and pointillist finger picking, while evoking outright weirdness from his guitar rig. at the center, helen rush has penned songs of delicate beauty and fragile intimacy… really lovely sounds. with matt valentine, helen and pat formed the core nucleus of tower recordings. samara also performed with later incarnations of tower, as well as hall of fame, thurston moore’s band, and as a solo-artist. where the early tower catalogue was characterized by schizophrenic studies in a variety of forms (folk, noise, drone, lo-fi skronk, etc), metal mountains’ songs like “structures in the sun,” “the golden trees that shade us” and “turn to the east” provide us with sonic beauty in high fidelity. though helen gave us a sample of her post-tower recordings-work with “silver sun,” which we released on the and to the disciples that remain compilation, she here provides us with a rearranged treatment of that song, which along with “prisms” opens the folk idiom into a new minimalist terrain. we’ve been waiting more than ten years to explore this sonic space, which in music industry dog years, amounts to almost two centuries. this full-length is well worth the wait.
meth teeth reside in portland or. and in some ways embody the rainy day big country vibe of the city with its youth culture dreamers, old druggies, and rustic history. there is something that is really hard to pin down about meth teeth, the songs rely on simple ramshackle rhythms, upbeat shinny guitar interplay, and big fat chord churners, and a lot of tambourine banging away on the snare drum. ultra catchy summertime rockers keep you sad and lonely, and upbeat and hopeful all at once. – shawn reed/night people.
filleted over two sides of wax, here we have a rare meet up of three of the brightest lights in the twin cities musical orbit. on march 21, 2009, paul metzger – best known for his transcendental gypsy raga guitar and banjo meditations – jumped in the ring with percussionist davu seru and veteran multi-instrumentalist milo fine for an evening of uncompromising spontaneous composition. medusas lair is stunning, inscrutably wily, living music. one time edition of 300 lps pressed on
180 gram virgin vinyl. milo fine: drum set (bowed cymbals), b flat clarinet, prepared piano remains, voice; paul metzger: modified guitar; davu seru: drum set.
anamnestic tincture is a live album by virtuosic musical carpenter paul metzger, culled from many hours of concert recordings. side one comprises metzger’s public debut on his modified banjo, recorded in 2002 at a former church-turned-underground art space in minneapolis. one of his most memorable compositions, “after milo” later turned up as an untitled improvisation on his cd for the chairkickers label. jumping ahead six years (and several more banjo alterations later) to side two, the glittering “orans” gets a workout at a memorial show for the artist matt zaun. as an acknowledgment of the occasion, metzger also gave a one-time-only performance — “dark green water” — on another of his mutant instruments: an acoustic guitar with the body drilled out to accommodate a cymbal set into its face, and ten assorted strings of varying lengths laid over the top, giving it a particularly metallic and dissonant sound. anamnestic tincture is released in an edition of 425 copies, with an original vintage snapshot mounted on each cover… awesome new album in great looking home made covers. recommended!
minnesota’s paul metzger is an unsung hero of the unaccompanied string instrument and a master musician of an instrument of his own invention. on deliverance – a real time performance on his overhauled 21 string banjo – you’ll be treated to some of the most deeply satisfying & impulsive outer cosmos ragadelia you’re ever likely to hear. clocking in at nearly 60 colossal minutes, deliverance is 3 tracks of unfiltered aural transcendence; a hypnotic raga epic that’s by turns a slow burning meditation & an urgent mind / body duel. paul’s playing may summon up the spirits of sandy bull’s searching inventiveness, billy faier’s out tacoma sides, j.p. pickens’ tweaked americana, henry flynt’s searing harmonic drones or big jim sullivan’s psychedelic exotica, but at the end of the day, metzger is no idolater and we’re all a little luckier to have him around to occupy his own singular post in this post-fahey world… dmm 180gm vinyl housed in a gatefold jacket.
paul metzger continues to pile up the plaudits from critics and peers alike for his virtuosic string-slinging, gaining notice through his cd on chairkickers and his split lp with ben chasny and chris corsano on roaratorio. metzgers modified banjo is tricked out with additional sympathetic raga strings, although the compositions on gedanken splitter are informed by much more than eastern drone music alone. recorded in the same period as 2007s deliverance on locust music, thisis a more agged and aggressive (although no less accessible) affair. metzger winds these improvisations around thornier threads than on his previous releases, and while never turning completely abstract, gedanken splitter moves even further away from anything resembling typical banjo fare. this is mesmerizing and singular playing… excellent new album! recommended.
before michael yonkers would revise the history of recorded music with the clarion chords of microminiature love, he was in a band called michael and the mumbles, and they made this self-titled lp in 1966. in the premiere spin, their would-be debut comes off as a naive, teenage trip thru the typified garage band moves of this era. but repeated listening reveals a darkness beneath what some dullard might be deceived by as it’s crisp, winsome visage. it’s only to a slightly less visible degree that the mumbles lp has the same characteristics that would make micro the singularly original piece that is; it’s emotionally bleak themes, dissonant undercurrents, and recklessly wild performance. so, once again we have a michael yonkers lp that is going to turn yr world upside down, make the college girls scream and leave you wondering how many more times this can happen. seriously, pigeon falls up here looked like a riot on the sunset strip. indulge yrself. ps. michael and the mumbles is on the king of all known formats (with a digital download coupon, natch) only, the mastertapes used herein are 45 yrs old and aside from the glitch on “cold town”, they sound amazing.
this is the 2nd lp by migrantes (jason bill {guitar, air organ, hammond organ, cymbal} & caroline vickers {hammond organ & vocals}) of tucson, az. pressed in an edition of 536 copies and housed in a lovely printed full color jacket, this is a sublime record! “for those that have never been there, the desert signifies space, sand, and nothing. when i (who live nowhere near any deserts) first visited jason & caroline (who live smack in the middle of one), that was what i had thought too. i was a bit surprised that the desert in fact looks nothing like its platonic counterpart – it is in fact interlaced with ropy thorned plants, crawls with life of every species, and is inevitably circumscribed by distant mountains. for some, monsoon moods may capture the real desert, the one where home fires burn under looming stone, where love and life flourish in austerity. for me though this lp somehow encompasses sweaty nights in 100 degree summer warehouses, ghostly drives through norfolk shipyards, the slow crack of datura pods drying in the sun, and all the other things that have grown inside j&c to buoy them up into this warmly inviting space illuminated by their big hearts. a stunning record that camouflages the simplicity of its ingredients with songs of glowing precision and vox-laced hammond drones of vertical majesty.” – tom carter.
new solo studio recording by japan’s reigning surrealist blues poet. forty plus minutes of all new material recorded in france during mikami’s 2008 european tour. numbered heavy weight vinyl only edition of 333 in handpulled screen printed sleeves. includes lyrics in japanese and english (title track alone is a trip through painted omelets and the moon to a rusty french bicycle). while mikami is building up a massive body of work through his long running association with psf records this is the first of his studio dates to be committed to vinyl in decades. singular and essential… another total class siwa release. already sold out at source.
iowa city’s evan miller is never one to stay in the same rut for too long. his earlier releases were composed of fahey-esque spells, heavily emotional acoustic guitar work emanating tones of nostalgia and simplicity. on transfigurations on lap-steel guitar, a new zone is crafted with lap-steel guitar and tape collage, creating equally nostalgic music from the other end of the spectrum: delicate, minimal drones. tones interweave and textures evolve: it is evan’s most personally progressive work, combining past themes and reinterpreting them on another medium: electric lap-steel guitar. mastered by pete swanson. in an edition of 450 full color pro-printed cardboard lp sleeves and printed labels designed by jeff witscher (secret abuse / callow god).
real obscure north western private press. kind of a hard one to pin down, with some tracks going in a pretty straight coffee house folk direction, while others are rather psychedelic with some lite fuzz, weird synth, etc. nice female vocals on most tracks, but the dude sings some too. not entirely effective overall, but a few winning cuts for sure. lite wear and a tiny coffee stain. nice clean wax. EX-/EX-.
really wild, psychotic, exotic, progressive psychedelic beast from brasil – all those attributes in an extreme way! long freaked-out tracks driven by furious organ and massive fuzz – wahwah guitar assaults, also added distorted vocals (portuguese lyrics) that creep deep inside your cranium – one of the best ever! comes in usual world in sound quality with original amazing triple fold out cover that is beyond belief… repressed totally deluxe reissue of this great brazilian psych rarity. ultra-heavy textured tri-fold gatefold cover, 180gm vinyl, etc.
monopoly child star searchers nightlife band presents: bamboo for two. a night’s creativity. a parroted companions guided tour to the most romantic details of a jungle’s sensbility. imagine the elements of your most recent landscaped vision coming to life and allowing you to witness a hearts perception of the natural world. charles berlitz has reported this eventful experience in the form of a romantic poem, and the star searchers have invented the soundtrack. olde english spelling bee and pacific city sound visions invite the listener to experience the first studio album in pacific city’s history! featuring james ferraro as rocco martini, lieven martens of dolphins into the future, and eva van deuren of orphan fairytale; playing the most exotic keyboard melodies this side of a parrots hotly lit plumage. this album is the first in series of romantic audio recordings that will later include the titles: “make mine, macaw” and “the garnet tucan”. do enjoy the excitement of this one of kind journey to pacific city’s nightlife and relax your mind’s physical limitations….
in an era when “variety of sound” means a flip of the radio dial and then a burst of blasé melodies, pretty monsieur mo rio has emerged with his fascinating oeuvre. as you listen to his music, you will hear and experience the exciting, warm aural magnificence that is monsieur mo rio. with influences ranging from swinging baroque pop to bossa nova, his songs will remind you of summer, spring smells, and a love that will be. and while we applaud the result of this musical journey through monsieur’s mind, we must not forget that this chèr ami was not only the author, conductor, main musician, and singer on this album, he also was its engineer – really pretty fantastic fake-french pop from this german wonderkid that mixes said french grooviness with kinks damaged pop craft, a heathly dose of experimentation, and supurb studio trickery & talent.
san francisco’s moon duo was formed in 2009 by sanae yamada and erik johnson (wooden shjips). inspired initially by the legendary john coltrane and rashied ali, moon duo counts such variant groups as silver apples, royal trux, moolah, suicide, and cluster as touchstones. utilizing primarily guitar, keyboards, percussion, and vocals, the pair plays space against form to create a primordial and disorienting sonic stew. they released two acclaimed records in 2009: the love on the sea 12-inch single on sick thirst and the killing time ep on sacred bones. escape, their debut long-player on woodsist, marks the fullest realization yet of the young group’s evolving sound… sick new full length!
great home recorded loner folk trip that has gained a lot of fans recently due to some reissue & comp. action, and with good reason. general cover wear, nothing major. well played vinyl but nothing deep, still sounds real good. VG+/VG+.
limited to 1000 copies. solo, untreated, 12-string compositions in tribute to one of the greats. an album of instrumentals in requiem… newest volume of this nice solo guitar series. letter press printed cover.
moses was formed in 1969 in esbjerg, denmark by søren højbjerg — guitar / jørgen villadsen — bass / henrik laurvig — drums and vocal. moses played their own heavy and punshy and stoned progressive blues. their record changes from 1971 has now become cult in the collectors market. by the end of 1969 the band got a contact with the independent record company spectator records in denmark and in the summer 1970 they recorded the only album, changes in 2 days in the spectator record studio in ålborg, denmark. finally the rarest and perhaps best album on the rare danish spectator label. the music is strongly influenced by the cream and other hard psychedelic guitar bands. it took us quite a while to get a deal together and we are happy now to close the final chapter of the spectator story with this great release of moses. extra heavy fuzz-guitar madness all over with strong bass and drums and great vocals… numbered edition of 500, heavy sleeves, 180gm vinyl with insert. originally released in denmark 1970.
troubling rituals are gathering. haggling skills are becoming golden chisels, and granite belts grind them to sparks. turning with traction, these sparks gather like flies. the kinetic tones of acceleration found within mother of fire combs the psyche for hints of panic and replaces it with an imperative momentum. drive away superficial doubt like a herd of unwanted beasts, and allow the sagacious freedom our instinct rightfully deserves, it’s requisite course. channeling this responsibility with confident sincerity, the troubling is at once the relaxing. this conviction and tolerance is persistent, enabling a bloodletting which battles to cure and to cull. without the contemporary irony used to punctuate and justify in distanced safety, mother of fire instead creates an honest reflection through brave hand forged lenses. churned in memory-like cycles the ritual is commanded by searing bow strokes and a muscovy glass voice. silhouette elements pass decree through almost ancient melodic incantation. the stable hand of song in a world saturated with scattering distraction. beside these earnest standards a rich understandable darkness, like the pulse of frozen lakes and failing factories, urges us toward the terrible, daunting and sublime. it is here in the folds of both endurance and remedy that mother of fire sways with darkness until darkness swoons. – asa irons.
motor ghost is the new project of drummer / vocalist alex neilson and multi-instrumentalist ben reynolds. & #145;a gold chain round her breast’ is their first recorded document as a duo. from the brooding opener through tracks of soaring electricity to the beautifully fragile a capella rendition of the folk song & #145;leaves of life’, this album sees alex and ben exploring darkness and light and all shades in between. alex’ drumming provides much of the backbone of the album supporting and conversing with ben’s acoustic and electric guitars, loops and the call of the dümuk (a greek horn). the album comes in screenprinted sleeves, all of which have been hand embellished and are individually numbered. the first 100 copies of the album include a 3& #148; bonus cd-r containing a 4 song solo vocal set alex performed at the macbeth in london the day before the motor ghost studio session and feature exclusive and extensive liner notes by scottish folk singer alasdair roberts. these will sell on a first come first serve basis… killer new lp on a new label. lovely hand printed covers. limited to only 300 copies.
in high summer of 2007, phil elverum, in the guise of mount eerie, found his way to southern studios, armed with a borrowed guitar, some notebook paper, & with little time before an evening gig, mount eerie & southern’s engineer harvey birrell recorded the six songs of black wooden. black wooden is the coming together of ideas that had travelled with mount eerie for months & had solidified into compositions in the days & hours before the studio session. the title itself refers acutely to the genre black metal — perhaps less surprising a reference considering black metal often shares mount eerie’s appreciation with low fidelity production aesthetics (among many other things), and that phil elverum had just been in norway before arriving in the uk… very limited vinyl version.
our very first one sided lp, which is a bizarre trip from michael curtis hilde’s mountainhood project. this one follows on from the two lps on time-lag’s red records label a few months back which vanished super fast, as well as other releases on reverb worships and yod. total outsider midnight missions into weirdness… strange strings twang and rattle into the darkness, a very strange experience spread across one side of black wax. limited to 300 copies in pro-printed wrap around sleeve featuring art by michael… ultra-zoned stuff. nice.
the counterpart to “wings from a storm”. acid-dripping lo-fi euphoric melancholy west coast folk beauty from michael curtis hilde. this dude is seriously prolific, with a fine string of cdr only release under the moontainhood and almaden names, but this pair is a real apex of his still unfolding musical vision. “thunderpaint the stone horse electric” is a totally intimate & spontaneously vibed little gem. deeply felt, introverted, hallucinatory, and starry-eyed song stories delivered via fuzzy bedroom fourtrack gush. fevered vocals quiver, warble, double, and swoon around gentle or ragged acoustic guitar, foot-stomping tambourine thud & jingle, harmonium, breezy flute, warm tape hiss, and singing crystal cave atmospherics… we know the animals are dancing… pressed on 180gm bright red vinyl, with printed, hand stamped, and hand numbered labels. packaged in a foldout cream art paper cover with full sized high quality paste-on art front & back, screen printed interior, hand stamping, as well as individually hand drawn rainbows, plus a big art sticker insert & a 2nd xerox track list insert. limited edition of 222 copies.
the counterpart to “thunderpaint the stone horse electric” is equally lovely, lo-fi, and lysergic, but here the somewhat euphoric zone has become ultra lovesick moody. dominated by just piano & vocals, with bits of guitar, tapes, chiming tones and dusty wooden night sounds stirring. definitely glassy-eyed voyeurism… pressed on 180gm bright red vinyl, with printed, hand stamped, and hand numbered labels. packaged in a foldout whale grey art paper cover with full sized full color high quality paste-on art front & back, screen printed interior, and hand stamping, plus two big art sticker inserts & a 3rd xerox track list insert. limited edition of 222 copies.
really nice private press canadian solo acoustic based sounds. edition of only 300 copies. nice color covers. a good one, and i doubt these will hang around long.
murphy blend’s (named after a pipe tobacco) only album, is one of the best and rarest early german progressive rock records. excellent hammond organ, that delivers a unique heavy psychedelic krautrock sound. it was originally released on the legendary kuckuck label in 1970. english lyrics. limited edition, deluxe 180g vinyl, heavy exact texture cover.
debut vinyl full length by this long-time h-town expat/pedalsteel visionary. past cdrs on her and dave keenan’s volcanic tongue imprint have sketched out the breadth of her possessed solitary vigils, but her three pieces here are even more untamed and unique. voice, electric strings, song tendrils blowing in the soul’s breeze. edition of 500… sweet…
kinda cool oddball obscure maine private press xian folk with outsider favors, all originals, synth, female vocals, and totally creepy cover art. VG+/VG.
near perfect copy of pretty unusual private press PA. prog with a strong folk flavor and some jazzy flashes. female lead large band who plays tons of instruments including harp, vibes, cello, double bass, electric piano as well as the standard stuff. male & female vocals. pretty great obscure b&w cover art with nice color live shots on the back. single cover version. in shrink. NM/NM-.
classic 2nd album from these key tropicialia acid heads. totally wild stuff, from avant goof to fuzz groove and all over in between. very first original brazilian pressing with the ultra-fragile thin fold-around cover. you never see these mint, but this is a solid keeper copy. cover is shockingly beautiful with just some tiny wear & small name in pen on back. vinyl has good shine but quite a few odd marks & paper scuffs, but nothing deep. NM-/VG+.
orbiting the earth in vermont is matt “mv” valentine, once the brawn of the tower recordings, and erika “ee” elder, ceo of heroine celestial agriculture and the mv & ee medicine show. together with their dog zuma, they run the child of microtones library of exploratory music–sometimes their own lunar blues, sometimes finger-picking-style noise/space, sometimes lonesome frontier folk. mv & ee have landed at the dicristina building bearing drone trailer, featuring the golden road: doc dunn (pedal steel, guitar, harmony), mike smith (bass, fender rhodes, harmony), and james anderson (drums, engineer). you may recognize these names as part of mv & ee’s touring band when they scorched across new england and the rust belt en route to terrastock this past june. drone trailer is a consolidation of the previous musical high-life of the duo’s space shanties for the 21st century. in other words, mv & ee explore their unique mix of lunar raga and astral string band music, with a couple deep-space burners/covert jams such as opening blast “anyway” thrown in to bust it all open. nobody is gonna mind if they hear a little crazy horse and prime-era dead here as well! previous releases on their own child of microtones label, along with notable albums on time-lag and ecstatic peace.
still harvesting and sustaining in the deep woods of vermont , mv & ee (matt ‘mv’ valentine, once the brawn of the tower recordings, and erika ‘ee’ elder, ceo of heroine celestial agriculture and the mv & ee medicine show) are following their 2008 release drone trailer with their feature-film-for-the-blind barn nova, which marks their return to the ecstatic peace! label. mv & ee aspire to the sort of beautifully rewarding standard in their documented output that sun ra or the grateful dead achieved. it is with ecstatic peace! that their most consistent works have been born and continue reach fans with the golden road, their most constant band. together with doc dunn (pedal steel, rhythm guitar, vocals, drums) and mike smith (rickenbacker 4001, vocals), who appeared on drone trailer, as well as j mascis (drums, guitar, plate reverb) and woods’ jeremy earl (vocal, drums) they take you on the ride now known as barn nova and here they jam. justin pizzoferrato also appears contributing percussion, space echo and aiding once again at the controls. this album was recorded at mv & ee’s own home studio ‘maximum arousal farm’ as well as their current local new england rooms of choice, ‘bank row’ (an old mid 1900s bank) and j’s home studio ‘bisquiteen.’ these kindred spirits share a wealth of ideas including a serious reverence and desire to upgrade/expand the classic-rock idiom. barn nova marks the return of ‘spectrasound,’ mv’s production technique that places tones dancing all around the stereo sound field: it has to be heard to be believed. this effect is all the more impressive that the majority of it was created recording live, rather than conjured through studio post-production during mixing. especially potent on the a side-ending stomp ‘summer magic,’ where erika’s economical leads go head-to-head with j’s on a particularly mind-blowing live-in-studio effort; it brings to mind the vibe of green blues, mother of thousands and even an electric moon jook with matured songwriting. inspired by the likes of jerry garcia, john cipollina and tom verlaine, matt valentine displays an insatiable appetite to play in various idioms with constant exploration and development. meanwhile, elder’s harmony leads recall the glorious twinned guitar lines of canned heat’s al wilson & henry vestine at their most potent… limited vinyl version with poster.
country stash is from an edition of around 600 copies and is pressed on 140 gram dutch vinyl. the album is housed within gorgeous multi-color silkscreened jackets bearing new original artwork by both jenny mcgee dougherty and lucy isabel graves. the album is accompanied by both a collage/text insert and a download coupon for drm-free mp3s of the album. country stash is a joint release between three lobed recordings and blatant obviousness… first press version.
finally! this was originally released by com in an edition of 99 copies on cdr. here it is for manhand’s new vinyl campaign remastered and re-edtited by mv in spectrsound. comes in a one-side screenprinted / one side paste on with an insert, bagged. featuring contributions from the golden road (doc dunn/mike smith), jeremy earl (woods), asa irons (feathers, witch)… edition of only 300 copies. sweet vinyl upgrade!
here is the first ever all live lp of “mv & ee” material and it is the perfect example of the scene in the tapers pit. the familiar tunes which have become staples in their set shine with an unheard intensity with killer solos and sonic excursions into the unknown, and then there is the deep of their singular ‘environments’, their space which manages to showcase the pastoral freakouts and cosmic raga forms so singular to this unique band. just as their recent run of releases on ecstatic peace! and dicristina consolidates the mv & ee private press universe and child of microtones orbit with the essence of the maximum arousal farm sound “home comfort” does the same to distill the gems of their live shows onto sweet wax. for those familiar with matt and erika’s cottage label “heroine celestial agriculture”, known to the heads as “heroine”, this lp reads like a best of curated by the ‘you are there’ swingin’ pig and the results are a stunning cross section of their duo exchange, funky trio with woods’ jeremy earl and big band exploratory stomp with doc dunn, muskox and willie lane of the golden road. here is the true sound of “mv & ee” with the songs, the extended jams and the feeling. this seminal duo and all they sail with need to be heard live and need to be heard live often, what a glorious document from the tapers pit. that’s tapers pit twice in a paragraph, class. peace. full color jackets with insert. limited to 550.
arbitrary signs is turbo stoked to announce the august 1st release of “liberty rose” the brand new lp by contemporary psychic blues visionaries mv & ee. the duo spent 40 days and 40 nights under the twisted trees and endless sky of the mojave desert via a vermont homestead, freedom and unity. thats where these songs were unformed in dreams, floating off to mingle with the collective unconscious of coyotes and rattlesnakes, before they were re-birthed as smoke signals channeled through shaky hands, an old tele, germanium transistors and a bucket brigade. we at arbitrary signs feel that this is the purest distillation of the mv & ee “ s p e c t r a s o u n d ” to date. embedded within the grooves of this record are 6 streams to dip into as respite from the punishing rays of the hot summer sun… very small pressing in screen printed covers.
another bout of glittering jewels, sputtering star systems and piercing high drones courtesy of your favourite astral-obsessed italian duo – as ever, their sonic output is at once reassuringly recognisable but still disconcertingly bizarre, forever reaching upwards and outwards, seeking to escape the confines of gravity and atmosphere in favour of celestial salvation. — dave stockwell, foxy digitalis.
the entire recording of the improvised live performance at ed pinsent’s “sound projecting” radio show, broadcasted by london’s resonance 104.4 fm on december 10th 2004. in these sessions mciaa don’t play their usual cosmic guitars, but only a couple of space toys & toy-microphones, plus a pocket theremin & mini-casio provided by pinsent on the occasion; also featuring pinsent himself at turntables. a different aspect of mciaas experimental research, as well as a new amazing adventure through the ether. absolutely a key-document for all the fans of the band – reissue of the long-out-of-print cd-r, in a special private press edition of only 158, with heavy textured cardboard sleeve + full-color insert, individually numbered… sweet & beautiful vinyl edition.
“here we are/ dancing with the dark shadows/ here we are/ dancing with the dark shadows” this is the incipit of the first side of”when the windmill’s whirl dies”, the new work by the space-brothers maurizio and roberto opalio, alias my cat is an alien; and here we are indeed, ready to dance with the shadows which surround the light, as the intimate and vividly estranged mood originated by the floating guitar tunes will enter the furthest meanders of your mind. both the words, recited and shaped by roberto from his own homonymous poem that suggested the title of the album, and the oblique minimalism of the complex musical texture made of flowing space sounds, represent the abstract neo-expressionistic substratum of the whole corpus of the work. moving throughout a nebula of space dust and debris, the starting spoken-word vocals alongside the percussive section sound as powerfully impressive as the violent imagery of trees beaten down by the storm, while the whispered silence of”perspective of time” and”fallin’”, on side two, discloses the emotional and existential universe of an isolated broken soul, lost in a world of inanity. this is the center of the no-thing universe, where each single word or sound assumes the aspect of a sort of pagan prayer that speaks the language of astral folk-blues. in this context, mciaa’s outer space becomes a re-found uterus, meant to be the form of a new self-biogenesis. at the same time, space is conceived as symbol of the eternal theatre surrounding the mysterious cycle of life & death; such infinite space, despite such limited time. this cosmic-chant of the new millennium may heat our nights like a flame left to enlighten the shadows of the coldest darkness. at the end of it all, some words will still be ringing in our minds:”so, we’ll never forget the light”. after 2004′s key-work”the rest is silence”, mciaa’s”when the windmill’s whirl dies” comes as the second act of a trilogy dedicated to the great void. a beautiful recording housed in a thick, heavy duty gatefold sleeve. edition of 600 copies.
vinyl edition of this nomadic psych-soul trio’s beloved 2008 studio debut, released on cd on greg weeks’ (of espers) language of stone label. this edition has swank glossy jackets, plus an 11×11 pro-printed insert, on colored vinyl. one time pressing of 500.
debut vinyl album by contemporary electric guitar wizard bill nace, ‘too dead for dreaming’ begins in the form of a deconstructed blues piece, slowly exploring the territories of atonal composition, string–scraping and feedback, crashing all these styles in an instinctive, personal way. his affiliations with x04, northampton wools and vampire belt converge here in a unique flux. bill’s ability in creating sounds, follows a clear logic of ‘construction of tension’ that eventually explodes into pure sonic mayhem (part 2) then switching the attention from your blowing ears into new, obscure tonalities, with a spectral meditation that develops in the last part of the album and mirably closes the circle. it’s all here: one man, one guitar. a bulldozer. limited to 200 copies , hand printed and numbered.
the rumors are true. marissa nadler delivers her kickstarter funded debut release on her own box of cedar label. brian mctear produced the album, which nadler says is the “most honest, natural record” of her career.
across these seven tracks, tuulikki adopts different personae to act out variations on the mythic themes of love and death that have informed british indigenous music for centuries. accompanied by multi-instrumentalist chris hladowski (with whom she also performs in the family elan) and viola player aby vulliamy, tuulikki constructs poetic, timeless tales with arrangements that draw as much on 1960s acid folk and its 21st century descendants as they do on traditional music. in the ballad “sunne’s return” her longing for physical dissolution, coupled with hladowski’s spidery, off-key electric guitar, creates something as creepy and haunted as an empty playground swing rocking by itself. “lilly” is a dark vision of extinction and exile built around a heavy, comus-like acoustic riff and hotwired with a spitting fuzz-guitar solo, in a similar vein to some of ben chasny’s louder six organs of admittance moments. the stand-out track, “songthrush” – which also features scottish saxophonist raymond mcdonald and alex nielsen on drums, reprising the free jazz inflected playing that powered his own psych folk song project, directing hand – is a broiling, formless freak-out, borne aloft on tuulikki’s ecstatic, birdlike trilling. it’s a breathtaking burst of magical energy, and easily some of the most convincing free-folk the uk has ever produced. daniel spicer/ wire magazine. 180gm lp ltd to 500 copies… another lovely lp on this label, with top notch presentation as always : massively thick textured cover & super heavy wax.
nautilus is the solo project of heidi diehl of vanishing voice/time life, long-time br transatlantic e-mail buddy who we finally got to meet just over a year ago on the very brief vanishing voice tour. since then, she has begun recording solo material under this alias, and has self-released one cd-r which blew our minds, and likewise blew local long-time br friend ben nashs cranium apart. the nautilus side opens with still rings, a far-out trip of weirdo outsider dripping mind-fuzz, like some kind of spatial insect gathering. tallahasse woman rings more bells with the sound of vanishing voice and heidis psychedelic string playing, and subtle vocals buried below it. jeans theme is another sweet track of tranced-out guitar with approaching percussion and waves of vocal drones. ben nash holds his side with two nearly 8-minute tracks, opener plymouth bredren blues has definitely got the blues, as mentioned in the title, theres some serious woe in the wah right here, and some almost paris, texas moments. interloper / latch also starts off pretty bluesy, but halfway through goes to a speaker-shredding guitar shaker, with some seriously serious riffs, that are almost breaking up as they begin, and then reverting back to the blues mediation of the beginning of the track. a great release, in an edition of 300 copies… great stuff! recommended for sure.
vinyl debut for long term blackest rainbow brother ben… i’m extremly happy with this one. 8 tracks, 34 minutes. opening with a reworking of ‘kuad 9873′ from his blackest rainbow debut cassette… bleak drones smothered in vocal lulling, and finishing with a sweet guitar piece swirling in a lake of percussion, vocal and drone. ‘nightcall’ shows a more middle eastern psychedelic droning, bowing, wailing, and satanic mutterings. track 3 is the title track ‘the seventh goodbye’, and is the most ‘full band’ approach of ben’s acoustic psychedelic folk jams, but this blurs into sax blurts, waves of melancholic vocal drone and writhing riffery. perhaps similar to voice of the seven woods or six organs of admittance. side b opener ‘smoke and flattery’ is the most experimental – multi percussion, echoes of whispers, finger grating guitars. ‘magnetophon pt iv’ is not ben’s recent sloow tape of a similar name, but a bluesy haze lsd dream, building into a drenched ecstatic guitar drone. following this is ‘what will always be pt.ii’ which is reminiscent of jack rose, or james blackshaw, the most beautiful composition on the lp. this bleeds into the final surrealness of ‘angel no. 7′ field recordings, bleak, fearful and empty. i’m honoured to release this gem. limited to 250 hand numbered copies on virgin vinyl, with black, white and red pasted on covers, plus a black and white insert. all artwork designed by darryl norsen who designed our (vxpxc) sleeve, and done a few beauties for important records, as well as posters for sunburned, six organs, hush arbors, magik markers and more… killer vinyl debut from this great under the radar uk dude. paste-on color art, insert, etc. limited to only 250 copies and sold out at source. recommended & act fast.
near perfect original pressing of his amazing debut. mind-melting vocal ragas from LAMONTE YOUNG / TERRY RILEY guru. thick laminated cover has a tiny punch hole. NM-/NM-.
two of the most intense young “free” dudes from different parts of the globe (kelley from boston, neilson from leeds) unite for this completely weird record, taking free music to a different level, recorded on top of eachother via mail. this sounds like moving the heaviest metal closet on a little rubber boat from brighton to the east coast of the united states, kicking off with a heavy free jazzy tune full of retarded trumpets stuffed with little babies screaming for a change slightly changing into ice cold acoustic metal scraping ambience. tons of different sounds to discover and very unclear whether they came out of a trumpet, a drumset, a mouth or a whale. comes in a black and silver fine line drawn cover by dennis tyfus. limited to 400 copies – sweet!
neu’s third album repressed on super thick, 200g vinyl. ’75 is a unique entry in neu’s discography, mainly due to the fact that the album was created while band was going through growing pains and creative differences (this was their last album till much later in the 80′s). it had been a few years since the second album, and keyboardist/guitarist michael rother had grown very fond of the ambient style, while his band-mate klaus dinger (ex-drummer for kraftwerk) preferred a more aggressive, rock sound. as a compromise, they decided to record one side of the record (side a) in the old neu! style with dinger on drums and rother on keys. side b however, was a much more radical change in style with dinger on lead guitar and vocals leading to a much more experimental punk sound. both sides are equally fantastic listens and together they give a great variety to the album, reminiscent to the varied styles found in some of their peers albums at the time (such as ‘faust iv’). to aid with performing on the album, and more importantly, live, hans lampe and brother thomas dinger were enlisted to help execute more music than was possible by two men. upon its release, and arguably to this day, ‘neu! ’75’ is one of the most diverse records available from the krautrock scene. while this can be seen as a positive point, the differences in musical direction (as well as personal issues) not only isolated the dinger/rother duo, it isolated their already small fan base. neu! broke up (for the moment). excellent space-out music for the cosmic heads in original gatefold sleeve, and on extra-high grade vinyl too.
much in demand original 1966 MONO pressing of this great debut. long time fave of many garage dudes, its a really strong dose of brit invasion / zombies inspired teenbeat garage rock. almost all originals, with plenty of great hooks, loads of enthusiasm, great harmony vocals, vox organ, and gobs of ringing leslie-amped guitar. often compared to the rising storm, and while i don’t personal rate it quite that highly, its a fair comparison. really great stuff for sure. front cover is lovely with hardly any wear. back has some discoloration & small name in marker, but hardly any actual wear. very minor starting crack at top seam, but not split. very clean labels. vinyl has a handful of marks, but nothing major & still nice and glossy, sounding great in mono! plays really nice with full fidelity intact. really solid copy of this classic. EX/VG+.
little known minnesota private press xian rock. mostly female vocals & and some cool psychy cuts, but some strange covers mixed in with the originals well. not very consistent but some cool moments for sure. pretty cool crude cover art. perfect like new in shrink NM/NM.
totally unknown up to a few years ago west coast xian private press garage psych. male/female vocal, some great dirty fuzz leads. all around solid album, with the femme vocals really shining on the best tracks. one tiny scuff that does nothing, otherwise perfect in shrink. M/NM.
pretty unknown until recently private press. great connecticut psych with strong lead pedal steel guitar making for a very psychedelic & unusual sound. some rural vibes, flashes of surf, extended jams, sweet harmonies… very cool stuff. same micro label as DR HOOKER! perfect SEALED MINT.
first release on new portland maine label, started by the fine folks running the great venue of the same name… really sweet lonesome stripped down folk & folk blues from this local fellow. mostly slow paced & but pretty on the edge, its a intense listen if given real focus. certainly will appeal fan of the area’s other folk hero, micah blue smaldone. packaged in a nice screen printed cover with paste-on photo, plus thick board printed art insert. limited edition of only 100 copies, so not going to hang around long!
sequence of prophets, the third full-length album from niagara falls, finds the band once again radically altering their instrumentation and composition methods. upon the exit of erich breimhurst and jeff carpineta, sam cusumano and noah levey joined norman fetter in the latest incarnation of the group. the trio of norman fetter (ex-golden ball) (percussion, keyboards, and guitar) noah levey (keyboards and guitar) and sam cusumano (synthesizers and electronics) self-recorded the album in spring of 2008 at the band’s own honeymoon compound in the fishtown section of philadelphia, which has also been home to espers, golden ball, ex reverie, fursaxa, sharron kraus, heather leigh murray and christina carter. on the opening track, flatlands, the band employs a cacophony of insect nosies, long sustained keyboard drones, and tribal drumming, as well as sam cusumano’s hand-made acousto-electric devices and circuit-bent keyboards, to create a symphony of fluctuating electronic weather patterns. sequence of prophets is an illustratration of the band’s journey from free-form improvisation towards a more solid sonic anatomy. calling to mind the early experimental albums of tangerine dream and popol vuh, niagara falls has created a new synthesis of ambient new age experimentalism and neo noise. limited edition of 500.
recorded close to the group’s inception in 1994, languid red marchetti is the nnck sound in its empirical form, rhythmically a-linear and fundamentally abstract. while nnck would go on to become a seven piece performing group, recording and touring extensively, this recording documents a smaller group of four original members engaged in the hermetically sealed sonic exploration which best locates their aesthetic origins. from the group’s statement on languid red marchetti: ‘a proto-intuitive latihan of feedback + pre-scaffold juxtaposition of layers which would come to constitute edifice, and eventually dwelling. where we would soon occupy this sound, it here was a force in and of itself, its directionless propulsion compounding into substance and landscape.’ this deluxe edition planam lp comes with a nnck generated essay on sound imaging through improvisation and is packaged in a full color jacket depicting ‘the hypothetical dissolve/corruption + subsequent inevitable repetition of suprematism.’ edition limited to 340 copies, with full-color cover, infra-suprematist inner sleeve and ultra-liner notes insert by keith connolly.
recorded close to the group’s inception in 1994, languid red marchetti is the nnck sound in its empirical form, rhythmically a-linear and fundamentally abstract. while nnck would go on to become a seven piece performing group, recording and touring extensively, this recording documents a smaller group of four original members engaged in the hermetically sealed sonic exploration which best locates their aesthetic origins. from the group’s statement on languid red marchetti: ‘a proto-intuitive latihan of feedback + pre-scaffold juxtaposition of layers which would come to constitute edifice, and eventually dwelling. where we would soon occupy this sound, it here was a force in and of itself, its directionless propulsion compounding into substance and landscape.’ this deluxe edition planam lp comes with a nnck generated essay on sound imaging through improvisation and is packaged in a full color jacket depicting ‘the hypothetical dissolve/corruption + subsequent inevitable repetition of suprematism.’ edition limited to 340 copies, with full-color cover, infra-suprematist inner sleeve and ultra-liner notes insert by keith connolly.
this is the first official solo full-length release from tulsa’s the north sea (brad rose). rose is easily one of the free-folk movement’s busiest exponents, splitting his time between running the digitalis and foxglove labels, the foxy digitalis webzine and writing his own music under a variety of different monikers with a host of collaborators. somehow, he has found the time to craft exquisite idols, which elegantly follows a hugely acclaimed collaboration with uk’s rameses iii, night of the ankou. however, whereas night of the ankou explored both acts’ occasional leanings towards ambience and drone, exquisite idols shows rose digging deep into the dusty vaults of his american heritage and drumming up an album dripping with blues, folk and free experimentation. this is folk music as played from a snow-drift in tulsa, in a midwest wasteland or a forgotten forest drenched in moonlight. it is personal, secluded and almost lonely, but rose never allows the melancholy to take over. from the jubilant opening crackles of “eternal birds” right up until the rockin’ stomp of “feather-cloaked silver priestess,” there is the distinct feeling that although this might be labeled free folk, there’s a barn somewhere full of like-minded drunkards waiting eagerly to get dancing on them there hay-bales. just flip to the rip-roaring folk stomp of “take it from me brother moses,” take a swig of moonshine and let your feet do the talking. exquisite idols is an album steeped in tradition, yet its greatness comes from rose’s ability to absorb other cultures so easily — there are traces of indian traditional music, greek music and more, all hidden within the cacophony of banjo, guitar and clanging percussion. this is what sets him apart from his contemporaries and makes his music so absorbing… limited vinyl version.
obscure and great dreamy sunshine pop psych gem. male/female vocals, huge harmonies, thick full production, soaring songs. like a more psychedelic FREE DESIGN or SMALL CIRCLE OF FRIENDS. very strange cover general wear & saw mark. real clean wax. VG+/NM-.
grey-area exact lp repro edition, originally released on fahey’s takoma label in 1967. charlie nothing was the fractured-psyche pseudonym of author, organic farmer, beekeeper and philosopher/clown charles martin simon, inventor of the dingulator (guitar sculptures made out the metal from american cars). the psychedelic saxophone of charlie nothing made
a minor splash in the european free jazz melting pot upon its initial release, but the albums non-dingulating psych sax improvisation, accompanied by gong, conga drum and banjo (supposedly borrowed from tiny tim), is highly sought-after by the adventurous and heavily medicated. limited to 500 copies.
one of the newest and most surprising discoveries in the 60′s & 70′s rock rarities field, this caused big hype among collectors in the last months. certainly easy to understand, as it’s an ace album no one had heard of before. guitarist william nowik recorded this obscure instrumental record back in 1974 in the ny area. psychedelic, progressive, very early floyd sounding at times, crimson-esque, and a kind of sound that reminds on the british early 70′s underground but with an experimental, trippy touch. fourteen tracks in total, but played and arranged in suites. seems that only 200 copies were pressed and never distributed, so it has taken 35 years to be discovered for the first time. this wonderful reissue comes with the intended original artwork (it came out in green and black cover instead of the black and white that william wanted), has nice remastered sound and includes an insert with rare unseen photos and extended liner-notes.
finland and new zealand meets again on this second collaborative album from uton and antony milton (first one under the nthnthsthsth moniker was released as a limited cdr on celebrate psi phenomenon back in 2004). a perfect clash of two beautiful worlds over 2 sidelong tracks divided into several shorter segments. layers of majestic droning sounds, field recordings, voices, guitars, percussion… full colour artwork by jani hirvonen and liner notes by jon dale. limited to 520 copies.
doubles, the first widely available release by irish guitarist cian nugent, showcases a major talent in the audacious setting of two side-long epics. clearly inspired by the takoma classics and the recent generation of greats (jack rose, glenn jones, etc.), nugent delivers a pair of perfectly formed takes on the classic steel-string sound, one (mostly) unaccompanied, the other an expertly arranged full-band throw-down. “peaks and troughs” is a slow-building solo piece in the style of fahey’s “fare forward voyagers,” with each part perfectly connected to the previous. nugent has ample technique, but the virtuosity here is all in service of the mood and the build-up. his guitar has a darker, more intimate sound than many current players, without the brittle ring common to fingerstyle. the emergence of a deep drone after fifteen minutes shakes up the track, like a swarm of bees spilling out of the speakers. in contrast, “sixes and sevens” is a percolating jam in the style of jim o’rourke’s classic bad timing lp, with nugent’s steel-string riding an inventive wave of drums, organ, viola, woodwinds and brass in an ambitious, filmic masterpiece. the main tune of the song is instantly memorable, building momentum before a subdued interlude that resets things for an elegant, orchestrated finish. vinyl includes digital download code
numinous eye is an improvised psychadelic-cosmic-noise-rock project based around mason jones (trance), and generally featuring the participation of various collaborators. side a is from a live set in tokyo at the end of 2005, with koji shimura (acid mothers temple, high rise, mainliner, white heaven) on drums and higo hiroshi (friction, shibusashirazu orchestra) on bass. side b was recorded live in the studio with chris van huffle (ex-subarachnoid space, gay barbarians, etc) on drums. limited to 490 copies on orange vinyl with insert and sticker.
a thousand years ago, in 2006, michigan moonlighters odd clouds drizzled down their lp opus, the cavernous end. within the sphere of open-eyed freeform organized psych-jazz sprawl, nothing compared. years later that album still kills, but not much has followed in its wake (there have been some loose tapes but those roll in a cruder basement fuckaround vein). so we are personally xxtremely pleased to be able to finally offer up the band’s latest album-length affair, deceiving illusion. a six-song spelunk into the deranged group brain responsible for noise scene mainstays like fag tapes and tasty soil records, illusion rumbles through a hall of mirrors of zones/styles, from freaky garbage punk to robot throat games to motorik brass meditations to unhinged 70s german commune beardo psych-blazers. the journey is the destination and all that. abuse yr illusion. black vinyl lps in stunning 4-color pro-silkscreened jackets with artwork by chris pottinger and jamie easter, plus a double-sided photocopied insert. edition of 400.
captured tracks is proud to put out a full-length record by the prolific oh sees, and boy, is this one a monster. more layered and textural than previous oh sees releases while keeping all the typical john dwyer punch, oomph and weirdness. ten fantastic new songs packaged with a terrifying pencil-drawn sleeve. captured tracks’ second lp release, and the label couldn’t be more pleased with it.
featuring a 13-piece band of multiple drummers, reed & brass sections, junk percussionists, banjo, a saw trio, and a vacuum, with members from evolutionary jass band, au, cexfucx, hammer of hathor, old time relijun, castanets, eternal tapestry and others. long-form compositions with free-improvising, group sing-a-longs, ecstatic shouts and new orleans funeral horns.4 songs, averaging at 12 minutes each. like the band playing backwoods tone-poems in a rotting swamp. limited pressing of 300 lps, hand-screened.
super clean US original of cool swedish beat garage party sounds. in shrink, with original label inner sleeve. tiny punch hole. one ultra lite scuff. NM-/NM-.
it’s been years now — just about two, judging from the sun. om have done their time in the desert, and ever-changing, are returned. today, they say, god is good. are you surprised? perhaps you’ve haven’t understood what om was saying to you. but perhaps you felt something… it’s true that the one way pursued by om leads in many different directions. it is a mystic path. songs come from innumerable sources, filtering through the external and the internal. om albums are rituals, personal convictions transcripted into verse. playing the music is visceral, emotional, a catharsis of soul and spirit. as the ghat liberates soul from body to the ultimate, so too do om strive to disengage from the finite object of their objective mortal self to rest in the empty and timeless witness. and in doing so, they seek to release you as well. as ever, dynamic relationships and the slow building of mood are attenuations that shape the structures of god is good. with careful microscopic increase, the energy grows through the four songs, leading towards moments that one could interpret…revelation? oblivion? awakening? since 2004, om have burned their name into the annals, trolled the fertile crescent, faithfully made more out of what little was put into their hands, forged three full-length albums from white-hot evaluations of the infinite. the duo that is om is composed of bass and drums and whatever else comes into their mind that will serve the song and do it justice. al cisneros has been pursuing the pure note as om (and previously with sleep) for many years now, but this is the first om record to feature the battery of emil amos, who replaces chris haikus in the chair. you can go to the shelf and study it: there are comparative religions, philosophy, metaphysics, mythology, and history. turn around, and there is om. their vibrations of the philosophical and the physical are meant to move you. believe… limited vinyl version in a heavy old style cover with foil embossing.
in december of 2007 the mighty duo that is om made a pilgrimage to israel to play for its people. their pinnacle performance unfolded at 4 aristobolus street in jerusalem the site of uganda records. the band played for over 4 hours on this evening! the tracks: “flight of the eagle” and “bhimas’ theme” were captured and the transmission of these recordings were flown back to the united states where the vinyl lacquers were made by bob weston. southern lord in cooperation with om present you the listener with this 180-gram black vinyl transcendental offering: om live at jerusalem. limited to 3,000 machine numbered copies.
sweet copy of guru-worship private press hippie commune folkrock with some dreamy folkpsych flavors. great looking cover & cool thick booklet insert. tiny bit faded along top spine. very slight storage warp doesn’t do anything. in shrink. NM-/EX-.
gatefold lp version. returnal is the fourth album from daniel lopatin’s oneohtrix point never project, after betrayed in the octagon (deception island, 2007), zones without people (arbor, 2009) and russian mind (no fun, 2009). all 3 albums being superbly compiled on the rifts double cd set (no fun, 2009). it sees lopatin fine-tune his craft for the creation of deep atmospheres and textures even further. starting off with the mind-blowing triptych of “nil admiari”/”describing bodies”/”stress waves,” which fires off into a noise/rhythm excess before entering a zone of relative calm, building to the melancholy of the final part. this sets the tone perfectly for the album’s title track, a stunning, out-of-this-world ballad featuring lopatin’s near-desperate vocal delivery, ending what could be seen as one of his most chilling and thought-provoking sides to-date. the atmosphere is slightly lifted as the darkened sun comes up over the ruins on “pelham island road” and “where does time go,” with the album closing with edgy broken beats and the fourth-world possible landscapes of “preyouandi,” which fades into the distance with echoes of the “returnal” chorus closing the loop. what’s burnt into memory here is lopatin’s love affair with the long, slow path back home… the cycle… the hypnotic sector… the ghost in the machine… and whether people are making dance music or hip-hop or space head-music or metal, the ouroboros is present in every sector — as it was in bach’s study, and in the elephant songs of the ituri forests. instrumentation: akai ax-60, roland juno-60, roland msq-700, korg electribe es-1, voice. recorded using a personal computer. mastered by james plotkin. tape-op & additional engineering by al carlson. awesome spot-varnished cover design by stephen o’malley.
way obscure new jersey highschool project lp by a bunch of kids with real chops & talent. surprisingly tight high energy tough rocking versions of all those late 70s classic radio hits: HEART, SKYNARD, BLUE OYSTER CULT, etc. male/female vocals, heavy drums & bass, loud shredding guitars, wailing keys, etc. totally awesome b&w cover art that perfectly captures the mood. with insert. very rare! EX+/EX+.
limited edition of 300 copies packaged in heavy duty screenprinted jackets done by neil burke at monoroid. each side features a 20-minute solo track from both brotherly halves of the acclaimed my cat is an alien. both brothers were quiet about the inspiration for their tracks. dig in and find your own meaning in the comfortable alien world of the opalio space brothers.
somewhat mysterious texas psych beast. seems to have been recorded in the late 70s, but not released until a decade late. truly nuts-o desert biker cosmic new-age basement fuzz psych! definite YA HO WA vibe, ultra crude recording, side-long tracks, echo overdose vocals. awesome cover art. numbered edition of 500. in shrink with insert. NM/NM-.
recorded in 1970 as part of the first biennale of arts and culture for the young in mali. the regional orchestra of mopti was a state funded orchestra that participated in country wide music festivals and competitions. a hypnotic band featuring electric guitars & a large horn section. this is the first in a series of six mali music lps we will be reissuing this summer from sterns. a serene and droning record that is both sorrowful & celebratory.
one-sided lp. originally a tour only release, but now repressed in only slightly larger quantities… recorded may 22, 2010 at high street project, christchurch, new zealand. clear vinyl with silkscreened cover art… recommended!
it was the worst of times in johannesburg white suburbs. the beatles were banned on state radio. haircut regulations were merciless. life was an unutterable hell of boredom and conformity, but lo: salvation awaited. they came from the north in the summer of ’69, armed with axes and scarabs, long hair streaming behind them, and proceeded to slay the youth of the nation with an arsenal of murderous rock tunes. they were the biggest thing our small world had ever seen, our led zeppelin, our black sabbath, maybe even our rolling stones. they were otis waygood. after two albums released on emi s.a. the album ten light claps and a scream was simply the best otis waygood record and among collectors the most sought after. the music is influenced by the british underground for sure. bloodwin pig, steamhammer, if are working in the same field. great guitars and vocals, blues-influenced underground rock, sax, organs and well-crafted composition and arrangements making this album a unique masterpiece. julian laxton of freedoms children was the producer. rob zipper (vocals, guitars, saxophones); ivor rubenstein (vocals, percussion); leigh sagar (guitars, organ, hawaiian guitar); benny miller (guitars); alan zipper (bass)… recorded south africa, 1971. edition of 600 numbered lps, glossy heavy sleeve, 180 gram pressing.
stunning new lp from campbell kneale’s post birchville cat motel project. continues with the vibes set on his superb lp for dekorder, total psychedelic filth noise. two side long heavy pieces of gushing electric destruction, one sound lurches in and tears down another one, which it rebuilds an even more ferocious version of the original sound. pressed on 180gram vinyl. limited to 400 copies in pro printed wrap around sleeve on 400gsm silk card.
the gates of birchville cat motel crack, creak wide, and crash, unleashing a gush of soul-fried bleakness and love-damage stained with a defiantly metallic pose. thats ‘metallic… as in, has the surface qualities of metal’ not ‘metal… as in, has the surface qualities of metallica’… step back you fucking freaks. although the broken bricks of bcm are still plain to see amid the burning wreck and ruin, ‘stillborn plague angels’ represents the first fully formed sentence in a new chapter of campbell kneale’s ongoing tome of star-spangled, psychedelic, noise-om. cholesterol-shaving guitar peeks over the trench to survey an adrenalised landscape of endless roaring catastrophy… everything louder than everything else! our love will destroy the world is the new one-man project by new zealander campbell kneale after disbanding birchville cat motel. in the past kneale has released albums on ecstatic peace, corpus hermeticum, last visible dog, conspiracy and his own celebrate psi phenomena label. he has colllaborated with lee ranaldo, neil campbell, bruce russel, john olson (wolf eyes), yellow swans, has toured throughout japan, europe, america and australia and also records und the names black boned angel and ming. “stillborn plague angels” is the debut lp by this new project.
the gates of birchville cat motel crack, creak wide, and crash, unleashing a gush of soul-fried bleakness and love-damage stained with a defiantly metallic pose. thats ‘metallic… as in, has the surface qualities of metal’ not ‘metal… as in, has the surface qualities of metallica’… step back you fucking freaks. although the broken bricks of bcm are still plain to see amid the burning wreck and ruin, ‘stillborn plague angels’ represents the first fully formed sentence in a new chapter of campbell kneale’s ongoing tome of star-spangled, psychedelic, noise-om. cholesterol-shaving guitar peeks over the trench to survey an adrenalised landscape of endless roaring catastrophy… everything louder than everything else! our love will destroy the world is the new one-man project by new zealander campbell kneale after disbanding birchville cat motel. in the past kneale has released albums on ecstatic peace, corpus hermeticum, last visible dog, conspiracy and his own celebrate psi phenomena label. he has colllaborated with lee ranaldo, neil campbell, bruce russel, john olson (wolf eyes), yellow swans, has toured throughout japan, europe, america and australia and also records und the names black boned angel and ming. “stillborn plague angels” is the debut lp by this new project.
japan’s overhang party were always one of their country’s most interesting, multifaceted and imaginative musical units, and we at mutant music are honored to be able to make their long out-of-print debut lp available once more. overhang party and its members, who revolve around founder rinji fukuoka, have always shown a wide range of musical interest and ability, and this lp shows them all at their formative nucleus, offering a glimpse into what would come in later years in addition to enormous immediate aural gratification. initially released privately by the group in 1993 (prior to rinji’s formation of his pataphysique imprint, which would release the rest of the group’s output in addition to many other interesting recordings), this lp was limited to just 200 copies and has long been sought-after by aficionados of the japanese underground. needless to say, until now, if one were to be lucky enough to find a copy of this lp, it would come with a somewhat prohibitive price tag; we offer it once again in the vinyl format with its original presentation for those of us for whom the depth of our fanaticism may not always equal that of our bank accounts. this lp shows the group’s long-standing interest in the avant-garde and improvisation, featuring some amazing soundscapes which find their way through both the beautiful and the abrasive; they definitely explore some far-out territory, but there are also glimpses into the beautiful saturation of their more ‘rock’ side on occasion, with some particularly expressionistic guitar work from rinji within the context of a slow-burning psych blowout. this lp features the initial lineup of rinji fukuoka (guitar, voice), iwao yamazaki (drums), kouji nishino (bass) and kunukunu as guest on vcs3 synthesizer during the track ‘air.’ this vinyl reissue is limited to 500 copies and it is presented with its original artwork which features a stark plain white jacket with ‘overhang party’ simply printed on the front.
reissue of the arhoolie lp recorded in 1962 at overstreet’s church in phoenix, arizona with a slightly altered track listing. includes two tracks previously unissued on vinyl. recorded very live during a church service. rev. overstreet plays electric guitar and bass drum in his own driving & intense style while his four sons and the congregation take care of tambourine, backup singing and hand claps. a powerful record of gospel energy and testament.
we here at mad monk have been fans of adam kriney’s many projects over the past few years and feel deeply honored to offer the vinyl debut of his long-running fucked-jazz unit owl xounds (formerly owl sounds). taking their psychedelic rhyhmic core of drummer kriney (la otracina / blizzards / rust ionics / castanets / the places) and upright bassist gene janas (screamin jaw hawkins/bern nix’s sedition ensemble) to any reedsman up for the challenge, the boys explode it all with austrian sax-ist mario rechtern, who has been invlolved with free-music since the late 60′s playing in the reform art unit (with sunny murray, linda sharrock, & leena conquest) and more recently as a guest in the weasel walter quartet / sextet / trio. truly and honorably a post-esp expression, it is much a post-sst expression. while the instrumentation and framework are a staple of the jazz/improvisaion tradition, the directions and velocities at which owl xounds exist are just as informed of the worlds of hardcore/punk and experimental noise. citing the misfits as the most important band in his musical education, drummer/leader kriney always felt the connection between the punk he grew up on and the free-jazz he became aware of later in life, the energy, the volume, the commitment, and most importantly the undeniability of them both! and similarly the ostracism of the two is not to be ignored, being an outsider, the alienation from popular music, from popular culture, and from everyone around who just ‘didn’t get it’ were also of significance. it is with these considerations that this lp was named, for after all, from albert ayler to thurston moore to glenn danzig to kawabata makoto to peter brotzmann, ‘they’ and ‘we’ are all teenagers from mars, and we don’t care! – limited to only 400 copies i think. awesome packaging with cutout neon stickers on a heavy vinyl clear covers and bright orange vinyl. nice.
good private press late night bar room outlaw downer folk. weakest tracks have a bit of a tom waits vibe and a more full band sound, but the more stripped down cuts are real solid into dark, boozed-out downer/loner folk, especially the great ‘vampire eyes’. nice b&w cover full in shrink. clean wax. NM/NM-.
p. a. r. a. represents pre-atlantean ritual artifacts. it was channeled in deep sea space by labanna bly, in the celestial summer of 2008. dedicated to my knight, james ferraro. mermalien is a three-part suite for three deaths to supreme consciousness: ‘mercury overdose,’ ‘abyss retreat,’ & ‘seaspace chrysalis.’ limited edition of 200 copies. paste-on covers.
we created this record during 2001-2005. also many other things happened. mostly “yhä hämärää” is trying to reflect inner landscapes. ofcourse concrete places are forming and partly creating those inner views. some highly inspiring places: durde, densis, my home, pöllänlahti, toilet, graveyard, sewers, disco, the beach at redpoint, rooftops at night, alcoholic’s home, churches, uukuniemi, foggy fields, sauna, my bed. everything the light touches (and doesn’t touch) is our kingdom. we like “yhä hämärää” very much. -lauri ainala / paavoharju… limited 180gm vinyl version.
super limited debut vinyl release from this uk based duo creating some really gorgeous minimal americana-folk for field recoridings, guitars, banjo and piano. bleak and almost epic-ly empty at times, personally it gives me a real feeling of old american western times, dusty deserts, desolate old towns… it would be the perfect soundtrack to a modern tale of these lands from the past. ‘born music’ is an extremely well assembled collection of 10 tracks totaling in at just over 30 minutes. edition of only 100 copies, pressed on heavyweight virgin vinyl, with paste on full colour covers and full colour inserts… instantly out of print first pressing.
debut recording from italy’s opalio brothers (my cat is an alien) and ramona ponzini. an esoteric and mesmerizing trip through space, minimalism, and emotion. each track recorded at a different mystical location in the western alps, and centered around ramona’s beautiful vocals, all of which are sung in traditional japanese. maurizio & roberto add sparse accompaniment by means of toy piano, alien keyboard tones, antique accordion, percussion, tape effects, and some particularly evocative acoustic guitar. the whole thing comes off alternately as deeply meditative or chillingly haunted, depending on your attention & mood. silence, space & ritual are hugely important here, with notes & words hovering frozen in time… while the my cat is an alien moniker might leave some folks scratching their heads, here the painting petals on planet ghost name nails it : fragile, beautiful, cosmically isolationist, and totally spooked… pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl, and lushly packaged with letterpress printed cover & insert. printed with copper ink on exquisite & massively thick handmade ivory art paper, each sheet cast one at a time & air dried. hand numbered edition of 560 copies.
transparent winter follows on from the debut release on the always excellent time-lag label and releases on the equally great psf, opax and a silent place. painting petals on planet ghost is the trio of ramona ponzini with roberto & maurizio opalio (aka my cat is an alien). here they return for a new full length vinyl release on blackest rainbow. ppopg create some wonderfully fragile and unusual experiments that fall somewhere between folk, psychedelia and drone. ramono ponzini sings in japanese as well as contributing ‘furin, metal and wooden japanese wind chimes’. these are combined with maurizio opalio on acoustic guitar, and roberto opalio on ‘mini keyboard, bodhran, alientronics, and wordless vocalizations’. the trio’s eclectic setup helps them create some truly luscious and mysterious music that is perfectly fragile, strange, distant and delicate. ‘mars appears’ is a hazy dream piece with layered guitars, strange electronics and ramono’s perfectly delivered japanese vocals drawing the listener in surrounded by a strange but perfect fitting created by the opalio brothers musical output. ‘the mountain’ is equally as otherworldy as the previous sides track, with swirling strings and out of this world electronics created by roberto and maurizio. whilst ramona’s vocal are almost delivered in a trance like state. a extremely beautiful record with a gorgeous organic feel to it. the record is housed in a sleeve featuring film photographs of flowers. edition of 250 copies pressed on 140gram virgin vinyl.
the paper hats is william tyler from nashville, tennesee. you have seen and heard him play guitar with lambchop, silver jews or — if you are lucky — with the spiritual family reunion. deseret canyon is a psychedelic record and psychedelic is when one drops the google and let the music do its thing and moves in time to imaginary spaces. and since its meant to appear in vinyl this move has two opposite spiral tracks. flip it, screengazer. deseret canyon is finger picking folk. tuning secrets and mesmerist magic. country soul on a carrousel. magnetic front porch symphonies with a drone. the apalachian meets raga meets vienna classic meets hawaiian slack. the fahey thing, the loren mazzacane conners thing, the ribot thing, the jansch thing, the o’rourke ding, the datashock dthing. ding music that makes you concern, consider, regard, and bear in mind, also waltz sleepy in serpentines with your augur self… real nice album.
part wild horses mane on both sides is the duo of kelly jones and pascal nichols. proclaiming a context far greater than the sum of their instruments, low fired clay escape is a remarkable record of visceral beauty, stark decay and translucence. one that inhales the smoke of martyrs and advances towards an unknown vocabulary, depicting barren worlds as lost as they are found. limited to 530 copies and housed in the intricate work of darren adcock.
sometimes it feels so simple: two of our favorite people in one of our favorite bands release one of our favorite records of all time. 2009’s imaginary falcons was its own genius slushpile of tape-hissy drift-dub haze anthems, no question, but 936 takes every facet of the peaking lights mighty diamond and shines it to fluorescent perfection. the songwriting is insane; “all the sun that shines,” “amazing & wonderful,” “tiger eyes (laid back),” etc, all seep into yr mindstream and float there like melodic gold dust. indra dunis’ silky soul-jazz keys and tranced vocals have never sounded so exquisite, and aaron coyes busts out the best bass/drum loops and sneaky dub guitar of his musical lifetime. recorded by luke tweedy at flat black studios in iowa city (where both the nnf wet hair lps were tracked) and mastered in berlin, 936 retains the cool crate-digger grit of their earlier highlights, but within a much more vivid spectrum of sound. could not be more jazzed and honored to unveil this total groove-wave classic. black vinyl lps in jackets with vintage/bootleg art by the band. edition of 600.
peaking lights return with a follow up ep to their excellent night-people full length imaginary falcons and a teaser to lead into their killer next full length album set to drop on not not fun later this winter. space primitive was originally released as a limited cassette on fuck it tapes but needed a bit more shelf life so night-people set to work to make this release a reality on vinyl. aesthetically very similar to imaginary falcons, the same haunted low fi electronics surfacing throughout, cascading shimmering layers of guitar, and indras ethereal vocals moving through the sound like a surfer on a wave. this 12” comes on clear 1 sided vinyl with a silkscreen on the b side, the best looking 1 sided homemade picture disc night-people has made yet. artwork by shawn reed… great to see this one on wax!
rochesters pengo is john schoen, r. nuuja and jason finkbeiner. 2/3 of them have previously played with arthur doyle. hailed as the worlds most psychedelic band, they come back with “counterfeit memories” which could be their darkest statement so far. a departure from 1970s ugandan extravaganza into possibly the synapses of its then leader. limited to 500.
pengo is: john schoen, jason finkbeiner, r. nuuja. pengo comes from rochester, ny and are simply a dark-bright beacon of madness in the subterranean swamp of psychedelic junk collectors. they’re kind of elusive, having issued only an lp prior to this release (it had been a year since we’re working on this album) + a few cd-rs and tapes. got affiliations with coffee & the doyle eae – wild stuff/weird vibes! – green & gray vinyl. way limited as always.
tan label US pressing of this amazing UK folk/psych all star debut blowout. as if you didn’t know: BERT JANSCH, JOHN RENBOURN, JACQUI McSHEE, DANNY THOMPSON and TERRY COX. oh yeah. a classic. cover like new in shrink. NM/EX+.
originally released in 1971 in japan. nobody’s sure if the musicians on this recording ever performed as a group or whether ceremony was simply a studio super-project. certainly, guitarist kimio mizutani had already enjoyed a certain amount of critical exposure following stints with love live life + one and masahiko satoh’s sound brakers, and it is satoh’s jazzy fuzz guitar licks that help to lift this album to a higher level. unfortunately, this was the ensemble’s only output, but this conceptual album is an absolute classic. as the title suggests, this recording was an attempt to fuse a buddhist-influenced spiritual vibe into an innovative form of hypnotic, psychedelic prog rock. all in all, a rather weird record, but the sound is mindblowing — experimental and trippy, but never too free or over the top, and at times a more traditional japanese style of music lurks in the background. a monumental album that’s never going to go out of style. numbered limited edition of 1,000 copies only.
incredible second album by welsh psychedelic folk-rockers pererin. here we have traditional welsh folk-meets-rock with psychedelic guitar leads, flute, and male/female vocals. this was originally released in 1981 on the gwerin label?for many it is the band’s best work, and yet as is often the case, it’s their rarest release. exact repro of the original, including the insert. definitely one of the best albums of the genre, another superb rarity brought to you with a legitimate reissue by guerssen.
the third album from welsh folk/psych/prog legends pererin is finally made available again. many of you have already purchased guerssen’s previous pererin reissue of their second album “teithgan,’’ so you know what to expect from this platter; those who didn’t buy the previous reissue can expect a brilliant set of traditional songs played in the band’s very own contemporary electrified folk style. guitars, bass, mandolin, synths, mellow percussions, flute. and so forth. this might well be the folkiest of all their albums, but there’s still a strong progressive feel on it and some killer electric guitar leads. another must-have for anyone into folk-prog, this is the last of the band’s vinyl offerings, released in 1983, followed only by their last work that was only released on cassette. this brand new, first ever reissue of this wonderful album, is licensed from arfon wyn and comes with a replica of the original insert as well. strictly limited to 500 copies.
original copy of this all-time top shelf femme acidfolk masterpiece. really no need to hype this as its well know everywhere now due to pure quality and many reissues, but the real thing is a treat. totally stunning perfect mix of deep lysergic lyrics, masterful studio & electronic effects, melting layered vocals, and all-around seriously tripped-out vibes. one-of-a-kind beauty… cover looks beautiful in sleeve but under direct light there are dull eraser marks on the white areas. two small corner bends. orange label. lots scuffs & hairlines but all just surface stuff and still real shiny. VG++/VG+. $250.00
finally this lost gem of austrian psych folk is reissued after being lost for over 34 years! this is probably the rarest austrian lp, and one of the most elusive records ever. the music is honest and spontaneous, crossing paths between fragile folk and psychedelic dark undertones with a touch of glam, expressive lyrics and fleeting guitar lines. the 200 copies privately pressed in 1976 (two runs of 100 copies each) were mostly given to friends and sporadically sold at concerts. this reissue is fully licensed, limited to 600 copies in black vinyl and 100 copies in coloured golden brown vinyl. a must for all psych-folk lovers… all copies here are the golden vinyl edition of 100! special low price.
perfect copy of very obscure southern california loner softrock. some cool breezy/dreamy cuts, and a pretty cool one if you dig that soft outsider sound. really amazing & weird cover art! lyric inner sleeve. in shrink. NM/NM.
private press folk psych that gets big hype (and big price) in some places. mostly pretty tame with slightly jazzy flashes, but there are a couple psychy standout tracks with buckely-esque vocals and nice guitar work. full band backing. VG++/VG++.
red records #3… well, its been a damn long time since we released their debut album, “shishimumu”, back when they were called THE PONYS, but we sure are happy there’s finally a proper follow-up, even if it took six years to happen. if anything, the long wait says something to the greatness & humility of the band; never bending to commercial concerns, ego, hype, or changing trends & changing times. in fact, “take to the trees” picks up just about right where “shishimumu” left off all those years back, another little nugget of timeless psychedelic pop perfection. of course, there is a new level of maturity and depth to the songwriting here, but there’s still plenty of slightly naive & youthful charm… and to be certain, the world these guys create is just as surreal now as its always been… musically, things come together just right, with thick, swirling, chiming triple electric guitar textures, spot-on drumming, liquid but powerful bass, gurgling moog, acoustic strumming, accordion, and sweet soaring fuzz-tones. vocals hover as high & sweet as ever, harmonizing, doubling, and layering heavenly. the mood of the album floats through drifting fragile melancholy, quirky pop, crunchy psychedelic rockers and anthemic rave-ups, often all within the same track. beautifully recorded, but never over polished… just the way a great pop record should be. so forget all pretense, folks, maybe not freak folk enough for kill rock stars ain’t such a bad thing at all… packaged in a lovely heavy weight 60s style gatefold cover with elaborate full color art by the band, plus an insert. pressed on 180gm bright red vinyl. hand numbered limited edition of 300 copies… first 150 copies come with a special BONUS CDR SINGLE featuring two outtakes deemed by the band “too downer” for the album. packaged in a color offset printed tri-fold cover with hand stamped disc art.
in spite of its minimalistic appearance, is a most intricate light work which, in its scope and originality, defines its own aesthetic. the number of persons involved may vary. although thirteen has been suggested as the optimum number, two would usually be referred to as a working couple (in any combination of sexes.) within the community, many believe that a number larger than thirteen is unwieldy, citing unwieldy group dynamics and an unfair burden on the leadership. when this has grown too large to be manageable, it may split, or “hive”. most often utilizing electronic instruments or electronic processing of acoustic instruments, they typically create dense, unmoving harmonies and a stilled or “hovering” sense of time… 250 copies only.
debauche hedonism a la early 1970s rock… a party album for excavating your libido. krautrock lock grooves give way to full throttle alice cooper/black sabbath moves but mid-tempo scott walker fronting early roxy music is closest to the core; with occassional flickers of tangerine dream synth-glaciers and marc bolan bare-bones. dominic mario santo cipolla also sings in dead child (venom/judas priest veined metal band with david pajo on guitar; ep forthcoming) and plays drums and sings some with sapat (forthcoming lp/cd on siltbreeze). phantom family halo guitarist michael mcmahan was also a touring member of the slint reunion band and founding member of the for carnation along with his older brother brian mcmahan. vinyl only silk-screened first edition.
singer-songwriter armando piazza from naples was joined by renowned us guitarist shawn phillips on bass, acoustic and electric guitar for this rarity, originally released on the obscure black beautiful butterfly label in 1972; since it was sold only at concerts and by mail, it was difficult to find even then. and what a pity! acid-psychedelic ballads in english, with bursts of fuzz guitar and excellent use of electric instruments as well as abundant acoustic guitar (the good people at missing vinyl say that the fuzz bass on ‘the house on the hill’ will blow your mind and speakers away)! this is an album considered to be one of the best, and is certainly one of the rarest european psychedelic albums, with original mint condition copies going nowadays for 1,000+ euro. a heavy, yet subtle record, folky, with oddly inflected vocals and deliciously crunchy guitar. limited edition, deluxe 180g vinyl, in a deluxe double gatefold cover that is a replica of the complex original jacket… beautiful high quality of this awesome album. recommended!
beautiful dream-dementia pop from a couple tangentially related to the sea donkeys/sublime frequencies camp in seattle. -s@1. pigeons and doves are so closely related, they are practically interchangeable in the minds of the people who classify such fowl. but in the eyes of the general public, the dove is a beautiful bird symbolizing freedom and peace while the pigeon is a dirty rat with wings that eats our city’s garbage and craps on our cars. but maybe the pigeon is a crafty bird, content with its own beauty and happy to obscure it to avoid the glare of our ever intrusive public eye. virgin spectacle is a distorted, hungover, and elusive statement. and it’s in french. except one word at the end. or more, if you are to believe those responsible. regardless, amongst all the fog and feathers is a collection of comely pop and sonic excursions guaranteed to lodge itself in your waking subconscious. hell, you might even dream of a few of these songs. the fine people who constitute the band named pigeons would like you to believe that they have stumbled incidentally upon such charm, like a diamond in the mine. don’t believe it. take yourself out of your particular urban situation. look toward the skies, and see the besmirched bird for what it really is. they have laid out a sonic journey meant to disorient on the surface, but if you follow their flight you’ll find yourself cruising along and singing in a language you may not understand… sweet screen printed flipback covers, 180gm vinyl, etc.
still unknown incredible rare album of mellow underground with english vocals. good and rare as gold dust. a beautiful concept album, far away from any avant garde tunes. the recording was great but the mixing was weak. this album make you shiver. great artists and performers, electric guitar, piano, drums, bass, beautiful english vocals, all original compositions influenced by the london underground scene and bands such as procol harum. if you think martha is a good album you will like this one a lot – original released on polydor japan 1972. heavy laminated sleeve, 180gm vinyl, numbered to 450 copies.
following volume i (8mm, 2008) and ii (presto?!, 2009), and previously released in a super small cassette edition on tulip, stefano pilia’s last days iii is finally available in a new remastered one sided lp edition. the intuitions of the first two chapters of this series of ‘last days’ shine in ‘atlantic city’ in all their beauty. stefano’s touch is so warm and gentle, always unique in creating that feeling of soft, warm nostalgia, loud, and passionate as he’s strumming his strings with exceptional fervor like a howl to the sky. pilia can create emotions out of a guitar riff like no one else around and this beautiful piece, directly inspired by the same titled springsteen song, will make you feel shivers up your spine. limited edition of 250 copies, with only 100 available for mail order, the other half will only be available at performances directly from the artist. professionally printed covers with original photo artwork by canedicoda… very last copies.
recorded between bologna and providence, last days is just pilia and his nude guitar. five new pieces that will bring you up to the sky in a climax of infinite grace and beauty. if you followed his previous works, you already know that stefano is a rare voice, within his fingers, improvisation and composition meet each other in perfect harmony. this new lp offers some of the most emotionally intense guitar music we have listened to, to date. last days is in fact apart from stefano’s previous efforts for a series of reasons. each song is an adventure into a different style, combing elements of noise, rock, folk and drone as part of the same sound painting. but the main focus here is that his sound on vinyl comes out revealed: naked, rough, and ‘primitive’ as we commented listening together to this record. this music comes from the heart, doesn’t need any overdubbs. 140 grams vinyl, edition of 110 numbered copies. silkscreened covers.
dear family & friends, this announcement is long enough, so i won’t inundate you with yet another flowery description. i’m just gonna say this, the first time i ever heard pill wonder was in ari’s bedroom. me, archibald, mimoun and brody were all crowded in there, perched on his bed, listening to the tracks that would eventually go on to become the summer showcase. when “wishing whale” came on, i remember my face wrinkling up into a confused glee then spinning round to see brody smiling like a jester, nodding his head as if to say “yea buddy!” from that moment on i knew i was in some pretty special company… i’m fantastically excited to be presenting this album to you now.
lovely original striped label tower pressing of their 2nd & last with SYD BARRETT. surprisingly clean copy! faintest starting ring wear, barely there. couple ultra lite surface scuffs only. NM-/NM-.
rare & rather lovely femme xian loner folk on legendary & much sought after RPC custom label. like the best xian music, the vibe here is spiritual & introspective rather then preachy or in your face. all original songs, warm sweet young vocals, nice acoustic guitar playing, which is often finger picked. poetic lyrics with a strong lonesome melancholic mood on the majority of the album, and the whole things plays through really strong. well above your average xian folk private, the vibe here is pretty powerful… small chip to top seam. mild ring wear almost exclusively on the back. generic maroon rpc labels. generic sun-thru-trees front cover. well played wax but still a lot of life left in it. EX-/VG+.
repressed… in 1968, the plastic cloud recorded, quite simply, one of the greatest psychedelic albums ever made. this is one hip album, full of catchy melodies and hippie harmonies, as well as some of the most superb (and trippiest) fuzz guitar ever recorded. there is no point singling out a specific track, they are all excellent—one is equally as good as the next. essential psychedelia! deluxe limited edition lp version in heavy cardboard gatefold jacket… great reissue of this fuzz psych monster. been out of print for years. this new repress is just as nice & limited to less then a couple hundred copies, so act fast if you missed it before.
after a six-month hiatus, a complete line-up overhaul, a trip to sxsw, a uk/euro tour, and a full year-plus of only playing shows and writing songs and amassing totemic objects, finally pocahaunted return to the recorded realm with their first album since 2008. time flies when yr having not not fun and all that. make it real collects seven of the band’s 2009 live staples for a 40-minute-ish collage of basement body music, garage dub damage, outsider funkadelic sprawl, voodoo rhythm workouts, duo femme soul vocal dynamics, dripping gold sweat, and dream fulfillment. recorded barefoot and shirtless and direct to tape at green machine studio in summer ’09 by m. geddes gengras and featuring guest bamboo sax by jazzmaster alex gray (of dreamcolour/deep magic) and mastered by james plotkin. black vinyl lps in jackets with warped la post-parliament utopia artwork by vision wizard spencer longo. edition of 500.
his 2nd album. not sure what up with dropping the “h” from his name… if you dig “the call” this one is a must have too. real sparse & moody folkpsych without the bigger production of his later lps. marker scribble & old price sticker back cover. decent wax but surface noise. VG+/VG+.
israeli pop-psych with some cool moves. some st. pepper influence for sure. front laminated cover. really weird art & includes a very strange thick booklet insert. VG+/EX-.
rare live bootleg recorded new york 1973. total psych punk destruction! blank white cover with loose 11″x12″ red ink on yellow paper xerox insert. very small sticker tear on blank cover. NM-/NM-.
born on valentines day 1911, in maine’s northernmost county, bern porter was a north american artist, writer, publisher, free thinker and scientist who found meaning in the things that others discarded or ignored. porter is known in mostly underground circles as one of the earliest and most prolific practitioners of found poetry. through his gleaning of founds in recycle bins, telephone books, and repair manuals, he created hilariously cunning, sometimes irreverent works of art that often bear his signature, as well as an anti-copyright statement. many of these works have been published in collections over the past 70 years. on top of all this he was a sharer of knowledge who opened his home, “the institute of advanced thinking,” in belfast, maine, to dropouts, artists, children of all ages, and anyone who felt like dropping by. in celebration of the 100th anniversary of bern’s birthday, turned word records presents this 34 minute lp of performed poetry, philosophical musings, and general word play, by bern porter and longtime collaborator, mark melnicove. though porter is not known for his sonic explorations, this lp is quite musical, channeling improvisational song chant modality and rhythm oriented slamesque poetry. on side b we hear what should be bern’s most famous work “the last acts of st. fuck you.” while a child is gently cooing in the background, the acts are presented in alphabetical order. all this is on vinyl for the first time ever. many of the pieces have never been heard outside of a small circle of friends. includes loose leaf booklet of rare photos and 20 founds, most never before published. hand stamped offset printed covers on re-cycled jackets. mastered by caleb mulkerien. edited by dan beckman-moon. 300 pressed… awesome & totally out there. recommended.
private press by capital custom press. cool early example of private loner folk, though its got more of a early 60s dylan / hobo beatnik / folk blues vibe then anything acidfolk, with the exception of the long “LSD fixation” track. anyway, a fun one. great cover art too. cover has small top seem split, faint sticker stain, and moderate general wear. art still looks good. nice wax but a bit dusty. VG/VG++.
‘epocsonixarp’ is the second full-lenght album of the praxinoscope duo formed by roberto opalio (my cat is an alien) and ramona ponzini (painting petals on planet ghost). this work is even more lyrical and ecstatic than the debut; here roberto’s use of a mini-keyboard and astral effects collides with ramona’s hypnotic use of several handmade wood percussions and her japanese wind chimes and bells, creating such an infinite and intimate ‘space’ so that you cannot but loose yourself inside. a whirlpool of roberto’s whispered wordless vocals will live till the evening dies, and the black of the night will come to surround everything. as the duo asks, ‘play it in the dark!’ – special private press edition of only 130, with heavy textured cardboard sleeve + sticked art on cover, individually numbered – nice!
1969, sf sorrow is done and dusted. parachute is yet to come. the pretty things are at their creative peak with no outlet in sight. enter philippe debarge: frenchman, playboy, and pretty things superfan. he commissions the band to write and produce an album for him. debarge and the five pretty things duly enter nova studios, one of london’s first eight-track facilities. with access to this new technology they experiment with multi-tracking and an array of psychedelic effects. debarge sings lead, and the pretty things play and sing everything else on a stunning set of 12 may/waller originals in the classic late ’60s pretty things style, many of them never recorded by the band before or since. acoustic, fuzz and backwards guitars abound, along with mellotron, harpsichord and the unmistakable heavenly three-part harmonies of phil may, wally waller and jon povey. the album is completed, but never released. until now. limited edition deluxe vinyl edition. just 1,000 pressed. heavy duty glossy color lp jacket with insert and full liner notes by mike stax. cover art by phil smee. fully re-mastered in magnificent full stereo hi-fidelity sound with the close collaboration of original co-producer wally waller. fully sanctioned and approved by the pretty things… highly recommended!
cool alternate UK original MONO pressing of their snarling raw debut. brit garage at its nastiest! released the same time as the ‘proper’ philips edition with a slightly different cover & label. unlaminated flipback cover is a bit dirty especially on the white back, with general wear but very little ring wear. nice shiny mono wax has hairline paper scuffs, but no major damage & plays loud & clear. original inner sleeve. VG++/EX-.
strange solo album from ex-ANIMALS member with some proggy flashes. mostly worth while of the bizarre RALF STEADMAN cover art. original inner sleeve & insert. NM-/EX-.
sonic-utopian synth mystics and pretend pop make-believers don’t always sound so good side by side as prince rama of ayodhya and the great valley do. prince rama’s twelve-minute earth-shaker “aeolian divine” winds its way to eternity, from the floating island atlantis, through some kind of cosmic dancehall, and into an infinite-space ecstatic-calm of heartbeat drums and swimming synth lines. then the great valley descends with ukuleles and guitars down from space, through a tree in the forest, and into their underground home… paste-on art on recycled lp covers. very limited.
the feminine entities of visitations / attar cups step forward, duo style, for their debut longplayer… and what a debut it is… these magical ladies have been oh so subtly wowing locals with their rare live sets for a few years now, and as hard as it is to imagine, this album manages to surpass their live wonder in both intimacy & intensity… a mesmerizing cycle of ultra-hush dreamtime lullabies, ethereal ghost pop, lost folk, and trance-state sonic whirlpools. the songs are hazy shimmerings of dusty splendor, delivered with utter beauty & fragility, yet shrouded in a thick veil of mystery & sadness. the drones seem to be pulled from between the cracks in silence by some woozy late-night ritual, summoning an edgy & ecstatic presence into the very spirit of the sound… recorded to analog tape with minimal equipment and much spontaneity, the rural autumn / winter setting of the process has no doubt penetrated the creation, and suits the cozy / lonely vibe perfectly… packaged in a truly cool & unusual three color screen printed double-sided foldout art paper cover, with a flocked / screen printed fuzzy mini-poster insert. pressed on highest quality 180gm vinyl with full color photo printed labels. each copy also includes a bonus cd version of the album in its own metallic printed cover (different from the standard cd cover) for easy all night repeat-o-play. hand numbered edition of 400 copies.
killer hard rock from 1972, sounds like a mix of bolder damn and allman brothers, with maybe a little feather da gamba. lost music from a lost time. ‘water song,’ ‘right on.’ new.” “the mystery and music of the prodigal sons continues to thrill and mesmerize listeners to this day. who are they? where are they? the answers my friend lay in the vault of the void. one thing is for certain… they know how to play kickass rock ‘n’ roll early ’70s style before all the head bangin’ mumbo jumbo. listen on, as many have already… to the power and the glory that is and was… the prodigal sons as they emerge from the void.
original french pressing of ACTUEL 7. not freejazz, but avant-classical here. orchestra & vocals. beautiful laminated gatefold cover has just minor yellowing along spine & super faint wear. NM-/NM-.
does anyone remember a remarkable piece of psych-styled rubbish called “god is free”, released on chocolate monk back in 2004? of all the odd wonders and incestuous secrets to emerge from finland in the last 20 years, the puke eaters could be thee greatest. “hello walhalla” is the first long playing record by this anti-prolific group. the applied methods range from accidental to free and from psycho-motorik to ritual. for any points of reference think of the swamp into which fille qui mousse, cromagnon and ‘jesus christ’ era smell & quim were dumped. after years of tireless experimentation in the cynical utopian ruinscape of their collective butterfly mind, the puke eaters have loosened their belts and finally unleashed their deadliest recordings for thee future caveman. endless volcano-brain spewing on the ur-limits of limitless psycho-dynamic sound clash, totally high on scandinavian pussy juice.
finally pulse emitter gets the treatment he deserves, a full 12″ of vinyl to lay down two prog flavoured tracks of synth drone. created using homebuilt synth modules, and meticulously contructed into a sci fi storyline, this could be a soundtrack. suffocating layered heavyness, dry synth hiss, oscillator click terror meets equally with beauty, a quality rare among pulse emitter’s peers. each cover and insert is a unique paint marbled design, silkscreened / designed over by nick of seizure palace. edition of 300 copies on black vinyl.
180gm. vinyl version of stefan neville’ latest opus. covers are two-color silkscreens by vg kids on heavy-gauge recycled stock. edition of 300. here’s what soft abuse had to say about quo: as the title self-effacingly implies, quo proffers a triumphant, primo slice of past pumiceisms: uncertain progressions, anomalous structure, inimitable guitar buzz, sublime melancholy, and distorted vocals (crooned, spoken & moaned). quo once more finds pumice cruising the convergence of pop, folk and noise strains with bona fide inner mystique. sputtering sub-underground skiffle aims for outer zones, diamond cuts of nervous guitar with pesky hooks that sting and tickle tread rough hewn punk turf, pop tangents charm with echoes of kilgour or knox, and woozy synth blurts & drones thread the patchwork patterns with hulk-like grace. with quo, neville’s palette has shifted to include traces of useless hardcore, doo wop, and modern loner/lunar blues. stefan neville, shamblin’ on unhinged like a modern day hasil adkins, has been making music as pumice now for most of his life. through a steadily spewed stream of unique diy thud & ooze, mostly created on his insular own, neville has burrowed an incomparable place in the post-everything new zealand landscape, all the while making music that’s his.
weird private press uk underground frantic psychrock with members of EARCANDY. insane hand made stapled oversized full color cover, with a ton of inserts. numbered edition of 500 copies. minor damage to top seam due to the crude design. EX+/NM.
orig press sleazy noise garage blues punk from JON SPENCER and NEIL HAGERTY (ROYAL TRUX) and co. cool PROMO / PRESS edition with two page promo insert and glossy 8”x10” photo. promo stamp on back cover. EX+/NM-.
a psychedelic afrojazz stunner that capped off a feverish diaspora from the midwest to the bay area by way of africa. cut in 1975, birth/speed/merging was the band’s highest end production to date and their final recorded act. the mood was celebratory, carnivalesque and wholly in the groove. features the burning classic ‘black man & woman of the nile.’ remastered from the original source tapes. 180 gram virgin vinyl pressing.
nice brazilian original pressing with the unique cover art, totally different from the original spanish version… born in miami florida to an american father and venezuelan mother, bill split the usa to madrid spain in the early 70s. once there he quickly landed a recording deal with famous producer alain milhaud of the explosion label, and set to work on this, his sole lp release. sessions went down with an impressive cast of up to eleven players in the studio, including salvador dominguez & chema pellic (cerebrum), jess lam (jess & james), and frank rojas (sangre). one of the albums real hidden treasures, though, was the assistance of unknown texan mark gottschall, who co-wrote the title track and adds perfect vocal harmonies as well a second acoustic guitar. a finely balanced mix of sounds that drifts between throbbing electric full band groove and gentle acidfolk. when bill wants to rock, things get downright funky, with a wickedly hard-hitting rhythm section, pumping organ, scorching electric leads, and flipped out acoustic guitars all locking into some seriously tight jams. then the next minute the mood swings and you’re deep into some beautifully fragile and introspective folk meditations; often just two acoustic guitars, bill’s lyrics, and huge, angelic, vocal harmonies all weaving together into lush tapestries of sound. a few tracks fill out a more folkrock vibe with flute, autoharp, piano, slide guitar, banjo, and more. bill’s lyrics (all in english) and vocals always feel deeply sincere, which combined with his unique voice, unusual accent, and loose delivery make for one hell of a cool singer. the whole album has an air of mystical psychedelia, yet never strays far from pop craft, and there’s a real sun-blasted quality to it all that just makes you want to crank the volume… nothing amateur or lo-fi about this one, its a pro recordings and these guys have serious chops. its hard to image why it didn’t become a hit at the time. the album was released only in spain and brazil, to very little interest, and quickly became yet another great album lost to obscurity… cover is nice with just mild wear. tight seams & crisp art. just a few lite marks on the wax EX+/EX+.
long in the works reissue of this amazing and little know gem, “beautiful people”, from 1972. born in miami florida to an american father and venezuelan mother, bill split the usa to madrid spain in the early 70s. once there he quickly landed a recording deal with famous producer alain milhaud of the explosion label, and set to work on this, his sole lp release. sessions went down with an impressive cast of up to eleven players in the studio, including salvador dominguez & chema pellico (cerebrum), jess lam (jess & james), and frank rojas (sangre). one of the albums real hidden treasures, though, was the assistance of unknown texan mark gottschall, who co-wrote the title track and adds perfect vocal harmonies as well a second acoustic guitar. a finely balanced mix of sounds that drifts between throbbing electric full band groove and gentle acidfolk. when bill wants to rock, things get downright funky, with a wickedly hard-hitting rhythm section, pumping organ, scorching electric leads, and flipped out acoustic guitars all locking into some seriously tight jams. then the next minute the mood swings and you’re deep into some beautifully fragile and introspective folk meditations; often just two acoustic guitars, bill’s lyrics, and huge, angelic, vocal harmonies all weaving together into lush tapestries of sound. a few tracks fill out a more folkrock vibe with flute, autoharp, piano, slide guitar, banjo, and more. bill’s lyrics (all in english) and vocals always feel deeply sincere, which combined with his unique voice, unusual accent, and loose delivery make for one hell of a cool singer. the whole album has an air of mystical psychedelia, yet never strays far from pop craft, and there’s a real sun-blasted quality to it all that just makes you want to crank the volume… nothing amateur or lo-fi about this one, its a pro recordings and these guys have serious chops. its hard to image why it didn’t become a hit at the time. the album was released only in spain and brazil, to very little interest, and quickly became yet another great album lost to obscurity… at least until now… reissued here for the first time, with the collaboration of producer & explosion label owner alain milhaud. packaged in a heavy weight gloss coated exact reproduction of the original cover, including the the original double sided insert, as well as a huge new full color foldout insert which reproduces at nearly full size the totally different brazilian version of the album art. plus extensive notes by album musicians salvador dominguez & mark gottschall, and alex carretero (guerssen records, spain). also a small photo of some rare picture sleeves 45s, promotional inserts, lyric sheets, etc. even the lp labels reproduce the original psychedelic full color explosion label art. pressed on 180gm audiophile grade vinyl & limited to 1000 copies.
hopelessly obscure & rare bootleg featuring demo version of most of the cuts from their classic debut, plus two cover versions which didn’t make the cut, although “i hear you knocking” is totally hot! also features one 1976 reunion jam. limited to only 150 copies!! crude & fragile b&w printed cover features a great band photo, and is very clean. blank black labels. vinyl has some very lite surface paper scuffs, but plenty of shine and plays as good as any micro-press bootleg you might spin. only ever seen one other copy offered, so not gonna go cheap… NM-/EX.
rare original GROUCHO label pressing of this awesome bootleg. i believe this is live in san jose, 1966. blank white cover with big hand stamped text. track list in pen taped to cover lower left front. printed brown/white art labels. zero info. real thick wax. good sound quality. VG+/VG++.
a cool early example of turned-on xian private press fun. a few really cool jangle-garage-folkrock cuts & an awesome cover design make this one well worth while. sticker/name/price on cover. sticker on one label. VG/VG+.
san francisco songwriter donovan quinn is anything but direct. with an enigmatic deadpan he delivers lyrics written in a dense and fragmentary style; the influence of writers such as malcolm lowry and thomas pynchon figures just as heavily on his craft as robyn hitchcock, pavement, robert forster and skip spence. your wicked man is the second album from his primary band, donovan quinn & the 13th month, created in collaboration with nick marcantonio on bass and jason quever (papercuts) as producer and multi-instrumentalist. in much the same way his presence molded cass mccombs’ early efforts, quever’s contributions to your wicked man serve quinn’s narratives with arrangements that range from ornamental to rollicking to bare, pushing quinn’s embrace of rustic, poetic popcraft to the fore. the band’s distinct take on art-pop forms re-imagines early efforts from mekons, nikki sudden and john cale as filtered through californian folk-rock… includes free download. edition of 500.
this onesided 12″ is maybe the most minimal but yet slightly melodic output by this analog dronebigband thusfar. these are two lenghty tracks recorded throughout 2007. this is their first vinyl release since their celebrated album on (k-raa-k)3, and their second one on morc. what to expect? as vital weekly wrote about one of their earlier releases: ‘a noisy form of ambient music. (). the music is not overtly present, but ‘reduced’ and ‘quiet’, with sounds arriving from a vast swamp of sounds..’ comes as a onesided, amazing sounding 12″ ep, in a beautiful silkscreened jacket. ltd. edition of 175 copies.
r.o.t. has gained a quality reputation in the underground scene during their six years of existence. this led to a splendid cdr- and tape discography. ‘l’écurie’ is their first long player. each side contains two jams that sound like calm and fluently movements through sound at one time, then like a somewhat more brutal treatment at another point. the album shows nicely how r.o.t. works as a (live) band. it’s not about well-thought sound poetry here, but about spontaneous improvisation where random incidents are considered as an extra band member. a slow bass that wanders gently through the acoustic droning, when suddenly an alarm clock starts to ring, followed by new almost-quietness and laidback noise. r.o.t. stands for an original approach of sound sources and a continuously seeking for the ‘moment’. side a was recorded in an abandoned administration building in jette, a small town near brussels. the space was run by young students for six months and renamed the place ‘l’écurie’, the french for stable. r.o.t. improvised in the dusty kitchen during three long days, mostly during the nights as well. the tracks on the b side are takes from improvisations in an horse stable. there again the album’s title refers to l’écurie. this time at an old farm which is called ferme du biereau (louvain la neuve). the farm is also known as a nice venue and spot for artists en musicians.
fairly obscure debut of garagy pop with some strong psych flavor on a few tracks : good organ, wah, etc. fully in shrink but a little mildew under shrink bottom left corner. nice clean wax. VG++/EX.
underrated uk psych-pop album from 1968 originally released on the parlophone label. this is one of the most sought-after artifacts from the british psychedelic scene. sallies fforth will transport you to the swingin london-era in its full glory: well-crafted songs, inventive arrangements, charming home-made sound, nice vocal harmonies, crazy sound effects and more. highly recommended to fans of toytown pop-sike and sunshine-pop. file next to koobas, forever amber, ora, kinks, millennium-sagittarius and the likes. housed in a high quality carton cover with old-style backflaps and pressed on 180
gram vinyl. mastertape sound quality. includes one bonus track taken from their rare non-lp 45 and an insert with extensive liner notes by brian hogg.
pretty rare & great stoner garage psych that gets way heavier then the name or cover would suggest. lots of cool loud fuzz, some good tight rocking tracks, a few weird twists, etc. front/back art & spine look great but top & bottom seams have heavy edge wear & splitting. small punch hole. real clean wax. VG++/NM-.
just about perfect original copy of this little known & very rare late 70s french private press psych folkrock solo outing, post YVES & SERGE & VICTOR, who made a mega rare psych private a few years earlier. really great stuff with full band backing and a strong neil young vibe on many cuts. one side sung in english, one in french. only 200 copies pressed, and virtually unknown until a year or two ago. its already been reissued & getting some buzz, sooo… beautiful NM/NM.
when witch-gods collide, it might sound something like this. six organs of admittance…richard bishop…chris corsano. riders of the apocalypse, it’s them vs. us. after absorbing their über-holy dynamo, you’ll be prepared to join up with these wraiths, making it all of us against…well, whomever’s fool enough to stand in our way. to evil! rangda’s been building up behind the scenes for some time now. as label mates and members of an exclusive mutual admiration society, sir rick and kid chasny thirsted for a conflagration involving two electric guitars plus a drummer. in such an environment requiring excellent survival skills as well as composition and improvisation rhythms, who better than chris corsano to work the skins… on paper, this was colossal, but actually getting everyone together proved awesomely impossible, with each man in a different city sprawled across the vastness of the united states — not to mention each man’s diverse state of mind sprawled across the vastness of inner space. and so, time passed. chuckling, the guitar men dreamed of visiting rangda on our world, working figures on their necks in anticipation. finally, with the desperate recklessness of the ancient witchsoul herself, they booked a live show, followed by a studio session with seattle sound guru scott colburn. beforehand, a mere ninety minutes was allotted for the three to further discuss ideas and play together for the very first time. what would happen… what do you think happened, stupid… of course they planted a garden of lyricism seeded with several compositions and several improvisations! placed end-to-end, the six pieces of the rangda saga (part the first) rock from splintering onslaught to soulful meditation and back again with manifest precision — this was a planned attack. unceasing battery slides suddenly into ritual form with elemental ease. the fretworks of richard bishop and ben chasny split time while corsano shapes the air around them. each players moves as part of the whole of rangda, and whether surging, cycling, or in pastoral, they are never less than explosive. this initial foray flies under the banner of false flag. yet this is only the beginning, for rangda is alive. to ensure your future in the endless cosmos, march forward with the forces of rangda, heart and soul, now and forever.
recorded in 1986 & completely unreleased until now – this is fred & toody cole’s (weeds, lollipop shoppe, zipper, torpedoes, rats, western front, desperate edge, dead moon, pierced arrows, & so on) great lost country lp! all original compositions…some sad lilting ballads & some punk as hell. two songs feature fred & toddy playing with “rollie”, a janky roland drum machine that didn’t keep a consistent meter very well. the rest of the songs were recorded with a lean mean band. we are very proud to bring this lp into the world for the first time – another facet of the genius of fred & toody cole & lowfi as cadn be. housed in an old school tip on sleeve.
rangers is joe knight. “suburban tours” is his debut vinyl release after a string of popular cassette albums last year – including “low cut fades” on not not fun. his sound has been referred to out in blogland as “elevator psyche” and “mirrorball funknagogic pop” – and that’s not a bad start considering his music is often bass-driven with washes of synth and prog-psych guitar riding over the top. unlike the extended side-long collages of his cassette releases, “suburban tours” is a collection of eleven concise “pop” songs that were written and recorded after moving to san francisco from his native texas. not knowing anyone in this new locale, he describes the period after the move as being extremely lonely and plagued with near-constant rainfall. so he holed up and focused his attentions on recording a batch of songs that reflected on his suburban upbringing outside of dallas and what he calls the “failed connections with nature” that exist in these suburban zones (fake lighting, cranked-up air conditioning, golf courses, and gated “communities” where everyone keeps to themselves). but despite the loneliness and melancholic themes there is a remarkable amount of color to his music. like it’s the sound of what he’d want to have playing on his headphones while riding a bike thru these neighborhoods — the sound necessary to make these places seem lively and fun. music blog visitation rites hits the nail on the head when saying “his music reflects a parallel fixation with the tape reel as a cutting board for the psychic trappings of middle class american youth.” rangers is drawing from an entirely different set of musical influences than the rest of his peers – combining a passion for manchester’s northern soul sound with early 80′s rock radio staples like rush and the police and the 70′s prog-fusion of weather report. plus he’s got the chops to pull off this unlikely union — in fact the cutting engineer for “suburban tours” was utterly baffled and commented that it sounded to him like a lost steely dan session recorded onto a mangled microcassette tape. that’s a good thing, right? full color pro-printed covers and insert – also includes a download coupon for the mp3 version.
the second release by portland’s own rats, fred and toody’s pre-dead moon outfit. this record hails from 1981 and holds a place in portland punk history. considerably better sound quality compared to the first record. poster included and tip-on jacket… nice!
very strange private press from these funky looking beardo economics students. pretty hard to swallow, but actually a couple winner including some cool riffs copped from the velvet underground. all tracks are pretty much straight rips on popular rock songs. some charms indeed for those on the fringe. in shrink, with insert, and original “smash capitalism” price tag! NM-/NM.
early pressing of one of their underground gems. textured cover has mild ring wear and two small sticker stains. includes the elusive “mail in” insert. super clean wax! EX/NM-.
the brain child of adam payne, residual echoes pave a psych-sound unique to themselves. recorded late 2005, this album features four long excursions into psychedelia that brings to mind the experimentation of early pink floyd, the guitar heroics of you’re living all over me-era dinosaur dir and the sonic groove of the velvet underground. ‘as the american underground coalesces around vague notions of ‘free rock’ residual echoes are one of the precious few units that truly sound free in their own music. — time out new york… uk only limited vinyl release pressed on clear wax.
usa 1971 obscure christian folk-rock album with an appealing, understated feel. close male/female vocal harmonies and ringing guitars create a secular late ’60s california sound, with strong songwriting that reaches back to a byrds / simon & garfunkel hook sensibility. fully licensed, first ever vinyl reissue. monster rarity going for $700+ when showing up. limited reissue of 500 copies, printed in hq 350g carton and 180g vinyl. unbeatable 24bit remastered sound quality. including an insert with liner notes by patrick lundborg… lovely album, great to see it reissued on wax.
top quality official reissue of this wonderful album. this project is a bit different from other time-lag reissues, as the original isn’t exactly a mega-rarity. that’s not to say that they’re easy to find, but our motives for the reissue have more to do with the fact that this great lp has been seriously overlooked by so many, and feels very ripe to reach some new ears. this one’s got a pretty wild backstory too, being a rather undiscussed piece of 60s texas underground history : in 1966 larry ‘sunshine’ rice was feeling burnt by the increasingly superficial hippy scene in san francisco, so headed to dallas, texas, the “center of darkness” and the place he was raised, with a vision to transform minds. a random gig doing psychedelic light shows at a local bar led to a job managing a new “hip” church… and so the ‘satori house’ was founded. through this outlet sunshine held experimental light & sound worship sessions, began hosting underground rock concerts, launched a free press, and just about any & all other activities towards the goal of turning on dallas. it was, of course, a great success while it lasted… which was not long once a federal drug bust (total set-up) went down, and the higher-ups in the parent church organization got wind of just exactly what their cash had been backing. during the extended trial that followed sunshine split the city for tiny justin, texas and founded ‘the church of changes’ texas’ first marijuana church, claiming grass as their sacrament and legal right… it was at this point that a series of truly unlikely synchronicities led to a record deal & recording session, but by the time “here’s sunshine” was released in the summer of 1969, sunshine was back in california living as a fugitive. he never showed up at his meeting with the bigwigs at blue thumb records who were planning to release his follow up album, thus quickly and purposely ending his connection to the music industry…. if that’s got your head turned, you’ll almost certainly dig the music… it’s a mystical and convoluted folk trip, executed with the lonesome single-mindedness of a true searcher. warm intense vocals are delivered in a magically loose, flowing style. tim buckley comparisons pop up, and that’s not totally off the mark if you replaced any avant / jazz leanings with more of a tripping-in-the-desert vibe. lyrically things get truly bent, venturing into some deeply surreal & glassy-eyed zones. there are a few grasps towards religious ponderance, but it’s very far from a “xian” album. stream of consciousness broodings on nature, work, love, god, satan, sex, hallucinations, and so forth. it’s a totally solo recording centered on understated but effective acoustic guitar, and fleshed out via overdub with rather unusual use of electric bass, organ, banjo, mandolin, and harmonica. things get especially psychedelic when the bass comes in, either as an ultra-minimal echo-drenched pulse or a flowing tonal improvisation. the hyper compressed and reverb saturated production somehow suites the material perfectly, and the combination of elements creates quite an immersive, mirage-like and exploratory space. this one is far stronger, more hallucinogenic, and has gobs more personally then most of the over-hyped, mega-bucks coffee house folk strummers passed off as loner / downer / acidfolk these days. this record’s got a real spirit of it’s own, that with repeated listens will sneak right into your mind before you even know it… and i’m sure that’s the way sunshine intended it… beautiful exact reproduction art packaged in a lovely heavy 60s style cover and pressed on 180gm audiophile vinyl. includes an insert with new notes from the artist, as well as a short except from his book ‘morning glory’ which was written in 1968 and tells the story behind the album, but has yet to be published. one time vinyl only edition of 500 copies.
stoned dylan inspired underground folk on semi-legendary san fran micro label. first track is ‘stoned livin’’, last track is ‘mary jane’… gives you a pretty good idea of what comes between. nice album overall. EX/EX-.
eagle rock, ca’s robedoor are back with another doomed out k-hole. slow creeping drones building to some nice loner caveman pound / real song territory. three tracks in just under 40 minutes. edition of 500 with full color jacket. artwork by jeremy earl.
following their 2008 east coast tour with woods and pocahaunted the robedoor agenda has mainly been: hibernating in the city terrace zone above east la, adding a drummer/modular synth dealer, and letting the smoke rise. raiders is the first rbdr lp since 2008′s endlessly blazing and is the result of almost six months of slow-burn transformative tape machine meditation helmed by ged genras. bummed guitars, loner drone tones, low caverns of reverbed drums and rumble, echo dislocation, and dead voices cascade down into the isolated highways. song modes are carved out and then left to rot. features early trio live set staples like “indo shadow” and “the downcast eye.” you can’t stick your hand in the same black river twice. change or be changed. lps in jackets with cover photo by caitlin c. mitchell. edition of 500 (250 on marbled gray, 250 on black).
excited to offer our first release: this is robedoor’s “rancor keeper” on vinyl in an edition of 500. pete swanson did an awesome job mastering this for vinyl. it also features all new artwork put together by the the rbdr dudes.
shapeshifters are messengers and imitators of the gods. shapeshifters can be divine or human. crossing boundaries between sacred and evil, they often bring messages, power or punishment from the gods. shapeshifting is used to gain access to the tower. they are able to turn any situation around. nothing is too much or too little. the shapeshifter can invert a life-threatening situation into one where he triumphs. this form of shapeshifting is most commonly painless but can be traumatic if the change was unintentional; clothing is rarely lost in this process. edited, assembled, and mastered with assistance from pete swanson of the yellow swans. ectoplasmic cover art conjured by france’s parisse bruno. pro-printed black and white covers and insert. limited edition of 425 copies.
formerly of 1960’s us psych-folk band euphoria, roger & wendy financed this privately pressed album for family and friends in 1971, in an edition of 50 copies. they later renamed themselves bermuda triangle (their recently reissued 1977 album has garnered terrific reviews throughout the years). the roger & wendy album is the rarest of the lot ($900+), and is a top notch collection of psych-folk gems. a superb artifact from the early 1970’s us underground psych folk scene. taken from the original master tapes, and using the original sleeve artwork, this is a strict limited edition of 450 copies pressed on virgin dmm vinyl.
1971 heavy private press free blues/psych from the left coast cortical geo zone of the us underground chain spearheaded by don campau and essentially the californian amalgam of the gate 5 as esp disk punk/jazz 3rd eye. a higher key farrago of hypercosmic extended runs that oscillate between the tubular philosophy of the sun city girls sound/art and the aloneness of stoned blues concrete. a refreshing lost artifact of pure american fizz resurrected from the iconoclasm void and perfectly reissued in a joint effort from de stijl and child of microtones. an essential lp for anyone concerned with the paramount energy fields of all the above ground sound subterrains – very recommended.
raw and rocking collaboration between jack rose and the black twigs with some of the most swinging, hard-hitting string music waxed in many a decade. rose’s solo playing has always had a tough edge, with his prodigious technique often employed in the service of dropping right-hand bombs – his use of a thumbpick originates from his years of duets with twig mike gangloff, struggling to make his guitar heard over gangloff’s crashing banjo. the front line of rose and gangloff’s strings are joined by isak howell’s no-nonsense guitar and harmonica and nate bowles’ variety of expert percussion. the four players lock together with a sure-footedness honed by frequent touring and a singularity of intent to rock. gangloff takes the vocals, howling out standards like “little sadie” firmly in the old-time tradition – without reserve. a few of the tracks here are updates of rose & family classics, with the group turning the stately “kensington blues” upbeat and an issuing an assured take on “bright sunny south,” first recorded by pelt (w/rose and gangloff) back in 2001 on their gonzo classic double “ayahuasca.”
cd released march 3, 2008 as an installment in the oscillation iii series. sold only as a part of the set. lp released september 22, 2008 from a limited edition of less than 1000 copies… while jack rose’s compositional skills are always clear and apparent, observing one of his live performances allows even the most casual of listeners to be exposed to his works in an entirely new light. when played for an audience, rose’s compositions are given time to stretch out and display an improvisational punctuation. various live tracks have popped up over the course of rose’s discography, but i do play rock and roll is his first complete album of live material. i do play rock and roll’s forty-one minutes are comprised of only three tracks meticulously selected from jack’s live archives. an epic workout of “calais to dover” (originally appearing on 2005′s kensington blues) recorded in 2006 starts the whole affair with a bang. the follow-up is documentation from a 2004 appearance on vpro-fm in the form of “cathedral et chartres.” the disc’s closer, “sundogs” is a real treat. previously available only as a studio performance on the seminal by the fruits… triple lp compilation, it takes on a whole other twenty-two minute grinding, droning life live. this disc will be released on vinyl by three lobed recordings in september 2008 from a limited edition of 1000 copies. the lp will be on 180g rti vinyl and housed within an “old style” high gloss lp cover… nice one sure to go quick.
kensington blues is the fourth full-length release from jack rose, and his most diverse outing by far. the album is an inspired mix of styles and sounds, with straight ragtime, heavy 12-string, and that sweet, swee weissenborn lap guitar all checking in. honed during endless touring in 2004, the repertoire here is delivered with maximum authority in a series of first-take performances recorded in early 2005… sweet new vinyl version in a nice gatefold cover. recommended!
let’s get the dirty work over with first. the black dirt sessions is, all hyperbole aside, jack rose’s most complete and telling work to date. those who have been following this philadelphia wanderer’s development and growth as a solo artist (both live and on record) know that such a statement is strong praise, as rose’s catalog is certainly not devoid of unqualified classics. the album takes its title from the studio where it was recorded – jason meagher’s black dirt studios located in westtown, new york. old friends rose and meagher developed a good working relationship and full understanding of each other’s work habits and styles over the course of a spring 2008 joint tour between rose and one of meagher’s bands, d. charles speer & the helix. rose, that eternal road warrior, booked some time at black dirt between tours in august, september and october of 2008 to lay down some new and fully realized material. this album is the complete result of those sessions. rose’s prior albums have tended to both pick and remain true to a musical theme. the black dirt sessions excels by displaying fully honed examples of all of rose’s various styles and themes – traditional, raga and ragtime. central to the album’s spirit is the absolutely epic “cross the north fork.” this thirteen minute revisiting of a track first laid down on the great kensington blues is a winding, thoroughly engrossing journey. this new version is the product of rose’s perfectionist streak which constantly pushes him to re-explore and re-visit his prior works. as presented on the black dirt sessions, the “new” track is full of rich nuances from rose’s years of additional scrutiny of the original composition. much like rose himself, “cross the north fork” is certainly comfortable in its skin and helps make it a welcome neighbor to the album’s other splendid joys ranging from the jaunty and infectious “fishtown flower” (featuring a guest appearance from d. charles speer & the helix’s hans chew on ragtime piano to the pensive and appropriate melancholy punch of “box of pine.” the album’s artwork is somewhat of the yin to the yang of rose’s 2008 release on three lobed, i do play rock and roll. bearing the same overall design aesthetic as that prior release albeit presented in a contrasting white with black print, the black dirt sessions features a photo of rose performing in new york in 2006. the lp is pressed on 180g rti vinyl and housed within an “old style” high gloss stoughton cover. the record will be from a one-time pressing of 2021 copies.
nice clean orig copy of their less well known 2nd album. solid garage pop with some good fuzz & a nice cover of ‘so you want to be a rock ‘n roll star’. small cut corner, bright clean art. NM-/NM-.
28 minute whirlwind exercise touching on various american folk musics, traditional greek melodies, and a ‘sister ray’ like freakout for an exclamation mark. a real gem of a modern, not-so-modern pop record. you’re zigging, they’re zagging. includes a coupon for mp3 download.
an unearthed treasure of the golden era, ripe for the fucking. group sounds for a new millennium; flowery music for flowery people; tropical sounds of a distant paradise. entertain no one. “of all the fucked up, nasty ass, deliriously damaged rock bands in the recent history of the american underground wonderland (particularly texas), none come close to the squirm and hellacious sqwunk of rusted shut. from the incinerated skum of houston weirdness improv outfit grinding teeth arose rusted shut in 1986. their shows were a notorious mess, drunken and fueled by cheap-jack acid. after years of slovenly survival they’ve been somewhat rescued from universal distaste by the current noise legions. the emperor jones label released the rehab cd in 2003 and aa records did a sick lathe (“bring out your dead”) last year and their notorious “fuckin’” track off the 2006 end times festival live comp is still the only loop that matters (check their myspace page for that one). it was with some apprehension of being held up by knife point that we unzipped their new hot sex ep (dull knife). but goddamn if this is not a great goddamned beast of a record. the core duo of don walsh and sybil chance (the original still alive members of grinding teeth) and domokos (on drums and ‘earthscreamer’) just lay it out in an unctious smear of rawk n roll decimating any obvious pretence of hardcore, black metal, death metal, sludge, punk, avant improv goop etc.—shit is the real amerika full on. salute and die.” – thurston moore/byron coley – arthur magazine.
collie ryan privately pressed three albums in the early ’70s-taking your turn round the corner of day, indian harvest, and the giving tree. the records were funded in part by collie’s friends at the new age farms carrot and fresh juice company in lompoc, california and her mesmerizing music remained largely a secret until “cricket,” one of the tracks from indian harvest surfaced on the numero group’s stellar compilation ladies from the canyon in 2006. collie’s music is almost solely based around her cosmic and birdlike voice and nylon guitar picking, and her lyrics reflect her lifelong study of theosophy and naturalist living. the hour is now collects tracks from her first three lps and is packaged with collie’s own artwork. for fans of buffy sainte-marie, joni mitchell, sibelle baier and ruthann friedman… lovingly presented collection in a heavy 60s style cover with thick insert. great music too. nice.
stellar vocals and drones by sachiko of overhang party; three pieces of hypnotic, gliding delight. this is sachiko’s first —all-drone— vinyl release, in an edition of 350. heavy-weight vinyl & paste-on sleeve with artwork created by johan de wilde… very beautiful release.
sacros (‘the sacred’) was a chilean rock band inspired by the spiritual passion and veneration for the great gods of south america, such as quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent, god of the ancient mayas and viracocha, lord of tiahuanaku in the andes mountains. sacros recorded the debut lp on the state label irt and the production was destroyed by the militaries. only very few copies survived from destruction. the music goes in the same direction as los jaivas, los blops and el congreso (all from chile) and lula cortez from brazil. it has a great 12 string rickenbacker sounds, effects, great vocals and rhythms with an experimental touch. you can call this easy one of the rarest albums from latin america since only a handful of copies survived. patricio panussis (guitar & vocals) hernan valdovinos (bass & vocals) and tomas r. herrera (percussion). the band recorded only this one album in 1973… from chile, 1973. lp in an edition of 450 numbered copies, with glossy heavy sleeve, 180 gram pressing, insert.
exact repro bootleg copy of this awesome left field lp, sometimes folksy, sometimes jamming and sometimes experimental. very contemporary sounding with a wild overdub/expansive studio approach. NM/NM.
here at last is a chance to discover why people have been willing to pay a very steep price to hear sandhy & mandhy, the duo who were not a duo, the band who were not a band, creators of perhaps the rarest and most expensive album from argentina. to tell the story of sandhy & mandhy, we have to go back to 1967, when alberto infusino (sandhy) and alberto vanasco (mandhy) began their musical partnership in the beat band the new free men. like many bands of that time, los shaker’s and los walkers, for example, the new free men played covers of songs by the zombies, animals, kinks, yardbirds, doors, and so on, in clubs and at parties. yet at the same time, infusino and vanasco started to play their own compositions, with a national touch to the music. let’s let vanasco (mandhy) take up the story: ‘in 1969, we went to talk with billy bond, chief of ‘la pesada del rock roll,’ to ask about the chance to make an album. bond said that he was not looking for a band, but for a duo who sang songs in spanish… so, we called some friends to play together, and we called the project sandhy & mandhy.’ they recorded the album in three hours, with a full band (farfisa organ, congas, drums, bass, and guitars) – one take of each song. instead of a demo, they decided to press an lp: the company (phonalex) pressed 110 lps in total, which the band gave out at gigs. sandhy & mandhy were one of the first bands in south america bring a rebellious attitude to the music scenenall this in a period of military repression, when forced haircuts in the streets were a common occurrence. although they broke new ground, success was not their fate. and so thirty-eight years after the burst of improvisation that was sandhy & mandhy, the rest of the world can finally take a taste of their dark, groovy, beat-influenced psychedelia (that fuzz guitar on the excellent ‘lluvia’!). at times introspective and acoustic, at others manic and ramshackle in the best way, it’s quite a discovery. now, on to the presentationnthe highest quality mastering and pressing (done at acoustech mastering/rti in california, the same people who master and press every title that audiophile label classic records makes); the resulting lp is housed in a poly-lined sleeve, inside an ultra-heavy 1960′s style gatefold jacket, which is housed in a loose-fitting plastic sleeve. inside the sleeve, you will find an insert with full details on sandhy & mandhy, including lyrics in spanish and english, printed on 100% recycled paper. the lp labels are replicas of the originals. a top of the line pressing all the way. limited edition of 800 copies.
sandstones sole 1971 privately pressed album is one of the best and rarest early 70s us psychedelic folk rock records. although only recently rediscovered, it is very sought after from worldwide collectors both for its rarity and musical quality. great male female vocals in an early 70s uk psychedelic acid folk rock sound similar to tudor lodge, jade etc. it contains 2 previously unreleased bonus tracks, not included in the original album. highly recommended! limited edition, deluxe 180g vinyl, from the original analogue master tapes, exact reproduction of the original first pressing.
underrated rural rock with some garage edge and hippie country favors. on the same tiny label as the great MU lp! small punch hole, otherwise real nice. EX+/EX.
the second ever wholly other vinyl outing is a duo of peter swanson (d. yellow swans) and tom carter (charalambides etcetera). despite the noisy pedigree of mr. swanson, and the latter day scrape of tc’s horton collaborations, this is a deceptively serene collection of electric guitar trance-outs, gently building to a spiders-down-the shirt climax full of hiss and slithering menace. eye-popping silkscreened crypto mandala art by liz harris (grouper) on the blank side, on clear vinyl so you can stare while it spins (and you’ll want to)… packaged in a heavy clear sleeve. edition of 308.
a meditative dual guitar exploration from pete swanson (yellow swans) and tom carter (charalambides). totally gorgeous stuff that is not to be missed. like our other vinyl releases, this one will be pressed on 180g rti black vinyl and will come from an edition of 652 copies. it will be housed within heavy letterpress sleeves (letterpress work performed by dexterity press) featuring original artwork by liz harris… includes pre-order only bonus cd “live at the yacht house, sacramento, in april 2006″.
blue boxed decca label original UK pressing of heavy & solid blues psych. front laminated cover with mono/stereo hole in back. original color coded inner sleeve. fragile cover is very clean but slightly wavy bottom few inches, and an under 1inch rip center bottom front with is quite subtle. very clean wax. VG++/NM-.
blue boxed decca label original UK first pressing of heavy & solid blues psych. non-laminated gatefold cover with mono/stereo hole in back. original color coded inner sleeve. very mild general wear. top right corner has two mild creases. lite paper scuffs on wax. VG++/VG+.
perhaps, one of the rarest and most expensive, major company, releases from greece. released back in 1971, by polydor. it was a tiny pressing (probably 200 or 300 copies) and it has never been rereleased on vinyl. even the 1996 cd reissue (500 copies only) is very rare nowadays. “episodio” is one of the hidden treasures of the greek rock/folk music scene. an album not easy to categorise. ok, folk is probably the “right” word but what kind of folk?? powerful, anarchic, experimental, revolutionary but also polite, sophisticated, melodic, poetic even psychedelic and avant-gardish…!!! you have to listen to it… acoustic & electric guitars, heavy percussion, bass, flute, cello, clarinet, bass, lot of reverse tapes and sound effects and….some wild, real angry vocals. his first “domatio” album from 1968, will follow soon… first ever official reissue licenced by universal, greece. exact reproduction for the gatefold cover and the labels. it includes extra 8-pages, fully laminated, booklet (a4 size) with bio, lyrics and photos. pvc protective outersleeve. 180gr. vinyl as usual. limited to 350 copies… nice album & beautifully presented.
performed by: mark bajuk, tony fasce, silvia feriozzi, eric mauer, brent peich, russ waterhouse. the next evolutionary step from double leopards and family underground, very subtle and psychedelic music.
real nice obscure one from this great avant composer on tiny malibu label. electronics, tapes, gong, organ, clarinet, etc. pretty far out stuff. beautiful op-art cover art. very faint starting cover wear. NM-/NM.
previously reissued on cd by sunbeam, now issued on deluxe lp format as well; 180 gram pressing. when robin scott’s electro anthem “pop muzik” hit no.1 in the us in 1979, few could have guessed that his debut had appeared on an obscure english underground label, head records a whole decade earlier, with backing from psychedelic legends mighty baby. now, with original copies changing hands for hundreds of pounds, it’s finally available on vinyl again, complete with a lavish reproduction of the original insert and showing itself to be a lost gem of british acid folk.
traba is pressed on high quality virgin vinyl at rti in an edition of 500 copies for the world. included is a free mp3 download coupon. traba is a brand new mini-lp from the uk’s simon scott. in the early ‘90s scott was the drummer for renowned shoegaze band slowdive. recent years have seen scott running the kesh recordings label from his base in cambridge, performing in the group seavault with anthony ryan (isan) on morr music, and also working as a sound designer for television, film and sonic art installation. 2009 saw the release of scott’s debut solo album navigare released on miasmah recordings (run by erik skodvin of svarte greiner/deaf center). scott has shared studio and stage with brian eno, klimek, the caretaker, machinefabriek, jasper tx, nils frahm, seasons (pre-din), rafael anton irisarri, xela, fever ray, svarte greiner, marcus fjellstrom, lawrence english, fennesz, leyland kirby and taylor deupree. he has also remixed on, autistici and isan and provided production assistance for hannu’s album hintergarten. scott also performs live with the sight below and co-wrote songs on the new album it all falls apart (ghostly international). traba contains four tracks that were written at the end of the sessions for navigare. when the deadline for completion of the album came and went these compositions were unfinished, but over the course of the summer and autumn of 2009 they were completed in scott’s o3o3o studio in cambridge. traba continues and expands on the themes of submergence, being lost at sea, and intoxication. opening track “she came from the sea”, with it’s distant swirling brush stroke drumming, haunting vocals and deep processed textures, captures the almost overwhelming physicality of being at sea, miles from home, yearning for loved ones and a physical embrace. though this is the first track on the record it was the last one to be written and completed after the navigare sessions. “the water loop” tackles themes of addiction, obsession and urban decay via a max/msp manipulated loop that initially feels warmly narcoleptic but grows into something anxious and intimidating. the music evokes warmth and adventure but slowly unfolds into a dark tone of emotional weakness and paranoia. an influence of stanley kubrick shines out here as this is a musical landscape occupied by droogs on molotov cocktails threatening to impose themselves on you. “lamina” is about a short spell of tinnitus that scott had which resulted in a brain scan. the uncertainty of what caused the hearing damage mixed with the possibility that something had indeed grown inside his brain affected scott in a heavy way. “feeling like i had half of my head submerged underwater somehow matched the themes i was writing about so it inspired me to finish the track. luckily my head was fine and the frequencies returned just in time to mix the piece”. the digitally processed acoustic instruments are blended together with field recordings taken from his local east anglian coast line as well as vocal samples. these elements ebb and flow until the smoldering finale that recalls the sinister imagery of the quay brothers, david lynch or the brothers grim. scott’s uncle was a submarine officer in the british navy who died of alcoholism. his life away at sea fueled his fraught family life and kept his battle with drink alive until his death. traba’s closing track “an avalanche” is directly inspired by the moment his uncle’s heart stopped. coming ashore after months at sea, his uncle drank himself to death. he was brought to a hospital where he was shortly brought back to life, but quickly returned to his death bed as a direct result of his eldest son’s disapproval. traba is truly a dense collection of songs from simon scott.
second family band is a musical collective from madison, wisconsin which rose from the ashes of legendary free-folk outfit davenport. they’ve had releases on sloow tapes, earjerk, gods of tundra, bumtapes and a whole host of other crucial underground labels. alt.vinyl records is proud to release ‘good blood’, an absolutely necessary slice of bold psychedelic absurdism from a tribe of musician-magicians operating at the very peak of their dark powers. line-up: endless, woodman, nico kain, clay ruby, dave 3000, ivan mariesse, tyler ol’son, lliam lee zian. opening scuzz-haiku ‘below the arch’ instantly enthralls with some throbbing maltronics circling a quivering cardboard totem , a sky of sound pinpricked open with some gently rabid ponca drumming and delicate wafts of fragrant fuzz. in seven minutes we are ascended beyond cloud level onto a crytalline plateau of ringing light and trembling breath. it’s a shamanistic free-drone space-jam in miniature, rather like some strange confluence of the necks, sunburned hand of the man and circle at their most obtuse. the next track ‘night graces of the morning temple’ slowly balloons us back to earth, the music seemingly deflating the speakers as she goes. a choir of rusty radiators throb, moan, creak and boing along a half-dreamed corridor of mournful wah-wah. it sounds like morphogenesis playing berio at the bottom of a sewer, or the soundtrack to some lynchian nightmare – very cool and grubby, bathed in a sort of undulating aural moonlight. total deep listening mirage-music. side 2 is comprised of a single 23-minute track, ‘good blood’, a delightfully pungent slab of relentless exotica blending elements of les baxter and martin denny with a nice wooden shjips-esque vibe, the whole mad soup bled through with some really sensitive electronic splashes and splutters. at about seventeen minutes we emerge from hypnosis into a clearing, bleary-eyed and stomach-cramped, and face a dramatic climax. the boulder-strewn groove threatens to topple at any moment, the air is awash with the flash and hiss of cymbals and feedback, it just rocks harder and harder. then it’s over, and my hand is reaching for the needle to spin it again.deluxe edition ltd to 300 copies. hand screened sleeves by levi seeldraeyers, artwork by wouter vanhaelemeesch. ‘good blood’ is a a towering piece of psych-prog ritualism. bloody brilliant!
members of sejayno release a morphic aura into the air through the utilization of therapeutic breathing techniques, fumblings, and fantasies about sexual tourism. the swedenbourgian airplane becomes reality along with the use of tubas and guitars and poetic resonance. you may know peter blasser as “ciat-lonbarde” or the next incarnation of dr.who imagining bob moog as interpreted by the paper circuit in the form of the seed of life. carson garhart is not only “cute” but was also the phantasmal skeleton in the skeletons and severiano. martinez is the man behind it all. limited lp screenprinted covers.
live garagy frat party jams with ‘louie louie’, ‘i go crazy’, ‘shout’, off key vocals, screaming girls, etc. rare stereo original pressing. clear tape to all seams but not much cover wear. vinyl looks kinda rough but plays ok. VG+/VG.
spooky and fragile british sounding folk record from the usa, with some progressive and psychedelic hints. recorded between 1970 and 1976 and privately released in 1976, original copies reach four figures. high-quality reissue in 180g vinyl, nice carton with original artwork, unbeatable remastered sound quality and also including a repro of the original sticker, the original insert and a new insert with photos and liners by bandleader heff munson. 500 copies limited release. the seventh dawn is like few other american folk albums. maybe it’s because all four members of seventh dawn had written these songs when they were between 11 and 17 years old. ann & heff were taking classes in electronic music, which gave them access to the labs with two synthesizers, two stereo records and one four track recorder. this protected opportunity was unspoiled by any style-pushed fashions, and the results have a comparable sweetness, innocence and almost pastoral purity to the best moments of the uk album of sallyangie (with mike oldfield, also then only 15). the same reason why ithaca was compared to moody blues (a reference which always is more symbolic, because mb never had that much of its own style-reference uniqueness in many songs), can be given here as a reference too. just listen to the nice sweet-fuzzed guitars which flow softly like keyboards on ‘such a lonely”. another reference point, relevant on one track, ‘latecoming,’ is emtidi for its piano arrangements in combination with the song.
pretty rare & mostly unknown new hampshire folk psych duo with some third guitar backing backing. nice mellow CSN&Y mood at times. textured cover signed on back by both members. EX-/EX+.
shiggajon are a danish free music collective with a shifting identity, built around nikolai brix vartenberg and mikkel reher-langberg. here, that core duo play sax and clarinet in an expanded, nine-piece ensemble also featuring guitar, violin, drums, and electronics, as well as the unmistakably haunted, questing flute wor of kelly-jayne jones from part wild horses mane on both sides. asconema was recorded at a 2009 gig in sheffield organised by singing knives records. the resulting lp seals the shared aesthetic shaping the music of not just part wild horses, but other units associated with singing knives, including chora and the hunter gracchus. essentially, this means music made with an emphasis on the communal experience and an urge towards the ecstatic, filtered through a post-noise instinct for volume and white-out drones. shiggajon’s previous live tapes and cd-rs made room for more overtly psychedelic electronic, but their debut on vinyl sticks closer to the methods of 1960s free jazz, john coltrane’s ascension sessions being the obvious template for the flatlining cacophony of the set’s more intensely sustained moments. yet you wouldn’t really call this free jazz, any more than you would suggest the danes are trying to communicate the same feverishe, southern baptist christian-inspired devotions that gripped coltrane. similarly, when the cymbal scrapes and bells accompanying jones’ flute conjure a quieter ‘monastery jam’ vibe, the music superficially touches on the fourth world meditations inspired by don cherry and ed blackwell on their mu albums. which isn’t to say that this is a hollow forgery. spiritual significance resides in the ear of the beholder. ragged energy can plunge any soul that’s ready into the light. if shiggajon’s joyous noise gets you there, why fight the feeling? – the wire, uk.
‘one we heard is a real rock n’ roll monkey called fly so high by the shining path, a duo comprised of ilya monosov and preston swirnoff. more known for their weirdo psych minimalism as monsov swirnoff, documented heavily by eclipse records the last few years, here they get down to some confused and slippery boogie-spazz with the finer elements of free spirit futurism informing the process. fucking out there and great.” –byron coley and thurston moore, arthur magazine. side a is a reissue of the cassette released by tbtd tapes. side b is a bombastic unreleased live cut of the path with little howlin wolf and peter barry at marquise dance hall (brooklyn, nyc, 2006).
shelly short is a portland musician born & raised who plays pretty songs. this lp finds her doing a bit more orchestrated works than her usual stripped down approach. a nice record to wake up in the morning to. each copy of the lp is lovingly hand glued together over old defectively printed “bongo joe” lps with a silk screen & a 10” by 10” photo print by shellys’ brother faulkner short. there are 50 variations of the photos spread over the 350 copies of this lp. a true hand made family affair… really lovely private press fragile femme folk album, released with help from mississippi records. stunning hand assembled covers. 350 copies so better grab one quick, as its sure to vanish soon.
split 12” anticipating their upcoming december 2009 west coast tour together. sic alps give up three tracks with help from lars finberg (intelligence) and ty segall, the highlight being a great punched-in guitar solo from matt hartman that makes one song reminiscent of a safe as milk outtake. markers show up with a 7ft bass player who throws the band into guru guru mode. great all around… slightly different cover art then the instantly sold out first edition.
really odd private press lounge / real people duo recorded live at the holiday inn! certainly not for everyone, but the insane dude action cover art & the epic 8+ minute, pill garbled, ‘elton john medley’ are pretty damn hard to resist. much loved by certain folks out there. perfect in shrink NM+/NM+.
really quite lovely debut from tortured xian druggie songstress. if you dig melancholy female folk of any variety you pretty much need this one. the first, and better, of only two albums released before her overdose in 1979. WHITE LABEL PROMO. radio station copy so the covers got promo sticker, call letters, and general unsightly stuff going on, but no wrecked. nice wax. VG/EX-.
very rare original pressing of this cool & obscure biker flick soundtrack from JEFFREY SIMMONS and RANDY STEIRLING on FRANK ZAPPA’s straight label. some great tough garage fuzz psych tracks and some cool more mellow ones as well. pretty sweet one. classic era gatefold cover has minor general wear, still looks pretty great. original inner sleeve. VG++/EX.
through dark days and glowing nights, six organs of admittance continues to step to the far rim of the world with purposeful strides. indeed, new horizons are visible throughout luminous night. be it in the face of spiritual crisis or catharsis, ben chasny as six organs refuses to stagnate, or to evolve in predictable fashion; in response, he keeps moving on. this is the first six organs of admittance albums with such a lengthy gap between it and its former number. in the past two years chasny has kept busy writing this new epic, moving house to seattle, composing soundtracks for novels and movies, and touring constantly in america and europe (with bands like the dead c and om) as well as being invited by legendary post-metal group neurosis to play their beyond the pale festival in belgium. six organs of admittance is such a singular experience that it is sometimes easy to forget that ben was the lead guitarist in comets on fire, as well as a songwriter and guitarist for current 93′s black ships ate the sky album and half of the pan-pacific psych-folk duo august born. but clearly, chasny knows heavy, having grown through times of heavy and times of light. and in answer to the question what’s heavier, a pound of rock or a pound of feathers, six organs of admittance has devised this for luminous night: a pound of rock covered with a pound of feathers — twice as heavy, but feathery light to the human eye. with luminous night, chasny’s working with some heavy dudes, like producer randall dunn and eyvind kang, whose sound on viola shines with a guiding glow throughout the album (both dunn and kang contributed their talents to the outré arrangements of the recent sunn o))) album). the other invaluable contributors to the album are hans teuber on flute, tor dietrichson on tabla, matt chamberlin on drums, and dave abramson on percussion. occupying their spots with care, they’ve collaborated to create something rich and vibrant, aching and new, in the world of six organs of admittance. the arc of luminous night is wide as the sky, commencing with a stirring instrumental evocation of the greek myth of poor actaeon before flowing into the vocal, the vengeful, the ancient, the divine and celestial, scored with guitars, bass, viola, flute, tabla, electronics and synthesizer, as well as a buried-in-the-rain-soaked-earth-of- seattle-then-exhumed four-track cassette that formed the basis of the instrumental ‘cover your wounds with the sky.’ for its blanketing sound, luminous night draws inspiration from such cinematic sources as jodorowky’s el topo soundtrack and the scores of kurosawa’s samurai films, but is at the same time music that could only have come from the singular sound world of six organs of admittance. what is it about the man that buries his sound in the ground? he has faith in the earth, for one. when we think of six organs of admittance, we think of a man with six-string ambitions, a rambler with mystic beliefs and dark electric visions. it’s a big universe and we’re only human, which basically means that we’ve got spirit and that we’re going to die. but until then, we live. six organs of admittance has lived to tell about it on luminous night.
awesome new private press album. after years of bigger label projects its a real treat to see ben’s pavilion imprint in action again. easily the most beautiful and intense in quite some time, this is a real gem. hand packaged in classic pavilion style with hand painted white on white covers with graphite powder stencil art. limited to only 500 and sure to vanish without a trace. highly recommended.
uncalculated unconscious expectations within an involuntary interception (system) of detached fantasy detached provided the fantasy is born of ingredients outside of the body but determined by the unpenetrated unconsciousness this in combination with the minds ability to sight illusions creates a world in which the consciousness can travel in and out of realisation of the event arising as with the tangible actions of the ceremony ascending and descending within the spectators consciousness manifest exchanged illusions. the unknowing of levels of consciousness as the procession of the ceremony transforms the imagination from inner and outer experience to one a whole motion of physical and mental interaction. recorded in universal city, mexico by spencer clark and james ferraro. limited edition – one time pressing.
taste the blood of the deceiver, the first full-length skullflower album to be pressed on vinyl since forever (at least the early ’90s), finds matthew bower in the more blackened, doom-damaged terrains like those strip mined on the recent desire for a holy war or pure imperial reform: abrupt vertical baths of blinding distortion and harmonic override spiked with cavernous cultish riffs and deeply bleak ritual moods. the blood is fresh, but the body’s unrecognizable. charred and forgotten, this is another stepping stone on the path to the upturned altar. black vinyl lps in fucked-up-and-photocopied matte jackets. edition of 500… out of print.
the red river is the fourth solo offering from portland, maine’s micah blue smaldone and the first to be released on chicago label immune. here’s what micah has to say about it: ‘rather than construct a thick frame of reference for this new album, i’d prefer to describe simply where i’ve come from in the past few years, and then let this music speak for itself. my first solo effort, 2003′s some sweet day, was a collection of ragtime and country-blues, a fervently authentic homage to great influences — john jackson, blind blake, robert wilkins, etc., who all helped me through some tough times. 2005′s hither and thither was much more internal, an urgent telling of germination in a harsh climate. this new one reaches a little further both into the past and the future. the title is borrowed from ‘red river blues,’ an old chestnut that goes ‘which way, which way do that blood red river run? from my back window home to the rising sun.’ i suppose this is the big theme of the album – ‘never fight evil as if it were something that arose totally outside of yourself.’ it is simple faith in the goodness of people, the depth of love, and the infinite wisdom of nature, which allows for this path to be cut with patience, humility, and an eagerness to share. so let this album be a little way-mark, and never a hitching post… lovely new album. limited edition heavy vinyl version. includes coupon for free download of the album.
i used to buy and collect smegma rockets when younger, so i’m really happy to release an lp by this really far out band, especially since they played with my friend perry, who is one of the most versatile musicians i had ever met! smegma is a kind of cult mob in the us experimental underground, based in portland, oregon, they started back in the early ’70s and got connections with the los angeles free music society (tom recchion, joe potts, le forte four, airways, doo-dooettes, ace farren ford and even the residents); they also got an amazing label called pigface… here they played some jazz for the year 3018… clear orange vinyl with white and red effects. artwork by ju suk reet meate.
2nd album but this great berkeley guitarist. fans of fahey, basho, kottke, etc as well as glenn jones, jack rose, etc will need this one. nice old style heavy covers. insert. limited to 500.
limited edition of 500. screen printed at monoroid on heavy duty board stock. in may of 2008, amsterdam-based clarinetist gareth davis and american guitarist steven r. smith convened at worstward studios, in los angeles to collaborate and create music together, the results of which have been titled westering. gareth davis is a dedicated performer of contemporary music while at the same time works with improvising musicians such as jon balke and terje rypdal as well as electronic artists including machinefabriek and ryan teague (type records) and has recently completed the rabbit at the airport series of lps with martin stig andersen and robin rimbaud (aka scanner). steven r. smith has been releasing a steady stream of solo records for over the last decade as well as playing in various improvisational groups including thuja, hala strana, and most recently ulaan khol. this fruitful collaboration has created the perfect meeting place between the scrapings and various layers of musical detritus steven r. smith has been known for and the textural, guttural and almost feedback laden bass clarinet of gareth davis to create a delicate and abstract musical language of shifting moods and textures.
cities is pressed on high quality virgin vinyl at rti in an edition of 900 copies for the world. included is a free mp3 download coupon. american multi-instrumentalist steven r. smith has been releasing a steady stream of solo records for well over a decade as well as playing in various improvisational groups including thuja, hala strana, and most recently ulaan khol. this music has ranged from sparse solo guitar improvisations to hala strana’s reworkings of eastern european traditional folk tunes to the dense, psychedelic fuzz guitar workouts of ulaan khol. on his latest full-length solo release, cities, smith combines the composed with the improvisational and the result is a beautiful and desolate collection of songs evoking a crumbling landscape reminiscent of cormac mccarthy’s novel “the road” or the films of hungarian director béla tarr. cities was recorded in smith’s worstward studios on all analog equipment and features a wide variety of instrumentation including fretted spike fiddle, baritone psaltery, electric and nylon stringed guitars, cello, melodica, electric piano and organ. musically, smith’s work over the years could be summed up as a struggle to contain a series of opposites: light and darkness, sorrow and joy, despair and hope. it is this balance, or at least the effort to create or maintain this balance, that informs cities as well. smith has recorded for numerous labels including important records, catsup plate, soft abuse, emperor jones, last visible dog, jewelled antler, digitalis and darla. cities is his first release for immune recordings.
very rare original private press version that was later repressed on DRAG CITY. even the reissue is getting scarce these days. a pretty exciting one from a bad year in music. ultra lo-fi downer folk noise. heavy old style crude b&w cover art with just the faintest wear. EX++/EX++.
daily dance is a genuinely unique artifact from rural ohio; a mythical frenzy of distorted guitar and improvised drums creating walls of psychedelic noise. originally released in 1973, its sound is unparalleled for its time and precedes its closest kin, new york’s no-wave explosion, by a solid 5 years. ‘they generate waves of energy through cascading feedback squall and drumbo bash and shimmer. a few tracks will start with something vaguely resembling a ‘groove,’ before they quickly deteriorate into their lonely buckeye din.’ – dante carfagna. cantor records is proud to make daily dance available on vinyl for the first time in 35 years. daily dance was remastered from the original tapes, pressed at rti, and is lavishly packaged with a heavy stoughton paste-on jacket, informative obi/u-card, and an extensive 20-page booklet of liner notes.
great late-date private press canadian rural loner folkrock thats just recently starting to gain a lot of serious fans. strong back to the land, deeply rural vibes throughout. very thin cover has a very slight wave to it. NM-/EX+.
impossibly clean brazilian original pressing of their great 2nd album. way rare stereo version, which is at least ten times rarer then the much more common mono version. stereo mix sounds amazing too! awesome brazilian psych that remains under rated or just unknown by most. huge organ, great songs, english lyrics, cool production. a bit more progressive leaning and less wild then their debut, but still quite great… fragile plastic encased cover has just very minor rubbing on the plastic, as these covers always do. gold stereo sticker. beautiful labels. just a small number of micro hairlines on the wax, as clean a copy as you could ever hope to find. NM-/EX++.
son of earth began life in early 2000 as son of earth-flesh on bone trio. aaron rosenblum, matt krefting, and john shaw, inspired by many spirited late-night experimenting sessions, began to play out using wild arrays of sound-making devices. as the years have gone on, the group has chisled away at the number of instruments used and brought their once maximalist and varied sound creation down to a whisper, a murmer, a sound that hints at and flirts with texture and atmosphere; a music made from almost nothing. seven full years into their life-span, son of earth offer their first full-length lp, pet. the record represents a culmination of sorts of a certain arc in the son of earth sound, one where simple electronics and oddly-played instruments are combined to create a music that walks a tight-rope between easily definable atmospheres and emotions. the results are so delicate that at times the music seems to cease to exist at all… right on!
after releasing two unique lps back in the ’60s for the legendary esp label with his ritual all 770 and another one for riverboat, finally alan sondheim is back! this is his 1st lp after nearly 35 years and here he plays guitar, alpine zither, electronics, field recordings – as usual he presents us an eclectic mix of fascinating sounds – dark red vinyl.
the first in a series of split lps loosely in tribute to POPOL VUH, as well as the first release on TIME-LAG RECORDS. DRONA PARVA’S ‘form-constants’ is a minimalist hammond organ meditation inspired by popol vuh’s ‘in den garten pharaos’ and early terry riley. a slow building, trance inducing, improvisation. ULTRASOUND (texas by way of den haag) opens side two with a beautiful reworking of popol vuh’s ‘spirit of peace’, using piano, bass, gong, and viola, then closes the side with a track of shimmering guitar drone. plenty to float away on… audiophile quality 180 gram vinyl, and packaged in a gorgeous custom letterpressed sleeve. hand numbered edition of 800.
totally awesome & demented UK private press. his 2nd. completely bent, brain damaged raw outsider proto-punk guitar rocker with wildly strange songs, goner vocals, etc. i guess this is what happens when a mad outcast who’s bonkers obsessed with teenagers & american rock & roll decides he’s a huge rock star and somehow has the cash to press up some wax. pretty fucking brilliant & sooo much fun… and the dude somehow snagged the best band name ever! SIGNED on back cover. general cover wear, mostly at edges. nice shinny wax. VG+/VG++.
gorgeous original french press of lovely progressive acoustic folkrock. really beautiful laminated gatefold sleeve & vinyl both super clean new! NM-/EX++.
“as anxiety encroaches with the cold air of winter thank the stars for the whiskey/weed warmth of compass, blanket, lantern, mojo – it flows through you like a liquid howl of light.” – thurston moore. “for an out-of-it fogie like myself, its tough to keep up with the many musical hats our boy peter nolan sports. theres of course the magik markers and then theres lil dusty, spectre flux, spectre folk, folk spectre, cops, etc. i gotta admit i sorta lost the thread on petes musical output for awhile there due to the simple fact i couldnt keep up with it all. my chrome dome would literally throb with all the names and phony catalogue numbers that must accompany all these sound whims that must fly off his ginger head like bats from a belfry. luckily, i put down the brupenex long enough to catch up with compass, blanket, lantern, mojo, nolans latest expulsion under his spectre folk moniker. as expected, the album reeks of the musty homespun psychedelic scent that would make both al simones and uncle neil young red as a beet. the tunes are hazy with hope and bobbing audio to spare. seagulls or rusty bedsprings sound off in the crackly distance on one track and i get a salty taste in my mouth like i licked the third pier boardwalk in wildwood circa 79. and check out the track burning bridge where petes voice soars and wavers like a wounded dove flying to the safety of a clean cage and the awaiting name of walter. the whole thing is a gorgeous, fully conscious stumble into a self made sunset and it just reminds me of something someone never said to me its not over until you declare everyone a loser and paint yourself in a corner. – tony rettman.
grey area exact reproduction lp of a swedish release from 1970… a bit of confusion surrounds this release: the album has been credited to träd, gräs och stenar, but they aren’t featured on it. bo anders persson did, in fact, in collaboration with solvieg bark, compile, edit and released this album. bo anders persson, was a member of the legendary swedish bands harvester, international harvester, pärson sound, träd, gräs och stenar. solveig bark was one of a few young composers that through the unm (young nordic music festivals) would become a contemporary of erkki kurenniemi, folke rabe, etc. “reportage: spela själv” roughly translates to play yourself. it contains field recordings of amateurs playing / making sounds. raga concrète, if you will. a fine, rare, and lovely piece to behold.
reissue of the arhoolie lp recorded in 1971. joseph spence was a highly original guitarist & vocalist from the bahamas. his music is hard to describe – extreme guitar runs with joyful vocalese rambled along with it. this album includes hits such as “out on the rolling sea” & “sloop john b”. one of our favorite lps of all time. silk screened cover glued over a hand manufactured folkways style cover.
it’s taken a long fucking time, and finally, a fully legit lp ~ only reissue of this amazing helsinki monsterpiece from 1970. shh ! is highly collectable in it’s original form on the band’s own o records imprint (home of 3rd erection, samsa trio, one point music, etc). in a non ~ dream state, i’ve seen 2 copies and both were in a condition slightly more well kempt than “hammered ++”… shh ! is primarily a document of pekka airaksinen’s experimental compostions, consisting of primitive samples, guitar loop feedback and musique concrete. probably inspired by a cage / stockhausen / et al, but actually more easily peeped in pre ~ lafms world, perhaps sitting aside ju suk reet meate’s do unseen hands make you dumb? also involved were jan olof mallander, who has been active in and around art in several roles; as the editor of iris, writing reviews for hufvudstadsbladet, contributing to taide, and as the art critic of dagens nyheter. inspired, perhaps, by gordon matta clark’s food he converted his cheap thrills gallery into a restaurant and instead of art, served the public vegetarian and macrobiotic cuisine. and mattijuhani koponen, a poet, composer, musician, painter, photographer, performance artist, a gardener, activist in men’s postmodern liberation movement (the what?!), he was the primus dramatic motor for the sperm. in december of 1968, during a symphonic poem of reconciliation made by cain and abel, he fucked atop a grand piano and, for it, spent 8 months in the clink. aside from serving a brief stint in wigwam, i know little of vladimir nikamo but his presence makes sense; wigwam’s first lp is titled hard n’ horny. you get the idea. ooh la la..
spider trio are wally shoup (alto sax), jeffery taylor (guitar) and dave abramson (drums). wally shoup is a legend in the free jazz/improv scene. he has been well documented over the years, releasing records with thurston moore, chris corsano, paul flathery, nels cline, bill horist and many others in various combos. jeffery taylor and dave abramson are key players in the ever incestuous seattle subunderground musical community. taylor is one half of climax golden twins and abramson leads the diminished men. this lp is a live document that blew all the minds in attendance. take your byg/fmp/esp/ sun/ america/akba imprints and the sounds they represented and you’ll have an idea of the force and power of this amazing trio. this is some of the finest free jazz of the modern era! ed. of 400 copies.
so, you love english folk/rock, but you’ve never heard of spriguns? don’t feel bad. many people outside of england don’t know this group, or their singer, mandy morton, even though in her homeland she is considered on a par with such well-known english female folk singers of the 1970s as sandy denny (fairport convention), and maddy prior (steeleye span); during her scenic career morton has released six albums in total, including two for decca under the name of spriguns. what we have here is the first non-japanese reissue of album one for decca, from 1976, issued by acme as a 24-bit digital re-master, taken from the original tapes. perhaps not quite as rare as mellow candle’s sole decca lp (& #147;revel& #148; commands a $400+ price tag, vs $1,000+ for mc); even so, both spriguns albums are in the same league musically as that of their irish label-mates. morton’s voice is lovely and captivating, the songs lilting and celtic-ish— if this is a sound you like, these albums are for you! … limited vinyl version with exact repro cover. nice!
so, you love english folk/rock, but you’ve never heard of spriguns? don’t feel bad… many people outside of england don’t know this group, or their singer, mandy morton, even though in her homeland she is considered on a par with such well-known english female folk singers of the 1970s as sandy denny (fairport convention), and maddy prior (steeleye span); during her career, morton released six albums in total, including two for decca under the name of spriguns. what we have here is the first non-japanese reissue of album number two for decca, from 1977, issued by acme as a 24-bit digital re-master, taken from the original tapes. perhaps not quite as rare as mellow candle’s sole decca lp; even so, both spriguns albums are in the same league musically as that of their irish label-mates. morton’s voice is lovely and captivating, the songs lilting and celtic-ish— if this is a sound you like, these albums are for you! … limited vinyl version with exact repro cover. nice!
old collection of both singles, unreleased demos, and rehearsal tapes from hot ‘65/’66 garage combo featured on the first couple pebbles comps. NM-/NM-.
sweet copy of beautiful scottish female trad folk. front laminated cover. beautiful cover photo. one needle mark on vinyl, otherwise perfect. EX+/EX++.
now available on vinyl! starless & bible black make beautiful, spirited & catchy songs in the grand tradition of classic british folk rockers pentangle and john & beverly martyn straight on up through the halcyon days of early 4ad records. on their debut self-titled outing, the diverse manchester 3 piece brings to bear much of the lively attitude, passion and rain, rain, rain of the old textile city they’ve all come to call home for the last several years. the result is a great collection of 11 songs — at once earthen and elevated — that are given added mood & flavor by the charcoal vocals of french chanteuse hélène gautier. the other contributing members are the main rhythm men in the manchester music scene — paul blakesley on bass and brian edwards on drums — they have perfected their craft playing with the likes of local heroes such as aidan smith, john stammers and jane weaver.
absolutely mind melting release from this consistently amazing american duo. this release has a very different sound to there superb drone recordings of there recent releases, yet it is still totally immense but really quite unexpected… brian pyle and merrick mckinlay spent sometime recording legendary humboldt based pianist darius brottman, who also happens to have a radio show before brian’s own show on khsu college radio. the recordings of brottman were then reworked by mckinlay and pyle separately. pyle and mckinlay have a side each on this lp, both sides featuring very different ways of reworking the original beautiful recordings. side a opens with some straight piano clinks layered with incidental sounds that occured during recording sessions, creating an amazing feeling of beautiful surrealness , leadings into multi-layered piano movements over and over. side b begins with an powerful, erratic, forceful playing, coated in psychedelic loops and reversed sounds, then returning to a more straight piano playing. the second track on this side almost bleeds into familiar weirdo territory. this is one bizarre, but equally genius and beautiful release. both myself and the weirdos are honored to have the artwork for this lp designed by artist mick wiggins. pro printed sleeves, pressed on 180 gram vinyl and limited to 500 copies.
the first vinyl side from these northern california mushroom farmers is a real doozy. a live soundtrack to the silent psychedelic films of american hero harry smith, this one sided lp is more free drift than free jazz – taking off from a shot in the dark and never touching ground again. each one with punk rock paste on black & white collage art – edition of 300.
previously reissued on cd by sunbeam, now issued on deluxe lp format as well; 180 gram pressing. when his classic outlander lp failed to break through in 1970, welsh singer-songwriter meic stevens’ major label days were over. gwymon (“seaweed”), his legendary second lp, was recorded on his own terms in london in the summer of 1972, and highlights his pop sensibilities, with folk and blues influences also to the fore. it was only released in wales in a tiny pressing, and has barely been heard since. the album makes its long-awaited lp reissue here in a deluxe gatefold sleeve containing complete liner notes, previously unseen photos, rare contemporary press cuttings and an introduction from the man himself, making it an essential purchase for all fans of psychedelic singer-songwriting. 180 gram virgin vinyl; mastered at abbey road: all-analog audiophile pressing.
long-lost demo album from this welsh folk legend, recorded soon after his debut single for decca but never issued. eleven previously-unheard original songs like ’winter of the clan’ and ’not for me mr. mp,’ and a great companion piece to the now sold-out ghost town. 1,000 copies, 190 gram vinyl… recorded at the tony pike studio, in 1965. original; copies of this nice 2002 release.
rainbow label original copy of sweet mellow folk pop with a young & adorable LINDA RONSTADT. great femme vox of course, plus some great moody sitar tracks. EX+/VG+.
pretty weird micro label local release from PAUL of PETER, PAUL & MARY. stoned-out folk/folkrock with a couple real nice cuts, and certainly cooler than you might expect with some pretty weird vibes going on in place. really strange glow-in-the dark cover art too! orig inner sleeve. VG+/EX++.
obscure new england late 60s/early 70s private demo only acidfolk blues. mostly covers with a couple originals. with insert. super crude cover has edge wear & edge discoloration. VG/VG++.
the strange are from olympia, wa, close to the canadian border. the strange are tom hackett, robert rensel, david chamberlain, rick rackleff plus mike pitcher, don morris & carl dexter. this art-rock underground band recorded the souvenir album over a period of several years released in a tiny pressing in 1976 on the yantis record label. with a touch of west coast music and lots of mothers of invention influences, this album is really something special. as special as the spoils of war and as complex as time and think dog, with frank zappa style wah-wah guitar, great vocals, piano, effects, some horns, and a well-balanced mixture of heavy psych guitar tracks and twisted underground folk tunes. if you think the first spoils of war album on shadoks is a great album and the early mothers albums are the ones you always kept you will be very very happy with this album…. extra heavy cardboard sleeve, numbered edition of 450 copies.
the new installment from pirako kurenai and kageo’s suishou no fune is finally ready, and it’s a true gem. recorded in a bonsai shop in tokyo, summer 2010, ‘bonsai no ie’ is a dream made out of floating guitar textures and vanishing vocal lines. four spectral, naked pieces that stand as the core of suishou no fune’s poetry, where delicate folk moments, abstract blues riffs and oniric ballads concur in the realisation of the definitive psych experience. close your eyes and abandon your senses to a journey through the land of ethereal joy and endless abandon. comes in a beautiful professionally printed cover, specifically designed by artist anya kuts. edition of 250 copies.
original press of small label psych. sounds later then the ‘71 date, with a strong uk 70s rock vibe in places, and even flashes of bowie. heavy on a few cuts, with some good fuzz. pretty big production for such a flop at the time. includes original lyric insert plus a thick promotional only bio insert. radio call letters in marker on front & back cover and both labels. nice thick wax. VG+/EX.
mega rare album from the dartmouth, massachusetts fivepiece outfit which was released originally on the laurel label (laurel 331098) in 1969. up-down is an album of largely self-penned material (only 2 covers, one of which is a strong version of the spencer davis group’s hit, ‘gimme some lovin’) with the leaves are turning brown, complete with cheesy psych organ and wonderful earnest vocals, is the stand out track. up-down is a beat-garage concept album detailing the highs and lows of a summer vacation romance, with, as you would expect, loads of moody teenage angst and lashings of self pity. the songs are all catchy, and there’s a couple of good ballads – sweet new england moody teenage garage rock on this very sketchy label. oh well…
autumn records is back with a lp reissue of the debut cdr by sun circle on lichen records. this lp is a musical offering by the duo of zach wallace and greg davis. side a features ecstatic full wail vocals and organ drones peace noise. side b soothes with repetitive washes of bells gongs and chimes… numbered edition of 525 copies in paste-on chipboard covers.
sunburned hand of the man is a band in the loose sense of the word; it’s better described as a banner under which a collective of musical freaks have gathered. so when they toured europe in september 2006, and ended up in the same room as psych/kraut/hard-rockers circle in tampere-finland, they decide to jam together and record all of it. this session was edited down to a total of 40-minutes which wanders ongoing through free folk, psych, improv, spaced out- hippy jamming & noisy-rock bizareness . the collaboration of both america’s & finland’s weirdest, is nothing less than sensational… quite limited, out of print, and totally deluxe vinyl version. full color art, insert, and inner sleeve, heavy vinyl, etc. gonna fly quick…
brand new lp (and first on blackest rainbow) from sunburned, vocal splutter weirdness, thrash trash, funk jams, spoken word surreal-ness, you got it all in this lp which i’m very proud to be releasing with the good man tom at lost treasures of the underworld. picture disc jackets with insert, a bunch of different colour vinyls, edition of 500 copies.
surface of eceyon continue their dohym saga with revenge of dragon. featuring the dense and swirling psychedelic sounds of adam forkner (white rainbow/ jackie-o motherfucker/ vvrssnn/ yume bitsu), dick baldwin (towering giant/ landing/ dragon), daron gardner (towering giant/ landing), phil jenkins and aaron snow (paper/ landing). this lp is limited to 500.
last year saw the danish/swedish duo heading over the pond. they rented a car and got a not very detailed road atlas. learned that public payphones are some quarter eating pieces of shit. and that cheap $7 chinatown voltage converter turned out to be a total rip off. they fried their power strip during soundcheck at the first gig in nashville. an overwhelmed klyd watkins was in the audience, and the poet was later reported being “lost for words” when taking off into the night. so what about the music?? people whove seen them play have mentioned patty waters, linda sharrock, brother ahh, strange strings etc as reference points for the drooling gawkers. it sure is recalling the homeburned jazz sounds of the past. they play french horn, flutes and saxophonic vocals over soothing harplike tidal waves. where the last vocalions is the perfect late night/early morning nod out spin, the next album will be the wake up call. we for long thought this was the record that wasnt supposed to happen. the stampers broke a handfull of times, then later the pressing plant sufferd from a power blackout after a storm etc. it was planned for their us tour september 06. now its a new year and here we finally have it. – jacques smoi, lyon france… in stock once again this great private press zoner from jakob olausson (moonlight farm, joshua jugband 5, destijl, etc) and the ineffable sus. recommended.
the icelandic prog-rock band svanfrídur released only one album, recorded six months after they played their first gig. this short-lived band rapidly rose to fame, receiving rave reviews for live performances, but in fact their music was way ahead of its time. they were unable to seal a recording contract so they formed their own label – swan records. when the album what’s hidden there? was released in autumn 1972, it got mixed reviews and sold only a few hundred copies, leaving the band with a great album but, sadly, not the income they had been hoping for. recorded at london’s majestic studios, the album was cut and pressed in england. perhaps one of the best heavy prog/underground albums from scandinavia, with amazing guitar & all english vocals. would have been a famous and successful album on decca uk… numbered edition of 500, heavy gatefold sleeve on 180 gram vinyl with 2 page insert.
previously reissued on cd by sunbeam, now issued on deluxe lp format as well; 180 gram pressing, mastered at abbey road. includes the same bonus track as the cd version. london trio synanthesia were only together briefly, but in that time they made an album that has subsequently been hailed as a lost classic. with original copies (from 1969) changing hands for hundreds of pounds, sunbeam is delighted to give it its first official reissue, showing it to be a great lost british acid folk gem and an absolute treat for all lovers of acid folk and psychedelia. named in the top twenty “strange folk classics” in record collector, 2005.
pretty fantastic private press psych, much loved by many. easy one of the big 80s privates along with BOBB TRIMBLE, JOHNNY BLACKBURN, SIX STATION, etc. this one is probably the most rockin’ of the bunch, with a strong west coast psych sound, big full band sound, great female vocals, awesome guitars, etc. really strong all the way through, floating in that wonderful early 80s limbo. little cover wear, one pretty minor corner bend, and the very start of a tiny top seam split. real clean wax looks unplayed. VG++/NM-.
getting tough to find major label psychedelia that sits well above average. strong songs & great use of effects, fuzz, organ, etc. thick gatefold cover. pretty minor edge & ring wear. nice wax. VG++/EX-.
two of america’s finest drone acts come together for this split lp. taiga remains is student of decay’s master mind alex cobb project, if you ain’t picked up his new disc on digitalis ‘wax canopy’ yet, go get it, it is one of the best drone releases i have heard in a long time! the 15 minute track on this is new split lp is entitled ‘mengku from mengsa’. opening with far off chimes upon chimes, this leads to pure bliss dream zones, rather than the more intense material on the aforementioned wax canopy. this is a fantastic piece of drone work, layered to create some beautiful zoning out in the mind. rv paintings is the project of brian pyle of the almighty psychedelia legends starving weirdos, along with his brother jon pyle, and spencer doran, who also plays under the name of cloaks. this is an amazing track, kinda darker and bleaker than the weirdos vibe, with some totally awesome free percussion playing central to the piece, this is hard to top in the drone game. a totally solid slab of sound from both acts. limited to 400 copies.
recorded on 1 july 1971 in the geodesic dome at the ‘utopia & visions 1871-1981′ exhibition at the moderna museet in stockholm, takehisa kosugi’s taj mahal travellers were a japanese experimental improv group active in the 1970s. the group, heavily influenced by fluxus, used electronic effects to create their own unique improvised drones… white vinyl in clear plastic sleeve with red lettering. edition 500 copies. nice.
day two of this historic and rare live performance at the moderna museet in stockholm, sweden.” grey vinyl in clear plastic sleeve with blue lettering. edition 500 copies. nice.
actually a various artists school project lp, not a band. its the third release in the LATITUDES series, made by students at a small pennsylvania community college. the first two are well known and fairly easy to find, but this one is extremely rare & known by very few, due to the fact that only 100 copies were pressed. its by far the best & most consistent of the bunch as well, featuring three beautiful female acidfolk cuts, one in particular is a total stunner with gorgeous deep floating vocals, awesome dueling acoustic guitars, sparse electric bass, and a drawn-out and totally psychedelic production quality. rounded out with a couple good male ssw folkrock cuts, and a strong and pretty unhinged solo acoustic track, and a shockingly cool short choral piece. even the couple short piano interludes are good & well placed. really really beautiful album. a real grower and much loved by the few who have actually heard it… top seam split the whole way. bottom seam split a couple inches. both are clean splits. spine is undamaged. very slight ring wear & the mostly white cover has yellowed some. wonderful b&w bird in flight drawing cover art! wax is pretty clean but its a real cheapo pressing. VG+/VG+.
since 2003, nyc’s talibam! have been charting a course through the improv waters in a way that few other groups can pull off. rock, jazz, noise and all stops in between collide in an aggressive mix that defines free music in the best sense of the term: nothing is deemed out of bounds. too much fun to be a po-faced postmodern exercise, and too expertly played to be sunk in a morass of good intentions, the new nixon tapes hurtles through two side-long pieces in an agile cascade of rhythmic and melodic ideas. kevin shea (drums) and matt mottel (synthesizer) have worked with cooper-moore and rhys chatham, among others; here they’re joined by master saxophonist / trumpeter / flautist daniel carter. recorded live in the wfmu studios. mp3 download coupon included.
since their lightning-strike first appearance, talk normal’s sound has stormed upward & outward, referencing nothing but relating to almost everything, a jarringly songful gale of rhythm & noise supporting pleas & plaints, signal-calls & marching orders. each talk normal show builds on past ones: up-to-the- moment updates of ideas previously stated, new phrasings of old upheavals delivered with increasing focus & joy. darkness & light; fury, silence, space & sound… includes download coupon.
german original of their strong debut with some hot guitar action from RORY GALLAGHER. great cover graphics look awesome on the fully laminated cover. 1/2” center top seam split. EX-/VG++.
cadillac sitting like a ton of lead, the brand new album from the taurpis tula trio of david keenan (tight meat duo), heather leigh (scorces/dream aktion unit/jandek) and alex neilson (tight meat duo/directing hand/jandek/richard youngs et al), represents the absolute apex of their twin guitar/drums incarnation, with two side-long improvised psychedelic blues that combine the kind of epic string-muscle of fushitsusha, ohkami no jikan, kousokuya and rallizes denudes with a sublime avant-garage sensibility and massive pockets of time-killing freedom. further amplifying the malevolent narcosis of their debut lp on eclipse, cadillac? is a full blown rock record that full delivers on their vision of yoko jamming with red transistor in a world where the conventional middle-brow ’canon’ is pretty much upended in favour of primitive avant garde brut. there are grooves here that are as magnetic and future-visioned as the magic band circa “big eyed beans from venus” or the final seconds of amplifier meltdown on mainliner’s mellow out while the playing is at an all-time esp-channelled high, with the group generating glorious metal-inflected simultaneities without the slightest whiff of ’dialogue’ or even listening with ears.this is a profound statement of the kind of freak-out freedoms inherent in the most primal blues/rock forms and a revitalising connection to the source of *it*, further building on the kind of form the group were packing during their monstrous jam at thurston moore’s nightmare before christmas. features heather leigh on vocals, harmonica and pedal steel, david keenan on electric guitar and alex neilson on drums. packaged in individually silkscreened sleeves by disobedient belgian artist jelle crama and featuring all-original artwork by heather leigh on the front, the insert and the labels, cadillac sitting like a ton of lead comes in a limited edition of 440 copies.
harry taussig’s fate is only once was originally self-released in 1965. taussig’s only other recordings appear on a deleted 1967 takoma records sampler lp entitled contemporary guitar spring ’67, which also featured john fahey, bukka white, max ochs and robbie basho… excellent lp and great to see it reissued on vinyl.
original copy of this very rare private press xian garage folk rocker out of missouri. a cool raw upbeat folkrock setting with a couple crude fuzz jammers, a couple downers, and all around excellent playing. the xian vibe is thick, so be warned, but a real rewarding listen if a) you really love jesus, or b) you can get past the lyrics and into the sound. nice looking cover too. perfect archive worthy SEALED NM+ copy!
perfect copy of this weirdo crooner pop-sike garage slab. some lame soulful numbers for sure, but well worth it for two monster psych tracks on side two: & #145;fool amid the traffic’ is a wild garage psych number with crazy organs & cool fuzz, and & #145;the emperor’ is amazing space psych drift with half spoken lyrics and heavy electro processing, effects, and synth. amazing private press looking freaky black & white cover too! cover is beautiful NM in shrink with a small punch hole, vinyl is NM. original decca inner sleeve.
terje bandholdt on drums, jesper schmidt on guitar and joachim. this album was recorded in 1970 for the famous spectator records in denmark (moses/bluesaddicts/days). reissued for the first time in original cover plus insert with many photos and band story, this amazing heavy psych album beats most releases from denmark, in quality and rarity. massive guitar action all over, great heavy vocals and pumping rhythms lift this album right out of there. beside moses, the best heavy psych album from northern europe. 450 numbered/glossy/heavy sleeve/180 gram pressing/insert.
tom thayer is a ny visual artist who creates paintings, drawings, sculpture, music, puppetry, film and theatrical experiments. these works are often loosely strung, frail objects depicting dilapidated, fantastical scenes of abstract human and animal figures. this is his first record of music, self-titled lp, edition of 550, released on his own cardboard mirror label. from the artist, “this record contains a broken, mildewed darkride of songs and beats held together by adhesive tape and string.” we saw his gig and there were bird puppets playing records with their beaks, speeding up/slowing down, pecking the vinyl. this recordingemdash remember the plonsky record, or the recordings of jean dubuffet? profound minimal electronic manipulation in real time by his own hand, mixed with crude sampling, creates a stunning first offering. check his art at www.tomthayer.net. – sound at one.
mysterious canadian 100 copy private press stoner psych improv slab, featuring mark alexander mcintyre, who has just released a rather great little solo folk psych album as well. this is the follow-up yo ‘biker smell’. wrap around color paste-on cover wth double-sided xerox insert. hand numbered edition of only 100 copies, and very few in stock.
the hippie groundswell of the late ’60s left a lot of young people on the road to self-discovery in the new decade of the 1970s. some were true “dropouts,” but there were also a number of artisans and talented people out there, footloose yet fascinated with the workings of the world and determined to make something of the pieces they’d been given. these trails echoes back to us from hawaii, and specifically the world of the nature cult there. hawaii’s (comparatively) unspoiled wilderness bore great fascination to the gentle young people of the west coast back in those days. musicians as diverse as the beach boys, merrell fankhauser, sky saxon, dan hicks and ry cooder all drew vibes and inspiration from the hawaiian mystique and music-but these trails gains distinction having been made by everyday-people-type inhabitants of the islands. hiking, swimming and surfing were the auspices under which margaret morgan and patrick cockett first met. they were local kids, who’d grown up on the island of kaua’i. they’d both been studying native hawaiian music and their shared interests and island upbringing inspired them to write and play new music together. by the time this music got to tape, a greater environment had been created with the addition of dave choy’s arp synthesizer, uruguayan carlos pardeiro’s guitar and sitar, and the soft rhythm of ipu, hawaii’s traditional percussion. the music of these trails is a psychedelic bridging of folk musics that has a natural and melodic flow and a somber, spiritual air. these trails was never really a band; it was an album of music. it wasn’t pressed in any great numbers and created only a few ripples locally when it was released in 1973. nonetheless, it was a powerful expression that stands with up other recently-discovered heroes of the private-press world, such as linda perhacs and gary higgins, whose singular musical endeavors stand with the best of what the hippified 1970s had to offer… nice to see this super blissed-out gem on wax again. great stuff!
co-release between sparrows & wires and horror bag recordings. not live-evil, not evilive, but live evils. these wonderful evils outside reverberation vinyl records, central illinois, august 2011. decaying echo boxes, fuzz by hudson electronics, cats, kids, davy graham tunings… newest private press from this cool folk primitive / loner fuzz psych solo project. crude xerox folkways style wrap-around paste-on covers, with funny insert. pressed on splatter magenta vinyl. hand numbered edition of only 205 copies. nice one!
numbered edition of 504. home cooked post-psf tkop fsa x/way solo joint. mixed geography in orange. close mic-ed and creaking chair. magazine love. song for bobby neuwirth. exquisite fucking happy televised thompson trails. sola sound mk5. sunn and silvertone. still the spirit of ’66. for ron asheton. for john martyn… following 2008′s excellent regine flory, parade room is a dark and awe-inspiring beast, starting with sub-aqua tendrils of guitar echoing laughing stock & tim buckley’s blue afternoon. the magical thing about this record is the incredible balance of excellent guitar playing and extreme noise, suddenly you’re buried inside hawkwind’s p.a. system listening to bert jansch at full volume, and then you’re on side two listening to the bastard son of ‘lady godiva’s operation,’ writing a paranoid letter from the lower east side, circa 1968. timeless, fascinating and very highly recommended! – reckless records… very sweet follow up to his great debut.
the debut album from chicago’s these wonderful evils is a dark, psychedelic meditation, echoing richard youngs & nico, as well as the more experimental side of the velvet underground. voices & guitars buried deep in the forest are both familiar and chilling at the same time, from the drowning drone of the opener “north atlantic” through the drifting, forlorn closer “st.jo.” – reckless records… really excellent private press here. if you dug the galbraith / neilson / youngs lp on time-lag you’ll dig this for sure. second numbered edition of only 208 copies, this time in fancy metallic printed covers. highly recommended… if you missed it last time, don’t make the same mistake again cuz these will go quick.
obscure minneapolis prog/psych/jazz private press. nice electric guitar work throughout. cool cover art. with original inner sleeve with notes. VG++/EX-.
real clean micro label US original, not the more common german pressing. rural folk country ssw outlaw vibes. nice thick b&w cover & thick wax. EX+/NM-.
great underground acid folk lp by greek singer/songwriter (and a film director today) andreas thomopoulos, who lived in uk for many years. recorded at chalk farm and released in 1971, by mushroom. this is his second album, more acid, sensitive and enigmatic than his first singer/songwriter approach called “songs of the street”. andreas accompanies his melancholic voice with guitars, piano, bouzouki, kalimba and harmonica while his colleagues, from the same label, second hand (ken elliot, george hart and kieran o’connor) help on organ, bass, violin and drums. yet, the well-known barbara thompson guests on flute, malcolm budd on sitar, nick hoare on kalimba, triangle, tony pedroza on electric guitars and raphie on vocals. lyrics are in english and only “the stranger” is in greek (and what a song!!!). a totally vanished album as original and a “must”!!! 400 black copies edition. licenced by andreas thomopoloulos. it includes the original lyric sheet plus one more insert with photos. pvc protective outersleeve. 180gm vinyl as usual… very sweet one.
improvisational bay area quartet thuja create aural landscapes that capture the reverberations of wood and wire, the sounds of breaking sticks and scraping stones, and the ambience of their surroundings into a shifting, dynamic musical framework… jewelled antler folks. vinyl limited to only 500 copies, so act quick.
private press on cool custom label (collective tools, floss, blues prism, etc.) crude lo-fi xian conceptual psych rock opus, flowing from choral mass to heavy psych. amazing crude life-cycle b&w cover art, with an equally cool back. lots of marks, but most just surface stuff. ultra-cheap press so surface noise anyway. VG++/VG.
one of the rarest and most mysterious of all 1960’s uk psych/pop albums. the band had released a handful of 45’s on decca between 1967-68. this album was set for release in 1969, but the lp was pulled at the last minute. only a handful of finished copies with covers survived, and now command a hefty £1500+ price tag. taken from the analogue masters this is a superb sounding album. not only this, the original painting used for the lp artwork has also recently come to light, and we are lucky enough to reproduce it for this reissue. this is a superb collection of 1960’s uk sike pop with a mix of american sunshine pop. finally after 40 years the album is seeing the light of day for the first time! this is a strict limited edition of 450 copies only, dmm mastered and pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl.
scarce old 300 copy euro reissue of the original “big one” in the school project bag. originally released on much loved RPC label. great stoned-out mix of underground psych, loner folk, female acid folk, etc. not all amazing, but a great trip all the way through, and the best tracks are total jewels. altered front cover. super thick wax and thick carton cover. loose slicks front & back. pretty tough to score these days, even as a reissue. NM/NM.
the lp version of the cd released by quecksilber in 2007. presented in a limited edition of 500, mastered direct to metal and pressed on 200g virgin vinyl. the jacket features the rui toscano drawing from the cd version expanded for the 12-inch format printed in black and pantone red on reversed stock with the pocket flooded red.
dutch orig in thin fragile single cover. much cheaper way to own a vintage pressing of this monstrous & amazing brit psychfolk masterpiece led by the duo of JUDY DYBLE (vocalist on the first FAIRPORT CONVENTION lp) and JACKIE McAULEY (ex-THEM). a really wonderful album that adds extra acid to the usual brit folkrock sound with twisted lyrics, great effects, fuzz bursts, etc. originally of the way collectible DAWN label, but that version will set you back big bucks so this is a great option. awesome sound. tiny sticker tear on front, super clean wax. NM-/NM.
same titled album by oregon group tree people has finally reached its deserved status after the excellent cd reissue released by japanese label tiliqua a couple years ago. ‘tree people’ is no other than a fantastic piece of hippie acid folk that clearly anticipates today’s ‘freak folk’ movement. very clean production, with an eastern flavour noticeable in many passages and using acoustic guitars, varied percussions and flutes, while the strong vocals of stephen cohen finalize the picture. remastered sound from masters, has insert with rare photos.
wonderful oregon haunting rural folk psych private press. recently reissued & much loved by many. its a beautiful, mellow, deep album with sparse acoustic guitar, flute, hand drums, electric bass, etc. great late phase hippie cottage vibes for sure. cover opening was trimmed at a slight angle, so not exactly square. otherwise, just about perfect in shrink NM-/NM-.
first three songs on this album are as good as anything; trimble’s music is an utterly unique blend of melodic songwriting, gorgeous high vocals, overwhelmingly echoey and warbly production, synthesized guitar and fuzz guitar, and it’s mesmerizing and life-changing. side two was recorded a few years earlier and is simpler in terms of production, but the songwriting is equally good. over the years it has become apparent that this album has aged very well and is every bit as good as the more heralded second album. trimble’s music is utterly timeless, utterly distinctive, and utterly beautiful. – acid archives… nice reissue of this lost-in-time 80s gem.
trúbrot was the first supergroup ever founded in iceland. it was created in may 1969 when leading members of ‘hljómar’ (sounds) and ‘flowers’ set out to create the finest icelandic rock group of all time. guitarist and composer gunnar thórgarson, bass player and singer rúnar júlíusson and lead vocalist shady owens of hljómar had been plotting this for some months, along with organist karl sighvatsson and drummer gunnar jökull hákonarson of flowers, before the band’s genesis was announced publicly. these were troubled times and trúbrot had countless hurdles to overcome before the band eventually fell apart early in 1973. after the debut album was released in december 1969 by emi, vocalist shady owens announced that she was quitting. trúbrot recorded 3 more albums. tony branwell of apple records was saying these were one of the two best bands he had seen perform on stage in the preceding six months. really cool underground album full of musical ideas and well-crafted music, male & female vocals. the music should hit the same listener of uk bands such as blossom toes, billy nichols; underground with a touch of pop…. numbered edition of 500, heavy gatefold sleeve on 180 gram vinyl with 2 page insert.
the unified duo of che chen (founder of o’sirhan o’sirhan zine) & rolyn hu (operatrix of brooklyn’s glasslands space) are on a mission to reverse the flow of negative energy with their elemental brand of ecstatic pop & anthemic noise, live & on the record. join inn! true primes disinfect disaffection with their brand of elemental buzzing unrock. tp are adding a new chapter to the growing saga of ny’s long, fruitful history of downtown artrock by grafting a smiley face on the body of no wave’s penchant for alienation. we have won is the band’s debut. lp edition of 330 available now, covers done up sweet by che chen… 180gm vinyl. paste-on xerox covers. numbered edition.
the third album from tunng, the pastoral pop band behind the acclaimed mother’s daughter and other songs and comments of the inner chorus albums. good arrows is a totally immersive record, enveloping the listener in tunng’s wyrd world, and is their first to feature the full six-piece band. eleven songs that borrow from icelandinc prog rock, choral music, and film soundtracks… limited vinyl version.
brand new full length vinyl lp from natural snow buildings’ mehdi ameziane’s solo project. this is the third vinyl release from twinsistermoon since last summer’s the hollow mountain lp and bride of spirits 7″ which were both released on the excellent dull knife label. following on from these two gems, as well as various obscure self released discs and cds on digitalis and students of decay, ameziane’s sound has grown somewhat darker at times with this brand new lp featuring nearly 50 minutes of new material. the a side features 6 tracks, where as the b side is a huge almost 25 minute track. the opening track ‘black nebulae’ is a gorgeously textured psychedelic drone based piece, followed by a short, quieter, guitar plucked piece with vocals, but no words entitled ’1976′. ‘ghost that was your life’ is a stunning beautiful layered guitar piece with ameziane’s astounding beautiful vocals shining through. ‘big sand’ opens as one of the darker pieces, with an occult feeling to its sound, swirling vocal drones, almost like a choir at times, and in come those stunning warm and distinctive gutar sounds with layered ghostly sound scapes, that haunt much of ameziane’s solo and nsb recordings. half way through this track it fades into layered field recordings, drones, and distant chimes, the sound of this track at this point just has a real melancholy vintage sound, the last two minutes are again a change of sound with a slow plucking of guitar strings. ‘desert prophecy’ returns of the sound of just ameziane and his guitar, with some lo-fi electric riffing distrotion in the background. its pretty incredible to hear this and think that its from 2010, and not from the 60s or 70s. the sixth and final track on the first side is ‘trailer’, another beautiful somewhat lighter folk sound, which is interesting considering the following is the albums title track ‘then the ashes fell’, a side long track which is a considerably darker and heavier than much of the rest of the lp, but it weaves in some beautiful lighter more reflective moments. pro printed sleeves and labels. heavyweight vinyl… massively thick old style covers.
beautiful and very rare UK original blue label stereo pressing of their 3rd album masterpiece. pre-T. REX underground pagan mystical folk psych from another realm. final album with STEVE PEREGRIN TOOK, and also their final all acoustic album, as well as their first album recorded in a 8-track studio… the combination of an increasingly turned-on vision with the possibilities of multi-tracking, all before any macho les paul posturing kicked in makes for a just about perfect album to my ears, and a long time fave ‘round here. incredible songs, mind boggling bent pixie lyrics, frantic playing, plus warm, honest, and deeply psychedelic TONY VISCONTI production. awesome JOHN PEEL read children’s story too. a must own album in any form, and this is a real sweet form to own it in. beautiful fragile laminated gatefold cover is real clean with just tiny signs of corner wear, and rubbed bottom seam. name in pen on inside gatefold. beautiful labels. few stray hairline scuff on the thick sparkling wax. NM-/NM-.
obscure & recently in demand ‘sound art’ private press. huge long metallic drones created by bowed sheet steel sculptures. taking the ideas of BERTOIA, etc. to a more dark & ominous realm. should appeal to fans of NWW, AMM, etc. as well as the usual sound art crew. a rare one. VG++/NM-.
the ukes bring us all another butter country moon fried farm folk
bammer to sing or bang a gong along to. once again this release
features a full band of self taught weirdo clinger and clangers
carefully caressing tones out of anything from an effected mandolin to a marble in the bottom if a well tuned 5 gallon bucket. players include andy neubauer, dan b, amy moon o-s, kristen myers, caleb gamble, and ben grubb. cover art by janel beckman and printed by leif goldburg. insert art by amy moon and kristen myers… newest from this great belfast maine bent rural folk crew. maybe their best yet?! beautiful full color offset printed wrap-around paste-on art over a chipboard cover. tons of insert. recommended!
gloomy psych-folk fuzz, in recycled classical lp sleeves, members of seanceorchstramindzoo, common oracles, hisseaters, mummers, grim spell etc… nice deep underground psych micro press monster for fans of residual echoes and such. awesome one-of-a-kind hand decorated art covers. edition of only 200 copies sure to vanish as quickly as they appeared. nice.
teenage home recordings of nrbq’s tom ardolino from 1971… “i made these tapes in my basement…i was 17, still two years away from joining nrbq…..i had some friends who would come to the basement at night and we would smoke and listen to records. they would leave around midnight and i would start to record one track over another using the(kenwood reel to reel) recorder’s sound on sound feature. i would add drums the next day….sometimes i would try to do songs that i just felt like doing(like the nutty squirrels’ “zowee”…) but usually things were just made up. i would just kind of hear things in my head and just try to go for it…i never thought these tapes would be heard by anyone except for a few friends. warning: if out-of-tuneness bothers you, do not listen.”… newest on joshua burkett’s micro label. screen printed / stamped / numbered covers. 500 copies. first 100 or so include a set of magic markers to hand color the cover, we’ve got a few with the markers here so first come…
new studio album by these japanese heads, this one is sure to place your third eye right onto the eternal cosmic plane. feels like spacing out in a hammock set between massively fucked-up, stripped-down mantra rhythms licking that sweet essence of crazed fuzz guitars and beautifully mellow acid ballads. a classic nocturnal journey into deep tokyo psychedelica. full-color artwork by bart de paepe, edition of 300 copies… awesome vinyl debut from the sloow tapes label, and a killer lp. very last copies here. recommended!
“alitaju ylimina” is the first vinyl album by finland’s uton released in a strictly limited edition of 500 copies in a marvellous fold-out sleeve with a full-colour drawing by uton himself on the outer sleeve and some fierce black¨white illustrations by dutch artist christelle gualdi inside. uton is the one-man project of jani hirvonen originally hailing from tampere and currently travelling and recording in india. hirvonen is one of the most active musicians of the finnish underground scene that has recently presented us the likes of kuupuu, kemialliset ystävät, islaja, paavoharju and lau nau and a seemingly never-ending stream of beautiful and highly original record releases. the music of uton is no exception there, drawing inspirations from psychedelia to free jazz to pure ecstatic drones and noises using a wide range of acoustic instruments from various parts of the globe and a bulk of electronics. recorded in glorious lo-fi the mystery of hirvonen’s sound is difficult to pinpoint; sheer ravishing beauty, elegancy and variegation is stashed behind a wall of grey, inscrutable haze – gorgeous melodies and voices, reeds and alien sounds gleaming through the mist from time to time, shimmering like diamonds through layers of dust. uton has previously released dozens of cd’s, cd-r’s and cassettes on a myriad of labels including jewelled antler, pseudo arcana, last visible dog, digitalis and his own ikuisuus. he has collaborated with amon dude (avarus), anla courtis (reynols), antony milton (black boned angel), ben reynolds, peter wright, phil todd (ashtray navigations) and jan anderzen (tomutonttu, kemialliset ystävät) among others. the latter collaboration (under the hevoset moniker) will be released on lp by dekorder later this year.
“straight edge xxs” is the 2nd vinyl album by finland’s uton released in a strictly limited edition of 500 copies on the dekorder label. it comes in a gorgeous full-colour collage sleeve assembled by hirvonen himself. while uton’s last dekorder album “alitaju ylimina” (and most of his other recorded works respectively) are hazy lo-fi drone masterpieces for the most part, this is a completely diffferent affair. recorded straight to tape within one month, right after returning from a 6-month trip to india, these songs (if you could call them songs) are completely out-of-this-world; very short and crazed sketch-like pieces sounding like a nonesuch explorer lp of long lost field recordings from an as yet unexplored continent. or is it world music from an unknown planet recorded by those sublime frequencies guys from mysterious short wave transmissions? well, it is all that and more. it is pure ecstatic expression channelized through psychedelia, free jazz, noise and rural ancient folk music from all over the world in a completely naked, predominantly acoustic setting. one of the purest forms of music you could imagine; while all the familiar uton elements remain evident in a hazy backcloth. uton is the one-man project of jani hirvonen originally hailing from tampere. hirvonen is one of the most active musicians of the finnish underground scene that has recently presented us the likes of kuupuu, kemialliset ystevet, islaja, paavoharju and lau nau and a seemingly never-ending stream of beautiful and highly original record releases. uton has previously released dozens of cd’s, cd-r’s and cassettes on a myriad of labels including jewelled antler, pseudo arcana, last visible dog, digitalis, ruralfauna and his own ikuisuus. he has collaborated with amon dude (avarus), anla courtis (reynols), antony milton (black boned angel), ben reynolds, peter wright, phil todd (ashtray navigations) and jan anderzen (tomutonttu, kemialliset ystevet) among others. the latter collaboration (under the hevoset moniker) is released on lp by dekorder simultaneously. limited edition of 500 copies.
“unexplained objects” is the 3rd vinyl-only lp by finland’s uton for the dekorder label, like his previous dekorder albums released in a strictly limited edition of 500 copies in a beautiful full-colour heavy duty sleeve designed by hirvonen himself. while the last albums explored rural soundworlds from the outer reaches of this planet and hidden places of the inner human (and animal) mind, he has finally left planet earth completely and is now reaching out for outer space and alien communication. hirvonen seems to have traveled the spaceways, bringing home folk music and field recordings from faraway planets and alien cultures. erich von däniken beware! uton is the one-man project of jani hirvonen originally hailing from tampere. hirvonen is one of the most active musicians of the finnish underground scene that has recently presented us the likes of kuupuu, kemialliset ystävät, islaja, paavoharju and lau nau and a seemingly never-ending stream of beautiful and highly original record releases. uton has previously released dozens of cd’s, cd-r’s and cassettes on a myriad of labels including jewelled antler, pseudo arcana, last visible dog, digitalis, ruralfauna and his own
ikuisuus. he has collaborated with amon dude (avarus), anla courtis (reynols), antony milton (black boned angel), ben reynolds, peter wright, phil todd (ashtray navigations) and jan anderzen (tomutonttu, kemialliset ystävät) among others. the latter collaboration (under the hevoset moniker) has been released on lp by dekorder as well. limited edition of 500 copies!
uw owl has finally found their first proper release after making numerous small edition cd-rs and contributing a track on united bamboos they keep me smiling compilation curated by hisham bharoocha (x- black dice, soft circle). this lp features ten songs chosen from a mass of recordings between 2003 and 2004. electrical currents, desolate sound scapes, dark tunnels, late night jams and structured waste recorded on a broken dust-filled concrete basement floor in bushwick – brooklyn, ny. 333 copies. 140g vinyl. packaged in a self assembled dye-cut and letterpressed jacket by jonas asher, with insert.
if string theory is correct, this is approximately the thirteenth album matt valentine has released that definitely shouldnt be filed
under a group name (tower recordings, bummer road, golden road, etc.). on the other hand, if string theory is correct, this might also be his 11,000th album. the truth, one suspects, is somewhere in between. since bedding down in southern vermont at the dawn of the century, mv has been as cussedly prolific as anyone. the gout of lps, cassettes, cdrs, singles and 10-inches emerging from maximum arousal farm has dwarfed the output of everyone cept maybe sunburned or thurston. regardless, there can never be enough mv lps in the world, and what i became is a beaut. most of it is as solo as satan, apart from
percussionist jeremy earl (of woods fame), whose presence is sometimes felt more than heard. erika ee elder and mike muskox smith also pop up on a track, but the general approach here is as naked-and-loaded as the soul of icepick slim. as usual, mvs tunes and procedures beggar easy generification. elements of deep forest psychedelia brush against crazy horse guitar / vocal flourishes that explode to reveal volk-based form mayhem at its hickiest. my particular fave here is pk dick,
a paean to nth dimensional logic in the form of a swedish psych-folk readymade. my son prefers the haunted-harvest-vibe (his words) of ave. b. my wife goes for the seventh sons approach offered by sweet little indian girl (always a fave with the ladies). and my daughter nods in the direction of continuing the good life for reasons she will not explain. i suspect its the hooty vocals, reminding her of teen pop giants like the shins and of montreal, but she aint sayin. all this just goes to show that what i became is a fun album for the whole family. it will soothe your savage breasts. it will turn your evil mother-in-law into a porpoise. it will wash yr dishes and darn yr socks. darn them! motherfucker, who else would do that? nobody, jack. cept mv. this guy has the magic touch. and it has never been displayed better than here. just get the fucking rec. or prepare to go sockless. kind of a no-brainer, eh? -byron coley… really sweet one. recommended!
minneapolis’ vampire hands are a rather difficult-to-pigeonhole lot, one with so many disparately abundant ideas bubbling out of their collective skulls that they barely keep pace with them. citing influences as diverse as exuma, can, neil young and simply saucer, vampire hand’s sound might (lazily) be described as marc bolan meets mayo thompson in neil haggerty’s cannabistro. fuzzy, distorted guitars meet tribal, pulsating rhythms. an eerily affecting falsetto melds with a lower, drier voice to create delightfully off-kilter harmonies. get this now before this band assuredly ascends the hype-ladder… super limited tour release in a very cool multi-layer screen printed envelope cover. nice.
little known & underrated femme folk / folkrock psych jewel on this tiny private virginia label. same label who did the much more well known MASON ‘harbor’ & POLYPHONY ‘without introduction’ lps. the handful of covers & trad. songs are well picked, and highly enjoyable… but the originals are totally amazing, especially ‘wishing well’ which is beautiful drifting gentle folkpsych with echo, flute, hand drums, etc. and ‘closer’ which is a jaw-dropping full band acidfolk rocker as good as any early 70s femme psychers you hear hyped all the time (and pay a lot more for). very cool purple on pale blue textured cover as well. totally recommended! cover has very slight adding at edges but really nice still. EX+/NM-.
charming if typical mid 60s xian beatnik folk with kids singing & some cool hand drumming on 95% of this one. not bad for what it is, but… one total monster cut with bizarre lyrics, exotica clatter, weirdo vocals, and persistent fuzz guitar soloing in the distance. a total killer that sounds like the FUGS jamming with EDEN AHBEZ! well worth the price just for the one track, but a pretty fun lp anyway, especially with the awesome super crude cover design. VG+/VG++.
total can-style audacity from brooklyn drone stew edward goreyean broken house sufic wanderers the vanishing voice. the vanishing voice head down from the mountain for another dip in a lake of elephant seals. a misty warbling leads down a twisted path where molten earth and crust collide. the beginning of the end of the beginning. stone tab is a trip to be sure. mother mark ospovat cracks the whip of dogsled imandi while snarling bad dog pete nolan kept a forward propulsion on skins and molten guitar spew. mad man steve j taveniere of local faves meneguar lent a cool head and a popular sensibility to the proceedings with skills on the acoustic axe to be sure. non horse crane, magnetic wizard and dj, let loose his usual bag of hidden charms and h. “reality” diehl, with a voice said to make many a grown man cry, a magik trash harp and the mind o the other, kept us all in the ethereal realm. don’t worry though, this strange brew rocks out for real and you can be sure it was recorded in the highest fidelity known to man. lp features a bonus track and different mixes than on the cd, and is limited to 500 copies… another killer one from the vanishing voice!!! great heavy screen printed cover. recommended!
ab-1 is a lp with individually hand painted covers feat. great earthquake, humansixbillion, patinka cha cha and the thimble orchestra, low rise estate, fulton girls club, extreme wheeze, popolice, touch typist, guns for saint sebastion, seagull, johnny saw horses, and oscar’s psuche. live in a bedroom. here’s a review from terrascope… finally from me, one of the most terrascopic items i have received, a self released compilation lp documenting a collection of underground musician working out of melbourne. recorded in one night at a gig in a bedroom, the whole thing was captured live on one microphone into a computer. featuring twelve bands, the music ranges from melodic instrumentals through lo-fi songs in unique styles, and carries on into heavier territory and fuzzed up mayhem. the remarkable thing about this endeavour however is that it is so damn listenable, the recording is excellent considering the circumstances and every piece of music has a spark of something that hold your attention. it seems churlish to pick out individuals so i wont, just to say, this must have been a magical night and the atmosphere has been perfectly captured on this record so go and buy one. oh yes, even the cover is a home made treat fitting the mood with perfection. – simon lewis… pretty great comp with real nice covers.
piaptk is starting a new series. 4 geographically centralized artists that are good friends on one lp. the inaugural issue is this split between karl blau, gift machine, graves, and nate ashley. comes in a hand-screened jacket (from an amazing pen and ink drawing by nate ashley) and on colored vinyl. 50 copies on swampy green marble, 75 copies on purple, and 375 copies on grey marble.
rather rare collection of uk paisley underground style retro psych in very suiting day-glo cover. with THE TIMES, MARBLE STAIRCASE, THE EARWIGS, THE HIGH TIDE, MOOD SIX, THE DOCTOR, MILES OVER MATTER, THE SILENCE, and THE BARRACUDAS. NM-/NM-.
nice TRANSATLANTIC label showcase comp full of cool folk, psych and rock sounds. featuring great tracks from PENTANGLE, STEFAN GROSSMAN, MR. FOX, BERT JANSCH, JOHN RENBOURN, STEVE TILSTON, JOHN JAMES, THE JOHNSTONS, THE HUMBLEBUMS, UNICORN, and STRAY. great fully laminated black/white/silver cover. includes a beautiful full color foldout transatlanic poster which is pretty sweet and in perfect condition. lovely EX++/NM.
throughout the 1960s and 1970s, george mitchell recorded extensively in the south. mitchell concentrated mainly on local blues traditions recording some famous bluesmen and many otherwise ignored artists. the george mitchell collection was originally released as a series of forty-five eps on fat possum, this lp contains our favorite fourteen tracks. this lp represents songs from many well known blues musicians such as fred mcdowell, furry lewis and joe calicott as well as some from criminally under represented artists like jessie mae hemphill, rosa lee hill and john lee ziegler. comes with a short booklet of photos, discographical notes and recollections.
mismatched cover/wax here, please take note! cover is orig 1963 vol. 1, wax is 1972 ‘broadside reunion – vol. 6’… cover is rough anyway, with splits, stickers, stamps, so you’re buying this for the wax which includes 4 rare BLIND BOY GRUNT (aka BOB DYLAN) tracks. VG-/EX.
mostly very dull dance exploitation comp, but with the major exception of including including two tracks from italian instro psych crew THE UNDERGROUND SET, with groovy fuzz & hammond groove galore. nice freaky “dancing mod girls” laminated cover. VG++/VG++.
rare comp of outsider avant, dark, noise, pornographic, occult, etc. features the exclusive NURSE WITH WOUND track “i’ve plumbed this whole neighborhood” plus SLEEP CHAMBER, DATA BANK-A, TRIUMVERATE, ARCHITECTURAL METAPHOR, TRAINED CIRCUS DOGS, PSY FIELD, THE FLAGELLENTS, WOMEN OF THE SS, and MASSMAN. pretty scarce one. NM-/EX+.
pretty rare & cool micro label post punk comp ep featuring two tracks each from JOY DIVISION, BASCZAX, and THURSDAYS. both joy division cuts are from the “unknown pleasure” sessions, but were not on the album and were only available here until the late 80s, so pretty cool item. original inner sleeve with notes. VG++/VG++.
for centuries, the jemaa el fna (rendezvous of the dead) has remained the stage for one of the most spectacular social forums on the planet. by day, this central square in the city of marrakesh, one of morocco’s great imperial cities, fosters a kaleidoscope of entertainment for its local inhabitants; storytellers, acrobats, magicians and snake charmers all create intriguing displays of bewitching spectacle. as the sun sets, the evening grows frantic with the pulse of the crowd; it is then that the night musicians set up. free from the restrictions and expectations of light entertainment for a tourist crowd, these musicians manifest ecstatic performances that animate the audience and players alike. the groups represented on this album; troupe majidi, amal saha, and mustapha mahjoub, are working and carrying the torch of their musical heroes nightly in the square. these songs come from the repertoire of morocco’s greatest musical exports: nass el ghiwane, lemchaheb, jil jilala, larssad and many others from the chaabi (moroccan popular music) canon and are given a raw, emotional and fiery interpretation. instruments are powered by car batteries and blown out through megaphone speakers. these recordings represent a rare opportunity to hear this music at such close proximity taking in all the power and passion of the performances. the raw fidelity captures an unflinching immersion of what is simply some of the greatest street music on earth. recorded by hisham mayet in 2005, a few of these performances were featured in his film musical brotherhoods from the trans-saharan highway (sublime frequencies dvd sf041). this collection also contains tracks not present in the film for a more potent snapshot of the ecstatic jemaa el fna. limited edition lp comes in a beautiful full color gatefold jacket with photos of the musicians and liner notes by hisham mayet… limited edition, already out of print. nice one.
second part of this cool three lp series highlighting the uk folk/rock/psych crossover. tracks recorded between 1963-1973 from PENTANGLE, DAVEY GRAHAM, BERT JANSCH, JOHN RENBOURN, ROY HARPER, MARTIN CARTHY, AL STEWART, JOHN & BEVERLEY MARTYN, FAIRPORT CONVENTION and more. many scuffs on vinyl but plays ok. EX/VG+.
over a three year period in the late 1990s, charlie brooks embarked on two long field recording trips in madagasikara. brooks primarily concentrated on the more remote north and west regions of the island. upon his return in 1999 he pressed 200 copies of a triple record and stored them under his bed for the last ten years. the three themed lps: vocal, valiha marovany and miscellaneous instruments were released as the now out of print mr-061 fihavanana. this single lp collection compiles seventeen tracks from fihavanana. comes with a twelve page booklet of photography and notes.
limited edition full-color gatefold lp version of the first sublime frequencies cd release from 2003. the equator runs through only ten countries on earth and i bet that you cannot name them all without consulting a map. indonesia is one of them and the only nation in asia with the equatorial stripe impaling it. there are so many different cultures spread out on this chain of islands that it would take several lifetimes to experience them all properly. within this umbrella of diversity is one of the world’s richest and most dazzling sound museums. sumatra is the northwestern entry point to the great archipelago. approximately the size of california, indonesia’s largest island has a wide variety of natural wonders: dense jungles, picturesque mountain peaks, gargantuan lakes, lowland swamps, active volcanoes, and highly frequent seismic activity. populating this gorgeous setting are orangutans, tigers, durian trees, the largest flower on earth, dozens of cultures and languages, myths and folklore, and much more music than you’ve ever been allowed to discover. the style selections on this lp include forms of droning beat pop, early orkes melayu songs, batak tapanuli, traditional minang music, and folk drama soundtracks heard by only a handful of outsiders. the recordings are from old cassette tapes; decaying documents of various sound qualities containing some of the most eccentric artifacts ever uncovered from this fascinating island. assembled and compiled by alan bishop (sun city girls) in july of 1989… great to see this one vinyl!
getting rid of the glue is a curatorial project by pendu gallery and is available through pendu sound recordings. it is a tribute to the continuing positive influence of john cage on free /improv /creative /& noise music. getting rid of the glue is a phrase first used by henry cowell before introducing the music of christian wolff, earl brown, morton feldman, and john cage at a new school concert in 1950s. john cage in his influential lecture entitled “history of experimental music in the united states& #148; recounts the remarks of henry cowell. “that here were – composers getting rid of glue. that is: where people had felt the necessity to stick sounds together to make a continuity, we – felt the opposite necessity to get rid of the glue so that sounds would beam themselves.” – john cage. this will be the first in a series of “getting rid of the glue” themed lps dedicated to improv / experimental / & noise music. limited to 300 lps so they won’t last long. includes a 11×17 xerox poster with art contributed by each of the bands – heres the track list: 1. dirty churches – eat birth 2. spin-17 – fin fang foom 3. k.p. – birds fucking outside my window 4. big a little a – yves st. sean 5. fessenden – pt. iii/ii 6. eager meek – to accidental crashes and long naps 7. mialessot + daniel carter + old ghost – hemorrhage 8. maria chavez – untitled (live @ spoken word, 04/06) 9. talibam – talibam eat a sound soup 10. excepter – sonja.
fourth installment in the field recordings from alan lomax’s “southern journey”, 1959-1960 series, featuring recordings from blue ridge instrumentalist wade ward performing alongside an eighty-one year old charlie higgins, sought-after mississippi church singers james short and viola james, more from fred mcdowell (“woke up this morning”), a locally composed religious piece written from words spoken by mountain view, arkansas resident joseph looney while on his deathbed, hillsville, virginia’s the mountain ramblers, spiritual singers from the georgia sea island of st. simons and banjo master hobart smith’s “banging breakdown.”… heavy cover with extensive notes.
third installment in the field recordings from alan lomax’s “southern journey”, 1959-1960 series, featuring recordings from fred mcdowell, carlos “bookmiller” shannon’s rendition of “the eighth of january” (another variation of which — “the battle of new orleans” — was a billboard charting hit by johnny horton in 1959), a medley of classic african american spirituals by virginia’s union choir of the church of god and saints of christ, lined hymns from kentucky’s george spangler and a baptist church congregation, ozark balladeer neal morris, work songs from mississippi state penitentiary, a previously unissued version of “moses was a servant of the lord” performed by charles barnett (vocal and washtub) and arkansas’ almeda “granny” riddle performing “rainbow mid life’s willows,” based on a british broadsheet originally published in 1631… heavy cover with extensive notes.
fifth installment in the field recordings from alan lomax’s “southern journey”, 1959-1960 series, featuring recordings from north carolina’s mountaineers, migratory labor songs from fishermen the bright light quartet, a stark religious meditation on the end of days from virginia service station owner e.c. ball, bessie jones (later a touring performer) singing the spiritual “daniel in the lion’s den,” an evening worship service at a pentecostal temple in memphis, emma hammond’s dance tune “shout lula,” an excerpt from alabama religious radio testimony and music performed on caned panpipes (or quills) at a country picnic in senatobia, mississippi… heavy cover with extensive notes.
compilation focusing on mellow dramatic music from around the world. everything from calypso to flamenco to thai ballads to indonesian instrumentals to american country to hawaiian music. designed as a sort of sequel to our i don’t feel at home in this world anymore compilation. cover art by chris johaanson… heavyweight folkways style sleeve with paste-on art.
the second compilation compiled and conceived by london-based illustrator jake blanchard continues on its strength of eclectic audio vibes paired with visual glory by an array of excellent artists. eight artists were given a track and their finished artwork is based around their assigned track. with the previous cd release of menagerie #1, there was only 100 copies available with the zine. but with this new issue, every single copy comes with a super-slick, pro-printed, full-colour zine of artwork from: jake blanchard, pete fowler, will sweeney, andrew rae, sarah king, solange gularte, james trimmer/mirt, and mat pringle. this time the audio is appearing on vinyl only, with exclusive tracks from: MOON DUO, NATURAL SNOW BUILDINGS, WAND (AKA WOODEN WAND), THE SEE SEE, SEADOG, JOANNE ROBERTSON & MATTHEW ASHWORTH, MARRIED IN BERDICHEV, and AKRON/FAMILY. the pro-printed sleeve features artwork by jake blanchard. heavyweight vinyl, with full colour labels. edition of 500. joint release between blackest rainbow, and jake’s new tor press label for zines and music… nice comp already sold out from the label.
first ever nnf vinyl compilation (more in the future hopefully?) finds the spotlight landing fairly on the fairer sex, and the glare is glorious. 11 diverse femme musical energies corralled across 12 inches of black vinyl, all exclusive contributions, and the breadth of zones and interzones traversed is a beautiful thing to hear. carry on my wayward non-sons. lps in jackets with artwork by pocahaunted bassist/scholar diva dompe, plus a full-color double-sided insert. edition of 500. this year’s estrogeneration includes: zola jesus – tickley feather – pocahaunted (vintage unused track from gold miner’s daughters sessions) – inca ore – topaz rags – hny – talk normal – islaja (featuring samara lubelski and blevin blectum) – l.a. vampires – u.s. girls – valet.
very rare & obscure compilation of north-eastern brazilian folk music. a really cool comp from any angle, but of serious note for the inclusion of an exclusive track by LULA CORTES, ZE RAMALHO & ZE LIMEIRA. its an amazing alternate acoustic version of a cut from the PAEBIRU album, recorded during the album sessions. totally different from the electrified version on the legendary double album, this version has upfront vocals & lula’s trademark flowing tricordio, backed by seriously droned-out 6 & 12-string guitar. really awesome stuff, and if you know the power of paebiru / satwa / marconi notaro albums, you’ll know this little known track is an essential piece of the puzzle. fragile waxy laminated cover. lots of lite scuffs on wax, but nothing major and the cortes track plays great with just a little surface noise. very rare. EX-/VG+.
super obscure 3rd lp in the PERSPECTIVE (later FOLLIES BAZAAR) series released by the students at the university rhode island. for me this volume and the first one are by far the strongest of the whole series. great mix of loner folk, folk psych, and moody folkrock. some great female vocals, really great all original material, and ending with a heartbreaking neil young inspired downer full band folkrock killer. only a couple hundred copies pressed. manufacture at legendary RITE RECORDS plant. cover art is just too amazing to believe! cover & vinyl both really nice. just scattered surface marks on vinyl, plays super. highly recommended. EX-/EX-.
four french and swiss artists dish up solo drone offerings – tamagawa: minimalism musik between earth and lamonte young. oldine: ambient pop between spacemen 3 et brian eno. shit: solo project of vomit for breakfast singer, noise ambiant between merzbow and bastard noise b¬°tong: solo project of cult swiss band mercury 4¬°f, electronica noise between throbbing gristle and lustmord – transparent blue vinyl and hand painted cardboard covers. extremely limited. 200 copies?
limited edition full-color gatefold lp version of the sublime frequencies cd release from 2004. original description from 2004: how do they do it? are they smarter? are they better? how can it be ignored or denied? how is it possible that one of the most unique, perfectly composed and performed, intense and awe-inspiring musical legacies the world has ever known is looming north of the equator physically tucked between world cultural giants india, china, and thailand, without more than a whisper from ethnomusicologists or those who define themselves as “purveyors of world music?” not only are the roots of this music unique, but so are the results after incorporating outside instrumentation from modern colonial and (unavoidable) international influence. what the burmese have done with a piano is so precise in the adaptation to their existing form and melody that one would think they invented it. burmese music has a very distinct sound and whatever instrument is assimilated into its core only seems to magnify the original intent without depending upon outside ideas relating to each component utilized. this collection will immediately bring you up to speed to what you have been missing all along. the time is now to put the real music of myanmar on the map once and for all. here are some of the greatest names from the past 50 years of burmese musical history from the original recordings featuring mar mar aye, bo sein, and the incomparable tonte theintan. listen, and be amazed! compiled by alan bishop (sun city girls) in 1993 and originally released on majora records (lp/1994)… great to see this one vinyl!
rec. live @ dynamo klubi on march 11, 2006 by mikko lagernohm side a: RAKHIM with HANS-JOACHIM IRMLER. side b: LAUHKEAT LAMPAAT with LAU NAU and KUUPUU… two unique sides: on side a you’d hear a rare meeting among rakhim (circle’s more dark side project) and hans-joachim irmler from legendary faust! while on side b, a two male / two female playful affair (qbico’s idea) among brothers tolvi (rahun orkesteri) and antti tolvi’s wife lau nau with kuupuu. true unite spirit and perfect balance between both sides with opposite moods… 200gm clear blue vinyl. quite limited.
totally obscure new compilation on a totally obscure (non)label or something, we think – as far as we can tell this features about 30 different bands, whose members seem to overlap quite a bit – but as the liner notes seem to barely grasp the reality of the lp, its pretty hard to say just what’s going on here – we do know that there’s some elephant micah action on here, as well as some sounds from the great kitchen typists, plus lots of other lo-fi, basement loving, entertaining, and plain old head-scratichingly strange bits – all packaged in some totally hand made, collaged, recycled, spraypainted covers, and extremely limited.
red garrett label MONO first pressing of very rare minneapolis raw garage comp. later repressed on the great SOMA label. two names in marker & a small sticker tear on front. general wear. many lite marks on the vinyl, but still plays pretty great. VG+/VG.
perfect copy of this early and long out of print comp of top rare UK psych, acidpunk, garage, and beat action 1965-1969. loads of excellent & rare cuts from the likes of THE WHEELS, THE PRIMITIVES, PANDAMONIUM, WIMPLE WINCH, THE KOOBAS, HERBAL MIXTURE, THE ATTACK and loads more. nice all analog mastering. awesome early 80s retro psych cover art. good liner notes. perfect NM/NM.
beautiful original brazilian MONO pressing of this groundbreaking artifact. features OS MUTANTES, GILBERTO GIL, CAETANO VELOSO, NARA LEAO, and GAL COSTA playing all together & alone, and jamming on each other’s tunes. pretty amazing glimpse into the birth of a movement. ultra fragile cover is super clean with just a little discoloration on the back edges. real nice wax too. NM-/VG++.
“people were saying that southern folk song was dead, that the land that had produced american jazz, the blues, the spirituals, the mountain ballads and the work songs had gone sterile.” — alan lomax, 1960.
“in 1959 and 1960, at the height of the folk revival, alan lomax undertook the first-ever stereo field recording trip through the american south to document its still thriving vernacular musical culture. he traveled through virginia, kentucky, tennessee, alabama, mississippi, arkansas, georgia, and north carolina, making over 70 hours of recordings. the trip came to be known as lomax’s ‘southern journey,’ and its recordings were first issued for the atlantic and prestige labels in the early ’60s. those, however, as well as subsequent releases on new world and rounder records, are now all out of print. to remedy this, and to celebrate the southern journey’s 50th anniversary, mississippi records and the alan lomax collection have collaborated on five commemorative lps, spanning the breadth of lomax’s ’59-60 southern recordings, drawing on new transfers of the original 1/4″ tapes, and featuring a considerable amount of previously unreleased material. the five lp volumes feature singing siblings hobart smith and texas gladden from saltville, virginia; menhaden fishermen’s chorus the bright light quartet; the young brothers’ mississippi hill country fife and drum band; blue ridge instrumentalists wade ward and charlie higgins; bessie jones and the georgia sea island singers; work songs and hollers from parchman farm; congregational hymns from african american and white appalachian meeting-houses; alabama’s singing washerwoman vera ward hall; the 1959 united sacred harp convention; and the debut recordings of bluesman fred mcdowell, among much else. each volume is being sold separately with its own distinctive packaging. all come with a 12-page booklet featuring many never before published photos. old school tip on sleeves & beautiful sound. not to be missed!
beautiful vinyl edition (limited to 300) of the seminal basho tribute first released on cd by important records in 2010. released in response to strong demand after being included in acoustic guitar magazine’s best albums of 2010, textura’s best of 2010 and 4 or 5 star reviews everywhere else. featuring the best guitar, folk and new psych artists around and curated by buck curran this album really benefits from the lush re-mastered for vinyl sound and 180gm pressing (vinyl mastering by patrick klem). we are all one, in the sun: a tribute to robbie basho, represents a humble tribute to this truly original and passionate american guitarist, musician and composer curated and realized by musician, producer, and acoustic guitar maker buck curran (who along with his wife shanti performs as the duo arborea). this collection of both original compositions and new interpretations of basho songs befittingly begins with german guitarist and painter steffen basho junghans, who has devoted almost 20 years to composing guitar music in the spirit of robbie basho. there is also a gorgeous composition by glenn jones, a friend of basho and another musician who has dedicated his life to proliferated music composed on the steel string guitar, and the young irish guitarist cian nugent…who represents a new generation of guitarist-composers carrying on the torch. meg baird, arborea and fern knight all represent beautiful female led vocal tributes to robbie basho compositions that feature his passionate and evocative singing. curran’s choice of female led vocal performances is a tribute honoring basho’s own profound spiritual reverence and fantastical love for women. basho’s own singing was said to have been first inspired by the beautiful and powerful voice of peruvian soprano yma sumac. the choice of involving instrumentalists rahim alhaj and helena espvall in this project was simple, in that curran feels basho would have appreciated their roots, virtuosity, and passion and in their sound he also hears a kindred spirit linking all three musicians. rahim alhaj is a grammy nominated iraqi born master of the persian oud. alhaj, a student of the great munir bashir, exhibits great technique and a pure emotional style. cellist helena espvall, a native of sweden, represents a musician with a deep connection to her instrument, a musician who conjures up mysterious and emotionally charged improvisational music from bow and cello, music that is an amalgamation of sounds and textures from her travels all over the world. this record is also dedicated to the memory of philadelphia based guitarist jack rose, who passed away too young (1971 to 2009) and who over the past decade created and recorded some of the most beautiful and powerful guitar music in the tradition pioneered by robbie basho. (excerpted from the original press release from important records)… features meg baird, helena espvall, fern knight, cian nugent, glenn jones, arborea, and basho-junghans. deluxe vinyl edition of only 300 copies.
it’s true–the sons and daughters of homestead, xpressway and first-wave drag city (et al.) are now making good music. the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and ’00s are all there, bound together by shitty tape machines, reverb and easy chord changes, but melody is back and so is the joy of jamming a perfectly mangled pop song. welcome home might hit some new kids the way human music or nuggets did back in their day. in any case, it’s one of those rare compilations you can play straight through and over again. -glenn donaldson. all tracks (excepting white fence’s “the love between”) are exclusive to this release… nice vinyl upgrade of this rad comp. features : woods / run dmt / white fence / the fresh & onlys / the mantles / skygreen leopards / alex bleeker / moon duo / city center / cause co motion / art museums / nodzzz / ducktails.
second installment in the field recordings from alan lomax’s “southern journey”, 1959-1960 series, featuring recordings from blues singer sidney carter, seventy year-old norman edmonds, rosa lee (or rosalie) hill performing on fred mcdowell’s porch, two mississippi gospel groups, the united sacred harp convention in 1959 alabama, the first-ever recordings of the fife and drum music of the mississippi hill country and the bright light quartet, a group of fishermen recorded in virginia in 1960… heavy cover with extensive notes.
of contemp bizarro & acoustic based ‘christmas and seasonal sounds’ by 24+ groups and individuals like: sop, ed askew, prisma, exusamwa (fat day & preggy peggy folks), dawn cook, bromp treb, pat conte (secret museum), ralph white, jack callahan, bunwinkies, flaming dragons of middle earth, defneg & tumblecat duo, big kids, cycles inside, crystaline roses, happy jawbone band, betsy nichols, bengeorge7, richie & the zip code & a bunch more! comes with a cassette with more similar soundz & a big fold-out art cover with seperate pages by jeff hartford, josh verizon, ruth garbus, john moloney,& josh burkett. 350 copies… totally bonkers concept & packaging from joshua burkett’s great mystra label.
totally vanished original MONO copy of this massively brilliant and endlessly influential masterpiece. you know the deal, the godfathers of dope damaged avant-pop, spiky punk attitude, and psychedelic noise all at once. amazing alternate mono mix is a real treat for sure. peeled banana, airbrushed back cover. no inner sleeve. punch hole. all around solid copy. EX-/VG++.
totally vanished original MONO copy of this massively brilliant and endlessly influential masterpiece. you know the deal, the godfathers of dope damaged avant-pop, spiky punk attitude, and psychedelic noise all at once. amazing alternate mono mix is a real treat for sure. first state cover with the emerson torso back cover (pre censor stick or airbrush job), peelable banana, and mono matrix number. cover has general ring/edge/corner wear. very small crack at spine. banana is missing the stream and looks like it was peeled and re-stuck quite a few times, its wrinkled & dirty, but at least its there. wax has numerous paper scuff and some lite marks, but nothing major. plays well. gotta love the deep, rich mono sound. getting way rare in any condition. with original inner sleeve. VG+/VG+.
awesome new live bootleg lp recorded at the gymnasium, new york city, new york, april 1967. includes the never before released track ‘i’m not a young man anymore’ as well as the earliest live performance of ‘sister ray’. great rare vintage photo cover art as well. very limited. highest recommendation.
cool velvets bootleg with all the max’s kansas city live recordings that didn’t make it on to the official album. a must have for any fan hoping to catch a deeper glimps of those last couple gigs before lou reed split the band for good. very limited pressing.
nice early black-on-black skull cover, blue/silver label pressing. few small chips to spine/top seam, and mild general wear, but no heavy ring wear which is pretty rare. original inner sleeve. just minor hairlines on wax. VG++/EX-.
the third of three new lps from the vibracathedral orchestra. smoke song’s more gentle exposition starts with adam davenport’s santoor (a type of hammered dulcimer) leading the band into a lengthy mid-tempo groove on “smoke song,” followed on the second half of the side by the short, quiet “cholita maria.” the second side’s 17-minute “get it?” lays down the tremolo and phase in a manner reminiscent of the best spacemen 3 comedowns, taking a pulse and riding it into organ- and percussion-fueled bliss.
the second of three new lps from the vibracathedral orchestra. the secret base starts up at full throttle, straight into a raw-sounding live outing, with mick flower’s overdriven guitar occupying the same sonic space that gives his japan banjo / shaahi baaja workouts with chris corsano their urgency. the sound is dark and rough, almost xpressway-like in its claustrophobic atmosphere. the percolating krautrock stylings of “if you can’t smoke ‘em” chugs along hypnotically for over 13 minutes to close out the side. the entire b-side’s 20-plus minutes are devoted to the clanging free sound of “eyes of wood,” where gamelan-like metal percussion dominates the proceedings.
hailing from gothenburg, viking jews is the brainchild of hannes norrvide (also a member of bleak rascal duo lust for youth), which after a few selfreleased cassettes here offers up 20 shimmering minutes for his vinyl debut. melancholic and rhythmic stuff melted through cheap keyboards, distinguished vocals and some serious cassette-flippin’, somewhat covered under layers of dust, delay and piles of trashed skateboard decks. twisted west coast ambience and scandinavian heat all over. think of monopoly child star searchers, early dolphins into the future and innercity and maybe you are halfways. all new material, except the inclusion of the beautiful ambient-closer from the boneless cassette which we just couldn’t resist to put on vinyl. smycken resides in gothenburg / malmö / copenhagen and consists of rasmus svensson and hanna nilsson. just as with viking jews, this is the first vinyl-apperance from smycken after most notably a cassette on night people and a cd-r on psychic malmö (both released in 2009). 4 tracks of hazy and dreamy music, pushing forward everything towards a more refined pop-sound but without loosing it’s initial fonal-esque psychedelic blurs and almost folky undertones. current popular culture is being demolished and embraced at the same time. tracks like marble slabz will have you, with a big smile, asking yourself what the fuck just happened and the closer mysterious moonlight is the closest thing we have come to a ballad in the rtb discography since… well, ever… edition of only 275 copies, pressed on lovely pale blue vinyl.
constant hitmaker’s songs are varied and twisted in their arrangements, but most often include exquisite melodies floating atop a bed of hissing psych-pop experiments that fall together as nearly perfect pop songs. the album is steeped in an atmosphere of four-track recording and homespun obscurity, however it frequently, almost if by mistake, references a collection of some of pop music’s best: my bloody valentine are felt on ‘space forklift,’ lee hazlewood’s spirit haunts ‘slow talkers,’ and lou reed adorns ‘don’t get cute.’ all this without mentioning the album’s most distinct song, ‘freeway,’ the lone studio recording and a piece of music that will become lodged in every head that hears it. constant hitmaker comes off a bit straighter than anything on the siltbreeze label, but more lovingly deranged than most every other indie rock album. it’s something noteworthy, no doubt, and not just because it lives up to its title. – skyscraper magazine.
more than a mere odds-n-ends collection, kurt vile’s latest lp is a compilation of tracks from overnite kv, a tour-only cdr made in conjunction with a european tour of kurt’s other project (the war on drugs), along with a handful of extra tracks recorded specifically for this release. here we find kurt solo, four-trackin’ as usual, and blowing minds with his mix of bluegrass guitar, blazed singer-songwriterisms, and the knowledge of how to balance these contexts out with laidback precision. psychedelic to its core, these twelve tracks speak to the will of the casual perfectionist, honing his craft with effortless aplomb. you’ll be hearing plenty more from this philadelphian wizard in the months to follow, and we’re happy to keep the ball rolling with god is saying this to you… repressed numbered edition of 2000.
having changed their name from uke of phillips, to uke of spaces corners, this time around, on their 4th full length album, we see another moniker shift, to village of spaces. collaborating with michael hurley, big blood, ancestral diet and caethua, “alchemy and trust” might be this crew’s most potent release to date if not their most deliberate and un-compromising. recordings made over the last 3 years make up this 34 minute lp, which was recorded at the pool recording studios in portland, oregon, big blood’s tank 26 studios in so. portland, maine, and by nemo bidstrup at the bands home in midcoast, maine. heavy trance elements are woven throughout the entire lp, as opposed to hinging on the individual songs themselves. neo-traditional, butter fried homesteader volk, with extended vamps on, but not limited to, the g chord… vinyl edition of 500 with heavy screen printed insert. really happy to have helped with this wonderful album. recommended!
first ever reissue of this hopelessly rare & obscure 1971 rural virginia private press folk masterpiece. a true anomaly in the seemingly bottomless world of self released albums, this one charts a truly unique realm all its own… while the sound itself may draw some clear influence from classics of the day, even lifting the band name from a song by the band, the mood & vibe here is ponderously uncharted territory, seemingly birthed complete from some parallel sonic reality. crude lo-fi metaphysical basement folkrock filtered through a deeply southern gothic / appalachian / americana band aesthetic and executed in the purest, most sincere, spontaneous, vibe-thick sense possible. the atmosphere trapped in these grooves is truly as strong as it gets and is sure to engulf any open-minded listener given half a chance… the near magical power of the album seems to lay in its extreme polarization; on the one hand there is a fully developed lyrical depth and intellect that’s profoundly poetic, even novelistic, yet the music & recording is shockingly raw, unhinged, completely unselfconscious, and downright weird. it’s a dusty, creaky, ebb & flow of clackity percussion, acoustic strum, shaky low-watt electric guitar licks, occasional floorboard rattling bass, and thick southern drawl. even the recording quality has a bizarre lo-fi character of its own, with some sounds seeming to barely hit the tape at all, while others are wildly overblown, wrapping the whole deal in a gauzy tape hiss fog, with hints of garagy distortion. the album progresses with a casual but surprisingly purposeful intent, hitting an intimately mystical, visionary, dream-like arc through the entire second side of the record and ending in complete dissipation… all taken together it’s a seriously teleportive trip to a flicker in time & place that is really quite special… the scratchy textless black & white band photo cover art suites the album perfectly: striking yet vague, timeless yet ancient, simple yet mysterious… pressed on highest quality 180gm virgin vinyl and packaged in an exact reproduction heavy old-style cover, with exact repro labels. also includes a double-sided heavy stock insert with new liner notes from main songwriter and vocalist roger mannon, as well as introductory notes from band scholar and devoted fan jack d. fleischer. one time vinyl only pressing of 500 copies.
caitlin cook and calder martin, formerly vocalist/players in excepter, resurface as a rock duo with martin weaving holographic guitar riffs around cook’s wails and gloomy poems. the pair spent two years living in the skylight studio of the historic matthew brady daguerreotype building at 359 broadway nyc, recording in the same vaulted rooms where abe lincoln, felicita vestvali, edgar allan poe, frederick douglas, and sitting bull voluntarily screwed their heads into iron stabilizers in order to be photographed. the resulting album conveys a falsely two-sided pattern of epic american triumph, contemplative grooviness, and crumbling disaster in the guise of hyperactive fun. cameo drum appearances blast through at key moments, courtesy of spencer herbst, nathan corbin, and the inimitable fiz. released on seres, a longstanding label cohort of the no-neck blues band. at the right volume, the crackle of the amps will make your ass ripple.
on vlasman recorded this amazing piece of acid euro folk back in 1970, making it sound like an outer space freaked out bob dylan with the help of frans schoonen (organ, flute and harmonica) and leo van vugt (chincha tumba and tambourine). the seven original compositions are stunning, drug inspired psychedelic pieces of acid folk that mix dylan with indian ragas and even add some pink floyd overtones, yet from an acoustic rather than electric point of view. and the album contains also a very cool version of the velvet underground’s ‘pale blue eyes.’ if you ever wondered how dylan would have sounded covering the v.u., here’s a close example! the album, originally released on the small flame label from amsterdam, sold poorly back in the seventies — thus becoming a collector’s piece when it was rediscovered in the eighties. since then it has been gathering new fans that pay small fortunes for a copy, no reissue has been available until now that wah wah offers 500 copies in a lavish edition that will probably sell out soon, so grab your copy before it’s too late! the beautiful cover art and full color poster insert with the lyrics are the work of leendert le duc, and both are here faithfully reproduced as they deserve. the wah wah reissue also features an extra insert with a text by reputed dutch collector jean jöbses and a couple of rare unseen period photos courtesy of the frans schoonen and leo van vugt archives. the album has been carefully remastered by sound wizard denis blackham @ skye mastering, making these songs sound like never before. 500 copies only… great album! beautiful exact repro cover art too.
voks aka mikkel moir pihl from copenhagen, denmark is a household name on dekorder, being signed to the label since its inception six years ago. though keeping a low profile with only two 3″cd releases in all these years he won over some dedicated fans such as the late john peel, who shortly before his death played a different voks track every week for several weeks in a row. now voks is finally presenting his first full-length album (though only 30 minutes long this is epic in voks’ universe – both 3″cd’s included 10 tracks each within 20 minutes). while keeping his trademark style of hyperactive and nervous high-pitched twisted pop songs a newborn interest in (italo-western) movie soundtracks seems to be evident. the sound of super fast surf guitars is colliding with what seems chinese opera samples, world music is combined with children’s whisteling tunes. think raymond scott, joe meek, ennio morricone or carl stalling collaborating with the residents and then getting an 8-bit remix by the aphex twin. a surprising & amazing record, really! it will leave a huge grin on your face (and a few question marks as well)….
originally released as three 3inch cdr’s and now compiled as a 12inch lp these recordings have appropriately become the first self-titled vollmar album. the approach employed embraces immediacy much like the “4 separate things” cd-r. it’s the most stylistically diverse collection available. players: dorey fox – keyboard, david brant – bass guitar, and distorted keyboard percussion, nathan vollmar – keyboard drums, drums, keyboard, justin vollmar – acoustic and electric guitar, vocals, omnichord, and recording, john ringhofer – sleigh bells, melodica (unheard for all practical purposes)… nice one. screen printed chipboard covers. limited edition.
west virginia native and bloomington, indiana resident justin vollmar has been making leftfield folk-rock for longer than most. he’s toured the western world over with like-minded artists such as half-handed cloud and elephant micah, and released a small library of critically-acclaimed home recordings. a mainstay in the midwest scene, vollmar has also lent his talents to countless bands (mt. gigantic, bronze float, matty pop chart, etc.), and held at least one word-of-mouth music festival in the vacant field beside his house. tell the dirt is vollmar’s newest release as “vollmar,” a band name accommodating two more musicians-drummer/brother/pianist nathan vollmar and bassist david brant. dirt finds the band in a formal studio environment, trying on a slightly more “refined” sound. all the hallmarks of the vollmarian approach, though, remain happily in place. dirt is a characteristically sparse affair, featuring band performances that sound more “live” than “layered.” the brain-twisting songwriting and moments of experimental flourish that have historically set vollmar’s music apart from the indie-folk crowd are likewise here in spades… great new album. numbered edition of 300. hand packaged with hand penciled titles, and a unique large photo print, each a frame from a stop motion film. great concept, right? watch the film here: www.vollmarmusic.com/videos/tell%20the%20dirt-tell%20the%20dirt-h.264.mov
the proprietors of underwater tea party records offered to pay a month of justin vollmar’s rent if he’d make a record for their label. he then went on a family vacation, sat out on the beach late one night, and made some solo recordings straight to simultaneous tape and minidisk recorders. the results make for a kind of sonic portraiture that sets aside ‘objective’ recording aesthetics in favor of a more personal, contextual representation of the songs – we love this guy and we think you should too! very limited edition, with screenprinted chipboard covers and paste-on family vacation’ photo. nice!
much anticipated reissue of obscure kraut masterpiece from this mysterious unit. a classic kosmische sound dream, hitting multiple familiar mind harmonics assembled in stereo polyphony. guru is you… 300 copies in lovely screen printed fancy packaging. sweet.
while remaining largely unknown to the general public, peter walker was something of a legend along the boston-new york folk axis of the 1960s, releasing a few celebrated albums for vanguard during this period. playing with various folk luminaries like fred neil, joan baez, tim hardin and karen dalton, and studying spanish flamenco and indian classical guitar with none other than ravi shankar, walker was both a true student of his instrument and a pioneer, using not only acoustic guitar, but, as can be heard on this album, also electric. recorded in 1970 at levon helm’s (the band) house in woodstock, with the likes of legendary detroit drummer maruga booker and tabla god badal roy, this is an essential release for fans.
peter walker’s quintessential debut, reissued on vinyl for the very first time since its original 1966 release on vanguard. featuring contributions from jazz flautist jeremy steig and dylan session veteran bruce langhorn, walker’s fusion of psych-folk and traditional indian raga was ahead of its time. “exploring a tonal range that would be best described as the perfect lsd soundtrack, this album is a gentle, evocative affair, and often recalls some of the passages that stephen stills would use for ‘suite: judy blue eyes,’ among others.” – all music guide… finally a vinyl reissue of this gem! heavy cover & vinyl.
even though warmth main man steev thompson still appears to be incommunicado totally epic recordings continue to surface. before roxanne jean police was officially over and steev still lived in chicago, he joined up with another then chicago resident branden diven of quilts / american grizzly records. the jams that were created filled a couple of cdrs and the warmth side of the split with quintana roo on not not fun. this lp consists of a remixed and edited version of the original cdr running at just under 45 minutes. forgotten smog floats through a northside basement. sounds emanate but their source is totally unrecognizable. quiet growing tonal blobs erupt into washes of aural color. a complete union of samplers, synths, vocals, guitar, organs, percussion, and electronics merge to create the sounds contained within; a loss of individual existence. completely serene. in an edition of 300 lps on creamy yellow vinyl with hand stamped labels in pro-printed and screened fold over sleeves with art by roy tatum and an insert by steev.
really odd lp made to promote washington apples! side one is mainly decent pop about apples, sunshine, etc. but side two gets into some great original bluesy psych garage zones with longer tracks, fuzz, organs, strong female vocals, etc. pretty cool. funny cover. real cheap rather noisy pressing. VG/VG.
as of today, it’s officially crispy in new york, so we are seeking one last summer solace with the california crust-pop of san diego’s wavves. as you might expect from a socal band named after ocean motion, this shit sounds like a living version of thrilla gorilla & da’ boys. as you might not expect, it is made by one kid named nathan who has a classic rap blog called ghost ramp. wavves has a follow-up coming in 2009 on de stijl which will include ‘so bored’ and ‘wavves’ which is also ridiculously great and streaming on his myspace. – the fader.
in the spring of 2007 a tour commenced from latvia to holland called “way of the cross: on the path of the ninefold muse”, titled from robert graves’ book the white goddess. the tour spanned polish clubs, dutch radio, berlin galleries, and the latvian beach; ‘mind of the dolphin’ documents the music spawned at these stops. wotc members include dave nuss (nnck), stellar om source, the skaters, jan anderzen (kemialliset ystavat), kuupuu, mik quantius (embryo), and tiitus petajaniemi and jari koho (uton, keijo). “the white goddess is far more than a long-discredited pagan deity. she is still alive, and her worship takes many strange forms both inside an outside the conventions of western morality. in particular, she continues as the ninefold muse, patroness of the white magic of poetry.”
experimental heavyweights adam forkner (white rainbow, rob walmart, atlas sound), honey owens (valet, miracles club, atlas sound), and eva salens (inca ore) collaborate to exploit their highly vibed-out dubby post-yoga practice chilling with the cats killer band that has made a great debut record called proper eats. vinyl version comes with bonus download remixes.
private chicago area combo doing country/blues covers & trad material with an odd peppy loungy electric folkrock sound. few good moments mostly due to the nice female vocals and some good electric guitar licks. totally great super crude band portrait cover art! VG++/VG++.
awesome copy of UK humorous folk on wonderful & collectible label. fragile laminated cover. starting lamination lift at spine. vinyl looks unplayed! NM-/NM-.
space is a place, the second release from western standards, continues the mysterious journey that began with 2010’s energy centre, which was praised by boomkat online as “a lovely slab of hazy, impressionistic audio landscaping… one of those albums that almost manages to pass under the radar undetected, but really deserves some wider attention”. comparisons have been made to tim hecker, roedelius and evan caminiti, just to name a few. the new record is comprised of carefully orchestrated tape loops and drones, kosmische-inspired electronics and heavily processed bass and baritone guitars. six tracks. thirty-eight minutes. fifty-eight seconds. features artwork designed and assembled by western standards. limited to 110 copies, includes cd-r of the album.
repress of 400 copies. when iowa city freak-out free-rockers raccoo-oo-oon called it quits last year it left a bummer scar in the midwest underground scene. but time is a great healer, and so are new bands. so out of the ashes of the rac pack comes wet hair, a synth-punk-trance duo composed of keyboardist/vocalizer shawn reed and keyboardist / drummer ryan garbes, and dream is the band’s debut vinyl full-length after a series of increasingly shredding limited-edition cassettes on their own night people label. piling together an unlikely trash heap of suicide-style drum machine beat-bops, zone-droned krautrock keys, and fucked up outsider crooning, the lp’s four tracks careen across a spectrum of moods and mangled melodies. recorded at flat black studios by luke tweedy and mastered by pete swanson, wet hair’s cult electric annihilation has never gleamed with such razor-edged weirdness; this is their dream made real. black vinyl lps in jackets with artwork by reed and garbes, plus a pro-printed full-color 11×11 insert.
welcome back. one of nnf’s total favorite active bands return with a second full-length (most of which was recorded during the same sessions that birthed their debut lp, dream) and we are pleased as spiked fruit punch. the reed/garbes duo mainly sticks to their guns, mining the same post-suicide art-trance vein they perfected on dream, but with glass fountain there’s an added emphasis on the disembodied, oscillator pop mode that wet hair often toy with. fountain’s five tracks include some of the band’s simplest but catchiest songs (“crucifix in the waves,” “when the right time comes,” etc), mesmerizing organ melodies over plink-plonky vintage drum machines with weirdo soulful singing and outer space electronics, like an outsider-punk silver apples or something. hard to say exactly what universe wet hair are operating in and that’s probably part of why we love it so much. a killer record that gets better each spin. in jackets with art drawn and designed by the band, plus a pro-printed 11×11 insert. edition of 600 (400 on opaque lavendar vinyl, 200 on black).
great long beach wasted basement garage psych private press on the much loved century custom label. totally drugged-out sound here with lots of crude fuzz, electric piano, blasted rhythms, deadpan vocals, etc. features ‘mississippi’ who later made the great oddball ‘velvet sandpaper’ lp. two versions exist, this is the 11 track version with ‘heartbreak hotel’. a few other covers including the FUGS ‘i couldn’t get high’ and the VELVET UNDERGROUND’s ‘i’m waiting for my man’! pretty awesome for an from that, or any, era, and gives you a real good idea of the themes here. great looking cover is like new fully in shrink, 100% crisp & bright. vinyl is very clean too with just a couple super lite scuffs, but theres a weird pressing flaw in the first song side one. it looks ugly but plays through fine, and doesn’t even make much noise. it’s also the worst track on the album, sort of a short loungy instro thing, so no big loss really. cover NM / side one EX- / side two NM-.
emily jane white is a san francisco folk singer/songwriter. armed with little more than an acoustic guitar and her own voice, emily offers complex tales of melancholy and isolation. comparisons to artists like cat power and hope sandoval are frequent, yet emily’s music owes a clear debt to classic female jazz and blues singers such as billie holiday. one of her songs is actually entitled “bessie smith.” catch a rising star. limited edition of 500 copies pressed on clear vinyl with slightly different inserts, lyrics included… nice vinyl edition with huge full color foldout insert. debut release on this tiny label. if you dig brooding femme folk melancholy this one is well recommended. sure to go quick.
ralph white, ex-fiddler for the legendary austin, tx country-punk band, the bad livers, gives us a newly recorded collection of american and caribbean songs, plus one original. ralph is a truly inspirational folk artist. his music could be described as “psychedelic”, but only in the way that his voice cuts straight through your psyche into the very heart of your being, melting away all resistance. no, really, it’s that powerful. white’s voice soars mournfully over interlocking banjo and kalimba parts that are firmly rooted in traditional americana, but belie the influences he garnered on his cross continental african bike trip. this beautiful gem is garnished with a hand-cut stamp and each edition is subtly different. check out ralph’s “navasota river devil squirrel” lp on mystra records. edition of 200… more recommended sounds! nice covers too.
beautiful original black label stereo pressing. always trashed, this one is super clean! massively influential & undeniably great debut album. british mod garage classic, all the way… cover has a couple very small chips along spine, otherwise very minor wear only. small name in pen on back. vinyl is sparkling clean with a couple micro scuffs that do nothing. original inner sleeve. really tough to find this clean. EX+/NM-.
first-time ever reissue of rare evil psycho machine-funk from ’80s washington, d.c., including previously-unreleased mixes. now is not the time to doubt your senses — the wicked witch does exist. born and raised in the musical magical cauldron of washington d.c., wicked witch combines elements from alchemical mentors parliament funkadelic, sun ra, esg, run dmc, james brown and jimi hendrix to cast a crazed spell on the innocent listener. an evil mass of machine-funk with lashings of rhythm and blues and fusion delivered direct from the heart of the witch, a misunderstood psycho-genius weaving his solo web deep within the dark studio walls. trained by masters at the duke ellington school of the arts, wicked witch is in full control; he plays all, knows all, tells all. his message will not be denied. believe your ears, believe your eyes: the wicked witch does indeed exist. first-time ever re-issue, remastered from the original master tapes… very limited vinyl version, now out of print. crazy shit!
original orange label tower MONO pressing. if you dig biker flick soundtracks, this is an essential one. dominated by DAVIE ALLEN & THE ARROWS doing their sleazy fuzz-fest surf garage thing. pretty wicked. gotta love the peter fonda / nancy sinatra all smiles cover shot too! plays great in mono… EX-/VG+.
recently discovered private press xian folkrock. nothing mindblowing here, but its a nice listen with a mellow rural vibe and some unusual lyrics in spots. one cut is a strange heavy soulful thing with fuzz bursts, it appears on the recent “electric holyland” comp. real nice looking & very thick cover, with insert. perfect like new in shrink NM/NM.
one of the best from the usa, legit reissue with insert, many photos, extensive liner notes, posters, from master tapes, a killer guitar album. i was searching for an original lp for many many years but never saw one. even the band has no extra copies. california trio wildfire came to austin in 1969. they shared the stage with many performers such as johnny winter, allman brothers, freddy king, shivas headband and many more. after laying down partial tracks at the beach boys’ recording studios (wildfire guitarist randy love is beach boy mike love’s cousin) the trio ended up at sonobeat studios to record this 8-track album. sonobeat became famous for the recording of the first johnny winter album, dark shadow/cold sun and mariani. this album is extra heavy psychedelic rock with dual vocals, great stereo effects, all original songs in moby grape/blue cheer direction. they use to be one of the loudest band’s around on their custom build quilter amps. for the first time officially released direct from copies of the master tapes… way heavy 1970 american private press. deluxe extra heavy laminated gatfold cover, 180gm vinyl. numbered edition of 450 copies.
another out-of-nowhere african ’70s rock discovery in the blo mold. completely unknown band from zambia, privately pressed on a small local label, this five-piece electric band plays a strong electric african underground style. tons of wah wah-fuzz guitar in every track, african style beats and vocals and all original songs. after the successful release of the other witch album lazy bones, here is the earlier introduction. crazy & wild fuzz guitars all over, african beats and chanting, as good as it gets. incredible cool and stoned album from the southern african country. again we need to say: if you’re feeling depressed, low, disturbed, out-of-sorts, sad, frustrated or widely demented, then folks, we suggest you seek out a quiet place, indulge in some soothing meditation and cut away that headache by listening to this inspirational album… numbered edition of 500, glossy heavy sleeve, 180gm vinyl. originally released in zambia, 1973… if you dug their other lp, blo, question mark, the peace, ofege, etc. this is highly recommended!
fuck the old miami is a 12inch featuring the entire live performance on the a side and a b side etching hand carved into the original laquers by wolf eyes. on their home lathe wolf eyes cut playable grooves into and around the etching, playable at your own risk.
virtually unknown private press on the much in demand century label. really awesome west coast femme folkpsych, with a totally lost, sunburnt, melancholy, wide-eyed vibe dripping all over. very cool zoned-out real people mood, but simple, folky, and catchy at the same time. some tracks are stripped down with just guitar or autoharp, but most of the album features full band electric backing to great effect. a hard one to describe, but i keep coming back to this one again & again. generic guitar/sunset cover with an intensely weird back cover portrait photo. only 225 copies pressed!! perfect SEALED NM+.
this is the vinyl edition of wolfmangler’s cd release on digitalis industries, minus the bonus tracks. the core tracks of the release make for a perfect lp. this has been extensively written up all over the place, so i won’t go into detail, expect avant folk by way of doom metal depression. all acoustic. packaged in a silkscreened glue pocket sleeve, red and silver on black stock, same as the cd version, but with expanded art. includes 3 inserts, screened in the same colors with printed labels. edition of 500, 250 on black and 250 on red.
wooden veil is a berlin-based art group formed in 2007. inspired by the shared hauntedness of their respective homelands, they combine elements from forgotten and misremembered traditions to create a microcosmic world which only wooden veil inhabits, complete with its own symbols, clothing, food and shelters. performances, installations and videos are characterized by an expansive wardrobe of ritual dress, and the creation of shrines, relics and talismans used to create music. the group consists of artists marcel türkowsky (also a composer, founder of snake figures arkestra, cones, uuhuu, collaborations with datashock and christoph heemann), hanayo (known for her solo work as a photographer and singer, collaborating with the likes of christoph schlingensief, merzbow, red crayola, and kai althoff), christopher kline (valkenburg hermitage, †, night music, and soft peace), dominik noé (member of krautrock legends lustfaust), and jan pfeiffer (songs for rocks, soft peace, purple).to understand: hold right hand, cupped near right ear; turn hand back and forth slightly with wrist. bring left hand to opposite eye with the second finger pointing in the direction one is looking. with index and thumb of right hand, form an incomplete circle, space of one inch between tips; hold hand towards the earth, then move it in a curve across the heavens and back toward the horizon.
last year, james jackson “wooden wand” toth went to alabama to record a split 7″ with the gum creek killers (feat. members of verbena) a while back and had such a good time, he decided to go back and record an entire wooden wand record with the gum creek killers as his backing band. briarwood is the result of that collaboration. another wand album full of great one liners (“we were all at the wal-mart for the irony…”) and down south pomp and swagger. limited to only 500 copies… pressed on nice swirled colored vinyl. totally great album! recommended.
a brand new album from rising folk scene favorite wooden wand and his sky high band-members of skygreen leopards, vanishing voice, and davenport. recorded live on vintage equipment, the album features eleven rollicking tunes that recall such cracked masterpieces as “tonight’s the night” and “mendocino,” as wand blends surreal lyrical imagery with equal amounts of sunshine and grease. unhinged.
new solo album featuring guests steve shelley & lee ranaldo (sonic youth), jeremy earl (woods), jarvis taveniere (vanishing voice, woods)… great brooding folkrock goodness.limited vinyl version.
the latest in a very long line of essential releases from james jackson toth, sees this brand new collection for the gps. following 2 treasures from the mighty wand canon previously released on the label over the last 3 years. “my week beats your year” acts as a follow up to fans favourite “born bad” released 2 years ago on mad monk / people in a position to know. a collection of home recordings and demos from various points since 2002 to the present. an intimate, up close, occasionally stark collection of late night blues, and darkside musings that somehow manage to yet again raise the songwriting bar within the wand catalogue- (check out “tribulation fear” and “pale fire“). includes one of his most in yr face, confessional tracks ever put to wax- an ace take on jimmy rogers’ “sloppy drunk”. an utterly fabulous collection in a sleeve to match- beautiful inside and out pro printed jackets, and brown 70s french lined inners – a killer lp in an edition of 400 numbered copies… great new album, in that nice sorta country folk zone.
new vinyl edition of the instantly sold out red records first edition, co-released with the woodsist label… newest incarnation of nyc’s wondrous woods, as the trio of jeremy earl, jarvis taveniere, and g lucas crane. for sure the finest yet from these folks… lysergic & infectiously bent acidfolk mashed into faust IV style electronically dosed pop grooving, all awash in odd studio effects, motorik percussion, cracked fuzz, unique vocal gush, twisted lyrics, and burning psych jams… plus enough sweet hooks to get yr next freakout party moving right. hell yes, its a wicked one… 140gm black vinyl packaged in a heavy 60s style cover with insert. edition of 1000 copies.
red records #2… newest incarnation of nyc’s wondrous woods, as the trio of jeremy earl, jarvis taveniere, and g lucas crane. for sure the finest yet from these folks… lysergic & infectiously bent acidfolk mashed into faust IV style electronically dosed pop grooving, all awash in odd studio effects, motorik percussion, cracked fuzz, unique vocal gush, twisted lyrics, and burning psych jams… plus enough sweet hooks to get yr next freakout party moving right. hell yes, its a wicked one… lusciously hand packaged in a custom black art paper heavy 60s style gatefold cover with full size, full color paste-on front photo artwork, black on black screen printed back cover & interior, printed labels, hand stamped spine, and pressed on 180gm bright red vinyl. hand numbered limited edition of 300 copies.
with a title like at echo lake the fifth album from new york’s woods intimates a modern rock aesthetic fully informed by historical manifestations of teenage along with a concomitant feel for the specifics of time and place. the distance between 2007’s at rear house and 2010’s at echo lake may at first seem only semantic but it more properly represents a move from a kind of informal back porch jam ethos to a fully-committed vision of the infinite possibilities of group playing. over the past few years woods have established themselves as an anomaly in a world of freaks. they were an odd proposition even in the outré company of vocalist/guitarist/label owner jeremy earl’s woodsist roster, perpetually out of time, committed to songsmanship in an age of noise, drone and improvisation, to extended soloing, oblique instrumentals and the usurping use of tapes and f/x in an age of dead-end singer-songwriters. recent live shows have seen them best confuse the two, playing beautifully-constructed songs torn apart by fuzztone jams and odd electronics. at echo lake feels like a diamond-sharp distillation of the turbulent power of their live shows, in much the same way that the grateful dead’s “dark star” single amplified and engulfed the planetary aspect of their improvised takes. some of the material here – the opening “blood dries darker”, the euphoric “mornin’ time” – is so lush that lesser brains would’ve succumbed to the appeal of strings and horns but at echo lake is more fifth dimension than notorious byrd brothers, nowhere more so than on “from the horn”, a track that is as beautiful in its assault on form as “eight miles high” or swell maps’ “midget submarines”. but despite the instrumental innovation that the album heralds – g. lucas cranes’ psychedelic tapework on “suffering season”, guest musician matthew valentine’s harmonica and modified banjo/sitar on “time fading lines” – at echo lake is all about the vocals. woods’ secret weapon is the quality of earl’s voice, osmosing the naive style of jad fair, jonathan richman and neil young while re-thinking it as a discipline and a tradition. here he is singing at the peak of his powers, in a high soulful style that is bolstered by heavenly arrangements of backing vocals. at echo lake feels like the transmission point for teenage garage from the past to the future. deformed by contemporary experiments, bolstered by magical traditions from the past, it’s the sound of now, right here, at echo lake. -david keenan/glasgow/march 2010… with free download coupon. awesome!
the woods’ 2005 debut, initially issued as a double-cassette on the fuckittapes label, was recorded in two bedrooms with no intention of being shared with the outside world. how to survive in / in the woods finds the woods family at their most stripped-down and primitive. thirteen cuts of home-cooked measles and grout gingerly pulled out of the spleen of a tape deck are now reissued on the popular lp and cd formats. the woods are in the midst of touring and recording a follow-up long player due out in 2008. check out their almost fully baked humble beginnings on this much sought-after reissue.
the fourth full length by woods, songs of shame, rips deeper with both 90-second and 10-minute forays into skeletal psychedelia. this is not to say the idiosyncratic songwriting style & vocalizing of jeremy earl is not present in spades but expanded, colored, and twisted into a tie-dye of soundscapes. having toured incessantly over the last 12 months as a four piece (jarvis taveniere, g. lucas crane & kevin morby round out the band), many of the songs on shame benefit from having been road worn, windblown, and deeply grooved… awesome!
woods delivers the follow-up to 2010′s amazing at echo lake with another full-length gem. “woods is a two-headed dog asleep on the porch and a butterfly on the windowsill… a janus, a gemini and a screen door. the sun won’t fade and the earworms will not leave, but the jams go on too long for the girl in the back who wonders if her friends are at another bar. still, the ballads always make her cry. woods is up there relaying the woods-feel: folk-rock, fuzz, tambourines, tapes and raw lunch pulled straight from the yard. pop songs and other things: sun and shade. – glenn donaldson.
mysterious, little known & very rare xian new jersey femme private press. really a magical one for those who can get down with this type of thing. its got a definite folky coffeehouse vibe, but theres a depth & fragility here way beyond your average SSW stuff. very deep loner vibe. she’s clearly totally burnt on the hippy scene as well as the church, so she’s left quite alone with her feelings. at moments you can literally hear that she’s on verge of tears. pretty intense stuff. all solo guitar and voice other then the albums centerpiece ‘autumn’s child’ which is mindblowning psychfolk with wailing hand drums, really heavy acoustic guitar, and blasted vocals. a really monster track… not every track is a winner, but as a whole a really stunning album and a real grower full of hidden charms. its totally got the look too: heavy textured folkways type split pocket cover, with very crude yellow paper xerox warp-around paste-on art, with hand stamped ‘have a happy day’ smiley face. xerox lyric insert as well. cover has spine wear (not split), slight staining, and a tear to the xerox art about an inch square, but it misses all the art and its really quite subtle considering. vinyl has many scuffs and lite scratches, but nothing too deep and it still plays very well, better then it looks. the right person is really gonna dig this one… VG++/VG.
the xenis emputae travelling band is mr. phil legard of the hallowe’ed borough of yorkshire, england. he has been hard at work since 2001 making psychedelic folk-concrete inspired by the psychogeography and mythology of various secret regions of the british countryside. xetb has released plenty of cdrs and tapes over the years (all limited editions, long sold out etc etc) but, aside from one track on a cold spring records cd, nothing at all in a “posh” format – something we at memoirs thought we should do something about. we are, after all, classy folks and that. mr. legard is also a writer on various occult and esoteric matters, his most recent publication being a contribution to the new translation of “the consecrated little book of black venus” (waning moon publications). he also has several other music projects, most notably the neon death slittes and pneumonic consort. he is also, for his many sins, a frequent collaborator in ashtray navigations. “the pyrognomic glass” was originally released by us as a ltd. ed cdr back in 2005. by popular demand it is back, this time on vinyl, and including “abital – or conferences with the genii of nocturnal and diurnal dew in vii chapters”, a beautifully-printed 28 page chapbook by mr legard, most profitable to students of natural philosophy. limited to 250 copies… great to see this sweet album on vinyl!
original pressing of this west coast cult psych private press. only 500 pressed. father yod sits out this session, letting the band take total control, and as a result this is one of their most accessible & best with some real killers. totally classic cover art, and includes the rare art inner sleeve too. sweet copy. neat 1.5 inch split to bottom seam, but otherwise only very faint wear. real clean wax & inner sleeve. EX+/EX+.
the legendary father yod was a wealthy man, with a rich inner life, a family of disciples that loved him, many, many women and seemingly unlimited power. so why at the height of his success, did he choose to spend his time playing rock and roll? having a band in residency at father house provided him and all his children with another path to travel in their never-ending search for experience and wisdom. taking time out from their busy schedule as father’s students and spiritual seekers in the source family, sunflower, octavius, pythias and djin took instruments in hand and, at a mere gesture from father, turned up the amps and began tapping into the cosmos. first, they recorded themselves. the energy was good. equipped by father with instruments and effects pedals to ensure that they could create music that came ‘from the spheres,’ their sounds provided spiritual growth to everyone in the source family. after a time, father became the lead singer, as ‘a way to record wisdom in a modern, youth-oriented way,’ djin tells us. and yahowha 13 was born with sunflower, octavius and djin. the music was recorded at a studio in the father house on a teac 4-track reel-to-reel machine and was released on the source family’s higher key records label. in a couple short years, nine lps were created, to be sold at the source restaurant and at yahowha 13 shows. much sought-after items today, they’ve all been reissued. even more exciting is the material that wasn’t released – enough music to fill over sixty albums, all of them mind-blowers. skimmed from the riches in isis aquarian’s vaults (by dave nuss of the no-neck blues band), the nine tracks on magnificence in the memory run the gamut of yahowha 13′s rainbow of styles, from the whispered funk of ‘camp of the gypsies’ to the screaming and stomping of, well, ‘camp of the gypsies.’ storming through moments with abandon, father and his sons never repeated themselves, committing everything they did to tape in a single take. the capacity of their riffs and grooves to sound like german prog bands of the same era, psychedelic rock bands of several years previous or the as-yet-uncreated avant sounds from the indie rock movement a decade away is testament to their ability to tap the source of human inspiration. adds octavius, ‘these cuts will always be a source of inspiration.’ the songs on magnificence in the memory were chosen to provide a non-stop exciting listening experience for source fans and neophytes alike – and as sunflower has stated, ‘father’s music is our legacy and represents the voice of the times.’
first studio recordings in 30 years from the incredible underground psych masters! the organic fluctuations of sonic chemistry. wildly primal. jazzy. blues-y. electrical. contagious. always inspired. music is channeled from the divine. unpracticed, unpretentious, and wickedly rockable! fire. water. air. ether. earth. fusing every element; taking you on an energetic cosmic carpet ride. sonic portation is the long awaited result, the first studio recordings in over 30 years by yahowha 13! released in november 2008 by prophase music, original members djin, octavius and sunflower jam out like the ensuing years never happened. incredible improv pieces with mind melting guitar and the psychedelic low end throb that all yod fans will immediately recognize. 2009 saw the band tour extensively for the first time in their fabled career, including performances in seattle, portland, arcata, san francisco, and la (where they were joined at the end of their set by billy corgan !?!). during their run of the east coast, dc, balt, philly, ny and new haven, the band had the opportunity to spend some time at the welfare line studios in royersford pa to record the foundation to their follow up release for sonic portation, “2013″. in july 2009, the band headlined the million tongues festival in chicago and performed at the ottawa blues festival, one of the largest music festivals in n america. additionally the entire east coast tour was professionally documented in high definition film by a very active hollywood filmmaker. a 17 minute short of this document will be debuting at film festivals throughout n america beginning this winter… hand numbered vinyl gatefold limited to 500. multi-color vinyl.
monster rare usa private pressing from 1968, rated with 6 stars in the hans pokora 3001 book. the yays & nays were a groovy, hip group comprised of three guys and three girls. this is a truly unique sounding album, full of creative songwriting and vocal arrangements and a style that defies any categorization. there’s some fab garage folk-rock on it (the opening track ‘gotta keep travelling’ is really astounding!), and also some tracks in a bizarre crooner-lounge incredibly strange music vein. reissued for the first time, in collaboration with band members, and with original artwork… great & unusual album!
second solo full-length from ed yazijian, also known for his long running but sparsely documented collaborations with dredd foole, featuring eight disparate tracks recorded between 1996 and 2009. each side starts off with some slow burning guitar (accented by bowed contrabass and violin on side two) that reverberates with an ease past midnight vibe. the album then weaves through a personalized space featuring eastern percussion, mainlined/cosmic violin drones and intercepted radio transmissions from an unknown origin. the record concludes with a contemplative guitar which is enveloped in tape hiss that eases its way in before fading away. the lp pressed in an edition of 350 copies and is presented in a full colour printed sleeve that is at one itself and with the spirits an opaque facsimile.
minimal and tense recordings from the man behind burning star core. made up of ten unprocessed live to tape violin experiments edited from the original tapes originally issued as limited edition cdrs on c. spencer yeh’s drone disco imprint. the sounds on this record range from tense scrapes to minimal textural drones. a beautiful statement. edition of 400 copies with three-color screen print on front, one color on back… sweet one.
first ever vinyl reissue of this rare and sought after us psychedelic folk album from 1977, very much uk folk-styled. limited to 600 copies, all with exact reproduction of the original insert with lyrics… great intense pagan folk psych obscurity, recorded in the same studio within weeks of black flag’s nervous breakdown lp! ***there were warping problems with most copies sold, but these copies included a second lp (no cover) without warping, so you essentially get 2 copies for the price one, one of which may or may not be warped. got it? can’t go wrong, 2 for one…
west coast psych with some strong yardbirds / stones vibes and one stand-out neil young influenced downer folkrock ballad complete with a sweet vocal harmonies & a hot extended fuzz solo. uni-pak gatefold cover. punch hole. EX-/VG+.
a chance nightclub pairing of the incomparable michael yonkers with minneapolis noise rockers the blind shake went so exceptionally well that a studio session ensued. the result is this, one of two vinyl documents that represent by far the most exciting new work that yonkers has recorded since his international emergence. the blind shake rock with a sound not unlike latter-day hammerhead (which might be a better thing than you think), with yonkers splattering maniacal guitar shards and impassioned vocals over the top. add the best collection of songs (with great, skewered goddamn hooks) yonkers has come up with since at least the early ’70s and you have a serious contender for rock record of the year. packaged in beautiful silkscreened sleeves designed by zak sally (ex-low). limited edition of 400 copies… totally sweet packaging!
the second of two startling michael yonkers releases is an eight-band lp of solo, modified guitar improvisations. these recordings were picked from a number of tapes representing the entire works recorded by yonkers that utilized a severely altered steinberger knockoff guitar (that has since been retired). the music was recorded on a high-speed four-channel cassette machine, further manipulated during mastering. this is the “noise” record that lucky regional yonkers aficionados have been hoping for since witnessing his infrequent, brain-scrambling, all-instrumental performances-and then some! vinyl-only edition of 303 numbered copies in a gorgeous, four-color hand-screened jacket by minneapolis artist and printer dan black complete the scrumptious package… another real sweet one.
quite rare jersey private press underground new-wave/no-wave synth-pop. really cool ultra-obscure b&w cover could totally pass for a 60s psych private. marker on back, ring wear, seam splits. nice super thick wax. VG/EX+.
totally obscure & pretty cool maine xian teen garage folk / folkrock. some sappy typical duds of course, but about half the cuts are well above average with crude production, jangly tambourine, cheapo organ, drum kit, electric bass, and those wide-eyed teen vocals just off enough to be right. the few self penned tracks are obviously especially cool. ‘power to be’ is full of wild ham-fisted drumming, disjointed organ/piano interplay and pretty whacked vocals harmonies hitting almost MYSTIC ZEPHYRS 4 territory. a definite real people kiddie psych winner. great cover photo too. minor ring wear. nice wax. EX-/EX.
beautiful original silver label MONO pressing of powerful uk trad folk. striking nearly all black cover is ultra-clean fully in shrink. tiny dill hole. have removed old price sticker on shrink. orig inner sleeve. NM-/NM-.
cool & rare bootleg from a benefit concert organized by bill graham in early ’75 with RICK DANKO and others backing. dylan is mixed badly, but tons of fun anyway. two solo dylan tracks from ’64 tacked at the end too. b&w wraparound paste-on cover. awesome BLUE & BLACK SPLATTER VINYL. EX-/EX+.
totally awesome full band bootleg recorded ‘69. great sound, amazing concert. 11”x11” pale green xerox insert taped to blank white cover. small ‘neil young’ in pen at edge of cover (not on insert). blank white labels hand labeled in pencil. essential one! EX-/VG++.
great & rare early 70s bootleg from a live radio broadcast. real good sound & a great session. blank white cover hand titled in marker. blank white labels. very clean wax! VG++/NM-.
debut album from the duo of richard youngs and tirath singh nirmala (nee john clyde-evans) that has the pair creating a bucolic minimalist meditation. side one interchangeably features hammered strings, gong/cymbal washes, droning vocals, and breathed shackuhachi/flutes. the second side leads with a melodious encounter before delving further into a glimmering psychedelia with sawed strings, fluttering reed organ and electronic drift. the results resemble a non-western approach to traditional musics filtered through the personalized aesthetic that runs through each of the artist’s prior works. the lp is enclosed in a full colour cover with suitable “of the earth” imagery… very limited pressing. beautiful full color cover art.
a reissue of richard young’s debut record, originally released in 1990 on his no fans label in an edition of 300 copies, and then again on table of the elements.”a three-part composition for piano, voice and ultra-nasty oboe and electric guitar. — alan licht… much needed vinyl reissue. very recommended!
richard youngs is a prolific british musician (located in glasgow) with an extremely diverse output. dusted magazine once wrote he is “defying strict genre classifications since the early nineties, swapping labels, styles, partners, motifs, and recording techniques as the desire has struck him”. so his new album for dekorder might not be a surprise to anyone following his career. still, a self-proclaimed all-electronic “ecstatic house record” comes somewhat unexpected. with a line of distinctive synthesizers often used for techno/house music youngs recreates the energy, euphoria and frenzy of these styles without ever trying to recreate the music note by note.the final outcome sounds like recordings made by aliens who have received transmissions about house music but never listened to the music itself. the album reminds of the sound of hallways/corridors inbetween large house parties where you can hear the music from several floors collide. while it’s an emulation, interpretation or replica of house music, it’s still managing to evoke similar feelings even though some might find it difficult to dance to the music. in the past, youngs has released several albums on a dozen labels such as vhf, jagjaguwar, table of the elements, gipsy sphinx, majora, chocolate monk, celebrate psi phenomena, fusetron and his own no fans outlet. he has collaborated with neil campbell (aka astral social club), matthew bower, simon wickham-smith and many others and was a member of the a-band and has performed live and in the studio with sunroof! and skullflower. additionally, youngs played bass for jandek, appearing on three of his live records/dvd’s.
guerssen reissues this mega-rare private pressing from france, 1975, with only 300 copies originally made. pretty unknown album, and a killer! nothing you would expect from a french record, really. this is 100% usa early-’70s sounding stuff: west coast folk-rock with a psychedelic edge, csny feel, acoustic & electric guitars, some fierce fuzz assaults and english vocals. an incredible discovery! the original pressing came with a plain white cover, and a few copies were later pasted-on with a few very low quality photos. for this reissue guerssen used this restored original artwork and also included a booklet with info and photos. fantastic remastered sound.
zaimph is working cover for the solo experiments of marcia bassett, formerly of un and double leopards, currently of ghq and hototogisu. the undetermined dyad functions as the fulcrum of her career to date, looking back towards her experiments in group levitation with double leopards while extrapolating on her recent solo work. most of all it’s a *guitar* record and one that sits comfortably alongside previous six-string monoliths like john fahey’s days have gone by, donald miller’s a little treatise on morals or masayuki takayanagi’s live at zojoji hall while sounding quite unlike any of them. bassett’s re-imagining of the instrument pushes it to the point of almost-translucence, where the physical fact of the guitar itself is almost completely subsumed by echo, f/x, loops and the kind of improvisatory logic that prizes infinite expansion and organic growth over repeated tropes or riffs. aspects of the first side – the eerie ghost voices, the deep space echo – recall the electrified ritual of nomadic japanese avant gardists taj mahal travellers but more immediately it sounds like a magnification of her individual contribution to double leopards, generating towers of electricity that move from malevolent arcs of anti-gravity and spumes of throttled single notes through to deep wormholes that do violence to feeble notions of time and space. the b side is a little more aggressive, with the tactile sound of strings on pick-ups anchoring a gorgeous wash of all-consuming drone and garage band fuzz before bassett cranks the tone into realms of total sonic reducer. if your concept of the guitar begins with jimi hendrix setting the fucking thing on fire and ends with the sound of voltage completely liberated from any kind of tonal or harmonic anchor whatsoever then this record may well be the girl you’ve been praying for. but you won’t wanna introduce her to your parents. edition of 300 copies, with jackets featuring original artwork by marcia bassett, all silkscreened by alan sherry of siwa and with a full-colour insert wrapped in a japanese plastic sleeve. expertly mastered by tom carter of charalambides.
absolute mega-rarity, an incredible discovery and the ultimate folk-psych artifact unearthed directly from teheran! female vocalist pari zangeneh recorded this really amazing album in 1976 with a full backing band, covering a number of traditional persian folk songs and giving them a lovely psychedelic flavor. beautiful strings, flutes, really charming and tasty drumming, some organ and orchestration, percussion. a truly fantastic album, and one of the rarest folk-psych records ever to file along other obscurities as book of am or mellow candle! … deluxe reissue in a super heavy (shadoks style) exact repro textured cover, 180gm vinyl, numbered edition of 350.
in 2004 the zashiki warashi organization began sending out pieces of music through the mail to various parties in different geographic locations asking them to interact with it in some way and return it, which would then be assembled into a larger whole. this album is the result. includes battles with: burning star core, alan dubin (khanate, gnaw, old), marcia bassett (double leopards, zaimph), david shuford (nnck, enos slaughter), pigeons, kuwayama kiyoharu, marshall avett (zandosis), greg wildes (gas tank orchestra), carter thornton, carl smith / derek phelps, darwin smith, smith harrison, dr. mijin kim. vinyl only. limited to 550 copies.
twenty dense minutes of one guitar flipping from amp to two dollar box in a small room of sweet tile… one sided with action photo pasted to the wax…. edition of 200 copies… out of print. paste-on/hand made recycled covers.
it’s back to the bathroom for another twenty minute slice – this time four cellos zone and drone around the tiled walls (my bathroom, your brain) – lights out, goodnight – hand embellished recycled cover. long out of print. limited to 200 copies.
after their world-wide and unexpected hit with time of the season, the somehow announced death of the zombies, who had indeed already disbanded, was put off by an attempt at prolonging this success. using new odyssey & oracle-era recordings, and rescuing some old decca outtakes and demos, a new album was prepared for release. unfortunately the album never saw the light; instead, a couple of singles were released, and the rest of the album was discarded… until some of the material featured here was released in several compilation albums during the ’70s and the ’80s, much to the astonishment of zombies fans. this is the first time that the album is released in the way it was conceived. unlike much of the ‘unreleased’ material of other bands, the content of the lp matches the published work of the zombies, in terms of song-writing and production, confirming the talent of one of the most influential bands of the sixties… very cool item for the serious fan.
LP
original yellow/green label MONO pressing of this mind melting texas garage/psych debut. 100% groundbreaking and amazing. higher minded acid punk at its best. ROKY ERIKSON sets the world on fire… cover is nice with very minimal ring & edge wear. just starting to crack a little at spine, but not split. clean back cover. small name in pen on one label. vinyl has some hairline and a few other odd marks, nothing major at all. like every first press mono theres a blemish in the wax towards the end of side one, but its no big deal. not mint but a keeper for sure with super shiny wax, and the thick, loud mono mix blasts through any of the minor flaws. totally essential, and the stereo mix doesn’t come close…VG++/VG++.
the 1972 debut album by turkish ethno psych-rockers 3 hur-el. the three hür-el brothers, onur (bass), haldun (drums, percussion) and feridun (saz-guitar + vocals), were one of the very few turkish groups at the time not playing covers, but only self-penned compositions. having played together for their whole life (other projects included trio istanbul, biraderler, alizeler, and oguzlar, and all three brothers were members of the selçuk alagoz orchestra), they formed 3 hur-el in the late 1960’s, releasing two wonderful albums as their all-too-brief recording legacy. feridun created the double-neck saz-guitar (a combination of electric saz and electric guitar in the same body), and haldun’s drum set was an assemblage of darbukas (a turkish percussive instrument also used in north africa and the arabian peninsula) in different sizes, made by the copper masters of the beyazit bazaar in istanbul! the hür-el debut is a brilliant set of turkish ethno-influenced folk-rock with a psychedelic progressive feel, some great electric guitar and fantastic eastern percussion. this very rare album is now available again on vinyl (the cd version on world psychedelia also in stock), with remastered sound from the original mastertapes. includes an insert with detailed liner notes and photos.
this is the second album by turkish ethno psych-rockers 3 hür-el, originally released in 1976 on the diskötur label. comprised of three brothers, onur (bass), haldun (drums, percussion) and feridun hürel (saz-guitar, vocals), they were one of the very few, if not the only, turkish groups at the time not doing any covers, but only self-penned compositions. hürel arsivi is an absolute killer of an album and easily one of the top turkish psych records ever released. it has a more western feel, with brother feridun here infected by a fuzz-virus and his own two-arm guitar (one for guitar, one for saz). also there’s much more heavy drums than percussion, in an astounding blend of psychedelic rock and traditional turkish instrumentation, and of course, plenty of distorted fuzz guitar and electric saz. includes an insert with detailed liner notes and photos.
released 10 march, 2007. performed and recorded by michael gibbons (bardo pond) over the course of 2006 in the lemur house, apocatastisis is a meditation on restoration and awakening. an inner voyage in seven parts consisting of guitars, effects, sitar, tabla and violin. a truly special record. from a one-time pressing of 677 hand-numbered copies. housed within sleeves that were individually silk-screened by alan sherry (siwa).
acid mother’s temple’s glorify astrological martyrdom is sure to appeal to the myriad amt fans who have made crystal rainbow pyramid a new fan favorite. professionally recorded mega riffage for a super defined clean sound. kawabata and company deliver this focused rock explosion full of hyper repetitive heavy hooks and freaked out pitched up vocals. cover art by seldon hunt… tour only lp, very limited stock.
mysterious woods bootleg. four beautiful acoustic versions of “rain on”, “twisted tongue”, “to clean” and “the number”. one sided, white label twelve inch with a pasted-on cover image. very limited, origins unclear… awesome little document and sure to not hang around long. recommended.
afcgt = 3 parts a-frames + 2 parts climax golden twins. this is a vinyl release of their self release cdr that was limited to about 75 copies. those lucky enough to have heard that cdr, along with those who have caught one of this beast live in the past year know just what to expect. not quite as robotic and structured as the a-frames, not quite as loose nor remotely as mellow as the twins ever are. raw, noisy, dirty, psyched out punk rock. this record is in the red all the way through, and by the end your speakers should be nearly as blown out as the amps used to record these tracks. this is a supergroup set to lay waste to all other supergroups. pressed in an edition of 550 on 180 gram white vinyl. packaged in a tip-on style gatefold jacket with silk-screened art.
original french pressing on the vertigo I.R.I. offshoot. totally great deep krautrock trance sounds with long flowing tracks. for me its the perfect kraut sound : total cosmic trip-out but also a deep groove. sweet one! beautiful laminated single cover. pressed on heavy deep BLUE VINYL. lamination starting to lift along spine, otherwise nearly perfect. just a few very lite hairlines on vinyl. NM-/EX++.
much anticipated first proper release after a string of ear tugging & increasingly impressive private press cdrs. a real shinning spirit in these somewhat goofy times of “folkpsych” abuse, this guy nails it like its in his DNA. way beyond a simple formula, this is a complete tonal voyage. opening the album with a dark ritual of dueling reeds and buzzing drones, things than erupt into some seriously burning psych raga excursion built from totally heavy, jamming, acoustic guitar licks, eastern grooving hand percussions, stoned backwards or fuzzed-out electric guitar splatters, and subtle creaky drones. the vocals are nearly unintelligible but swirl beautifully through most songs like floating smokey ripples. woozy, headbobbing, and completely THERE. yow… pressed on 180gm audiophile vinyl & packaged in a custom fabric textured, golden hued, heavy gatefold cover with black & blood red printing, plus insert. un-numbered limited edition of 750 copies… last few copies!
reissue of a 1978 self released lp by one of the greatest ethiopian vocalists of all time. this material has not been reissued in any form since its original release. recorded at the end of the ‘golden age’ of ethiopian urban music, mahmoud is in top form belting out transcendent intense vocals over the ibex bands’ hypnotic soulful sound. as good as it gets & as close to universally perfect music as ever has been made. old school thick “tip on” sleeve. beautifully remastered by timothy stollenwerk.
near passerine devotionals is a new, vinyl-only label residing near toronto, ontario, canada. for our debut release, npd is proud to deliver this mammoth caustic-drone masterpiece from oklahoma’s native sons, ajilvsga (brad rose – he who runs the digitalis imprint, and nathan young – not the wolf eyes guy). trading in their guitars for synthesizers, this prolific duo has unloaded a pair of rocket blasts that are sure to flip your skull. the a-side is ear-meltingly delicious, slowly ramping from deepest drone to sheets of piercing skree. the flip takes the pummelling even further, incorporating a sinister rhythm and ghost-vox from brad’s wife, eden. it’s the soundtrack to your beheading… we feel that this is some of the best ajilvsga action yet! and it’s on vinyl!! comes sheathed in a 12″x18″ poster on heavy stock silkscreened by the mighty vgkids; artwork courtesy of evan caminiti (barn owl)… limited to only 300 copies.
this lp was recorded in new zealand in 2004, and is the duo recording of new zealand guitarist donald mcpherson and japanese guitarist tetuzi akiyama. a beautiful meeting of 2 virtuoso acoustic guitarists, both thoroughly schooled in the vast world of improvising. donald mcpherson, a native new zealander has been playing the guitar since the tender age of 12, studied at the otago art school in the ’80s. and in the ’90s he released a number of extremely limited lathe-cut folk records. this record finds tetuzi and donald playing melodic folk improvisations that grow and morph into compositions that on each listening uncover some new layer of beauty. both playing on acoustic guitar, they have a level of communication and understanding of each other’s playing that allows a musical connection to grow and blossom into a full-length recording of delicate melodic mayhem – 180gm vinyl, heavy fold-around covers with insert, hand numbered edition of 550.
the japanese guitarist tetuzi akiyama performs an improvised set as a duo with canadian percussionist jeffrey allport on july 1, 2006. this recording is of the first and only time these two well-regarded improvisers have ever played together. living on opposite sides of the pacific, this show became an opportunity for allport and akiyama to each perform some of their most advanced techniques in improvised music with a player whose style was truly compatible. allport approaches every side of his drum, the rim, the snares, the steel clamps, and of course, the skin to produce a challenging repertoire of sounds that defy the drum’s gambit, segues from tibetan drones to electronic clicks and cuts, distant steamships to nearby popcorn. akiyama’s preternatural improvisations along the neck and body of his guitar meditate patiently on each bluesy sound, almost as if his fingers were playing along the surface of a slow-moving river. every note that akiyama plays becomes a sensational interruption causing ripples, splashes, and oxbows in the flow of the music. performed live at a sold-out western front, vancouver’s oldest and most significant artist-run venue, akiyama and allport propose a rich new vocabulary for music. two tracks on vinyl mastered by toshimaru nakamura. this lp documents an unprecedented collaboration between two modern masters of far left improvisation.
tetuzi akiyama has been a major player on the free music/improv scene in tokyo for going on 20 years. pre-existence first came out on cd as a part of the great ’wooden guitar’ series from locust. akiyama’s playing here is one of a minimalist approach, discovering and investigating the empty spaces between each note. he does not follow the takoma guitar school style of finger-picking, but a far more warped primitive country blues feel, with a meditative quality. you never know where you are going to be led with his guitar, down roads rarely traveled. with his dense tapestry of sounds, akiyama evokes emotions that at times are uncomfortable, but of real beauty. open your ears and let the music take you far far out there? 180gm vinyl, heavy textured covers, and hand numbered to 550. awesome.
amanaz was formed in 1973. 3 songs are in the native language bemba, and 9 songs in english, recorded in kitwe, the 3rd biggest city in zambia up north. musically is goes in the same direction as blo, the witch and question mark, but this album is way cooler and stoned with amazing fuzz guitar all over which sounds like an african version of early cream. the cover make it look very traditional but after a few spins you are aware that this one is very special. it’s soo cool, so tight produced and easily to compare with uk underground albums with a touch of african beats. still completely unknown, so this album has not been scored yet by the collectors scene. a real surprise… new edition of 300 on 180gm yellow vinyl. great album!
first full-length album from mark mcguire (emeralds, etc…) and julian gulyas (synaptic foliage, etc..). expansive guitar and synthesizer compositions recorded in the dead of winter. limited to 500 copies on black vinyl… pretty awesome one if you’re digging this sound!
original mainstream label pressing. 2nd, and best, album from TED NUGENT lead heavy psych crew. way more psychedelic then their debut but still a nice garage edge. pretty hard not to dig the long tripped-out title track. cover fully in shrink. NM-/VG++.
2nd lp from this psychedelic soul shack up out of chicago, some pretty cool moments in the groove bag from the period. sleeve VG++ with light edge, corner, shelf wear, some writing on back cover (and label), lp EX.
amolvacy is aaron moore from volcano the bear, dave nuss from no-neck blues band, and sheila 16 of the laboratory theater group, nyc. the band creates compositions from its improvisations centered around strong elemental percussion, radical theatrical vocals, and classical acoustic instruments. recurring themes in amolvacy’s texts are the pain of relationships, the affirmation of the feminine in myth, the hero’s journey, and continuous need to flame the passions of the heart. “a la lu la” specifically addresses the gap of language in facilitating accurate communication, a gap that only music at its most primal can fill. the back of the album features text by jose da fonseca & pedro carolino, two portugese who in 1855 created an english phrasebook titled “english as she is spoke,” but who faced just one problem: they didn’t know any english. the linguistic train wreck that ensues mirrors the play of language, sound, and unintentional humor on “a la lu la.” clear vinyl in custom die-cut sleeve.
so concludes “lover go from hence”, a tale of tumultuous romantic upheaval on the new amolvacy record ho ho kus. here we have hearts wrenched from guts and firmly planted in the dirt; but also sprouting new romance, seduction, and… the church? and the french??? francois rabelais wrote garantua and pantagruel – a major influence on this album – in the early 16th c. to caricature the faux morality of his time. amolvacy offer ho ho kus in the same cantankerous spirit, but this time perhaps to parody their own morality. love, marriage, sex, affairs, betrayal, and loneliness are all exposed in naked vulnerability and placed on the chopping block for emotional dissection. lead vocalist sheila donovan (ex-tall boys) is a longstanding member of the laboratory theater company in nyc, and her partners are aaron moore of volcano the bear and dave nuss of the no-neck blues band. together they are the amolvacy family. all things were shared in the making of this record, nothing hidden, no secrets left untold… clear vinyl, elaborate die cut sleeve, quite limited.
a first vinyl edition fully remixed for wax from the cd masters that first appeared on a ltd cdr from deserted village in 2006. plaintive semi abstract vocals strain and wind over ecclesiastical notes held so long that your head becomes the organist’s domain. rarely have vocal harmonies been this ethereal or perfectly held. not the glottal gymnastics of joan la barbara but rather the complementary visions of two unique artists in absolute accord. much of side b feels more improvised but throughout the whole there is an economy of note, a tension of control and an element of perfection to the detail of performance. housed in an ultra heavy card sleeve with cover art by paul santoleri and labels by helena espvall. ltd edition of 400 copies. housed in uber thick sleeve and pressed onto deluxe virgin 180gm vinyl… awesome this one finally made the jump to vinyl. wonderful sounds & beautifully presented. highly recommended!
caethua and debbie diaper have been teaming up off air well before thursday and tend to use those nights of their radio show inside outsider sounds to wind down after the week has just flown by. put to tape and assembled in the last months of their sorely missed studio, walking on ice. layers of loops and vocal sound forms, a.d. illustrate for the listeners a spelunking holiday that goes on a little too long, just a little bit further, the mouth is just around that corner. a small light illuminates a small cavern just fine…… what did you see? featuring andy neubauer of impractical cockpit, doggerella decided upon, flak mask, curtain call, uke of spaces….. etc, and caethua of sports, uke of spaces corners and sax wand fame. 300 pressed. screen printed on painted recycled jackets.
portland guitar wizard marisa anderson”s long awaited solo guitar record. marisa has been a fixture on many a music scene for years & years playing with everyone from the evolutionary jass band to tara jane o’neil to the dolly ranchers. in any context, she can’t escape her rag/blues/folk roots no matter how hard she tries. on this lp featuring only guitar – no vocals & no overdubs – we are treated to a very intimate sounding home recording filled with delicate grace. comparisons to john fahey & his ilk who do their hoodoo mystical rewrite of folk music is bound to occur, but close listening reveals a very original & yet truly rooted in the old style record that we hope will stand the test of time nicely.
kokura was recorded under dark skies and howling winds, deep in the bowels of a japanese club as the country shook outside. kokura is the fruits of a collaboration between acid mothers temple/mainliner main man kawabata makoto, argentinean guitarist anla courtis (reynols) and japanese underground musician rokugenkin. based around hushed, mellow guitar drones and hypnotic, yet restrained guitar wails, kokura is the first fruits of their labors and captures the sound of life beneath a hurricane. like sunn o))) on half volume! – limited edition of 400.
a talisman, a living mandala. recorded in buenos aires, 1992-93 (!) and now brought to life by the chants of birds, this is anla courtis ‘ornitology’, a poem about the secret forces of nature and the most sublime forms of communication hidden in the forest. earth, water, wind and fire the elements that are all living inside these three gems, starting with a spectral ballad, “quetro”, and exploding into the second track, ‘escua’, 16 minutes of epic guitars flying over an endless sea of visions. the last track, ‘tersina’, is the final redemption, and it comes through as a primitive-electronic assault! pure magic. 140 grams vinyl, limited to 105 copies only, screenprinted artwork (by canedicoda), half of the covers come in yellow with green print, half in green with dark print.
really wonderful & totally mysterious one here, with no artist credit at all. received this as an anonymous demo and managed to sort out this release, which is essentially a straight reproduction of the demo cassette transfered to the vinyl format… totally mesmerizing hushed, raw, bedroom acidfolk sounds, steeped in alchemical spiritual depth, profound lonesome melancholy, and seriously intense & haunting intimacy. magical poetic songs from a true searcher, battler of the spirit sorrows, and rejoicer in all mystical beauties. there is a gripping sadness that permeates these recordings, but also flashes of joy, redemption, and in the end a powerful hopefulness. indeed, this is living, breathing music from the true inner/ancient soul – zero hint of hipster folk trip here… nothing but intricate yet meditative acoustic guitar figures, mournful viola, and those vocals, all wrapped in gauzy 4-track haze and far distant street sound hum… you really just gotta hear this one to understand… pressed on 140gm vinyl and packaged in a stark foldout art paper cover with paste-on color front art & screen printed back. numbered edition of only 150 copies.
sweet WHITE LABEL PROMO MONO copy! great major label psych. super rare as promo! promo sticker on cover. really clean. EX+/NM-.
nice original UK copy on the blue/silver label, with heavy vinyl. scarce female trad folk. front laminated cover. original inner sleeve. NM-/EX+.
cult new wave band the art museums tell sordid tales of artists, lovers, and poseurs. bay area psych burnouts josh alper and glenn donaldson converged in san francisco in the summer of ’09 to record anglophile jams on a tascam 388 tape machine (state of the art home-recording circa ’85). rough frame is their debut lp for the woodsist label. they would make a hi-fi studio record if they had the money, but reviewers would probably still say it was lo-fi. the art museums are into: art, poetry, whaam! records, and films about mods. the art museums are not into: flared trousers, drip coffee, or dirty sneakers.
green-colored vinyl. recorded in leeds, june 2007. originally released as cd-r limited to 100 copies. “classic ashtray navigations, two hallucino-kinetic tracks each side.”
original uni-pak cover US pressing of kraut psych prog jazz fusion. some pretty wild & out-there sounds, not far from soft machine’s “third” in spots. VG++/NM-.
original press of rare & odd exploitation orchestrated popsike, like a mix of MILLENNIUM and THE ANIMATED EGG! punch hole. vinyl has various marks & needs a good cleaning, but nothing too major. nice psychy cover art. VG+/VG+. $30.00
two of europe’s finest collide on a 12″ 45 rpm platter loosely inspired by the club single. on wet wheel/hot wheel, neil campbell of astral social club succumbs to the heartbeat throb of house but tops the bass with a frenetic squall of darting alien melodies. on cursory listen, the elements congeal into honest-to-god body music, but the track is riddled with stutters and gaps that the flooded synapses fill with aural afterimages. on the reverse, jan anderzen of tomutonttu buries the dance influence, retaining only the genre’s neon shimmer and linear logic. ‘syvat svyät’ overflows with cuckoo loops that briefly cohere into musical shapes before casting off, replaced by an ecstatic march of manic squiggles. one must focus to follow the train of musical thought, but anderzen’s humor and intuition reward the effort. issued in an edition of 300 hand-stamped, 150-gram lavender lps in matte sleeves screened with consummate skills by alan sherry of siwa.
featuring two tracks of fearless sonic bliss and two long journeys to a state of sustained ecstasy astral social club’s “plug music ramoon” was recorded in one day on analogue 2″ tape. the lp combines percussive sticks and bells, resonant electronics, keyboard odysseys and some experimental vocal work from helmsman campbell. whilst club member john clyde-evans’s laptop contributions provide much of the backbone groove of the album, stewart keith adds light and shade on a variety of keyboards and toys. together they weave a rich tapestry of sound and noise. but it’s campbell’s dense guitars that thicken the very stem of these four tracks and leads his astral social club to conjure up his visions. this limited edition 12″ comes housed in a gorgeous hand-printed silkscreen sleeve. limited edition of 500.
neil campbell & mel delaney. rec. west yorkshire, winter 2008/09. new asc effort on qbico, a duo this time. this is the social club for astral spirits… red & pink vinyl.
a vision artifact of ancient future harmonies and inner cosmosis. supreme inner cranial reverbational reflections of where you are. unspoken language and incorporeal communion. recorded by jason meagher at black dirt studio, vinyl pressed at rti, housed in custom stoughton gatefold jackets lovingly adorned with screen printing, color photo and hand drawing. hand numbered ed. of 320… total zoner of a full length from paul & rafi’s post death chants duo. way deep vintage/future sound voyaging. other-worldly tones & moans. a recommended trip for fans of sus & jakob, angus maclise, and all stoned-avant sound art.
awesome florida private press outsider acidfolk / bar rock from another dimension. really brilliant stuff, but takes some time to penetrate fully. this guy must have had some great & strange drugs on hand. a very unusual mix of stunning on-the-edge acidfolk and dosed bar room hoe-down folkrock. totally bent lyrics and a really strange but consistent vibe. the folky cuts are really amazing, and they alone should have gained this album much more of a reputation by now. a really fun, weird & deep trip, but must be taken on atlantis’ terms. totally awesome & beautiful fantasy cover art. edge wear & a little ring wear. faint sticker stain. nice wax. VG++/EX-.
4th vinyl release on the label, and the first wax for this maine crew after a cassette release on sloow tapes. two long midnight fireside all acoustic jams from sparrow (prisma, the bummer road, etc.) nemo (drona parva, time-lag records, etc.) and the three members of visitations. tranced percussive strings, ghost vocals, and creaky rhythms all wrapped up in each other and slowly unfolded… numbered edition of 299 with stamped labels and full color paste-on art front & back. zero info.
here is another unknown us beauty. recorded in 1968 august played a lot in small clubs. the clubowner gave them the chance to record an own album. they played it straight onto tape with no overdubs in a couple of hours. only 100 copies or less where pressed. the music reminds me a lot of lazy smoke. it has that pepper style but the sound is more rough. beautifull compositions played in a garage style – recorded usa, 1968. 180gm vinyl, heavy covers, numbered to 450.
real nice original copy of his first lp. cool cosmic country dobro sounds on this great label. good stuff. very minor cover wear, sparkling wax. EX++/NM-.
here is your introduction to phase two. while there is a certain degree of continuity in the approach, ii is a noticeable extrapolation of the avarus sound. the albums six tracks span collage-esque pieces of audio junk to deconstructed song forms to subtly dense instrumentals. waves of stretched electronics, distorted clank and warbling bass throb create layers of chaotic wreckage until a sudden collapse reveals an underlying stasis. unnoticed patterns now conscious pull the listener into another time/mind continuum. step into the g-a-p. the lp is presented in a full cover printed sleeve with suitable “found” photo art – for you to figure out what its all about – limited to 400 or so copies… slightly bumped corners, reduced price.
all-new exclusive avarus! fourth secret eye full-length and tenth release overall from this incredible finnish band that pretty much defines modern psychedelic kraut improv. primitive, primal and tribal, desolate and mournful, dreamy and pastoral, motorik and hypnotic. buzzing, clattery, droning, stumbling krautrock flecked with shimmering free-noise, avant ambience, delicate folk fuckery, and chaotic caveman psychedelic space rock. avarus iv starts where the rasvaaja lp ended. the iv, too, consists of tomas regan’s careful high-quality recordings. on the iv avarus makes and even longer dive in the warm and clear pond, into which the water is poured from both kraut and space rock, and from micro music and slapstick. the recording was made after the us tour, which guarantees the firm harmony satisfying the most demanding listeners. the delicate talent and the hilarious team spirit guarantee a recordful of heart-warming harmonies and surprising turns delighting an unprejudiced mind. the wondrous adult rock of avarus is born from an uncompromising love for music. the finished recording deserved a fantastic cover, too. this in mind, the graphic visionaries amanda and pauliina spent their summer holidays swimming, drinking beer, and drawing their kaleidoscopic davy crockett epos inspired by music. lp only – 160 gram virgin vinyl, pressed in czech republic, direct metal mastering, full-color labels and jackets, all-exclusive new jams. limited to 200 copies… sure to go quick, so don’t miss out if you’re a fan.
long touted as the forefathers of finnish freeform psychedlic music, avarus, a collective bearing members from the anaksimadros, kemialliset ystävät, maniacs dream, and more, document their first tour of the united states on “kirppujen saari”. the sounds contained show a departure and growth from typical avarus recordings. the a side long track begins with a psychrock romper complete with full “band” instrumentation, slowly it deconstructs itself into the abstract electric/acoustic stylings and sonic spattering familiar to their previous work. slowness builds into full on clatter filled walls of vocals, toy keyboards, horns, strums, and other acoustic junk, creating a unique and massive drone. the opposing side is pure acoustic drones composed of vocals, horns, and tribal beats. room filling ambiance, corner clatter, and morphing silence also find a way to unobtrusively build themselves into the piece. in an edition of 350 lps on coke bottle clear vinyl with printed labels by bart of sloow tapes and proprinted full color foldover art by the band… nice one!
original brazilian first pressing of fantastic south american psych. tropicalia vibes, wild fuzz, effects, regional flashes. from the city recife which had a small but great & unique scene (LULA CORTES, ZE RAMALHO, FLAVIOLA, etc.). later pressing altered track list, this is the unaltered original. very fragile & super weird textured cover. layout by LAILSON of SATWA. tiny price sticker tear on back, corner bends, but very clean art. long lite paper scuffs on wax, but plays real nice. VG++/VG+. rare!
restock of 2005 release, last copies… xmas 2004, brooklyn. brian sullivan and nate nelson of mouthus meet up with karl bauer of axolotl for some sonic celebration and let the tape machine roll. two side-long psilocybe-inspired scoops of shimmering and stumbling drone / zone / sludge ragas. better dust off your bib. full color printed photo-collage covers, insert.
originally released in 2005 as a limited edition cd-r on yellow swans’ jyrk label, this three-way collab now gets a proper run on wax. recorded in oakland at the huffin house before the swans made the retreat back to portland. despite the weight of these players when they rock alone, this jam really never gets into full on white out territory. instead, it’s loaded to the brim with wavy neon distortion and soothing low end that occasional drops out into huge washes of emptiness. the opening passage of gms guitar flecks sympathizing with karl’s string wash is alone worth the price of admission. red vinyl with lime green splatter. edition of 500.
first ever correct reissue of this chicago area 1968 private press holy grail. one of the most legendary & valuable garage / psychedelic lps ever, this ones been seeing massive hype and huge price tags for decades now, all with good reason. for a 60s private press lp it’s got a truly remarkable number of things going for it that set it apart from literally every other lp in this bag. an album of all original material that amazingly combines the best elements of garage, psychedelia, and teenage self release realness without hitting any of their many pitfalls along the way: totally crude garage production values, crackling on-the-edge energy, and wild punk-minded rave-ups – without any covers, flat sameness, or throw-a-way filler. beautifully inspired mind-expanding sonic depth, confused, fantastic lyrics, relentless jangle, swirling reverb, unhinged fuzz / feedback outbursts, and constantly flowing textures – without any pretentiousness, blues jamming or self indulgence. exquisitely personal, human, painfully lonesome, and achingly moody – without any macho posturing, stoned goofs, or bad diary poetry… then there’s the fact that these guys came up with gorgeous unique songs, both singers have great distinct voices that are constantly playing off each other, and the band takes a wide-open approach that spans pop sensibility, acid experimentalism, and heartbreaking teen ballad moves, and combines them into a sound totally their own. would seriously be too good to be true if it didn’t actually exist, and it barely ever did… recorded and mixed in just 10 hours at a makeshift studio above a pharmacy, and locally pressed as an edition of only 150 copies, the few remaining original lps are true artifacts… which makes it totally confounding that all past reissues have sadly not even come close to capturing the crystalline, biting fidelity of the original album. we’ve fixed that once and for all with total top-notch mastering from a pristine original copy, to bring you just as close to the soul-piercing experience of spinning the real thing as possible… pressed on highest quality 180gm virgin vinyl. packaged in an exact reproduction heavy weight reverse tip-on cover, made just like the original, plus exact repro metallic printed labels. one time vinyl only pressing of 500 copies.
orig pressing of this cool afro/rock/psych crossover piece heavily featuring FELA RANSOME-KUTI. VG+/EX+.
tough to find and in demand doomy heavy psych original with a very strong BLACK SABBATH sound that they pull off quite well. promo sticker on cover. lite ring wear, but otherwise very solid cover. EX-/EX-.
vinyl only release, long out of print. one copy only.
awesome basement 4-track solo electric guitar psych blow-out on WAYNE ROGER’s great label. real crude b&w cover has minor general wear. VG+/NM-.
limited edition pressing of 1000 copies on vinyl heavy enough to hold some of bardo pond’s headiest jams. this is the first of four vinyl only bardo-related releases coming out simultaneously on important records. gazing at shilla is bardo pond’s first release on important. the two pieces, both very different in sound and feel, have sat patiently in the bardo archive waiting for the most opportune moment for release. ‘eight-thousanders’ and ‘kali’ are both entirely improvised pieces with no overdubs. slide blissfully into a smokey heaven and then forget your mind in a lower world of strange tones on side a. if you’re still able to flip the record when the needle hits the runoff groove, you’ll find yourself exposed to the goddess kali’s naked blackness. bardo is out. are you in?
limited edition of 1640 copies. in early 2008, bardo pond and three lobed recordings teamed up to assemble batholith, a collection of tracks that were close to the band’s heart but for various reasons had never been released. the result was an extremely cohesive and vital statement that was positively received by both old and new bardo pond fans. during the compilation of batholith the band had to agonize over the wealth of material that they were sitting on in constructing the ultimate tracklisting – there were too many good songs! the band approached this “problem” by structuring two sister albums, batholith and peri, each possessing their own musical themes and each fully capable of standing independent from the other. for this reason, peri is every bit as potent as its predecessor. the meticulous sequencing of peri’s five tracks provides a classic bardo pond experience. while the initial description of the material might lead one to think that these tracks are “outtakes” or cutting-room floor type material, neither conclusion could be further from the truth. the band is quite excited to finally see all of the material on peri venture into the public. for example, “chicken gun” will be recognizable to the band’s longtime fans. a former live staple from 1996 through 1998 (even making an appearance in the band’s set at the first terrastock festival), it is a propulsive and fiery rocker every bit as monumental as some of the band’s classics such as “lb.” and “tommy gun angel.” “the path” is a subtle number featuring floating flute work from isobel sollenberger. the album-closing “silver pavilion” is the sort of meditative psychedelia that has been bardo pond’s calling card over their lengthy career. the track dates to the band’s extremely fertile, yet barely documented, period between the release of “dilate” and “on the ellipse.” “silver pavilion’s” slow, enveloping build properly see the listener to the door and is reminiscent of such flawless bardo closing tracks as “rm,” “aldrin” and “night of frogs.” peri is pressed on 180g rti vinyl and is housed within heavy “old-style” one-pocket stoughton gatefold jackets bearing new collage work from michael gibbons. the record is from a one-time pressing of 1640 copies and, as an added convenience for our vinyl-loving friends, will come packaged with a glass-mastered cd (not cd-r) of the material present on the wax… all copies here are accompanied by a bonus cd (tlr-068) of previously unreleased bardo pond material, only available as a special pre-order bonus.
recorded by george mitchell in 1978, this lp was originally released by the southland label under the name ‘william robertson.’ due to cecil’s superstitions and legitimate fears of the taxman, he insisted that it come out under a false name. cecil was an unusual blues musician, giving each song its own feel and rhythm. another underrated american original. this is a co-release with big legal mess records.
since first bearing witness to barn owl’s mythically desolate amplifier alchemy last year, nnf has been rabid fans/fanatics. but like lots of badass bands, bo are a rolling stone, heavy on the transformation tip, and the bo of today is an altered beast from the one that folkily fingerpicked bridge to the clouds and their self-titled disc way back when. and in case we’re not being clear: this is a beautiful thing. from our mouths a perpetual light burns with the sun-dead majesty of a death valley burial ground, all wasted waterless expanse and cracked earth smoke blowing in the dry wind. heavy western drone revelations bleed into forlorn guitar drift, downcast percussion plods across the plain, a skull on its side lies in the sands. evan caminiti and jon porras have somehow flawlessly evolved barn owl into a blazing new universe, and from our mouths… is the first mission statement from their new spectral/aesthetic outpost, a stunning and timeless eight-song suite of grim cinematic electricity. tune in, drop dead, rot on. in swank matte jackets with ‘four-armed demon warrior-yogi’ artwork by the band… very limited repress on this great one, in slightly altered packaging.
real nice private press electronic new age with thick drone / kraut vibes. darker then most too, especially when the rhythms kick in. good stuff. tiny corner bend but SEALED NM/S.
seriously rare japanese first pressing! super think gatefold cover. big four page foldout insert with lyrics. super clean black/silver labels. lovely wax. minor cover wear mostly to the edges, and a starting but very neat spine split. awesome vintage audiophile pressing! sorry, no obi. EX-/NM-.
this one is two side-long triple guitar jams by ben chasny (six organs of admittance, comets on fire), elisa ambrogio (magik markers) and brian sullivan (mouthus, eskimo king, white rock). extremely dense and crunchy – hold this one back to set the mood at your next summer of love party. like our other vinyl releases, this one will be pressed on 180g rti black vinyl and will come from an edition of 845 copies. look out for the beautiful and heavy wrap-around silkscreened covers (by alan sherry of siwa) on this one. as a bit of a first for three lobed (and a trend that we hope will continue with most of our vinyl releases from this record onward), packed in with the lp is a pressed cd (not cd-r) of the same material present on the album. the cd is not available separately and is included as an element of convenience and portability for all you vinyl folks (and also as an effort to help convert a few of you cd folks into vinyl folks!).
alt.vinyl is pleased to be releasing this collaboration of two of the us’ free folk/ experimental luminaries..marcia bassett from zaimph and double leopards on guitar and electronics…and helena espvall of espers on cello and electronics. a killer cut first recorded in philly in late 2008 and now mixed specially for vinyl by patrick klem (the man behind many a 3 lobed release) and sounding like a knife wrapped in silk. coruscating drifting harmonies that will appeal to the improv raga community echoing the early works of no neck blues band, sunroof, six organs and sunburned. warm yet sharp, effortless and complex… artwork by derek moench, audio mastering by patrick klem. ltd edition of 400 on 180gm vinyl… massively heavy covers!
hand-numbered edition of 200 copies lp on manuel mota’s private headlights imprint documenting a heavyweight duo set from marcia bassett of zaimph, hototogisu, double leopards, ghq et al and improvising portuguese bassist and guitarist margardia garcia. garcia is one of the major new generation european free players, coming out of the same scene as mota, and she’s just as capable of generating swans-style industrial entropy as she is playing explosive fire music. here bassett uses keyboard and guitar to create austere arcs of industrial-strength drone that garcia anchors with tactile, questing strings, giving the whole thing an odd avant-classical backbone. – volcanic tongue.
handmade covers. a confusing, odd record. 2 lock grooves begin the edith side. bedroom meanderings that steve stapleton might be proud of. released around 9/11/01. really! tons of confusing inserts. 200 pressed.
black/rainbow label orig of one of their greats. nice clean cover. EX/VG+.
real nice copy. killer boston garage/psych burner. very cool album gushing with good ideas. lots of experimentation, lots of cool fuzz, snotty acid lyrics, weird effects, etc. gatefold cover. original inner sleeve. small punch hole. NM-/NM-.
last ever copies!!! recorded in 1970 but not released until 1996. follow up to their highly heralded album ‘welcome’ which is a classic psych album. this one is psych flavored pop/rock. comes with paste-on sleeve… long out of print high quality archival release.
devastating psych noise power drones by ernesto gonzález, an 18 year old kid from venezuela who moved to belgium with his family 3 years ago. thick layers of hototogisu-like guitar drones interfere with endless tape loops and warm washes of analogue jungle color tone to work up to an overwhelming fuzz guitar climax, leaving listeners helpless, ecstatic, puzzled and bemused. ernesto has been making music for over three years now, has various solo as well as collaboration projects going on, has released a slew of amazing selfmade cdr’s and has recently also become a full time member of belgium’s finest: freefolk/krautrock outfit silvester anfang, who’ve got an lp coming out on eclipse later this month. a promising new star in the psych drone skies’85 djid hums is the vinyl debut of bear bones, lay low: over 45 minutes of pure psych drone bliss pressed on heavy high quality 180g vinyl, complete with paste-on art and flashy insert, housed in a thick cardboard jacket with resealable plastic sleeve. limited to 525 hand-numbered copies.
ernesto gonzález traded the chavez regime for comfortable living in a dreary place called waterloo, near brussels. he picked up the guitar, practiced his hendrix skills, got introduced to the world of scorching fuzz, demented kraut rock jams, drone lords and kosmik trance and decided he could as well do all that shit by himself. after his debut on gipsy sphinx, vallée de dith is his second official solo outing, leaving the drone in second position and focussing heavily on kraut rock work-outs. this is the ultimate south-american take on moolah, ash ra temple and neu!: excellent riffing, brain-melting space synth and far-out hippy meditation. probably the best venezuelan album since angel rada’s upadesa. phill niblock hated it!
total 70s new age mustache music. really amazing tripped-out cover art! very slight warp. EX++/EX-.
more total 70s new age mustache music, now with longer mustaches. really amazing tripped-out cover art! very slight warp. NM/EX++.
recorded live to tape in two days, after a sleep deprived month of beefheart style creative lockdown, begushkin – dan smith’s 8 headed hydra – lay to rest the twilight folk of 2007s nightly things and reemerge with the wicked & strange hard rock gypsy shake of king’s curse. smith yells and carries on like a man posessed with tales of the damnation of a robber king and the band plays it ultra tight & ultra heavy. king’s curse is higher tier creep rock…. ‘at times like an impossible mixing of leonard cohen, will oldham, and michael gira stirring up a series of haunted gypsy hymns. mournful and melodic with half-seen shadows walking through the trees at night, and fever dreams swooning in the moonlight. mysterious like lyrically compressed american gothic short stories.’ george parsons, dream… 180gm limited vinyl version.
the first ever official vinyl reissue of this folk-psych gem from new york city, usa. originally released in 1977 by winter solstice -group’s own- label this is a very rare (r3-r4) album nowadays. and hopefully it deserves every cent that you will spend for purchasing an original copy. its strange mixture of haunting melodic folk and dreamy psychedelia. both male and female vocals participated by roger and wendy penney (who had also presented the extremely rare “roger & wendy” lp back in 1972) while autoharp, violin, percussion and sound effects (wah wah, fuzz, phaser, delay) offer a “unique” atmosphere. this is an official, fully licenced and autographed, vinyl edition. exact reproduction of the cover and label with extra 4-pages insert with bio, photos and lyrics. all in high quality special papers. pvc protective outersleeve. includes one extra unreleased track from 1974. limited to 400 black vinyl copies, 180gr, copies. pvc protective outersleeve… top quality reissue of this pretty great private press oddity.
totally unreleased (on vinyl format) album by legendary nyc psychfolk duo. all the recordings range from the late 60′s to the late 70′s. our opinion is that “the missing tapes” is their best till today offering. just take a listen to “did you love me” and “lost worlds” songs. original, unique and bizzare sound not unlike their first album (see anazitisi records arlp 70-21f). half of the 10 songs are penned by roger penney while the other 5 are covers on: dennis deyoung’s “come sail away”, joni mitchell’s “circle game”, richard farina’s “swallow song” (what an adaptation!!!!), fred neil’s “dolphin” and an exceptional “high flying bird”. from the original 2-track master tapes with excellent sound quality and licenced by roger & wendy. it includes a 12-pages large booklet with story, lyrics & photos, decorated by wendy’s paintings. fully laminated. pvc protective outersleeve. 180gr. vinyl as usual. limited, to 200 black and 100 coloured copies, edition… black vinyl copies here. highly recommended if you dug their s/t lp!
a stunning new album including 5 long jams (23 minutes each side) which balance perfectly between the homey “strange maine” sound, the collage aesthetic of “the grove” and the extraordinary singer / songwriter approach as heard on “dead songs”. if it wasn’t released by phase!, it would certainly top a position in the 2011 top-13 albums! comes in an edition of 350 copies w/ 2-color awesome screenprinted jacket + insert… really sweet new one from this great group, looks & sounds awesome. press note that all copies seem to have a odd marking on the vinyl, but this does not effect play. recommended!
much anticipated proper full length release from this wonderful maine duo after a long running string of self released cdrs & a collaborative 7inch with visitations. colleen kinsella & caleb mulkerin have been key personages of the portland / south portland sonic underground for over a decade, as members of cerberus shoal, threads, fire on fire, etc. while those groups have no doubt left an impressive body of sound, the intimacy and directness of their big blood recordings take things to a higher plane of personal expression, freed from the group mind / “serious” band trapping of their past musical outlets. here they are free to romp in their personal microverse, following whim & fantasy through the gates of acoustic transcendence. all of the off-the-cuff spontaneity, intimate home fidelity, and deep personal charms of their older releases are as present as ever, but the the duo’s scope is now focused to a crystalline clarity of vision. dead songs is as sorrowful & joyful in its mirrored symmetry as the infinite life cycle itself, flowing on cleansing waves of inner release & spirit absorption… wailing fuzzed-up garage folk anthems mesh into twisted poetic acidfolk and drift to expansive melancholic meditations of boundless depth. two voices howl, swoon, alternate & join, lyrical layers peel away endlessly, tiny amps weep in pain, crude percussion booms thunderous, and ragged, beautiful hooks unfurl straight out of the void… packaged in a suitably gorgeous full color heavy 60s style gatefold cover with clear varnish overprinting, large offset printed vellum insert, full color art labels, etc. pressed on the highest quality 180gm virgin vinyl. limited edition of 700 copies.
very rare french original of their third & final album. totally essential damaged powerpop wonder from an amazing band on the verge of total collapse. totally unique to this pressing fully laminated alternate cover art. beautiful EX++/EX $60.00
solid rural hippie folk psych duo with good loose vibes. uni-pak gatefold. name in pen on back cover. EX-/NM-.
“common wealth” is bird by snow’s 4th lp, and their 1st record made outside of their own lo-fi home studio. but bird by snow stays true to their analog roots by conducting ceremony with tape alchemist tim green who recorded and produced this album and has cast countless other magic spells with artists such as joanna newsom, daniel higgs, wolves in the throne room, and a multitude more. this lp comes on deluxe heavy white vinyl, with a beautifully printed color jacket, and 8-page color 10″ booklet! all together in this photo. “common wealth” is a watershed of song, an album of arrangements that behave more like an ecosystem. the interdependence of the instruments that dwell in the wilds of this record give the impression that the sounds here create themselves and all other sounds simultaneously. this album begins when a shaker wakes in the darkness, the first sign of approaching warmth, like spring thaw on a frozen river. the icy shaker that floats on the water is joined by skin drums resounding from the hillside, and by pump-organs migrating over-head with geese. the cirrus clouds are spectral piano trills; the marching cumulous clouds, piano bass-lines. steel drums, autoharps, vibraphones and dulcimers burst suddenly from under rocks like crawfish. voices high and mellow dance on the surface of the water with flecks of sunlight. the boulders churning in the deepest pools are the bass, the cymbals, and a thundering gong. and the flow of the river itself, the invisible energy, is guitars, electric and nylon. this river flows between an ancient glacier and a vast ocean. the mind glacier melts into poetry, lyrics that travel with those sound sediments back to the source: the endless ocean of gratitude, and openness. this is how “common wealth” passes from vinyl to needle to speaker to you and beyond, as a river passes through the world… very nicely present release on white wax with big color booklet and download coupon.
to you, children of the zeitgeist, we give ‘sky,’ offered in the same generous spirit as this bountiful world itself. ten songs of reggae-infused, psychedelic, folk music. existentialism you can dance to! open-hearted sound-fields, vast and colored with tiny blue-grass orchestras, authentic dub banjo, black cloud back-beats, and (if you can believe it) california soukous guitar! open eyes wide, and take in ‘sky,’ bird by snow’s outrageously lush follow-up lp. cloudy or clear, day or night, let us be absorbed in the one-always-giving moment, and know the sky not as vacuous hole, but as container (whole). limited to 300, on beautiful tranparent-blue vinyl. hand silk-screened gold covers, with a lovely hand-made booklet too. recorded at home on 8-track cassette tape, mastered by george horn… who mastered “zuma” by neil young and crazy horse… last copy.
a new calf sparkles in the field at dawn with after-birth upon her. standing strong and brave with wobbly legs in a precarious world. with totally fearless surrender she steps forward, still wet from the inner universe of the before birth being. with the same naked abandon we offer this 3rd long-player by bird by snow. ten free-pop-mantras, ancient-babies of modern song. the most fertile bird by snow record (so far) each side of this album has its own name, in order to give the tunes more mind-space to flourish and expand side a is ‘songbread’ and side b is ‘another ocean.’ in this record-world we find bbs harvesting perspectives in an old-growth forest of ontology & swimming joyfully in wide-wonder-waters of multi-instrumentalism. cellos, drones, pianos, field-recordings, tape-collage & all manner of drumming, strumming & singing confer and conspire here. many of these songs have been two years in the making, grown and regrown on musical tours through the generous world. songs with fresh-washed faces, and crow’s feet in the corners of their eyes. ‘songbread / another ocean’ is also some of gnome life’s most beautiful and ambitious packaging! the cover is a color lithograph poster, and the lp also includes a deluxe handmade booklet of literature, lyrics, ideas, and points of entry. and a second semi-transparant poster of poetry called: “slow poems” by fletcher tucker (a.k.a. bird by snow). this edition is limited to 550 copies, and is on completely clear vinyl, and comes with a cd! recorded at home on 8-track cassette tape, mastered by john golden.
birds of delay is a leeds duo whose first half lives in london (and loves whitehouse and rush) and the other in berlin (and loves farley jackmaster funk). with several releases on labels such as chocolate monk, american tapes, troniks, hospital productions, or their own: alcoholic narcolepsy, luke and steven have been crafting and sculpting their psychedelic-electronic-noise-drone sound for over half a decade. but who cares and what does that sound description mean anyway? if you ask them, they’ll simply tell you a living room at the bottom of a lake is a projection into a total rainbow bliss zone! edition of 240 copies.
during the last euro tour of wolf eyes, john olson (of american tapes, spykes, guam river etc – ) and mike connelly (of gods of tundra, hair police, failing lights etc – ) decided it was enough! they screamed “i’m not going to bed!!! i never wanne sleep again!!!”, they missed their flights and stayed in antwerp with the ultra audiobored horror crew for 7 more weeks without food and drinks, just dry weed and cancerbags to suck on! after that intense test to see if they could adapt to the antwerp life style, they finally met up with legendary belgian eccentric cacti and hat collector cassis cornuta, this psychadelic character brought his whole space synth and tape lab over to radio central to record an intense last gasp jam with the hardly breathing olson and connelly, the end result is an amazing trip to space and back to the mental hospital! like pouring lighter fluid and tabasco up your genitals or like olson states it so beautifully; like pissing on your own hand, freezing it and then using it as a lollypop for 5 days! comes in a gross 6 panel cover design and with an etch on the b side! – very limited. amazing packaging!
it goes without saying that polytheistic fragments is an instrumental release — who among us would want it otherwise? in the tradition of his classic debut, salvador kali, this new record features equal amounts of improvisation and composition. sir richard’s powers lie in his ability to captivate with just the sound of his guitar, but he doesn’t completely abandon studio processes, which allow polytheistic fragments to communicate a greater wholeness: all sir rick, all the time, if you will. we have come to expect a few solo acoustic guitar pieces with the gypsy stylings of his hero, django reinhardt — and as if to tenderize our consciousness and prepare it for the ride, ‘cross my palm with silver’ meets and exceeds our expectations. ‘rub ‘al khali’ is an ode to the oud, a northern african lute of sorts. on ‘free masonic guitar,’ sir richard manifests free form acoustic playing wholly in his own style. peppering the mix are the sounds of electric guitar and lap steel guitar, bringing contrast and color. ‘hecate’s dream’ is a dreamy praise to a dark greek goddess, but ‘tennessee porch swing’ and ‘canned goods and firearms’ switch gears to good old down home americana and country twang. sir richard is renowned for his prowess and mastery with the guitar, but the piano playing on polytheistic fragments shows a fluid, meditative style. ‘saraswati’ is a lengthy river piece bathed in hindustani serenity, while ‘cemetery games’ is a short celebratory skeletal dance, with more light-heartedness than spook. in a record with so many spirits, bishop fills in the space where necessary and rounds out the feeling with catchy tunes such as ‘elysium number five’ and ‘ecstasies in the open air.’ polytheistic fragments shows that the divinely inspired sir richard bishop cannot be contained in one form.
another album of acoustic guitar music from sir richard bishop — are you ‘freakin’ nuts? the freak of araby is a new direction for our distinguished gentleman, and just in the nick of time as well. sir rick’s had it up to here with solo acoustic guitar records! the freak of araby isn’t even a solo record! and there’s no acoustic guitar on it! so let’s have no more of this kind of talk. over his years with sun city girls, richard bishop threw a wide variety of music and sound against the wall — and all of it stuck. among those who know, he’s reasonably fluent in any number of international music traditions, playing them for (mostly) fun and (sometimes) profit all over the place. the freak of araby is the debut of sir richard bishop and his freak of araby ensemble, a talented quartet of players getting deep into the middle eastern mystic with hand drums, percussion, bass, drums, electric guitars and a heavy dose of moroccan chanters, all of it captured with depth, detail and sympathy for the eternal enigma by engineer scott colburn. but a sir richard bishop album with a backing band — how did this happen? after recording a cover of ‘ka’an azzaman,’ written by elias rahbani, one of lebanon’s finest songwriters, something dawned on sir richard. half-lebanese by birth (it didn’t just occur to him later), he found himself suddenly possessed to really dig into middle eastern sounds. a pair of original melodies not fully developed at a prior recording session had the arabic inspiration, so these were reattacked and finished in short order. soon, sir richard’s head was flooded with some of the classic sounds spun for him by his grandfather back in his (way) younger days, like farid al-atrache, oum kalthoum and fairuz, along with other personal favorites, such as the guitarists omar khorshid and mike hegazi. in addition to the studio improvisation, ‘taqasim for omar,’ the whole of the freak of araby is dedicated to these inspiring players. check ‘em out. in addition to his soul-stirring electric guitar playing, sir richard grabbed a couple of moroccan chanters and blew the house down on ‘blood-stained sands,’ providing an epic (not to mention epochal, heh heh) finish to this journey to the center of one-half of the family tree. this is music meant to be played live, and sir richard’s freak of araby ensemble intends to play it everywhere there’s interest in hearing it. so get your freak on.
repressed… this is an essential document by one of america’s most original and inventive unaccompanied guitarists working today. while my guitar violently bleeds is a splendid three piece gem in which the good sir branches out & nods to points west, east & otherworldly. classic spaghetti western tinged spidery fretwork(“zurvan”), fushitsusha style feedback drenched psych decay (“smashana”) and a brilliant lengthy raga epic (“mahavidya”) round out the proceedings by the sun city girls master musician.
since its discovery in the late ’90s, dave bixby’s legendary $2000 private press album from 1969 is considered by all serious record collectors as the king in the loner/downer-folk genre. after being involved in ’60s michigan folk and garage-rock bands such as the shillelaghs and peter & the prophets, bixby started playing acoustic guitar and experimenting with lsd. after a year of drug abuse he felt broken. starting a soul-searching, spiritual journey, he wrote ode to quetzalcoatl and most of the material for his second album, harbinger’s second coming in just a month and a half. assisted by fellow musician brian macinness, who played some guitar parts on the album, bixby recorded this record in a living room using an echo-laden 4-track machine. the sound is lo-fi and sparse: just acoustic guitars and some occasional harmonica & flute, added to bixby’s haunting, emotional vocals, spiritual lyrics and solid songwriting. the opening cut, the eerie and painful “drug song” sets the mood perfectly for the rest of the album. never again has an acoustic folk album sounded as intense as this. reissued for the first time under license from dave bixby himself, and carefully remastered from vinyl (no master tapes exist) at shadoks music studios. includes an insert with extensive and detailed liner notes by matvei procak — the guy who found bixby in 2006 — plus some rare pictures. this vinyl release also includes a free mp3 download code… recommended!
black boned angel return with their second riot season release, following the eternal love/eternal hunger vinyl lp (repose 013lp). sharing a similarly bleak ground to corrupted, sunn 0))) and earth, new zealand’s black boned angel return with their fourth full length album verdun, and perhaps their most sombre and fully-realized work to date. the battle of verdun was fought between the german and french armies, and was one of the critical battles during world war 1 on the western front. it resulted in more than a quarter of a million battlefield deaths and at least half a million wounded. verdun was the longest battle and one of the most devastating in world war 1 and indeed in history. over the course of 50 minutes, bba soundtrack that brutal conflict with their trademark dark ambient drones and doom-laden riffs.
fully re-mastered vinyl edition of what was originally a europe-only cassette released in an edition of 80 copies from the solo project of spencer clark of the skaters/vodka soap/monopoly child et al. spencer describes black joker as being more drone-focused and with faster percussion than the recent monopoly child sets. indeed, the percussion is thrifty and up-front, with arcs of criss-crossing time signatures generating maximum space/time confusion. the combination of trance-informed momentum and bubbling electronic sci-fi tones sounds closest to one of the sun ra arkestra’s most future-visioned takes on “ancient aethiopia” while expanding on the classic post-angus maclise feel of all of the best skaters material. comes with pro-printed 80s style 12” maxi-sleeves with liner notes by fortean authority, itinerant visionary and skaters road mangler in-absentia charles berlitz.
the josh/roy anti-society drone/drums duo drops its first (and last?) lp. a dripping cavern of red-eyed vibes and numb inner examination. uncomfortable, epic. edition of 270. comes with a poster. co-released with illinois sweatshop arbor.
real sweet green label US first pressing of their total killer. rarer glossy version of the embossed cover. with the rare fold-out poster! poster looks awesome. EX+/NM-.
amazing & insane french acid folk psych one-man-band. this dudes plays everything : acoustic & electric guitars, bass, drums, kazoo, sitar, etc. some totally monster psych tracks! amazing multi-layer vocal harmonies… insanely rare brazilian original pressing on the highly collectible stream machine label, with a unique track sequence & different cover design from the belgian & french pressings, and 10 times as rare as either of those. fragile waxy cover is amazingly clean, as is the vinyl. good luck finding another of these pressings, much less one thats not trashed. absolute best condition you could hope to find for this one. NM-/NM-.
this vinyl-only split-lp release is a meeting of two of the most interesting bands coming out of hamburg, germany at this moment, both continuing the long tradition of both challenging and explorative music coming from this city in the last decades. from krautrock to the origins of the so-called neue deutsche welle from experimental sound artists to some of the finest pop ambient, hamburg is regularly spitting out some of the most singular artists on this planet. both aosuke and black to comm have absorbed influences from all these sources (and a million others) while working towards their very own individual vision. the two brand new tracks by black to comm are continuing the massive organ/voice drone alchemy of the last double-lp while refining and personalizing his sound, reaching new heights of blazing sonic mysticism. aosuke have decided to home-record their new material, continuing their loop-oriented, monotone yet highly melodic ambient journeys. working with repetition and small abstractions, all instrumental “loops” are played by hand and recorded live without overdubs (one of the main principles of the guitar/electronics duo), creating surprisingly concrete dormant and somnambulistic soundscapes while fortunately completely lacking the washy and drowsy effects of most ambient music. black to comm is the one-man project of marc richter who is the brain behind the dekorder label as well. so far he has released two albums on his own label (“rückwärts backwards” and “wir können leider nicht etwas mehr zu tun…”). aosuke is the duo of tobert knopp and ulf schütte, the latter being a label head as well (tape tektoniks). last year they have released their debut “monotone spirits” album co-released by hamburg’s audiolith label and south germany’s meudiademorte label.
this vinyl-only split-lp release is a meeting of two of the most interesting bands coming out of hamburg, germany at this moment, both continuing the long tradition of both challenging and explorative music coming from this city in the last decades. from krautrock to the origins of the so-called neue deutsche welle from experimental sound artists to some of the finest pop ambient, hamburg is regularly spitting out some of the most singular artists on this planet. both aosuke and black to comm have absorbed influences from all these sources (and a million others) while working towards their very own individual vision. the two brand new tracks by black to comm are continuing the massive organ/voice drone alchemy of the last double-lp while refining and personalizing his sound, reaching new heights of blazing sonic mysticism. aosuke have decided to home-record their new material, continuing their loop-oriented, monotone yet highly melodic ambient journeys. working with repetition and small abstractions, all instrumental “loops” are played by hand and recorded live without overdubs (one of the main principles of the guitar/electronics duo), creating surprisingly concrete dormant and somnambulistic soundscapes while fortunately completely lacking the washy and drowsy effects of most ambient music. black to comm is the one-man project of marc richter who is the brain behind the dekorder label as well. so far he has released two albums on his own label (“rückwärts backwards” and “wir können leider nicht etwas mehr zu tun…”). aosuke is the duo of tobert knopp and ulf schütte, the latter being a label head as well (tape tektoniks). last year they have released their debut “monotone spirits” album co-released by hamburg’s audiolith label and south germany’s meudiademorte label.
black to comm is the solo venture of dekorder label boss marc richter. having released two and a half albums on his own label he is slowly establishing himself as one of the more prolific drone artists out there with a forthcoming album on the american digitalis label, a collaborative cd with datashock on ikuisuus, a 7″ on the irish trensmat label and a collaboration with xela in the works. “fractal hair geometry” is richter’s most refined and original work to date, picking up where the electrifying drone works of his monumental double-lp left off. like the last records this album is centered around recordings of a variety of vintage organs. while “wir kennen leider…” often featured pure harmonium sounds and spacious recordings of chuch organ and mellotron, the new album opts for a more electronic, effects-laden sound, sending an old farfisa compact deluxe and casio sk-5 through an armada of analogue & digital effects pedals. the results are massive one-chord drones layered into dense & ecstatic, flickering & pulsating clusters of psychedelic electronic sound. additional wordless vocal effects, hyperventilating & sizzling drum machines and hypnotic violin and guitar noises make for a hyperactive sound that never stands still even though most of the music is pure drones (sometimes consisting of more than 50 recording layers). decidedly simple but gorgeous melodies shine through the mist from time to time, making a black to comm record always much more accessible than your average drone album. there’s even a heavy 4/4 bass drum smuggled into a track dedicated to the late leigh bowery, one of the most enigmatic creative figures of the mid-80′s uk club scene (and singer of minty). guests include jonna karanka (aka kuupuu) on piano, guido mebius on trumpet and current black to comm (live) band members renate nikolaus on violin and ulf schitte (of datashock, aosuke, etc.) adding electronic sounds. along the lines of the music, seminal german artist oliver ross has created a massive multi-layered neon-coloured collage artwork which is printed on special ultra-heavy cardboard stock.
the whole album is very dream-like, mystical and fascinating, like being in the middle of a fog bank and loosing your sense of direction but always knowing that you’ll find your way out one way or the other. – mats gustaffson/the broken face. finally, here’s the vinyl version of the debut album by hamburg’s black to comm. strictly limited edition of 222 copies, hand screened grey cardboard sleeves, full colour insert, postcard and gold stamped labels – sweet stuff.
banjos and fiddles, boards and bones in hand, the black twig pickers dove into a living tradition of old-time music that surrounds their homes in southwest virginia and never looked back. both scholars of the regional sounds and advocates of an ecstatic and highly personal approach to the music, the twigs hold down local dance and bar gigs, play all manner of celebrations, and, every so often, hit the road. along the way, isak howell, nathan bowles and mike gangloff kept company with some of underground america’s heavyweights and haunted the doorsteps of appalachian fiddle and banjo masters. ironto special is an album of traditional appalachian old-time tunes (and two originals) that they’ve learned through study of both local old-time musicians and old-time records and field recordings. the instrumentation is all-acoustic and features some of the old-time usuals — fiddle, banjo, guitar — and some implements less routinely heard in today’s old-time scene like washboard, bones, fiddlesticks, mouth harp and jaw harp. plus (on one song) a one-of-a-kind baritone resonator 12-string guitar. old-time music served, and continues to serve, a variety of functions in appalachian life: from dance music to somber solo performance, to raggier blues and everything in between. ironto special is an attempt to celebrate this variety in the old-time tradition through the band’s process of learning and growth as they explore the music’s many facets.
quite scarce original copy of this fantastic late date private press acidfolk jewel that has quickly become hugely in demand. easily in the same realm as BOBB TRIMBLE, JEFF EUBANK, T KAIL, etc., but equally in its own bag musically, i personally enjoy this album above any of those.. gentle hallucinogenic psychedelia with gorgeous dreamy male/female duo vocals, lush guitars, flute, synth, bongos, 12-string, electric bass, plenty of reverb, etc. total acid love-nest euphoric vibe. if not for the somewhat dated arp synth it would be very tricky to place this one in time what-so-ever. it has a early 70s feel, but without sounding at all retro. includes the very rare & beautiful thick booklet insert which has lyrics, notes, poetry, and many illustrations printed on thick textured art paper. top copy. booklet is NM. cover has some tiny tiny signs of wear but nearly perfect. same for the vinyl. NM-/NM-.
scarce xian husband & wife rural folkpsych / folkrock. very nice acoustic guitar work & female backing vocals. in shrink, with insert. NM-/VG+.
blank dogs are actually singular: it’s the insanely prolific one-man brooklyn-based band of mr. blank dog. we don’t know too much about the biography of the guy behind the bedroom new-wave pop/punk and he’s usually covering his face with masks or bedspreads, but that’s fine. the aura of anonymity allows you to focus on the sounds — and, really, he might be releasing a ton of things, but there’s definitely a higher jam-to-crap ratio. it’s like joy division vocal lines with the cure’s synth and guitar melodies filtered through ancient submerged keyboards and eroded recording equipment. and that voice? all the feedback in the world can’t hide his knack for melody. blank dogs have been making plenty of rumbles in the noisier and more secretive outposts of the underground (half his discography’s sold out), but troubleman unlimited’s just repressed his very recommended full-length on two sides (on yellow vinyl in an edition of 500) and in the red’s releasing a 20-song double lp (or single cd) called under and under . it’s all new material. he’s also playing his first shows in nyc, so if you want to take a peek, you can. all this to say: seems like blank dogs is on his way out of the basement. –stereogum
underwater peoples records is proud to offer alex bleeker’s passion fueled project as our first ever lp release. built solely on love, our label strives to deliver uniquely genuine pieces of artwork. it is a special privilege to find ourselves linked to this heart felt treasure. alex bleeker & the freaks self titled album was recorded live on june 11th, 2009. the bulk of the session took place in the basement of julian’s childhood home, in ridgewood, nj. the group consists of alex bleeker (real estate), matt mondanile (real estate, ducktails), martin courtney iv (real estate) and julian lynch. some of the songs mirror the boys collective disposition, that of a gentle and warm young man. others however, invite the listener in for a glimpse at that same boy’s restless, virile soul. a sensitive type may describe it all as raw, live, honest rock and roll with heart. alex bleeker & the freaks have been friends since high school and as healthy, red blooded american men so often choose to do, they’ve channeled their romantic energies into an electrified musical powerhouse. it’s as classic and genuine as an adolescents playboy collection or a fat, bald man in a red corvette. – up.
two florida 19 year olds make mature pysch pop, receive blog love from stereogum, i guess i’m floating, indie rock café, and kanye west, sign to kanine records and release debut album “season dreaming”. limited run of cd and vinyl lp with printed inner sleeve and digital download card. track listing: 1.the warm current’s pull 2. heavy cloud hustle 3. the dinosaur ride 4. anxious place 5. the planets explode 6. sleeping habits 7. jimmy dove 8. kissing minutes 9. ghosts 10. shells. vinyl is limited 500 one time pressing only.
warehouse find of the last copies of this 2003 reissue…. very rare arizona psychedelic trio from ’69. fuzz guitar, psych-y leads and great cuts like ‘ride the ship of fools’, ‘cry for love’, and ‘visions’. plus two incredible bonus tracks never before heard.
the great orthochromatic wheel is the blithe sons first full-length release since 2004. in the years since the california duo of loren chasse and glenn donaldson may have traversed poppy fields and swam to aqua cities though mostly they’ve remained active with their jewelled antler offshoots: ov, of, and child readers (chasse) or skygreen leopards and flying canyon (donaldson) and both in thuja. these five songs combine nature’s melodic pull and minimalist songs forms summoned by a miniature orchestra of eclectic instruments. each lp side flaunts a different depth of the sons, one recorded outdoors and the other inside. the indoor set consists of slow-motion ballads built on hymn-like organ, nylon string guitar, analog drum machine & stark percussion. the outdoor side offers a web of exotic wind-instruments & battery-powered electronics reverberating in cavernous hall cut in the side of a sea-cliff. limited edition of 500 copies. contain a download coupon for mp3 version of the album.
german original pressing. pretty classic uk psych pop, with all the right early pink floyd and “sgt. pepper” moves firmly in place. nice fragile metallic printed laminated cover has some very faint but large marker on front. large marker on one label. EX-/EX-.
perhaps the rarest greek rock album, released back in 1972 in very small quantities (300-500copies) and never again re-released in vinyl. here, we talk about a combination of psych-folk and flower power hippy rock with male and female vocals, great melodies and an acid overall atmosphere. acoustic guitars, sometimes heavy and sometimes fuzzy electric guitars, organ, bass and drums create one of the best greek psych albums, although overshadowed and low promoted back then. blue birds was one of the very first greek modern bands as well as one of the most long-lived. although they had started in 1963 as a garage-beat band they delevoped in a hippy band producing some fine singles & #136;êas well as this album- in the early 70′s. as the original release, this reissue is housed in an envelope-like gimmix heavy cover, contains the poster and the greek lyrics sheet. extras are a 4-pages insert with english lyrics and band’s bio and a full-coloured, high quality, psych post-card – killer album and another very high quality exact repro greek reissue. recommended.
there where only 4 good and rare albums on the danish spectator label: terje, jesper & joachim (which we have just done on lp and now on cd), moses (we are still working on a deal), days (we are about to negotiate a deal) and the rarest of them all blues addicts. what a guitar work this is. ivan horn really kicks ass with his extra heavy guitar. as good as the heavy cream songs, in parts as creative as jimi hendrix. the musical range and the guitar style is as good as the best early eric clapton work with the far out techniques of jimi hendrix. all own composition, long tracks, extra heavy guitar, english vocals & heavy drum sounds. ivan horn: guitars, vocals & kazzo, mich brink: bass, gibber thomsen: vocals & congas, henning aasbjerg: drums. if spectator would have kept rock music their musical style instead of switching to jazz, those 4 bands would have been successful on the international rock circus… recorded denmark, 1970. great crude b&w art, heavy covers, 180gm white vinyl, insert, 450 numbered copies.
interest in this has surged recently and quite rightly too, as this is one of the best acid-punk lps ever. clearly inspired by “electric comicbook”-era blues magoos, these long island kids had a problem with both drugs and their attitude! their originals are excellent vox organ/fuzz teen garage psych and the reworked cover versions pretty demented as well. the cough syrup high school-play vibe of “deaf, dumb ¨ blind” must be heard to be believed. not a perfect album, with a few sections that drag on, but the highs are higher than on almost any other lp of this kind. possibly the best on the label, at least if you prefer the 60s teen-garage approach over hippie longhairs. – acid archives… heavy covers, 180gm vinyl, limited to 1000 copies.
described by kris kristofferson as “one of the three best songwriters in the country,” kentucky native jay bolotin’s songs have been championed by the likes of merle haggard and porter wagoner, among many others. yet jay’s eponymous debut – released on the major subsidiary commonwealth united label – had the halflife of a mayfly when it went into circulation in 1970 and today it remains as phantasmic as the prairie ghosts that have long populated his native kentucky. however hasty or uncertain the release of the album may have been some 40 years ago, one thing is certain: in a darkened room in new york city at the end of a kentucky childhood, a 20 year old jay bolotin cut a singularly enchanted album of unhurried, low key loner ballads with the confidence and honesty of a seasoned journeyman. jay bolotin is an unqualified singer songwriter gem that will appeal to fans of leonard cohen, townes van zandt & alex chilton. features kenny lyon on bass & mark taber on piano & harpsichord- both veterans of the providence, rhode island scene, the fugs’ bobby mason on percussion and david mowry on guitar. deluxe 180 gram vinyl featuring new liner notes and lyrics inserts. remastered & reissued for the first time since it’s elusive ‘release’. “dear father” featured on numero group compilation lonesome heroes.
tie yourself on a feedbag of slightly decayed dog bones and crushed plastic kids toys you found in a cheeze whiz dumpster, throw you inhabitations out the window and dance your ass off to these highly damaged, anthemic, home made synth and drum songs. this is analog plunger punk at its best!!!! featuring: members of child bride, dreamhouse, blue shift and riddlin’. 600 pressed. full color cover.
orig UK MONO first pressing blue/black/silver label. mod teen beat pop. laminated flipback cover. thick wax. EX+/EX.
an allez-taeia of the body, earth breath and sweetness, a great sigh beneath the world tree. an attempt this time to say a few things simply, and be gone. about letting go of places that are family, not holding on too tight, the condition of waking up one morning and suddenly finding yourself alive on this great green planet, surrounded by the infinite… gorgeous solo outing from death chants / aswara member, and the first release on his new humito label. lovely screen printed wrap-around paste-on art on heavy black cover. limited to just 200 copies. highly recommended!
long gone limited to 500 copy reissue on this collectible label. smokin’ west coast heavy blues psych with consistently burning electric guitars moves through the whole album. heavy 60s style gatefold cover with extensive notes. very clean copy. NM-/NM- $50.00
rare orig UK pressing in a nice front laminated flipback cover. pre BIG STAR! EX++/EX-.
totally intense freejazz. lovely SIWA screenprinted cover. un-numbered promo copy. NM/NM.
first new release on BRÖ since “machine gun” in 1968. totally intense freejazz. lovely SIWA screenprinted cover. un-numbered promo copy. NM/NM.
previously reissued on cd by sunbeam, now issued on deluxe lp format as well; 180 gram pressing. the third and final album by the edinburgh-based duo of david mcniven (ex-human beast) and angie rew was barely released in 1971, but has gone on to become one of the most treasured “acid folk” albums of all time. comprising the epic, 21-minute title track and four unforgettable stand-alone songs, amaryllis features a heady, trippy blend of true acoustic melodies as well as outstanding support from musicians including danny thompson and terry cox of pentangle, and is an essential purchase for all fans of psychedelic singer-songwriting… highly recommended lp sounding better then ever on nice audiophile vinyl. nice!
beautiful original copy of this exceptional & very rare xian folkrock / garage / psych private press. only 300 copies pressed. top of the heap for this kind of thing without question. other then one lame blues song (slightly redeemed by some pretty hot electric guitar) every track is a complete winner. the sound is quite varied, with each track a unique experience. all together, an utterly charming album best taken as a whole. ranging from moody melancholy electric folkrock with chiming velvet underground like electric guitars, to unhinged raw fuzzed-out garage rock, to glassy-eyed zoned-out folk. both the male & female vocals are wonderfully youthful, sincere, and totally earnest. loads of awesome cheap go-go organ, perfect raw garage production, nice harmonies, unique song writing, and the drummer is nuts! really really cool album, with lovely obscure-o cover art to match. very very minor storage warp which has zero effect on play. cover fully in shrink. NM-/NM-.
limited to 1000 copy vinyl version of post “jungle rot” cassette. NM/NM.
this is heather woods broderick’s debut album — from the ground is built around warm, reverberating atmospheres and familiar yet striking melodies, gently wrapping around the listener and finding magic in subtlety. her soft voice matches the delicate neo-classical arrangements that are as light as a feather. careful attention has been paid to the album’s understated production, giving the feeling that these are lullabies pulled straight from the still morning air. broderick’s songs make the case that sometimes starting out somewhere simple is often better. at the core is heather and her guitar and throughout from the ground that combination is its greatest strength. plucked and strummed chords provide the foundation from which these songs take flight. the record is populated by lyrically-engaging songs and impressive instrumentals that take the listener into a world full of indian summers and pink sunset skies. it’s inevitable that anytime from the ground comes up, the fact that heather woods broderick is, indeed, the older sister of everyone’s favorite ultra-talented multi-instrumentalist peter broderick is mentioned, but his string arrangements and production on the album cannot be overlooked. they add another layer to compositions that are already stunning, further making the case that from the ground is an alluring yet subtle force to be reckoned with. from the ground was originally released on cd by preservation records (australia). this limited lp edition features new artwork and a previously-unreleased bonus track. vinyl cut at dubplates & mastering, berlin. includes a hidden locked groove.
long vanished way limited private press of sooo acid damaged steam of consciousness (or unconsciousness?) bedroom 4-track psych babble, backwards guitars, zoned vocals, and general acid sputter. awesome xian screen printed cover art. insane babble insert. whoa. NM+/NM+.
as atlantic records partner and president jerry wexler said to phil spector (who released the lp via a distribution deal with warner bros.): ‘thank you for the test pressing on lenny, i think it’s fantastic. many of the bits in this lp surpass in brilliance, insight and compassion anything i’ve heard of lenny’s. i had come to the point where his juridical musings were beginning to put me off, and i was beginning to his obsession with his trial (and trials) as a bore. i have a new insight. lenny really achieves new dimensions as a prophet when he addresses himself to the nature of the law, the judge and the policemen in the same sense as the old testament prophets did when the attacked kings and commoners alike, exposing the unending cop-outs and rationalizations which with people protect their paltry possessions and nurse their hard-won neuroses and precious foibles. those in power are better able to perpetuate their grip on their baggage, both material and psychic, than those they oppress; but both haves and have-nots are uptight in this regard. when lenny is really popping and cooking, as he is in this lp, i get so turned on that i get a euphoric kick. it is a case of terrific rapport and shared viewpoint, and the electric like viewpoint, and an electric-like phenomenon and awareness takes place, perhaps what james joyce refers to as an “epiphany” in portrait of the artist. lenny induced this in me many times in clubs, but i don’t remember it happening listening to his records until this time.’… perfect SEALED NM+ original copy with very small cutout.
original press and another texas psych winner on this cool label. some ring wear. vinyl has odd pressure marks both sides and two needle scratches. plays well overall. VG+/VG.
butterfly label press of his awesome first. VG/VG+.
his rarest & best. original 1970 WHITE LABEL PROMO pressing. absolutely perfect brooding, drifting, freeform avant psych folk masterwork. just stunning. great fidelity. timing strip on cover. faintest wear, sharp corners, tight seams. original label inner sleeve. very clean labels & vinyl, a lite paper scuff or two away from perfect. EX++/NM-.
his rarest & best. awesome SEALED copy! absolutely perfect brooding, drifting, freeform avant psych folk masterwork. just stunning. missing a little shrink at bottom edge, and some starting cover wear there. neat punch hole. looks perfectly flat. SEALED NM.
red records #1… a lucky few got to hear this little gem as the tiny self released cdr edition, but here’s the real deal. an absolutely lovely album and surely joshua’s finest dose yet. oozing with a perfectly warm lo-fi bedroom glow, and full of joshua’s most direct & achingly melancholy song forms. totally hitting a whole new level of intimate vibrations, full of fragile hushed vocals, gentle acoustic guitar plucking, somber dirges, and electronic bagpipe mantras. beautifully formed lyrics step up the forefront as a rare treat, and the effect is just as stunning as it is simple. we just can’t get enough of this one. the kind of record you’ll want to spin again & again to soothe a busy mind… truly psychedelic folk music for late night soul searching… lusciously hand packaged in a custom creamy art paper heavy 60s style gatefold cover with full size, full color paste-on front artwork, screen printed back cover & interior, printed labels, hand stamped spine, and pressed on 180gm bright red vinyl. hand numbered limited edition of 300 copies.
based in western massachusetts, joshua plays occasional live shows that never fail to stir the spirit-pot. whether beaming layered vocals and effects-trammeled whistling (whistling!) into the anticipatorily puckered o-minds of the audience, paying tribute to the great jansch, or rambling down forgotten paths w/ archaic stringed instruments, the guy never fails to heat up brain coils that i’d forgotten i have. in many ways, however, his most potent material is crafted in dark singularity, late at night, w/ tape rolling and moist nodes of fever pulsing gently in the dark, soft air. on this album, helped by kindred souls from tower recordings, six organs of admittance, and dredd foole, joshua achieves a kind of dream-loaded perfection that is the purview of very few. as the fools in the mainstream underground rush towards a platonic ideal that dehumanizes the process of creation, joshua embraces the quivering meat wheel that rotates in the center of all humankind. it is nothing less than a pinnacle of splendor. subtlly acknowledging influences that range from c.o.b. to the guild of temporal adventurers, it moves through the fair like a wraith. – byron coley… long out of print private press masterpiece. metallic gold spray painted recycled covers with paste-on art. highly recommended!
burnt hills are a collective from albany, ny. every monday they use to jam and host shows at the heldberg basement, which is also the headquarter of flipped out records, exquisite label and mailorder active for 25 years. if you are lucky enough to attend one of their shows, you will probably realize that you are experiencing something more than a concert… it’s in fact a proper ritual that finds its perfect expression in a music that combines the freedom of free jazz, the fire of garage rock and the hallucinations of the best psychedelic music. lights out is just burnt hills at their best. just a little warm up and the hills explode like a bomb blowing up continually in a furious jam, where heavy vibrating vocals, pulsating rythm section and wild guitar wipe outs move along with perfect cohesion and fluidity. we are completely sucked into the vortex of this groove when a slow comedown begins to the end of the side, with that great solo guitar pattern drawing the last beaufitul images and then… lights out! paste on covers, with hand stamped label. limited to 150 copies, numbered.
hand picked from the treasure trove… a beautifully crushing live recording! professionally mastered and cut to sweet black wax. the full band blazing away at the pinnacle of their cosmic live explorations… stunning dual sided screened artwork… as with all “holy room” releases, this will be a one time only pressing…limited to 139 numbered copies, black jackets with “deluxe gold flake” screen printing!
soar through the cosmos as five guitars radiate microwaves towards the sun’s core, a bass levitates over the rings of saturn and shimmering percussive clatter seals up a black hole at the edge of the universe…. co-released with noiseville…. edition of 300 copies, with paste-on art front & back.
clare hubbard (“caethua”) creates haunted movements, encompassing scapes of “coldness” and comfort, throughout this lp with each sorrowful ballad surrounded by terms/phrases of meditation and experimental sound collages using saxophone, singing bowls, electronics, guitars, bells, water, and recordings made while on a boat trip traveling throughout the length of the st. lawrence river. dark ambient psychedelic folk… real nice album packaged in a screen printed recycled cover with paste-on art. swirl colored vinyl.
caethua is the project of maine residents clare hubbard, now collaborating with andy neubauer. as caethua walks deeper and deeper into the fogged up landscape, they bring with them a walter carlos take on baroque tinged psyche folk, and post industrial tinted lenses for which to look through. with a handful of releases under her belt on a variety of labels, the summer is over is one of hubbard’s most realized works. eight sonically perfect songs filled with heart-melting vocal melodies, and dream provoking lyrics. tastefully accompanied by her piano, guitar, saxaphone and well placed soundscapes. she is joined on this record by the multi-instrumentalism of andy neubauer (impractical cockpit, ancestral diet, flak mask, village of spaces) who compliments this masterpiece with bass clarinet and cello. recorded at the pool recording studio by alex yusimov and artfully mastered by tim stollenwerk. this is a split release between turned word and the debut release on the new mississippi records imprint, water wing records. edition of 500… nice fancy covers & heavy full color inserts. lovely stuff.
1965 live recordings. cheap original copy. cover has a couple small tears & a couple stickers, but not trashed. vinyl plays fine. VG/VG+.
dennis callaci and simon joyner are two of the foremost channelers of “the song.” simon is known for his solo recordings, with releases on jagjaguwar, truckstop, shrimper, and sing eunuchs!, among others. dennis plays in refrigerator and was the sole voice behind the criminally underheard paste. they are singer-songwriters in that they write songs and sing them, but that appellation dumbs down and sanitizes what they do. i think it is more accurate to say that both have a way of tapping into the stream of collective creativity that flows from god-knows-when through to the present and beyond. their songs have a gravity to them, an”old soul,” as it were, that cannot be mistaken. there are a few stylistic precursors to their work precursors that have been well-documented previously but the songs they write and sing tap into something more ineffable, timeless, and grave. stranger blues set comprises three of simon’s songs and two by dennis, all recorded live in the callaci living room to what seems to be a single microphone. the nontraditional (or better: non-studio) setting adds a palpable sensation of space to the recordings by space i do not simply mean the warmth of the room tone, but actual space: backing vocals and spare piano or guitar lines arise in such a way that you are aware of the physical geography of the room. you can hear simon singing along with dennis from an actual distance away; his voice is (literally) distant and all the more forlorn. the guitar lines that dennis adds to flesh-out simon’s songs have the same eerie effect. this sense of space underscores two seemingly contradictory strengths about stranger blues. on one hand, these songs are beautifully lonely and spare, highlighted by the echoes and distance in the room. at the same time, it is clear that two songwriters who know and love the other’s work, who are very much working in tandem to build upon each others strengths. single edition of 500 one-sided lps. silkscreened and hand assembled chipboard jackets in a”traditional” catsup plate brown butchers tape design scheme.
first ever reissue, deluxe & legit, of this quite rare 1976 southern california private press gem. it’s a strange, fantastical, and totally distinct album that will have you sucked in almost instantly. this one is extremely hard to pin down – think something like a loner powerpop rock opus, heavy on the psychedelic production values, studio dreamer vibes, and timeless hooks. the songs are unusual but infectious, the production is breezy & expansive but not polished, and the vocals are constantly morphing yet always effective. in fact, the hazy chameleon-like personality here might be one of the best things going for the album, as not only does eddie seem to be channeling a handful of different vocalists, but the whole mood & sound shifts around unexpectedly as well. even the potential low points somehow work, and there’s surprises around every turn. the often questioning, self-reflective lyrics add yet another layer of mystique to the trip. musically the most mellow points hover around gorgeous, airy, rural-tinged, floating psychedelia with beautifully layered acoustic & electric guitars, tinkling keys, and lush mellotron. when things pick up they’re truly rocking, with tight punchy rhythms and eddie firing off big chunky guitar riffs like he’s playing to the packed stadium behind his third eye. all the studio tricks at hand are put to full use with sweet leslie guitar effects, special tones, backwards solos, elaborate multi-tracked sound fields, and some of the most wonderfully bent synthesizer soloing ever laid to tape. the perfectly strange & beautiful cover art seals the deal… mastered from the artist’s well preserved & great sounding master tapes. pressed on highest quality 180gm virgin vinyl, and packaging in an exact reproduction heavy old-style cover, with exact repro labels. also includes a double-sided heavy stock insert with a bunch of great vintage photos of eddie rockin’ the marshall stacks at the ‘false ego’ sessions, plus new notes from eddie, his wife donna-davi, and album producer robert berry. one time pressing of 700 copies.
way obscure hollywood private press. super weird beatnik folk psych calypso comedy album. pretty funny really, and an amazingly strange cover. EX/EX.
evan caminiti is a guitarist full of big ideas and even bigger sounds. currently known as one-half of the san francisco bay area avant-droners barn owl, caminiti has spent a great deal of time the past few years playing and recording gorgeous solo explorations focused primarily on the guitar but, when need be, accented by additional instrumentation. following several prior releases, caminiti’s abilities have been honed to the razor-sharp point of his new lp, west winds. three lobed recordings is proud to present this album, caminiti’s most mature and meditative to date. west winds is a discourse on solitude and cosmic exploration set primarily to an open tuned guitar. it is a logical successor to caminiti’s strong, large(r) scale solo debut, psychic mud shrine (digitalis, 2009) and calls to mind roy montgomery, hex-era earth, and popul vuh. the album is the result of caminiti’s six-month-long focus on each song’s form and musical composition. over that span of time, caminiti assembled and came to know each song intimately, constructing a series of strong structural bases. that knowledge permitted him to record the final takes accentuated by numerous potent improvisational flourishes as heard on west winds. this long-form approach of adding chaotic, off-the-cuff elements to such long-crafted tracks is basically the opposite approach to that which is used within the context of barn owl. through its contemplative tone, west winds is the perfect soundtrack to your next night alone in the literal or figurative desert. it is a bold and cohesive statement from a young artist already capable of recording greatness… includes free download. limited edition of 600 in a cool screen printed cover. already sold out at source so don’t sleep on it.
US press spiral vertigo label SEALED original from this way overlooked liverpool talent. this lp gushes with ideas and hits on everything from acidfolk to full on psych to classic uk prog featuring members of BADFINGER. gatefold cover. SEALED NM.
canamii’s concept is a great obscure south african progressive folk rock album with excellent female vocals by claire whittaker. it reminds of the best uk mid ’70s progressive groups. a must have for all spriguns, renaissance and early curved air fans. insert with group photos and lyrics included. limited edition, deluxe 180 gram vinyl, from the original master tapes, exact reproduction of the original artwork.
recent reissue of cool spanish psych rarity. weird marks on two tracks that look bad but do not effect play. otherwise new/mint.
great archival release collecting his awesome early (pre safe as milk) 45s. very short play time. long out of print. EX/VG++.
car commericals are generally uncomfortable; probably shifty-eyed loners that barely leave the basement. their brand of strictly personal suburban ooze was borne deep within the recesses of new jersey, just east of i-95. more specifically, this music springs from inside that unspeakable zone deep within the mind where feelings get very messy. david sutton and daniel dimaggio, the duo known as car commercials, make mysterious fake rock clatter for heavy petting (yeah right). following a brief stint as gt performers, daniel and david began to make duo recordings as car commercials a few years ago, releasing their creepy missives in small runs, mostly for sutton’s leaf leaf label. the two have tapped into an aspect of nonsensical nihilism that makes jad fair’s early recordings so alluring, but have forgone his obsession with cartoon horror and monster movies in favor of faces of death i thru vi. eric’s diary is the second lp release from car commericals, following the out-of-print judy’s dust lp (cenotaph) from early 2008. those confounded by judy’s dust will be pleased to know that eric’s diary is where things get…intense. breathe deep, and prepare to scratch yr head faster than you can say ‘home blitz.’ lp edition of 200 with full color paste-on sleeves… great!
here is a great surprise for us. an unknown uk album with such a great musical potential. musically it is a very powerful guitar dominated underground rock such as black sabbath, blue cheer, dark or grannie. the rarity factor is way above all those other rare uk albums, which stay in low pressings of 99 copies and 15-20 such as dark. this one has been pressed only 4 times ever. in september 1971 eugene carnan entered a uk-wide competition for ‘best new band’ run by the famous melody maker magazine, they recorded the album in 1972 and took it to london to eden studios for a demo pressing and cut 4 acetates. eugene carnan a 3 piece band are from sheffield, uk with guitar & vocals, bass and drums. all own composition. a killer album from beginning to end…. 500 numbered copies, 180gm vinyl, insert, etc.
brand new 2009 recordings of galactic guitar ooze, laid down in nyc usa. hand silkscreened gold on matte black covers. edition of 258.
this is the companion release to the tom carter cd titled shots at infinity 1 being release on important simultaneously. shots at infinity 2 is two long live tracks in the same mode as shots at infinity 1, but more cut loose and blown out, recorded in nemo bidstrup’s record store and burnt hills’ basement jam zone. tom carter is a guitar player best known for his work with acclaimed psych-drone iconoclasts charalambides. since 2000, however, he has become increasingly active as not only a solo artist but as a collaborator. he has performed with improvising musicians as diverse as thurston moore, jandek, tetuzi akiyama, matt valentine, and many others, as well as being a key member in groups like badgerlore (with ben chasny of six organs of admittance), friday group, mudsuckers (with robert horton and the yellow swans), and zaika (with marcia bassett of the double leopards and hototogisu). carter’s solo work covers a lot of territory, but latter-day sightings show him to be concentrating on looped guitar drones of immensely stacked beauty, with heaps of psychedelic melodic content missing from the repertoires of many noise and drone bands. his influences include everyone from lamonte young to david crosby… limited vinyl.
nice clean copy of this very good and pretty overlooked album, featuring JIMMY PAGE on guitar. heavy gatefold cover. orig. inner sleeve. tiny saw cut to spine. EX+/EX++.
during the last euro tour of wolf eyes, john olson (of american tapes, spykes, guam river etc – ) and mike connelly (of gods of tundra, hair police, failing lights etc – ) decided it was enough! they screamed “i’m not going to bed!!! i never wanne sleep again!!!”, they missed their flights and stayed in antwerp with the ultra audiobored horror crew for 7 more weeks without food and drinks, just dry weed and cancerbags to suck on! after that intense test to see if they could adapt to the antwerp life style, they finally met up with legendary belgian eccentric cacti and hat collector cassis cornuta, this psychadelic caracter brought his whole space synth and tape lab over to radio centraal to record an intense last gasp jam with the hardly breathing olson and connelly, the end result is an amazing trip to space and back to the mental hospital! like pouring lighter fluid and tabasco up your genitals or like olson states it so beautifully; like pissing on your own hand, freezing it and then using it as a lollypop for 5 days! comes in a gross 6 panel cover design and with an etch on the b side! – very limited. amazing packaging!
super rare french private press underground basement folk psych kinda like BOOK OF AM on a lo-fi bad ergot trip! totally raw, damp, dark vibes but with real strong energy & intensity. trad folk delivered like wild pagan romps, mixed with deeply psychedelic acidfolk originals. all acoustic but really blown-out with guitars, autoharp, banjo male/female and great mystical flute work. all english lyrics. pretty unknown album but this one leaves a strong impression on everybody lucky enough to hear it. future reissue on time-lag records… very small pressing with crude screen printed cover. this copy has the very rare paste-on back cover insert. cover has general age wear, sticker stain, small top & spine splits. nice wax with just hairlines & lite scuffs. cheap pressing but plays well. VG+/EX-.
private press tough hardrock / metal. great looking front cover could easily be 60s private acidfolk till you see the dudes on the back! i am kinda curious about the “special effects guitar tracking unit” invented by the guitarist… should be CLEAR WAX. very minor corner wear but STILL SEALED NM-/S.
ceylon mange is the trio of dylan nyoukis (chocolate monk proprietor and sound molder in blood stereo, decaer pinga), karen constance (blood stereo, smack music 7) and bill nace (x.o.4, vampire belt). the maiming path extends from the group’s previous mind melts with two side long (de)constructions that are assembled from a variety of mangled loops and electronics, guitar feedback/slaughter and cromagnon vocals. the results are a murky stew, as each emerging sound creeps upon the listener like a blackened sloth nightmare. it’s the type of organic brain tangle that is rarely unleashed by the spirits these days. the lp is pressed in an edition of 410 and housed in a full-colour printed sleeve featuring karen’s outsider artwork – killer dirty droning noise. out of print first pressing.
a great puerto rican garage psych group who sang in english, with pleasant multi-part vocal leads sitting atop more engrossing latin rhythms and instrumental flourishes, fine fuzz guitar work and screaming farfisa organ. this is the first time reissue for lp of this rare central-south american psychedelic vinyl – elaborate lp-only reissue, super heavy full color gatefold sleeve, poster and obi – awesome album!
late 60s / early 70s xian lounge pop. in shrink. NM-/EX+.
long-, long-, long-, loooooong-awaited and singular entry in the charalambides and klang industries discographies; one of those “does it really exist?” items that’s finally seeing daylight, or moonlight. a stark, unsettling and beautiful slice of duo charlambides invocation/incantation, taken from the period between jason bill and heather leigh murray’s tenures with the band and featuring extraordinary chord organ and vocal work from christina and some signature lap steel mastery from tom. fans of the band’s most recent, more song-based work will find this relevatory, long-time listeners will say “ahhhh” and settle in for the flight. heavy vinyl, limited pressing, cover handiwork by tom, the first release in years from klang and a sign perhaps of a truly epic revival… nice!
new release of eldritch origin featuring historic recordings of two nearly-complete sets from the “market square”-era charalambides lineup, featuring the core duo of tom & christina carter + jason bill. one side is from the cooler, nyc, at the 1995 cmj fest (swirling vox sound courtesy kurt wolf), where strapping fieldhands got their fender twin stolen, and bill orcutt & i witnessed the unrepentant use of string-eze by the gtrist from cobra verde. the other side is from the 1994 siltbreeze festival at the khyber pass in philly. both sets consist of freak-rock tracks from “market square” & “strangle the wretched heavens,” heavy on analog atmosphere & ecstatic/blown-out gtr/vox interconnectivity.
charlie nothing was the fractured-psyche pseudonym of author, father, horsekeeper, organic farmer, beekeeper, philosopher, clown and inventor of the dingulator (guitar sculptures made from american car metal), charles martin simon. charlie’s only visible offering to the record buying public was really anything but. due to it’s rarity, the psychedelic saxophone of charlie nothing, issued by takoma records in 1967, has been a source of consternation for in-the-know types for years. outside / inside, the second and only other charlie nothing lp, originally issued by everitt enterprises in 1969, thematically follows with two sidelong flute-based instrumentals. nowhere on wax will you find more palpable preserved air of a real-time dropout scene than with these sides of nothing. it is a wonder that these records circulated at all outside the vacuum in which they were created. nothingness, a california existentiality looping back on itself, preserved and disseminated as evidence. there are indeed very few records like these. fully authorized / fully legit.
nice original copy of this monster rare deranged heavy french acid psych scorcher! really insane album thats a total top shelf item for heavy psych collectors. chico’s vocal are downright out of this world, babbling & screaming stream of consciousness madness and senseless, wordless free expression. think DAMO SAZUKI and MALCOLM MOONEY rolled into one face-tripping frenchman and you’ll be pretty close. the band is equally unhinged with relentless hendrix worshiping guitar pyrotechnics, driving bass, and heavy-ass drums… mix that all with production & wild studio/tape effects/loops from avant genius JEAN-PIERRE RAWSON and you’re in for one hell of a powerful trip. stunning full color (not like the recent reissue) fragile laminated flip-back cover. cover has a tight small bottom seam split, beginning very minor spine crack, and a small half inch tear at opening. all barely noticeable, and looks just about perfect from the front. label are near perfect with a couple faint spindle marks on either side. heavy wax has a handful of lite hairlines & paper scuffs, but full of shine and full fidelity preserved. nice keeper copy for sure. very rare, unique and recommended album. EX+/EX.
summer 06 family underground (dk) recorded with dave nuss of nnck at black dirt studios in the woods of upstate ny. the yield was as characteristically unhinged as one might expect: sweeping electronic sounds backed with wood and bone percussion spirit-conjure. however also harvested was some new and especially tasty crop: sung and spoken song, electric guitar/conga “rock,” and an odd ghostly sheen coating the entire proceeding.…
susan christie was a philly-based sophomore folk singer who had one novelty hit for a major label and never quite recovered…and afterwards, her psychedelic take on country standards and hand crafted tales of inner-city solitude that was backed by a break heavy folk-funk rhythm section was never accepted as a commercial viability by record company big-wigs: they obviously couldn’t quite muster their ‘nostradamus’ sensibilities to foresee what future hip-hop producers and djs would be feeding into digital music-machines 30 years down the line! luckily three-fifths of a handful (literally three!) privately pressed vanity copies were manufactured in early 1970, one of which became the source material for this b-music release, nesting in the finders keepers’ ever-expanding library of obscure, obtuse, obsolete and obsessive vintage music from the ’60s and ’70s. the uber-legend john hill (who penned the mind-blowing acid rock floor-filler ‘love love love love love’ for wool) produced this release: which features 8 tracks including a twelve minute drugsploitation epic called ‘yesterday – where’s my mind’ featuring the enigmatic susan flipping vocal styles between janis joplin and margo guryan (who was in fact a close friend of susan’s at the time of recording.… pretty wild & great one. nice gatefold covers. limited.
1968 hollywood, usa. the churchill downs recorded 16 great tracks at the studio from famous producer gary s. paxton. the band was very young at the time but the musical output was on the highest level you can imagine with a damn good production. how a band like this not become famous is a mystery. fantastic compositions, great multi vocal singing, strong guitars, organ, drums, bass, effects, everything you desire to get catchy underground songs with tons of great ideas in it to make those songs unique and out of bounce and not middle of the road. it is just what we love about the productions of phil spector and andrew loog oldham. the churchill downs are one of the best us unknown albums among beauregard ajax and public nuisance. with don adey on guitar and vocals, gary dalton stovall guitar and vocals, dirk acree bass and vocals, mick newton keyboards and vocals, al stigler and fred darling on drums. if we could go back in time, let’s say 40+ years and release this album in 1968 we would have been rich. why this album was never been pressed is still a mystery. so for the first time ever those great songs made it onto vinyl. we love it… numbered edition of 500, 180gm vinyl, 2 page insert, etc.
nice import only WHITE VINYL pressing. great 1976 archival recordings from ex-QUICKSILVER guitar hero. cover is still in shrink. some loose dirt under the shrink, but cover very clean. nice wax. EX++/EX+.
years passed since the last full length – and circle bros turned from a pure ambient-esque unit into a more song-oriented unit; expect adventurous singer-song improvisation. circle bros is the project of wim lecluyse, the man behind morc records. just as with morc records, circle bros doesn’t focus on quantity – this is the first circle bros full length album since late 2001. on haven, you’ll still hear echoes from the classic drone-outfits likes of windy and carl or azusa plane, but the sound palette is no longer focussed just on guitars. organ, vocals and sound-collages give the recordings a very warm tone, and sometimes refer to the experimental pop- and folk structures of e.g. richard youngs, grouper or castanets.
… really nice new album from this overlooked project. screen printed covers, limited edition of only 143 copies.
these two morc bands wrote their best songs yet to put on this split lp. this album is the perfection of both bands’ sounds – good stuff!
arkades catches a session finnish group, circle, recorded exclusively for wfmu during their us tour, september 19, 2005. comprising two lengthy pieces taking up a side each,”the greatest kingdom” and “the ghost of the highway,” the record focuses on the bands often spacy improv underpinning and applies new meaning to a vision which strides powerfully over the line dividing apocalyptic dread from a semblance of hope. agonized wailing, screams and torrents of molten sound dance ghostly shapes over psychedelic keyboard patterns, distant clattering, moonlit guitars and a rhythm section so carefully tempered that its impossible not to feel the chemistry at work. coupled to a fantastic sleeve which illustrates a homage to spaghetti western films and includes fitting notes by wfmu’s program director, brian turner, arkades proves what these new wave of finnish heavy metallers are capable of when they leave most of the rock at the door. file somewhere near acid mothers temple after having been given the kinda makeover only the scandinavians have the formula for. indeed, this is sweet shit – limited!
beautifully presented album from this great band. white wax, clear gloss on white cover, metallic printed label, limited to 500 and looong gone. with label insert. NM-/NM.
a lovely vinyl reissue on etude records of a long obscure climax golden twins gem. originally issued in 1995, on cassette, eerie fragrance or eyeless fabrication or exclude frank or eat fuck or etc (forever) was climax golden twins second official issue after a self-released double seven inch gatefold record. cassettes–the cockroach of the industry–were a necessity at the poorer end of the music spectrum prior to cdrs and file sharing…the good old days…ef was a collage of noise, found sounds, punk rock disasters, chinese climaxes, broken records, and tape failures mastered directly to cassette on a reverberant wooden floor in an old building in seattle, washington. it seemed an inauspicious start and little presaged the ambient/dreamy/art installation/field recording/anomalous records darlings cgt were to become with releases such as lovely, dream cut short in the mysterious clouds, locations, etc. however, secret free hillbilly noise epilepsy has always lurked under the button up shirts, white wine sipping and gallery-opening snack-munching. the noise informs the dreams which informs the ambiance which informs the chaos and so back to the beginning and vice-versa. etude records discovered cgt through their work on the horror film session nine and have been wanting to release something ever since. part band, part art project, climax golden twins were discovered lurking under a desk in a laboratory in the early 1920s. reconstituted around 1993 or 4 (just add gin), they perpetrated various audio artifacts on an unsuspecting (and cold) world (see extensive and largely mythical list below). these days they are the cgt in afcgt. and they released victrola favorites recently on dust to digital. their laboratory origins lead to a an unhealthy interest in early recording and the era of music on 78rpm records and cylinders, a time of acoustic sound reproduction when oral traditions ended and the home entertainment industry and the information age devoured our puny lives. that’s a mouthful. this era was a pivotal one in understanding how humanity arrived where it is today, though climax golden twins denies all knowledge of where that might be.
fresh off a new killer kranky full-length, bi-continental teutonic duo cloudland canyon grease the gears on a piston-pumping motorik ramp into futurist motion, gliding drones & mechanic rhythm. seamless & dreamless. on the b nnf extended family m beast drop 2 perfect soul caravan wanderlust blues drifters. real gorgeous, and a great teaser for their in-the-works full-length for drag city subsidiary language of stone. with art by crops + rawber best friend diva dompe.
beautiful 2nd pressing of this great dark krautrock synth dronefest. different cover art from the philips pressing. thin fully laminated cover almost perfect other then one tiny corner bend. equally clean wax. NM-/NM-.
originally released in 1972, this is the second album by legendary german ambient pioneers dieter moebius and hans-joachim roedelius. moebius and roedelius essentially create ambient electronic soundscapes that ebb and flow, droning on in a suspended world of anti-gravity where machine has conquered man.
delight in the stream is the first solo vinyl outing for john clyde-evans (aka tirath singh nirmala) in close to a decade. recorded during a year-long stay in india, the album seamlessly weaves together an array of piercing bowed objects, flutes and voice with electronic and audio embellishments over the course of three extended tracks. the scattering of sounds swirl around to disorienting effect yet still manage to mesmerize as the music draws itself out. pressed in a limited edition of 300 copies.
turner has been kicking around the nyc folk scene for quite a few years now, but this is, perhaps inexplicably, his first foray onto wax. while most singer / songwriters’ these days seem to draw most of their water from iron and wine via pavement and back again, turner sounds like he began his musical education listening to gershwin player piano rolls and quit buying records somewhere around the time dylan brought it all back home. lyrically, turner can turn a phrase with the best of ‘em, and the gloriously ramshackle accompaniment is mungo jerry meets herman dune sharing a squat in tin pan alley. this lp combines two of turner’s self-released cds, and is as good an introduction to his wonderful music as any. here’s what jeweled antler head honcho glenn donaldson sez about turner:”cody is pre-war, old testament & a confederate general from big sur.” err’nuff said, no?
walking up walls is the second solo album from long-time musician and visual artist alice cohen. in contrast to her previous studio efforts, these are raw home recordings with an intensely personal vibe. the sixteen short song-sketches alternate between densely layered shoegaze burners and shimmering, ethereal drifters. exploring shadowy corners and using the musical equivalent of automatic writing — this was considered to be a sonic diary and not originally intended for release. for reference points think pink opaque-era cocteau twins filtered through the early ’90s lens of new zealanders like alastair galbraith & sandra bell.
nice mellow drone folk mood music with classical guitar, sitar, moog, and plenty of odd electronics. VG+/EX-.
there can only be one bongo joe, and that is the incredible george coleman. bongo joe is perhaps the world’s only virtuoso player of the empty oil drum, a man so ingenious that he could even turn petroleum refuse into something musical and sublime. recorded on the streets of san antonio in 1969 by chris strachawitz (arhoolie records). bongo joe drums on his oil cans with a thunderous, tympani-like effect, while discoursing rambling, insightful and hilariously funny lyrics that are often times more stories than songs. as joe himself put it, ‘i rap but not that bullshit they’re putting down now. i play fundamental beat music.’ whether draping his drums with an american flag or washing them in swirls of psychedelic green and red paint, there’s something beyond the typical street-corner busker in bongo joe’s persona, unbridled quality that isn’t just musical, but draws on a tradition of pure entertainment. one of the true treasures of the arhoolie catalog for many years. try ‘innocent little doggie’ (if you think joe was just a novelty act, listen closely to the poignant insightfulness of the lyrics), ‘transistor radio’ (more wry commentary) and ‘dog eat dog.’ one of our favorites, available on vinyl for the first time in 39 years.
after 2004′s critically acclaimed blue cathedral, one might have expected comets on fire to blast off into the cosmos in an infinite flurry of lysergic spasmodicism. surprising, then, that they should turn in an earthy, more accessible and downright beautiful album as their follow-up. then again, it is a completely logical progression, but in reverse, sort of. on avatar their astonishing new album, comets display development in every direction: as musicians, as songwriters, as arrangers and as singers (?!), without sacrificing one ounce of the intensity that is expected from our heroes. as on blue cathedral, the diversity of the material is staggering. avatar veers from swinging, bluesy explorations to piano-laced, progressive power balladry, to pure tribalism, evoking everyone from the allmans, to quicksilver, to procol harum, to some insane fela/sun ra/crazy horse hybrid, yet remains wholly comets on fire. though they play cleaner and clearer, their firepower is evident and abundant. they have shifted gears and opened themselves up completely. you should do the same.
blue cathedral is the third album from comets on fire and their first for sub pop. it is also the bay area band’s most varied and richly textured album yet. with their first two albums, (2001′s self-titled debut/self-released and 2002′s field recordings from the sun on ba da bing!) they established themselves as flag-bearers of modern psychedelia. however, where their previous efforts are full-tilt psychedelic affairs, blue cathedral is harder to pin down (which elusiveness we heartily support). their trademark sound is here enriched by more structured, keyboard-driven jams, churning blue oyster cult-ish chooglers and slow burners reminiscent of harvest-era pink floyd. they recently opened a string of dates for sonic youth and have also played shows with rocket from the tombs, dead meadow and dead moon, sunburned hand of the man and more. they also made a big fan outta lord head on high, julian cope, who said of them: comets on fire deserve our gratitude for their distillation of all the best rock riffs since high rise’s take on blue cheer. naturally, we agree.
now expanded to a four piece, common eider, king eider have crafted yet another blast of high-end wind chill that whips through the empty spaces in your skull. more stories of flora and fauna that hang beautifully in dynamic rooms of piano, strings, voices; and stargazing guitar explosions born of layer after layer of feedback. this ghost world is all gray and black, with a high condensation of loss penetrating throughout. moonlight occasionally lights the path, but for the most part, prepare to be lost in the woods. liz harris (grouper) and tom carter (charalambides) on the tracks ‘ennui’ and ‘earth liver’ add to the overall sense of dread… cool foldout poster cover.
bill cooley and alan munson were two friends in santa barbara, california, living their early 20s writing folk-rock songs for their pleasure. that was 1972, and they decided to put these songs into the studio, self-produce the album and press a tiny quantity of 500 pieces hoping it could help getting a contract with a major company. this never happened, as you would have guessed, and sure this fact helped making their sole album, ‘in debt,’ a major collectable item for folk-rock and psychedelic rock listeners and collectors. being a private pressing, you can easily imagine it’s not a big production, but who cares. this album has the right feel and you won’t need anything else to make it one of your faves. all tracks are original compositions, and the style is very personal. it’s folk-rock, but many tracks are psychedelic too, in their own way. but don’t look close for influences, they will not come to mind easily. bill and alan had their own psychedelic folk-rock style, and the raw, sometimes amateurish feel that these recordings have give the album the final distinctive touch. never reissued before in any format, now here we come with a splendid reissue, with the collaboration of the guys. remastered sound taken from the master tapes… great stuff.
live at the hint house might be considered a field rec. in as much as it is a recording of an ambience or soundscape. made on my first ever trip to mainland america to play music this is the 2nd set of that evening, the 1st set had been an acoustic one of songs and slide guitar. at the start of the 2nd set i quickly realised that my guitar was not working and rather than stop and attempt to find out what was wrong i decided to just continue and improvise with what was at hand on the table in front of me. a casio sk1 sampler keyboard, a yamhaha su10 sampling unit with some pre-recorded samples loaded, a mini disc with some tropical ambience rec. from malaysia and a pitch shifter delay pedal. i was not very happy with what happened that night and when matt zwed gave me two cd-rs the next day i don’t remember giving much attention to the 2nd set. five years on, coincidently to the day as i write this, i realized he had captured more than me trying to get through the piece. it was me, the people in the room, the dog that ran around barking, the traffic sounds coming through the door that was open right behind me and a whole host of magically transported tropical birds and insects that suddenly found themselves reciting whatever it was in the loft space on the edge of harlem, competing or colluding with all of the above to produce a piece of urban exotica. – mike cooper… black vinyl, cover design/collage by mike cooper. rec. in nyc, 2000.
way obscure private press unknown 2nd lp from this maine folk duo. their first and only other lp ‘for a few lovin’ moments’ is great soft folk with moody/dark undercurrents and has gained a following. this 2nd lp is far rarer, but in more of a live lounge mode. still, cool if you’re a fan and theres a couple solid originals. very obscure looking cover. mostly white cover is kind of dirty. very cheap pressing. VG+/VG+.
dancing wayang records are excited to release the first duo album by london-based double bassist john edwards and us drummer extraordinaire chris corsano called tsktsking. the album was recorded at eastcote studios, london in december 2008. limited to 500 copies it comes housed in hand screenprinted wrap-around sleeves. the accompanying insert features exclusive and humerous liner notes written by uk sax pioneer evan parker. defying the drum and bass’s classic roles as rhythm instruments, edwards and corsano’s tsktsking is a beautifully melodic album. at times corsano’s drumset sounds like it’s got strings whilst edwards’s double bass takes its fair share of scrapes and slaps. extended passages explore the most subtle and some unexpected sounds that can be summoned from metal and timber. equally, possessed progressions and untamed eruptions of energy and power are conjured up. these two musicians prey and pounce on their instruments like it’s their last chance. john edwards is one of the most gifted double bassist playing in the uk and europe. since taking up his instrument in the late 1980s he has become an unparalleled force and choice collaborator for musicians such as evan parker, charles hayward (this heat) and john butcher. in 2008 he released a solo bass record on evan parker’s psi label and continues to push the instrument’s boundaries into unexplored territories. chris corsano is one of the most in-demand free drummers working today. after several years living in manchester and edinburgh where he forged fruitful relationships with mick flower (vibracathedral orchestra) and heather-leigh murray (scorces, jandek), he is now based in massachusetts, usa. first encountering free improvisation in the mid 1990s, corsano is now at the forefront of expanded drumset improvisations both solo and in collaborations with artists such as paul flaherty, thurston moore and six organs of admittance… high quality screen printed covers. limited to 500 copies.
deluxe first ever reissue of this brazilian private press monster rarity. originally custom pressed in 1980, ‘rosa de sangue’ is the closing chapter of the amazing recife psychedelic movement that flourished & centered around the work of lula cortes, beginning in 1973 with the release of satwa, and the creation of ‘abracadabra’, lula’s loose art/music/design collective. leading up to 1980 lula had produced & privately released satwa in 1973 (brazil’s first private press lp) as well as marconi notaro’s ‘no sub reino dos metazoarios’ lp that same year (featuring the recording debut of ze ramalho). he then started the legendary but incredibly short lived ‘solar’ label, releasing only two albums: 1975’s ‘paebiru’ double album, and a year later the lone album by flaviola. as if that wasn’t enough, he was also heavily involved in other productions and performed on many seminal albums coming out of the region, including many collaborations with alceu valenca… by the close of the 70s the heavily utilized rozemblit recording studio / pressing plant had been destroyed by repeated floods, abracadabra had run its course, and along with lula’s marriage, the solar label was no more. so ‘rosa de sangue’ was conceived as a bookend & tribute to this closing era; as lula himself states “i want to close all of this with a golden key”… and a golden key it is. entering a small local studio with a head full of songs and his freshly road tested ‘mountains band’, lula created an album simply overflowing with ideas. along with his power trio backing, he was further assisted by many old friends dropping in, including, among many others : alceu valenca, flaviola, ze de flauta & paulo rafael. with hints of the past era and of things to come, it is a truly wild audio experience, covering many styles & moods. from crazed ethno folkrock, to magical, gentle, jungle folk psych zones, to hard hitting, coke dusted fuzz rock, to insane mutant disco dance floor groove, to tweaked americana, to acid vocal raga trance, and way beyond… all throughout lula’s beautiful tricordio work pins things down, and for the first time he is the main vocalist (this is, after all, his first “solo” album!) his is a smoke & booze steeped voice darting between crazed abandon, deep sadness, and glowing soulful humor. when things are mellow, you could easily imagine you’re hearing an outtake from marconi notaro or paebiru, but the next moment you’re dropped into a raging street party or dimly lit booze drenched bar scene vibe… frenzied guitars all over, including some tough fuzz, as well as powerful rolling bass groove, soaring violin, moog weirdness, dusted backup vocals, and great drum kit / regional percussion interplay. psychedelic at heart, but brimming with flashes of tropicalia, punk, prog, and pure hot blooded rock & roll… a bizarre & amazing album. but of course, the story doesn’t end there… at some point while the album was being recorded & pressed lula signed a major label contact which would produce 1981’s far tamer ‘o gosto novo da vida’ lp. when his new label got wind of ‘rosa de sangue’s eminent release, they were displeased to say the least. as soon as the pressing was complete, the entire small edition was seized & destroyed, making this album by far brazil’s rarest. so rare, in fact, that even among the most hardcore brazilian collectors the original lp is often only rumored to exist, often cited as ‘unreleased’… a few copies did however survive, and now, 29 years later, the world can finally hear this “golden key” from a truly visionary artist… packaged in a heavy vintage style cover with exact reproduction original artwork, including the huge full color, double sided, foldout poster insert, plus an extra insert featuring new liner notes from lula cortes as well as translated song titles. 180gm audiophile virgin vinyl pressing with exact repro label art. limited edition one time pressing of 1000 copies.
this is the third volume of work for folkways by one of the most important acoustic guitarists of the 20th century, originally released in 1965. produced by musician alice gerrard and recorded by folklorist/musician mike seeger, when i’m gone is the perfect introduction to the queen of folk-blues. an absolute classic lovingly reissued in a perfect replica of the original folkways jacket and including a reproduction of the original information booklet… top notch official reissue of this gem.
rare original first pressing stereo copies of the sole lp from this too short lived and all time teenage garage psych classic. overflowing with killer fuzz hooks, punk-ass vocals, primitive grooves, and some awesome moody folkrock tracks. 100% solid. SEALED EX-/M.
brand new lp with dirty sounds from cousins of reggae, montreal based 2 man mind fuck. utilizing guitar, drums, turntables and voice. ( featuring blake hargreaves of dreamcatcher, fluorescent friends…& liam thurston of orphanage…) go for a trip via 2 different pieces, heavy, loud, hit electric noise & fatal attack. first vinyl release for parisian noise anti brutal pro violence lubriphikatttor (with members of zaraz wam zagram, tg, napalm jazz, ero babaa…) long tune ‘babypute’ / death of flowers & elaborated destruction… 319 copies in silkscreened covers.
extremely rare arizona private press rural downer acidfolk that is hardly ever offered. desperate sounding vocals, tabla, haunting flute, female backing vocals in a few spots, and some nice acidic electric guitar weaving through in places. not totally striking on first listen, but seems to grow quickly on all who hear it. seriously crude cover art is too much to believe! some info from the artist himself : “mike craig daughter of the moon reordered at desert sound recording studio (1973) released new years eve (1974) after the success of mike’s first album the producers decided that a second album was needed to be put out in a hurry. they determined to take mikes music in a different direction. the album cover was to be controversial and odd so artist/model maggie blackburn was commissioned her cover turned out to be odder than was hoped for. there was no time to change it so it went to press. the all female back up band (cantaloupe island band) was brought into the studio and the album was recorded (in the early 1970’s female bands were considered novelty acts and were not considered to be serious musicians) mike was frustrated with the direction his music was going in. by the time the recording was done mike severed all ties with this band and became reclusive. this album was doomed when it went to the record pressing plant the first stampers had a flaw on them and an unknown number were pressed with the flaw in them before there quality control people found it. by this time the producers of the album were mad at mike for not wanting to work with or go on the road with the girl band. so they pulled there money out leaving mike with the rest of the bills. mike went to the record plant and took the stampers so no more of the albums could be made. the record plant had shipped out possibly 200 of these albums before mike was able to stop them.” … so there you have it. only 200 or less copies pressed! solid cover with only mild general wear. perfect labels. vinyl is virtually unplayed, but has a handful of lite hairlines & paper scuffs from poor storage over the years. solid copy for sure, and not likely to be popping up for sale again any time soon. VG++/VG++.
crash coffin’s eponymous album was originally released privately in 1974 on the mus-i-col label. it is very rare and sought after by early ’70s us psychedelic collectors worldwide. not unjustly so, since it contains one of the best psychedelic songs ever recorded (‘god loves the loser’) and a couple of other great moody psych tracks. it contains 2 unreleased bonus tracks from the same period. limited edition of 500, deluxe 180g vinyl, heavy original cover and insert with group history. insert also contains a sketch of what the original cover was supposed to become — if it were not for lack of funds — that led to an original release with plain white covers — half of them carrying crash coffin’s signature.
great title! damaged underground sounds from EDDIE FLOWERS and co. hand stamped labels. paste-on cover and hand stamped ESP ripoff back cover. EX++/EX+.
original purple/white/brown original pressing of their best album. bit of corner damage lower right. VG++/VG+.
super strange tennessee private press from 1980 that has some real charms. sexually confused drug addled amateur folkrock with nature concerns and some rather deep, moody, and very cool tracks. its a fun unique listen all through. i dig this one, especially the way its simultaneously early 70s throw-back and proto mid 80s lo-fi girl folk. not many albums can make that claim… awesome cover art too. VG+/EX+.
another scarce private press college comp ala PERSPECTIVE, RIGHT OF LITTLE REST, TOOL SHED, etc. this ones from earlham college, richmond indiana. from nice trad folk (mattie groves, lark in the morning, etc.) to cool downer folk originals, and even a cool avant electronics piece. a few real gems, a few duds, but over all a cool one. nice ultra obscure crude b&w cover. pressing is poor causing slight warping, but it plays fine. only a couple hundred or less pressed. VG++ /VG+.
stunning original copy of this private press teen acid garage monster. one of the best in the bag, which has had a huge rep since the dawn of interest in obscure garage/psych with good reason. snotty howling brain-dead vocals, relentless ripping fuzz/wah guitar, crisp & loud grooving organ, echo effects, pounding caveman drums, acid lyrics, etc. the handful of fast fuzz psych blasters are total crushers. to my ears the slower numbers work well in the context also, giving some variation and still keeping plenty of raw edge, especially ‘flower girl’ with its beautiful chiming bell melody. i don’t think this guy could sing softly if he tried… set apart from 90% of other such tiny private press lps by the amazingly high quality recording and pressing which is total top notch. amazing crisp clear fidelity, both in the actually recording & in the impressively hi-fi pressing, which is a pretty powerful combination. this one jumps out of your speakers and right up into your face. only 500 copies pressed so always a rare one. amazing thick full color metallic printed cover art adds to the vibe perfectly. high quality thick wax too. cover is amazingly perfect in full shrink. shrink has a small tear on back where the cover was signed by grady pope in 1985, with the shrink then clear taped neatly back into place. pristine vinyl. NM/NM.
first memoirs vinyl lp release! the essence of outsider psychedelic electronics composed and performed by phil todd (ashtray navigations, inca eyeball, hitler airbag etc). influences include cccc, jean-claude eloy, master wilburn burchette, metal machine music, incapacitants, old fairground rides, the sound of low flying planes over ls6 especially the latter etc. punk’s not dead, it just stinks of silver spraypaint – crazy silver spray painted recycled covers with paste-on art. numbered/limited edition of only 200 copies, so act fast!
the much-anticipated blast-off release for speer and his band. recently rewarded 5 stars in time out mag by the music editor, this album is a landmark in laid-back blues and country songwriting, feat. members of nnck and sunburned. -s@1. the inimitable mr. speer coined the term himself upon titling his pre-helix full length releases… forgotten country. not so much a forgotten people of a state or a rural area. not so either some south’s gonna rise again moonshine. more so a return to a way of presenting a music in the context of a tradition (something those boys in the band are pretty high on.) but this isn’t your grandfather’s bakersfield we’re dealing with. tho’ the tongue of the balladeer may spin tales ripe with a cast of characters including “the pastor” randolph healey, cheese frog, the man from hhs, uncle ernie, that guy with the black mustache and red caddy who stole your girl, and the true born sons of levi, he sings them not only with the twang of the roadhouse, but tainted with the grit of the streets of the big city. as one casual listener once noted to the band after a performance, “you guys play both types… country and psych.” and it’s true that the sounds contained on after hours do act on the mind as much as they tug at the heartstrings. replete with tales of mental instability, infidelity, drunken advice, wartime hucksters, heartbreak, and redemption, the first album by d charles with his backing band will surely immediately stand out amongst the shards of gothic americana that litter our fair sonic landscape… beautifully done release on this great new label! 180gm vinyl, heavy screen printed flipback covers, heavy insert. recommended.
it is a tremendous understatement to say that it is with grand excitement that three lobed recordings is proud to announce the release of distillation by d. charles speer & the helix. for the last couple of years we have been continually excited by each of the fruits that have resulted from speer/helix collaboration. for our money, last year’s after hours album was one of the best released by anyone. distillation only ups the ante from that prior full length by elaborating upon some of the musical themes from the late 2008 “in madagascar” 7”. the resulting album presents a tightly focused modern honky tonk quintet more than happy to blur the lines between country, psychedelia and the overall american musical tradition. consisting on this album of d. charles speer (aka dave shuford from the no neck blues band and enos slaughter), hans chew (last seen providing some ripping piano accompaniment on “fishtown flower” from jack rose’s the black dirt sessions), marc orleans (enos slaughter, sunburned hand of the man), jason meagher (no neck blues band, coachfingers) and rob gregory (the suntanama), the helix are a seriously experienced and talented crew. distillation was recorded over time between the winter and summer of 2008 at the band’s home away from home, meagher’s black dirt studios in westtown, new york. margot bianca guests on backing vocals on a few of the album’s tracks. the album starts off in monstrously infectious form with the leadoff track, “mason dixon crime”. the track’s propulsive, rolling rhythm, dueling guitars and soaring chorus offer the perfect foil to speer’s ever-present baritone vocals. to those new to the band, “mason dixon crime” provides the perfect introduction to speer’s captivating narrative gift. he is a singer who is capable of simultaneously spinning a masterful tale using a delivery that leaves the listener feeling like there is something hidden and secret being held just out of sight. other prime examples of this gift are evident throughout “open season” and its soaring climax, the plaintive “time changes things” and the swaggering album-closing “shorty (a bastard cat).” while speer’s vocal range is one of the band’s calling cards, the helix also features the unique voice of hans chew’s blazing piano. while chew aims for the fences throughout the rollicking “hardwood floors”, he really gets cut loose (and to spend some time on lead vocal duty) on the seriously jamming “life insurance.” one would be remiss to think that the helix is a one (or two) voice affair though – it is a totally solid full ensemble presentation as is evidenced by the jaunty full band workouts presented within both the instrumental “helical” and the rockin’, rollin’ and beer swillin’ “gravedigger.” distillation is pressed on 180g rti vinyl and housed within an old-style stoughton gatefold sleeve bearing new artwork from both turner williams and the band. as a bit of a first for three lobed, the album will be accompanied by a download coupon for drm-free mp3s of the album. distillation is from a one-time pressing of 891 copies.
a true solo endeavor, this lp is the debut of d. charles speer on long player. recordings over a span of 4 years have been assembled here into a rumination on loss in its many forms – loss of direction, loved ones, home, mental acuity, money, and emotional stability. pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl and limited to 500 copies.
original deluxe reissue of very rare german private press heavy psych with serious west coast leanings, burning duel electric guitars, etc. long out of print & very limited. fragile textured cover & ultra-fragile textured insert. first release on this high quality & collectible reissue label. top copy. NM/NM.
dag are haugan is certainly for most people not the most common name. being half of the legendary norvegian outfit alog made him one of the most original musicians of the last decade. at the start of our label we did carry his debut 7 on myke droner stating it as classic a couple of years further we received this wonderfull demo. you can call it guitar-glitch if you want – the result comes close to a beatless gas, a more guitar-driven novisad, etc – pressed on vinyl-only, with artwork from rune grammofone s kim hiorthoy, this album will make you reconsider electronica (aka the glitch/microsound-movement), while the guitar world will be surprised to see how both, old and new traditions can be melted into one brilliant artwork. the music is very introspective creating different state of minds. sometimes you discover yourself headbanging to what is generally called ambient, while some other tracks put you in a kind of warm blackout. those fans who were waiting for the ideal mix between rocket girl and mego might have found what they been looking for. ltd to 500 copies worldwide.
rare cleveland heavy psych with prog flashes. nice mostly black cover design thats usual very worn, but this copy looks nice. just slight wear, worse on back, and a cut corner. lovely wax. EX-/EX++.
new split lp from these two related groups. daughters of the sun serve up a side-long epic. limited to 500 copies with free download.
daughters of the sun formed and started playing shows in the fall of 2005 with an original lineup that included chris rose of vampire hands on guitar. the band has played the twin cities and midwest since their formation and have recorded a number of albums. the band honed their recordings in their twin cites practice space, but thier eastern psychadelic/shoegazer sound can be attributed to members time spent living in india. this is documented in live field recording on their rings lp. the band summons the mystique and instrumentation of the world’s oldest music balanced against the spiritual limits and possibilities of technological sound. artwork designed and printed by josh of knife world… real cool soundsfrom this newish group, in an awesome multi-color art paper screen printed cover with insert. limited to only 300 copies. fans of the more zoned early raccoo-oo-oon recordings would be well advised to grab a copy. recommended.
vinyl version of their debut originally released by the band in 2007 as a screen printed cd. the lineup consisted of bennett, nick and ryan. recorded at old blackberry way with neil weir. mastered at magneto by brooce templeton. visions of the ocean head was made available on vinyl for the first time in december of 2010 by modern radio, pressing of 300. jacket artwork was painted and designed by lisa luck… cool to have these jams on vinyl now. good stuff.
quite rare MONO PROMO original. way tougher to score then the stereo version, and far superior sounding to these ears. totally killer LA garage/psych burner with great pop sense, serious avant learnings, wicked acid fuzz, awesome effects, and amazingly good use of string/horn arrangements on a few cuts, which is quite a feat itself. the whole thing gushes with cool sounds: garagy organ, harpsichord, strange timings, off-kilter harmonies, dissonance mingling with pop hooks, driving rhythms, pounding bass, even a homemade ‘plasmatar’ that spews burning square wave raga fuzz through the relentless acid psych of ‘mirrors of wood’. front man warren hansen was clearly just busting with creativity. overlooked or underrated by some, but to these ears this kills 90% of the mega-hyped, mega-bucks psych lps out there. think early VELVET UNDERGROUND jamming west cost garage pop ala LOVE and you’ll have a hint of the sound here. awesome. cover has printed promo marking on rear cover. bottom few inches on cover have some moisture damage, mainly just some mildew stops and minor discoloration which blends into the front cover art pretty easily. otherwise a nice cover with just some ring wear on back. hairline scuffs on the wax, but plays great. these mono promo copies total kill the stereo version! VG+/EX-.
clarinettist gareth davis and guitarist steven r smith (hala strana, mirza, thuja) have already collaborated to stunning effect back on 2009’s “westering” released on the important label. this alt.vinyl release sees them gain another notch in history’s belt. the at-first-glance bizarre pairing of these two instruments might conjure up images of anchorless skronk and scratch, however “the line across” is anything but. with each side of the vinyl containing just the one ambitious piece, this duo creates seas of organic drone that live and breathe. unspooling like wisps of smoke, the tones of “other forms of consecrated life” simultaneously conjure exotica and melancholy. what davis and smith manage to pull off here is the sound of flickering reflections in canal tunnels, something beyond drone and soundscaping; 3/4 cloud cover sporadically parting to reveal abyssic drops within it. it is not all intangible drift though; raw guitar sequences (even rhythm parts) appear in the sound as clarinet echoes and violin/fiddle tensions make textures from foreboding trails of drones. if a piece of shorthand could be applied to steven r smith’s playing here, then picture a colour haze or earth trading instrumental punches with derek bailey through a styrofoam cup phone. on the flipside is “the natural history of devastation”, a piece that falls somewhere on the fields far beyond descriptions and sounds of grace and mourning. there are unconscious nods to a gybe! sound here, layered stately string sounds and the chiaroscuro of feedback and waves of black moving across the vinyl. this track is a slow lull of strangled clarion call, orbison’s cold fingers on the guitar and banks of fog leaving only loss in the sound’s wake. things might not at first listen appear like they’re going to be ok in the morning, but familiarity with “the line across” shows that they might just end up close to perfect after all… deluxe edition in super thick textured covers & pressed on 180gm vinyl. limited to 500.
180gm thick cover deluxe reissue of rare danish power trio psych. numbered edition of 450 copies, with insert. in shrink. NM+/NM+.
from denmark 1970; lp in edition of 450 numbered copies, glossy heavy sleeve, 180 gram pressing, insert. the danish group days was formed in copenhagen in the winter 1967/1968 by peter lindhe (drums), john kjaergaard (vocals/rhythm guitar), ole fester (vocals/bass) and lars reinau (vocals/lead guitar). the band’s repertoire was mainly rock and blues oriented with cover versions of songs from john mayall’s bluesbreakers, cream, jimi hendrix and the rolling stones. during 1968/1969, peter lindhe and lars reinau started writing original material to the band and the repertoire started changing from rock/blues cover versions to self-composed, more lyrical songs with elements of the beatles, procol harum and (early) deep purple. in 1969, jørn anker (hammond organ) joined the band and he, too started contributing new original songs to the band. the days lp was recorded in the early summer of 1970 and in 1971 the band split up. days is one the the rarest albums from denmark which also came out on spectator (blues addicts, terje jesper & joachim, moses). it is full of amazing prog tunes with great organ elements and strong fuzz guitar. a killer album from beginning to end.
de kift emerged from a dutch squatters’ movement and the punk waves of the late ’70s and early ’80s. their debut vinyl lp yverzucht was released in 1989. ferry: guitar & brass (svatsox); wim: drums (rondos, the ex); jacco (grrr): bass; maarten: vocals (pistache b.v.). de kift were a tremendous and original force at the time. sparse, rhythmic, angular, yet energetic music. staccato punk with fanfare elements. maarten’s lyrics were recited, spat out and crooned, bleak reflective explorations of the dutch mental state of the times. maarten (as well as jacco) departed the band after debuting yverzucht. out of the ashes, emerged a new conceptual, literary de kift that would play on for 20 years. de kift were part of the squatter movement. playing benefits, raising funds, eyebrows and soundtracking a lifestyle on its last legs.
one copy only. out of print. numbered edition of 500.
one copy only. out of print.
the a side was recorded at the first no fun festival in march 2004 (brooklyn) and features a little comedy to start with and then things get heavy – and the second side is the very first vg kids/wolf den ypsi street level throwdown – our set was live on a 6 color shirt screen press and nate brought a fog machine that blasted out the room and into the parking lot night of the vg complex – near the end you can hear people chucklin cause its absurd – that night was also the first”offical” sick llama, and mi debut of failing lights – great night – dm had a weird 7 small speaker set up on the heads of the press and spun it slighty for that dead-universe dying electronic creeping blast sound – sweet cover art. limited to 500.
when dead western’s soften your screams into sings lp (put out by kdvs) hit the mailbox my first thought was how lovely the sleeve looked, then turning over to see a photo of actual naked modern hippies in a forest (one of which was climbing a tree) i immediately thought i had this whole deal figured out. west coast, future arthurfest participants, etc.; i know pretty much what to expect here. well, it took me a good couple minutes to figure out what speed this thing played at, and when i did discovered this thing to be a real treasure outta left field. fragile instrumentation, heartfelt songs, but a truly alien voice delivering what i can only describe to be what you’d expect peter jefferies in the persona of the pink panther to be, or something similar. woozy, deep, resonant bass vox wobbling around the grooves here which i now know belong to sacramento musican/artist fixture troy mighty who i remember from the free jazz-leaning noiseniks antennas erupt. the variety of instrumentation, while being minimal, is also pretty rich in emotion. – brian turner, wfmu… really stunning album which is visually as beautiful as beautiful as the music. multi-fold, layered screen print & photo art. recommended.
the deadnotes are eugene carchesio, stuart busby and leighton craig, from brisbane in queensland, australia. armed with an arsenal of trumpet, guitar, drums and casio, the trio make a glorious, semi-spontaneous sort of eccentric pop music that’s drawn comparisons (rightly or wrongly) to the likes of ennio morricone, maher shalal hash baz, the magic band, moondog and even the minutemen. since their formation in 2005, the band has written and recorded hundreds of miniature odes to this & that, some of which have seen release in limited cdr editions on craig’s kindling imprint. the 30 tracks that comprise orange trumpet, the trio’s defining statement, are amongst their earliest creations.trained in the ‘school of error,’ the deadnotes’ fractured take on pop form touches upon the sounds of their brethren in brisbane, from the experimental (the lost domain, et al.), to skewed pop (small world experience, et al.), to the city’s moody punk past (the five minutes, et al.). more accurately, orange trumpet plays like a minimalist, mariachi-informed version of grow-up’s the best thing; it’s brimming with ideas & presented with loose abandon. a jaunty melancholy that echoes tori kudo and tenniscoats, is present throughout, regardless if the boys are shuffling thru haunted dirges, garage-y workouts, or other points in between. carshesio’s classic recordings as dne are undeniably a touchtone here as well… orange trumpet is released in an edition of 400 numbered lp copies with full color jackets.
limited edition tour lp for their upcoming joint tour across europe. one side for each of these amazing uk guitarists. cam has two tracks, one beautiful long guitar piece followed by an insane electronics track, that sounds almost like autechre’s more weird static work. spoono is jack allett who is also half of towering breaker. his side consists of three incredible tracks that will no doubt prick up the ears of fans of jack rose. limited to 350… paste-on found photo cover art. great album.
i am very pleased to be releasing the debut lp from sheffield-london-brighton guitar master, cam deas. this follows his two long sold out cdrs on blackest rainbow, and proves once again that he is off the chain! ok, so there’s always gonna be the immediate comparison to james blackshaw, but the sound is different, more aggressive almost and raw… this guitar playing has an edge, its deep and its powerful. the lp consists of three tracks, the a side is an epic almost 20 minute piece entitled ‘the waters of kvaloya’ recorded by ben nash. the b sides and albums title track begins with almost a minute of near silence distant drone, that develops with stomach wrenching string twangs. the closing piece is ‘as spring fell from the leaves’, which was originally issued on ‘for the silver waters, sing!’ cdr last year on br, but has been considered by people who’ve bought his releases and seen cam live as possibly one of the best things he has composed, total genius, with a real blissful, but eventually dark, vibe. this track definitely deserved to be put on wax. mastered by ben nash. limited to 300 copies… really great stuff. fans of jack rose, james blackshaw, etc. will need this one.
red records release #8. deluxe vinyl version of the long gone time-lag cdr from about 4 years back… this group lasted just long enough to leak out a small but highly rewarding series of under-the-radar cassettes & cdrs over a year or two, with this album standing as a clear peak both in terms of scope & execution. as great as the recent offerings from various members have been (aswara, rafi bookstaber, muntjac, moonpie, etc.), there’s a certain youthful charm here that’s hard to miss… a slow & spacious album full of alternating melancholy/ecstatic vibes with raga-esque acoustic guitars, chiming electric guitars, slippery liquid flute, harmonium, sparse percussion, blissed female/male vocal bits, low level bass drone, kosmic synth tickles and damaged tape warble, plus one beauty of a ‘song’… flickering neon smoke rings of sound dissolving into the atmosphere… totally stoned-out, bedroom cult, eyes to the ceiling, half naive, home-fi psychedelia… pressed on 180gm bright red vinyl & packaged in a deluxe heavy 60s style black art paper gatefold cover with white ink screen printed interior and full color paste-on art front and back, plus stamped & hand numbered spine & printed labels. limited edition of 288 copies.
death vessel is joel thibodeau’s work as both a solo artist and band leader. his music, captured on the resplendent record stay close, is an eloquent distillation of a life’s tales. born in berlin, germany before the wall fell… raised in kennebunkport, maine before senior bush’s presidency… this musician lived a childhood where the ghosts of cold war casualties and seaport tragedies haunted the alleyways and beaches. leaving maine as a teenager, thibodeau moved to boston, providence and new york. in providence he was a founding member, songwriter and performer of the group string builder. now as then, thibodeau captures the surreal and the sublime in wondrous song. thibodeau’s vocal delivery is astonishing. perhaps his singing is best-described as descendent from ‘the high lonesome sound’ — unleashed upon the world by roscoe holcomb in the early 1960s. with this voice, death vessel delivers stunning lyrical poetry that transcends the ‘whisky ‘n’ haystack’ imagery of its neo-folk contemporaries. thibodeau brings this same unusual experimentation to the acoustic guitar (his primary instrument). the daringly melodic plucking of strings and the odd tempo changes provide expertly unexpected accompaniment. stay close was originally released on cd in 2005 by north east indie. new chicago imprint immune is proud to present the album on the lp format for the first time. this version of the album contains a bonus track exclusive to this release — a live/acoustic version of ‘deep in the horchata,’ recorded in 2005 with micah blue smaldone playing accompaniment.
their time in the studio was overseen by engineer jim vitti, whose work with parliament/ funkadelic seems to have informed his decision to record death in raw fashion with little polish, showcasing the organic power relationships within the trio. the songs recorded there make up ?for the whole world to see, which today blasts from the speakers as a fresh and inspired early entry in the category of punk rock. death had a single pressed, politicians in my eyes b/w keep on knocking, selling them at their shows and on the street. things weren’t really going anywhere when they heard from columbia records’ president clive davis. he was interested, but he had one demand — they’d have to change their name. david, acting as the band’s leader, would have no part of it, a decision that ultimately brought an end to death. moving to new england, david, bobby and dannis reconnected with their faith, forming the christian rock-n-roll band the 4th movement, whose self-released early-80s album joined death’s 45 as a sought-after obscurity for the next generation. 2009 is the time that death is finally here …for the whole world to see. …for the whole world to see is the first full-length release ever for the band called death — with only one 7″ single to their name, and that usually goes for about a grand per. that’s $1000! for those who do have the single, the remastered sound here will break you up… great album!
12 inches of spastic, throbbing teknoise and raunchy post-industrial funk generated by fried consumer electronics. harsh grooves for misanthropic ex-ravers… nice fragile screen printed covers.
middle of the road ssw folk/psych in a thick gatefold cover on small label. VG++/VG++.
quite rare wild instro funky psych soul with hot fuzz & organ, breaks galore, etc. really great eye-catching acid cover art. handful of lite marks on wax but nothing major at all. EX/VG+.
following their premiere full-length in her gentle jaws, self-released in december ‘07 exclusively as a free download, the album has already found its way to over 90,000 hard drives. the stir across the internet, as well as in their own backyard, is testament to some breathtaking songwriting and arranging. a musical piece to be heard as a whole saturated in color, and drifting into dream. limited one time 500 pressing only. on tour now with the pains of being pure at heart, cymbals eat guitars, and school of seven bells.
new age kraut cosmic softness. radio station copy with call letter, sticker, notes in pen (about how “this is NOT jazz”. pretty funny.), etc. real nice wax. VG/EX+.
pretty wild later live album with WAYNE KRAMER on guitar! EX/EX.
diagram a is dan greenwood whos based in the providence/ma area, makes all his own electronics and use to do a label called sound probe…most recently he was on the rrr new england noise box set… first ever vinyl release on bill nace’s open mouth label. screen printed covers, clear vinyl, insert. limited to 300 copies.
tri-color MONO original of fun kiddie garage romp. VG+/VG.
tri-color MONO original of fun kiddie garage romp. nice front cover, big stain on back. much played vinyl but still sounds real good. VG+/VG+.
essential debut album by the ethereal and mesmeric la based former front woman of cult alt.indie band blackblack and of pocahaunted. this is the real diva coming out, quirky, catchy alt.pop for those hankering after a hook and looking for a middle ground somewhere between the cure and joy division. variously described as a psychedelic cassette tape princess and a mythical creature lady diva, fresh from playing with os mutantes and ariel pink, is touring across europe from april, so enjoy the record and catch the live show and get in on the ground floor. pressed on 140 gram glitter vinyl in an edition of 300 copies.
moving to the outer fringes of psych-folk, the dove azima is a deeply american recording. this solo project of zack hay has folk sensibilities much like john fahey’s and hearkens to roots music from an era before the cultural tributaries of rock, country and folk had parted ways. american avant gardists have also crept much more into hay’s sound since his last, more straightforward album, bronze horse. hay himself had written of his interest in naive experiences with guitar and he seems to have stumbled upon the steel string’s extended faculties ala eugene chadbourne; extended guitar techniques in general are almost never as visceral and hypnotic as they are on this lp, however. hay’s detuned meditations sometimes can sound as weird as jandek or sometimes lush and heady like harry partch’s microtonalities. like a decayed american flag you found buried in the woods, the dove azima is one of the more brilliant pieces of americana i’ve ever heard. it begs for many repeated listens and one oughtn’t neglect such a request. -nat roe, wfmu… pressed in an edition of 321 on 180 gram vinyl, with stumptown printed jackets.
top condition original swirl label german pressing of their 2nd and final album. a real wild underground psych folk trip. folky INCREDIBLE STRING BAND inspired flights of fancy with big doses of fuzzy electric guitar soloing setting this album far apart from their more gentle debut and adding a distinctly acid flavor. a pretty unique sound all things considered, but will certainly appeal to fans of FRESH MAGGOTS or SUBWAY. packaging in one of the coolest lp covers ever created : a fragile fully laminated di-cut multi-panel double-sided fold-out piece of art that is as strikingly beautiful as it is ingeniously designed. notoriously easy to damage, this one is amazingly clean with just one very subtle tiny 1/2inch tear. vinyl is equally clean with just the slightest tiny hairline here & there. NM-/NM-.
interested & rare obscure topical private press. spoken commentary from various nam draft dodgers. a pretty intense time capsule. striking b&w cover art. EX+/EX-. $40.00
original 1973 private pressing. totally wonderful conceptual electronic / folk / psych epic. one man’s (bill holt) introspective home studio labor of love. some folks can’t hang with the sound, but i love this one. two side-long tracks (and long sides too) of intricately layered tape samples, electronic tones, moog, acoustic guitar & vocals. they’re actual songs, though, not experimental noodling. something like bedroom acidfolk stretched to the point of minimalism and them dosed with period samples, which are clearly deeply considered and precisely placed, not just tossed around. cool stuff… lite ring wear. sorry, no insert. side one has couple ugly marks from getting dropped on the turntable spindle i’d guess: they’re wide marks not sharp scratches. plays through with just mild surface noise, which is pretty inevitable anyway since the sides are very long & very quiet. side two is nearly perfect. VG++ cover, VG+ side one, NM- side two.
the dredd foole catalog is wide (and deep) and yet this new release manages to carve another distinct tributary into the swamped landscape. as the title implies, songs to despond ya falls on the songwriting end of the foole spectrum, and he takes full advantage of the opportunity to flesh out his bardic impulse. the results are raw and immediate, devoid of electronic effects, and all the more timeless for it. of course, whether he’s offering up ballads or free-hootin’ and -hollerin’, dredd foole always tugs at the heart and mind of anyone receptive enough to leave those doors open just a crack.
first time ever vinyl reissue of the hard-to-find sole album by u.s. duo drnwyn. wonderful record that has some very cool psychedelic moments (especially the track ‘the madman and the angel’), and a good number of fabulous folk rock mid-tempos. there’s drums, bass and lots of acoustic guitars in here, but also electric leads, keys, mandolin and multi-part vocals with some female chorus as well. but most important, very well-crafted songs from start to finish. this was a private release back in 1978, and a very recommended album for those into folk-psych and folk-rock. remastered sound and 500 copies only.
two killer journeys… dremcrom and relax, hunter. both recorded live. one side completely in the analog realm; from the boys’ cassette deck straight to 180 gram black wax. strictly limited to 300 copies. hand screened on thrifted album covers turned inside out. no two alike. side a – ‘dremcrom’ is a sideways drift through the earths crust which confirms that the core truly is molten. drunjus bore a hole straight to the center of your brain. live at the infamous wisco biker bar… side b – ‘relax hunter’ is a more galactic affair. with enough molten fuel to get their ship airborn, drunjus escape the atmosphere and enter a 300 year cryogenic sleep… co-released with tree tapes…
private press gentle xian female folk with two voices, acoustic guitar, piano. pretty nice stuff. EX-/VG++.
red label stereo pressing. quite rare version before the name was switched to LUCEY. truly wild story behind this album, as most of you reading this probably know by know. this is actually BOBBY JAMESON. the label had this album in the works with CHRIS DUCEY, but ducey backed out at the last moment, with the covers already printed… so they called bobby in to record the album instead, writing original songs that were already titled by ducey. a handful of copies were released with the “ducey” title, before the label switched it to “lucey”. around the same time the real ducey cut the rare & amazing CHRIS AND CRAIG 7inch with CRAIG SMITH aka MAITREYA KALI… would love to have heard his version of this album… oh, and word is thats BRIAN JONES on the cover! anyway, although the backstory is pretty great, its really the music thats the best part. its a lonesome westcoast moody folkrock gem, through & through… cover has few inches of splitting to top & bottom seem. one corner bend. tiny tear on front, two slightly larger ones on back. pretty decent all together, and real cool item. VG+/VG+.
nice live album from this much loved crew. crude hand stamped covers. rather limited i’m sure.
the “must have” debut album (1971) from psychedelic guru armando nava and his band, recorded after their failed trip to nyc did not produce the stardom they had been promised—pain and disappointment sparking great song-writing on this, the first mexican psych album in english. after an extended stint as the house band at tijuana strip joint fantasitas, los dug dug’s relocated to mexico city in 1966. they quickly garnered a rabid fan following there, which resulted in the dug dug’s signing to rca records and cutting a series of singles (the band also headlined a pair of 1967 films, el mundo loco de los jovenes and cinco de chocolate y una de fresa). upon returning to tijuana in 1968, los dug dug’s took up residence at the popular sans sous ci club. an american tourist was so impressed that he offered to bankroll a trip for the band to new york city. the group played a handful of live dates and recorded a few demos, but having no money to pay the union fees necessary to earn them the opportunity to play nyc’s larger venues left them with little choice but to return to mexico. los dug dug’s immediately began work on their first lp for rca mexico, little knowing at the time that it would become a classic of psychedelia. long-simmering creative differences between band leaders nava and jorge de la torre forced the latter’s resignation after the album was completed; by the time the resulting psychedelic opus appeared in 1971, the first incarnation of los dug dug’s was essentially no more. all that remained was this heavy, explosive album, a record which captures the fever/dream humidity of flower children running amok on a july afternoon. essential… nice legit version of this killer side.
later pressing of early bootleg originally released by TMOQ. mustard brown xerox insert. blank white cover. excellent material & pressing quality. SEALED NM.
another bootleg. highlights from the film. this one was essential before you could just go rent the dvd! pink xerox “album covers” version on the insert neatly taped to blank white cover. track list in pen on back. bright RED vinyl. b&w “smoking pig” labels. includes a folded original poster from a 1982 screening, pretty cool. EX+/NM-.
“pirate label” pressing of this oddball dylan boot. yellow xerox paste-on cover art. black vinyl. still in shrink. NM-/EX+.
plain white cover & labels, BLUE VINYL. title in marker on cover. one chewed-up corner. VG-/VG.
very early version of this bootleg with blank labels & stamped white cover. sticker residue on front, and tape residue on back. clean label. odd lite marks on wax. VG+/VG+.
nice 360 label original press of this total classic, his 1st post motorcycle wreck rural folkrock masterpiece. few very lite paper scuffs, plays awesome. EX+/EX+.
this is a cold vision of a dark trash covered future full of sci fi nightmares and strange out of body experiences. this is the final kites recording and is perhaps the strangest and most chaotic piece in the prolific discography. annihilation synth and tape collage, cut up, sped up and dialed to oblivion. earth crown steps it back, slows down the pulse, lets the edges of the static curl around the drone to the breaking point, where the damage is let loose, purged out and built again. this lp is a reminder of how cold, desolate, and haunting life can be. silkscreened by shawn reed, art by kites and earth crown.
reissue of pretty great mellow folk psych. EX++/VG++.
UK original pressing. wild heavy / strange psych from this beefheart damaged freak crew. leather textured gatefold cover very clean other then a tiny 1cm tear at right edge. few hairlines on wax. EX++/EX++.
great UK pop psych only released at the time in the US on this tiny label. produced by GEORGE MARTIN. recently reissued and much acclaimed. SEALED original copy here. neat drill hole through center. staple marker in corner. maybe a reseal? still very looks very nice so vinyl is presumed mint. EX++/M.
resistant to the clutches of anubis, the members of egypt have emerged from a six year hiatus to produce an archival release dating from the dclxvi dynasty. after serving as priests to hathor, the mistress of life, the great wild cow, for five years, these egyptian numerologists have honed their aesthetic reeds to razor sharp points. these tracks include glossalalia praising the pantheon, an illustration of the electromechanistic migration of the soul as well as ecstasy soaked instrumental excursions. look for these adepts appearing at your local oasis soon! 180 gram vinyl, full color covers, 500 copies!
an ultra-deluxe, limited edition of 475 copies of an lp on many hard-core psych collectors’ top 10 lists. insanely rare and impossible-to-describe 1973 brain-fryer from minneapolis is utterly soaked with mystic, thoroughly-dosed higher key psychedelia. damin eih rambled off to india to clear his head after leaving behind this lone, legendary offering, never to be heard from again. painstakingly and spectacularly re-mastered from two virgin copies of the original vinyl, this treasure is now rescued from the deepest catacombs of psychedelic fatso obscurity for you to hear. 180 gram vinyl, original insert reproduction, and 28 pt. craft stock with old school paste-on sleeves—this is nicer than most shadoks releases in all respects)… nice upgrade of this awesome lp. recommended!
long gone bootleg reissue of this amazing minneapolis private press basement psych-out jewel. loose slicks front & back. numbered edition of only 300 copies. NM-/NM-.
quite strong uk psych rock with great guitar sounds, cool effects, etc. produced by JIMI HENDRIX and featuring help from ROBERT WYATT and NOEL REDDING among others. large promo stamp on back cover. still pretty overlooked. VG++/VG++.
colorado private press soft folk psych with female vocals. EX-/VG++.
‘i was lucky to see uruguayan music born. before el kinto it didn’t exist, and if it did i did not know it or like it.’ nosvaldo fattorusso. an exact replica of the original clave label lp release of fourteen crucial tracks by these uruguayan legends, whose line-up includes members of totem and limonada, and features the compositional abilities of poet/panhandler and acid casualty eduardo mateo and his alter-ego, candombe legend ruben rada. el kinto began their brief but eventful life in music playing in the dark shadows at orfeo negro (black orpheus), a night club near the portones de carrasco in montevideo, uruguay. inspired by the way tropicalistas like os mutantes were transforming the pop music of brazil, el kinto embraced their own native music formsnbut, as always, they went a step further: they integrated candombe and bossa nova into beat music, but they also added their own notion of ‘psicodelics.’ they experimented with newness in all its varietynnew sounds from their guitars, new types of vocal delivery, new ways of striking the drums (with little brooms, with gavels or their hands). as one journalist noted in 1969, ‘el kinto, directed by the brilliant mateo, and amplified to the maximum… creates a frenzy of rhythmic music in whichnwith force and convictionnpure wave ‘beat’ is synthesized with the warmth of the african drums.’ the result of the group’s tireless experiments is music which sounds fresh and engaging today. in a world dominated by the commercialization of everything – including (although it is difficult to comprehend)nthe arts, all we can say is, thank god for el kinto! now, on to the presentationnthe highest quality mastering and pressing (done at acoustech mastering/rti in california, the same people who master and press every title that audiophile label classic records makes); the resulting lp is housed in a poly-lined sleeve, inside an ultra-heavy 1960′s style jacket, which is housed in a loose-fitting plastic sleeve. inside you will find a double-fold insert packed with photos, detailed band history, and lyrics for this most important of uruguayan bands, printed on 100% recycled paper. the lp labels are replicas of the sondor originals. a top of the line pressing all the way. limited edition of 500 copies.
finally available on vinyl! we’ll let joe himself shed a little light here : touring the east coast in 2003, someone asked, “you’re from indiana – have you ever heard of the bible bird man?” i hadn’t, so i did some research. his video had already been stolen from the library at earlham college, but i stole it back and returned it. i began to imagine what the musical equivalent of his evangelical bird act might sound like. i wrote a song about the bird man, thinking of releasing it as a “re-issue” of a central indiana country-gospel group that had never existed – the bible birds. then i thought maybe i would do an elephant micah album of covers originally written by this (non-existent) bible birds band. in the end of course the concept kind of dissipated and it just became an elephant micah album. i recruited beth remis from static films (and more recently pillars and tongues) to help arrange/sing harmonies for the songs, and generally bring them up to pseudo-gospel snuff. we played the songs around the upper midwest once with ben racher on a portable pump organ and jason henn on upright bass. all of us got together in indianapolis in 2006 and recorded this. i drove everyone crazy with my insistence on weird recording methods. i think i was kind of trying to approximate the timbres of the hymn sing broadcast on salem, indiana’s WSLM. who knows? i was critical of the results and didn’t finalize them for several years. here it is finally, a kind of “prequel” companion to the ‘hindu windmills’ (TIME-LAG 035) album. - joe o’connell 2010… so there you have it. an overlooked chapter from this wonderful artist finally seeing the light of day, and a perfect companion piece to the highly praised ‘hindu windmills’ album. both albums are clearly united by their warm, lo-fi intimacy, sparse production, and stunning song-craft. strikingly simple & beautiful stuff… packaged in a lovely three color screen printed heavy stock tri-fold art paper cover, with heavy stock offset printed lyric insert. limited edition of 500 copies.
rainbow label first press of very strange obscure protest folkpsych that reworks old war songs into weirdo jug band folkrock pop. fully in shrink. NM/EX.
the band kissing spell changed their name to embrujo in early 1970 due to the political climate in chile causing it to be less than ideal for a band with an english name. embrujo is the spanish translation of the word spell (bewitched). so embrujo is the same band as kissing spell and the album came out on arena records in 1971. among the great albums from chile like blops, aguaturbia, los jaivas and escombros, this album is just amazing, just like their first. beautiful compositions and instrumentation, very well played, strong vocals and poetic lyrics; we would vote this album as one of the best from the of south america. chile seems to be ‘the county’ for extraordinary pop and underground songs going right into the heart. what a shame that after 1973 until 1990 (pinochet dictatorship), no more bands could work anymore. we are missing a lot of great future albums by those bands… originally released in chile, 1971. 500 copies, 180gm vinyl, insert, etc.
totally killer & little known washington teen private press gem. these young brothers nail the late 70s male teen ethos like few others. a great mix of fuzzed-up, psych tinged rockers, wide-eyed hazy ballads, power-pop, and loose, raw party funk grooves. heavy doses of cheap fuzz petals, sweet sweet heart tugging vocals, dreamy floating keys, big grins, magically simple but effective bass/drums chug, and amazing/crude riffing galore. every song is great and starry-eyed sincere like only a couple small town teens in the late 70s could do it… the ultimate summer evening beer buzz sentimental trip for sure. recorded in the shed of their parent’s farm! you just sorta need to hear this one to believe it. maybe not everyone’s trip, but i’ve seen some folks flip-out for this one, and its a huge fave ‘round here. gonna be a future biggy no doubt. highly recommended. flat & clean SEALED with just one very mildly banged corner.
orig pressing wax. NO COVER / VINYL ONLY. mostly weak goof psych with a few great moments. VG.
nice clean original of oddball texas psych on this great label. cover is shrink. NM/EX+.
this is a collection of rare and unreleased tracks by these crazed heavy industrialised weirdos from sweden! all recorded between 1986 and 1988. originally formed in 85 by kai parviainen and mats lundberg (who later got replaced by landgang) enema syringe played heavy monotone simple noise industrial the way it should be done; straight forward, loud, heavy and simple!! brutal toy synths and repetitive beats dominate the whole recorded archive and the few live sets this duo did, spiced with horrific sounding lyrics in swedish (usually about funnier things then the usual industrial fan would hope for like farts, massage shops, etc – ) all of the tracks on this lp are recorded without any mixing possibilty straight onto two channels with a marantz amp and a tape deck, prophet one, casio rz1 drummachine, casio toy synth, an old rhythm box and vocals thu headphones and a crappy mike! these beats are the best fist in the airpumpers ever, reminding of early throbbing gristle, club moral or more recent wolf eyes and meerk puffy! the lp comes with liner notes by kai parviainen, a discography, and is completely remastered. artwork by dennis tyfus. limited to 400 copies.
this is my fifth solo release as es. kesämaan lapset was recorded during a three year period. it is a mix of soundscapes and pop tunes. you can hear influences varying from contemporary indie to ancient classical music. it’s a summer album and a childhood photo album. the name translates as “the children of the summerland”. it an homage to the pekka streng album “kesämaa” (summerland) which is one of my favourite finnish albums ever made. it also refers to finland of course. i’ve been travelling a lot these past three years and every time i return here it feels more and more like home. i’ve used lots of instruments, from high-end analogue synthesizers and upright pianos to cheap flea market casios. i’ve recorded parts of this abroad and at home in my studio and in my bedroom. there are a few special guests: laura laurila plays violin, tuomas eriksson (risto) plays trombone and elissa määttänen who has sung on most of my albums is present again to give her special voice to the tracks. i hope you enjoy the album. it is not as ambitious a work as my previous double album sateenkaarisuudelma. but this one is meant to be listened to in many more situations and it might just fit as music for a house party too… -sami sänpäkkilä.
after what seems to be an interminably long gap and born into an inextricably changed world, espers iii walks among us, finally and finely. it’s not as if espers completely disappeared following their acclaimed first and second albums and tours. they played the odd show here and there – but with time and focus given to meg baird’s solo album dear companion, the valerie project and helena espvall’s collaborations with masaki batoh and others, not to mention the launching and flight of greg weeks’ language of stone label, three years passed like a day or two in the life of espers. picking up the threads with ease, espers iii was intended to be an aural reversal of the layered sound of ii. the goal was to record fewer tracks in order to achieve a stronger, more oxygenated sonic presence. where ii was almost claustrophobic in its density and darkness, iii was envisaged as being somehow lighter, effervescent; perhaps even of a cheery disposition at times. under these auspices, recording started in late 2008 and spilled into the spring and summer of 2009. as more time passed in the recording process, a growing dementia within both song and lyrics emerged, making even the most ethereal songs on iii seem oddly unwholesome to all involved.
most do not know much about music from bolivia, like us. what’s flashing our minds are the andes, la paz and flute music by indios. but there are some great rock & underground bands such as wara, climax and most of all estrella de marzo. this album (still unknown to most collectors) is not only special because it’s from an country not many listeners know much about. this album is so great, so much underground, so unique and well crafted, that it goes into a strong competition with most “classic underground releases” from south america. if you are in to wild fuzz guitar ala zappa, and if you like kissing spell from chile, beautiful vocals with strong lyrics and great beats , you will love this album. the early pink floyd has also influenced this album for us it was one of the big musical discoveries for this year. every track is great, high spirit progressive underground rock, as good as it can be. this album “a los ninos con amor” (to children with love) was recorded in 1974 with, keyboards, guitars, drums, bass & vocals. 500 numbered / heavy sleeve / 180 gram pressing / 2 page inserts.
recently discovered & increasingly highly rated & in demand private press ssw folkrock with some psychy vibes. really solid album, up there with BOBB TRIMBLE for quality as far as 80s privates go. some really amazing songs, great vocals, and a cool vibe all over. great weird cover art as well. only 500 copies pressed. SEALED MINT.
total monster by these 2 old-tymey duos. ex-c give you a home where the ragged riffs roam (including a sick meat puppets cover!), and pdx colossus y swans lay down a 10-dimensional lava lamp of frying wires and poignant dissolution. housed in a jacket with perhaps the boldest pair of maya miller art-damage compositions she’s ever dreamed up. leave this one on the turntable forever.
very rare and little know georgia private press. deep & fragile late night mystical mood. definite religious vibes, but definitely not xian, instead having quite a cultish atmosphere that sets this one well apart from just about anything else. odd instrumentation including mandolin, flute, guitar-synth, piano, etc. along with more typical 6 & 12 string acoustic guitar and such. male & female vocals. highly gentle, melodic and trance inducing stuff. great bizarre b&w ‘brain’ cover art too! just about perfect fully in shrink copy with just handful of tiny mildew spots under shrink. sparking wax has a tiny storage edge warp that does nothing. NM-/NM-.
completely unknown portuguese lp from 1973 that sounds like a cross between peruvian psych such as laghonia & traffic sound, and a uk lost gem on harvest or deram, with 2 great vocalists, seering guitar and a real groove. this reissue is the second in the golden pavilion series, fully licensed, done in association with acalanto and limited to 450 copies in black vinyl and 100 in coloured golden brown vinyl… all copies here are the golden vinyl edition of 100! special low price!
bermuda telepaths is the latest title lifted out of the fruit-and-photocopy-strewn outer limits recordings archive and into the ears of the world at large. recorded under the never-again-used explorers moniker and first edited into album form about a year ago, this hallucinatory patchwork trip into the ether synthesizes all of olr’s deepest loves – boombox fidelity, quick cuts, keyboard loop sorcery, underwater pop, general mind surfing – into a humbly hypnotic whirlpool of energies. apparently there was a concept/thesis behind the album’s genesis somehow involving psychic powers, lizard people, and the bermuda triangle, but the details are hazy. which befits the audio in question. read your palm. take a walk in your thoughts. explore away. black vinyl lps in jackets with artwork designed by the artist, plus a copy shop poem insert. edition of 330.
rare orig US press of their 2nd. welsh prog psych with loads of heavy organ. mild ring & bottom seam wear. small punch hole. VG++/EX++.
flowers is the latest full length from seattle’s bleak and ominous factums and is their second for the sacred bones label. recorded between 2006 and 2007 but only now seeing a proper release, flowers is dark and disturbing. the album has twenty two tracks that fluctuate from sound collage to soundtrack-esque moments as well as more structured songwriting. this album also has flashes of abrasive electropunk that has garnered them well-deserved comparisons to chrome, cabaret voltaire, throbbing gristle and much of the early wax trax catalog.
primitive future indeed! its 4000 a.d. and human kind’s fate from a binge of manifest destiny has finally collapsed on itself. now we’re back to the basics. the jungle is in charge again. the factums have crafted a soundtrack to this dark and mysterious place. a world where the listener is the prey and this record is the hunter. this is exploratory music, a melding of rusted out kraut debris, dead c. carnage and lost in time sci-fi rock moves. ed. of 400 copies.
fusion is a dirty word, implying clinicism and a dry sense of conscious matchmaking. “bow low bright glow” is a more a communal excavation and re-presentation of buried european folk and sufi-hearted music than any form of experiment. family elan are alone in their field. here, chris hladowski has put together a collection of original numbers, visions created from lost/found tapes and traditional pieces (including a absolutely gorgeous “the blackplanets of her eyes”) that are a fitting companion to family elan’s “stare of dawn” debut. alongside hladowski’s voice, there’s the vocal input of nalle’s hanna tuulikki – a voice as easily capable of gentle qawwali as it is folk song. this is a record of heavy treble intricacy, hladowski’s saz and bouzouki playing encompassing drones, folk, dervish progressive work and a woozy shimmer over and through the entwining melodies. family elan are more than just a project or a band, hladowski has endowed the music here with a such a unique voice that shaky shorthand comparisons would be pointless and a short sell. music that hints at the devotional rarely feels as inclusive, as communal and as enjoyable as this… deluxe super thick textured covers, 180gm vinyl, limited to 500. beautiful stuff!
denmark’s drone demons release another one. a helium rug would float, which is exactly what your melted mind will do while listening to this record. whistling blown by the birds of hell. this has been in the works for quite some time. originally intended to come out last summer on their us tour, but we didn’t want to flood the market (they already had 3 lps coming out the same time). edition of 300 on black vinyl with bi-color stencil. the front cover is what you will look like after listening to this. your mind will split open unleashing the helium rug from within. artwork by zachary fleming.
crushing new full-length by this legendary danish drone squad. 2 massive side-long black holes, mastered by pete swanson of yellow swans. hand-numbered edition of 450.
quite rare tri-color label original UK pressing. easily their best one. pretty tripped-out with loads of effects, weird guitar sounds, feedback, etc. hitting an almost SF SORROW sound & production quality. front laminated flip-back cover. original label inner sleeve. lite general cover wear with clean art & no splits. inner sleeve taped at edges. tiny warp has zero effect. scuffs on wax but plays awesome. VG++/VG+.
monster rare original 1966 MONO pressing of holy grail level PA teen garage classic. no need to hype this one, as it should be well know to most, as its been well loved since the dawn of garage enthusiasm, and already reissued way back in 1983. apparently pretty tough to find even when new in 1966, as it was a very small single pressing on a regional private/micro label. one of the strongest openings of any lp of this type, starting with the ferocious version of “fight fire” thats a top level chugging raw fuzzed-up garage classic, right down to the tweaked feedback/tape delay surge of the opening seconds. this is followed by an equally strong band original for one wicked back-to-back lift-off. the whole album is great from there, if not quite as in your face. good dark moody ballads mix with high energy rockers, all with that very special ‘66 sound. the bright & beautiful front cover, mysterious back cover without even song titles, and the great colorful label design totally seal the deal. a true monster. front cover very very clean barely any wear. neat 2inch top seam split and some mild edge/corner wear. white areas on back cover slightly yellowed with age, but not bad at all. nice clean labels. surface paper scuff marks on the wax front being taken out of the inner sleeve for 40 years, but its all superficial stuff. this lp got played a lot, but was never abused. plays fantastic! EX-/VG+.
old euro reissue of mega rare japanese heavy prog psych sitar burner, pre FAR EAST FAMILY BAND. deep space pink floyd vibes with a tougher edge. NM/NM.
original US pressing of uk psych. gatefold cover has wear & punch hole. nice wax. VG+/EX-.
finally available, the first licensed reissue of michael farneti’s elusive good morning kisses lp from 1976. this south florida marvel has eluded collectors for eons and we are thrilled to get it back into circulation. 500 exact repro copies were pressed at rti with crisp, heavy jackets produced by stoughton… limited to 500. great high quality reissue. nice.
great and underrated post JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE album from NOEL REDDING. sweet rural psych sounds with solid songs & great playing all through. fairly common, but this one is WHITE LABEL PROMO and the heavy gatefold cover is fully in shrink. ‘not for sale’ marks rubbed out on label. hairlines & scuffs on wax, but retains great fidelity. perfect cover. NM-/VG++.
clear and discovery were origianlly released as two companion cdrs by james ferraro (of the whole skaters / lamborghini crystal / 90120 / splash / nirvana axis) and comprise the august 1974 (taj-mahal travellers) of his discography. both albums contain absolutely beautiful whirling hall-of-knives-style synth drone that makes one want to reference klaus schulze or bobby beausoleil. clear bursts with flam beats and a cluster of melodies muffled like a calliope wrapped in a soggy tarp, while discovery is comparable to daft punk’s album of the same name but played in reverse at 16 rpm through a boombox in a boiler room. these two records contain the sounds of pulling out with tapping beats of fluid dropped on a soft convertible top (open), much like those fictitious giorgio moroder songs for the upcoming olympics in atlantis or a reworking of that award-winning song from revenge of the nerds-or is it “wonderwall”-into a theme for a future ski jump at the great pyramids. are you ready for the lizard people to compete? now available as mastered vinyl lps with a digital download.
clear and discovery were origianlly released as two companion cdrs by james ferraro (of the whole skaters / lamborghini crystal / 90120 / splash / nirvana axis) and comprise the august 1974 (taj-mahal travellers) of his discography. both albums contain absolutely beautiful whirling hall-of-knives-style synth drone that makes one want to reference klaus schulze or bobby beausoleil. clear bursts with flam beats and a cluster of melodies muffled like a calliope wrapped in a soggy tarp, while discovery is comparable to daft punk’s album of the same name but played in reverse at 16 rpm through a boombox in a boiler room. these two records contain the sounds of pulling out with tapping beats of fluid dropped on a soft convertible top (open), much like those fictitious giorgio moroder songs for the upcoming olympics in atlantis or a reworking of that award-winning song from revenge of the nerds — or is it “wonderwall” — into a theme for a future ski jump at the great pyramids. are you ready for the lizard people to compete? now available as mastered vinyl lps with a digital download.
‘in chameleon ballet, i wanted to create a work of magic that simulates a dream atmosphere of post-industrial landscapes, with the waking memory of a romantic alien encounter occurring in the dream. dedicated to the mystery of night and the magic of dreams’ –james ferraro. ‘debut limited edition album by this new sci-fi synth project by james ferraro of the skaters et al., with 1980s minimal wave moves bisected by the kinda keyboard patterns you might’ve found on an edgar froese solo album or post-body love klaus schulze, then exploded with barbarous invocations, syruped-vocals and some black drone atmospherics. or, as the cover art suggests, urban landscapes as visioned by showroom dummies illuminated under 3 a.m. neon. another killer.’ –david keenan. remastered and expanded version of the cd-r release on new age discs — this has an additional previously-unreleased track. limited edition of 425 copies. black & white printed covers.
original pressing of their 2nd. surprisingly clean fragile black uni-pak gatefold cover. EX-/VG+.
beautiful original pressing of their tough to find 3rd. great weird cover art. tiny punch hole but super clean, wax is like new. NM-/NM-.
original pressing of their debut. solid texas psych album with a few great tracks, like ‘where do you go’ with snakey fuzz leads and a great flute break. nice clean cover, much used wax, but plays ok. EX/VG.
very cool & very rare brazilian private press hardly known by anybody until the shadoks reissue last year. great stuff from recife, the home of LULA CORTES, ZE RAMALHO, AVE SANGRIA, etc. sunbaked folk psych pop magic. i’m told it was never commercially for sale, only sold at an art gallery. always trashed if it turns up at all, this copy is very nice! thin fragile laminated cover is almost perfect. vinyl has a some scattered marks but nice full gloss. EX++/VG++.
one of the rarest lps from the exclusive mushroom-label finally gets its official release on vinyl! often labelled as folk, simon finn’s debut album from 1970 is actually more in the singer/songwriter vein but totally different to everything else you can find in this genre. with a couple of guest musicians (e.g. kenny elliot from second hand) simon finn created ten songs of an eerie, angry, unsettling and, if you hear the track jerusalem, even disturbing nature. shortly withdrawn after its release, this demanding album is nearly impossible to find these days so finally here is your chance to listen to this fascinating music. limited edition of 500… first legit reissue of this wonderful lp. recommended!
heavy neo-prog. insert. EX/VG++.
strange and rather charming cultish religious private press folk psych thats more of a compilation than a proper band release. a few real gems, nice obscure cover art, and a great homemade vibe throughout. with insert. nice clean wax. VG+/EX+.
lovely timeless contemporary german acidfolk underground with sweet female/male vocals, sitar, electric leads, drones, etc. gatefold cover has very minor edge wear. EX/EX+.
one copy only.
aria nativa is more than paul flaherty’s third solo saxophone album; it merges rhapsodic avant garde music, patriotic dream verse, and mortality into a frighteningly pure work of audio, visual and literary sledge. recorded during a pair of 2007 performances, its four pieces capture lifeblood in stunning detail from foot stomps to gut hollers and crowd roars as flaherty’s free power blues dips into the well of wretchedness yet raises with fists of mirth. it’s the sorta record that splays naked the artist for all: equal parts wise ass and universal vision. from his early 1970s woodshedding through a dozen plus albums each with drum buddies randall colburne and chris corsano, and collaborators bill nace, wally shoup and sunburned man of the hand, flaherty remains a total wildcat — on and off the alto/tenor horns. for this lp his massive tonal craft is equally matched by ken hill’s gorgeous cover shot of a snow blown grave and “no more america” — ken delponte’s epic poem that spans nearly five decades and fills the back jacket, framing the atmosphere the music was recorded under. each 500 copies contain a download coupon for mp3 version of the album that includes a bonus track of “no more america” read by the author.
based in turners falls, ma, flaming dragons of middle earth are the brainchild of visionary wheelchair-bound ‘band shaman’ danny cruz, who leads an ensemble of rotating non-musicians, artists, oddballs, kids with down syndrome etc in weekly jams at a community resource centre, playing what he describes as ‘mud lightning metal’. cruz is heavily into sun ra, captain beefheart and roky erickson and has a fascination with zombies, punk rock, metal, horror movies and the aesthetics of the free form freak. the seed of contempt is the first available document of their wild reign, capturing a bunch of jaw-dropping sessions recorded onto cassette between 2007 and 2010. cruz’s vocals are somewhere between nate young of wolf eyes and don van vliet and his cosmo-philosophical lyrics touch on cartoons, anarchy, radical politics and evil in the night, with titles like “i am the creator sun ra”, “know my name of blood”, “hunger in the world is a problem”, “bush no on cnn” and “anarchists of punk rock”. the music ranges from wasa wasa-style destructo blues as played by the familiar ugly through odd piano/vocals tracks ala richard youngs’ “advent”, brokedown folk with weeping brass, unaccompanied vocal rants and wonky big band jams that channel cryptic nnck-style environments via the la freak scene around wild man fischer and weirdo lafms satellites like ace & duce and smegma. the seed of contempt goes well beyond mere real people interest: it feels like a bunch of kids mainlining everything that’s great about the wildest, freakiest rock/roll and free improvisation of the 20th century. funny, sad, exhilarating, confusing, effortlessly out – it’s hard to believe such a purely-conceived document could even exist in the current cynical/know-all post-wikipedia world. if this hadda come out on some private press side in 1970 then acid archives would have already erected a monument. but this is real – if you wanna drop in and jam with them, the invitation is there: every thursday at 5pm at the brick house, turners falls, ma 01027. tell em we sent you. if you can’t make it, this lp will take you *there* all the same. consider us blown away. “sun ra’s good, it’s a good jazz band, good methods he had.” massively cool cover, heavy vinyl, with insert. highly recommended. – david keenan
official lightning tree version with stunning sound quality. among the crown jewels of sought after 1960’s american psychedelic records the flat earth society’s waleeco is a legendary album that more than lives up to its reputation. recorded in 1968 for of all things a candy bar manufacturer (waleeco being the name of the said confection) the album was only made available to candy fiends that sent in a few wrappers and $1.50. anyone lucky enough to take advantage of that offer obtained a beautiful psychedelic rock/pop masterpiece that took in everything from dreamy west coast styled acid rock, laid back sunday morning acoustic folk, driving garage psych rock and full on trippy psychedelia. restored from the original master tapes to its true stereo this 180 gram reissue in a stunning psychedelic sleeve, is the ultimate edition of this period classic that sits head and shoulders above a sea of re-issue mediocrity … highly recommended new england teen psych classic!
rural southern rock private press. printer inner sleeve. perfect in shrink M/M.
scare long gone 300 copy reissue of very rare private press rock, with a good psych edge, congas, nice fuzz, etc. altered cover art : front/back paste-on with metallic printed front. numbered edition of 300 copies. NM-/NM-.
rural psych. white label promo copy. VG++/NM-.
“i want to be a rocker. everybody else has walked away from rock. i want to walk towards it.” – henry flynt. taste the magic! nova’billy is another edible audible from henry flynt’s dusty lower manhattan bunker and it stands as one of the fullest, most beauteous document of flynt’s tenure with a full working rock band to date. for less than one calendar year between 1974 and 1975, henry flynt’s hard driving, heavy jamming agit country rock band, nova’billy embraced bareknuckled deep fried groove attacks, bearded hippie jam band workouts & a monstrous melange of blues, boogie and free jazz squeal into a musical soufflé that could only have come together with flynt cooking up what was proven to be, time and again, an impossible vision within the confines of the soho art orbit of the 70s. after a couple performances at anthology film archives and studio sessions in richmond, virginia and manhattan, the band postered soho in a last ditch effort to get some traction with the hipsters that read, “party on down to the kitchen. stoned country music for rock country”. the gig, like all the others before it, was poorly attended. nova’billy played what would be their last live gig at the kitchen on june 27, 1975. nova’billy covers a damned fine and important moment in henry flynt’s musical career. if the insurrections laid the foundation for his anti-war primitive garage rock sound, the emergence, nearly a decade later of nova’billy is the realization of henry’s own vision of obtuse personal politics (“i was a creep”), provocative leftwing posturing (check their version of the world communist anthem “the international!”) and a gleefully recombinant spin on southern music. 13 cuts and 60 minutes of old glory! … double 180gm vinyl. limited edition. gatefold covers. nice!
our man flynt shatters the categories once again with this surprise collection of his short lived basement rock protest band, the insurrections, from 1966. let there be no doubt in anyone’s mind: flynt’s version of protest music isn’t your cultural-commissar school of folk posturing. it’s aggro and flynt is an unhinged showman on helium induced vox and the electric guitar (his teacher was none other than lou reed). imagine a mix of sky saxon (of seeds fame) with a dash of roky erickson thrown in on vocals, a little bit of the cramps’ scary monster dramatics thrown in for good measure & the swamp chugalug laziness of vintage pussy galore and you get an idea what flynt was up to at this phase in his non-career. features legendary sculptor walter de maria on drums, confirming our hidden suspicion that in every great artist there’s a desire to rock & beneath every fine gallery, there is a basement. photos by george maciunas. 180 gram limited edition virgin vinyl, heavy whiteboard jacket… we still have 2 copies of the original bo’ weavil vinyl version with glossy covers & limited to 500.
this is the limited (500 copies) vinyl pressing of henry flynt’s i don’t wanna originally released on cd on locust. he’s made his mark with his brand of ecstatic north indian raga inspired minimalism on c tune, the full bodied experimentalism anthologized on raga electric and the avante-hillbilly bumpkin fiddle joyride on last year’s back porch hillbilly blues volume 1 & 2. now it’s time to make a place in your heart for i don’t wanna! in which flynt shatters the categories once again with this surprise collection of his short lived 1966 basement rock protest band, the insurrections. let there be no doubt in anyone’s mind: flynt’s version of protest music isn’t your cultural-commissar school of folk posturing. it’s agro punk & flynt is an unhinged showman on helium induced vox and electric guitar (his teacher was none other than lou reed). imagine a mix of sky saxon (of seeds fame) with a dash of roky erickson on vocals, a little bit of the cramps’ scary monster dramatics thrown in for good measure & the swamp chugalug laziness of vintage pussy galore and you get an idea what flynt was up to at this phase in his non-career. features legendary sculptor walter de maria on drums, confirming our hidden suspicion that in every great artist there’s a desire to rock & beneath every fine gallery, there is a basement. photos by george maciunas… original first uk pressing. way recommended avant-garage psych!
pretty typical folk-boom sound, but featuring a very young SANDY BULL on banjo. sandy’s got one solo cut, and also one banjo/guitar duet so pretty cool for those tracks alone. nice thick laminated gatefold cover with attached booklet. private label? promo sticker on cover. EX-/VG++.
private press xian psych rock/pop made to turn teens onto jesus, or something along those lines. pretty rockin’ for that type of thing. beautiful cover fully in shrink. NM-/VG+.
pretty obscure 2nd album of uk arty rock that gets pretty heavy at times with strong prog vibes, but also tosses in lots of folk instruments. ring wear and tiny bit of clear tape at spine. VG+/EX-.
fuzzy underground album recorded back in 1978, and released as a private pressing of 500 copies… the band formed in baltimore, maryland by danny amburn, john holt, joe klimas, mark beyder and bob wells. their album, heavy at places, is full of fuzz-guitarwork with 60′s garage & british invasion influences and low-budget production (think of boa or shadrack chameleon albums) while a couple of songs have a wild and underground approach to rural rock. this album exists in a time warp. it’s from the midst of the first punk era, but sounds genuinely 60s garage the way no neo-garage band ever did. the fuzz guitars are everpresent, and the songs are pure garage pop and garage rock, rocking hard without ever sounding remotely “hard rock.” the sound is as cheap as can be, which only accentuates the coolness of the fuzz. despite some awkward singing, there are a lot of catchy melodies here, and i can imagine that baltimorians who discovered “nuggets” in the late 70s went nuts over this band. a few songs flirt with rural rock, but basically it’s teen-sounding angst, just as cool as their punk peers. – [am] taken from the acid archives. first ever official reissue, fully licenced by danny amburn and the band. exact reproduction for the cover and labels. it includes extra 4-pages laminated insert with bio, lyrics and photos. pvc protective outersleeve. 180gr. vinyl as usual… limited edition of 400 (plus 100 on colored vinyl). great crude private press album!
this is the first record from u.s. minstrel-folk chanteuse josephine foster on fire records. graphic as a star is based upon the poems of the 19th-century american poet emily dickinson. josephine lays stair-steppy melodies beneath a collection of dickinson gems and sings them with a burnished soulfulness like the purple sunsets so often described in the poems. massachusetts mountains, pearled spider-webs and folk hero william tell, are all present in this unforgettable meeting of dickinson’s poesy and foster’s music, making a natural and inevitable whole. ms. foster is a colorado-born artist whose songwriting draws from far corners of the musical spectrum to form a truly singular body of work. her voice is sometimes compared to singers as disparate as grace slick, shirley collins or tiny tim, and it’s certainly difficult to pigeonhole her varied music. she says her craft is strongly shaped by “tin pan alley on my maternal side, rock and roll on the paternal side, western folk music by birth, art-song and classical music via my adolescent passions.” a personal introduction to graphic as a star from josephine herself: “as to the source of these interludes, i wrote them this past winter while living in this remote, half-abandoned spanish mountain village, a deadly quiet place with occasional interruptions of goats’ bells, donkey brays, and the church bell announcing the passing of another old neighbor every day or so. i had just a few books with me, and one was the poetry of emily dickinson. her poems proved such good company, that in a few short weeks appeared this ‘song cycle.’ whether for the irony of distance and homesickness being 3 years away, or through inevitable kinship with this long-dead lady, these songs seem to veer more towards america than ever before. back in music school, i heard a few musical settings of dickinson made by classical composers, but it’s my hope to unite some of her poems into more intimate and intuitive musical settings, being so lyrical and transparent as they are.
previously released on cd by bo’ weavil recordings, now available on vinyl. this is colorado-based josephine foster’s (born heller, the supposed) debut release for bo weavil recordings, and her third full-length album. this coming gladness is transcendental fin de siecle songs from one of the great unsung voices and songwriters of our modern times. josephine foster unites rarely united royal realms: self-penned operatic art songs cast in freely-rendered blues with electric guitars and drums beating the path along with harp and piano flourishes. she has a voice that was trained for opera, but creaks like ancient mountain folk floating out from a dusty victrola. she surpasses any “weird-folk” labeling through the sheer timelessness of her songcraft — making baroque balladry sound new yet remembered from some not-too distant shared american past. joining her on this recording is electric guitarist victor herrero and drummer alex nielson… beautiful. limited vinyl in a nice full color textured cover. sure to vanish pretty quick.
after many years as half of the highly influential skaters with james ferraro, 2 solo albums on olde english spelling bee (black joker and monopoly child star searchers) and countless tapes and cds, spencer clark has taken it to the next level. layers of cosmic and alien sounds inhabit their own world and act as metaphors you can access subconsciously or explicitly. clearer and more lucid than previous releases of his, this is a singular record of inner space exploration that operates completely outside the retro kraut-new age-synth trend so prevalent right now. being more hi-fi than his past recordings, spencer says ‘i have made an alien space fusion music that is an aural symbol for the pre-birth outer space-self’s new arrival.’ in this new zone, spencer channels a more personal and spacious side of his vision, combining the rhythmic side of monopoly child with the abstractions of his vodka soap project. this marks the first lp release on clark’s pacific city sound visions label. it stands as his biggest statement yet and will surprise and please. a beautiful record. now it’s yours to explore.”-on location at hotel california, scott simmons… great new one, maybe spencer’s most realized yet. packaged in a 12”x12” full color 12 page book.
massive laminated gatefold cover. small library sticker, small tear, scuffs to laminate. nice clean wax. VG+/EX++.
massive laminated gatefold cover. bit of laminate lifting. EX/VG+.
early uk pressing textured ‘big i’ pink label. heavy blue psych wailer. non-laminated gatefold cover has 1inch sticker tear, one creased, edge wear. nice wax. VG+/EX-.
when tim cohen told shayde sartin he was writing a song called “be my hooker,” the fresh & onlys bassist looked at the singer/guitarist and said… “‘there’s no way we’re gonna have a song with that title, dude,’” explains sartin. “but sure enough, he laid a riff down and i was like, ‘jesus christ, i can’t believe you pulled something meaningful out of such a stupid line.’” welcome to the push/pull dynamic that’s fueled the fresh & onlys’ steady stream of releases over the past year, including last spring’s self-titled lp (castle face) and this fall’s grey-eyed girls (woodsist). and to think it all started the old-fashioned way – with sartin and cohen simply hanging out after work, playing their favorite punk (buzzcocks, the mekons) and classic rock (country joe and the fish, cued up alongside slabs of psych from the group’s homebase, san francisco) records alongside a growing collection of empty beer cans. “i can’t really explain what happened or why,” says sartin. “i guess we listened to records until we were on the same page, and from that point on, we never stopped recording.” as simple as all of that sounds, the duo first bought a tape machine five years ago. when that failed to produce any concrete cuts, cohen focused on his previous avant-pop band, black fiction, and sartin split his time between session and live work for such bands as the skygreen leopards, papercuts and citay. not to mention his close friend kelley stoltz, who ended up releasing the first fresh & onlys 7″ (the limited imaginary friends ep) in early 2008. with so much music hitting shops in such a short time (sartin says the band already has boxes of backlogged tapes), you might think the fresh & onlys camp have a problem with quality control. quite the contrary; sartin and cohen are very careful about what they release. and while the duo writes and records the band’s songs, the arrangements are usually fleshed out with guitarist wymond miles, drummer kyle gibson, and backup singer heidi alexander. “if we take a song into the studio or a live setting and it doesn’t have wings,” says sartin, “then we just ditch it and keep the charming demo version.” the final mix of grey-eyed girls sounds like a natural bridge between the raucous garage rock of the group’s debut and the full-on studio record they plan on wrapping for in the red later this year. that goes for the galloping grooves of “happy to be living,” the shadowy post-punk of “invisible forces,” and the firework finale freak-outs that drive “the delusion of man.” not to mention a stack of hook-slinging tracks that nix any ‘clowning on bitches’ assumptions you may have. “we’re not trying to hide melodies or do the blown-out thing,” says sartin. “a lot of those bands are great, but i don’t want to ever cater to what’s popular. it’s not that i’m being reactionary; we’re just trying to make recordings that are as rich and ear-friendly as possible.” it’s working.
ghost town is the first full-length solo release from parts & labor singer/electrician dan friel. characterized by its anthemic melodies, complex electronic arrangements and huge distorted beats, ghost town has massive universal appeal. “music-box melody shoved through the speaker cone of a subwoofer salvaged from the trunk of a totaled jeep” – pitchfork. the first 100 records shipped will be on red vinyl… all copies here are the limited to 100 red vinyl version.
amazing clean copy of heavy fuzz psych debut that always turns up trashed. this one is pristine NM/NM.
acoustic blues duets, weirdo electronics, and arty freerock. with insert. perfect NM+/NM+.
live full band recordings from the ’86 actuelle music festival. punch hole. with insert. NM-/NM.
old reissue of weirdo psych-art-prog underground private press featuring STUART COPELAND pre POLICE. front & back paste-on art. NM-/NM-.
if any one group can legitimately qualify as the ‘great lost psychedelic band’, then frumious bandersnatch are that group. the few tantalizing glimpses of the combo afforded by their sole release from the 1960s have engendered an enormous reputation. the subsequent fortunes of its members in groups like journey and the steve miller band have only added to the phenomenon. frumious bandersnatch were amongst the second wave of the 1960s san francisco rock renaissance, but they had no allegiance to folk or jazz or any of the other influences that shaped the major players such as the dead or the airplane. instead the group came together in the culturally-arid environs of contra costa county in the east bay, over the hill from politicized berkeley and working-class oakland, and a world away from cosmopolitan san francisco itself – key document of this great overlooked west coast psych band. extensive notes. 180gm vinyl. the cover is a blown up version of the great art from their sole 1960s release, their mega rare private press 7inch.
super rare original first press / first version of their debut later rereleased simply as “the fugs first album” on ESP-DISK a couple years later. all time classic NYC underground folk psych dope grope beatnik freak masterpiece. less hyped, but for me as much of a cornerstone as “the velvet underground and nico” or “the psychedelic sounds of the the 13th floor elevators” for its general blowing-things-wide-open factor. recorded by HARRY SMITH. featuring THE HOLY MODAL ROUNDERS. unique MONO mix thats different even from the ESP MONO version. awesome folkways style double pocket leather textured cover with heavy wraparound paste-on art. includes the always missing original insert! vinyl has some lite paper scuff and a few lite scratches, but nothing major and really plays well. super clean cover with crisp clean graphics and just a faint name in marker on the back. NM-/VG++.
super rare original first press / first version of their debut later rereleased simply as “the fugs first album” on ESP-DISK a couple years later. all time classic NYC underground folk psych dope grope beatnik freak masterpiece. less hyped, but for me as much of a cornerstone as “the velvet underground and nico” or “the psychedelic sounds of the the 13th floor elevators” for its general blowing-things-wide-open factor. recorded by HARRY SMITH. featuring THE HOLY MODAL ROUNDERS. unique MONO mix thats different even from the ESP MONO version. awesome folkways style double pocket leather textured cover with heavy wraparound paste-on art. includes the always missing original insert! with xerox repro insert VG+/VG(+)
original press with heavy gatefold cover. 2” tear back cover near spine. sorry, no poster. VG+/VG+/EX-.
blue label original. crazy gatefold cover half split top seam. VG++/VG++.
fursaxa is tara burke. formerly a member of the siltbreeze band un, tara started her fursaxa project in 1999 after un disbanded. since then fursaxa has released six full length albums on the acid mothers temple label, ecstatic peace, time lag, eclipse, last visible dog, and atp. in addition there have been 3 self released cd-rs and a cd on her own sylph recordings. in the summer of 2008 fursaxa started recording her seventh full length record mycorrhizae realm at hexham head studio in philadelphia. this studio recording is a first, as all of the previous releases have been recorded at home on a four track. in addition to recording, fursaxa has played live music at venues in the us, uk, and europe, touring with bardo pond, black forest/black sea, christina carter, jack rose, spires that in the sunset rise, and brightblack morning light to name a few. over the last couple of years fursaxa has been collaborating more and more with other musicians as well. espers member helena espvall and tara have a duo called anahita, and sharron kraus and tara have the duo tau emerald. and in september of 2006 fursaxa became part of the valerie project, which was a live soundtrack for the 1970 czech film valerie and her week of wonders. tara really enjoyed playing with these musicians and decided to engage greg weeks, mary lattimore, and helena espvall, all fellow valerians, for her next album. greg recorded the album at his studio, mary played harp on 4 songs and also co-wrote 2 of the songs, and helena played cello on 3 songs. it is an exercise in symbiosis… limited vinyl version. awesome.
michigan mellow spacerock. NM-/NM.
fully mind-blowing dream collaboration from alastair galbraith, alex neilson & richard youngs. all serious international underground sound weavers in their own right, this trio collaboration lifts things ever higher… for the last 20 years or so alastair galbraith has quietly been releasing some of the most stunning outsider/psych/folk/drone work to ever come out of his new zealand homeland, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have him back on the scene. richard youngs makes a nice uk parallel with a vast and equally impressive catalog of sub-underground avant/drone/folk wonderment to his name. and while alex neilson’s name might be a bit new, he’s been bending many a mind under his directing hand solo guise, as well as collaboration with mv & ee, taurpis tula and others. oh yeah, and that small fact that alex & richard backed jandek at his first ever live performance is pretty cool too… musically, things are way fucking deep in the zone here folks. side one glides along in slo-mo dream state hover with richard’s beautiful and unmistakable vocals soaring and refracting in to echoes, quietly fluttering and droning electronics, otherworldly sounding synth melodies, rolling splashes of free percussion, backwards effects, and syrupy sound pools of acoustic strings. beautifully lulling and deeply psychedelic… but the second you flip the lp the bottom drops right out with with a real electro jammer, blasted with throbbingly heavy free drumming, vibrating walls of synth, and yowling bird-of-prey electronic squeal… and things just get more abstract from there… really amazing stuff for those who dig a headspinningly deep listen… packaged in a stark but beautiful full color offset printed & debossed heavy art board cover, with debossed insert. 180 gram virgin vinyl. vinyl only numbered edition of 900 copies.
great private press eastern mystical acidfolk jewel. way deeper/darker than the average ssw private press. twisted mantric lyrics, with amazing use of the acoustic guitar, plus bells, violin, etc. seriously unusual & psychedelic. SEALED NM+.
sacramento’s ganglians want an island somewhere where they can soak in the sun and prowl the canopy by night. it’s not often that they do get out, but they can get down for that. recording sometimes as one, sometimes as four it’s a real game to figure out where the entity comes from and where it’s going. first and foremost it’s about uncertain pleasures. it’s a bit like choose your own adventure. there’s ‘codeine balladry’; a slightly upsetting tempo that is quickly flushed into an aural high, the next moment you’re in the toy strewn abyss of the bedroom and then out to the tribal caves of the natives. the planets align and the sun beats down, palms tingling, and you are on the island they’ve built, the scenery constantly shifting for a better view, of you.
black label MONO original. underrated garage pop, with a few really good cuts. their 3rd and last. cover fully in shrink, just very lite paper scuffs on wax. NM-/EX++.
previously issued as a download only release via the night people website, home of many if ryan’s physical releases, this superb recording of fragmented blown out percussion, loose guitar ragers and feedback frenzied weaved with church organ, it’s gotta be said that ryan garbes has got some wild and weird shit going on what was one of my highlights of, well i can’t remember when it first appeared on the np site, maybe 2007 or 2008? get ready to have you mind squelched by this former member of raccoo-oo-oon and current jammer with shawn reed in wet hair. issued in an edition of only 100 copies with paste on covers and insert, stamped labels and pressed on heavyweight black virgin vinyl.
sweet hassle is the debut lp from ryan garbes (wet hair, raccoo-oo-oon), fresh from his 7-inch on arbor and his cassette on nna. a man in a small college town hours away from the influences that foul a musician’s mind, garbes has a lot of time to hang, especially in the recording studio. on sweet hassle, he incorporates heavy velvets live bootleg vibes straight from the bedroom soundboard, with a touch of melodic electronic drone and a byrds dusting. “… as if lou reed had done a record for creation…” – raven sings the blues. limited edition of 500 copies.
new full-length outing from torontosaurs gastric female reflex. exposing their vulnerable underbellies by offering the gift of song, as transmitted through the cackle of thirty meter bronze age jump ropes, and then swatted with limitless spools of tape culled from businessmen’s faculty tape recorders – very limited pressing in totally insane heavy marbled/screenprinted cover.
a late one from this fine scottish guitars, but still pretty great. recorded ’78, but not released in the usa til ’86. with insert. NM-/NM+.
with gazheart, celebrated visual artist rita ackermann (voice) & the no neck blues band’s dave nuss (found percussion) created a playful spontaneous sound that seemingly bridged the gap between the broken pop sounds of certain strains of the no wave movement, sound poetry and catchy, otherworldly art folk using the barest of resources available to them. one time pressing of this special edition one-sided lp features an original etching by visual artist rita ackermann on the flip side. gazheart is housed in a plain jacket with two opposing drawings for front & back by ackermann.
awesome & little known new england private press loner/outsider folk gem. first could tracks are a little weak, but they improve with repeated plays and the rest of the album is truly fantastic. very real, deep, downer introspective lyrics, a unique voice and some very cool guitar work give a definite acidfolk edge. real nice obscure cover art too. SEALED NM/NM.
hartmut geerken is an incredible and misterious writer, filmaker, musician, composer and big traveller coming from the south of germany. his musical work is unfortunately not well-known by the mosts: during the last 40 years he was working stablely with famodou don moye, art ensemble of chicago, john tchicai and many others, and in 1971 he invited sun ra and the arkestra in egypt, where hartmut was living at the time, being also the founder of the cairo free jazz ensemble. on this live recording from 1989, he’s performing on prepared piano and short waves receiver, with the collaboration of grace yoon dancing and playing percussions. “mappa” was a series of long performances (lasting usually around 4 hours each) the duo was acting on those years, and “mappa #9″ is the first released witness of this experience. the sound is a burning and explosive vortex of fire, without a single moment of breath. one-sided pink vinyl (some are sprayed!) unique pieces ltd edition of 117 numbered copies.
quite tough to find original uk private pressing from this uk underground figure who lurked in the shadows of many great artists. the fact that he co-wrote PINK FLOYD’s ‘atom heart mother suite’ and had the creation of this lp funded by PETE TOWNSHEND gives you a pretty good idea of the scope. a very strange outsider type album that covers library type electronic mood music, avant folk, electro-acoustic experimentalism, piano & chorus jams, field recordings, and spoken word. on the NWW list, so you know its pretty far out. truly beautiful archive worthy copy here. fragile laminated cover has a tiny corner bend, one very small crease, and a couple very tiny spots along the spine where the lamination is just starting to lift a little, but not peeling. very minor flaws and really looks just about perfect. crisp spine, no ring wear, no damages. labels & vinyl are even nicer, looking brand new other than two tiny storage scuffs. played once by me and thats probably the first time a needle touched these grooves, so really impossible to upgrade. NM-/NM-.
original yellow label pressing of this very rare whimsical baroque guy/girl folkrock duo. gentle and lush sounds with crystalline production, big arrangements, and an all star backing band including VAN DYKE PARKS on harpsichord and an early appearance of RY COOTER laying down some spot-on electric slide guitar. truly stunning front cover artwork has barely a speck of ring wear. very clean in general with large ‘demonstration – not for sale’ stamp and small price sticker residue on back. side one has only some minor lite scuffs, side two has more lite marks and one lite zigzag needle scratch, so call it strong VG++ side one, VG+ side two. NM- cover.
we will go ahead and say it now – we are lucky enough to be able to release ghq’s strongest collection of studio material to date. “crystal healing” is a massive collection of the band’s unique and mesmerizing brand of acoustic drone goodness. get ready to have your socks knocked off. like all of our other recent vinyl projects, this record has been wonderfully mastered and pressed onto some super-sweet sounding rti 180g vinyl. the record will be housed within hand-numbered heavy stock “old style” one-pocket gatefold sleeves and come from an edition of 855 copies. the jacket itself features some stunning new artwork by michael pare. “crystal healing” was be our second vinyl release to feature a special pressed cd (not a cd-r) of exclusive additional material accompanying all pre-ordered copies. the numbered edition of 212 bonus cds that accompanied pre-order copies of the lp contained two exclusive tracks (titled “pyramid merchandise” and “blue silence”, both from the “crystal healing” sessions) are out of print and no longer available direct from three lobed… another lifted slab from the burning trio of marcia bassett, pete nolan & steve gunn. very sweet and really done right production wise.
limited edition of 300 copies in a heavy stock screen printed jacket. a zamuro is a dark south american vulture of great size. zamuro is also a solo composition piece for portable synth and analog filter. side a on this lp is a live realization of this piece recorded at the compound in san francisco in 2006 (mastered by lasse marhaug). carlos composed and performed this piece live on several tours in the us/europe/japan all trough out 2006 and 2007, if you saw him live in those two years this is the piece he performed. this was the most complete version of it that made it to tape. side b is a studio piece recorded live on a much larger modular synth, based around the same theme, but with structural and tonal variations not in the original composition. .this is pure psychedelic electronic music. cover illustration by megan ellis. screen printed at monoroid.
later 70s pressing of their really good guitar drenched debut. in shrink NM-/EX.
the sky done clouded over after glory fckn sun’s debut album, yielding this brooding and corrosive follow-up. the new zealand sorta-super group of antony milton , ben spiers, and simon o’rorke concoct a slow-burning behemoth of metallic shivers and distortion churn, dark enough to invoke the dread name haino. spectra is an unsettling mind-meld: spiers desolate soundscapes bleed into milton’s heavy drones, which are complemented perfectly by o’rorke’s restless percussion. group improvisation is the natural language of these three; even listing their solo and collaborative albums over the past decade would take way more effort than i can muster. suffice to say this is a stellar and unique record to add to their massive discographies. in an edition of 300 red 160 gm. vinyl records, housed in silk-screened, heavy-gauge recycled stock jackets.
goofball moog version of the all the hits, packaged in a very odd ‘fully nude puppets’ laminated cover. lite sticker residue on cover would clean up easy if you’re inclined. otherwise all pretty pristine. NM-/NM-.
throw mutations-era beck, the monkees, and gram parsons into a blender and you would get something roughly equivalent to tucson, az’s the golden boots. this is a double ep 12″ that is comprised of coyote deathbed surprize tour-only ep, and the ev ep, which was originally intended to be released on the trust series. when i received those tracks, i couldn’t, in good conscience, allow there to be only 25 copies. i feel that way with a lot of the lathe cuts i release, but this one was just too good! so here it is… deluxe, expanded release of ev/cds + cassette. because of the foul-up at the pressing plant during the initial run, we never got any of the “swirl” vinyl that i really wanted for this release. so, i ordered an additional 250 on pink and orange vinyl. and they look great! unfortunately, i had already cleaned off the screens for the covers before i knew i would need more. dmitri from golden boots suggested doing an alternate cover and including a new cassette as part of the packaging. and thus, ev/cds/tf was born!
original first japanese RED VINYL pressing. great & groovy japanese garage psych blues GS burner. great stuff & quite rare. nice gatefold cover has creases to both bottom corners, otherwise super clean. original inner sleeve. plays awesome, nearly perfect, with amazing fidelity. EX-/VG++.
very scarce german original pressing (rarer then the french version) of their awesome tripped-out debut. can’t say i’m a huge fan, but i really dig this first one: already plenty of acid, but light on the gnomes… lovely laminate gatefold cover with totally different front cover art from the french version. super clean cover & wax. vinyl looks like it was played a couple times at most, cover has a small punch hole. laminate has mild general storage wear. there is a small sticker that should come off easy with the product of your choice, so i’ll leave that to the new owner. EX+/NM-.
black label original. super strange gatefold cover. punch hole. VG++/VG++.
YELLOW LABEL MONO PROMO copy of obscure soulful southern california popsike. some great floating harmonies, and nice accents of flute, electric harpsichord, etc. stereo cover has DJ MONO sticker. cover & labels have radio numbers in marker. vinyl looks nearly unplayed with one or two lite scuffs. EX+/NM-.
this lp features members of the skaters, jewelled antler collective and davenport, all kicking up dust in a rickety old barn. a spontaneous happening, the few hazy nights leading up to pasturefest 2004 may not be easily recalled, but the christening sounds, emanating from a ramshackle farm in the vales of southeast wisconsin, are imprinted here on this unassuming lp. featuring an alternate b-side jam (of music pulled from the same session) not found on the cassette version. otherworldly and just down right cosmic! … very limited vinyl in inside-out recycled old lp covers, with screen printed art.
original WHITE LABEL PROMO pressing. ring wear. promo sticker on back. cover VG+ / side one VG+ / side two EX.
extremely odd & quite funny private press by a bunch of goofy dirty minded singing doctors! tracks like “at your cervix” pretty much give you the idea… plain white cover is pretty worn, but vinyl is very clean, though it could use a clean. pretty rare one for real weirdos. VG(+)/EX-.
horn of plenty is a nostalgic amalgamation of found sounds and layered vocals bound to thrill followers of animal collective, sufjan stevens, nick drake and the unicorns. while the album pushes the boundaries of mellow into undiscovered territory, grizzly bear is not sure if they fall under the newly coined “freak-folk” category or hte new-folk genre, but they’d like to offer up wood-temp or cave-core. v magazine likened them to neil young on cough syrup. for the first time, the full horn of plenty album is available on vinyl. 180gm pressing w/printed inner sleeve. limited 1,000 pressing.
sublime frequencies is honored to be releasing the third lp by the now legendary group doueh. group doueh have been playing in and around their native dakhla, in the western sahara for over 27 years. sublime frequencies’ discovery of the group, via a song heard on a radio broadcast in morocco in 2005 and an exploratory mission in 2006 that landed hisham mayet in the group’s compound after chasing an overland trail all the way to the mauritanian border sealed the band’s relationship with the label. a successful european tour (with label-mate omar souleyman in 2009) ensued and western audiences were finally able to witness the power of the group’s mighty live shows. doueh’s guitar heroics and wife halima jakani and bashiri touballi’s soaring vocal interplay entranced all who were present. this lp showcases a different side to group doueh’s far-reaching arsenal of sounds. the songs represented on this album adhere to the roots of saharoui music — drawing from the classical repertoire of ancestral mauritanian musical modes. using the traditional moorish instruments such as the tinidit (three string mauritanian lute), ardin (kora-like harp played traditionally by women), tbal (clay drum) and the kass (tea glasses) along with guitar and korg synth, group doueh manage to attain heights of spiritual poetry that this music aspires to convey. halima’s ardin playing and most importantly, her vocal prowess, take this music to blissful and exalted realms. doueh’s tinidit and guitar overlays showcase the technical virtuosity and command that this master has over the region’s stringed instruments. this is the music of group doueh’s roots and the band truly takes these traditions to cosmic heights. recorded by group doueh and hisham mayet on location in dakhla, west sahara in 2010. this limited edition vinyl lp comes in a beautiful full-color gatefold jacket… recommended!
self-released second vinyl pressing of the split by inca ore and grouper. initially self-released on tape in 2007. this version has new black and white artwork. though it’s a proper split, each side resonates strongly with the other–hissing and dream-sick, songs whispered in the dark. inca ore’s side is feverish and haunted, much of it recorded while on a somewhat nightmarish journey taken through mexico several years ago. grouper’s side is distorted and pitch-twisted wurlitzer and guitar songs, recorded during a rain heavy winter, about unexplainable disappearances, invisible structures.
private press xian country folk featuring STEPHEN C. ROSE, who wrote all the songs, along with many others. totally weirdo cover art. SEALED MINT.
restock… this record showcases two very talented musicians in their prime. steve’s side clearly displays his guitar wizardry, while remaining honest and heartfelt. after several years with ghq, steve has sharpened his skills and it really shows. if you’ve had the pleasure of seeing him perform live, you know exactly what i mean. shawn’s recent collaborations with warmer milks seep through on his side of the album. bleaker and darker than steve’s side, shawn tells his tale through guitar, piano, synth and tape manipulation. it’s completely engrossing. with it’s many crooked bends and turns, it will lead you to a sort of discomforting fulfillment that gets more intense with each listen. edition of 500 on black vinyl in a pro-printed jacket with full color artwork by mary kidd.
three lobed recordings is extremely excited to be releasing sand city, a blistering new collection of original compositions from steve gunn and john truscinski, otherwise known as the gunn-truscinski duo. steve gunn is one of the most exciting american guitarists working today. his solo discography, as well as his work with ghq, should be well known to folks who have followed three lobed recordings over the past several years. percussionist john truscinski is a stalwart of the american underground in his own right through his dedicated work in x.o.4 (with bill nace and jake meginsky), slaughterhouse percussion, as well as with ghq (as last seen on the outfit’s everywhere at once from the oscillation iii series). sand city is an extremely mature and thoughtfully-crafted album that conjures some of the most potent moments of both fantasias-era sandy bull and the more guitar-centric sun city girls albums while firmly charting its own raga-based territory. it is an exceptionally strong collection that should leave listeners rapt for years to come. hand-numbered edition of 624… awesome album! recommended.
actually credited to MISS NELSON & BRUCE… nice original pressing of totally bent nyc electronic childrens music that certainly blew the mind of those few kids who actually heard this stuff at the time. EX-/VG++.
nice fahey inspired solo acoustic album. VG+/EX.
odd colored carpet of bizarre 3d fields dominate the bright and lurid psychedelic forests you’ll have to run thru to grab a mug a brew at the end of the trip! hop on the back of a giant pink elephant and let go, eventually follow his tiny dick-like tail if u are too small to climb up this pink turt in space! but do give it a try and check out what’s left? thats right: nothing! just a puddle of restless throbbing poop in different colours. the elephant turns out to be a puddle as well and the sounds you’re hearing are all on the most psychedelic hair police lp so far! this is definitely way different then any of their other recordings, way more high bliss, blown out delayed voice and hardly any harshness. originally recorded as a hair police radio special for radio centraal in antwerp! thick black and neon blue eye destructive cover design and a psychic laser etch on the b-side of this 180 grams wax!
exact reissue of this totally obscure late 60s dutch beat psych album. two covers from the hair musical, but beyond that its all fuzzy psych go-go beat action. nice, cheap, and very limited.
awesome original copy of this very rare & really great slab of basque progressive folk psych. stunning electrified folkrock setting with beautiful femme vocals, sounding nearly straight out of the early 70s uk scene, ala TRADER HORNE, SPIRIGUNS, FAIRPORT CONVENTION, but with a unique spanish flair. amazing heavy laminated gatefold cover and including the very rare thick booklet insert. super clean top copy here. a tiny bit of wear on two corners, and a few ultra-lite stray hairlines on wax only. as clean as you’ll ever find. NM/NM.
little known new england late-date private press loner folk psych, late 70s or maybe 1980. took me a few spins to get into this one as it doesn’t open real strong, but it really takes off with cool electric guitars, rural moves, electric piano, and a strong neil young influence popping up with good effect. cool cover too, its totally got the right look. with lyric insert. cover has mild ring wear & clear tape along most of the top seam. some age spots on the wax but looks barely played. VG+/NM-.
very rare original pressing of the sole release by this arty post-hardcore group featuring FUGAZI members. only 1000 copies pressed. packaged in a manilla envelope with paste-on art. tons of feedback, tape loops, etc. pretty far out for these dudes. ultra-fragile cover has splitting seam & general dirty/wear. vinyl is well played, but still sounds good as its a loud, lo-fi beast anyway. VG+/VG+.
unknown to most ’60s/’70s collectors until its discovery a few years ago, this is the beyond rare second album released by loner/downer folk legend dave bixby, recorded around 1969, the same year as his first one, the now-famous ode to quetzalcoatl. musically, second coming is equally as good and very similar to the first one, but this time the recording took place in a professional studio, so the sound is improved. bixby is joined by brian macinness on guitar, sandy johnson on vocals and don degraaf on bass and production duties. don was in fact leader of the, in the end, destructive religious cult known as “the group” or “the movement,” of which bixby and brian were part of. the sound is more up-front and the songs are slightly optimistic compared to the ones on ode to quetzalcoatl, and there’s plenty of acoustic 12-string raga guitars and harmony male/female vocals. the lyrics deal with cosmic imagery, psychedelics and religious/biblical references, but this goes much deeper than any xian record you’ve ever heard — titles such as “cosmic energy,” “time to clear your mind,” “rainbow,” and “circus world” point towards some sort of new age/post-revelations utopian consciousness. reissued for the first time under license from dave bixby himself, and carefully remastered from a clean vinyl (no master tapes exist) at shadoks music studios. includes an insert with extensive and detailed liner notes by matvei procak — the guy who found bixby in 2006 — plus some rare pictures. also includes a free mp3 download code… recommended.
this first album of the turkish band hardal (mustard) with the title nasil? ze raman? (where from? where to?) was recorded in turkey in 1979 by sikri yiksel (guitar), aydin sencan (bass), cahit kukul (guitar) and sedat avci (drums). the band was only known by a very small insider-group, but those fans just adored hardal. the secret of hardal’s small popularity is that in 1979 the turkish rock scene was comatose. cem karaca left to germany, erkin koray moved to canada, edip akbayram got stuck because of his political ambitions. only baris mancho was still on the road. to start a new band was tough in turkey. hardal also recorded 2 albums later. the music is the best turkish progressive underground you can think of. filled with guitars, synth sounds, great eastern vibe vocals and harmonies, pumping rhythms. as good as the best koray tracks for sure. this album was never reissued before, so we are sort of proud to present it to most people for the first time. from turkey, 1978. edition of 500 numbered lps, glossy heavy sleeve, 180gm pressing, with insert.
nice minneapolis private press that sounds earlier then the “78 release date. quite solid laidback psych jamming with a distinct DEAD vibe, nice organs, great guitar, and sweet obscure palm tree cover art. still pretty underrated, but gaining interest (and rarity) quickly. slight ring wear, but otherwise very nice. EX-/EX-.
blissed-out post NEU! cosmic krautrock rhythmic zone-out masterpiece. the perfect mind-drift music. orange label. laminated gatefold cover. lamination starting to lift at opening, but real nice shape otherwise. lovely wax with just a couple nearly invisible marks. EX-/NM-.
one copy only. wild solo release from nautical almanac dude. co-released with about 20 other labels. insane fake leather, painted, screen printed, etc. cover. edition of 555. long out of print.
twig harper has been a force in the noise/experimental scene since the mid ’90s with his group nautical almanac, touring worldwide and releasing recordings on hanson, load, and heresee. he also runs tarantula hill in baltimore – a space that includes a performance area, recording studio, esoteric library, and rooftop beehives & gardens. daniel higgs is best known for his work as the lyricist and frontman of lungfish, whose work on dischord records has spanned 3 decades. he is also a very prolific solo artist with works on thrill jockey, holy mountain, northern liberties, open mouth, and ideal recordings. clairaudience fellowship is released on lp-only in an edition of 1,000 copies housed in full-color jackets with a coupon for drm-free mp3 download. the download coupon includes one additional bonus track that is not on the lp.
quite rare sole release from this short lived thrashy punk all girl supergroup featuring KIM GORDON, LYDIA LUNCH, and SADIE MAE. original inner sleeve. liner notes by BYRON COLEY. very minor seam wear. EX++/EX++.
nice very early black label liberty pressing of this monster debut. classic cosmic spacerock psych epic. super clean awesome gatefold cover is SIGNED by NIK TURNER. looks like it reads “stay stoned ham” ??? labels are perfect. nice vinyl is super shiny and looks barely played, but there are some real lite paper scuffs from the inner sleeve. plays awesome. NM-/EX.
odd 2nd pressing on alternate label (orig on reprise) in amazingly clean shape. another gem from this genius. small sticker residue on back, otherwise like new. NM-/NM-.
lunes is the second album by the texas psychedelic duo headdress. written in the desert but recorded during an endless new york city winter, the album is a dark meditation on americana. guitarist caleb coy and organist ethan cook sculpt a cold, expansive sound made ripe for these turbulent times. it’s the blues shaped by the avant-compositions of la monte young and dylan carlson. it’s drone rooted deep in the american tradition… includes download coupon.
lovely copy of this highly rated micro label heavy psych burner. really very good for for this type of thing, with solid songs, great guitars, cool organ, and never too much of a macho or blues vibe going on. great weirdo cover art. very very minor storage warp that has zero effect on play. perfect in shrink NM/NM.
wild collaborative lp by these 2 deep psych visionaries. one side is a studio collab merging hw’s pummeling psych-frenzy with cascading waves of io-keyboard bliss. the other side is a rare, unhinged live recording of the single time these outfits ever performed together…imagine hw with a freaked out lead singer. strange and great.
heavy winged are a sprawling north american trio made up of drummer jed bindeman, bassist brady sansone and guitarist ryan hebert. over the last few years, the band have released a cacophonous splatter of cassettes, vinyl and cd-rs for not not fun, digitalis, aurora borealis and a handful of other esteemed imprints. most of these have been mercilessly grimy signifiers of their buzzing free-rock style, and were recorded poorly to almost accentuate the harsh guitar tones and double-time blast beats. this latest jagged offering, however, is a rare beast in the heavy winged canon, offering a higher-fidelity peek into their muddled world. this time around, the band escaped to a “real” studio to record two slices of extended sludge rock, which come across as wider than ever, thanks to some fresh recording techniques. something like an unholy union between the sheet-noise of yellow swans and the blissful sub-harmonic transcendence of early mogwai or sonic youth, sunspotted is an album that takes tried-and-tested sounds and bends them beyond recognition. sure, plenty of bands have made distorted, blurred, guitar noise before, but rarely with the conviction and wit of heavy winged. with their early explorations into doom and metal, we find the band on a high, framing their high-octane jitter into something that could almost be mistaken for beautiful. just as the aforementioned yellow swans took their sound from the outer reaches of noise to something, dare i say it, pretty, heavy winged have focused their three individual powers to come up with an album that revels in its depth and shimmering beauty. it might take a few listens to reveal its layers, but sunspotted is a challenging and rewarding listening experience. standing at the top of the band’s already estimable catalog of albums and eps, this album finds them at a key moment, a moment where they have found a balance between fidelity and grit, harmony and discord. step in, turn it up and let yourself descend. cut at berlin’s d+m.
quite good solo acoustic guitar private press with obvious nods to the takoma school, but also filled out with guest musicians in spots for a bit different sound. great cover art & label design! two small stickers lower spine, and some faint sticker residue front. VG++/EX+.
strange & cool finnish prog / folk / psych that covers a lot of ground, with varying success. some great moments, though. the 2nd of many releases. fragile gatefold cover, with thick insert. very thick vinyl. lots of scuffs on wax, but still sounds good. EX+/VG.
original finnish pressing on the LOVE label. cool underground prog/psych. original inner sleeve. VG++/VG++.
fully licensed legit deluxe reissue of this completely unique slab of outsider private press psychedelia. long whispered about by the most inner circle of obsessive psych collectors, but up till now heard only by a lucky few. a true legend for sure, and rightfully so, as the bizarre story surrounding the lp is nearly as twisted as the music itself. ex-road runners drummer stephen david heitkotter recorded and pressed the lp in california sometime before 1971 as a demo only edition of no more then two dozen copies in blank white covers, then distributed it only to a handful of local san joaquin radio stations before the pressing plant destroyed the masters due to non-payment. within months of his failed attempt at radio stardom stephen was committed to the state mental ward, and that was that… but what an album he left behind… deeply damaged outsider/real people westcoast basement loner acid-garage-blues from a genuinely insane person, recorded at the very edge of oblivion. the sound of a last gasp at the teetering edge of the darkest void. a murky disjointed trip wobbling between acid-scorched un-reality and pure all-encompasing blankness… full electric band setting, but whether this was a purely solo endeavor or an actual band recording will remain a mystery forever. those close to stephen at the time swear he was already too far gone to assemble even a jam session, so the solo theory seems likely, making the musical deconstruction meltdown that much more disturbing. semi-tight playing disintegrates into meandering sonic smear at every turn, then somehow resolidifies and churns onward while bent deadpan vocals funnel garbled surrealisms from nowhere to nowhere. the scarily hyper-real yet ultra-weird otherworldly presence is as thick as it comes, and only enhanced by the raw/crude/muffled recording fidelity… not recommended for the weak of heart… co-released with earmonger records. mastered from the best possible original copy and pressed on 180gm audiophile vinyl. exact reproduction labels, including some wild hand embellishment from the man himself. heavy blank white 60s style art paper covers with hand stamped title. heavy insert with extensive liner notes. one time vinyl only limited edition of 1000 copies. no cd, no repress.
very rare soundtrack from one of the few ‘serious’ biker flicks. musically pretty tame, but much in demand as an historical piece non the less. if you collect biker soundtracks, this is a big one. amazing heavy black gatefold cover with big color photos of all the key original hell’s angles members, and a great cover shot of founder SONNY BARGER kicking back on his bike for the cover. big punch hole and minor crease to upper right corner, otherwise only very faint wear. looks quite great. nice clean wax with just a couple hairlines. EX+/EX+.
hematic sunsets is an alias (an anagram to be exact) for german soundartist asmus tietchens from hamburg. tietchens is a self taught artist with more than 50 lp and cd releases on numerous labels (nurse with wound’s united dairies, sky records, the mille plateaux sub-label ritornell, staalplaat, selektion, recent albums on richard chartier’s line label and a massive reissue series on die stadt, to name but a few). his solo works are mainly concerned with the manipulation of concrete sounds and (most recently) pure sine waves (on his mengen series) and their placement (assemblage?) in time and space. while his solo efforts are often austere formal works (yet never lacking a twisted humour), hematic sunsets is a different beast altogether. reminiscent of his sky-era attempts with rhythm and melody, the aroma club series is tietchens warped, almost parodic (per)version of lounge music. each record of the series is based on the sounds and rhythms of one particular (preferredly cheap) organ/keyboard, usually a yamaha product (this time it’s the psr 36). while the last club lp was recorded with several guests (felix kubin, michael rother…) and the 2007 x-mas 7″ was a collaboration with long-time “producer” okko bekker, “aroma club paradox” is another solo effort (collaborating with several fictitious anagrams/characters though). the result is a timeless and completely unique take on muzak using cheap keyboard sounds usually associated to drunk wedding bands or your grandmother’s home organ family music. tietchens elaborately transforms the cheesy associations into cold, bloodless, almost unhuman pop tunes totally lacking the sensationalism and pseudo-fervour of most music, especially modern pop music. limited edition of 500 copies in baby blue heavy vinyl!
uk original on the original TRACK label. front laminated sleeve. silver/black labels. pretty rough vinyl, but not totally trashed. cover is nice. VG++/VG(+).
bronze ‘guitar player’ label stereo original of this awesome powerful femme folk slab. pretty much the essential take on ‘high flying bird’. sweet clean copy. NM-/EX+.
one of the most gifted abstract sonic pilots from the vacationland stable, portland, maine, artist matt lajoie enjoys a larger-than-
sasquatch reputation for his free folk personality and unpredictable takes on spectrasound techniques. although he and his merry band are one of the most charismatic tribes of the new england underground you gotta see them live they blossom from psychedelic occurrences that lead to bursts of pacifist oblivion which can only be redeemed inside their studio output. the momentum lajoie deploys in his polar expressions indicates a supply of time-manipulated balance. an accretion of bucket brigades warping wildly at first breath, generally considered a condition of primitivism, this is searchlight abandonment
with purely spirited jams more akin to the tapers pit than slam continuance. in fact, the only thing slammed here (other than the
muted poetry echoing like buoys in golowins harbor) are the in the red meters on fire signs from fire music providing ease with earth, wind and air. long may we inhale. this is a heady atmosphere, an atmosphere for heads, and it not only delivers the contempo dreamlike aspect at the apex of its form, but transcends it to those revolving with them. take this fucker for a spin. – matt valentine, vermont, 2011.
gnomic no-fi plunk, wheeze, rattle and moan courtesy of an unfortunately monikered (well… at least to english language readers anyway…it probably means something just lovely in finnish…) supergroup comprised of jonna karanka aka kuupuu, laura naukkarinen aka lau nau and merja kokkonen aka islaja that draws from the seemingly eternal well of stoned detuned mischief that feeds the viaducts of the finnish underground. the sheer density of acts positing variants on this same post-amon duul/siloah-like freakout stylee there gives rise to questions of bandwagon hopping, but that’s a discussion for another time. for the here and now, this first release of theirs is a choice manifestation of heavy-lidded third-mind acoustic weirdity that’s as ungainly as it is mystically/chemically blasted… yay to hertta lussu ässä finally on wax!
both carolyn hester coalition albums are fine examples of u.s. west coast-style hippie fuzz psychedelic folk rock, like neighb’rhood children, birmingham sunday and similar outfits. they were recorded in 1969 and 1970 on the metromedia label and are considered to be a must have for u.s. dreamy folk-psych music collectors. first ever reissue on vinyl. limited edition, deluxe 180 gram vinyl, exact reproduction of the original first pressing.
must have for u.s. dreamy folk psych music collectors. first ever reissue on vinyl. limited edition, deluxe 180 gram vinyl, exact reproduction of the original first pressing.
hevoset is the duo of two of the most enigmatic individuals of the finnish underground, namely jan anderzen and jani hirvonen, both hailing from tampere. anderzen is ringleader of a mysterious multitudinous beast known as kemialliset ystevet (fonal records), a part-time member of avarus and islaja and records solo as tomutonttu (ultra exzema, beta-lactam ring records) with a new album coming out on dekorder this year (hopefully). hirvonen is best-known under his uton monicker with two lp’s on dekorder and a stream of releases on last visible dog, digitalis, ruralfauna, jewelled antler, pseudo arcana and his own ikuisuus label. while most one-off meetings between so-called experimental and improvising musicians often sound like bad excuses for a few beers and endless jams this is quite the opposite – a heavy weight championship finale of two like-minded whizkids cross-fertilizing each other with idea after idea, leading to some of the weirdest and quixotic recordings you will have heard of the two. everything you loved about kemialliset ystevet, uton and tomutonttu is contained in hevoset…..and more. rural psychedelia, out-of-tune plucked and strummed strings, overloaded organs and effect pedals, jani hirvonen’s sweet wordless vocals, ecstatic improvised drone collages, bells, backward loops, jungle percussion and tons of unidentifiable sounds and noises shaped into tight 4 – 6 minute tracks…. awesome.
nice looking picture disc version of their 2001 debut. hand painted card insert, numbered edition of 650 copies.
awesome previously unreleased material from japanese heavy psych legends. the title really saws it all… marbled yellow vinyl. very limited pressing. with insert. perfect NM/NM.
over the past few years higuma’s evan caminiti (of barn owl) and lisa mcgee have slowly evolved their sound from shamanistic acoustic dirges into shimmering metallic blast-off hymns, hair-raising eulogies to the cosmos. pacific fog dreams is a set of seven such songs, all beautifully distant and drenched in layers of earth-toned echo, balanced in dream time between melodies and all out electric whitewash. delayed strums hang in a beyond background, a ghost world of songs from some other place and time, channeled onto the hiss of a cassette tape to remind you. caminiti’s guitar is often on the verge of taking the whole thing down, sporadically billowing into colorful feedback, huge blocks of impenetrable sound. mcgee’s vocals are sometimes discovered, but just as distant smears, or riding the peaks, coaxing out phrases of hidden origin, maybe singing of intimacy, memory, nature or magic.
one of the all-time 60′s classics, coming out from the california desert of antelope valley where hms leader merrell fankhauser lived for a couple of yyears. this was released on uni in late 1968, and gosh it’s a killer!!!! flower power psychedelia, great all original songs, this is one of these albums you shouldn’t miss under any circumstance. make yyourself a favour and get one of these wonderful reissues we have for you, with remastered sound, original artwork and an insert with liners by merrell and a great photo from his own archive.
dutch pressing in an alternate laminated cover. VG++/VG+.
way obscure early 70s private press lounge psych. male/female vocals. pretty typical covers scene for the most part, with a couple total duds, but one real highlight in the extended “ramblin’ man” with a hot endlessly extended dueling electric guitar solo and frantic amped-up drumming. if the whole album sounded like this it’d be a total rural / southern guitar psych killer, and totally worthwhile for this track alone. some other good moments as well. great thick cover looks like another generic sunset photo at first glance, but its actually a painting. great loser band photos on back. very little info. cheapo pressing looks a little weird & hazy, plays fine. VG+/VG++.
we’re proud to announce the first-ever vinyl reissue of homestead & wolfe’s lone and excellent album. one of the most unknown artifacts that ever came from the american psych-folk land. originally released in 1975 by topo records. this is an official reissue, fully licensed by ernie bringas (h&w founder) and anopheles records. it has an exact reproduction of the original cover, label, 4-page insert and poster as well as extra triptych insert with bio and photos. two extra tracks are also included… despite being recorded at gold star in l.a. and featuring heavy session names such as hal blaine and al casey, this irresistible femme-vox melodic folk rock/psych delight has remained mysteriously unknown for 30 years. you’ll be hard-pressed to find faults with its mix of various late 1960s california styles, ranging from lyte neighb’rhood child’n top 40 psych over carolyn hester coalition/yankee dollar folk moves into all-out west coast acid rock a la ill wind. – acid archives… beautifully done deluxe reissue! recommended & highly limited.
real nice copy of scarce irish micropress heavy psych / progfolk lp. probably their best, with some wild heavy fuzz guitar/organ moves! gatefold cover with original art inner sleeve. EX–/EX–.
hototogisu is the duo of marcia bassett (double leopards, ghq, un) and matthew bower (skullflower, sunroof!, total). for the past few years, they have been delivering intense guitar/electronics based drones of gargantuesque scales. robed in verdigris is their 16th release and only the third on vinyl. 3 tracks spread over both sides of extreme sunshine and ecstasy. a total assault of metaphysical vibrations. limited to 500…this one vanished in a wink, so act fast if you don’t wanna miss it forever!
since arriving on london racks in the summer of 1970, catherine howe’s debut album has been unavailable in its original format. less than 20 lp copies survived reflection records’ demise, and the album sat in the can until numero’s 2007 cd issue. produced by the legendary jazz pianist bobby scott, this orchestral-folk master stroke has once again been set to lacquer, remastered and restored directly from the original master tapes specifically for this deluxe vinyl release. gatefold package includes replica lp art and complete annotation on the sessions and history of this forgotten brit-folk treasure. “it’s like some missing link between sandy denny and karen carpenter, or between ladies of the canyon and dusty in memphis. if you buy no other reissue this year, buy this.” – barney hoskyns, guardian uk.
released march 3, 2008 as an installment in the oscillation iii series. sold only as a part of the set. lp released december 8, 2008 from a limited edition of 998 copies. wild life, howlin rain’s contribution to oscillation iii, consists of two fifteen minute plus monster jams. the first is an amazingly inspired and completely improvised wailing twin guitar, rock meditation on paul mccartney’s “wild life.” “black sangria” rounds out the disc with a completely improvised piece covered in heavy jazz fusion and free, latin jazz rock overtones. the band featured a slightly different lineup for these session, a lineup that in part feels like a comets on fire mini-reunion (above and beyond ethan miller on guitar/vocals is ben chasny on guitar, utrillo kushner on drums, ian gradek on bass and joel robinow on wurlitzer electric piano/nord keyboard). wrapped delicately in two paintings by raeni miller (ethan’s wife). 180g rti vinyl and housed within an “old style” lp cover.
finally the official vinyl reissue of stan hubb’s 1982 crystal lp is available. 500 faithful repros were made of this confounding slab of stoner rock, each including a replica of the original 16 page booklet. crystal was recorded in hubb’s rural sonoma county living room and just like the original, this reissue was mastered and cut by paul stubblebine, pressed by rti and housed in heavy, old-style jackets… limited to 500. great high quality reissue of this killer unknown slab. recommended!
really nice canadian private press rural acidfolk with full band, loose feel, female backing vox, etc. great suiting cover art too! cover looks good with just minor general wear. vinyl is much played with various mark. mostly surface stuff but a couple worse needle marks. some surface noise but still a good player copy. very slight warp does nothing. VG+/VG.
great legit reissue of new zealand fuzz & wah fueled heavy acid guitar psych power trio monster. probably at their peak here. heavy 60s style cover. fully in shrink NM/EX+.
human skab was a 10-year old boy from elma, washington who played african music with buckets and spoons. thunder hips and saddle bags is a 1986 cassette recorded by young travis roberts with his neighborhood pals and siblings. it was injected into the underground network of tape traders, zine scribes, college djs, and freak seekers who were universally bowled over by its bewildering and utterly poignant snapshot of the mid-1980s. skab’s music — an orchestration of pots n’ pans, three string guitar, poorly-tuned upright piano, broken bottles, toy guns, a garden rake, and a “snake mountain” microphone — is a response to fear of nuclear war with the soviet union, he-man cartoons, twisted sister, the coolness of dinosaurs, the uncoolness of john wayne, and ronald reagan. roberts captures the fervor of do-it yourself ethos, punk energy and the rawness of early american folk by acting on his wild child imagination and enigmatic sense of song. these rare recordings have never been made widely available until now. this reissue includes the complete 1986 cassette. the cd and mp3 version contain a bonus 1987 radio interview. the 16-page booklet in the 500 edition lp and cd contains liner notes by roberts and cousin franky along with many full-color photographs and news clippings. as bruce pavitt wrote in the 1986 sub pop zine: the skab zips around the living room shooting toy guns. he hits the family piano with his fists. he tries real hard to play guitar. he makes up songs about terrorism and radiation and throwing rocks at windows. cool!
landing out of nowhere and traversing historical sonic planes with freeform light-speed, the hunter gracchus arrived at my desk. continuing the recent leaking tap, (so obscure and secretive no one seems to have really cottoned on yet), of european free-music, folk and psych that has been seeping into the underground, hunter gracchus sound both fresh and devastatingly contorted. listening to the fragile and intoxicating sounds generated by the hunter gracchus, your surroundings are skewed into displacement. when describing the output and production of sound experienced on the record, hg used the foundation of non-studio based recordings, stating “where the microphone’s presence seems inconsequential to the performance you hear and its placement is determined more by remaining inconspicuous than maximising fidelity.” this is a keen observation and sits well with the overall experience that the collective creates. spatial awareness is delivered through raga styled drones, but also, more inventively, through anarchic freeform playing. hg also site the bedouin music by deben bhattacharya and the vibracathedral orchestra as having influenced their sound; this alludes to what you will hear, but be prepared for a unique sound-world, all of its own (and straight out of sheffield!) an abundance of acoustic instruments are blown, strummed and plucked alongside inventive percussion that clangs both traditional and (seemingly) found objects. the improvised nature has a difficult narrative that paddles murky water through perilous terrain. this is imagined through the music, but also signified through lengthy and descriptive song titles, e.g. “elkadia priests’ ransacking of the pnac offices”. a mythology is an adequate accompaniment to a challenging and overwrought listen. there are moments where the peaceful rolling of hypnotic free folk is suddenly disrupted by chaotic, (close to a nervous breakdown), improvised attack. the de-tuned gypsy-shanty of the final track on side a, twists and turns like a serpent of rust and soiled canvas. the tort strings scrape and roll in unwavering tones that arch beyond the inevitable outcome one might assume, (then again this is the point of freeform music). side b has pastoral marches with balkan overtones that allude to foreign tradesmen and portside harlots. this has a similar disjointed glow that fans of lauhkeat lampaat will immediately warm to. this has a similar, yet rawer, feel to the recent part wild horses mane on both sides record. the record displays a combination of deep folk understanding, along with a distinctly western european ability to juxtapose misery and hope. the closing track hits a fantastic high with a mix of subtlety, drone, vocal wavering and distortion. the sounds implode in glorious sonic hollers that over lap and consume themselves in the form of an ouroboros. 8/10 — peter taylor, foxy digitalis.
half of the six songs on jana hunter’s carrion are unreleased hangers-on from the writing sessions that produced her most recent full-length, there’s no home, while the other half are alternate renditions of works that appeared on that release. but this is no mere grab bag of remnants; it’s a real tight product, all around. “paint a babe” is a throw-back to hunter’s earlier material, written and recorded simultaneously on a borrowed four-track recorder. a real sad, longing song. “a goblin, a goblin” took a little more time to create: this strong, sturdy number, replete with violins and creepy harmony, tells the tale of an indignant outcast. “you will take it and like it,” turns one central, pretty and proud guitar part over and over and over, with others mirroring it, leeching from it, grabbing on like little parasitic danglers. the original version of “there’s no home” is here, the track that spawned an entire record title, followed by “sleep” (titled, as it was originally, “ooh uuh”), from the recording that ended up on a lullaby compilation. concluding carrion is an acoustic re-presentation of the country-minded “oracle,” stripped down to one guitar, one melody, and one harmony, as it was originally conceived in its creation as homage. cd on gnomonsong. limited to 500.
new recordings by michael. on this lp we find hurley stretching out on six longer than usual compositions that are heartbreaking & beautiful as anything he’s ever done. side one features hurley on a creaky pump organ. side two starts out with two newer compositions – just michael on guitar & vocals. the record ends with a stunning version of tea song (which michael originally wrote & recorded way back in 1963). a sustained feeling of loss & need for redemption haunts this record.
michael hurley is one of the most beloved cult figures of the greenwich village folk scene and his songs have been recorded by everyone from the holy modal rounders and the youngbloods, to vetiver and cat power. first songs, recorded in 1964 when hurley was only 22 years old, shows that his charming, bumming, hippie, wino persona was fully formed at an early age. the album features the first recorded versions of such snock classics as ‘the werewolf song’ and ‘captain kidd.’ reissued on lp for the first time ever, with deluxe packaging including faithful reproductions of the original jacket and insert… about time this was on vinyl again! highly recommended.
way rare & utterly brilliant debut from true american visionary michael hurley (“mike” at this point). although it would be over six years between this album and “armchair boogie” in 1971, it is quite clear michael had a clear & unique vision of his own brand of folk music even at this young age (only in his early 20s). these are deeply wonderful & timeless recordings that deserve a place in the history books. finally reissued on vinyl this year, but sooo tough to score as an original, and a very cool artifact on all levels. essential… cover is very clean overall. spine looks like it was once taped. tape is gone, but spine is yellowed from it. no idea why it was there to start with since the spine is undamaged. date & name in ballpoint pen top right corner. small corner bend bottom right corner. sadly, no insert. vinyl has only faint storage marks and a few ultra lite long scuffs. typically cheap folkways pressing, so this copy sounds as good as any you’ll find. name in pen on one label. EX-/EX+.
ihre kinder, formed in 1968, were the pioneers among the politically and socially engaged groups in germany. their third album, 2357004 (also known as jeanscover) was originally released on kuckuck in 1971 and it is considered to be their best. a great german progressive krautrock effort, that should be part of every serious ’70s progressive rock collection. limited edition, deluxe 180g vinyl, original jeans cover and insert, exact reproduction of the original first pressing.
the path of spectrolite is the latest full length recording from imaginary softwoods. early comments have praised this album and state that while this recording retains some of the icy drone sound from some previous softwoods releases, this is a great progression and a bit more active. an extremely beautiful album entirely of sounds created by synthesizer and voice, this is an essential piece of the imaginary softwoods discography that you are sure to love… first pressing.
facilidad? is impractical cockpit’s 7th full length lp since their inception more than 10 years ago in the cold and blustery minneapolis winter of 1998. after several “relocation efforts,” the band settled for 6 years in the vibrant port of new orleans just after the turn of the new millennium, honing in on their signature approach to noise infused songwriting. always brewing up their own slog of psychedelic punk the cockpits have managed to stay true to their all-analog asthetic no matter how difficult this can be on shoe string budgets. after their crew was totally displaced by the horrific events of hurricane katrina, the band re-formed in new orleans in the spring of 2006 to spend a month writing a new album, unavoidably inspired by the desolate depressed post katrina landscape. mountains of molding garbage lined the streets as cats claw and ivy tore through watermarked walls of recently abandoned buildings. the national guard paced through the streets in armored vehicles, and constant gunshots rang through the thick stillness of decay and toppled over trees. after putting together a live set there, which was to later become this album known as facilidad?, the cockpits embarked on a 2 month tour, with a 2 week recording session scheduled right in the middle. traveling in a home made vegetable oil powered motor home as a 5 piece band, with 2 dogs, and a battery of instruments, they played the album all the way through every night of the tour. the set varied wildly from night to night. the result is this multi-track recording, a culmination of all of their previous efforts summed up in an opus. balkan informed brass arrangements get smacked to tape alongside the thick improvisational gumbo of triaged hand crafted paper reed horns and drum machines. plywood gets smashed to shit and an abandoned warehouse stairwell provides an echochamber for choral arrangements complete with barking dog. on the albums closer “guru’s plume,” a homemade electric violin gets heavy usage, played in the northern louisiana michot family tuning of ebeb. shrill reverb drenched vocals are softened by intense but loosely slung rubber band looped keyboards while talismans are shaken is a steel tea cup. now somewhat disbanded, each member of impractical cockpit seems to be digging themselves deeper into whatever sonic obsession they see fit for these crucial times. but that’s not to say that this is the last time we’re likely to hear from impractical cockpit. produced and engineered by ipcp, jeremy harris and ryan fontaine. recorded to 8 track 1/2 inch tape. mastered by peerless mastering. 500 pressed. full color covers.
600 pressed 5 color silkscreened cover and extensive booklet. recorded to 1/2 inch 8 track in minneapolis wintertime after a long tour with band fluency/solvency at an all-time high, even though a serious bicycle/carwreck and subsequent surgery made drummer don godwin dust off his drum machines and stow away the ludwigs. this is one of ipcp’s more structured albums to date despite maximum rock and roll magazine saying “its’ like confusion is sex era sonic youth only without the songs.” sounds like they skimmed it. this album has been likened to black humor, flipper and early cabaret voltaire… cool spaced sounds in an awesome cover.
recorded in new orleans and originally released by trd/wd in 2001 on very limited cassette. remastered by don godwin summer 2010. edition of 295 copies in recycled german thrift shop record sleeves. includes insert.
the 12″ in dedication to alarmist, a post-animal band from portland or from 2004-2005. they influenced the people that saw them play and took your carpet for a joy ride once or twice while you knew them. nick b (drums) aka tunnels donates some tracks of psychedelic pop unlike other recordings under the same name. recorded during the last few days of the band and after the break up. eric c.(guitar) aka ghost to falco brings you 2 tracks one almost like a 1 minute western dirge the other more in the traditions of ghost to falco style recordings. james s.(vocals) aka argumentix dabbles in the world of industrial beats and stories of a world left behind in 3034. assisted on these recordings by hando on sax. eva aka inca ore(vocals) delivers a chopped and screwed version of some of her recordings mixed with clips of alarmist live shows she picked up from friend mansion a few years after the fact. on the first track of side crocodile you can hear the ode to alarmist by m.remy (u.s. girls) as she calls in to a radio interview the band was doing. non of the 4 solo artist sound anything like what alarmist was doing and non of the solo projects sound a like. this is a great collection of eclectic music. pressing of 300. 12″ black vinyl.
eva saelens’ life quest has taken her from michigan to oregon to oakland back to portland and back again, with several overseas explorations and inner journey road trips thrown in for good measure. whatever path she’s on is long and winding and hidden in the shadow of overhanging cherimoya trees. fortunately she maps her migrations with haunted, exotic breath-and-electricity sphinxes ranging from 2006′s brute nature vs. wild magic to last year’s brainwashing birthday of bless you lp. 2009 finds her offering up another psychic harvest unto the world, silver sea surfer school, a new nine-song pipeline ride that floats through a whole new web of voice orbs and tape hiss and keyboard balladry. if anything, silver sea is saelens’ weirdest hour, layered in abstract environments, whispers, distant poetry, free percussion loops, with sudden passages of heart-dissolving ghost-piano beauty (“shine on from the heaven above,” “adventure in light”). heavily impressive, and a brave pearl-dive into even more personal waters for the inca ore lifeforce. lps come in jackets with art by saelens, plus a full-color insert. edition of 500 (40 on clear ocean-water vinyl, 180 on marbled blue/white, 280 on black).
nice PINK RIM island label original UK pressing of great folkpsych weirdness. name in marker on back cover. EX-/EX-.
butterfly label UK original press. nice early ‘best of’ collection. always trashed fragile cover is lovely here. EX-/VG+.
amazing perfect SEALED original of one of their greats. one tiny bump to one corner. SEALED NM+.
long gone 500 copy reissue of legendary west coast test pressing only release from 1969. features members of STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK. pretty hot. color paste-on art. few fingerprints on black back cover, otherwise tops. NM-/NM-.
solid and pretty obscure major label garage psych artifact. quite rare WHITE LABEL MONO PROMO copy. never seen another mono copy. cool 3D-eque cover art. little ring wear. small radio call letters in marker on front cover & both labels. original inner sleeve. very clean wax. EX-/NM-.
the inner space is the stuff of legend. this obscure outfit is best known as the antecessor band of can and not much is known about them except it featured the core members of can (irmin schmidt, holger czukay, michael karoli and jaki liebezeit) and lasted just a few months before renaming themselves the can and releasing monster movie. they left two ultra-obscure seven inches as their only recorded legacy and only the first of them is credited to the inner space, it contained two songs taken from the soundtrack of 1969′s underground film agilok & blubbo. originally released by the german vogue label in 1969, it currently fetches prices around the 300 euro mark in the collector’s circuit. given the obscurity of both the band and its recorded output, we’re proud to present, for the first time to the public, not only the aforementioned singles but the complete soundtrack to peter f. scheneider’s offbeat political satire agilok & blubbo. previously unavailable until now, the original master tapes of this soundtrack have been stored in the archives of legendary german producer and music publisher hans wewerka who produced the recording sessions back in 1969. here you can hear history in the making, the first step of a group of musicians who’ll go on to achieve fame, success and recognition over the ’70s, helping define a sound (often called krautrock) that has been highly influential to this day. those familiar with can’s output will recognize some of the band’s characteristic sound, albeit in an embryonic form. songs like ‘agilok & blubbo’ or ‘kamera song’ already hint at their later pop brilliance whereas the short cues and extended free jams found elsewhere in this soundtrack reminds us from the heterogeneous roots of a bunch of musicians coming from rock, jazz and avant-garde backgrounds. all in all, an excellent glimpse into the early stages of an innovative band developing its own musical language. this reissue includes detailed liner notes by wah wah’s very own raül g.pratginestós and comes illustrated by original b/w shoots from the movie production… a very cool document and pretty essential for any serious can / krautrock fan.
long gone 400 copy reissue of bluesy rural heavy psych rock. some good stoned electric leads. paste-on cover, numbered on back. NM-/NM-.
debut vinyl release from natural snow buildings’ solange gularte’s solo project, isengrind. modlitewnik continues solange’s fantasticly far out occult psych-folk-drone trip outs, 12 tracks across the length of this lp, considerably shorter pieces in comparison to her work with mehdi in natural snow buildings, isengrind retains a certain amount of the sound of the duo, but it is a whole other beast, in many ways much stranger and darker, but still hauntingly beautiful with some fantastic blissed out vocal drones, dreamy guitars, and psyche soaked dark drone zones. heavyweight vinyl, housed in a pro-printed full colour fold over sleeve with all 4 panels featuring stunning artwork by solange, the inside of the cover is especially spectacular. one time pressing of approx 600 copies… already sold out at source.
islaja’s third album is a journey deeper into the world that for us is a dream and a fairytale, but to her a reality. islaja as a concept has turned into a star that is expected to shine with brilliance. but she is something else. the songs tell us about the decay of our age, its demise and immorality, its plunge into heartless consumer culture. islaja herself does not burn in that same fire. her fire is an inner fire. behind her eyes and in her heart you can see and hear her true charisma. true dedication and utter disrespect for the artificial authority made by men. yet she is not the self-destructive nico or the eccentric bjerk. but a good woman. a tough one. her eyes can burn a hole in you. her songs are poems and stabbing knives.’ –sami senpekkile; islaja is merja kokkonen, a young visual artist and musician living and working in helsinki, finland. islaja records her music at home using a rainbow of instruments to accompany her personal vocal delivery sung in finnish. she has performed with avarus, kemialliset ystevet and is also a member of hertta lussu esse, a free-folk super trio with lau nau and kuupuu very sweet one.
real weird on here… credited only to zager & evans “with others” but side two of the lp is the full first side of the awesome J.K. & CO. “SUDDENLY ONE SUMMER” lp, which is a classic slice of teen dreamer psych. so, half an original of a killer lp for way less cash. promo copy with sticker on cover. VG++/EX+.
one copy only. out of print.
the first jomf studio release since the critically acclaimed 2005 cd, flags of the sacred harp. produced by adam forkner, valley of fire contains three brand new finely crafted songs and a 20 minute classic psychedelic dirt road journey. the record represents two equally fascinating aspects of jomf, songwriting and musical arrangement. over the years jomf have spent equal time writing and arranging classic american folk and blues and long, freeform compositions, drawing comparisons to 1960s and 70s ensembles like ash ra temple, amon duul, amm, faust, can and the art ensemble of chicago, while at the same time developing a song crafting style passed down through generations. valley of fire picks up the trail of flags of the sacred harp and wanders down a similar path, adding elements of krautrock and classic west coast american production to create an incredible, original album. the cover of valley of fire is an original watercolour painting by american artist jo jackson, who creates mystical paintings and shows her work around the world… covers have banged corners, so reduced price.
way rare BLOOD RED WAX WHITE LABEL PROMO original pressing of their 2nd album, the follow up to their masterpiece debut ‘vacant world’. this ones something of a different trip, but still plenty of charms and some lingering moody dark angst and fuzz guitar splashes. quite rare in this form, and the fidelity of the red wax promo pressing is mindblowing. front cover art is clean & bright, but seams are worn & splitting. mild foxing on back cover & white labels. vinyl has various scuffs & marks, including a couple feelable ones, but amazingly the incredible pressing plays nearly perfect. VG+/VG+.
jackwacker crawled out of the bleak bubble of the early 90′s bloomington, indiana followed by a short lived relocation to madison, wisconsin, where they soon dissolved. thriving briefly as outsiders of the midwest no-wave scene, they shared bills amongst folks like couch, duotron, the scissor girls, the flying luttenbachers, to live and shave in l.a., zerobot and lake of dracula. stearing clear of flacid progressive rock virtuoso noodling, jackwacker have instead created the perfect juxtaposition of primal noise and know-how rock sounds. plainly speaking, they just fucking rock.
original press of long time psych fave with backing from BOHEMIAN VENDETTA. everybody seems to be a fan of this one, and its held up well over a lot of years and hype. there’s a real starry-eyed quality here that just doesn’t pop up on a lot of these “psych” records…. beautiful copy still in shrink with just a (fairly large) cut corner. vinyl played a couple times at most and would be perfect if not for some slight storage haze. NM-/EX+.
cool educational album of indian classical music theory / instruction. with notes. great cover design. library stickers on back, otherwise clean. EX/EX.
this album is a legendary artifact for all 60s and 70s music collectors, original copies in good condition change hands for about 500 us$. the spirit of the music is a tasty combination between aggressive groovy fuzz-garage-hard rock and atmospheric psych-folk with moody vocals and a poetic message, comparable to world in sound’s legendary phantasia or dr. hooker. in between perfectly arranged songs like ’you don’t walk on my street,’ ’i remember’ and the psych-trip ’sleepers,’ you’ll hear weird spoken word themes as guatamalan strange, electronic silver and heavy-riff instrumentals. this was the debut release by michael james, who’s still active in the music business with his own label, empath records, and the groups children of the risk, michael yonkers and mounting santa feat. dr. fink of prince’s revolution. this lp-reissue is produced from the original analog master tapes… deluxe reissue of this total obscurity.
original YELLOW LABEL PROMO MONO pressing of his first proper lp. the story is an epic one, but this is the guy who made the CHRIS DUCEY / CHRIS LUCEY album a couple years earlier (which actually had a uk release under his real name & with a different title.) the sound here isn’t far from the great ducey / lucey album, but more baroque with typical CURT BOETTCHER production. nice stuff. lots of marks on wax, still plays better then it looks. VG+/VG.
the 1978 release of corwood industries #0739, ready for the house, began one of the most compelling, disturbed, and singular legacies in musical history. in the 30 years since this unique debut, jandek has released 53 albums of mournful, atonal music that continues to defy classification and accessibility. and while the past three decades of intense productivity have yielded a depth of discussion, a handful of legendary live performances and even a film documentary, no amount of time or experience can prepare a listener for the experience of ready for the house. beyond stark, beyond oblique, beyond outsider, the first jandek lp (originally credited to the units) explores musical territories no one even knew existed, with just a hollowed-out voice and a lonely, detuned guitar. in 1985, it had infamously sold less than ten of the 1000 copies originally pressed, however by 1999, when it was issued on cd, the vinyl had completely disappeared, with original copies changing hands for hundreds of dollars. this exact vinyl repress on corwood industries, is the first time ready for the house has been available on vinyl for nearly 20 years, finally giving collectors and fans the opportunity to own one of the most peculiar, solitary, and strangely magnetic records of all time.
long awaited follow up to the “true story of abner jay” lp. abner jay was a man who had a grand sweeping vision of what folk music was. in his lifetime his expression of what folk music could be encompassed some serious stylistic variations. sometimes he was a one man band traveling troubadour playing an electric banjo, harmonica, & drums who tried to hoodwink audiences into believing that he was 150 years old & the standard bearer for authentic americana. sometimes he played in electric straight up r&b bands such as “koko joe & the jobhunters”. sometimes he claimed to be the “black bob dylan” strumming an acoustic guitar & singing socially conscious urban folk. on this lp we find abner in all of these modes & more. (he also does a pop song about a submarine disaster & a beautiful gospel song) culled from a mix of abners’ 45′s & lps spanning the period 1964 – 1973, including abner’s first long lost lp, which we reproduced the cover image for this lp from. we hope that this release will help to further the current wave of understanding that abner jay is an important artist who deserves a wider audience than he ever received during his lifetime. comes with a self promotional pamphlet penned by abner & a color photo of abner. housed in an old school tip on sleeve. we are very proud to get this incredibly hard to find material out into the world.
restock/repressed… compilation culled from abners’ self released lps & 7″s featuring hits such as ‘i’m so depressed,’ ‘cocaine’, ‘vietnam,’ & ‘the reason young people do drugs.’ abner jay was a one-man band singer/songwriter deserving of a wider listening audience than he received in his day. this is the first vinyl release of his material since the 1970s. great soulful folk & r&b music. most copies of the lp include a press photo of abner, transcriptions of his spoken word pieces, a reproduction of an informative pamphlet about abner & a press statement penned by abner himself. tip on jacket.
debut vinyl lp from manchester’s david a. jaycock (who is also a member of big eye family players), david had a 7″ on the excellent great pop supplement and presets follows on from that fine release. presets features 12 tracks of melancholic folk almost entirely performed by david on a variety of instruments, and it’s a real step forward to darker areas than his previous releases on great pop supplement, early winter recordings and the red deer club. the record retains some of the more haunting vocal and guitar moments from aforementioned excursions, and at times is comparable to ben chasny’s six organs of admittance, but it has a much stranger and hard to place approach and sound, with some fantastic dark creepy tracks, blurring creaking, clunking objects with something that sounds like guitar, transformed into something far more sinister… but somehow at the same time retains a feeling that everything isn’t quite as bleak as it seems. edition of 250 with pro printed sleeves. pressed on virgin vinyl.
brand new split lp featuring heavy hitting uk bleak dudes… a-side is jazzfinger’s ‘killed in a clear sky’, one solid slab of fucked up tapped guitar drone and distant errie whir… like a storm of electric feedback, slashes and cuts. far out, and a real killer 20 odd minutes to make you lull out. b-side is a collaboration between culver and fordell research unit, another side long piece, that starts off with some bassed up doom chugs and slogs that sound like fucking something that could lay down by some southern lord brutality, but then it punches you in the face with its distorted churning hell. limited to 280 white label lps in black sleeves with hideous brutal artwork by french.
danish label reverse recordings have just released a jazzkammer/opec split lp. our side is a 20 minute turntable freak-out, while opec offer a more subtle but no less intense soundscape. 323 copies, silkscreened covers and a proper vinyl mastering by the good rashad at d+m in berlin. — lasse marhaug (jazzkammer) — another sweet one on this hip label. two color screen printed art on a heavy clear vinyl sleeve, screen printed round art paper insert, numbered to 323.
danish label reverse recordings have just released a jazzkammer/opec split lp. our side is a 20 minute turntable freak-out, while opec offer a more subtle but no less intense soundscape. 323 copies, silkscreened covers and a proper vinyl mastering by the good rashad at d+m in berlin. – lasse marhaug (jazzkammer) – another sweet one on this hip label. two color screen printed art on a heavy clear vinyl sleeve, screen printed round art paper insert, numbered to 323.
top copy of this very rare and mysterious french private press acidfolk beauty. backing band features a member of heavy french prog group ARCANE V. super fragile hushed late night mood that really doesn’t sound like much else. nylon string acoustic guitar, xylophone, flute, etc. unusual arrangements all through, always simple yet strange. lyric are all in french, but the vocals are soft & lovely. one very sweet meditative electric guitar track too. really cool one for the right listener. very fragile laminated cover has just super lite corner wear. thick board printed insert is perfect. vinyl has just some faint storage marks and a couple paper sleeve scuffs. about as clean a copy as you’ll ever find. NM-/NM-.
original BLACK LABEL MONO pressing of their pre-GRACE SLICK debut, with SKIP SPENCE on the drums! still underrated compared to their later lps, but a great west coast garagy folk rocker that might just blow you away when you hear it with its original thick, powerful, mono mix sound. cover has some ring wear & dirt, but no real damages. vinyl has seen a lot of play but still sounds pretty great in mono. VG+/VG.
portland / oregon-sacramento / california: 580 miles. one of the longest trip for the first jennifer gentle north american tour. they play at the academy of fools, a sort of garage converted as an art gallery: a big open space, low ceiling, completely empty, walls without anything, no stage, no audio system, just a microphone. it seams the beginning of a bad night, on the contrary due to the wonderful view and the beautiful californian sun, or just for themselves and their fans, the jennifer gentle decided to play anyway; not their usual repertory to much noisy but just an improvisation made by their instinct. the result was a hypno jam session, relaxed, honeiric. the day after jennifer gentle play at the davis kdvs radio, where they propose and records the same jam of the previous night, which became the”sacramento session”. back to home, working on marco’s improvisations with different sounds, manipulated, mixed and remixed, they found the specular image from a distorted mirror of the”sacramento session”:”5 of 3″ is the perfect b side, the balance and overturn of that californian night. we would like also to remark you that”sacramento session / 5 of 3″ is not the jennifer gentle new studio album, but is instead a combo of a jam session together with a studio manipulation. packaging in a de-luxe and elegant fold-out cover – opaque red vinyl. very limited edition.
hangzhou’s li jianhong has been performing alone and in the duo d!o!d!o!d! for several years, but he only caught western ears last year with the monumental san sheng shi, released by philadelphia’s archive cd. oceanic and desolate, lovers with cloisonné bracelet cements li as a distinctive voice in modern noise. the two halves of this record are an ideal introduction to li’s music: “lovers in misery” offers a restrained, electric swell; “time in the mirror” wallows in hototogisu-an guitar hell. without sacrificing pacing for density, li has crafted an album that decimates the retrograde psychedelic guitar landscape and trivializes the petty violence of much harsh noise. edition of 350 180gm lps in heavy-stock linen-paper sleeves hand-screened, -cut, and –glued by reuben little of 43rd parallel press.
good maine private press xian folk pop. nice teen female vocals and a lot of pretty wild synth set this one apart from the bulk of these local xian lps. i dig it. cover in in shrink but split 2/3rds of the way across the top seam. VG+/VG++.
exploratory psych concept record that shoulda been on ESP disk, great loner moves/doo wop experiments/hard rock orbit/rural jams. songs like “moonbeam”, “mama neptune”, “vapor lady”, etc..a beautiful copy. gatefold sleeve. cut out. EX++/M-.
with its immediately recognizable m c escher cover, this intriguing folk/rock/psych release from 1974 is another incredibly rare album enjoying its first legitimate reissue. a joint effort’s final effort was originally recorded and released by canada’s university of new brunswick on its little records label (little records 101); despite its lack of wider recognition, this is generally regarded by those who know as a diverse and eclectic album with a number of outstanding tracks. one pundit described it as ’a weird mix of early csny, with shades of perth county conspiracy and a dash of early eagles thrown in.’ the first side, with the superb ’winter’ is particularly impressive — largely acoustic hippy folk rock with the occasional electric guitar thrown in for good measure. side two, however, is an altogether rockier affair with standout tracks ’greed for goldand,’ an up-tempo fuzzed-out cover of ’a horse with no name’ combining effectively to elevate final effort to a different musical plane. original cover has been reproduced as well as rare original insert.
guitarist /composer glenn jones claims a lengthy and rich relationship to what his longtime friend john fahey so famously dubbed ‘american primitive guitar.’ aside from being seduced by punk in its latter-’70s heyday and brandishing the electric for a large portion of his career (including 20 years as a founding member of post-rock instrumentalists cul de sac), it was the acoustic steel-string and the seemingly multi-directional genres born from fahey’s homespun takoma imprint that informed much of jones’ early musical vision. he’s also an accomplished writer and producer, penning notes for many of fahey’s reissues as well as his final posthumous album red cross; it was from jones’ personal archive that the robbie basho live concert album bonn 1st supreme he produced for bo’ weavil recordings (entrusted to him by the late basho, whom he befriended in the latter years of his life) was exhumed. in short, he’s an authority on the subject, both as a player and scholar, and with two gorgeous, critically-acclaimed solo albums under his belt, jones is widely and justly recognized as one of the major voices of the international wave of acoustic steel string players that seemingly crested in the wake of fahey’s death. barbecue bob in fishtown is jones’ latest, a disarmingly elegiac foray into wider and deeper streams of ever-chiming steel string. returning to martha’s vineyard where jones recorded his previous masterwork (against which the sea continually beats, strange attractors, 2007), barbecue bob in fishtown explores the possibilities of classical composition within american folk forms and solo instrumentation. it’s precisely this stylistic melding which sets jones apart from his modern-day acoustic underground brethren. jones is able to discover and project wide-screened cinema from just 6 & 12 strings, coaxing vivid panoramic images from his sparkling fingerstyle playing. experimentations with tuning and various capos of his own invention are wed with delicately expressive playing and a remarkable compositional prowess. barbecue bob in fishtown also finds jones’ performing solo on 5-string banjo for the first time on record, exhuming the spirit of clive’s original band as seen through a dock boggs-esque prism. barbecue bob in fishtown distills the best qualities of jones’ musical vision into a finely honed summation of his distinctly singular style. a timeless recording, one to be held up as one of the best examples of the genre by a unique player dubbed by writer bill meyer in signal to noise as ‘…an elder amongst the disciples.’… limited 180gm vinyl version.
extremely rare southern california acetate lp that could very well be one-of-a-kind, and its a good one too. this is not the well known british artist with the same name… totally mellow laurel canyon / topanga valley lonesome ssw folk / folkrock with strong original songs, good warm vocals & nice guitar. mostly just the guy singing and acoustic guitar, but with occasional great female backing vocals, second guitar, sparse piano, flute, violin, tambourine, etc. adding some welcome variation. everything is nicely loose, but wouldn’t be a stretch at all to hear this was a canned major label project. not mind-blowing, and while there are a few pretty haunting tracks its not “downer” either, just a real nice dose of that sweet soft introspective melancholy westcoast sunset sound. i dig it, and its a grower… hand typed labels. MONO pressing. various marks on wax but nothing major and plays really well the whole way through, especially for an acetate. heavy textured plain black cover. cool item. EX/VG++.
uk original press. rather strange lp on many levels: if the mix of christmas themes and mod beat psych isn’t enough to get you curious, the cover photos of the band, dressed in full SS gear, inside christmas ornaments, should do the trick. all weirdness aside, mostly a pretty good lp! laminated flipback cover. VG++/VG++.
orange you glad is the debut full-length lp from julian lynch, following a string of self-released cd-r’s and a recent split 7″ with his childhood friend and frequent collaborator matt mondanile of ducktails on the underwater peoples label. a talented multi-instrumentalist, julian has had a busy summer playing countless shows both solo and as a member of predator vision, ducktails, and real estate offshoot alex bleeker & the freaks. this album is comprised of 4-track home recordings made in his hometown of ridgewood, new jersey and also in madison, wisconsin where he is a graduate student in ethnomusicology. his interest in indian & south asian music blossomed several years ago when he was living in washington, d.c. and working for smithsonian folkways recordings. this exposure to their vast library of world music has informed his output, and he blends instruments such as harmonium & tabla with guitar-rock instrumentation. also of note is his use of circular breathing techniques on the clarinet — often a focal point during his meditative live shows.
guerssen records is proud to release on vinyl nothing less than an essential album to anyone with a minimum interest in psychedelic music. this very rare 1968 uk album, originally released on the major minor label, features essential psych classics such as “dandelion seeds” and “my clown.” this is the definitive vinyl reissue of this beauty, pressed on 180 gram vinyl and housed in a high-quality carton cover with old-style backflaps and a fantastic 4-page insert with photos and extensive liner notes by uk psych authority david wells. also included is a full-color reproduction of the rare-as-hell original promo poster… great upgrade of this total classic.
the first legitimate re-issue of this mega rare californian psychedelic monster. this is one of the best and most sought after psychedelic gems ever recorded, with amazing and fluid heavy fuzz guitars, superb organ, drums and fantastic songwriting. recorded in new york in 1969 while the band was living in a farm in vermont. the original was pressed in a run of 50 demo copies only! no names or hints are given on the original lp but after over a decade of excruciating search, miguel rodriguez, the man behind finding darius, garrett lund, stonewall and many more, finally found the band members! so here is your chance to listen to one of the great mystical albums of the psychedelic private press collectors’ realm at the fraction of the cost of the original, in amazing sound. this gem comes in a gatefold cover with unseen pictures and full band history, released in full collaboration with the surviving band members… great to see this finally get a high quality legit reissue! been a long time fave ‘round time-lag since way back. recommended!
long gone shadoks reissue of this mega rare & great japanese acid folk private press. for me the best japanese reissue on the label. a great mix of deep folk moods, acidic fuzz leads, a few rockers, all english vocals, really great fun/surreal/weird lyrics. instantly enjoyable & just grows on you with repeated spins. tiny corner bends & the very faintest starting cover wear. vinyl & insert just about perfect. recommended. NM-/NM.
“misora” (which can be roughly translated as beautiful sky), the 1972 debut album by sachiko kanenobu, a woman generally acknowledged as japans first female singer-songwriter. it’s a near-perfect folk masterpiece, alternating full-bodied arrangements (produced by harry hosono of yellow magic orchestra and happy end) with sachiko’s lonesome guitar and pure, soaring vocals. discovered as a precocious 18 year old in osaka, sachiko was signed in 1968 to japan’s first ever independent record company, urc (underground record club), who changed japan’s musical landscape irrevocably in the late 60s and early 70s with artists like happy end, folk crusaders and kenji endo. sachiko was the only female artist on this era-defining label and the very fact that she wrote and sang her own songs made her a rarity among japanese women. limited reissue of 500 copies, in gatefold cover and with a 4 page insert featuring extensive linernotes, lyrics translated into english by sachiko herself, and never before seen photos from the singers own archives.
new reissue of ohio psych, folk, rock and strange from ’71-’72. originality was not an issue with the jammers. they are ‘real.’ 500 legit pressings, black vinyl with bonus non-lp 45! also with band history insert and a real sharp looking glossy cover. ‘waiting for the messiah’, ‘midnight watch’.
debut album from this massive free ensemble from louisville which features a revolving cast of over 50 musicians including members of sapat, valley of ashes, virgin eye blood brothers, son of earth, taiwan death and the belgian waffles. the hermit consists of three extended pieces that offer spaciously abstract atmospheres as well as moments of righteous cacophony. utilizing a multitude of brass, reeds and percussion the album careens through numerous passages where intricate harmonics are created from the densely layered sounds. when the full force of the ensemble is unleashed individual elements appear and quickly recede into the squall. as the music nearly becomes unhinged, the sound disintegrates into a godzilla-like rockist thud propelled by the rhythm section and soaring horns before drifting to a sparse conclusion. the lp comes in a full colour jacket with homespun artifacts gracing the cover – very limited.
the new decade begins with a groovy explosion of sound and colors: ladies and gentlemen, here comes the new rock syndicate. band leader kawaguchi masami is a veteran of the tokyo underground scene, being former miminokoto, broomdusters and lsd march member, both seminal projects in the development of a certain way to make rock, looking back at the tradition with a new approach, open to psychedelia, noise and free improvisation. as it happens, masami’s activities soon became the object of a passionate cult among music lovers and record collectors. ‘the psychedelic sounds of the new rock syndicate‘ is the definitive statement of masami as songwriter and ferocious guitar player, finding in kikuchi akira (bass), kiyasu (drums) and hasegawa yohei (guitar on ‘dazzling light’ and ‘(theme from) new rock syndicate’) the perfect partners in crime for this unbelievable new studio work. the album opens with an almost sabbattesque anthem (‘why’) where a heavy riffage is accompanied by lamentous vocals; second piece (‘affected dance’) is a deconstructed blues jam, with a touch of narcoleptic magic and simply beautiful. side b is where the miracle actually happens: every single track is a banger, a compendium of 50 years of rock music compressed in 18 minutes of fire on wax. songs like ‘repetition’ or ‘tottemo’ have been rotating non stop here since when we got the master recording. every other word is useless: a monument. first edition 250 copies, with spectacular artwork by standard in-fi visuals… nice one!
from all belgian projects maybe the best known. started the köhn project around 1997 and released three full albums on our label. right from the start köhn wasn’t happy with only providing the hip electronica world only an exploration of sounds, but decided to combine these sources to deliver a kind of pop from another angle. you’ll bump into pure electronica, pop melodies, ambient pieces and musique concrete. his soundpalet is music history uptill now. still: he did find his own signature. proof of this can be heard on the epic dble cd ‘koen’ which is mainly a sum of years of experience within a thin field. köhn also provides soundtracks to short movies and animations, produced music for dance performances/theatre plays and commercials. in between all this he tours the world (with or without visuals from hendrik dacquin) setting fire to most stages and plays in de portables. besides all this he also releases albums as jurgen deblonde on tomlab to break in completely into pop-territory. but 2003 is the year that both projects coming together more and more. other projects: jurgen deblonde, ed nolbed, frambooz, de portables, burda moden. the comeback we were all waiting for! ever since his “bruce willis” album (western vinyl, 2003) jürgen de blonde mainly focussed on music for dance and theatre productions. untill recently when he relived his old synthesizer festish. this finally resulted in “we need more space in the cosmos”, an ode to lost hero’s such as klaus schulze and jean-michel jarre. the album recalls eighties electronics, i.e. an era when kraut rock culminated into new space ages and cosmic television soundtracks. but still the köhn trademarks pop up from the very first second. his unique approach to music that made him differ from the likes of aphex twin and oval in the nineties, now shows the man as a cosmic courier of the 21st century. comes in a limited edition sleeve from the yves jeanson geometrical abstraction art collection.
totally unknown and quite great west coast private press. self recorded in various bedrooms in palo alto, california. essentially a solo endeavor with one friend adding excellent drums to a few tracks. floating, introspective loner folkrock with psychedelic flashes. filled with beautiful layered guitar tapestries enhanced by understated but persistent use of phasing, backwards effects, echo, fuzz, reverb, etc. really magical post-hippy west coast guitar action for sure. the vocals are warm & deep and float through the music perfectly. primitive by nature for sure, but the home production job is top notch. solid all through, and 2/3rds of the tracks are truly amazing. serious grower qualities upon repeated listening, with many sweet subtleties. the stark b&w cover art captures the urban loner mood perfectly. recommended. pristine SEALED NM+ with insert.
rural rock with country with some downer acidfolk tones. some great tracks. with insert. cut corner. VG++/EX+.
this beautiful super-heavyweight lp, which comes packaged in a sweet full-colour sleeve reunites the uk’s premier free drummer alex neilson, who’s played, amongst others, with motor ghost, directing hand, trembling bells, tight meat duo, josephine foster, bonnie ‘prince’ billy, jandek, mv&ee, richard youngs, baby dee and alastair galbraith, with nmperign member greg kelley, whose reinvention of the trumpet is as crucial now as anthony braxton’s reinvention of the sax was 30 years ago. a screeching, soaring, scattergun array of noises come maniacally out of greg’s horn, unlike anything we’ve ever heard and he successfully straddles no wave, concrete and free jazz in a way that makes those genres seem like trite pigeonholes. limited to 500 copies.
solid belfast maine private press folky, bluesy bar-rock and a couple good lonesome solo folk cuts. enjoyable stuff. crude b&w cover. SEALED NM/S.
this is the first release from finland’s kemialliset ystävät since 2007. kemialliset ystävät equals jan anderzén. he is one of the few finnish musicians to have achieved renown in the international experimental circuit. in the case of anderzén — who also plies a trade as a visual artist — this is not a matter of juxtaposition between experimental and mainstream, or a calculated career choice. using music and images, he is busy creating a world that is a law unto itself, a world of exceptional freedom and beauty. earlier ky albums have been peppered with contributions by individuals such as islaja, the members of avarus and sami sänpäkkilä. it is not easy to distinguish who plays what on kemialliset ystävät recordings. rather than a side project consisting of solo parts, the band is an ecosystem within anderzén’s reality. one of the essential techniques applied by anderzén is collage, in sound as well as image. he is no conventional instrumental virtuoso; his music is created with a fluctuating array of instruments and equipment. the focus is less on instrumental prowess and more on the overall sound and impression as well as the tension between the various materials. as a manipulator of these elements, anderzén is in a league of his own. his sampler-based solo performances as tomutonttu have left no doubt about that. a close listening of anderzén’s music reveals its near-architectonic precision. he is known for an exceptionally painstaking approach to creating his music. all this hard work is readily evident in the finished product, not as an accentuated complexity but rather as a clear, independent vision. kemialliset ystävät is like a natural phenomenon. it is difficult to imagine anyone having consciously constructed it, such is the ease with which it presents itself to us. to be in the presence of anderzén’s work is captivating in the same way, simple yet inexplicable, as it is to stare into fire. it truly takes a master to create such an experience, but listening to this kemialliset ystävät album evokes just that: a feeling of lightness.
this is the fourth full-length album by kemialliset ystävät on the fonal label, originally released in 2007. pulsating, radiant and turbo-charged, this music shares the groove of a junk pile and a wild foal. it comes with the lovely smell of the chemical they spray on apple trees. it’s a highly ambitious effort originally planned to become a defiant message in a bottle, limited edition of one, addressed to the man. kemialliset ystävät has been rocking out for some time now and there is no end in sight. without all the experiments of the past, this record would not exist, and there’s still plenty of fresh perspective in the mix, too. listen to roope drum his belly, laura play tambura and jaakko go berserk on a chinese flute. lots of energy went into the mixing: a million voices from friends are twisted into one hypnotic, over-the-top sound textile that vibrates and grows in every direction, resembling a living organism, a merry beast. give it a hug and you will gain power — it is like shooting up echinacea. wrap it around you and tune in to the blizzard. sit down and blast as loud as possible.
original compilation of all their singles plus their best unreleased tracks. 20 tracks in total. first vinyl issue… classic american garage!
third album of texas xian coffee house folk, with the same vibe as their first, though without a real stand-out track. not bad and some nice female vocals. in shrink. EX-/VG+.
their first album. texas xian coffee house folk that gets too chipper at times but opens with a great moody guy/girl folk duet with heavy echo effects which is well worth hearing. some other ok moments too. nice crude b&w cover art. VG+/VG.
private press west coast communal hippy eastern guru worship folk psych with many voices, many guitars, many odd precessions, flute, violin, etc. a few really lovely tracks. writing on cover (signed maybe? hard to tell) price in marker, some ring wear. super clean wax. VG+/NM-.
real sweet tan label original copy of this rather amazing lp thats been getting a lot of attention since the NEW AGE ‘ALL AROUND’ lost recordings lp was finally released a couple years back. a pretty magical mix of powerful stoned folk blues with eastern mystical raga elements perfectly integrated. a totally groundbreaking sound for the early date, and a cornerstone of folk psychedelia for sure. this was his sole release of the era, coming out just months before his very early death. highly recommended album and just getting tougher to score. tiny punch hole, small corner bends/wear, and an 1inch bottom seam split, but otherwise super clean with beautiful crisp cover art. near perfect wax. oh, and sounds WAY better then the recent bootleg reissue! EX++/NM.
original copy of this super cool & rare lp, one of the most unusual of its type from the era. could go on & on about this one, but think lo-fi intelligent dorm room garage folk through a crude new-wave filter and you’ll be close. really strange, demented, fun, catchy, raw, thoughtful, dumb, etc. all at the same time. very small private pressing and it seems all but 50 copies were destroyed by the band. very crude cover with wrap-around paste-on xerox cover. NM-/NM-.
pretty cool & very obscure west coast communal hippy folk psych private press with male/female vocals, chanting, hand drums, flute, etc. some tracks are sorta eastern jazzy folk improvs, some are tighter mellow acidfolk. cool very crude paste-on front & back cover art. vinyl is pretty clean other than one deeper scratch that causes some ticks during the first two tracks on the second side. VG++/VG+.
rare UK original pressing in a fragile textured gatefold cover. first press ‘pink rim’ labels original. lyric inner sleeve. lite wear only. EX-/EX+.
so i would imagine that youd have one look at the photo of king darves we have here and think “oh brother! another guy with a beard getting over what looks like a bad case of the clap and an acoustic guitar. wheres my axe?” so were not gonna put it up here. (mystique, dig?) but its really not like that, i tell you! the bedrock of king darves new brunswick based concoction is certainly folk based but theres no headband and hes not singing of pixies in the moss. this is somewhere between rolled cigs and the foggy vision of big pink from somewhere on jersey avenue, or maybe a one-manned meat puppets. this kid has really cobbled something together in his kitchen sink! the sun splits for… the blind swimmer will shock and please when the prettiest sound of his deep, rich voice comes out of yr headphones, and itll make you tap yr toes and nod yr head like a little jersey goil. – tony rettma.
king george discovery – peace of mind, was recorded in sweden in 1968 with the us musician king george clemens on guitar & vocals. a close friendship to jimi hendrix, who toured also sweden in 1968, dropped many tracks from the release plan when the band was recording an album which also came out that year. all tracks who where competing with the music of jimi hendrix was not released, until now. a collector from england found the unknown tracks who where pressed only as a demo lp for the band. what a great find. some tracks where placed on youtube and collectors where starting raving about this album. it is soo good, the guitar work is amazing, as psychedelic as it can get. we could release this album in cooperation with king george clemens and we are proud to have this treasure released on vinyl and later onto cd. it’s just great! one of the most important release this year for sure! 500 numbered / heavy sleeve / 180 gram pressing / 2 page inserts.
stereo original. VG+/VG.
male/female trad folk on great label. nice embossed patchwork cover art. small cut mark. VG++/NM-.
orig UK press from ex-FLEETWOOD MAC dude, post mental therapy. pretty cool album with some loner/acidfolk flavors. fancy textured ‘book’ gatefold cover. EX-/EX+.
somewhat orchestrated xian softy folk with a couple more rockin’ moments. nice cover art. VG++/NM-.
MONO original garage with a great cover of the stone’s SATISFACTION. VG+ /VG++.
micro label first pressing MONO of moody garage with a few killer cuts. mono sticker on stereo cover. small name in pen. plays great. VG+ /VG+.
micro label first pressing MONO of moody garage with a few killer cuts. VG/VG+.
archival collection of rare new mexico frat / garage / surf. heavy wax. NM-/EX.
bronze guitar player MONO first pressing of their debut. real thick cover & vinyl. scuffs on wax, much worse side two, but nothing deep and plays nice. EX/VG++.
really cool & quite obscure private DIY label release that doesn’t turn up much. 1000 copies pressed. early ones had totally hand made covers, and this is one of those. blank white cover with extensive hand stamping & colored marker embellishments, making it look like some far out bootleg but its actually a legit release. includes a 3 page insert that totally breaks down every angle of the albums creation, including itemized release costs personal, recording gear, mastering, label philosophy, etc. a pretty inspired little package for & a true artifact of the era. usually trashed, this one is really nice! cover very clean & white with just a small name in pen. was sealed with marking tape at open, maybe came that way? just a few hairlines on the wax. name in pen on label. EX++/NM-.
orig WHITE LABEL PROMO pressing of nice quirky singer-songwriter / folkpsych from south african dude via england & arizona. nice stuff with a touch of donovan flavor. mild ring wear. VG++/NM-.
after quite a while a new private press album from this wonderful finnish crew who seem to operate in their own little world. dreamy, mellow, soothing progfolk with acid flashed, sweet female vocals, mellotron, violin, etc. really lovely subtle stuff. their two earlier lps flew out of here quick years ago, and chances are if you dug those you’ll need this one too. nice. numbered edition of 500 copies with double-sided insert. 180gm vinyl.
nice dragon label press. EX-/EX-.
field recordings get a whole new meaning on this album. sharron kraus and michael tanner (of plinth and united bible studies) took their instruments to the rheidol valley in wales and improvised songs, inspired and accompanied by the nature sounds. the result are eight very diverse experimental yet traditional sounding folksongs, that are very much related to both artists’ solo output. comes in beautiful screenprinted sleeves, in an edition of 250 copies. sharron kraus is a singer/musician/songwriter with a gift for beautiful and heartbreaking songs from a deep- seated storytelling mythology. her music, rooted in the folk traditions of england and appalachia, is characterized by soil-rich vocals, haunting banjo, fine acoustic guitar, and visionary word-craft. she is like the roving storyteller, bringing tales of terror, sadness and joy to a stranger’s hearth on a dark and stormy night. not surprising, kraus has been featured in the wire, arthur magazine, ptolemaic terrascope and broken face. her fanbase includes veteran folkies shirley collins and archie fisher as well as indie figureheads michael gira, david tibet , and sonic youth’s thurston moore. her list of collaborations is just as impressive in the past, she worked with the likes of the iditarod, fursaxa and meg baird and helena espvall of espers. though this record is the first one that has michael tanner’s name on the sleeve, he’s far from being a newcomer. most of his solo-output has been released under the name plinth, on labels like second language or apollolaan. he also recorded and played live with the likes of pantaleimon, united bible studies and tex la homa. before this album, he already worked with sharron on her album ‘the fox’s wedding’… quite lovely stuff.
a real classic of ’70s underground rock, the 1975 self-released sole album by kentucky band kristyl is now reissued and fully legit for the first time. regarded as one of the best guitar psych-rock albums from the ’70s and a true collector’s gem, this wonderful disc includes seven original songs with stunning guitar-work from the band’s leader sonny devore. despite being a private pressing, the recording quality is great, still revealing serious fuzz-wah, twinned guitar and blues supported by some subtly repentant xtian vocal themes. limited vinyl edition of 500 copies only, including an insert with photos and liners by kristyl fan patrick lundborg (the acid archives).
archive lp of material recorded by tori kudo and some fellow travellers during a stay in new york in the summer of 1981. originally released on cassette the approach on these recordings was a long way from the creepy organ driven “noise tenno” lp that tori and reiko released a year earlier. about half of ‘atlantic city’ consists of songs, teeth bared and falling apart as they come together but still in a style similar to tori’s subsequent work with maher shalal hash baz. the other half is made up mostly of extended guitar jams nodding equally to rock and blues but retaining tori’s rather unique take on the idioms. cover and insert art on the lp is adapted from drawings drawn and photos taken in ny and atlantic city in 1981… beautifully packaged & fully screen printed as always. great stuff. recommended.
although finlander jonna karanka has been slowly leaking out little kuupuu jewels for six years now, somehow it’s taken just that long to materialize her first ‘proper’ album. maybe it has something to do with the time she’s devoted to her beautiful artwork, or her time spent in a highly impressive string of other bands, included HERTTA LUSSU ASSA (with ISLAJA and LAU NAU), ANAKSIMANDOS, AVARUS, and many others… but, you know, i always figured kuupuu music didn’t have much to do with ‘time’ anyway. it’s music from another reality, to put it bluntly. a beautiful place no doubt, but somehow totally other. you could call this music a lot of things, all without really saying much… post-everything? pre-birth folk? bedtime acid-art? naive avant-garde loop witchcraft? maybe something like a thousand memories & vague images folded into each other and spooled out infinitely like a sloppy film loop… the sound of tiny bioluminescent insects systematically devouring an urban cityscape in hyper-speed, while just as quickly slithering neon flora entwine the metallic gray remains, only to then be gobbled themselves by a leaderless army of pulsating micro-robots. got that? now play backwards in slow motion… surreal might just be an understatement… packaged in a stunning ultra-heavy laminated full color gatefold cover with full color art labels, all created by jonna. pressed on audiophile 180gm vinyl. limited edition of 750 copies.
unilintu is the second of two vinyl-only lps on the dekorder label compiling the best material from kuupuus first four cd-r and cassette releases, this time presenting a slightly darker and even more coherent sonic vision compared to last years gorgeous yökehrä lp… awesome vinyl slab of kuupuu femme drone folk psych greatness. sweet full color photo cover. highest recommendation!
jonna karanka aka kuupuu is one of the main movers of the (deservedly) much hyped finnish psychedelic free folk scene. originally hailing from tampere she is known as a core member of avarus, anaksimandros, kukkkiva poliisi and maniacs dream. additionally, she has recently started hertta lussu esse with lau nau and islaja and has collaborated with tomutonttu (aka jan anderzen of kemialliset ystevet) and paavi (as lussu ja paavi). “yekehre” is the first of two vinyl-only lp’s on the dekorder label compiling the best material from her first four cd-r and cassette releases, all of which immediately became much sought after collector’s items, fetching ridicolous prices on the ebay market. this lp is a beautifull collection of haunting (sometimes spooky) home baked freeform folk songs, strange lo-fi loops, vocal drones and psychedelic cut-ups, made using weirdly tuned plucked and strummed strings, bells, clattery percussion, unidentifiable wind instruments, backwards tape loops and a ton of other noisemakers all played and recorded by herself; accompanied by her distinctive voice (often looped and layered) with vocals sung and whispered in her native finnish language making the whole atmosphere even more haunting and mysterious. jonna karanka creates an intimate space where the listener feels like sitting next to her in a small chamber or outside in the woods where kuupuu sings a lullaby just for him. we’re proud to say that this has to be one of the most exciting debut albums of the year. housed in a full colour sleeve with beautifull design / drawings / collage artwork by jonna karanka herself… awesome release. highly recommended!
shrine presents a summer of 2004, post-midnight, outdoor field recording made on the footpaths of japan’s largest shinto shrine and documents the first time meeting of japanese improvising duo kuwayama-kijima with nyc’s carter thornton (izititiz, zashiki-warashi, enos slaughter). constructed with a mixture of cellos, violins, guitars, sticks, leaves, rocks, toys, security guards and wind, the music drones, hisses, screeches and whines with the humid japanese dark within which it was created. limited to 500 vinyl copies.
here is one the the best and longest album we ever did. side a has 8 tracks studio (25 minutes) and side b 7 tracks live (28 minutes). this band from guadalajara, mexico never did a complete album (only 7 inches and an comp. on orfeon). la fachada de piedra (the stone facade) is a 6 piece band with 2 guitarists. the cream influenced bluesy underground blows you away. all english vocals, original songs, effects, screaming guitars (like eric clapton & peter green in best action) with hendrix style drug-out psychedelic… long out of print. extra heavy thick covers, 180gm vinyl, only 350 copies.
nice reissue of good spanish psych rarity. 500 copies, poster insert, gatefold cover. NM/NM.
brand new tour only limited to 100 copies splattered vinyl with signed posters!! shifts between tracks of classic la otracina free-form freak-out brilliance and their current vocal-heavy jams, which put the progressive psych back into early heavy metal while exploring realms of dark doom-sludge thunder and the graceful complexity of early canterbury jazz-rock. refusing to be quantified, it is clear that la otracina remain in an orbit of their own, seeking out the cosmic weird and channeling it through hard rock power!
lagger blues machine came from belgium and was founded in 1970 by christian duponchell, organ, jean-luc duponcheel, drums, jose cuisset, guitars and michael maes, bass. in 1971 the band joined the musicians vincent mottoulle, organs and carmelo pilotta, flute and saxophone. the band played very interesting progressive-rock and raised up soon to an important live-band at whole of belgium. so they performed with great success at end of october 1970 at the pop-festival, bruselles, together with warhorse and wishbone ash. in 1972 their only album was recorded which was very well done and can be considered today as a very important album in prog-rock history of the seventies. the official reissue, which is presented here, comes with an interesting insert and 180 gram vinyl – slightly banged corner. low price.
monster rare original peruvian pressing of killer south american garage psych burner. impossible to find debut album from these legends, and one of the rarest south american albums. great songs all through, tough fuzz guitars, groovy go-go organ, wild percussion sounds, cool tripping all english lyrics, regional folk flavors, and plenty of acid. very fragile & always trashed cover has just mild wear and some creases. nice metallic silver printing. super thick vinyl is visually VG to VG+, but plays way better EX-. a great player copy of a top shelf gem.
original press of this real cool instrumental acoustic guitar album on tiny FOLKWAYS offshoot label ASCH. heavy folkways style paste-on cover, with notes. cover a bit faded, quite a bit at spine. VG++/VG++.
awesome original copy of monster rare top shelf west coast private press beauty. highest (6) rarity rating in hans pokora’s book, plus the “masterpiece” symbol. one of our all time fave private press artifacts. really great rural, stoned folkrock psych with a strong basement vibe all through. the sound is acoustic based, but with full band backing adding organ, drums, electric guitar, etc. really deep down & out mood, pained vocals, perfect wobbly harmonies, and a little country folk flavor. very charming homemade production with a great real people feeling. every song is great, but its hard to pick a standout track. the whole thing is really on the edge, with songs taking odd turns when you least expect it. quite unique & really fantastic. certainly in my top 5 US privates! signed by david lamb on the shrink. cover has a few tiny discolorations on the white back, but otherwise perfect SEALED NM.
outside of philadelphia i was born and raised, and in the playground i spent quite a few of my younger days. at the time i had a preference for brunettes but years pass and we change. when my tendencies turned toward blondes i began to hear the call of the big rotten apple and at eighteen, away i went. gone were the lonely, sweaty summer nights of pa. the crickets were still cricken’ but not in my ears. i was in new york and i was looking for action. some crave love, some seek danger but i was on the hunt for open mics and not to brag—i found ‘em. in a section of the city once referred to as alphabet on the lower east side there lurks a lot of white guys with acoustic guitars. this minor mass of songsters would meet one, two and sometimes three times a week in the back of bars, smoking, drinking and sharing with each other our newest creations. it was there that i met some good friends and came of age beginning to play my own shows and tour. one of the most endearing and standout qualities of slim’s live shows is the sureness that one is always entering a genuine gospel-like musical experience full of little miracles. be set free has captured this charisma and spirit -the “hold your heart” moments and “raise a drink” dance vibes shine throughout with lush string arrangements and the fine sonic talents of drummer malachi delorenzo and new bassist jeff ratner. langhorne’s stronger than ever vocals lead the journey blending his poetry through the beautiful chaos and bearing a wisdom that reflects a broken heart battling the perils of true hope. be set free is langhorne’s most cinematic and cohesive effort to date. slim has truly reached a point of light where these songs come from wide-eyed maturity and mastered craft. gut wrenching lyrics and gorgeous merry melodies-it would be easy to categorize it as folk, but this time-it’s much more complex than just that slice of pie. sweet hallelujah choruses bleed throughout tracks like “land of dreams” and “say yes” and turn to the darkness of blues filled “i love you, but goodbye”.
private press gentle ssw guy/gal folk psych. great cover design! EX/EX+.
we’re proud to present the first ever reissue of this monster rarity. one of the best xian psychedelic albums. privately pressed in 1972 in tiny quantities (200 or 500 copies as the band recalls), nowadays is very hard to obtain any and because of its hand-made and fragile cover it’s more common to find it without the cover or just with a trashed one. musically begins as a country-rock flavored band with grateful dead and quicksilver influences. but from the last track on side a and then, the album is “taking off”. a real “killer”. a combination of westcoasty folk-rock and moody psychedelic rock with superb male/ “dreamy”-female vocals and dual-guitar works. here’s an album that’s desperately in need of a reissue. it’s an early christian rock record, which, like wilson mckinley, is basically a record of its time with christian lyrics rather than something that has true roots in any christian musical tradition. much of it is lovely folk-rock, and there are a few very, very beautiful songs. the vocals are dreamy and, dare i say, heavenly. it’s not as consistent as, say, azitis or “spirit of elijah,” but the best songs here are the pinnacle of this genre. [am] taken from acid-archives of interest to the greek music collectors too, as lcs had in their ranks dimitri tsapatori and wis wife viki. our reissue is strictly limited to 400 black & 100 coloured copies. it shares the original cover and labels artwork. extra 16-pages, big shape (30×30 cm) booklet with extensive band bio, photos and lyrics. fully authorized and licenced by the band. 180gr vinyl as usual. pvc protective outersleeve.
very obscure spokane, wa. private press xian psych. an unusual album that adds lots of sax to a solid westcoast acidrock sound. not jazz or fusion, or really even horn rock, just psych with lots of sax as another layer to the sound. it actually works pretty well, and in the context makes for a unique musical personally. great guitar work all through. these guys ‘converted’ WILSON McKINLEY! great strange heavy gatefold fantasy cartoon cover art. cover has general wear. lots of lite marks on wax but nothing major. name in pen on label. VG+/VG+.
original pressing. awesome proto rap street funk revolutionary poetics. lots of marks on wax, still enjoyable. original inner sleeve. VG+/VG.
in a genre built on obscured and unsung genius, corridor of faces transcends and stands out as a true psyche masterpiece. rising above any number of recently unearthed late-60s anglo-pop platters, the sole offering from small town massachusetts phenomenon lazy smoke is a cohesive, solid, classic album in every sense. ten songs that weave into one-another, painting some beautifully drifty sonic picture as they go. the first remarkable trait of lazy smoke’s sound is the lead vocals’ uncanny similarity to john lennon. if that likeness was the whole story, we would have a beatles sound-alike on our hands, and that would be that. upon digging just a little deeper below the surface, we instead find a darker tone and a patient, eerie and almost shut-in feeling resonating through the songs. while bands like the beatles and the left banke were singing about love, lament and hallucinated travel experiences, the songs on corridor of faces get sincerely dark right away. even the seemingly-light teenage love-themed ‘sarah saturday’ shares an undercurrent of on-the-edge uncertainty and dread. it’s this undercurrent that calls to mind comparisons to forever changes-era love and the more damaged end of the pop spectrum. originally privately pressed in ma in an edition of only 500 copies in 1968… includes liner notes & photos.
orig ‘moving parts’ cover pressing of their best (?!)… missing the rivet but wheel is fully intact. slight wave to cover. VG+/VG++.
nice WHITE LABEL PROMO copy of this cool one from LOVE frontman & musical visionary. gatefold cover has punch hole & faint name in pen (blue on blue). original inner sleeve. EX/EX.
long delayed vinyl reissue of this classic mid-2000s slab of voice-storm magic by pedal steel songstress heather leigh. originally on fag tapes. freshly remastered and with all new art by heath moerland. edition of 400.
orig press moroccan ethno-folk-psych. pretty sweet. NM-/NM-.
promised for a long while now, november finally sees the release of this incredible album of rustic, very english, psych folk. boasting not only the songwriting prowess of adam leonard and the playing of the owl service’ steven collins but the majestic presence of pat gubler (aka pg six) across this beguiling, charming album. drawing from a wide ranging, genre crossing mix of inspirations for the record, adam quotes ’69 roy harper, tower recordings and klaus wchulze’ mighty “irrlicht” album on ohr, alongside a passing nod to syd and robyn hitchcock (check out the killer take on “the man who invented himself”). contractually agreed pressing of just 150 copies in numbered, pro-printed, psych forest sleeves…
underground psych noise weirdness on great label. NM/NM.
underground psych noise weirdness on great label. paste-on cover art front & back. hand stamped labels. NM/NM.
one copy only. screen printed cover. from 1999
“hasenlove” is the debut musical release of hamburg visual artist antonia leukers. she’s a founding member of “institut hasenbart”, a 10-piece artist collective dedicated to a meta-scientific research of hares and related social, zoological and aesthetical phenomena in reference to the art world and pop culture. leukers has previously created stitched, sewed and animated sculptures while casually growing cucumbers, working for a local in-vitro fertilization hospital and advising young people on erotic issues as a german dr. ruth for a popular online magazine. inspired by a journey to island, hearing local travel guides spontaneously interweaving their narrations with sudden outbursts of folklore chanting and an encounter with wolfgang miller’s (die tedliche doris) strategy of transforming and combining his (pseudo-)scientific, documentary and social research into a musical and artistic performance she started to elaborate her fellow artist’s lectures with musical renditions. as a passionate diy home-recording artist she has soldered her own microphones, used cheap toy instruments, gameboys and minidisc recordings of kitchen sounds to create her very own bricolage comic universe. by recycling corny aor mainstream rock/pop songs into some oddly disturbing and wonderfully weird rabbit love songs with newly-made german lyrics and combining these with some truly strange original compositions (ranging from freeform collage to distorted techno to deranged singer/songwriter stuff), she has created a musical love story in 7 parts. spiritually influenced by (though not really sounding alike) german “neue deutsche welle” artists such as der plan and theatrical and surreal performance bands like the residents her versions of popular love songs sound like a teenage/female andrew lloyd webber on bad acid. this 1-sided vinyl-only picture-disc lp is a strictly limited edtion of 300 copies. both the gorgeous design and ornamental etching on the b-side have been done by fellow hasenbart founding member renate nikolaus… all copies here include the VOM LIEBREIZ DES HASEN fanzine, an amazing 40-page fanzine accompanying the above lp with gorgeous art, lyrics, illustrations, photos, articles… screen printed & xeroxed… very cool & unusual art object!
a very obscure and nearly impossible-to-find piece of american acid folk-rock recorded in 1968 by mark levine — an underground dylanesque singer-songwriter, here backed by top-notch musicians like ry cooder and mike deasy. a complex and enjoyable piece of music from the outer fringes of the late ’60s featuring explicit lyrics (sex & drugs), and trippy liner notes and cover art.
2nd private press album from this canadian. his first was downer folk, but here he’s in a rather strange & uniquely effective goner lounge psych mode with full band, lots of keys, some charmed femme vocals, and jazz tinged electric guitar. definite outsider sound here. some makes me think this is what HACKAMORE BRICK would sound like if they got totally dusted and turned up as a bar band 6 years later… anyway, takes a few spins to absorb, but a real worthwhile trip. tiny storage warp that does nothing. in shrink. NM/NM.
lichens is rob lowe’s (90 day men) vehicle for performance and recording solo and with collaborators. lichens is a transfixing experience that loops wordless vocals into curtains of ghostly drone which lowe makes witchier with the addition of both acoustic and electric guitars, percussion and other effects. recorded live as a one-time improvisation without overdubs, the three tracks on the psychic nature of being reveal and extend already mesmerizing lichens live performances. holy mountain’s deluxe vinyl edition of the psychic nature of being comes housed in a sturdy old-style tip-on jacket that features original artwork by mr. lowe not available on the cd version… top notch space-out trance sounds. awesome album & great cover art too.
although they sprung ready-made from of the ashes of legendary candombe/beat group el kinto, one of the best-kept secrets from uruguay’s musical mythology is nevertheless the group of musicians who recorded one album as limonada. so what happened? the story starts with the end of el kinto, when band leader and iconoclastic maniac eduardo mateo decided to embark on a solo career (see our lion productions collection of his early music for more details), and the other members of el kinto said ‘let’s do something together.’ and so it was that in the middle of 1970, limonada recorded their one and only album, ‘limonada’ (sondor 33.111). it is a strange record, with backwards tape splices and abrupt song changes, that remains at the same time absolutely accessible and very groovy, in a tropicalia sort of way, which might explain why it was an immediate success. in truth, it’s a profound mystery why the limonada lp – one of the ten best sellers of its time within three weeks of its release – seems to have vanished from the consciousness of even the most devoted fans of obscure music. until now, of course. now, on to the presentation – the highest quality mastering and pressing (done at acoustech mastering/rti in california, the same people who master and press every title that audiophile label classic records makes); the resulting lp is housed in a poly-lined sleeve, inside an ultra-heavy 1960′s style jacket, which is housed in a loose-fitting plastic sleeve. inside you will find an insert with historical background on the uruguayan scene, details of the band’s past, plenty of photos, as well as a brief overview of the legendary sondor label, printed on 100% recycled paper. the lp labels are replicas of the sondor originals. a top of the line pressing all the way. limited edition of 500 copies.
nice sealed MONO original of very pleasant moody early folkrock with decent overdubbed arrangements. pretty dated, but a nice vibe & mood throughout, and well worth checking out if you dig his great ‘photographs of feelings’ lp. SEALED NM+ with a small punch hole.
lp version. limited edition of 500 copies worldwide. this is the second album from swedish folk siren lisa isaakson and her band lisa o piu. this is the follow-up to 2009′s critically-acclaimed debut album when this was the future. to get inspiration for the creation of behind the bend, lisa spent time in a small cottage located deep in the vast woods of vastmanland, sweden, where she enjoyed the last breath of the summer. every evening she and david svedmyr walked further into the woods to an old rowing boat that lay on the edge of a forest lake. in the light of the magically ever-glowing swedish summer midnight sun they paddled across the lake and then further along a forest creek with lush green trees that hung down over the fresh running water and water lilies. this is the kind of set and setting where you travel into another world… and they did. the initial recordings were made under a vaulted blue ceiling with gold stars in the old 15th century timber church of hjulsjö, sweden. the new album is filled with delicious and bewitching watery woodland folk hymnals — eloquent yet eerie. the harp has been given more space, the violin plays a greater role, the 12-stringed guitar plays graceful melodies and all is led by lisa’s gossamer vocals, as delicate as a wavering candle flame. come along for the ride… very lovely stuff here once again.
awesome copy of the 3rd and final lp from these garage psych legends. way easier to find then their first two, and not as monstrous for sure, but still a pretty great album & quite tough to find clean. heavy gatefold cover has promo sticker on back. just a couple tiny marks on vinyl which is otherwise super clean. EX++/NM-.
portland, or-by-way-of-michigan garage gang little claw first tripped our radar with their self-released why not 7 inch, which was/is raw and physical and swingin’ in all the ways you want a 7” to be. their la live shows proved even more ripping and charged; we were sold. so we sprung at the offer to enshrine their latest (and best) album, human taste, on vinyl for the world’s turntables to adore. packed with classic, cracked anthems (“frozen in the future,” “colors you drown”), basement weirdo stompers (“modern vampire,” “breathing tape,”) and naked art-punk riddles (“lay to waste,” “summerphile”), the lp’s two sides are slyly sequenced to seduce, blind, and devour, demonstrating a rad range of attacks, escapes, claws, tongues. it’s a great late summer record: between styles, beyond genres, and aggressively alive. taste the taste. black vinyl lps in jackets with art designed by the band, plus a pro-printed, double-sided 11×17 poster/insert. edition of 600.
adagio830 is proud to release the debut full lenght lp by our friend christian deroeck. after touring the us this fall for almost 4 weeks and released this album on cd by himself – this is the proper vinyl version. all records come w/ heavy cardboard cover, spot uv, poster inlay and heavy vinyl. christian deroeck spent most of the past decade writing, touring & recording with the brooklyn indie/punk band meneguar. in late 2006, he and bandmate jeremy earl decided to combine their bedroom recordings and release them together, as woods. they recorded two albums together and toured the us and europe. in early 2008, for several reasons, christian left both bands. he spent the summer of 2008 working as a carpenter in eastern long island. inhabiting a tiny basement room, he began working on the songs that shape on the knife. in the fall he moved back to brooklyn and teamed up with his old friend, multi-instrumentalist dylan edrich (chain and the gang), and little gold was born. recorded to tape at emandee studio in brooklyn, on the knife is a deeply personal take on love and loss, and was very much shaped by christian’s departure from his previous bands. like his earlier work with woods, the songwriting is earnest, and of course there are a few indulgent headphone tracks as well. now joined by stand-up drummer patty conway, little gold has begun to incorporate more improvisational and psychedelic sounds into their mellow, country-rock oeuvre, and in the process are becoming a notable live act around nyc… recommended!
weird freedom, the second full-length from brooklyn’s little gold sounds like a celebration, and with good reason. it is the inaugural release for the band’s own loud baby imprint, and it’s little gold’s first lp as a proper band. shortly following his departure from folk feral enthusiasts woods, christian deroeck assumed the little gold moniker and in 2009 released the wayfaring bridge-burner on the knife. in support of the record, deroeck toured for several months, picking up and putting down members along the way. upon returning to brooklyn in the winter of 2009, he teamed up with brian markham and pat broderick of psychedelic shredders ancient sky, and a new sound began to take shape. in stark contrast to the melancholic, country-tinged on the knife, weird freedom is a rock band getting weird in their new skin. while on the knife explored lonesome americana themes of isolation and addiction, weird freedom strips away the overt sad-sucker aesthetic in lieu of fuzzy power pop more akin to deroeck’s earlier work with meneguar. little gold has sped and turned up, plowing through 10 tracks in just over 30 minutes, including a frantic, feedback-drenched cover of “oh, dad!” an unreleased wooden wand gem. while the band is busy kicking the shit outta the barn, deroeck’s cryptic lyrics take the shape of beautiful, multicolored earworms, inching their way into your heart. thanks in equal part to markham’s easy-breezy basslines, washed-out harmonies, and broderick’s powerfully mellow drumming, weird freedom is a warm feeling, a summer record in every way. a record to blast while speeding with the windows down, singing along to tales of bike accidents, chainsaw surgery, and the joy of breaking up with someone you didn’t really love. lp pressed on sky blue vinyl in an edition of 500 copies.
black label original press west coast garagy psych funk with powerful female vocals. three small library stickers & one small sticker tear on the otherwise nice cover. one small sticker on each label. nice thick wax. VG+/EX.
real obscure private press southern rocker. not amazing but at its best theres a cool JIMMY CARTER & THE DALLAS COUNTY GREEN vibe going. great looking cover is perfect in shrink, but vinyl is rough. plays ok. with lyric insert. NM-/VG-.
red/plum label UK original pressing of well know british heavy rock supergroup. front laminated cover has some creases, mostly along the spine. just a little dirt on the unlaminated white back cover. clean labels & equally clean wax. VG++/NM-.
surprisingly tough to find original full length with the cool & well known title track. good garagy pop all through. plays great! VG+/VG.
real clean original first press. classic texas garage psych and only the 3rd release on the label. if you dig the elevators & golden dawn then you pretty much need this one too. thick cover, aqua/silver labels, the real deal. NM-/EX+.
beautiful SEALED original of their mighty second album with the wild side-long ‘revelation’. another total classic from ARTHUR LEE and co. this came out of a pile of all mid 60s first pressings so very confident this is tan/gold label rather then the later red label pressing. its got the right look & feel too. no cuts, bends, tears, etc. super crispy & flat. SEALED NM/S.
amazing STILL SEALED MONO original 1966 pressing of the amazing debut from ARTHUR LEE and co. totally classic slice of cali garage magic. everybody goes on and on about ‘forever changes’ but for my money this is just as great, easily top of the heap for ‘66 major label garage lps, and the mono mix kills the stereo. usually trashed, rarely clean, and just about never sealed! neat cut corner bottom right, original price sticker (5 for $1.38!) crispy, clean & flat, barely even any wear on the shrink. SEALED NM/S.
in early 2008, thrill jockey released gyromancy, a limited edition art book & cd release from robert a.a. lowe & rose lazar. gyromancy featured a 3″ cd of music from robert a.a. lowe and was accompanied by a 72 page perfect-bound book featuring the art of both lowe and rose lazar. thrill jockey is now happy to present eclipses, a limited edition lp-only release again featuring the music of lowe and the visual artwork of both lowe and lazar. eclipses is an extension of gyromancy. remaining in view of what came before and altering the vision. pushing out beyond natural terrestrial landscapes into those slightly more cosmic or alien in scope. it makes an appropriate addendum to the onset of this particular phase. the music was recorded at home by lowe utilizing semi-modular and polyphonic analogue synthesizers. accompanying the full length lp is a 12″ x 36″ double-sided full color poster showcasing the artwork of both lowe and lazar. this is again included to properly voice the images, which end up as a sort of storyboard to the music.
robert aiki aubrey lowe (lichens, singer, 90 day men) constructs haunting, beautiful, at times hypnotic rhythms and melodies using synthesizers. his love of the warm, bubbling, physical sounds of the synthesizer permeates these seven songs, which seem simultaneously strangely familiar yet also somehow distant and alien. fazo iv: la kvalito de speguloj (phase 4: the quality of mirrors) is a further extension of lowe’s exploration of sonic vocabularies and emotional landscapes. because the modes lowe utilizes are tonally and melodically universal to his ear, he has titled the album in the language of esperanto– the universal language constructed to foster international understanding and peace. this notion of univeral understanding comes through in waves on fazo iv. there is a certain tranquility in these tracks– something very meditative and therapeutic; a calming honesty that leads the mind inward and transcends language. limited edition of 300 lps pressed on 150 gram vinyl with full color 11×17 poster insert.
with parallel suns samara lubelski has flown into a higher orbit with her merger of the fuels of folk, psychedelia and pop. they combine into a potent mixture that gives her compositions a vibrancy that shimmers in the reflection of their power. the music streams down and ends up in your ear through dappled arrangements that are warm and bright while still having them shaded with darkness from both the lyrics and sound… limited vinyl version. by far her best yet, and thats saying a lot. recommended!
original copy of this totally amazing & much in demand downer folk psych masterpiece. really can’t think of many as deep, sad, and beautiful as this one. ultra smooth booze soaked deep vocals, intense melancholy, stoned-out atmosphere, lifted ragas, sitar, 12-string, autoharp, tamboura, etc. totally unique & massively recommended. whole first side is deep acidfolk ssw stuff, second side goes all out stoned raga jamming. includes a color repro of the often missing insert. mindblowing stanley mouse cover art seals the deal. cover has a very minor starting split/bend to one corner and only the very faintest wear otherwise. very clean graphics. vinyl is nearly pristine unplayed. beautiful copy of this essential album. EX++/NM.
beautiful original copy of cool way-out avant electronic psych sounds from underground swedish artist. fantastic weirdo laminated cover. NM-/EX++.
second full-length album by julian lynch. recorded in madison, wisconsin and ridgewood, new jersey in 2009 and the beginning of 2010. download coupon included… sweet new one. recommended.
obscure soundtrack album with some great funky tracks, loads of breaks, etc. doesn’t seem like a reissues, but not totally convinced this is a first pressing, so its cheap… EX+/VG+.
through a mutual admiration of each other’s work magic lantern & the hop-frog kollectiv have created two stunning masterpieces for a collaborative release. the hop-frog kollectiv’s somba is based on recordings on silvertone and hammond organs donated by shea m. gauer of open books and features yanqin (chinese dulcimer), ruan (moon guitar), been, electric guitar, midi guitar & flutes. the title comes from the regionally known name of three clans in the atakora mountains of the sahara desert who’s ancestral and family ties govern their society through their belief that the dead are permanently among us and constantly influencing us. magic lantern’s underwater dynasty was recorded for ukelele, guitar, flute, piano, bells, hand drums & voices. this piece could alternatively be titled underwater raga. the magic created by the interweaving flute and string melodies creates and epic soundtrack to an atlantis like hesse-esque world that’ll take you to the outer places you’ve always needed to explore. this is magic lantern’s follow up to their highly acclaimed wax release on not not fun entitled high beams. this lp is limited to 300 copies.
private press uk old school pink floyd inspired psych with fuzz, cosmic synth bleeps, sitar, female vocals, violin, and plenty of spacerock moves. packaged in an insane huge foldout day-glo op-art cover. no pvc sleeve. EX++/EX++.
a formality and restraint the markers have never exerted on their previously recorded material is present on boss. now the markers are jainists, with their mouths masked so as to not inhale even one tiny insect, here pursuing the killer gentle with a vengeance. recorded in the cavernous dark of echo canyon west, with producer lee ranaldo working the boards like a diviner, boss documents the markers with a previously unheard fidelity and orchestration. idiosyncratic song structure and melodies interspersed with a destructive drum stomp are reminiscent of the early electrified blues of junior kimbrough, or the black hole rhythms of kousokuya. mixing a gentle vulnerability with a winded egomania, the markers have always had a musical tunnel vision; boss is that vision made manifest… self released edition of only 500. screened covers. wicked.
orig press prog psych. nice gatefold cover. tiny initials in pen front. VG++/VG++.
tough to find obscure hard & heavy psych with a slight rural edge to it. ring wear & splitting at bottom seam. VG(+)/VG++.
US pressing of uk prog psych. saw mark on cover. SEALED NM-.
traditional japanese folk instruments processed through the lens of acid mothers and lsd march instigators. new psychic territorial landscapes the cosmic cartographer mapped yesterday before tomorrow.
acid mothers temple main man kawabata makoto links up with lsd march guitarist michishita shinsuke to create another amazing platter of fantastic sounds and vibes. maru sankaku shikaku (circle triangle square) finds the duo moving on from the electric guitars of their previous duo releases to an all acoustic album featuring ethnic instruments from around the globe. two side long pieces mesh drone music with an ebb and a flow usually found on soundtracks or the soundtrack in one’s head. new psychic territorial landscapes the cosmic cartographer mapped yesterday before tomorrow. limited to 500 copies on swirled colored vinyl in a gorgeous gatefold sleeve.
the fabulous third lp by mandrake memorial, one of the best bands of the us psychedelic sounds history, is the release chosen to open our new wah wah deluxe series. this marvelous 1970 lp from the poppy label is reissued for the first time ever on full 180 gram vinyl glory, housed in its original escher gatefold sleeve and complete with a colour insert that reproduces the original lp insert plus contains some interesting texts courtesy of poppy label founder kevin eggers and mandrake memorial member craig anderton. for those unfamiliar to this top band’s sounds, we’ll just add that their three lps shall be up there with the best works of the best bands that came out from the states in the psychedelic era. think of the west coast pop art experimental band, pearls before swine, united states of america and the likes. puzzle is a masterpiece that not only benefits from the master work of the mandrake members, but also from that of producer ron frangipane. the combination of talents delivers a perfect mix of classic psychedelia with beautiful orchestra passages.
private press florida bar rock/folk. in shrink. NM-/NM-.
david maranha’s recordings stretch back over 20 years with the portuguese avant trio osso exótico, as well as collaborations with z’ev and minit. a followup to marches of the new world (2007), antarctica is made up of two side-long excursions into monolithic drone-rock. in the vein of tony conrad & faust, “venus in furs,” la monte young and terry riley, maranha’s ensemble is driven by keyboards, strings, and hypnotized-heartbeat percussion. like the great white expanse of the titular continent, it can be taken in simply as a glorious wash of sound; listen to it closely, however, and you’ll hear the smallest details jump out in high relief: a feather can move a mountain. an edition of 300 copies in silkscreened covers. digital download coupon included.
looong gone private reissue of impossibly rare texas demo only heavy guitar psych scorcher. numbered edition of only 150 copies! fragile cover has a tiny sticker tear that vanishes into the artwork. wax has micro storage hairlines only. NM-/NM-.
original private pressing of this ultra stoned-out teenage garage psych beast. only 250 copies pressed. wasted vocals, blazing up-front organ, frantic drumming, etc. nice chiming guitar sound. some cool surprising use of flute & massively echoed drums in spots… not trashed but certainly not for mint freaks. cover has fully split top seam, repaired from the inside with clear tape. general edge wear, white is somewhat yellowed, and bottom right corner is bent about 1inch. amazing b&w art remains very sharp. includes the cool custom fidelity inner sleeve. metallic labels are very clean. vinyl is well used with many surface scuffs and a handful of lite and not so lite scratches. still an enjoyable listen, but there is surface noise throughout. still a pretty sweet & seriously rare slab at a fraction of the cost of a mint copy (if you can find one). VG+/VG.
scarce bubblegum powerpop with some cutting garagy psych twists. small cut corner. SEALED NM+.
brooklyn-based musician and visual artist jason martin records on 4 track near his upstate ny hometown in a haunted cabin by a lake that used to be a valley of towns and indian settlements. some of them were his ancestors. this album crashes through deconstructed folk, gospel-tinged noise, a nick lowe-esque pop song about women turning men into horses to whip and ride through the woods (actual legend from the region), while soundscapes string it all together. well-researched liner notes explain the history, while the lp puts it into sound. with a nearly 20 year-long discography, jason made music throughout the 90′s with schenectady’s expansive cable-access tele-audio-visual collective brown cuts neighbors, and has been in dozens of groups including atlantic drone, evolution revolution, corcraft (w/ j.mascis of dinosaur jr + suzanne thorpe of mercury rev), the bunnybrains, denim and diamonds. his love of glamorous, paganistic animism surfaces in his music as well as videos, drawings, and performances. this lp is no exception as it creaks, moans and shimmies with voices of the undead in catchy little ditties such as “witch”, ”white horse”, “body in the water” and other hits… tiny private press edition of only 99 copies packaged in a metallic screen printed cover.
goofball moog version of the all the hits, packaged in a very odd ‘fully nude puppets’ laminated cover. lite sticker residue on cover would clean up easy if you’re inclined. otherwise all pretty pristine. NM-/NM-.
goofball moog version of the all the hits, packaged in a very odd ‘fully nude puppets’ laminated cover. lite sticker residue on cover would clean up easy if you’re inclined. otherwise all pretty pristine. NM-/NM-.
original lyric inner sleeve. cut corner. VG/VG++.
travel back in time to 1969 with our official reissue of one of the most highly sought after west coast psychedelic rock records ever recorded. a heady trip, filled with grooving reverb-soaked jams! prized original pressings command more than $1000!! in the tumultuous spring of 1968, the mary butterworth band was formed. contrary to rumors, the group originated from southern california and enjoyed being thrust onto the incredible scene that was developing during this remarkable time for music. after a year or so of performing throughout the region in places like the marina palace in seal beach and others, they decided to record and release a debut album on their own label. in 1969, on a shoestring budget, their album was recorded, manufactured and released. however, the limited pressing was pre-sold to fans and friends only, and never even made it into stores. it disappeared as quickly as it arrived, as did mary butterworth, who disbanded not long after the album’s release, never to perform together again. after a decade or two, word of the album had spread to rabid collectors of vinyl records and late 60s music. somewhere in europe during this time, a bootleg vinyl was released and the legend of mary butterworth continued to grow, driving the price of the original pressing up into the hundreds of dollars. it would go on to be bootlegged a handful more times in various countries, further driving the price of the original pressing through the roof and continuing to enhance the reputation of this long lost piece of 60s psych rock history. here it is 2011 and mary butterworth returns from the past once again, this time in the form of an official licensed, from the master tapes, limited edition vinyl reissue of the impossibly rare and sought after 1969 debut album.
private press arizona folkrock with some country/rural vibes, female vocals, etc. all originals other then a cover of gram nash’s “wounded bird”. perfect in shrink. NM/NM.
echoing like a long lost werner herzog soundtrack, totem two is a record of subtle meditations and deep electric hallucinations from the crystal caves of the northwest to the orchestral desert portals of turkey. totem two finds mmob exploring the disappearance of the mystic and the schisms of our age. in times when forces move against our souls, these are the first sounds of music that can only be described as no-age, a resistance is making itself known. featuring members of earth, asva, burning witch, the diminished men, and more, as well as special guests from secret chiefs 3 and the thriving istanbul music scene. mmob has now solidified into a 7-piece cosmic psych force. like a reverse dark side of the new age sound, on the totem series master musicians of bukkake perform ritualistic electric excursions into the outer and inner reaches. relying more on the electric power of psyched guitars, analog synth chants, and exotic heavy percussion. this totem trilogy echoes with the delusions of a west coast death cult. outer-spaced gamelan, dusty fuzz rock from celestial deserts, meditations of a deranged krishna gathering, and the blurry acoustic guitar majesty of the cascade mountains all reveal themselves here in epic form. master musicians of bukkake’s newest offering in the totem trilogy, totem two marks yet another psychic and sonic shift from their first record visible sign of the invisible order (abduction records 2005/lp via important records 2010) and its predecessor in the trilogy totem one (conspiracy records 2009). on totem two, master musicians explore and meditate deep on the death of the mystics, the forgotten ones, the schisms of our time, and the inability to realize the primary clear light for what it is. totem two shifts from electronically altered bön cult rituals to outer spaced sufi sects. finally succumbing to the fully orchestrated no-age darkness of the religion of the future only to end in delusional ‘enlightenment’ atop mt. shasta, scrawling the deranged rambling of new age psychosis on the crystal walls of a cave. every sound and note played is put to tape by a group with a singular purging purpose. recorded, mixed and produced by randall dunn (six organs of admitance, sunno))), earth ,etc.), at aleph studios in seattle, wa. ‘perede kaldirma’ was recorded in istanbul, turkey at the legendary ada studios, november 2009. featuring a collaboration between mmob and turkish musicians from the istanbul music scene, it features amazing ney solos by serkan bagkenesen. over the years, ada studios in istanbul has been the host for records by erkin koray and baris manco to name a few. inspired by and for lovers of: popul vuh’s work with werner herzog, early vangelis and tangerine dream, as well as philip glass’ kundun soundtrack… limited vinyl version with obi strip.
beautiful original copy of obscure breezy soft psych harmony pop for fans of FREE DESIGN, SMALL CIRCLE OF FRIENDS, MILLENNIUM, etc. tiny cut corner. in shrink. NM-/EX+.
original very first UK pressing (A1/B1 matrix) of their 2nd & final lp. much loved avant prog psych fusion madness featuring ROBERT WYATT, post SOFT MACHINE. original art inner sleeve. sweet vinyl. EX+/NM-.
this group has been called mountains of matallama, mountains of matalama, mountains of mata llama, mountains of mattallama, mountains of mata lama, mountains of mattalama, mountains of mattalamma, and on down the line. for the record, this record, and the rest to come this is matta llama. residing in ny matta llama have been playing together longer than they would like to admit. what do they play? blood music. the music works like that of the circulatory system chugging and pounding. at other times it can turn out a wispy, crispy tune of flickering light. all of this delivered via drums, keys, guitar, and bass with the occasional seasoning of vocalizations and in/organic dripping. with this, their first record, they offer 5 cuts culled from years of rehearsals at the hint house. these impromptu rock excursions gleam with but a taste of their musical existence, and with that expect more to come. matta llama. with deluxe foldout poster and fancy matte cover art! 500 copies.
orig US pressing of this fantastic solo debut from IAN MATTHEWS, post FAIRPORT CONVENTION. a really wonderful & underrated album that nails its own vibe perfect. heavy gatefold cover, orig lyrics inner sleeve. ring wear & name in pen on cover, super clean wax. great fidelity. VG+/EX++.
anopheles records is proud to announce our latest archival release, the first ever authorized, high quality vinyl lp reissue of baltimore, maryland’s maypole, whose sole album, & #145;the real,’ was recorded in three days in july 1970, and released in early 1971, shortly before their label folded, dooming the album to stillborn status commercially at the time. the lp is an ambitious, 50-minute feast of tight harmonies, powerful arrangements, fluid improvisation, and flat out great songs, and serves as a touchstone for twin guitar-driven, west coast-styled psychedelia, soaring power pop, and blistering hard rock. if you’ve been looking for an lp to file next to your public nuisance and morgen lps, then this is your tonic. the stature of maypole has been muddied by the previous cd reissues, but this lp edition gets it right. featuring state of the art remastering and pressing, a high quality full color ‘tip on’ jacket featuring original artwork, and a full color insert loaded with lyrics, photos, and complete historical notes by maypole founder, dennis tobell, this is the closest to ‘classic psychedelia’ anopheles records has delved in to date, and we’re glad we didn’t settle for something second rate.
cool femme folk cosmic country album on vermont micro label. really nice vibe to this one if you dig the sound. her next album was produced by LARRY MURRAY of HEARTS & FLOWERS, which makes perfect sense. top seam & spine mostly split, but not much ring wear and vinyl is clean. with insert. VG/VG++.
genesis reminds of the best early ’70s uk progressive records and is practically impossible to find even in bad condition. limited edition, deluxe 180g vinyl, from the original analogue master tapes, exact reproduction of the original first pressing.
mccully workshop is one of the most important south african rock groups. their 2 first albums, inc. (1970) and genesis (1971) are considered to be among the best, rarest and more expensive south african psychedelic/progressive rock albums — sought after by all serious collectors worldwide. inc, is a great psychedelic album. limited edition, deluxe 180 gram vinyl, from the original analogue master tapes, exact reproduction of the original first pressing.
reissue of the arhoolie lp originally titled fred mcdowell – volume 2. a beautiful set by the mississippi blues legend. one of fred’s best. intense delta blues… licensed from arhoolie.
mega rare west coast deep loner/downer acidfolk rock with great moody intense vocals, wonderful songs, and powerful bass/drums backing. amazing and wild reverbed acoustic guitars flying everywhere through the whole album. one of the only full lps pressed on this mainly garage 45 label, micro quantities made, likely less then 100 pressed. really fantastic album that’s a personal fave and remains too overlooked… well used copy but cleans ones go for $1500+ and are almost never offered. cover has sticker tear / rubbed area, corner crease, and heavy edge wear & splitting. very little ring wear, though, so not looking too bad from the front or back. vinyl has many hairlines & a handful of scratches, but nothing too deep. first 30 seconds of each side has lots of noise, but the fidelity improves quickly and its a decent player copy of a true rarity. VG/VG.
the debut solo release from former ash castles on the ghost coast member and current iron kite and rubble player shawn david mcmillen. five epic, mostly instrumental songs performed with bowed bass and metal, indian goat bells, analog synth, a rusty old autoharp, amplified springs and an abundance of guitars. features guest appearances by bc smith (iron kite, etherea planes indian) and matt martinez (friday group). one-time vinyl-only edition of 500 copies, packaged with eye-blistering artwork by mcmillen reproduced in a sickening black cast created with multiple passes of ink.
this lp was recorded in new zealand in 2004, and is the duo recording of new zealand guitarist donald mcpherson and japanese guitarist tetuzi akiyama. a beautiful meeting of 2 virtuoso acoustic guitarists, both thoroughly schooled in the vast world of improvising. donald mcpherson, a native new zealander has been playing the guitar since the tender age of 12, studied at the otago art school in the ’80s. and in the ’90s he released a number of extremely limited lathe-cut folk records. this record finds tetuzi and donald playing melodic folk improvisations that grow and morph into compositions that on each listening uncover some new layer of beauty. both playing on acoustic guitar, they have a level of communication and understanding of each other’s playing that allows a musical connection to grow and blossom into a full-length recording of delicate melodic mayhem – 180gm vinyl, heavy fold-around covers with insert, hand numbered edition of 550.
debut vinyl release from this new duo that makes up two thirds of jazzfinger (ben jones and sarah sullivan). based around the idea of used broken keyboards, ben and sarah make some totally fucked and pretty heavy noise jams. there’s some searing moments in this beast, particularly across the two part ‘burning of the light fields’ which spans all side a, and most of side b. the closer is ‘planatary wasp,’ which pretty much would be what jeff goldblum would have sounded like if he’d turned into some kind of rancid badass wasp instead of that pussy fly! turn it up and get ready for your neighbors to come knocking with an asbo for ya. limited to 300.
debut lp that came and went in 72 hours. whacked out, moog mayhem that recalls the likes of cluster and harmonia in tandem with early stereolab and holy fuck. 200 numbered copies sold out at source.
bronze label original press of what is essentially the 2nd SERPENT POWER album, and the rarer of the two. its nearly as good too, though more subdued, and interspersed with david’s poetry. the poetry actually works quite well in this context, and the duos vocals are as sweet as ever. ‘pure of place’ is a total gem with a perfect little fuzz solo. nice clean cover but small price in marker top right corner. side one EX, side two VG+. plays real nice. EX cover.
switching instruments and experimenting with recording techniques, meneguar has cooked up a totally unique (and surprising) record. the in hour channels the spontaneity and aesthstetics of swell maps, the pop hooks of the zombies, and lyrical collage of guided by voices. everything was home recorded at their little xanadu in brooklyn, rear house, home base to jeremy earl’s woodsist label (blues control, sic alps, wooden wand, jana hunter) and the changing roster of meneguar’s alter egos (woods, shepherds). only six months since their last record, the in hour represents a serious departure that still holds true to the band’s undeniable pop sensibility.
the baby believes the womb is the universe. at birth there is a glimmer of light and a shifting of space. i was there, but now i am here. then there are still but 2 things : me and the universe. and then what happens is other people. from a note sounded in 1960 and held for a long time, a continuum of sound has been sluiced along a diagonal of personal ecstasy, and some have come to call it a drone. surrounding the drone is a genre, and within, wheat and chaff often comingle all too comfortably. but with tones as thick and texturally luxuriant with spiritual resonance as their long, glorious hair, messages are the two worthy gurus currently contributing to the echo. messages evoke the womb. and when the womb smiles, it whispers messages, and then there is the first glimmer of light.
golden trees is a minimalist psych-folk masterpiece. a supergroup of sorts, helen rush, pat gubler and samara lubelski have created seven songs characterized as much by quiet and restraint than by their acclaimed musicianship. the lyrical lines in these songs appear suspended between pregnant pauses of silence and subtle instrumental flourishes. on one side of the gap, samara lubelski’s violin invokes the velvets and other avant string-players. on the other side, p.g. six layers effects and pointillist finger picking, while evoking outright weirdness from his guitar rig. at the center, helen rush has penned songs of delicate beauty and fragile intimacy… really lovely sounds. with matt valentine, helen and pat formed the core nucleus of tower recordings. samara also performed with later incarnations of tower, as well as hall of fame, thurston moore’s band, and as a solo-artist. where the early tower catalogue was characterized by schizophrenic studies in a variety of forms (folk, noise, drone, lo-fi skronk, etc), metal mountains’ songs like “structures in the sun,” “the golden trees that shade us” and “turn to the east” provide us with sonic beauty in high fidelity. though helen gave us a sample of her post-tower recordings-work with “silver sun,” which we released on the and to the disciples that remain compilation, she here provides us with a rearranged treatment of that song, which along with “prisms” opens the folk idiom into a new minimalist terrain. we’ve been waiting more than ten years to explore this sonic space, which in music industry dog years, amounts to almost two centuries. this full-length is well worth the wait.
meth teeth reside in portland or. and in some ways embody the rainy day big country vibe of the city with its youth culture dreamers, old druggies, and rustic history. there is something that is really hard to pin down about meth teeth, the songs rely on simple ramshackle rhythms, upbeat shinny guitar interplay, and big fat chord churners, and a lot of tambourine banging away on the snare drum. ultra catchy summertime rockers keep you sad and lonely, and upbeat and hopeful all at once. – shawn reed/night people.
filleted over two sides of wax, here we have a rare meet up of three of the brightest lights in the twin cities musical orbit. on march 21, 2009, paul metzger – best known for his transcendental gypsy raga guitar and banjo meditations – jumped in the ring with percussionist davu seru and veteran multi-instrumentalist milo fine for an evening of uncompromising spontaneous composition. medusas lair is stunning, inscrutably wily, living music. one time edition of 300 lps pressed on
180 gram virgin vinyl. milo fine: drum set (bowed cymbals), b flat clarinet, prepared piano remains, voice; paul metzger: modified guitar; davu seru: drum set.
anamnestic tincture is a live album by virtuosic musical carpenter paul metzger, culled from many hours of concert recordings. side one comprises metzger’s public debut on his modified banjo, recorded in 2002 at a former church-turned-underground art space in minneapolis. one of his most memorable compositions, “after milo” later turned up as an untitled improvisation on his cd for the chairkickers label. jumping ahead six years (and several more banjo alterations later) to side two, the glittering “orans” gets a workout at a memorial show for the artist matt zaun. as an acknowledgment of the occasion, metzger also gave a one-time-only performance — “dark green water” — on another of his mutant instruments: an acoustic guitar with the body drilled out to accommodate a cymbal set into its face, and ten assorted strings of varying lengths laid over the top, giving it a particularly metallic and dissonant sound. anamnestic tincture is released in an edition of 425 copies, with an original vintage snapshot mounted on each cover… awesome new album in great looking home made covers. recommended!
minnesota’s paul metzger is an unsung hero of the unaccompanied string instrument and a master musician of an instrument of his own invention. on deliverance – a real time performance on his overhauled 21 string banjo – you’ll be treated to some of the most deeply satisfying & impulsive outer cosmos ragadelia you’re ever likely to hear. clocking in at nearly 60 colossal minutes, deliverance is 3 tracks of unfiltered aural transcendence; a hypnotic raga epic that’s by turns a slow burning meditation & an urgent mind / body duel. paul’s playing may summon up the spirits of sandy bull’s searching inventiveness, billy faier’s out tacoma sides, j.p. pickens’ tweaked americana, henry flynt’s searing harmonic drones or big jim sullivan’s psychedelic exotica, but at the end of the day, metzger is no idolater and we’re all a little luckier to have him around to occupy his own singular post in this post-fahey world… dmm 180gm vinyl housed in a gatefold jacket.
paul metzger continues to pile up the plaudits from critics and peers alike for his virtuosic string-slinging, gaining notice through his cd on chairkickers and his split lp with ben chasny and chris corsano on roaratorio. metzgers modified banjo is tricked out with additional sympathetic raga strings, although the compositions on gedanken splitter are informed by much more than eastern drone music alone. recorded in the same period as 2007s deliverance on locust music, thisis a more agged and aggressive (although no less accessible) affair. metzger winds these improvisations around thornier threads than on his previous releases, and while never turning completely abstract, gedanken splitter moves even further away from anything resembling typical banjo fare. this is mesmerizing and singular playing… excellent new album! recommended.
before michael yonkers would revise the history of recorded music with the clarion chords of microminiature love, he was in a band called michael and the mumbles, and they made this self-titled lp in 1966. in the premiere spin, their would-be debut comes off as a naive, teenage trip thru the typified garage band moves of this era. but repeated listening reveals a darkness beneath what some dullard might be deceived by as it’s crisp, winsome visage. it’s only to a slightly less visible degree that the mumbles lp has the same characteristics that would make micro the singularly original piece that is; it’s emotionally bleak themes, dissonant undercurrents, and recklessly wild performance. so, once again we have a michael yonkers lp that is going to turn yr world upside down, make the college girls scream and leave you wondering how many more times this can happen. seriously, pigeon falls up here looked like a riot on the sunset strip. indulge yrself. ps. michael and the mumbles is on the king of all known formats (with a digital download coupon, natch) only, the mastertapes used herein are 45 yrs old and aside from the glitch on “cold town”, they sound amazing.
this is the 2nd lp by migrantes (jason bill {guitar, air organ, hammond organ, cymbal} & caroline vickers {hammond organ & vocals}) of tucson, az. pressed in an edition of 536 copies and housed in a lovely printed full color jacket, this is a sublime record! “for those that have never been there, the desert signifies space, sand, and nothing. when i (who live nowhere near any deserts) first visited jason & caroline (who live smack in the middle of one), that was what i had thought too. i was a bit surprised that the desert in fact looks nothing like its platonic counterpart – it is in fact interlaced with ropy thorned plants, crawls with life of every species, and is inevitably circumscribed by distant mountains. for some, monsoon moods may capture the real desert, the one where home fires burn under looming stone, where love and life flourish in austerity. for me though this lp somehow encompasses sweaty nights in 100 degree summer warehouses, ghostly drives through norfolk shipyards, the slow crack of datura pods drying in the sun, and all the other things that have grown inside j&c to buoy them up into this warmly inviting space illuminated by their big hearts. a stunning record that camouflages the simplicity of its ingredients with songs of glowing precision and vox-laced hammond drones of vertical majesty.” – tom carter.
new solo studio recording by japan’s reigning surrealist blues poet. forty plus minutes of all new material recorded in france during mikami’s 2008 european tour. numbered heavy weight vinyl only edition of 333 in handpulled screen printed sleeves. includes lyrics in japanese and english (title track alone is a trip through painted omelets and the moon to a rusty french bicycle). while mikami is building up a massive body of work through his long running association with psf records this is the first of his studio dates to be committed to vinyl in decades. singular and essential… another total class siwa release. already sold out at source.
iowa city’s evan miller is never one to stay in the same rut for too long. his earlier releases were composed of fahey-esque spells, heavily emotional acoustic guitar work emanating tones of nostalgia and simplicity. on transfigurations on lap-steel guitar, a new zone is crafted with lap-steel guitar and tape collage, creating equally nostalgic music from the other end of the spectrum: delicate, minimal drones. tones interweave and textures evolve: it is evan’s most personally progressive work, combining past themes and reinterpreting them on another medium: electric lap-steel guitar. mastered by pete swanson. in an edition of 450 full color pro-printed cardboard lp sleeves and printed labels designed by jeff witscher (secret abuse / callow god).
real obscure north western private press. kind of a hard one to pin down, with some tracks going in a pretty straight coffee house folk direction, while others are rather psychedelic with some lite fuzz, weird synth, etc. nice female vocals on most tracks, but the dude sings some too. not entirely effective overall, but a few winning cuts for sure. lite wear and a tiny coffee stain. nice clean wax. EX-/EX-.
really wild, psychotic, exotic, progressive psychedelic beast from brasil – all those attributes in an extreme way! long freaked-out tracks driven by furious organ and massive fuzz – wahwah guitar assaults, also added distorted vocals (portuguese lyrics) that creep deep inside your cranium – one of the best ever! comes in usual world in sound quality with original amazing triple fold out cover that is beyond belief… repressed totally deluxe reissue of this great brazilian psych rarity. ultra-heavy textured tri-fold gatefold cover, 180gm vinyl, etc.
monopoly child star searchers nightlife band presents: bamboo for two. a night’s creativity. a parroted companions guided tour to the most romantic details of a jungle’s sensbility. imagine the elements of your most recent landscaped vision coming to life and allowing you to witness a hearts perception of the natural world. charles berlitz has reported this eventful experience in the form of a romantic poem, and the star searchers have invented the soundtrack. olde english spelling bee and pacific city sound visions invite the listener to experience the first studio album in pacific city’s history! featuring james ferraro as rocco martini, lieven martens of dolphins into the future, and eva van deuren of orphan fairytale; playing the most exotic keyboard melodies this side of a parrots hotly lit plumage. this album is the first in series of romantic audio recordings that will later include the titles: “make mine, macaw” and “the garnet tucan”. do enjoy the excitement of this one of kind journey to pacific city’s nightlife and relax your mind’s physical limitations….
in an era when “variety of sound” means a flip of the radio dial and then a burst of blasé melodies, pretty monsieur mo rio has emerged with his fascinating oeuvre. as you listen to his music, you will hear and experience the exciting, warm aural magnificence that is monsieur mo rio. with influences ranging from swinging baroque pop to bossa nova, his songs will remind you of summer, spring smells, and a love that will be. and while we applaud the result of this musical journey through monsieur’s mind, we must not forget that this chèr ami was not only the author, conductor, main musician, and singer on this album, he also was its engineer – really pretty fantastic fake-french pop from this german wonderkid that mixes said french grooviness with kinks damaged pop craft, a heathly dose of experimentation, and supurb studio trickery & talent.
san francisco’s moon duo was formed in 2009 by sanae yamada and erik johnson (wooden shjips). inspired initially by the legendary john coltrane and rashied ali, moon duo counts such variant groups as silver apples, royal trux, moolah, suicide, and cluster as touchstones. utilizing primarily guitar, keyboards, percussion, and vocals, the pair plays space against form to create a primordial and disorienting sonic stew. they released two acclaimed records in 2009: the love on the sea 12-inch single on sick thirst and the killing time ep on sacred bones. escape, their debut long-player on woodsist, marks the fullest realization yet of the young group’s evolving sound… sick new full length!
great home recorded loner folk trip that has gained a lot of fans recently due to some reissue & comp. action, and with good reason. general cover wear, nothing major. well played vinyl but nothing deep, still sounds real good. VG+/VG+.
limited to 1000 copies. solo, untreated, 12-string compositions in tribute to one of the greats. an album of instrumentals in requiem… newest volume of this nice solo guitar series. letter press printed cover.
moses was formed in 1969 in esbjerg, denmark by søren højbjerg — guitar / jørgen villadsen — bass / henrik laurvig — drums and vocal. moses played their own heavy and punshy and stoned progressive blues. their record changes from 1971 has now become cult in the collectors market. by the end of 1969 the band got a contact with the independent record company spectator records in denmark and in the summer 1970 they recorded the only album, changes in 2 days in the spectator record studio in ålborg, denmark. finally the rarest and perhaps best album on the rare danish spectator label. the music is strongly influenced by the cream and other hard psychedelic guitar bands. it took us quite a while to get a deal together and we are happy now to close the final chapter of the spectator story with this great release of moses. extra heavy fuzz-guitar madness all over with strong bass and drums and great vocals… numbered edition of 500, heavy sleeves, 180gm vinyl with insert. originally released in denmark 1970.
troubling rituals are gathering. haggling skills are becoming golden chisels, and granite belts grind them to sparks. turning with traction, these sparks gather like flies. the kinetic tones of acceleration found within mother of fire combs the psyche for hints of panic and replaces it with an imperative momentum. drive away superficial doubt like a herd of unwanted beasts, and allow the sagacious freedom our instinct rightfully deserves, it’s requisite course. channeling this responsibility with confident sincerity, the troubling is at once the relaxing. this conviction and tolerance is persistent, enabling a bloodletting which battles to cure and to cull. without the contemporary irony used to punctuate and justify in distanced safety, mother of fire instead creates an honest reflection through brave hand forged lenses. churned in memory-like cycles the ritual is commanded by searing bow strokes and a muscovy glass voice. silhouette elements pass decree through almost ancient melodic incantation. the stable hand of song in a world saturated with scattering distraction. beside these earnest standards a rich understandable darkness, like the pulse of frozen lakes and failing factories, urges us toward the terrible, daunting and sublime. it is here in the folds of both endurance and remedy that mother of fire sways with darkness until darkness swoons. – asa irons.
motor ghost is the new project of drummer / vocalist alex neilson and multi-instrumentalist ben reynolds. & #145;a gold chain round her breast’ is their first recorded document as a duo. from the brooding opener through tracks of soaring electricity to the beautifully fragile a capella rendition of the folk song & #145;leaves of life’, this album sees alex and ben exploring darkness and light and all shades in between. alex’ drumming provides much of the backbone of the album supporting and conversing with ben’s acoustic and electric guitars, loops and the call of the dümuk (a greek horn). the album comes in screenprinted sleeves, all of which have been hand embellished and are individually numbered. the first 100 copies of the album include a 3& #148; bonus cd-r containing a 4 song solo vocal set alex performed at the macbeth in london the day before the motor ghost studio session and feature exclusive and extensive liner notes by scottish folk singer alasdair roberts. these will sell on a first come first serve basis… killer new lp on a new label. lovely hand printed covers. limited to only 300 copies.
in high summer of 2007, phil elverum, in the guise of mount eerie, found his way to southern studios, armed with a borrowed guitar, some notebook paper, & with little time before an evening gig, mount eerie & southern’s engineer harvey birrell recorded the six songs of black wooden. black wooden is the coming together of ideas that had travelled with mount eerie for months & had solidified into compositions in the days & hours before the studio session. the title itself refers acutely to the genre black metal — perhaps less surprising a reference considering black metal often shares mount eerie’s appreciation with low fidelity production aesthetics (among many other things), and that phil elverum had just been in norway before arriving in the uk… very limited vinyl version.
our very first one sided lp, which is a bizarre trip from michael curtis hilde’s mountainhood project. this one follows on from the two lps on time-lag’s red records label a few months back which vanished super fast, as well as other releases on reverb worships and yod. total outsider midnight missions into weirdness… strange strings twang and rattle into the darkness, a very strange experience spread across one side of black wax. limited to 300 copies in pro-printed wrap around sleeve featuring art by michael… ultra-zoned stuff. nice.
the counterpart to “wings from a storm”. acid-dripping lo-fi euphoric melancholy west coast folk beauty from michael curtis hilde. this dude is seriously prolific, with a fine string of cdr only release under the moontainhood and almaden names, but this pair is a real apex of his still unfolding musical vision. “thunderpaint the stone horse electric” is a totally intimate & spontaneously vibed little gem. deeply felt, introverted, hallucinatory, and starry-eyed song stories delivered via fuzzy bedroom fourtrack gush. fevered vocals quiver, warble, double, and swoon around gentle or ragged acoustic guitar, foot-stomping tambourine thud & jingle, harmonium, breezy flute, warm tape hiss, and singing crystal cave atmospherics… we know the animals are dancing… pressed on 180gm bright red vinyl, with printed, hand stamped, and hand numbered labels. packaged in a foldout cream art paper cover with full sized high quality paste-on art front & back, screen printed interior, hand stamping, as well as individually hand drawn rainbows, plus a big art sticker insert & a 2nd xerox track list insert. limited edition of 222 copies.
the counterpart to “thunderpaint the stone horse electric” is equally lovely, lo-fi, and lysergic, but here the somewhat euphoric zone has become ultra lovesick moody. dominated by just piano & vocals, with bits of guitar, tapes, chiming tones and dusty wooden night sounds stirring. definitely glassy-eyed voyeurism… pressed on 180gm bright red vinyl, with printed, hand stamped, and hand numbered labels. packaged in a foldout whale grey art paper cover with full sized full color high quality paste-on art front & back, screen printed interior, and hand stamping, plus two big art sticker inserts & a 3rd xerox track list insert. limited edition of 222 copies.
mellow french/greek folk in an amazing laminated triple gatefold cover. EX/EX.
original US press of weird dutch rock thats turned up sampled a few times. super weird cover art. VG++/VG++.
nice UK avant improv psych freejazz noise. CENTER OF THE ASS RUN VOLUME 4. with insert. NM+/NM+.
really nice private press canadian solo acoustic based sounds. edition of only 300 copies. nice color covers. a good one, and i doubt these will hang around long.
beautiful metallic gold label MONO first pressing. pretty enjoyable pre-MAMAS & PAPAS / LOVIN’ SPOONFUL early (1964) folkrock with plenty of west coast angle & cass elliot’s really powerful vocal. amazingly clean copy. cover bright & fully in shrink. vinyl & labels looks new. NM/M.
tennessee private press communal hippie krishna folk. with insert. VG+/EX++.
murphy blend’s (named after a pipe tobacco) only album, is one of the best and rarest early german progressive rock records. excellent hammond organ, that delivers a unique heavy psychedelic krautrock sound. it was originally released on the legendary kuckuck label in 1970. english lyrics. limited edition, deluxe 180g vinyl, heavy exact texture cover.
debut vinyl full length by this long-time h-town expat/pedalsteel visionary. past cdrs on her and dave keenan’s volcanic tongue imprint have sketched out the breadth of her possessed solitary vigils, but her three pieces here are even more untamed and unique. voice, electric strings, song tendrils blowing in the soul’s breeze. edition of 500… sweet…
original STRATA EAST pressing of big band freejazz with CHARLES TOLLIVER, STANLEY COWELL, CECIL McBEE, and JIMMY HOPPS. VG++/EX-.
kinda cool oddball obscure maine private press xian folk with outsider favors, all originals, synth, female vocals, and totally creepy cover art. VG+/VG.
near perfect copy of pretty unusual private press PA. prog with a strong folk flavor and some jazzy flashes. female lead large band who plays tons of instruments including harp, vibes, cello, double bass, electric piano as well as the standard stuff. male & female vocals. pretty great obscure b&w cover art with nice color live shots on the back. single cover version. in shrink. NM/NM-.
classic 2nd album from these key tropicialia acid heads. totally wild stuff, from avant goof to fuzz groove and all over in between. very first original brazilian pressing with the ultra-fragile thin fold-around cover. you never see these mint, but this is a solid keeper copy. cover is shockingly beautiful with just some tiny wear & small name in pen on back. vinyl has good shine but quite a few odd marks & paper scuffs, but nothing deep. NM-/VG+.
orbiting the earth in vermont is matt “mv” valentine, once the brawn of the tower recordings, and erika “ee” elder, ceo of heroine celestial agriculture and the mv & ee medicine show. together with their dog zuma, they run the child of microtones library of exploratory music–sometimes their own lunar blues, sometimes finger-picking-style noise/space, sometimes lonesome frontier folk. mv & ee have landed at the dicristina building bearing drone trailer, featuring the golden road: doc dunn (pedal steel, guitar, harmony), mike smith (bass, fender rhodes, harmony), and james anderson (drums, engineer). you may recognize these names as part of mv & ee’s touring band when they scorched across new england and the rust belt en route to terrastock this past june. drone trailer is a consolidation of the previous musical high-life of the duo’s space shanties for the 21st century. in other words, mv & ee explore their unique mix of lunar raga and astral string band music, with a couple deep-space burners/covert jams such as opening blast “anyway” thrown in to bust it all open. nobody is gonna mind if they hear a little crazy horse and prime-era dead here as well! previous releases on their own child of microtones label, along with notable albums on time-lag and ecstatic peace.
still harvesting and sustaining in the deep woods of vermont , mv & ee (matt ‘mv’ valentine, once the brawn of the tower recordings, and erika ‘ee’ elder, ceo of heroine celestial agriculture and the mv & ee medicine show) are following their 2008 release drone trailer with their feature-film-for-the-blind barn nova, which marks their return to the ecstatic peace! label. mv & ee aspire to the sort of beautifully rewarding standard in their documented output that sun ra or the grateful dead achieved. it is with ecstatic peace! that their most consistent works have been born and continue reach fans with the golden road, their most constant band. together with doc dunn (pedal steel, rhythm guitar, vocals, drums) and mike smith (rickenbacker 4001, vocals), who appeared on drone trailer, as well as j mascis (drums, guitar, plate reverb) and woods’ jeremy earl (vocal, drums) they take you on the ride now known as barn nova and here they jam. justin pizzoferrato also appears contributing percussion, space echo and aiding once again at the controls. this album was recorded at mv & ee’s own home studio ‘maximum arousal farm’ as well as their current local new england rooms of choice, ‘bank row’ (an old mid 1900s bank) and j’s home studio ‘bisquiteen.’ these kindred spirits share a wealth of ideas including a serious reverence and desire to upgrade/expand the classic-rock idiom. barn nova marks the return of ‘spectrasound,’ mv’s production technique that places tones dancing all around the stereo sound field: it has to be heard to be believed. this effect is all the more impressive that the majority of it was created recording live, rather than conjured through studio post-production during mixing. especially potent on the a side-ending stomp ‘summer magic,’ where erika’s economical leads go head-to-head with j’s on a particularly mind-blowing live-in-studio effort; it brings to mind the vibe of green blues, mother of thousands and even an electric moon jook with matured songwriting. inspired by the likes of jerry garcia, john cipollina and tom verlaine, matt valentine displays an insatiable appetite to play in various idioms with constant exploration and development. meanwhile, elder’s harmony leads recall the glorious twinned guitar lines of canned heat’s al wilson & henry vestine at their most potent… limited vinyl version with poster.
country stash is from an edition of around 600 copies and is pressed on 140 gram dutch vinyl. the album is housed within gorgeous multi-color silkscreened jackets bearing new original artwork by both jenny mcgee dougherty and lucy isabel graves. the album is accompanied by both a collage/text insert and a download coupon for drm-free mp3s of the album. country stash is a joint release between three lobed recordings and blatant obviousness… first press version.
finally! this was originally released by com in an edition of 99 copies on cdr. here it is for manhand’s new vinyl campaign remastered and re-edtited by mv in spectrsound. comes in a one-side screenprinted / one side paste on with an insert, bagged. featuring contributions from the golden road (doc dunn/mike smith), jeremy earl (woods), asa irons (feathers, witch)… edition of only 300 copies. sweet vinyl upgrade!
here is the first ever all live lp of “mv & ee” material and it is the perfect example of the scene in the tapers pit. the familiar tunes which have become staples in their set shine with an unheard intensity with killer solos and sonic excursions into the unknown, and then there is the deep of their singular ‘environments’, their space which manages to showcase the pastoral freakouts and cosmic raga forms so singular to this unique band. just as their recent run of releases on ecstatic peace! and dicristina consolidates the mv & ee private press universe and child of microtones orbit with the essence of the maximum arousal farm sound “home comfort” does the same to distill the gems of their live shows onto sweet wax. for those familiar with matt and erika’s cottage label “heroine celestial agriculture”, known to the heads as “heroine”, this lp reads like a best of curated by the ‘you are there’ swingin’ pig and the results are a stunning cross section of their duo exchange, funky trio with woods’ jeremy earl and big band exploratory stomp with doc dunn, muskox and willie lane of the golden road. here is the true sound of “mv & ee” with the songs, the extended jams and the feeling. this seminal duo and all they sail with need to be heard live and need to be heard live often, what a glorious document from the tapers pit. that’s tapers pit twice in a paragraph, class. peace. full color jackets with insert. limited to 550.
arbitrary signs is turbo stoked to announce the august 1st release of “liberty rose” the brand new lp by contemporary psychic blues visionaries mv & ee. the duo spent 40 days and 40 nights under the twisted trees and endless sky of the mojave desert via a vermont homestead, freedom and unity. thats where these songs were unformed in dreams, floating off to mingle with the collective unconscious of coyotes and rattlesnakes, before they were re-birthed as smoke signals channeled through shaky hands, an old tele, germanium transistors and a bucket brigade. we at arbitrary signs feel that this is the purest distillation of the mv & ee “ s p e c t r a s o u n d ” to date. embedded within the grooves of this record are 6 streams to dip into as respite from the punishing rays of the hot summer sun… very small pressing in screen printed covers.
another bout of glittering jewels, sputtering star systems and piercing high drones courtesy of your favourite astral-obsessed italian duo – as ever, their sonic output is at once reassuringly recognisable but still disconcertingly bizarre, forever reaching upwards and outwards, seeking to escape the confines of gravity and atmosphere in favour of celestial salvation. — dave stockwell, foxy digitalis.
the entire recording of the improvised live performance at ed pinsent’s “sound projecting” radio show, broadcasted by london’s resonance 104.4 fm on december 10th 2004. in these sessions mciaa don’t play their usual cosmic guitars, but only a couple of space toys & toy-microphones, plus a pocket theremin & mini-casio provided by pinsent on the occasion; also featuring pinsent himself at turntables. a different aspect of mciaas experimental research, as well as a new amazing adventure through the ether. absolutely a key-document for all the fans of the band – reissue of the long-out-of-print cd-r, in a special private press edition of only 158, with heavy textured cardboard sleeve + full-color insert, individually numbered… sweet & beautiful vinyl edition.
“here we are/ dancing with the dark shadows/ here we are/ dancing with the dark shadows” this is the incipit of the first side of”when the windmill’s whirl dies”, the new work by the space-brothers maurizio and roberto opalio, alias my cat is an alien; and here we are indeed, ready to dance with the shadows which surround the light, as the intimate and vividly estranged mood originated by the floating guitar tunes will enter the furthest meanders of your mind. both the words, recited and shaped by roberto from his own homonymous poem that suggested the title of the album, and the oblique minimalism of the complex musical texture made of flowing space sounds, represent the abstract neo-expressionistic substratum of the whole corpus of the work. moving throughout a nebula of space dust and debris, the starting spoken-word vocals alongside the percussive section sound as powerfully impressive as the violent imagery of trees beaten down by the storm, while the whispered silence of”perspective of time” and”fallin’”, on side two, discloses the emotional and existential universe of an isolated broken soul, lost in a world of inanity. this is the center of the no-thing universe, where each single word or sound assumes the aspect of a sort of pagan prayer that speaks the language of astral folk-blues. in this context, mciaa’s outer space becomes a re-found uterus, meant to be the form of a new self-biogenesis. at the same time, space is conceived as symbol of the eternal theatre surrounding the mysterious cycle of life & death; such infinite space, despite such limited time. this cosmic-chant of the new millennium may heat our nights like a flame left to enlighten the shadows of the coldest darkness. at the end of it all, some words will still be ringing in our minds:”so, we’ll never forget the light”. after 2004′s key-work”the rest is silence”, mciaa’s”when the windmill’s whirl dies” comes as the second act of a trilogy dedicated to the great void. a beautiful recording housed in a thick, heavy duty gatefold sleeve. edition of 600 copies.
vinyl edition of this nomadic psych-soul trio’s beloved 2008 studio debut, released on cd on greg weeks’ (of espers) language of stone label. this edition has swank glossy jackets, plus an 11×11 pro-printed insert, on colored vinyl. one time pressing of 500.
debut vinyl album by contemporary electric guitar wizard bill nace, ‘too dead for dreaming’ begins in the form of a deconstructed blues piece, slowly exploring the territories of atonal composition, string–scraping and feedback, crashing all these styles in an instinctive, personal way. his affiliations with x04, northampton wools and vampire belt converge here in a unique flux. bill’s ability in creating sounds, follows a clear logic of ‘construction of tension’ that eventually explodes into pure sonic mayhem (part 2) then switching the attention from your blowing ears into new, obscure tonalities, with a spectral meditation that develops in the last part of the album and mirably closes the circle. it’s all here: one man, one guitar. a bulldozer. limited to 200 copies , hand printed and numbered.
the rumors are true. marissa nadler delivers her kickstarter funded debut release on her own box of cedar label. brian mctear produced the album, which nadler says is the “most honest, natural record” of her career.
across these seven tracks, tuulikki adopts different personae to act out variations on the mythic themes of love and death that have informed british indigenous music for centuries. accompanied by multi-instrumentalist chris hladowski (with whom she also performs in the family elan) and viola player aby vulliamy, tuulikki constructs poetic, timeless tales with arrangements that draw as much on 1960s acid folk and its 21st century descendants as they do on traditional music. in the ballad “sunne’s return” her longing for physical dissolution, coupled with hladowski’s spidery, off-key electric guitar, creates something as creepy and haunted as an empty playground swing rocking by itself. “lilly” is a dark vision of extinction and exile built around a heavy, comus-like acoustic riff and hotwired with a spitting fuzz-guitar solo, in a similar vein to some of ben chasny’s louder six organs of admittance moments. the stand-out track, “songthrush” – which also features scottish saxophonist raymond mcdonald and alex nielsen on drums, reprising the free jazz inflected playing that powered his own psych folk song project, directing hand – is a broiling, formless freak-out, borne aloft on tuulikki’s ecstatic, birdlike trilling. it’s a breathtaking burst of magical energy, and easily some of the most convincing free-folk the uk has ever produced. daniel spicer/ wire magazine. 180gm lp ltd to 500 copies… another lovely lp on this label, with top notch presentation as always : massively thick textured cover & super heavy wax.
nautilus is the solo project of heidi diehl of vanishing voice/time life, long-time br transatlantic e-mail buddy who we finally got to meet just over a year ago on the very brief vanishing voice tour. since then, she has begun recording solo material under this alias, and has self-released one cd-r which blew our minds, and likewise blew local long-time br friend ben nashs cranium apart. the nautilus side opens with still rings, a far-out trip of weirdo outsider dripping mind-fuzz, like some kind of spatial insect gathering. tallahasse woman rings more bells with the sound of vanishing voice and heidis psychedelic string playing, and subtle vocals buried below it. jeans theme is another sweet track of tranced-out guitar with approaching percussion and waves of vocal drones. ben nash holds his side with two nearly 8-minute tracks, opener plymouth bredren blues has definitely got the blues, as mentioned in the title, theres some serious woe in the wah right here, and some almost paris, texas moments. interloper / latch also starts off pretty bluesy, but halfway through goes to a speaker-shredding guitar shaker, with some seriously serious riffs, that are almost breaking up as they begin, and then reverting back to the blues mediation of the beginning of the track. a great release, in an edition of 300 copies… great stuff! recommended for sure.
vinyl debut for long term blackest rainbow brother ben… i’m extremly happy with this one. 8 tracks, 34 minutes. opening with a reworking of ‘kuad 9873′ from his blackest rainbow debut cassette… bleak drones smothered in vocal lulling, and finishing with a sweet guitar piece swirling in a lake of percussion, vocal and drone. ‘nightcall’ shows a more middle eastern psychedelic droning, bowing, wailing, and satanic mutterings. track 3 is the title track ‘the seventh goodbye’, and is the most ‘full band’ approach of ben’s acoustic psychedelic folk jams, but this blurs into sax blurts, waves of melancholic vocal drone and writhing riffery. perhaps similar to voice of the seven woods or six organs of admittance. side b opener ‘smoke and flattery’ is the most experimental – multi percussion, echoes of whispers, finger grating guitars. ‘magnetophon pt iv’ is not ben’s recent sloow tape of a similar name, but a bluesy haze lsd dream, building into a drenched ecstatic guitar drone. following this is ‘what will always be pt.ii’ which is reminiscent of jack rose, or james blackshaw, the most beautiful composition on the lp. this bleeds into the final surrealness of ‘angel no. 7′ field recordings, bleak, fearful and empty. i’m honoured to release this gem. limited to 250 hand numbered copies on virgin vinyl, with black, white and red pasted on covers, plus a black and white insert. all artwork designed by darryl norsen who designed our (vxpxc) sleeve, and done a few beauties for important records, as well as posters for sunburned, six organs, hush arbors, magik markers and more… killer vinyl debut from this great under the radar uk dude. paste-on color art, insert, etc. limited to only 250 copies and sold out at source. recommended & act fast.
near perfect original pressing of his amazing debut. mind-melting vocal ragas from LAMONTE YOUNG / TERRY RILEY guru. thick laminated cover has a tiny punch hole. NM-/NM-.
two of the most intense young “free” dudes from different parts of the globe (kelley from boston, neilson from leeds) unite for this completely weird record, taking free music to a different level, recorded on top of eachother via mail. this sounds like moving the heaviest metal closet on a little rubber boat from brighton to the east coast of the united states, kicking off with a heavy free jazzy tune full of retarded trumpets stuffed with little babies screaming for a change slightly changing into ice cold acoustic metal scraping ambience. tons of different sounds to discover and very unclear whether they came out of a trumpet, a drumset, a mouth or a whale. comes in a black and silver fine line drawn cover by dennis tyfus. limited to 400 copies – sweet!
neu’s third album repressed on super thick, 200g vinyl. ’75 is a unique entry in neu’s discography, mainly due to the fact that the album was created while band was going through growing pains and creative differences (this was their last album till much later in the 80′s). it had been a few years since the second album, and keyboardist/guitarist michael rother had grown very fond of the ambient style, while his band-mate klaus dinger (ex-drummer for kraftwerk) preferred a more aggressive, rock sound. as a compromise, they decided to record one side of the record (side a) in the old neu! style with dinger on drums and rother on keys. side b however, was a much more radical change in style with dinger on lead guitar and vocals leading to a much more experimental punk sound. both sides are equally fantastic listens and together they give a great variety to the album, reminiscent to the varied styles found in some of their peers albums at the time (such as ‘faust iv’). to aid with performing on the album, and more importantly, live, hans lampe and brother thomas dinger were enlisted to help execute more music than was possible by two men. upon its release, and arguably to this day, ‘neu! ’75’ is one of the most diverse records available from the krautrock scene. while this can be seen as a positive point, the differences in musical direction (as well as personal issues) not only isolated the dinger/rother duo, it isolated their already small fan base. neu! broke up (for the moment). excellent space-out music for the cosmic heads in original gatefold sleeve, and on extra-high grade vinyl too.
much in demand original 1966 MONO pressing of this great debut. long time fave of many garage dudes, its a really strong dose of brit invasion / zombies inspired teenbeat garage rock. almost all originals, with plenty of great hooks, loads of enthusiasm, great harmony vocals, vox organ, and gobs of ringing leslie-amped guitar. often compared to the rising storm, and while i don’t personal rate it quite that highly, its a fair comparison. really great stuff for sure. front cover is lovely with hardly any wear. back has some discoloration & small name in marker, but hardly any actual wear. very minor starting crack at top seam, but not split. very clean labels. vinyl has a handful of marks, but nothing major & still nice and glossy, sounding great in mono! plays really nice with full fidelity intact. really solid copy of this classic. EX/VG+.
little known minnesota private press xian rock. mostly female vocals & and some cool psychy cuts, but some strange covers mixed in with the originals well. not very consistent but some cool moments for sure. pretty cool crude cover art. perfect like new in shrink NM/NM.
totally unknown up to a few years ago west coast xian private press garage psych. male/female vocal, some great dirty fuzz leads. all around solid album, with the femme vocals really shining on the best tracks. one tiny scuff that does nothing, otherwise perfect in shrink. M/NM.
pretty unknown until recently private press. great connecticut psych with strong lead pedal steel guitar making for a very psychedelic & unusual sound. some rural vibes, flashes of surf, extended jams, sweet harmonies… very cool stuff. same micro label as DR HOOKER! perfect SEALED MINT.
first release on new portland maine label, started by the fine folks running the great venue of the same name… really sweet lonesome stripped down folk & folk blues from this local fellow. mostly slow paced & but pretty on the edge, its a intense listen if given real focus. certainly will appeal fan of the area’s other folk hero, micah blue smaldone. packaged in a nice screen printed cover with paste-on photo, plus thick board printed art insert. limited edition of only 100 copies, so not going to hang around long!
sequence of prophets, the third full-length album from niagara falls, finds the band once again radically altering their instrumentation and composition methods. upon the exit of erich breimhurst and jeff carpineta, sam cusumano and noah levey joined norman fetter in the latest incarnation of the group. the trio of norman fetter (ex-golden ball) (percussion, keyboards, and guitar) noah levey (keyboards and guitar) and sam cusumano (synthesizers and electronics) self-recorded the album in spring of 2008 at the band’s own honeymoon compound in the fishtown section of philadelphia, which has also been home to espers, golden ball, ex reverie, fursaxa, sharron kraus, heather leigh murray and christina carter. on the opening track, flatlands, the band employs a cacophony of insect nosies, long sustained keyboard drones, and tribal drumming, as well as sam cusumano’s hand-made acousto-electric devices and circuit-bent keyboards, to create a symphony of fluctuating electronic weather patterns. sequence of prophets is an illustratration of the band’s journey from free-form improvisation towards a more solid sonic anatomy. calling to mind the early experimental albums of tangerine dream and popol vuh, niagara falls has created a new synthesis of ambient new age experimentalism and neo noise. limited edition of 500.
recorded close to the group’s inception in 1994, languid red marchetti is the nnck sound in its empirical form, rhythmically a-linear and fundamentally abstract. while nnck would go on to become a seven piece performing group, recording and touring extensively, this recording documents a smaller group of four original members engaged in the hermetically sealed sonic exploration which best locates their aesthetic origins. from the group’s statement on languid red marchetti: ‘a proto-intuitive latihan of feedback + pre-scaffold juxtaposition of layers which would come to constitute edifice, and eventually dwelling. where we would soon occupy this sound, it here was a force in and of itself, its directionless propulsion compounding into substance and landscape.’ this deluxe edition planam lp comes with a nnck generated essay on sound imaging through improvisation and is packaged in a full color jacket depicting ‘the hypothetical dissolve/corruption + subsequent inevitable repetition of suprematism.’ edition limited to 340 copies, with full-color cover, infra-suprematist inner sleeve and ultra-liner notes insert by keith connolly.
recorded close to the group’s inception in 1994, languid red marchetti is the nnck sound in its empirical form, rhythmically a-linear and fundamentally abstract. while nnck would go on to become a seven piece performing group, recording and touring extensively, this recording documents a smaller group of four original members engaged in the hermetically sealed sonic exploration which best locates their aesthetic origins. from the group’s statement on languid red marchetti: ‘a proto-intuitive latihan of feedback + pre-scaffold juxtaposition of layers which would come to constitute edifice, and eventually dwelling. where we would soon occupy this sound, it here was a force in and of itself, its directionless propulsion compounding into substance and landscape.’ this deluxe edition planam lp comes with a nnck generated essay on sound imaging through improvisation and is packaged in a full color jacket depicting ‘the hypothetical dissolve/corruption + subsequent inevitable repetition of suprematism.’ edition limited to 340 copies, with full-color cover, infra-suprematist inner sleeve and ultra-liner notes insert by keith connolly.
this is the first official solo full-length release from tulsa’s the north sea (brad rose). rose is easily one of the free-folk movement’s busiest exponents, splitting his time between running the digitalis and foxglove labels, the foxy digitalis webzine and writing his own music under a variety of different monikers with a host of collaborators. somehow, he has found the time to craft exquisite idols, which elegantly follows a hugely acclaimed collaboration with uk’s rameses iii, night of the ankou. however, whereas night of the ankou explored both acts’ occasional leanings towards ambience and drone, exquisite idols shows rose digging deep into the dusty vaults of his american heritage and drumming up an album dripping with blues, folk and free experimentation. this is folk music as played from a snow-drift in tulsa, in a midwest wasteland or a forgotten forest drenched in moonlight. it is personal, secluded and almost lonely, but rose never allows the melancholy to take over. from the jubilant opening crackles of “eternal birds” right up until the rockin’ stomp of “feather-cloaked silver priestess,” there is the distinct feeling that although this might be labeled free folk, there’s a barn somewhere full of like-minded drunkards waiting eagerly to get dancing on them there hay-bales. just flip to the rip-roaring folk stomp of “take it from me brother moses,” take a swig of moonshine and let your feet do the talking. exquisite idols is an album steeped in tradition, yet its greatness comes from rose’s ability to absorb other cultures so easily — there are traces of indian traditional music, greek music and more, all hidden within the cacophony of banjo, guitar and clanging percussion. this is what sets him apart from his contemporaries and makes his music so absorbing… limited vinyl version.
obscure and great dreamy sunshine pop psych gem. male/female vocals, huge harmonies, thick full production, soaring songs. like a more psychedelic FREE DESIGN or SMALL CIRCLE OF FRIENDS. very strange cover general wear & saw mark. real clean wax. VG+/NM-.
grey-area exact lp repro edition, originally released on fahey’s takoma label in 1967. charlie nothing was the fractured-psyche pseudonym of author, organic farmer, beekeeper and philosopher/clown charles martin simon, inventor of the dingulator (guitar sculptures made out the metal from american cars). the psychedelic saxophone of charlie nothing made
a minor splash in the european free jazz melting pot upon its initial release, but the albums non-dingulating psych sax improvisation, accompanied by gong, conga drum and banjo (supposedly borrowed from tiny tim), is highly sought-after by the adventurous and heavily medicated. limited to 500 copies.
one of the newest and most surprising discoveries in the 60′s & 70′s rock rarities field, this caused big hype among collectors in the last months. certainly easy to understand, as it’s an ace album no one had heard of before. guitarist william nowik recorded this obscure instrumental record back in 1974 in the ny area. psychedelic, progressive, very early floyd sounding at times, crimson-esque, and a kind of sound that reminds on the british early 70′s underground but with an experimental, trippy touch. fourteen tracks in total, but played and arranged in suites. seems that only 200 copies were pressed and never distributed, so it has taken 35 years to be discovered for the first time. this wonderful reissue comes with the intended original artwork (it came out in green and black cover instead of the black and white that william wanted), has nice remastered sound and includes an insert with rare unseen photos and extended liner-notes.
original pressing of their best. orig inner sleeve. EX-/VG++.
finland and new zealand meets again on this second collaborative album from uton and antony milton (first one under the nthnthsthsth moniker was released as a limited cdr on celebrate psi phenomenon back in 2004). a perfect clash of two beautiful worlds over 2 sidelong tracks divided into several shorter segments. layers of majestic droning sounds, field recordings, voices, guitars, percussion… full colour artwork by jani hirvonen and liner notes by jon dale. limited to 520 copies.
doubles, the first widely available release by irish guitarist cian nugent, showcases a major talent in the audacious setting of two side-long epics. clearly inspired by the takoma classics and the recent generation of greats (jack rose, glenn jones, etc.), nugent delivers a pair of perfectly formed takes on the classic steel-string sound, one (mostly) unaccompanied, the other an expertly arranged full-band throw-down. “peaks and troughs” is a slow-building solo piece in the style of fahey’s “fare forward voyagers,” with each part perfectly connected to the previous. nugent has ample technique, but the virtuosity here is all in service of the mood and the build-up. his guitar has a darker, more intimate sound than many current players, without the brittle ring common to fingerstyle. the emergence of a deep drone after fifteen minutes shakes up the track, like a swarm of bees spilling out of the speakers. in contrast, “sixes and sevens” is a percolating jam in the style of jim o’rourke’s classic bad timing lp, with nugent’s steel-string riding an inventive wave of drums, organ, viola, woodwinds and brass in an ambitious, filmic masterpiece. the main tune of the song is instantly memorable, building momentum before a subdued interlude that resets things for an elegant, orchestrated finish. vinyl includes digital download code
numinous eye is an improvised psychadelic-cosmic-noise-rock project based around mason jones (trance), and generally featuring the participation of various collaborators. side a is from a live set in tokyo at the end of 2005, with koji shimura (acid mothers temple, high rise, mainliner, white heaven) on drums and higo hiroshi (friction, shibusashirazu orchestra) on bass. side b was recorded live in the studio with chris van huffle (ex-subarachnoid space, gay barbarians, etc) on drums. limited to 490 copies on orange vinyl with insert and sticker.
perfect SEALED original. SEALED NM/S.
a thousand years ago, in 2006, michigan moonlighters odd clouds drizzled down their lp opus, the cavernous end. within the sphere of open-eyed freeform organized psych-jazz sprawl, nothing compared. years later that album still kills, but not much has followed in its wake (there have been some loose tapes but those roll in a cruder basement fuckaround vein). so we are personally xxtremely pleased to be able to finally offer up the band’s latest album-length affair, deceiving illusion. a six-song spelunk into the deranged group brain responsible for noise scene mainstays like fag tapes and tasty soil records, illusion rumbles through a hall of mirrors of zones/styles, from freaky garbage punk to robot throat games to motorik brass meditations to unhinged 70s german commune beardo psych-blazers. the journey is the destination and all that. abuse yr illusion. black vinyl lps in stunning 4-color pro-silkscreened jackets with artwork by chris pottinger and jamie easter, plus a double-sided photocopied insert. edition of 400.
captured tracks is proud to put out a full-length record by the prolific oh sees, and boy, is this one a monster. more layered and textural than previous oh sees releases while keeping all the typical john dwyer punch, oomph and weirdness. ten fantastic new songs packaged with a terrifying pencil-drawn sleeve. captured tracks’ second lp release, and the label couldn’t be more pleased with it.
featuring a 13-piece band of multiple drummers, reed & brass sections, junk percussionists, banjo, a saw trio, and a vacuum, with members from evolutionary jass band, au, cexfucx, hammer of hathor, old time relijun, castanets, eternal tapestry and others. long-form compositions with free-improvising, group sing-a-longs, ecstatic shouts and new orleans funeral horns.4 songs, averaging at 12 minutes each. like the band playing backwoods tone-poems in a rotting swamp. limited pressing of 300 lps, hand-screened.
super clean US original of cool swedish beat garage party sounds. in shrink, with original label inner sleeve. tiny punch hole. one ultra lite scuff. NM-/NM-.
it’s been years now — just about two, judging from the sun. om have done their time in the desert, and ever-changing, are returned. today, they say, god is good. are you surprised? perhaps you’ve haven’t understood what om was saying to you. but perhaps you felt something… it’s true that the one way pursued by om leads in many different directions. it is a mystic path. songs come from innumerable sources, filtering through the external and the internal. om albums are rituals, personal convictions transcripted into verse. playing the music is visceral, emotional, a catharsis of soul and spirit. as the ghat liberates soul from body to the ultimate, so too do om strive to disengage from the finite object of their objective mortal self to rest in the empty and timeless witness. and in doing so, they seek to release you as well. as ever, dynamic relationships and the slow building of mood are attenuations that shape the structures of god is good. with careful microscopic increase, the energy grows through the four songs, leading towards moments that one could interpret…revelation? oblivion? awakening? since 2004, om have burned their name into the annals, trolled the fertile crescent, faithfully made more out of what little was put into their hands, forged three full-length albums from white-hot evaluations of the infinite. the duo that is om is composed of bass and drums and whatever else comes into their mind that will serve the song and do it justice. al cisneros has been pursuing the pure note as om (and previously with sleep) for many years now, but this is the first om record to feature the battery of emil amos, who replaces chris haikus in the chair. you can go to the shelf and study it: there are comparative religions, philosophy, metaphysics, mythology, and history. turn around, and there is om. their vibrations of the philosophical and the physical are meant to move you. believe… limited vinyl version in a heavy old style cover with foil embossing.
in december of 2007 the mighty duo that is om made a pilgrimage to israel to play for its people. their pinnacle performance unfolded at 4 aristobolus street in jerusalem the site of uganda records. the band played for over 4 hours on this evening! the tracks: “flight of the eagle” and “bhimas’ theme” were captured and the transmission of these recordings were flown back to the united states where the vinyl lacquers were made by bob weston. southern lord in cooperation with om present you the listener with this 180-gram black vinyl transcendental offering: om live at jerusalem. limited to 3,000 machine numbered copies.
sweet copy of guru-worship private press hippie commune folkrock with some dreamy folkpsych flavors. great looking cover & cool thick booklet insert. tiny bit faded along top spine. very slight storage warp doesn’t do anything. in shrink. NM-/EX-.
gatefold lp version. returnal is the fourth album from daniel lopatin’s oneohtrix point never project, after betrayed in the octagon (deception island, 2007), zones without people (arbor, 2009) and russian mind (no fun, 2009). all 3 albums being superbly compiled on the rifts double cd set (no fun, 2009). it sees lopatin fine-tune his craft for the creation of deep atmospheres and textures even further. starting off with the mind-blowing triptych of “nil admiari”/”describing bodies”/”stress waves,” which fires off into a noise/rhythm excess before entering a zone of relative calm, building to the melancholy of the final part. this sets the tone perfectly for the album’s title track, a stunning, out-of-this-world ballad featuring lopatin’s near-desperate vocal delivery, ending what could be seen as one of his most chilling and thought-provoking sides to-date. the atmosphere is slightly lifted as the darkened sun comes up over the ruins on “pelham island road” and “where does time go,” with the album closing with edgy broken beats and the fourth-world possible landscapes of “preyouandi,” which fades into the distance with echoes of the “returnal” chorus closing the loop. what’s burnt into memory here is lopatin’s love affair with the long, slow path back home… the cycle… the hypnotic sector… the ghost in the machine… and whether people are making dance music or hip-hop or space head-music or metal, the ouroboros is present in every sector — as it was in bach’s study, and in the elephant songs of the ituri forests. instrumentation: akai ax-60, roland juno-60, roland msq-700, korg electribe es-1, voice. recorded using a personal computer. mastered by james plotkin. tape-op & additional engineering by al carlson. awesome spot-varnished cover design by stephen o’malley.
way obscure new jersey highschool project lp by a bunch of kids with real chops & talent. surprisingly tight high energy tough rocking versions of all those late 70s classic radio hits: HEART, SKYNARD, BLUE OYSTER CULT, etc. male/female vocals, heavy drums & bass, loud shredding guitars, wailing keys, etc. totally awesome b&w cover art that perfectly captures the mood. with insert. very rare! EX+/EX+.
limited edition of 300 copies packaged in heavy duty screenprinted jackets done by neil burke at monoroid. each side features a 20-minute solo track from both brotherly halves of the acclaimed my cat is an alien. both brothers were quiet about the inspiration for their tracks. dig in and find your own meaning in the comfortable alien world of the opalio space brothers.
somewhat mysterious texas psych beast. seems to have been recorded in the late 70s, but not released until a decade late. truly nuts-o desert biker cosmic new-age basement fuzz psych! definite YA HO WA vibe, ultra crude recording, side-long tracks, echo overdose vocals. awesome cover art. numbered edition of 500. in shrink with insert. NM/NM-.
way limited & long out of print reissue of this mega rare private press crude garage burner. very small split to top seam. NM–/NM+.
recorded in 1970 as part of the first biennale of arts and culture for the young in mali. the regional orchestra of mopti was a state funded orchestra that participated in country wide music festivals and competitions. a hypnotic band featuring electric guitars & a large horn section. this is the first in a series of six mali music lps we will be reissuing this summer from sterns. a serene and droning record that is both sorrowful & celebratory.
one-sided lp. originally a tour only release, but now repressed in only slightly larger quantities… recorded may 22, 2010 at high street project, christchurch, new zealand. clear vinyl with silkscreened cover art… recommended!
much loved tough garage psych with pre-blue cheer RANDY HOLDEN on guitar. nice copy with just a little foxing to the cover. EX+/EX.
it was the worst of times in johannesburg white suburbs. the beatles were banned on state radio. haircut regulations were merciless. life was an unutterable hell of boredom and conformity, but lo: salvation awaited. they came from the north in the summer of ’69, armed with axes and scarabs, long hair streaming behind them, and proceeded to slay the youth of the nation with an arsenal of murderous rock tunes. they were the biggest thing our small world had ever seen, our led zeppelin, our black sabbath, maybe even our rolling stones. they were otis waygood. after two albums released on emi s.a. the album ten light claps and a scream was simply the best otis waygood record and among collectors the most sought after. the music is influenced by the british underground for sure. bloodwin pig, steamhammer, if are working in the same field. great guitars and vocals, blues-influenced underground rock, sax, organs and well-crafted composition and arrangements making this album a unique masterpiece. julian laxton of freedoms children was the producer. rob zipper (vocals, guitars, saxophones); ivor rubenstein (vocals, percussion); leigh sagar (guitars, organ, hawaiian guitar); benny miller (guitars); alan zipper (bass)… recorded south africa, 1971. edition of 600 numbered lps, glossy heavy sleeve, 180 gram pressing.
stunning new lp from campbell kneale’s post birchville cat motel project. continues with the vibes set on his superb lp for dekorder, total psychedelic filth noise. two side long heavy pieces of gushing electric destruction, one sound lurches in and tears down another one, which it rebuilds an even more ferocious version of the original sound. pressed on 180gram vinyl. limited to 400 copies in pro printed wrap around sleeve on 400gsm silk card.
the gates of birchville cat motel crack, creak wide, and crash, unleashing a gush of soul-fried bleakness and love-damage stained with a defiantly metallic pose. thats ‘metallic… as in, has the surface qualities of metal’ not ‘metal… as in, has the surface qualities of metallica’… step back you fucking freaks. although the broken bricks of bcm are still plain to see amid the burning wreck and ruin, ‘stillborn plague angels’ represents the first fully formed sentence in a new chapter of campbell kneale’s ongoing tome of star-spangled, psychedelic, noise-om. cholesterol-shaving guitar peeks over the trench to survey an adrenalised landscape of endless roaring catastrophy… everything louder than everything else! our love will destroy the world is the new one-man project by new zealander campbell kneale after disbanding birchville cat motel. in the past kneale has released albums on ecstatic peace, corpus hermeticum, last visible dog, conspiracy and his own celebrate psi phenomena label. he has colllaborated with lee ranaldo, neil campbell, bruce russel, john olson (wolf eyes), yellow swans, has toured throughout japan, europe, america and australia and also records und the names black boned angel and ming. “stillborn plague angels” is the debut lp by this new project.
the gates of birchville cat motel crack, creak wide, and crash, unleashing a gush of soul-fried bleakness and love-damage stained with a defiantly metallic pose. thats ‘metallic… as in, has the surface qualities of metal’ not ‘metal… as in, has the surface qualities of metallica’… step back you fucking freaks. although the broken bricks of bcm are still plain to see amid the burning wreck and ruin, ‘stillborn plague angels’ represents the first fully formed sentence in a new chapter of campbell kneale’s ongoing tome of star-spangled, psychedelic, noise-om. cholesterol-shaving guitar peeks over the trench to survey an adrenalised landscape of endless roaring catastrophy… everything louder than everything else! our love will destroy the world is the new one-man project by new zealander campbell kneale after disbanding birchville cat motel. in the past kneale has released albums on ecstatic peace, corpus hermeticum, last visible dog, conspiracy and his own celebrate psi phenomena label. he has colllaborated with lee ranaldo, neil campbell, bruce russel, john olson (wolf eyes), yellow swans, has toured throughout japan, europe, america and australia and also records und the names black boned angel and ming. “stillborn plague angels” is the debut lp by this new project.
japan’s overhang party were always one of their country’s most interesting, multifaceted and imaginative musical units, and we at mutant music are honored to be able to make their long out-of-print debut lp available once more. overhang party and its members, who revolve around founder rinji fukuoka, have always shown a wide range of musical interest and ability, and this lp shows them all at their formative nucleus, offering a glimpse into what would come in later years in addition to enormous immediate aural gratification. initially released privately by the group in 1993 (prior to rinji’s formation of his pataphysique imprint, which would release the rest of the group’s output in addition to many other interesting recordings), this lp was limited to just 200 copies and has long been sought-after by aficionados of the japanese underground. needless to say, until now, if one were to be lucky enough to find a copy of this lp, it would come with a somewhat prohibitive price tag; we offer it once again in the vinyl format with its original presentation for those of us for whom the depth of our fanaticism may not always equal that of our bank accounts. this lp shows the group’s long-standing interest in the avant-garde and improvisation, featuring some amazing soundscapes which find their way through both the beautiful and the abrasive; they definitely explore some far-out territory, but there are also glimpses into the beautiful saturation of their more ‘rock’ side on occasion, with some particularly expressionistic guitar work from rinji within the context of a slow-burning psych blowout. this lp features the initial lineup of rinji fukuoka (guitar, voice), iwao yamazaki (drums), kouji nishino (bass) and kunukunu as guest on vcs3 synthesizer during the track ‘air.’ this vinyl reissue is limited to 500 copies and it is presented with its original artwork which features a stark plain white jacket with ‘overhang party’ simply printed on the front.
reissue of the arhoolie lp recorded in 1962 at overstreet’s church in phoenix, arizona with a slightly altered track listing. includes two tracks previously unissued on vinyl. recorded very live during a church service. rev. overstreet plays electric guitar and bass drum in his own driving & intense style while his four sons and the congregation take care of tambourine, backup singing and hand claps. a powerful record of gospel energy and testament.
we here at mad monk have been fans of adam kriney’s many projects over the past few years and feel deeply honored to offer the vinyl debut of his long-running fucked-jazz unit owl xounds (formerly owl sounds). taking their psychedelic rhyhmic core of drummer kriney (la otracina / blizzards / rust ionics / castanets / the places) and upright bassist gene janas (screamin jaw hawkins/bern nix’s sedition ensemble) to any reedsman up for the challenge, the boys explode it all with austrian sax-ist mario rechtern, who has been invlolved with free-music since the late 60′s playing in the reform art unit (with sunny murray, linda sharrock, & leena conquest) and more recently as a guest in the weasel walter quartet / sextet / trio. truly and honorably a post-esp expression, it is much a post-sst expression. while the instrumentation and framework are a staple of the jazz/improvisaion tradition, the directions and velocities at which owl xounds exist are just as informed of the worlds of hardcore/punk and experimental noise. citing the misfits as the most important band in his musical education, drummer/leader kriney always felt the connection between the punk he grew up on and the free-jazz he became aware of later in life, the energy, the volume, the commitment, and most importantly the undeniability of them both! and similarly the ostracism of the two is not to be ignored, being an outsider, the alienation from popular music, from popular culture, and from everyone around who just ‘didn’t get it’ were also of significance. it is with these considerations that this lp was named, for after all, from albert ayler to thurston moore to glenn danzig to kawabata makoto to peter brotzmann, ‘they’ and ‘we’ are all teenagers from mars, and we don’t care! – limited to only 400 copies i think. awesome packaging with cutout neon stickers on a heavy vinyl clear covers and bright orange vinyl. nice.
good private press late night bar room outlaw downer folk. weakest tracks have a bit of a tom waits vibe and a more full band sound, but the more stripped down cuts are real solid into dark, boozed-out downer/loner folk, especially the great ‘vampire eyes’. nice b&w cover full in shrink. clean wax. NM/NM-.
p. a. r. a. represents pre-atlantean ritual artifacts. it was channeled in deep sea space by labanna bly, in the celestial summer of 2008. dedicated to my knight, james ferraro. mermalien is a three-part suite for three deaths to supreme consciousness: ‘mercury overdose,’ ‘abyss retreat,’ & ‘seaspace chrysalis.’ limited edition of 200 copies. paste-on covers.
we created this record during 2001-2005. also many other things happened. mostly “yhä hämärää” is trying to reflect inner landscapes. ofcourse concrete places are forming and partly creating those inner views. some highly inspiring places: durde, densis, my home, pöllänlahti, toilet, graveyard, sewers, disco, the beach at redpoint, rooftops at night, alcoholic’s home, churches, uukuniemi, foggy fields, sauna, my bed. everything the light touches (and doesn’t touch) is our kingdom. we like “yhä hämärää” very much. -lauri ainala / paavoharju… limited 180gm vinyl version.
super limited debut vinyl release from this uk based duo creating some really gorgeous minimal americana-folk for field recoridings, guitars, banjo and piano. bleak and almost epic-ly empty at times, personally it gives me a real feeling of old american western times, dusty deserts, desolate old towns… it would be the perfect soundtrack to a modern tale of these lands from the past. ‘born music’ is an extremely well assembled collection of 10 tracks totaling in at just over 30 minutes. edition of only 100 copies, pressed on heavyweight virgin vinyl, with paste on full colour covers and full colour inserts… instantly out of print first pressing.
debut recording from italy’s opalio brothers (my cat is an alien) and ramona ponzini. an esoteric and mesmerizing trip through space, minimalism, and emotion. each track recorded at a different mystical location in the western alps, and centered around ramona’s beautiful vocals, all of which are sung in traditional japanese. maurizio & roberto add sparse accompaniment by means of toy piano, alien keyboard tones, antique accordion, percussion, tape effects, and some particularly evocative acoustic guitar. the whole thing comes off alternately as deeply meditative or chillingly haunted, depending on your attention & mood. silence, space & ritual are hugely important here, with notes & words hovering frozen in time… while the my cat is an alien moniker might leave some folks scratching their heads, here the painting petals on planet ghost name nails it : fragile, beautiful, cosmically isolationist, and totally spooked… pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl, and lushly packaged with letterpress printed cover & insert. printed with copper ink on exquisite & massively thick handmade ivory art paper, each sheet cast one at a time & air dried. hand numbered edition of 560 copies.
transparent winter follows on from the debut release on the always excellent time-lag label and releases on the equally great psf, opax and a silent place. painting petals on planet ghost is the trio of ramona ponzini with roberto & maurizio opalio (aka my cat is an alien). here they return for a new full length vinyl release on blackest rainbow. ppopg create some wonderfully fragile and unusual experiments that fall somewhere between folk, psychedelia and drone. ramono ponzini sings in japanese as well as contributing ‘furin, metal and wooden japanese wind chimes’. these are combined with maurizio opalio on acoustic guitar, and roberto opalio on ‘mini keyboard, bodhran, alientronics, and wordless vocalizations’. the trio’s eclectic setup helps them create some truly luscious and mysterious music that is perfectly fragile, strange, distant and delicate. ‘mars appears’ is a hazy dream piece with layered guitars, strange electronics and ramono’s perfectly delivered japanese vocals drawing the listener in surrounded by a strange but perfect fitting created by the opalio brothers musical output. ‘the mountain’ is equally as otherworldy as the previous sides track, with swirling strings and out of this world electronics created by roberto and maurizio. whilst ramona’s vocal are almost delivered in a trance like state. a extremely beautiful record with a gorgeous organic feel to it. the record is housed in a sleeve featuring film photographs of flowers. edition of 250 copies pressed on 140gram virgin vinyl.
the paper hats is william tyler from nashville, tennesee. you have seen and heard him play guitar with lambchop, silver jews or — if you are lucky — with the spiritual family reunion. deseret canyon is a psychedelic record and psychedelic is when one drops the google and let the music do its thing and moves in time to imaginary spaces. and since its meant to appear in vinyl this move has two opposite spiral tracks. flip it, screengazer. deseret canyon is finger picking folk. tuning secrets and mesmerist magic. country soul on a carrousel. magnetic front porch symphonies with a drone. the apalachian meets raga meets vienna classic meets hawaiian slack. the fahey thing, the loren mazzacane conners thing, the ribot thing, the jansch thing, the o’rourke ding, the datashock dthing. ding music that makes you concern, consider, regard, and bear in mind, also waltz sleepy in serpentines with your augur self… real nice album.
part wild horses mane on both sides is the duo of kelly jones and pascal nichols. proclaiming a context far greater than the sum of their instruments, low fired clay escape is a remarkable record of visceral beauty, stark decay and translucence. one that inhales the smoke of martyrs and advances towards an unknown vocabulary, depicting barren worlds as lost as they are found. limited to 530 copies and housed in the intricate work of darren adcock.
good canadian folkrock beat with cool psych/flower-power vibes. thick gatefold cover. original tan label. VG++/VG+.
sometimes it feels so simple: two of our favorite people in one of our favorite bands release one of our favorite records of all time. 2009’s imaginary falcons was its own genius slushpile of tape-hissy drift-dub haze anthems, no question, but 936 takes every facet of the peaking lights mighty diamond and shines it to fluorescent perfection. the songwriting is insane; “all the sun that shines,” “amazing & wonderful,” “tiger eyes (laid back),” etc, all seep into yr mindstream and float there like melodic gold dust. indra dunis’ silky soul-jazz keys and tranced vocals have never sounded so exquisite, and aaron coyes busts out the best bass/drum loops and sneaky dub guitar of his musical lifetime. recorded by luke tweedy at flat black studios in iowa city (where both the nnf wet hair lps were tracked) and mastered in berlin, 936 retains the cool crate-digger grit of their earlier highlights, but within a much more vivid spectrum of sound. could not be more jazzed and honored to unveil this total groove-wave classic. black vinyl lps in jackets with vintage/bootleg art by the band. edition of 600.
peaking lights return with a follow up ep to their excellent night-people full length imaginary falcons and a teaser to lead into their killer next full length album set to drop on not not fun later this winter. space primitive was originally released as a limited cassette on fuck it tapes but needed a bit more shelf life so night-people set to work to make this release a reality on vinyl. aesthetically very similar to imaginary falcons, the same haunted low fi electronics surfacing throughout, cascading shimmering layers of guitar, and indras ethereal vocals moving through the sound like a surfer on a wave. this 12” comes on clear 1 sided vinyl with a silkscreen on the b side, the best looking 1 sided homemade picture disc night-people has made yet. artwork by shawn reed… great to see this one on wax!
rochesters pengo is john schoen, r. nuuja and jason finkbeiner. 2/3 of them have previously played with arthur doyle. hailed as the worlds most psychedelic band, they come back with “counterfeit memories” which could be their darkest statement so far. a departure from 1970s ugandan extravaganza into possibly the synapses of its then leader. limited to 500.
pengo is: john schoen, jason finkbeiner, r. nuuja. pengo comes from rochester, ny and are simply a dark-bright beacon of madness in the subterranean swamp of psychedelic junk collectors. they’re kind of elusive, having issued only an lp prior to this release (it had been a year since we’re working on this album) + a few cd-rs and tapes. got affiliations with coffee & the doyle eae – wild stuff/weird vibes! – green & gray vinyl. way limited as always.
tan label US pressing of this amazing UK folk/psych all star debut blowout. as if you didn’t know: BERT JANSCH, JOHN RENBOURN, JACQUI McSHEE, DANNY THOMPSON and TERRY COX. oh yeah. a classic. cover like new in shrink. NM/EX+.
originally released in 1971 in japan. nobody’s sure if the musicians on this recording ever performed as a group or whether ceremony was simply a studio super-project. certainly, guitarist kimio mizutani had already enjoyed a certain amount of critical exposure following stints with love live life + one and masahiko satoh’s sound brakers, and it is satoh’s jazzy fuzz guitar licks that help to lift this album to a higher level. unfortunately, this was the ensemble’s only output, but this conceptual album is an absolute classic. as the title suggests, this recording was an attempt to fuse a buddhist-influenced spiritual vibe into an innovative form of hypnotic, psychedelic prog rock. all in all, a rather weird record, but the sound is mindblowing — experimental and trippy, but never too free or over the top, and at times a more traditional japanese style of music lurks in the background. a monumental album that’s never going to go out of style. numbered limited edition of 1,000 copies only.
black/rainbow label original press of scarce garage psych with some great and very odd moves throughout. decent copy that plays great. VG+/VG+.
incredible second album by welsh psychedelic folk-rockers pererin. here we have traditional welsh folk-meets-rock with psychedelic guitar leads, flute, and male/female vocals. this was originally released in 1981 on the gwerin label?for many it is the band’s best work, and yet as is often the case, it’s their rarest release. exact repro of the original, including the insert. definitely one of the best albums of the genre, another superb rarity brought to you with a legitimate reissue by guerssen.
the third album from welsh folk/psych/prog legends pererin is finally made available again. many of you have already purchased guerssen’s previous pererin reissue of their second album “teithgan,’’ so you know what to expect from this platter; those who didn’t buy the previous reissue can expect a brilliant set of traditional songs played in the band’s very own contemporary electrified folk style. guitars, bass, mandolin, synths, mellow percussions, flute. and so forth. this might well be the folkiest of all their albums, but there’s still a strong progressive feel on it and some killer electric guitar leads. another must-have for anyone into folk-prog, this is the last of the band’s vinyl offerings, released in 1983, followed only by their last work that was only released on cassette. this brand new, first ever reissue of this wonderful album, is licensed from arfon wyn and comes with a replica of the original insert as well. strictly limited to 500 copies.
original copy of this all-time top shelf femme acidfolk masterpiece. really no need to hype this as its well know everywhere now due to pure quality and many reissues, but the real thing is a treat. totally stunning perfect mix of deep lysergic lyrics, masterful studio & electronic effects, melting layered vocals, and all-around seriously tripped-out vibes. one-of-a-kind beauty… cover looks beautiful in sleeve but under direct light there are dull eraser marks on the white areas. two small corner bends. orange label. lots scuffs & hairlines but all just surface stuff and still real shiny. VG++/VG+. $250.00
finally this lost gem of austrian psych folk is reissued after being lost for over 34 years! this is probably the rarest austrian lp, and one of the most elusive records ever. the music is honest and spontaneous, crossing paths between fragile folk and psychedelic dark undertones with a touch of glam, expressive lyrics and fleeting guitar lines. the 200 copies privately pressed in 1976 (two runs of 100 copies each) were mostly given to friends and sporadically sold at concerts. this reissue is fully licensed, limited to 600 copies in black vinyl and 100 copies in coloured golden brown vinyl. a must for all psych-folk lovers… all copies here are the golden vinyl edition of 100! special low price.
perfect copy of very obscure southern california loner softrock. some cool breezy/dreamy cuts, and a pretty cool one if you dig that soft outsider sound. really amazing & weird cover art! lyric inner sleeve. in shrink. NM/NM.
private press folk psych that gets big hype (and big price) in some places. mostly pretty tame with slightly jazzy flashes, but there are a couple psychy standout tracks with buckely-esque vocals and nice guitar work. full band backing. VG++/VG++.
red records #3… well, its been a damn long time since we released their debut album, “shishimumu”, back when they were called THE PONYS, but we sure are happy there’s finally a proper follow-up, even if it took six years to happen. if anything, the long wait says something to the greatness & humility of the band; never bending to commercial concerns, ego, hype, or changing trends & changing times. in fact, “take to the trees” picks up just about right where “shishimumu” left off all those years back, another little nugget of timeless psychedelic pop perfection. of course, there is a new level of maturity and depth to the songwriting here, but there’s still plenty of slightly naive & youthful charm… and to be certain, the world these guys create is just as surreal now as its always been… musically, things come together just right, with thick, swirling, chiming triple electric guitar textures, spot-on drumming, liquid but powerful bass, gurgling moog, acoustic strumming, accordion, and sweet soaring fuzz-tones. vocals hover as high & sweet as ever, harmonizing, doubling, and layering heavenly. the mood of the album floats through drifting fragile melancholy, quirky pop, crunchy psychedelic rockers and anthemic rave-ups, often all within the same track. beautifully recorded, but never over polished… just the way a great pop record should be. so forget all pretense, folks, maybe not freak folk enough for kill rock stars ain’t such a bad thing at all… packaged in a lovely heavy weight 60s style gatefold cover with elaborate full color art by the band, plus an insert. pressed on 180gm bright red vinyl. hand numbered limited edition of 300 copies… first 150 copies come with a special BONUS CDR SINGLE featuring two outtakes deemed by the band “too downer” for the album. packaged in a color offset printed tri-fold cover with hand stamped disc art.
in spite of its minimalistic appearance, is a most intricate light work which, in its scope and originality, defines its own aesthetic. the number of persons involved may vary. although thirteen has been suggested as the optimum number, two would usually be referred to as a working couple (in any combination of sexes.) within the community, many believe that a number larger than thirteen is unwieldy, citing unwieldy group dynamics and an unfair burden on the leadership. when this has grown too large to be manageable, it may split, or “hive”. most often utilizing electronic instruments or electronic processing of acoustic instruments, they typically create dense, unmoving harmonies and a stilled or “hovering” sense of time… 250 copies only.
debauche hedonism a la early 1970s rock… a party album for excavating your libido. krautrock lock grooves give way to full throttle alice cooper/black sabbath moves but mid-tempo scott walker fronting early roxy music is closest to the core; with occassional flickers of tangerine dream synth-glaciers and marc bolan bare-bones. dominic mario santo cipolla also sings in dead child (venom/judas priest veined metal band with david pajo on guitar; ep forthcoming) and plays drums and sings some with sapat (forthcoming lp/cd on siltbreeze). phantom family halo guitarist michael mcmahan was also a touring member of the slint reunion band and founding member of the for carnation along with his older brother brian mcmahan. vinyl only silk-screened first edition.
indie post-punk psych with connections to YO LA TENGO, BONGWATER, KING MISSLE, etc. with insert. NM-/NM-.
singer-songwriter armando piazza from naples was joined by renowned us guitarist shawn phillips on bass, acoustic and electric guitar for this rarity, originally released on the obscure black beautiful butterfly label in 1972; since it was sold only at concerts and by mail, it was difficult to find even then. and what a pity! acid-psychedelic ballads in english, with bursts of fuzz guitar and excellent use of electric instruments as well as abundant acoustic guitar (the good people at missing vinyl say that the fuzz bass on ‘the house on the hill’ will blow your mind and speakers away)! this is an album considered to be one of the best, and is certainly one of the rarest european psychedelic albums, with original mint condition copies going nowadays for 1,000+ euro. a heavy, yet subtle record, folky, with oddly inflected vocals and deliciously crunchy guitar. limited edition, deluxe 180g vinyl, in a deluxe double gatefold cover that is a replica of the complex original jacket… beautiful high quality of this awesome album. recommended!
beautiful dream-dementia pop from a couple tangentially related to the sea donkeys/sublime frequencies camp in seattle. -s@1. pigeons and doves are so closely related, they are practically interchangeable in the minds of the people who classify such fowl. but in the eyes of the general public, the dove is a beautiful bird symbolizing freedom and peace while the pigeon is a dirty rat with wings that eats our city’s garbage and craps on our cars. but maybe the pigeon is a crafty bird, content with its own beauty and happy to obscure it to avoid the glare of our ever intrusive public eye. virgin spectacle is a distorted, hungover, and elusive statement. and it’s in french. except one word at the end. or more, if you are to believe those responsible. regardless, amongst all the fog and feathers is a collection of comely pop and sonic excursions guaranteed to lodge itself in your waking subconscious. hell, you might even dream of a few of these songs. the fine people who constitute the band named pigeons would like you to believe that they have stumbled incidentally upon such charm, like a diamond in the mine. don’t believe it. take yourself out of your particular urban situation. look toward the skies, and see the besmirched bird for what it really is. they have laid out a sonic journey meant to disorient on the surface, but if you follow their flight you’ll find yourself cruising along and singing in a language you may not understand… sweet screen printed flipback covers, 180gm vinyl, etc.
still unknown incredible rare album of mellow underground with english vocals. good and rare as gold dust. a beautiful concept album, far away from any avant garde tunes. the recording was great but the mixing was weak. this album make you shiver. great artists and performers, electric guitar, piano, drums, bass, beautiful english vocals, all original compositions influenced by the london underground scene and bands such as procol harum. if you think martha is a good album you will like this one a lot – original released on polydor japan 1972. heavy laminated sleeve, 180gm vinyl, numbered to 450 copies.
following volume i (8mm, 2008) and ii (presto?!, 2009), and previously released in a super small cassette edition on tulip, stefano pilia’s last days iii is finally available in a new remastered one sided lp edition. the intuitions of the first two chapters of this series of ‘last days’ shine in ‘atlantic city’ in all their beauty. stefano’s touch is so warm and gentle, always unique in creating that feeling of soft, warm nostalgia, loud, and passionate as he’s strumming his strings with exceptional fervor like a howl to the sky. pilia can create emotions out of a guitar riff like no one else around and this beautiful piece, directly inspired by the same titled springsteen song, will make you feel shivers up your spine. limited edition of 250 copies, with only 100 available for mail order, the other half will only be available at performances directly from the artist. professionally printed covers with original photo artwork by canedicoda… very last copies.
recorded between bologna and providence, last days is just pilia and his nude guitar. five new pieces that will bring you up to the sky in a climax of infinite grace and beauty. if you followed his previous works, you already know that stefano is a rare voice, within his fingers, improvisation and composition meet each other in perfect harmony. this new lp offers some of the most emotionally intense guitar music we have listened to, to date. last days is in fact apart from stefano’s previous efforts for a series of reasons. each song is an adventure into a different style, combing elements of noise, rock, folk and drone as part of the same sound painting. but the main focus here is that his sound on vinyl comes out revealed: naked, rough, and ‘primitive’ as we commented listening together to this record. this music comes from the heart, doesn’t need any overdubbs. 140 grams vinyl, edition of 110 numbered copies. silkscreened covers.
dear family & friends, this announcement is long enough, so i won’t inundate you with yet another flowery description. i’m just gonna say this, the first time i ever heard pill wonder was in ari’s bedroom. me, archibald, mimoun and brody were all crowded in there, perched on his bed, listening to the tracks that would eventually go on to become the summer showcase. when “wishing whale” came on, i remember my face wrinkling up into a confused glee then spinning round to see brody smiling like a jester, nodding his head as if to say “yea buddy!” from that moment on i knew i was in some pretty special company… i’m fantastically excited to be presenting this album to you now.
lovely original striped label tower pressing of their 2nd & last with SYD BARRETT. surprisingly clean copy! faintest starting ring wear, barely there. couple ultra lite surface scuffs only. NM-/NM-.
great old bootleg with a bunch of rare barrett era tracks, most of their rare non-lp early singles, etc. pretty essential one. EX-/VG++.
rare & rather lovely femme xian loner folk on legendary & much sought after RPC custom label. like the best xian music, the vibe here is spiritual & introspective rather then preachy or in your face. all original songs, warm sweet young vocals, nice acoustic guitar playing, which is often finger picked. poetic lyrics with a strong lonesome melancholic mood on the majority of the album, and the whole things plays through really strong. well above your average xian folk private, the vibe here is pretty powerful… small chip to top seam. mild ring wear almost exclusively on the back. generic maroon rpc labels. generic sun-thru-trees front cover. well played wax but still a lot of life left in it. EX-/VG+.
repressed… in 1968, the plastic cloud recorded, quite simply, one of the greatest psychedelic albums ever made. this is one hip album, full of catchy melodies and hippie harmonies, as well as some of the most superb (and trippiest) fuzz guitar ever recorded. there is no point singling out a specific track, they are all excellent—one is equally as good as the next. essential psychedelia! deluxe limited edition lp version in heavy cardboard gatefold jacket… great reissue of this fuzz psych monster. been out of print for years. this new repress is just as nice & limited to less then a couple hundred copies, so act fast if you missed it before.
after a six-month hiatus, a complete line-up overhaul, a trip to sxsw, a uk/euro tour, and a full year-plus of only playing shows and writing songs and amassing totemic objects, finally pocahaunted return to the recorded realm with their first album since 2008. time flies when yr having not not fun and all that. make it real collects seven of the band’s 2009 live staples for a 40-minute-ish collage of basement body music, garage dub damage, outsider funkadelic sprawl, voodoo rhythm workouts, duo femme soul vocal dynamics, dripping gold sweat, and dream fulfillment. recorded barefoot and shirtless and direct to tape at green machine studio in summer ’09 by m. geddes gengras and featuring guest bamboo sax by jazzmaster alex gray (of dreamcolour/deep magic) and mastered by james plotkin. black vinyl lps in jackets with warped la post-parliament utopia artwork by vision wizard spencer longo. edition of 500.
his 2nd album. not sure what up with dropping the “h” from his name… if you dig “the call” this one is a must have too. real sparse & moody folkpsych without the bigger production of his later lps. marker scribble & old price sticker back cover. decent wax but surface noise. VG+/VG+.
israeli pop-psych with some cool moves. some st. pepper influence for sure. VG+/VG++.
israeli pop-psych with some cool moves. some st. pepper influence for sure. front laminated cover. really weird art & includes a very strange thick booklet insert. VG+/EX-.
rare live bootleg recorded new york 1973. total psych punk destruction! blank white cover with loose 11″x12″ red ink on yellow paper xerox insert. very small sticker tear on blank cover. NM-/NM-.
born on valentines day 1911, in maine’s northernmost county, bern porter was a north american artist, writer, publisher, free thinker and scientist who found meaning in the things that others discarded or ignored. porter is known in mostly underground circles as one of the earliest and most prolific practitioners of found poetry. through his gleaning of founds in recycle bins, telephone books, and repair manuals, he created hilariously cunning, sometimes irreverent works of art that often bear his signature, as well as an anti-copyright statement. many of these works have been published in collections over the past 70 years. on top of all this he was a sharer of knowledge who opened his home, “the institute of advanced thinking,” in belfast, maine, to dropouts, artists, children of all ages, and anyone who felt like dropping by. in celebration of the 100th anniversary of bern’s birthday, turned word records presents this 34 minute lp of performed poetry, philosophical musings, and general word play, by bern porter and longtime collaborator, mark melnicove. though porter is not known for his sonic explorations, this lp is quite musical, channeling improvisational song chant modality and rhythm oriented slamesque poetry. on side b we hear what should be bern’s most famous work “the last acts of st. fuck you.” while a child is gently cooing in the background, the acts are presented in alphabetical order. all this is on vinyl for the first time ever. many of the pieces have never been heard outside of a small circle of friends. includes loose leaf booklet of rare photos and 20 founds, most never before published. hand stamped offset printed covers on re-cycled jackets. mastered by caleb mulkerien. edited by dan beckman-moon. 300 pressed… awesome & totally out there. recommended.
private press by capital custom press. cool early example of private loner folk, though its got more of a early 60s dylan / hobo beatnik / folk blues vibe then anything acidfolk, with the exception of the long “LSD fixation” track. anyway, a fun one. great cover art too. cover has small top seem split, faint sticker stain, and moderate general wear. art still looks good. nice wax but a bit dusty. VG/VG++.
‘epocsonixarp’ is the second full-lenght album of the praxinoscope duo formed by roberto opalio (my cat is an alien) and ramona ponzini (painting petals on planet ghost). this work is even more lyrical and ecstatic than the debut; here roberto’s use of a mini-keyboard and astral effects collides with ramona’s hypnotic use of several handmade wood percussions and her japanese wind chimes and bells, creating such an infinite and intimate ‘space’ so that you cannot but loose yourself inside. a whirlpool of roberto’s whispered wordless vocals will live till the evening dies, and the black of the night will come to surround everything. as the duo asks, ‘play it in the dark!’ – special private press edition of only 130, with heavy textured cardboard sleeve + sticked art on cover, individually numbered – nice!
1969, sf sorrow is done and dusted. parachute is yet to come. the pretty things are at their creative peak with no outlet in sight. enter philippe debarge: frenchman, playboy, and pretty things superfan. he commissions the band to write and produce an album for him. debarge and the five pretty things duly enter nova studios, one of london’s first eight-track facilities. with access to this new technology they experiment with multi-tracking and an array of psychedelic effects. debarge sings lead, and the pretty things play and sing everything else on a stunning set of 12 may/waller originals in the classic late ’60s pretty things style, many of them never recorded by the band before or since. acoustic, fuzz and backwards guitars abound, along with mellotron, harpsichord and the unmistakable heavenly three-part harmonies of phil may, wally waller and jon povey. the album is completed, but never released. until now. limited edition deluxe vinyl edition. just 1,000 pressed. heavy duty glossy color lp jacket with insert and full liner notes by mike stax. cover art by phil smee. fully re-mastered in magnificent full stereo hi-fidelity sound with the close collaboration of original co-producer wally waller. fully sanctioned and approved by the pretty things… highly recommended!
cool alternate UK original MONO pressing of their snarling raw debut. brit garage at its nastiest! released the same time as the ‘proper’ philips edition with a slightly different cover & label. unlaminated flipback cover is a bit dirty especially on the white back, with general wear but very little ring wear. nice shiny mono wax has hairline paper scuffs, but no major damage & plays loud & clear. original inner sleeve. VG++/EX-.
strange solo album from ex-ANIMALS member with some proggy flashes. mostly worth while of the bizarre RALF STEADMAN cover art. original inner sleeve & insert. NM-/EX-.
sonic-utopian synth mystics and pretend pop make-believers don’t always sound so good side by side as prince rama of ayodhya and the great valley do. prince rama’s twelve-minute earth-shaker “aeolian divine” winds its way to eternity, from the floating island atlantis, through some kind of cosmic dancehall, and into an infinite-space ecstatic-calm of heartbeat drums and swimming synth lines. then the great valley descends with ukuleles and guitars down from space, through a tree in the forest, and into their underground home… paste-on art on recycled lp covers. very limited.
the feminine entities of visitations / attar cups step forward, duo style, for their debut longplayer… and what a debut it is… these magical ladies have been oh so subtly wowing locals with their rare live sets for a few years now, and as hard as it is to imagine, this album manages to surpass their live wonder in both intimacy & intensity… a mesmerizing cycle of ultra-hush dreamtime lullabies, ethereal ghost pop, lost folk, and trance-state sonic whirlpools. the songs are hazy shimmerings of dusty splendor, delivered with utter beauty & fragility, yet shrouded in a thick veil of mystery & sadness. the drones seem to be pulled from between the cracks in silence by some woozy late-night ritual, summoning an edgy & ecstatic presence into the very spirit of the sound… recorded to analog tape with minimal equipment and much spontaneity, the rural autumn / winter setting of the process has no doubt penetrated the creation, and suits the cozy / lonely vibe perfectly… packaged in a truly cool & unusual three color screen printed double-sided foldout art paper cover, with a flocked / screen printed fuzzy mini-poster insert. pressed on highest quality 180gm vinyl with full color photo printed labels. each copy also includes a bonus cd version of the album in its own metallic printed cover (different from the standard cd cover) for easy all night repeat-o-play. hand numbered edition of 400 copies.
killer hard rock from 1972, sounds like a mix of bolder damn and allman brothers, with maybe a little feather da gamba. lost music from a lost time. ‘water song,’ ‘right on.’ new.” “the mystery and music of the prodigal sons continues to thrill and mesmerize listeners to this day. who are they? where are they? the answers my friend lay in the vault of the void. one thing is for certain… they know how to play kickass rock ‘n’ roll early ’70s style before all the head bangin’ mumbo jumbo. listen on, as many have already… to the power and the glory that is and was… the prodigal sons as they emerge from the void.
original french pressing of ACTUEL 7. not freejazz, but avant-classical here. orchestra & vocals. beautiful laminated gatefold cover has just minor yellowing along spine & super faint wear. NM-/NM-.
does anyone remember a remarkable piece of psych-styled rubbish called “god is free”, released on chocolate monk back in 2004? of all the odd wonders and incestuous secrets to emerge from finland in the last 20 years, the puke eaters could be thee greatest. “hello walhalla” is the first long playing record by this anti-prolific group. the applied methods range from accidental to free and from psycho-motorik to ritual. for any points of reference think of the swamp into which fille qui mousse, cromagnon and ‘jesus christ’ era smell & quim were dumped. after years of tireless experimentation in the cynical utopian ruinscape of their collective butterfly mind, the puke eaters have loosened their belts and finally unleashed their deadliest recordings for thee future caveman. endless volcano-brain spewing on the ur-limits of limitless psycho-dynamic sound clash, totally high on scandinavian pussy juice.
finally pulse emitter gets the treatment he deserves, a full 12″ of vinyl to lay down two prog flavoured tracks of synth drone. created using homebuilt synth modules, and meticulously contructed into a sci fi storyline, this could be a soundtrack. suffocating layered heavyness, dry synth hiss, oscillator click terror meets equally with beauty, a quality rare among pulse emitter’s peers. each cover and insert is a unique paint marbled design, silkscreened / designed over by nick of seizure palace. edition of 300 copies on black vinyl.
180gm. vinyl version of stefan neville’ latest opus. covers are two-color silkscreens by vg kids on heavy-gauge recycled stock. edition of 300. here’s what soft abuse had to say about quo: as the title self-effacingly implies, quo proffers a triumphant, primo slice of past pumiceisms: uncertain progressions, anomalous structure, inimitable guitar buzz, sublime melancholy, and distorted vocals (crooned, spoken & moaned). quo once more finds pumice cruising the convergence of pop, folk and noise strains with bona fide inner mystique. sputtering sub-underground skiffle aims for outer zones, diamond cuts of nervous guitar with pesky hooks that sting and tickle tread rough hewn punk turf, pop tangents charm with echoes of kilgour or knox, and woozy synth blurts & drones thread the patchwork patterns with hulk-like grace. with quo, neville’s palette has shifted to include traces of useless hardcore, doo wop, and modern loner/lunar blues. stefan neville, shamblin’ on unhinged like a modern day hasil adkins, has been making music as pumice now for most of his life. through a steadily spewed stream of unique diy thud & ooze, mostly created on his insular own, neville has burrowed an incomparable place in the post-everything new zealand landscape, all the while making music that’s his.
weird private press uk underground frantic psychrock with members of EARCANDY. insane hand made stapled oversized full color cover, with a ton of inserts. numbered edition of 500 copies. minor damage to top seam due to the crude design. EX+/NM.
orig press sleazy noise garage blues punk from JON SPENCER and NEIL HAGERTY (ROYAL TRUX) and co. cool PROMO / PRESS edition with two page promo insert and glossy 8”x10” photo. promo stamp on back cover. EX+/NM-.
a psychedelic afrojazz stunner that capped off a feverish diaspora from the midwest to the bay area by way of africa. cut in 1975, birth/speed/merging was the band’s highest end production to date and their final recorded act. the mood was celebratory, carnivalesque and wholly in the groove. features the burning classic ‘black man & woman of the nile.’ remastered from the original source tapes. 180 gram virgin vinyl pressing.
nice brazilian original pressing with the unique cover art, totally different from the original spanish version… born in miami florida to an american father and venezuelan mother, bill split the usa to madrid spain in the early 70s. once there he quickly landed a recording deal with famous producer alain milhaud of the explosion label, and set to work on this, his sole lp release. sessions went down with an impressive cast of up to eleven players in the studio, including salvador dominguez & chema pellic (cerebrum), jess lam (jess & james), and frank rojas (sangre). one of the albums real hidden treasures, though, was the assistance of unknown texan mark gottschall, who co-wrote the title track and adds perfect vocal harmonies as well a second acoustic guitar. a finely balanced mix of sounds that drifts between throbbing electric full band groove and gentle acidfolk. when bill wants to rock, things get downright funky, with a wickedly hard-hitting rhythm section, pumping organ, scorching electric leads, and flipped out acoustic guitars all locking into some seriously tight jams. then the next minute the mood swings and you’re deep into some beautifully fragile and introspective folk meditations; often just two acoustic guitars, bill’s lyrics, and huge, angelic, vocal harmonies all weaving together into lush tapestries of sound. a few tracks fill out a more folkrock vibe with flute, autoharp, piano, slide guitar, banjo, and more. bill’s lyrics (all in english) and vocals always feel deeply sincere, which combined with his unique voice, unusual accent, and loose delivery make for one hell of a cool singer. the whole album has an air of mystical psychedelia, yet never strays far from pop craft, and there’s a real sun-blasted quality to it all that just makes you want to crank the volume… nothing amateur or lo-fi about this one, its a pro recordings and these guys have serious chops. its hard to image why it didn’t become a hit at the time. the album was released only in spain and brazil, to very little interest, and quickly became yet another great album lost to obscurity… cover is nice with just mild wear. tight seams & crisp art. just a few lite marks on the wax EX+/EX+.
long in the works reissue of this amazing and little know gem, “beautiful people”, from 1972. born in miami florida to an american father and venezuelan mother, bill split the usa to madrid spain in the early 70s. once there he quickly landed a recording deal with famous producer alain milhaud of the explosion label, and set to work on this, his sole lp release. sessions went down with an impressive cast of up to eleven players in the studio, including salvador dominguez & chema pellico (cerebrum), jess lam (jess & james), and frank rojas (sangre). one of the albums real hidden treasures, though, was the assistance of unknown texan mark gottschall, who co-wrote the title track and adds perfect vocal harmonies as well a second acoustic guitar. a finely balanced mix of sounds that drifts between throbbing electric full band groove and gentle acidfolk. when bill wants to rock, things get downright funky, with a wickedly hard-hitting rhythm section, pumping organ, scorching electric leads, and flipped out acoustic guitars all locking into some seriously tight jams. then the next minute the mood swings and you’re deep into some beautifully fragile and introspective folk meditations; often just two acoustic guitars, bill’s lyrics, and huge, angelic, vocal harmonies all weaving together into lush tapestries of sound. a few tracks fill out a more folkrock vibe with flute, autoharp, piano, slide guitar, banjo, and more. bill’s lyrics (all in english) and vocals always feel deeply sincere, which combined with his unique voice, unusual accent, and loose delivery make for one hell of a cool singer. the whole album has an air of mystical psychedelia, yet never strays far from pop craft, and there’s a real sun-blasted quality to it all that just makes you want to crank the volume… nothing amateur or lo-fi about this one, its a pro recordings and these guys have serious chops. its hard to image why it didn’t become a hit at the time. the album was released only in spain and brazil, to very little interest, and quickly became yet another great album lost to obscurity… at least until now… reissued here for the first time, with the collaboration of producer & explosion label owner alain milhaud. packaged in a heavy weight gloss coated exact reproduction of the original cover, including the the original double sided insert, as well as a huge new full color foldout insert which reproduces at nearly full size the totally different brazilian version of the album art. plus extensive notes by album musicians salvador dominguez & mark gottschall, and alex carretero (guerssen records, spain). also a small photo of some rare picture sleeves 45s, promotional inserts, lyric sheets, etc. even the lp labels reproduce the original psychedelic full color explosion label art. pressed on 180gm audiophile grade vinyl & limited to 1000 copies.
hopelessly obscure & rare bootleg featuring demo version of most of the cuts from their classic debut, plus two cover versions which didn’t make the cut, although “i hear you knocking” is totally hot! also features one 1976 reunion jam. limited to only 150 copies!! crude & fragile b&w printed cover features a great band photo, and is very clean. blank black labels. vinyl has some very lite surface paper scuffs, but plenty of shine and plays as good as any micro-press bootleg you might spin. only ever seen one other copy offered, so not gonna go cheap… NM-/EX.
german original in fully laminated cover. cover VG+ / side one EX+ / side two VG+.
rare original GROUCHO label pressing of this awesome bootleg. i believe this is live in san jose, 1966. blank white cover with big hand stamped text. track list in pen taped to cover lower left front. printed brown/white art labels. zero info. real thick wax. good sound quality. VG+/VG++.
a cool early example of turned-on xian private press fun. a few really cool jangle-garage-folkrock cuts & an awesome cover design make this one well worth while. sticker/name/price on cover. sticker on one label. VG/VG+.
san francisco songwriter donovan quinn is anything but direct. with an enigmatic deadpan he delivers lyrics written in a dense and fragmentary style; the influence of writers such as malcolm lowry and thomas pynchon figures just as heavily on his craft as robyn hitchcock, pavement, robert forster and skip spence. your wicked man is the second album from his primary band, donovan quinn & the 13th month, created in collaboration with nick marcantonio on bass and jason quever (papercuts) as producer and multi-instrumentalist. in much the same way his presence molded cass mccombs’ early efforts, quever’s contributions to your wicked man serve quinn’s narratives with arrangements that range from ornamental to rollicking to bare, pushing quinn’s embrace of rustic, poetic popcraft to the fore. the band’s distinct take on art-pop forms re-imagines early efforts from mekons, nikki sudden and john cale as filtered through californian folk-rock… includes free download. edition of 500.
this onesided 12″ is maybe the most minimal but yet slightly melodic output by this analog dronebigband thusfar. these are two lenghty tracks recorded throughout 2007. this is their first vinyl release since their celebrated album on (k-raa-k)3, and their second one on morc. what to expect? as vital weekly wrote about one of their earlier releases: ‘a noisy form of ambient music. (). the music is not overtly present, but ‘reduced’ and ‘quiet’, with sounds arriving from a vast swamp of sounds..’ comes as a onesided, amazing sounding 12″ ep, in a beautiful silkscreened jacket. ltd. edition of 175 copies.
r.o.t. has gained a quality reputation in the underground scene during their six years of existence. this led to a splendid cdr- and tape discography. ‘l’écurie’ is their first long player. each side contains two jams that sound like calm and fluently movements through sound at one time, then like a somewhat more brutal treatment at another point. the album shows nicely how r.o.t. works as a (live) band. it’s not about well-thought sound poetry here, but about spontaneous improvisation where random incidents are considered as an extra band member. a slow bass that wanders gently through the acoustic droning, when suddenly an alarm clock starts to ring, followed by new almost-quietness and laidback noise. r.o.t. stands for an original approach of sound sources and a continuously seeking for the ‘moment’. side a was recorded in an abandoned administration building in jette, a small town near brussels. the space was run by young students for six months and renamed the place ‘l’écurie’, the french for stable. r.o.t. improvised in the dusty kitchen during three long days, mostly during the nights as well. the tracks on the b side are takes from improvisations in an horse stable. there again the album’s title refers to l’écurie. this time at an old farm which is called ferme du biereau (louvain la neuve). the farm is also known as a nice venue and spot for artists en musicians.
fairly obscure debut of garagy pop with some strong psych flavor on a few tracks : good organ, wah, etc. fully in shrink but a little mildew under shrink bottom left corner. nice clean wax. VG++/EX.
underrated uk psych-pop album from 1968 originally released on the parlophone label. this is one of the most sought-after artifacts from the british psychedelic scene. sallies fforth will transport you to the swingin london-era in its full glory: well-crafted songs, inventive arrangements, charming home-made sound, nice vocal harmonies, crazy sound effects and more. highly recommended to fans of toytown pop-sike and sunshine-pop. file next to koobas, forever amber, ora, kinks, millennium-sagittarius and the likes. housed in a high quality carton cover with old-style backflaps and pressed on 180
gram vinyl. mastertape sound quality. includes one bonus track taken from their rare non-lp 45 and an insert with extensive liner notes by brian hogg.
pretty rare & great stoner garage psych that gets way heavier then the name or cover would suggest. lots of cool loud fuzz, some good tight rocking tracks, a few weird twists, etc. front/back art & spine look great but top & bottom seams have heavy edge wear & splitting. small punch hole. real clean wax. VG++/NM-.
just about perfect original copy of this little known & very rare late 70s french private press psych folkrock solo outing, post YVES & SERGE & VICTOR, who made a mega rare psych private a few years earlier. really great stuff with full band backing and a strong neil young vibe on many cuts. one side sung in english, one in french. only 200 copies pressed, and virtually unknown until a year or two ago. its already been reissued & getting some buzz, sooo… beautiful NM/NM.
when witch-gods collide, it might sound something like this. six organs of admittance…richard bishop…chris corsano. riders of the apocalypse, it’s them vs. us. after absorbing their über-holy dynamo, you’ll be prepared to join up with these wraiths, making it all of us against…well, whomever’s fool enough to stand in our way. to evil! rangda’s been building up behind the scenes for some time now. as label mates and members of an exclusive mutual admiration society, sir rick and kid chasny thirsted for a conflagration involving two electric guitars plus a drummer. in such an environment requiring excellent survival skills as well as composition and improvisation rhythms, who better than chris corsano to work the skins… on paper, this was colossal, but actually getting everyone together proved awesomely impossible, with each man in a different city sprawled across the vastness of the united states — not to mention each man’s diverse state of mind sprawled across the vastness of inner space. and so, time passed. chuckling, the guitar men dreamed of visiting rangda on our world, working figures on their necks in anticipation. finally, with the desperate recklessness of the ancient witchsoul herself, they booked a live show, followed by a studio session with seattle sound guru scott colburn. beforehand, a mere ninety minutes was allotted for the three to further discuss ideas and play together for the very first time. what would happen… what do you think happened, stupid… of course they planted a garden of lyricism seeded with several compositions and several improvisations! placed end-to-end, the six pieces of the rangda saga (part the first) rock from splintering onslaught to soulful meditation and back again with manifest precision — this was a planned attack. unceasing battery slides suddenly into ritual form with elemental ease. the fretworks of richard bishop and ben chasny split time while corsano shapes the air around them. each players moves as part of the whole of rangda, and whether surging, cycling, or in pastoral, they are never less than explosive. this initial foray flies under the banner of false flag. yet this is only the beginning, for rangda is alive. to ensure your future in the endless cosmos, march forward with the forces of rangda, heart and soul, now and forever.
recorded in 1986 & completely unreleased until now – this is fred & toody cole’s (weeds, lollipop shoppe, zipper, torpedoes, rats, western front, desperate edge, dead moon, pierced arrows, & so on) great lost country lp! all original compositions…some sad lilting ballads & some punk as hell. two songs feature fred & toddy playing with “rollie”, a janky roland drum machine that didn’t keep a consistent meter very well. the rest of the songs were recorded with a lean mean band. we are very proud to bring this lp into the world for the first time – another facet of the genius of fred & toody cole & lowfi as cadn be. housed in an old school tip on sleeve.
rangers is joe knight. “suburban tours” is his debut vinyl release after a string of popular cassette albums last year – including “low cut fades” on not not fun. his sound has been referred to out in blogland as “elevator psyche” and “mirrorball funknagogic pop” – and that’s not a bad start considering his music is often bass-driven with washes of synth and prog-psych guitar riding over the top. unlike the extended side-long collages of his cassette releases, “suburban tours” is a collection of eleven concise “pop” songs that were written and recorded after moving to san francisco from his native texas. not knowing anyone in this new locale, he describes the period after the move as being extremely lonely and plagued with near-constant rainfall. so he holed up and focused his attentions on recording a batch of songs that reflected on his suburban upbringing outside of dallas and what he calls the “failed connections with nature” that exist in these suburban zones (fake lighting, cranked-up air conditioning, golf courses, and gated “communities” where everyone keeps to themselves). but despite the loneliness and melancholic themes there is a remarkable amount of color to his music. like it’s the sound of what he’d want to have playing on his headphones while riding a bike thru these neighborhoods — the sound necessary to make these places seem lively and fun. music blog visitation rites hits the nail on the head when saying “his music reflects a parallel fixation with the tape reel as a cutting board for the psychic trappings of middle class american youth.” rangers is drawing from an entirely different set of musical influences than the rest of his peers – combining a passion for manchester’s northern soul sound with early 80′s rock radio staples like rush and the police and the 70′s prog-fusion of weather report. plus he’s got the chops to pull off this unlikely union — in fact the cutting engineer for “suburban tours” was utterly baffled and commented that it sounded to him like a lost steely dan session recorded onto a mangled microcassette tape. that’s a good thing, right? full color pro-printed covers and insert – also includes a download coupon for the mp3 version.
SEALED original copy from PEARLS BEFORE SHINE frontman. cut corner, otherwise perfect SEALED NM.
the second release by portland’s own rats, fred and toody’s pre-dead moon outfit. this record hails from 1981 and holds a place in portland punk history. considerably better sound quality compared to the first record. poster included and tip-on jacket… nice!
very strange private press from these funky looking beardo economics students. pretty hard to swallow, but actually a couple winner including some cool riffs copped from the velvet underground. all tracks are pretty much straight rips on popular rock songs. some charms indeed for those on the fringe. in shrink, with insert, and original “smash capitalism” price tag! NM-/NM.
very clean later orange/blue label pressing. gatefold with original black island innersleeve. NM-/NM-.
original uk pressing collection of lovely solo tunes. VG++/VG+.
nice original pressing collection of lovely solo tunes. EX+/EX++.
early pressing of one of their underground gems. textured cover has mild ring wear and two small sticker stains. includes the elusive “mail in” insert. super clean wax! EX/NM-.
the brain child of adam payne, residual echoes pave a psych-sound unique to themselves. recorded late 2005, this album features four long excursions into psychedelia that brings to mind the experimentation of early pink floyd, the guitar heroics of you’re living all over me-era dinosaur dir and the sonic groove of the velvet underground. ‘as the american underground coalesces around vague notions of ‘free rock’ residual echoes are one of the precious few units that truly sound free in their own music. — time out new york… uk only limited vinyl release pressed on clear wax.
starry-eyed new age hippie commune folk floater with MARCUS ALLEN and some nice female vocals. cool/goofy gatefold cover. VG+/VG++.
usa 1971 obscure christian folk-rock album with an appealing, understated feel. close male/female vocal harmonies and ringing guitars create a secular late ’60s california sound, with strong songwriting that reaches back to a byrds / simon & garfunkel hook sensibility. fully licensed, first ever vinyl reissue. monster rarity going for $700+ when showing up. limited reissue of 500 copies, printed in hq 350g carton and 180g vinyl. unbeatable 24bit remastered sound quality. including an insert with liner notes by patrick lundborg… lovely album, great to see it reissued on wax.
top quality official reissue of this wonderful album. this project is a bit different from other time-lag reissues, as the original isn’t exactly a mega-rarity. that’s not to say that they’re easy to find, but our motives for the reissue have more to do with the fact that this great lp has been seriously overlooked by so many, and feels very ripe to reach some new ears. this one’s got a pretty wild backstory too, being a rather undiscussed piece of 60s texas underground history : in 1966 larry ‘sunshine’ rice was feeling burnt by the increasingly superficial hippy scene in san francisco, so headed to dallas, texas, the “center of darkness” and the place he was raised, with a vision to transform minds. a random gig doing psychedelic light shows at a local bar led to a job managing a new “hip” church… and so the ‘satori house’ was founded. through this outlet sunshine held experimental light & sound worship sessions, began hosting underground rock concerts, launched a free press, and just about any & all other activities towards the goal of turning on dallas. it was, of course, a great success while it lasted… which was not long once a federal drug bust (total set-up) went down, and the higher-ups in the parent church organization got wind of just exactly what their cash had been backing. during the extended trial that followed sunshine split the city for tiny justin, texas and founded ‘the church of changes’ texas’ first marijuana church, claiming grass as their sacrament and legal right… it was at this point that a series of truly unlikely synchronicities led to a record deal & recording session, but by the time “here’s sunshine” was released in the summer of 1969, sunshine was back in california living as a fugitive. he never showed up at his meeting with the bigwigs at blue thumb records who were planning to release his follow up album, thus quickly and purposely ending his connection to the music industry…. if that’s got your head turned, you’ll almost certainly dig the music… it’s a mystical and convoluted folk trip, executed with the lonesome single-mindedness of a true searcher. warm intense vocals are delivered in a magically loose, flowing style. tim buckley comparisons pop up, and that’s not totally off the mark if you replaced any avant / jazz leanings with more of a tripping-in-the-desert vibe. lyrically things get truly bent, venturing into some deeply surreal & glassy-eyed zones. there are a few grasps towards religious ponderance, but it’s very far from a “xian” album. stream of consciousness broodings on nature, work, love, god, satan, sex, hallucinations, and so forth. it’s a totally solo recording centered on understated but effective acoustic guitar, and fleshed out via overdub with rather unusual use of electric bass, organ, banjo, mandolin, and harmonica. things get especially psychedelic when the bass comes in, either as an ultra-minimal echo-drenched pulse or a flowing tonal improvisation. the hyper compressed and reverb saturated production somehow suites the material perfectly, and the combination of elements creates quite an immersive, mirage-like and exploratory space. this one is far stronger, more hallucinogenic, and has gobs more personally then most of the over-hyped, mega-bucks coffee house folk strummers passed off as loner / downer / acidfolk these days. this record’s got a real spirit of it’s own, that with repeated listens will sneak right into your mind before you even know it… and i’m sure that’s the way sunshine intended it… beautiful exact reproduction art packaged in a lovely heavy 60s style cover and pressed on 180gm audiophile vinyl. includes an insert with new notes from the artist, as well as a short except from his book ‘morning glory’ which was written in 1968 and tells the story behind the album, but has yet to be published. one time vinyl only edition of 500 copies.
stoned dylan inspired underground folk on semi-legendary san fran micro label. first track is ‘stoned livin’’, last track is ‘mary jane’… gives you a pretty good idea of what comes between. nice album overall. EX/EX-.
eagle rock, ca’s robedoor are back with another doomed out k-hole. slow creeping drones building to some nice loner caveman pound / real song territory. three tracks in just under 40 minutes. edition of 500 with full color jacket. artwork by jeremy earl.
following their 2008 east coast tour with woods and pocahaunted the robedoor agenda has mainly been: hibernating in the city terrace zone above east la, adding a drummer/modular synth dealer, and letting the smoke rise. raiders is the first rbdr lp since 2008′s endlessly blazing and is the result of almost six months of slow-burn transformative tape machine meditation helmed by ged genras. bummed guitars, loner drone tones, low caverns of reverbed drums and rumble, echo dislocation, and dead voices cascade down into the isolated highways. song modes are carved out and then left to rot. features early trio live set staples like “indo shadow” and “the downcast eye.” you can’t stick your hand in the same black river twice. change or be changed. lps in jackets with cover photo by caitlin c. mitchell. edition of 500 (250 on marbled gray, 250 on black).
excited to offer our first release: this is robedoor’s “rancor keeper” on vinyl in an edition of 500. pete swanson did an awesome job mastering this for vinyl. it also features all new artwork put together by the the rbdr dudes.
shapeshifters are messengers and imitators of the gods. shapeshifters can be divine or human. crossing boundaries between sacred and evil, they often bring messages, power or punishment from the gods. shapeshifting is used to gain access to the tower. they are able to turn any situation around. nothing is too much or too little. the shapeshifter can invert a life-threatening situation into one where he triumphs. this form of shapeshifting is most commonly painless but can be traumatic if the change was unintentional; clothing is rarely lost in this process. edited, assembled, and mastered with assistance from pete swanson of the yellow swans. ectoplasmic cover art conjured by france’s parisse bruno. pro-printed black and white covers and insert. limited edition of 425 copies.
formerly of 1960’s us psych-folk band euphoria, roger & wendy financed this privately pressed album for family and friends in 1971, in an edition of 50 copies. they later renamed themselves bermuda triangle (their recently reissued 1977 album has garnered terrific reviews throughout the years). the roger & wendy album is the rarest of the lot ($900+), and is a top notch collection of psych-folk gems. a superb artifact from the early 1970’s us underground psych folk scene. taken from the original master tapes, and using the original sleeve artwork, this is a strict limited edition of 450 copies pressed on virgin dmm vinyl.
1971 heavy private press free blues/psych from the left coast cortical geo zone of the us underground chain spearheaded by don campau and essentially the californian amalgam of the gate 5 as esp disk punk/jazz 3rd eye. a higher key farrago of hypercosmic extended runs that oscillate between the tubular philosophy of the sun city girls sound/art and the aloneness of stoned blues concrete. a refreshing lost artifact of pure american fizz resurrected from the iconoclasm void and perfectly reissued in a joint effort from de stijl and child of microtones. an essential lp for anyone concerned with the paramount energy fields of all the above ground sound subterrains – very recommended.
raw and rocking collaboration between jack rose and the black twigs with some of the most swinging, hard-hitting string music waxed in many a decade. rose’s solo playing has always had a tough edge, with his prodigious technique often employed in the service of dropping right-hand bombs – his use of a thumbpick originates from his years of duets with twig mike gangloff, struggling to make his guitar heard over gangloff’s crashing banjo. the front line of rose and gangloff’s strings are joined by isak howell’s no-nonsense guitar and harmonica and nate bowles’ variety of expert percussion. the four players lock together with a sure-footedness honed by frequent touring and a singularity of intent to rock. gangloff takes the vocals, howling out standards like “little sadie” firmly in the old-time tradition – without reserve. a few of the tracks here are updates of rose & family classics, with the group turning the stately “kensington blues” upbeat and an issuing an assured take on “bright sunny south,” first recorded by pelt (w/rose and gangloff) back in 2001 on their gonzo classic double “ayahuasca.”
cd released march 3, 2008 as an installment in the oscillation iii series. sold only as a part of the set. lp released september 22, 2008 from a limited edition of less than 1000 copies… while jack rose’s compositional skills are always clear and apparent, observing one of his live performances allows even the most casual of listeners to be exposed to his works in an entirely new light. when played for an audience, rose’s compositions are given time to stretch out and display an improvisational punctuation. various live tracks have popped up over the course of rose’s discography, but i do play rock and roll is his first complete album of live material. i do play rock and roll’s forty-one minutes are comprised of only three tracks meticulously selected from jack’s live archives. an epic workout of “calais to dover” (originally appearing on 2005′s kensington blues) recorded in 2006 starts the whole affair with a bang. the follow-up is documentation from a 2004 appearance on vpro-fm in the form of “cathedral et chartres.” the disc’s closer, “sundogs” is a real treat. previously available only as a studio performance on the seminal by the fruits… triple lp compilation, it takes on a whole other twenty-two minute grinding, droning life live. this disc will be released on vinyl by three lobed recordings in september 2008 from a limited edition of 1000 copies. the lp will be on 180g rti vinyl and housed within an “old style” high gloss lp cover… nice one sure to go quick.
kensington blues is the fourth full-length release from jack rose, and his most diverse outing by far. the album is an inspired mix of styles and sounds, with straight ragtime, heavy 12-string, and that sweet, swee weissenborn lap guitar all checking in. honed during endless touring in 2004, the repertoire here is delivered with maximum authority in a series of first-take performances recorded in early 2005… sweet new vinyl version in a nice gatefold cover. recommended!
let’s get the dirty work over with first. the black dirt sessions is, all hyperbole aside, jack rose’s most complete and telling work to date. those who have been following this philadelphia wanderer’s development and growth as a solo artist (both live and on record) know that such a statement is strong praise, as rose’s catalog is certainly not devoid of unqualified classics. the album takes its title from the studio where it was recorded – jason meagher’s black dirt studios located in westtown, new york. old friends rose and meagher developed a good working relationship and full understanding of each other’s work habits and styles over the course of a spring 2008 joint tour between rose and one of meagher’s bands, d. charles speer & the helix. rose, that eternal road warrior, booked some time at black dirt between tours in august, september and october of 2008 to lay down some new and fully realized material. this album is the complete result of those sessions. rose’s prior albums have tended to both pick and remain true to a musical theme. the black dirt sessions excels by displaying fully honed examples of all of rose’s various styles and themes – traditional, raga and ragtime. central to the album’s spirit is the absolutely epic “cross the north fork.” this thirteen minute revisiting of a track first laid down on the great kensington blues is a winding, thoroughly engrossing journey. this new version is the product of rose’s perfectionist streak which constantly pushes him to re-explore and re-visit his prior works. as presented on the black dirt sessions, the “new” track is full of rich nuances from rose’s years of additional scrutiny of the original composition. much like rose himself, “cross the north fork” is certainly comfortable in its skin and helps make it a welcome neighbor to the album’s other splendid joys ranging from the jaunty and infectious “fishtown flower” (featuring a guest appearance from d. charles speer & the helix’s hans chew on ragtime piano to the pensive and appropriate melancholy punch of “box of pine.” the album’s artwork is somewhat of the yin to the yang of rose’s 2008 release on three lobed, i do play rock and roll. bearing the same overall design aesthetic as that prior release albeit presented in a contrasting white with black print, the black dirt sessions features a photo of rose performing in new york in 2006. the lp is pressed on 180g rti vinyl and housed within an “old style” high gloss stoughton cover. the record will be from a one-time pressing of 2021 copies.
nice clean orig copy of their less well known 2nd album. solid garage pop with some good fuzz & a nice cover of ‘so you want to be a rock ‘n roll star’. small cut corner, bright clean art. NM-/NM-.
28 minute whirlwind exercise touching on various american folk musics, traditional greek melodies, and a ‘sister ray’ like freakout for an exclamation mark. a real gem of a modern, not-so-modern pop record. you’re zigging, they’re zagging. includes a coupon for mp3 download.
an unearthed treasure of the golden era, ripe for the fucking. group sounds for a new millennium; flowery music for flowery people; tropical sounds of a distant paradise. entertain no one. “of all the fucked up, nasty ass, deliriously damaged rock bands in the recent history of the american underground wonderland (particularly texas), none come close to the squirm and hellacious sqwunk of rusted shut. from the incinerated skum of houston weirdness improv outfit grinding teeth arose rusted shut in 1986. their shows were a notorious mess, drunken and fueled by cheap-jack acid. after years of slovenly survival they’ve been somewhat rescued from universal distaste by the current noise legions. the emperor jones label released the rehab cd in 2003 and aa records did a sick lathe (“bring out your dead”) last year and their notorious “fuckin’” track off the 2006 end times festival live comp is still the only loop that matters (check their myspace page for that one). it was with some apprehension of being held up by knife point that we unzipped their new hot sex ep (dull knife). but goddamn if this is not a great goddamned beast of a record. the core duo of don walsh and sybil chance (the original still alive members of grinding teeth) and domokos (on drums and ‘earthscreamer’) just lay it out in an unctious smear of rawk n roll decimating any obvious pretence of hardcore, black metal, death metal, sludge, punk, avant improv goop etc.—shit is the real amerika full on. salute and die.” – thurston moore/byron coley – arthur magazine.
collie ryan privately pressed three albums in the early ’70s-taking your turn round the corner of day, indian harvest, and the giving tree. the records were funded in part by collie’s friends at the new age farms carrot and fresh juice company in lompoc, california and her mesmerizing music remained largely a secret until “cricket,” one of the tracks from indian harvest surfaced on the numero group’s stellar compilation ladies from the canyon in 2006. collie’s music is almost solely based around her cosmic and birdlike voice and nylon guitar picking, and her lyrics reflect her lifelong study of theosophy and naturalist living. the hour is now collects tracks from her first three lps and is packaged with collie’s own artwork. for fans of buffy sainte-marie, joni mitchell, sibelle baier and ruthann friedman… lovingly presented collection in a heavy 60s style cover with thick insert. great music too. nice.
stellar vocals and drones by sachiko of overhang party; three pieces of hypnotic, gliding delight. this is sachiko’s first —all-drone— vinyl release, in an edition of 350. heavy-weight vinyl & paste-on sleeve with artwork created by johan de wilde… very beautiful release.
sacros (‘the sacred’) was a chilean rock band inspired by the spiritual passion and veneration for the great gods of south america, such as quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent, god of the ancient mayas and viracocha, lord of tiahuanaku in the andes mountains. sacros recorded the debut lp on the state label irt and the production was destroyed by the militaries. only very few copies survived from destruction. the music goes in the same direction as los jaivas, los blops and el congreso (all from chile) and lula cortez from brazil. it has a great 12 string rickenbacker sounds, effects, great vocals and rhythms with an experimental touch. you can call this easy one of the rarest albums from latin america since only a handful of copies survived. patricio panussis (guitar & vocals) hernan valdovinos (bass & vocals) and tomas r. herrera (percussion). the band recorded only this one album in 1973… from chile, 1973. lp in an edition of 450 numbered copies, with glossy heavy sleeve, 180 gram pressing, insert.
orig WHITE LABEL PROMO copy of solid southern rocker. promo sticker on gatefold cover. VG++/NM-.
exact repro bootleg copy of this awesome left field lp, sometimes folksy, sometimes jamming and sometimes experimental. very contemporary sounding with a wild overdub/expansive studio approach. NM/NM.
nice copy of pretty cool bluesy psych with a strong airplane vibe at times. drill hope through center cover/lp label. orig inner sleeve. EX/NM-.
here at last is a chance to discover why people have been willing to pay a very steep price to hear sandhy & mandhy, the duo who were not a duo, the band who were not a band, creators of perhaps the rarest and most expensive album from argentina. to tell the story of sandhy & mandhy, we have to go back to 1967, when alberto infusino (sandhy) and alberto vanasco (mandhy) began their musical partnership in the beat band the new free men. like many bands of that time, los shaker’s and los walkers, for example, the new free men played covers of songs by the zombies, animals, kinks, yardbirds, doors, and so on, in clubs and at parties. yet at the same time, infusino and vanasco started to play their own compositions, with a national touch to the music. let’s let vanasco (mandhy) take up the story: ‘in 1969, we went to talk with billy bond, chief of ‘la pesada del rock roll,’ to ask about the chance to make an album. bond said that he was not looking for a band, but for a duo who sang songs in spanish… so, we called some friends to play together, and we called the project sandhy & mandhy.’ they recorded the album in three hours, with a full band (farfisa organ, congas, drums, bass, and guitars) – one take of each song. instead of a demo, they decided to press an lp: the company (phonalex) pressed 110 lps in total, which the band gave out at gigs. sandhy & mandhy were one of the first bands in south america bring a rebellious attitude to the music scenenall this in a period of military repression, when forced haircuts in the streets were a common occurrence. although they broke new ground, success was not their fate. and so thirty-eight years after the burst of improvisation that was sandhy & mandhy, the rest of the world can finally take a taste of their dark, groovy, beat-influenced psychedelia (that fuzz guitar on the excellent ‘lluvia’!). at times introspective and acoustic, at others manic and ramshackle in the best way, it’s quite a discovery. now, on to the presentationnthe highest quality mastering and pressing (done at acoustech mastering/rti in california, the same people who master and press every title that audiophile label classic records makes); the resulting lp is housed in a poly-lined sleeve, inside an ultra-heavy 1960′s style gatefold jacket, which is housed in a loose-fitting plastic sleeve. inside the sleeve, you will find an insert with full details on sandhy & mandhy, including lyrics in spanish and english, printed on 100% recycled paper. the lp labels are replicas of the originals. a top of the line pressing all the way. limited edition of 800 copies.
sandstones sole 1971 privately pressed album is one of the best and rarest early 70s us psychedelic folk rock records. although only recently rediscovered, it is very sought after from worldwide collectors both for its rarity and musical quality. great male female vocals in an early 70s uk psychedelic acid folk rock sound similar to tudor lodge, jade etc. it contains 2 previously unreleased bonus tracks, not included in the original album. highly recommended! limited edition, deluxe 180g vinyl, from the original analogue master tapes, exact reproduction of the original first pressing.
underrated rural rock with some garage edge and hippie country favors. on the same tiny label as the great MU lp! small punch hole, otherwise real nice. EX+/EX.
the second ever wholly other vinyl outing is a duo of peter swanson (d. yellow swans) and tom carter (charalambides etcetera). despite the noisy pedigree of mr. swanson, and the latter day scrape of tc’s horton collaborations, this is a deceptively serene collection of electric guitar trance-outs, gently building to a spiders-down-the shirt climax full of hiss and slithering menace. eye-popping silkscreened crypto mandala art by liz harris (grouper) on the blank side, on clear vinyl so you can stare while it spins (and you’ll want to)… packaged in a heavy clear sleeve. edition of 308.
a meditative dual guitar exploration from pete swanson (yellow swans) and tom carter (charalambides). totally gorgeous stuff that is not to be missed. like our other vinyl releases, this one will be pressed on 180g rti black vinyl and will come from an edition of 652 copies. it will be housed within heavy letterpress sleeves (letterpress work performed by dexterity press) featuring original artwork by liz harris… includes pre-order only bonus cd “live at the yacht house, sacramento, in april 2006″.
blue boxed decca label original UK pressing of heavy & solid blues psych. front laminated cover with mono/stereo hole in back. original color coded inner sleeve. fragile cover is very clean but slightly wavy bottom few inches, and an under 1inch rip center bottom front with is quite subtle. very clean wax. VG++/NM-.
blue boxed decca label original UK first pressing of heavy & solid blues psych. non-laminated gatefold cover with mono/stereo hole in back. original color coded inner sleeve. very mild general wear. top right corner has two mild creases. lite paper scuffs on wax. VG++/VG+.
perhaps, one of the rarest and most expensive, major company, releases from greece. released back in 1971, by polydor. it was a tiny pressing (probably 200 or 300 copies) and it has never been rereleased on vinyl. even the 1996 cd reissue (500 copies only) is very rare nowadays. “episodio” is one of the hidden treasures of the greek rock/folk music scene. an album not easy to categorise. ok, folk is probably the “right” word but what kind of folk?? powerful, anarchic, experimental, revolutionary but also polite, sophisticated, melodic, poetic even psychedelic and avant-gardish…!!! you have to listen to it… acoustic & electric guitars, heavy percussion, bass, flute, cello, clarinet, bass, lot of reverse tapes and sound effects and….some wild, real angry vocals. his first “domatio” album from 1968, will follow soon… first ever official reissue licenced by universal, greece. exact reproduction for the gatefold cover and the labels. it includes extra 8-pages, fully laminated, booklet (a4 size) with bio, lyrics and photos. pvc protective outersleeve. 180gr. vinyl as usual. limited to 350 copies… nice album & beautifully presented.
the final SEEDS lp with sky returning to his R&B roots, but still pretty of snotty garage vibe. great cover art too. in first pressing. EX–/VG++.
performed by: mark bajuk, tony fasce, silvia feriozzi, eric mauer, brent peich, russ waterhouse. the next evolutionary step from double leopards and family underground, very subtle and psychedelic music.
real nice obscure one from this great avant composer on tiny malibu label. electronics, tapes, gong, organ, clarinet, etc. pretty far out stuff. beautiful op-art cover art. very faint starting cover wear. NM-/NM.
previously reissued on cd by sunbeam, now issued on deluxe lp format as well; 180 gram pressing. when robin scott’s electro anthem “pop muzik” hit no.1 in the us in 1979, few could have guessed that his debut had appeared on an obscure english underground label, head records a whole decade earlier, with backing from psychedelic legends mighty baby. now, with original copies changing hands for hundreds of pounds, it’s finally available on vinyl again, complete with a lavish reproduction of the original insert and showing itself to be a lost gem of british acid folk.
traba is pressed on high quality virgin vinyl at rti in an edition of 500 copies for the world. included is a free mp3 download coupon. traba is a brand new mini-lp from the uk’s simon scott. in the early ‘90s scott was the drummer for renowned shoegaze band slowdive. recent years have seen scott running the kesh recordings label from his base in cambridge, performing in the group seavault with anthony ryan (isan) on morr music, and also working as a sound designer for television, film and sonic art installation. 2009 saw the release of scott’s debut solo album navigare released on miasmah recordings (run by erik skodvin of svarte greiner/deaf center). scott has shared studio and stage with brian eno, klimek, the caretaker, machinefabriek, jasper tx, nils frahm, seasons (pre-din), rafael anton irisarri, xela, fever ray, svarte greiner, marcus fjellstrom, lawrence english, fennesz, leyland kirby and taylor deupree. he has also remixed on, autistici and isan and provided production assistance for hannu’s album hintergarten. scott also performs live with the sight below and co-wrote songs on the new album it all falls apart (ghostly international). traba contains four tracks that were written at the end of the sessions for navigare. when the deadline for completion of the album came and went these compositions were unfinished, but over the course of the summer and autumn of 2009 they were completed in scott’s o3o3o studio in cambridge. traba continues and expands on the themes of submergence, being lost at sea, and intoxication. opening track “she came from the sea”, with it’s distant swirling brush stroke drumming, haunting vocals and deep processed textures, captures the almost overwhelming physicality of being at sea, miles from home, yearning for loved ones and a physical embrace. though this is the first track on the record it was the last one to be written and completed after the navigare sessions. “the water loop” tackles themes of addiction, obsession and urban decay via a max/msp manipulated loop that initially feels warmly narcoleptic but grows into something anxious and intimidating. the music evokes warmth and adventure but slowly unfolds into a dark tone of emotional weakness and paranoia. an influence of stanley kubrick shines out here as this is a musical landscape occupied by droogs on molotov cocktails threatening to impose themselves on you. “lamina” is about a short spell of tinnitus that scott had which resulted in a brain scan. the uncertainty of what caused the hearing damage mixed with the possibility that something had indeed grown inside his brain affected scott in a heavy way. “feeling like i had half of my head submerged underwater somehow matched the themes i was writing about so it inspired me to finish the track. luckily my head was fine and the frequencies returned just in time to mix the piece”. the digitally processed acoustic instruments are blended together with field recordings taken from his local east anglian coast line as well as vocal samples. these elements ebb and flow until the smoldering finale that recalls the sinister imagery of the quay brothers, david lynch or the brothers grim. scott’s uncle was a submarine officer in the british navy who died of alcoholism. his life away at sea fueled his fraught family life and kept his battle with drink alive until his death. traba’s closing track “an avalanche” is directly inspired by the moment his uncle’s heart stopped. coming ashore after months at sea, his uncle drank himself to death. he was brought to a hospital where he was shortly brought back to life, but quickly returned to his death bed as a direct result of his eldest son’s disapproval. traba is truly a dense collection of songs from simon scott.
second family band is a musical collective from madison, wisconsin which rose from the ashes of legendary free-folk outfit davenport. they’ve had releases on sloow tapes, earjerk, gods of tundra, bumtapes and a whole host of other crucial underground labels. alt.vinyl records is proud to release ‘good blood’, an absolutely necessary slice of bold psychedelic absurdism from a tribe of musician-magicians operating at the very peak of their dark powers. line-up: endless, woodman, nico kain, clay ruby, dave 3000, ivan mariesse, tyler ol’son, lliam lee zian. opening scuzz-haiku ‘below the arch’ instantly enthralls with some throbbing maltronics circling a quivering cardboard totem , a sky of sound pinpricked open with some gently rabid ponca drumming and delicate wafts of fragrant fuzz. in seven minutes we are ascended beyond cloud level onto a crytalline plateau of ringing light and trembling breath. it’s a shamanistic free-drone space-jam in miniature, rather like some strange confluence of the necks, sunburned hand of the man and circle at their most obtuse. the next track ‘night graces of the morning temple’ slowly balloons us back to earth, the music seemingly deflating the speakers as she goes. a choir of rusty radiators throb, moan, creak and boing along a half-dreamed corridor of mournful wah-wah. it sounds like morphogenesis playing berio at the bottom of a sewer, or the soundtrack to some lynchian nightmare – very cool and grubby, bathed in a sort of undulating aural moonlight. total deep listening mirage-music. side 2 is comprised of a single 23-minute track, ‘good blood’, a delightfully pungent slab of relentless exotica blending elements of les baxter and martin denny with a nice wooden shjips-esque vibe, the whole mad soup bled through with some really sensitive electronic splashes and splutters. at about seventeen minutes we emerge from hypnosis into a clearing, bleary-eyed and stomach-cramped, and face a dramatic climax. the boulder-strewn groove threatens to topple at any moment, the air is awash with the flash and hiss of cymbals and feedback, it just rocks harder and harder. then it’s over, and my hand is reaching for the needle to spin it again.deluxe edition ltd to 300 copies. hand screened sleeves by levi seeldraeyers, artwork by wouter vanhaelemeesch. ‘good blood’ is a a towering piece of psych-prog ritualism. bloody brilliant!
members of sejayno release a morphic aura into the air through the utilization of therapeutic breathing techniques, fumblings, and fantasies about sexual tourism. the swedenbourgian airplane becomes reality along with the use of tubas and guitars and poetic resonance. you may know peter blasser as “ciat-lonbarde” or the next incarnation of dr.who imagining bob moog as interpreted by the paper circuit in the form of the seed of life. carson garhart is not only “cute” but was also the phantasmal skeleton in the skeletons and severiano. martinez is the man behind it all. limited lp screenprinted covers.
live garagy frat party jams with ‘louie louie’, ‘i go crazy’, ‘shout’, off key vocals, screaming girls, etc. rare stereo original pressing. clear tape to all seams but not much cover wear. vinyl looks kinda rough but plays ok. VG+/VG.
spooky and fragile british sounding folk record from the usa, with some progressive and psychedelic hints. recorded between 1970 and 1976 and privately released in 1976, original copies reach four figures. high-quality reissue in 180g vinyl, nice carton with original artwork, unbeatable remastered sound quality and also including a repro of the original sticker, the original insert and a new insert with photos and liners by bandleader heff munson. 500 copies limited release. the seventh dawn is like few other american folk albums. maybe it’s because all four members of seventh dawn had written these songs when they were between 11 and 17 years old. ann & heff were taking classes in electronic music, which gave them access to the labs with two synthesizers, two stereo records and one four track recorder. this protected opportunity was unspoiled by any style-pushed fashions, and the results have a comparable sweetness, innocence and almost pastoral purity to the best moments of the uk album of sallyangie (with mike oldfield, also then only 15). the same reason why ithaca was compared to moody blues (a reference which always is more symbolic, because mb never had that much of its own style-reference uniqueness in many songs), can be given here as a reference too. just listen to the nice sweet-fuzzed guitars which flow softly like keyboards on ‘such a lonely”. another reference point, relevant on one track, ‘latecoming,’ is emtidi for its piano arrangements in combination with the song.
pretty rare & mostly unknown new hampshire folk psych duo with some third guitar backing backing. nice mellow CSN&Y mood at times. textured cover signed on back by both members. EX-/EX+.
one copy only. out of print. members of double leopards & son of earth.
kansas private press rural country rock with dual electric guitar, peddle steel, etc. and some psychy moments. minor age spotting on vinyl. NM/NM-.
original WHITE LABEL PROMO pressing of funked-out sitar raga rock with cool moog action. VG++/VG+.
private press new england folk duo with some electric backing. EX+/NM.
great WOODS related jams. one copy only. out of print.
shiggajon are a danish free music collective with a shifting identity, built around nikolai brix vartenberg and mikkel reher-langberg. here, that core duo play sax and clarinet in an expanded, nine-piece ensemble also featuring guitar, violin, drums, and electronics, as well as the unmistakably haunted, questing flute wor of kelly-jayne jones from part wild horses mane on both sides. asconema was recorded at a 2009 gig in sheffield organised by singing knives records. the resulting lp seals the shared aesthetic shaping the music of not just part wild horses, but other units associated with singing knives, including chora and the hunter gracchus. essentially, this means music made with an emphasis on the communal experience and an urge towards the ecstatic, filtered through a post-noise instinct for volume and white-out drones. shiggajon’s previous live tapes and cd-rs made room for more overtly psychedelic electronic, but their debut on vinyl sticks closer to the methods of 1960s free jazz, john coltrane’s ascension sessions being the obvious template for the flatlining cacophony of the set’s more intensely sustained moments. yet you wouldn’t really call this free jazz, any more than you would suggest the danes are trying to communicate the same feverishe, southern baptist christian-inspired devotions that gripped coltrane. similarly, when the cymbal scrapes and bells accompanying jones’ flute conjure a quieter ‘monastery jam’ vibe, the music superficially touches on the fourth world meditations inspired by don cherry and ed blackwell on their mu albums. which isn’t to say that this is a hollow forgery. spiritual significance resides in the ear of the beholder. ragged energy can plunge any soul that’s ready into the light. if shiggajon’s joyous noise gets you there, why fight the feeling? – the wire, uk.
‘one we heard is a real rock n’ roll monkey called fly so high by the shining path, a duo comprised of ilya monosov and preston swirnoff. more known for their weirdo psych minimalism as monsov swirnoff, documented heavily by eclipse records the last few years, here they get down to some confused and slippery boogie-spazz with the finer elements of free spirit futurism informing the process. fucking out there and great.” –byron coley and thurston moore, arthur magazine. side a is a reissue of the cassette released by tbtd tapes. side b is a bombastic unreleased live cut of the path with little howlin wolf and peter barry at marquise dance hall (brooklyn, nyc, 2006).
shelly short is a portland musician born & raised who plays pretty songs. this lp finds her doing a bit more orchestrated works than her usual stripped down approach. a nice record to wake up in the morning to. each copy of the lp is lovingly hand glued together over old defectively printed “bongo joe” lps with a silk screen & a 10” by 10” photo print by shellys’ brother faulkner short. there are 50 variations of the photos spread over the 350 copies of this lp. a true hand made family affair… really lovely private press fragile femme folk album, released with help from mississippi records. stunning hand assembled covers. 350 copies so better grab one quick, as its sure to vanish soon.
split 12” anticipating their upcoming december 2009 west coast tour together. sic alps give up three tracks with help from lars finberg (intelligence) and ty segall, the highlight being a great punched-in guitar solo from matt hartman that makes one song reminiscent of a safe as milk outtake. markers show up with a 7ft bass player who throws the band into guru guru mode. great all around… slightly different cover art then the instantly sold out first edition.
orig WHITE LABEL PROMO copy. pop/rock/psych with some interesting touches. thick foldout insert. promo sticker on cover. real clean. EX++/NM-.
really odd private press lounge / real people duo recorded live at the holiday inn! certainly not for everyone, but the insane dude action cover art & the epic 8+ minute, pill garbled, ‘elton john medley’ are pretty damn hard to resist. much loved by certain folks out there. perfect in shrink NM+/NM+.
really quite lovely debut from tortured xian druggie songstress. if you dig melancholy female folk of any variety you pretty much need this one. the first, and better, of only two albums released before her overdose in 1979. WHITE LABEL PROMO. radio station copy so the covers got promo sticker, call letters, and general unsightly stuff going on, but no wrecked. nice wax. VG/EX-.
very rare original pressing of this cool & obscure biker flick soundtrack from JEFFREY SIMMONS and RANDY STEIRLING on FRANK ZAPPA’s straight label. some great tough garage fuzz psych tracks and some cool more mellow ones as well. pretty sweet one. classic era gatefold cover has minor general wear, still looks pretty great. original inner sleeve. VG++/EX.
scarce moody folk psych with some nice uk influence. WHITE LABEL PROMO copy. timing strip on gatefold cover. orig inner sleeve. EX+/NM-.
much loved heavy stoner psych rock. uni-pak gatefold cover has a little ring wear & heavy spine wear. VG+/VG++.
through dark days and glowing nights, six organs of admittance continues to step to the far rim of the world with purposeful strides. indeed, new horizons are visible throughout luminous night. be it in the face of spiritual crisis or catharsis, ben chasny as six organs refuses to stagnate, or to evolve in predictable fashion; in response, he keeps moving on. this is the first six organs of admittance albums with such a lengthy gap between it and its former number. in the past two years chasny has kept busy writing this new epic, moving house to seattle, composing soundtracks for novels and movies, and touring constantly in america and europe (with bands like the dead c and om) as well as being invited by legendary post-metal group neurosis to play their beyond the pale festival in belgium. six organs of admittance is such a singular experience that it is sometimes easy to forget that ben was the lead guitarist in comets on fire, as well as a songwriter and guitarist for current 93′s black ships ate the sky album and half of the pan-pacific psych-folk duo august born. but clearly, chasny knows heavy, having grown through times of heavy and times of light. and in answer to the question what’s heavier, a pound of rock or a pound of feathers, six organs of admittance has devised this for luminous night: a pound of rock covered with a pound of feathers — twice as heavy, but feathery light to the human eye. with luminous night, chasny’s working with some heavy dudes, like producer randall dunn and eyvind kang, whose sound on viola shines with a guiding glow throughout the album (both dunn and kang contributed their talents to the outré arrangements of the recent sunn o))) album). the other invaluable contributors to the album are hans teuber on flute, tor dietrichson on tabla, matt chamberlin on drums, and dave abramson on percussion. occupying their spots with care, they’ve collaborated to create something rich and vibrant, aching and new, in the world of six organs of admittance. the arc of luminous night is wide as the sky, commencing with a stirring instrumental evocation of the greek myth of poor actaeon before flowing into the vocal, the vengeful, the ancient, the divine and celestial, scored with guitars, bass, viola, flute, tabla, electronics and synthesizer, as well as a buried-in-the-rain-soaked-earth-of- seattle-then-exhumed four-track cassette that formed the basis of the instrumental ‘cover your wounds with the sky.’ for its blanketing sound, luminous night draws inspiration from such cinematic sources as jodorowky’s el topo soundtrack and the scores of kurosawa’s samurai films, but is at the same time music that could only have come from the singular sound world of six organs of admittance. what is it about the man that buries his sound in the ground? he has faith in the earth, for one. when we think of six organs of admittance, we think of a man with six-string ambitions, a rambler with mystic beliefs and dark electric visions. it’s a big universe and we’re only human, which basically means that we’ve got spirit and that we’re going to die. but until then, we live. six organs of admittance has lived to tell about it on luminous night.
awesome new private press album. after years of bigger label projects its a real treat to see ben’s pavilion imprint in action again. easily the most beautiful and intense in quite some time, this is a real gem. hand packaged in classic pavilion style with hand painted white on white covers with graphite powder stencil art. limited to only 500 and sure to vanish without a trace. highly recommended.
one copy only.
uncalculated unconscious expectations within an involuntary interception (system) of detached fantasy detached provided the fantasy is born of ingredients outside of the body but determined by the unpenetrated unconsciousness this in combination with the minds ability to sight illusions creates a world in which the consciousness can travel in and out of realisation of the event arising as with the tangible actions of the ceremony ascending and descending within the spectators consciousness manifest exchanged illusions. the unknowing of levels of consciousness as the procession of the ceremony transforms the imagination from inner and outer experience to one a whole motion of physical and mental interaction. recorded in universal city, mexico by spencer clark and james ferraro. limited edition – one time pressing.
taste the blood of the deceiver, the first full-length skullflower album to be pressed on vinyl since forever (at least the early ’90s), finds matthew bower in the more blackened, doom-damaged terrains like those strip mined on the recent desire for a holy war or pure imperial reform: abrupt vertical baths of blinding distortion and harmonic override spiked with cavernous cultish riffs and deeply bleak ritual moods. the blood is fresh, but the body’s unrecognizable. charred and forgotten, this is another stepping stone on the path to the upturned altar. black vinyl lps in fucked-up-and-photocopied matte jackets. edition of 500… out of print.
the red river is the fourth solo offering from portland, maine’s micah blue smaldone and the first to be released on chicago label immune. here’s what micah has to say about it: ‘rather than construct a thick frame of reference for this new album, i’d prefer to describe simply where i’ve come from in the past few years, and then let this music speak for itself. my first solo effort, 2003′s some sweet day, was a collection of ragtime and country-blues, a fervently authentic homage to great influences — john jackson, blind blake, robert wilkins, etc., who all helped me through some tough times. 2005′s hither and thither was much more internal, an urgent telling of germination in a harsh climate. this new one reaches a little further both into the past and the future. the title is borrowed from ‘red river blues,’ an old chestnut that goes ‘which way, which way do that blood red river run? from my back window home to the rising sun.’ i suppose this is the big theme of the album – ‘never fight evil as if it were something that arose totally outside of yourself.’ it is simple faith in the goodness of people, the depth of love, and the infinite wisdom of nature, which allows for this path to be cut with patience, humility, and an eagerness to share. so let this album be a little way-mark, and never a hitching post… lovely new album. limited edition heavy vinyl version. includes coupon for free download of the album.
i used to buy and collect smegma rockets when younger, so i’m really happy to release an lp by this really far out band, especially since they played with my friend perry, who is one of the most versatile musicians i had ever met! smegma is a kind of cult mob in the us experimental underground, based in portland, oregon, they started back in the early ’70s and got connections with the los angeles free music society (tom recchion, joe potts, le forte four, airways, doo-dooettes, ace farren ford and even the residents); they also got an amazing label called pigface… here they played some jazz for the year 3018… clear orange vinyl with white and red effects. artwork by ju suk reet meate.
2nd album but this great berkeley guitarist. fans of fahey, basho, kottke, etc as well as glenn jones, jack rose, etc will need this one. nice old style heavy covers. insert. limited to 500.
limited edition of 500. screen printed at monoroid on heavy duty board stock. in may of 2008, amsterdam-based clarinetist gareth davis and american guitarist steven r. smith convened at worstward studios, in los angeles to collaborate and create music together, the results of which have been titled westering. gareth davis is a dedicated performer of contemporary music while at the same time works with improvising musicians such as jon balke and terje rypdal as well as electronic artists including machinefabriek and ryan teague (type records) and has recently completed the rabbit at the airport series of lps with martin stig andersen and robin rimbaud (aka scanner). steven r. smith has been releasing a steady stream of solo records for over the last decade as well as playing in various improvisational groups including thuja, hala strana, and most recently ulaan khol. this fruitful collaboration has created the perfect meeting place between the scrapings and various layers of musical detritus steven r. smith has been known for and the textural, guttural and almost feedback laden bass clarinet of gareth davis to create a delicate and abstract musical language of shifting moods and textures.
cities is pressed on high quality virgin vinyl at rti in an edition of 900 copies for the world. included is a free mp3 download coupon. american multi-instrumentalist steven r. smith has been releasing a steady stream of solo records for well over a decade as well as playing in various improvisational groups including thuja, hala strana, and most recently ulaan khol. this music has ranged from sparse solo guitar improvisations to hala strana’s reworkings of eastern european traditional folk tunes to the dense, psychedelic fuzz guitar workouts of ulaan khol. on his latest full-length solo release, cities, smith combines the composed with the improvisational and the result is a beautiful and desolate collection of songs evoking a crumbling landscape reminiscent of cormac mccarthy’s novel “the road” or the films of hungarian director béla tarr. cities was recorded in smith’s worstward studios on all analog equipment and features a wide variety of instrumentation including fretted spike fiddle, baritone psaltery, electric and nylon stringed guitars, cello, melodica, electric piano and organ. musically, smith’s work over the years could be summed up as a struggle to contain a series of opposites: light and darkness, sorrow and joy, despair and hope. it is this balance, or at least the effort to create or maintain this balance, that informs cities as well. smith has recorded for numerous labels including important records, catsup plate, soft abuse, emperor jones, last visible dog, jewelled antler, digitalis and darla. cities is his first release for immune recordings.
very rare original private press version that was later repressed on DRAG CITY. even the reissue is getting scarce these days. a pretty exciting one from a bad year in music. ultra lo-fi downer folk noise. heavy old style crude b&w cover art with just the faintest wear. EX++/EX++.
daily dance is a genuinely unique artifact from rural ohio; a mythical frenzy of distorted guitar and improvised drums creating walls of psychedelic noise. originally released in 1973, its sound is unparalleled for its time and precedes its closest kin, new york’s no-wave explosion, by a solid 5 years. ‘they generate waves of energy through cascading feedback squall and drumbo bash and shimmer. a few tracks will start with something vaguely resembling a ‘groove,’ before they quickly deteriorate into their lonely buckeye din.’ – dante carfagna. cantor records is proud to make daily dance available on vinyl for the first time in 35 years. daily dance was remastered from the original tapes, pressed at rti, and is lavishly packaged with a heavy stoughton paste-on jacket, informative obi/u-card, and an extensive 20-page booklet of liner notes.
great late-date private press canadian rural loner folkrock thats just recently starting to gain a lot of serious fans. strong back to the land, deeply rural vibes throughout. very thin cover has a very slight wave to it. NM-/EX+.
impossibly clean brazilian original pressing of their great 2nd album. way rare stereo version, which is at least ten times rarer then the much more common mono version. stereo mix sounds amazing too! awesome brazilian psych that remains under rated or just unknown by most. huge organ, great songs, english lyrics, cool production. a bit more progressive leaning and less wild then their debut, but still quite great… fragile plastic encased cover has just very minor rubbing on the plastic, as these covers always do. gold stereo sticker. beautiful labels. just a small number of micro hairlines on the wax, as clean a copy as you could ever hope to find. NM-/EX++.
son of earth began life in early 2000 as son of earth-flesh on bone trio. aaron rosenblum, matt krefting, and john shaw, inspired by many spirited late-night experimenting sessions, began to play out using wild arrays of sound-making devices. as the years have gone on, the group has chisled away at the number of instruments used and brought their once maximalist and varied sound creation down to a whisper, a murmer, a sound that hints at and flirts with texture and atmosphere; a music made from almost nothing. seven full years into their life-span, son of earth offer their first full-length lp, pet. the record represents a culmination of sorts of a certain arc in the son of earth sound, one where simple electronics and oddly-played instruments are combined to create a music that walks a tight-rope between easily definable atmospheres and emotions. the results are so delicate that at times the music seems to cease to exist at all… right on!
after releasing two unique lps back in the ’60s for the legendary esp label with his ritual all 770 and another one for riverboat, finally alan sondheim is back! this is his 1st lp after nearly 35 years and here he plays guitar, alpine zither, electronics, field recordings – as usual he presents us an eclectic mix of fascinating sounds – dark red vinyl.
the first in a series of split lps loosely in tribute to POPOL VUH, as well as the first release on TIME-LAG RECORDS. DRONA PARVA’S ‘form-constants’ is a minimalist hammond organ meditation inspired by popol vuh’s ‘in den garten pharaos’ and early terry riley. a slow building, trance inducing, improvisation. ULTRASOUND (texas by way of den haag) opens side two with a beautiful reworking of popol vuh’s ‘spirit of peace’, using piano, bass, gong, and viola, then closes the side with a track of shimmering guitar drone. plenty to float away on… audiophile quality 180 gram vinyl, and packaged in a gorgeous custom letterpressed sleeve. hand numbered edition of 800.
totally awesome & demented UK private press. his 2nd. completely bent, brain damaged raw outsider proto-punk guitar rocker with wildly strange songs, goner vocals, etc. i guess this is what happens when a mad outcast who’s bonkers obsessed with teenagers & american rock & roll decides he’s a huge rock star and somehow has the cash to press up some wax. pretty fucking brilliant & sooo much fun… and the dude somehow snagged the best band name ever! SIGNED on back cover. general cover wear, mostly at edges. nice shinny wax. VG+/VG++.
gorgeous original french press of lovely progressive acoustic folkrock. really beautiful laminated gatefold sleeve & vinyl both super clean new! NM-/EX++.
nice & very scarce UK harvest first pressing. cool rural mellow acid country. a sweet one. fragile textured gatefold cover & rare original inner sleeve. VG++/EX
“as anxiety encroaches with the cold air of winter thank the stars for the whiskey/weed warmth of compass, blanket, lantern, mojo – it flows through you like a liquid howl of light.” – thurston moore. “for an out-of-it fogie like myself, its tough to keep up with the many musical hats our boy peter nolan sports. theres of course the magik markers and then theres lil dusty, spectre flux, spectre folk, folk spectre, cops, etc. i gotta admit i sorta lost the thread on petes musical output for awhile there due to the simple fact i couldnt keep up with it all. my chrome dome would literally throb with all the names and phony catalogue numbers that must accompany all these sound whims that must fly off his ginger head like bats from a belfry. luckily, i put down the brupenex long enough to catch up with compass, blanket, lantern, mojo, nolans latest expulsion under his spectre folk moniker. as expected, the album reeks of the musty homespun psychedelic scent that would make both al simones and uncle neil young red as a beet. the tunes are hazy with hope and bobbing audio to spare. seagulls or rusty bedsprings sound off in the crackly distance on one track and i get a salty taste in my mouth like i licked the third pier boardwalk in wildwood circa 79. and check out the track burning bridge where petes voice soars and wavers like a wounded dove flying to the safety of a clean cage and the awaiting name of walter. the whole thing is a gorgeous, fully conscious stumble into a self made sunset and it just reminds me of something someone never said to me its not over until you declare everyone a loser and paint yourself in a corner. – tony rettman.
grey area exact reproduction lp of a swedish release from 1970… a bit of confusion surrounds this release: the album has been credited to träd, gräs och stenar, but they aren’t featured on it. bo anders persson did, in fact, in collaboration with solvieg bark, compile, edit and released this album. bo anders persson, was a member of the legendary swedish bands harvester, international harvester, pärson sound, träd, gräs och stenar. solveig bark was one of a few young composers that through the unm (young nordic music festivals) would become a contemporary of erkki kurenniemi, folke rabe, etc. “reportage: spela själv” roughly translates to play yourself. it contains field recordings of amateurs playing / making sounds. raga concrète, if you will. a fine, rare, and lovely piece to behold.
reissue of the arhoolie lp recorded in 1971. joseph spence was a highly original guitarist & vocalist from the bahamas. his music is hard to describe – extreme guitar runs with joyful vocalese rambled along with it. this album includes hits such as “out on the rolling sea” & “sloop john b”. one of our favorite lps of all time. silk screened cover glued over a hand manufactured folkways style cover.
it’s taken a long fucking time, and finally, a fully legit lp ~ only reissue of this amazing helsinki monsterpiece from 1970. shh ! is highly collectable in it’s original form on the band’s own o records imprint (home of 3rd erection, samsa trio, one point music, etc). in a non ~ dream state, i’ve seen 2 copies and both were in a condition slightly more well kempt than “hammered ++”… shh ! is primarily a document of pekka airaksinen’s experimental compostions, consisting of primitive samples, guitar loop feedback and musique concrete. probably inspired by a cage / stockhausen / et al, but actually more easily peeped in pre ~ lafms world, perhaps sitting aside ju suk reet meate’s do unseen hands make you dumb? also involved were jan olof mallander, who has been active in and around art in several roles; as the editor of iris, writing reviews for hufvudstadsbladet, contributing to taide, and as the art critic of dagens nyheter. inspired, perhaps, by gordon matta clark’s food he converted his cheap thrills gallery into a restaurant and instead of art, served the public vegetarian and macrobiotic cuisine. and mattijuhani koponen, a poet, composer, musician, painter, photographer, performance artist, a gardener, activist in men’s postmodern liberation movement (the what?!), he was the primus dramatic motor for the sperm. in december of 1968, during a symphonic poem of reconciliation made by cain and abel, he fucked atop a grand piano and, for it, spent 8 months in the clink. aside from serving a brief stint in wigwam, i know little of vladimir nikamo but his presence makes sense; wigwam’s first lp is titled hard n’ horny. you get the idea. ooh la la..
spider trio are wally shoup (alto sax), jeffery taylor (guitar) and dave abramson (drums). wally shoup is a legend in the free jazz/improv scene. he has been well documented over the years, releasing records with thurston moore, chris corsano, paul flathery, nels cline, bill horist and many others in various combos. jeffery taylor and dave abramson are key players in the ever incestuous seattle subunderground musical community. taylor is one half of climax golden twins and abramson leads the diminished men. this lp is a live document that blew all the minds in attendance. take your byg/fmp/esp/ sun/ america/akba imprints and the sounds they represented and you’ll have an idea of the force and power of this amazing trio. this is some of the finest free jazz of the modern era! ed. of 400 copies.
very limited high quality import vinyl edition. one copy only.
so, you love english folk/rock, but you’ve never heard of spriguns? don’t feel bad. many people outside of england don’t know this group, or their singer, mandy morton, even though in her homeland she is considered on a par with such well-known english female folk singers of the 1970s as sandy denny (fairport convention), and maddy prior (steeleye span); during her scenic career morton has released six albums in total, including two for decca under the name of spriguns. what we have here is the first non-japanese reissue of album one for decca, from 1976, issued by acme as a 24-bit digital re-master, taken from the original tapes. perhaps not quite as rare as mellow candle’s sole decca lp (& #147;revel& #148; commands a $400+ price tag, vs $1,000+ for mc); even so, both spriguns albums are in the same league musically as that of their irish label-mates. morton’s voice is lovely and captivating, the songs lilting and celtic-ish— if this is a sound you like, these albums are for you! … limited vinyl version with exact repro cover. nice!
so, you love english folk/rock, but you’ve never heard of spriguns? don’t feel bad… many people outside of england don’t know this group, or their singer, mandy morton, even though in her homeland she is considered on a par with such well-known english female folk singers of the 1970s as sandy denny (fairport convention), and maddy prior (steeleye span); during her career, morton released six albums in total, including two for decca under the name of spriguns. what we have here is the first non-japanese reissue of album number two for decca, from 1977, issued by acme as a 24-bit digital re-master, taken from the original tapes. perhaps not quite as rare as mellow candle’s sole decca lp; even so, both spriguns albums are in the same league musically as that of their irish label-mates. morton’s voice is lovely and captivating, the songs lilting and celtic-ish— if this is a sound you like, these albums are for you! … limited vinyl version with exact repro cover. nice!
old collection of both singles, unreleased demos, and rehearsal tapes from hot ‘65/’66 garage combo featured on the first couple pebbles comps. NM-/NM-.
neo-psych in a great looking cover, on cool label. with label insert. VG++/EX+.
sweet copy of beautiful scottish female trad folk. front laminated cover. beautiful cover photo. one needle mark on vinyl, otherwise perfect. EX+/EX++.
early import reissue of this mega rare private press heavy psych beast. altered cover colors. very clean wax, but a few tiny hairlines so…NM/EX++.
now available on vinyl! starless & bible black make beautiful, spirited & catchy songs in the grand tradition of classic british folk rockers pentangle and john & beverly martyn straight on up through the halcyon days of early 4ad records. on their debut self-titled outing, the diverse manchester 3 piece brings to bear much of the lively attitude, passion and rain, rain, rain of the old textile city they’ve all come to call home for the last several years. the result is a great collection of 11 songs — at once earthen and elevated — that are given added mood & flavor by the charcoal vocals of french chanteuse hélène gautier. the other contributing members are the main rhythm men in the manchester music scene — paul blakesley on bass and brian edwards on drums — they have perfected their craft playing with the likes of local heroes such as aidan smith, john stammers and jane weaver.
absolutely mind melting release from this consistently amazing american duo. this release has a very different sound to there superb drone recordings of there recent releases, yet it is still totally immense but really quite unexpected… brian pyle and merrick mckinlay spent sometime recording legendary humboldt based pianist darius brottman, who also happens to have a radio show before brian’s own show on khsu college radio. the recordings of brottman were then reworked by mckinlay and pyle separately. pyle and mckinlay have a side each on this lp, both sides featuring very different ways of reworking the original beautiful recordings. side a opens with some straight piano clinks layered with incidental sounds that occured during recording sessions, creating an amazing feeling of beautiful surrealness , leadings into multi-layered piano movements over and over. side b begins with an powerful, erratic, forceful playing, coated in psychedelic loops and reversed sounds, then returning to a more straight piano playing. the second track on this side almost bleeds into familiar weirdo territory. this is one bizarre, but equally genius and beautiful release. both myself and the weirdos are honored to have the artwork for this lp designed by artist mick wiggins. pro printed sleeves, pressed on 180 gram vinyl and limited to 500 copies.
the first vinyl side from these northern california mushroom farmers is a real doozy. a live soundtrack to the silent psychedelic films of american hero harry smith, this one sided lp is more free drift than free jazz – taking off from a shot in the dark and never touching ground again. each one with punk rock paste on black & white collage art – edition of 300.
previously reissued on cd by sunbeam, now issued on deluxe lp format as well; 180 gram pressing. when his classic outlander lp failed to break through in 1970, welsh singer-songwriter meic stevens’ major label days were over. gwymon (“seaweed”), his legendary second lp, was recorded on his own terms in london in the summer of 1972, and highlights his pop sensibilities, with folk and blues influences also to the fore. it was only released in wales in a tiny pressing, and has barely been heard since. the album makes its long-awaited lp reissue here in a deluxe gatefold sleeve containing complete liner notes, previously unseen photos, rare contemporary press cuttings and an introduction from the man himself, making it an essential purchase for all fans of psychedelic singer-songwriting. 180 gram virgin vinyl; mastered at abbey road: all-analog audiophile pressing.
long-lost demo album from this welsh folk legend, recorded soon after his debut single for decca but never issued. eleven previously-unheard original songs like ’winter of the clan’ and ’not for me mr. mp,’ and a great companion piece to the now sold-out ghost town. 1,000 copies, 190 gram vinyl… recorded at the tony pike studio, in 1965. original; copies of this nice 2002 release.
green label original of solid rural ssw folkrock with a bit of a townes van zandt vibe at times. gatefold with promo sticker on back. VG++/NM-.
rainbow label original copy of sweet mellow folk pop with a young & adorable LINDA RONSTADT. great femme vox of course, plus some great moody sitar tracks. EX+/VG+.
early & very limited bootleg reissue of impossibly rare heavy psych. VG++/EX+.
pretty weird micro label local release from PAUL of PETER, PAUL & MARY. stoned-out folk/folkrock with a couple real nice cuts, and certainly cooler than you might expect with some pretty weird vibes going on in place. really strange glow-in-the dark cover art too! orig inner sleeve. VG+/EX++.
obscure new england late 60s/early 70s private demo only acidfolk blues. mostly covers with a couple originals. with insert. super crude cover has edge wear & edge discoloration. VG/VG++.
the strange are from olympia, wa, close to the canadian border. the strange are tom hackett, robert rensel, david chamberlain, rick rackleff plus mike pitcher, don morris & carl dexter. this art-rock underground band recorded the souvenir album over a period of several years released in a tiny pressing in 1976 on the yantis record label. with a touch of west coast music and lots of mothers of invention influences, this album is really something special. as special as the spoils of war and as complex as time and think dog, with frank zappa style wah-wah guitar, great vocals, piano, effects, some horns, and a well-balanced mixture of heavy psych guitar tracks and twisted underground folk tunes. if you think the first spoils of war album on shadoks is a great album and the early mothers albums are the ones you always kept you will be very very happy with this album…. extra heavy cardboard sleeve, numbered edition of 450 copies.
the new installment from pirako kurenai and kageo’s suishou no fune is finally ready, and it’s a true gem. recorded in a bonsai shop in tokyo, summer 2010, ‘bonsai no ie’ is a dream made out of floating guitar textures and vanishing vocal lines. four spectral, naked pieces that stand as the core of suishou no fune’s poetry, where delicate folk moments, abstract blues riffs and oniric ballads concur in the realisation of the definitive psych experience. close your eyes and abandon your senses to a journey through the land of ethereal joy and endless abandon. comes in a beautiful professionally printed cover, specifically designed by artist anya kuts. edition of 250 copies.
original press of small label psych. sounds later then the ‘71 date, with a strong uk 70s rock vibe in places, and even flashes of bowie. heavy on a few cuts, with some good fuzz. pretty big production for such a flop at the time. includes original lyric insert plus a thick promotional only bio insert. radio call letters in marker on front & back cover and both labels. nice thick wax. VG+/EX.
mega rare album from the dartmouth, massachusetts fivepiece outfit which was released originally on the laurel label (laurel 331098) in 1969. up-down is an album of largely self-penned material (only 2 covers, one of which is a strong version of the spencer davis group’s hit, ‘gimme some lovin’) with the leaves are turning brown, complete with cheesy psych organ and wonderful earnest vocals, is the stand out track. up-down is a beat-garage concept album detailing the highs and lows of a summer vacation romance, with, as you would expect, loads of moody teenage angst and lashings of self pity. the songs are all catchy, and there’s a couple of good ballads – sweet new england moody teenage garage rock on this very sketchy label. oh well…
autumn records is back with a lp reissue of the debut cdr by sun circle on lichen records. this lp is a musical offering by the duo of zach wallace and greg davis. side a features ecstatic full wail vocals and organ drones peace noise. side b soothes with repetitive washes of bells gongs and chimes… numbered edition of 525 copies in paste-on chipboard covers.
sunburned hand of the man is a band in the loose sense of the word; it’s better described as a banner under which a collective of musical freaks have gathered. so when they toured europe in september 2006, and ended up in the same room as psych/kraut/hard-rockers circle in tampere-finland, they decide to jam together and record all of it. this session was edited down to a total of 40-minutes which wanders ongoing through free folk, psych, improv, spaced out- hippy jamming & noisy-rock bizareness . the collaboration of both america’s & finland’s weirdest, is nothing less than sensational… quite limited, out of print, and totally deluxe vinyl version. full color art, insert, and inner sleeve, heavy vinyl, etc. gonna fly quick…
brand new lp (and first on blackest rainbow) from sunburned, vocal splutter weirdness, thrash trash, funk jams, spoken word surreal-ness, you got it all in this lp which i’m very proud to be releasing with the good man tom at lost treasures of the underworld. picture disc jackets with insert, a bunch of different colour vinyls, edition of 500 copies.
surface of eceyon continue their dohym saga with revenge of dragon. featuring the dense and swirling psychedelic sounds of adam forkner (white rainbow/ jackie-o motherfucker/ vvrssnn/ yume bitsu), dick baldwin (towering giant/ landing/ dragon), daron gardner (towering giant/ landing), phil jenkins and aaron snow (paper/ landing). this lp is limited to 500.
last year saw the danish/swedish duo heading over the pond. they rented a car and got a not very detailed road atlas. learned that public payphones are some quarter eating pieces of shit. and that cheap $7 chinatown voltage converter turned out to be a total rip off. they fried their power strip during soundcheck at the first gig in nashville. an overwhelmed klyd watkins was in the audience, and the poet was later reported being “lost for words” when taking off into the night. so what about the music?? people whove seen them play have mentioned patty waters, linda sharrock, brother ahh, strange strings etc as reference points for the drooling gawkers. it sure is recalling the homeburned jazz sounds of the past. they play french horn, flutes and saxophonic vocals over soothing harplike tidal waves. where the last vocalions is the perfect late night/early morning nod out spin, the next album will be the wake up call. we for long thought this was the record that wasnt supposed to happen. the stampers broke a handfull of times, then later the pressing plant sufferd from a power blackout after a storm etc. it was planned for their us tour september 06. now its a new year and here we finally have it. – jacques smoi, lyon france… in stock once again this great private press zoner from jakob olausson (moonlight farm, joshua jugband 5, destijl, etc) and the ineffable sus. recommended.
the icelandic prog-rock band svanfrídur released only one album, recorded six months after they played their first gig. this short-lived band rapidly rose to fame, receiving rave reviews for live performances, but in fact their music was way ahead of its time. they were unable to seal a recording contract so they formed their own label – swan records. when the album what’s hidden there? was released in autumn 1972, it got mixed reviews and sold only a few hundred copies, leaving the band with a great album but, sadly, not the income they had been hoping for. recorded at london’s majestic studios, the album was cut and pressed in england. perhaps one of the best heavy prog/underground albums from scandinavia, with amazing guitar & all english vocals. would have been a famous and successful album on decca uk… numbered edition of 500, heavy gatefold sleeve on 180 gram vinyl with 2 page insert.
previously reissued on cd by sunbeam, now issued on deluxe lp format as well; 180 gram pressing, mastered at abbey road. includes the same bonus track as the cd version. london trio synanthesia were only together briefly, but in that time they made an album that has subsequently been hailed as a lost classic. with original copies (from 1969) changing hands for hundreds of pounds, sunbeam is delighted to give it its first official reissue, showing it to be a great lost british acid folk gem and an absolute treat for all lovers of acid folk and psychedelia. named in the top twenty “strange folk classics” in record collector, 2005.
pretty fantastic private press psych, much loved by many. easy one of the big 80s privates along with BOBB TRIMBLE, JOHNNY BLACKBURN, SIX STATION, etc. this one is probably the most rockin’ of the bunch, with a strong west coast psych sound, big full band sound, great female vocals, awesome guitars, etc. really strong all the way through, floating in that wonderful early 80s limbo. little cover wear, one pretty minor corner bend, and the very start of a tiny top seam split. real clean wax looks unplayed. VG++/NM-.
getting tough to find major label psychedelia that sits well above average. strong songs & great use of effects, fuzz, organ, etc. thick gatefold cover. pretty minor edge & ring wear. nice wax. VG++/EX-.
two of america’s finest drone acts come together for this split lp. taiga remains is student of decay’s master mind alex cobb project, if you ain’t picked up his new disc on digitalis ‘wax canopy’ yet, go get it, it is one of the best drone releases i have heard in a long time! the 15 minute track on this is new split lp is entitled ‘mengku from mengsa’. opening with far off chimes upon chimes, this leads to pure bliss dream zones, rather than the more intense material on the aforementioned wax canopy. this is a fantastic piece of drone work, layered to create some beautiful zoning out in the mind. rv paintings is the project of brian pyle of the almighty psychedelia legends starving weirdos, along with his brother jon pyle, and spencer doran, who also plays under the name of cloaks. this is an amazing track, kinda darker and bleaker than the weirdos vibe, with some totally awesome free percussion playing central to the piece, this is hard to top in the drone game. a totally solid slab of sound from both acts. limited to 400 copies.
recorded on 1 july 1971 in the geodesic dome at the ‘utopia & visions 1871-1981′ exhibition at the moderna museet in stockholm, takehisa kosugi’s taj mahal travellers were a japanese experimental improv group active in the 1970s. the group, heavily influenced by fluxus, used electronic effects to create their own unique improvised drones… white vinyl in clear plastic sleeve with red lettering. edition 500 copies. nice.
day two of this historic and rare live performance at the moderna museet in stockholm, sweden.” grey vinyl in clear plastic sleeve with blue lettering. edition 500 copies. nice.
actually a various artists school project lp, not a band. its the third release in the LATITUDES series, made by students at a small pennsylvania community college. the first two are well known and fairly easy to find, but this one is extremely rare & known by very few, due to the fact that only 100 copies were pressed. its by far the best & most consistent of the bunch as well, featuring three beautiful female acidfolk cuts, one in particular is a total stunner with gorgeous deep floating vocals, awesome dueling acoustic guitars, sparse electric bass, and a drawn-out and totally psychedelic production quality. rounded out with a couple good male ssw folkrock cuts, and a strong and pretty unhinged solo acoustic track, and a shockingly cool short choral piece. even the couple short piano interludes are good & well placed. really really beautiful album. a real grower and much loved by the few who have actually heard it… top seam split the whole way. bottom seam split a couple inches. both are clean splits. spine is undamaged. very slight ring wear & the mostly white cover has yellowed some. wonderful b&w bird in flight drawing cover art! wax is pretty clean but its a real cheapo pressing. VG+/VG+.
since 2003, nyc’s talibam! have been charting a course through the improv waters in a way that few other groups can pull off. rock, jazz, noise and all stops in between collide in an aggressive mix that defines free music in the best sense of the term: nothing is deemed out of bounds. too much fun to be a po-faced postmodern exercise, and too expertly played to be sunk in a morass of good intentions, the new nixon tapes hurtles through two side-long pieces in an agile cascade of rhythmic and melodic ideas. kevin shea (drums) and matt mottel (synthesizer) have worked with cooper-moore and rhys chatham, among others; here they’re joined by master saxophonist / trumpeter / flautist daniel carter. recorded live in the wfmu studios. mp3 download coupon included.
brooklyn’s finest two piece find their excellent “secret cog” ep on so-so limited vinyl. a one lime only pressing of 500 full color jacket.
since their lightning-strike first appearance, talk normal’s sound has stormed upward & outward, referencing nothing but relating to almost everything, a jarringly songful gale of rhythm & noise supporting pleas & plaints, signal-calls & marching orders. each talk normal show builds on past ones: up-to-the- moment updates of ideas previously stated, new phrasings of old upheavals delivered with increasing focus & joy. darkness & light; fury, silence, space & sound… includes download coupon.
good catchy rural rock with psych flashes in a nice heavy gatefold cover. plays well. EX-/VG+.
german original of their strong debut with some hot guitar action from RORY GALLAGHER. great cover graphics look awesome on the fully laminated cover. 1/2” center top seam split. EX-/VG++.
cadillac sitting like a ton of lead, the brand new album from the taurpis tula trio of david keenan (tight meat duo), heather leigh (scorces/dream aktion unit/jandek) and alex neilson (tight meat duo/directing hand/jandek/richard youngs et al), represents the absolute apex of their twin guitar/drums incarnation, with two side-long improvised psychedelic blues that combine the kind of epic string-muscle of fushitsusha, ohkami no jikan, kousokuya and rallizes denudes with a sublime avant-garage sensibility and massive pockets of time-killing freedom. further amplifying the malevolent narcosis of their debut lp on eclipse, cadillac? is a full blown rock record that full delivers on their vision of yoko jamming with red transistor in a world where the conventional middle-brow ’canon’ is pretty much upended in favour of primitive avant garde brut. there are grooves here that are as magnetic and future-visioned as the magic band circa “big eyed beans from venus” or the final seconds of amplifier meltdown on mainliner’s mellow out while the playing is at an all-time esp-channelled high, with the group generating glorious metal-inflected simultaneities without the slightest whiff of ’dialogue’ or even listening with ears.this is a profound statement of the kind of freak-out freedoms inherent in the most primal blues/rock forms and a revitalising connection to the source of *it*, further building on the kind of form the group were packing during their monstrous jam at thurston moore’s nightmare before christmas. features heather leigh on vocals, harmonica and pedal steel, david keenan on electric guitar and alex neilson on drums. packaged in individually silkscreened sleeves by disobedient belgian artist jelle crama and featuring all-original artwork by heather leigh on the front, the insert and the labels, cadillac sitting like a ton of lead comes in a limited edition of 440 copies.
harry taussig’s fate is only once was originally self-released in 1965. taussig’s only other recordings appear on a deleted 1967 takoma records sampler lp entitled contemporary guitar spring ’67, which also featured john fahey, bukka white, max ochs and robbie basho… excellent lp and great to see it reissued on vinyl.
original copy of this very rare private press xian garage folk rocker out of missouri. a cool raw upbeat folkrock setting with a couple crude fuzz jammers, a couple downers, and all around excellent playing. the xian vibe is thick, so be warned, but a real rewarding listen if a) you really love jesus, or b) you can get past the lyrics and into the sound. nice looking cover too. perfect archive worthy SEALED NM+ copy!
original copy of highly regarded folkpsych pop guy/girl duo. not exceptional to these ears, but an enjoyable listen & fairly rare. VG+/VG++.
original UK pressing. front laminated cover. orig inner sleeve. name in marker on label. EX/VG++.
original UK pressing. laminated gatefold cover is real clean. name in marker on label. EX++/VG++.
perfect copy of this weirdo crooner pop-sike garage slab. some lame soulful numbers for sure, but well worth it for two monster psych tracks on side two: & #145;fool amid the traffic’ is a wild garage psych number with crazy organs & cool fuzz, and & #145;the emperor’ is amazing space psych drift with half spoken lyrics and heavy electro processing, effects, and synth. amazing private press looking freaky black & white cover too! cover is beautiful NM in shrink with a small punch hole, vinyl is NM. original decca inner sleeve.
terje bandholdt on drums, jesper schmidt on guitar and joachim. this album was recorded in 1970 for the famous spectator records in denmark (moses/bluesaddicts/days). reissued for the first time in original cover plus insert with many photos and band story, this amazing heavy psych album beats most releases from denmark, in quality and rarity. massive guitar action all over, great heavy vocals and pumping rhythms lift this album right out of there. beside moses, the best heavy psych album from northern europe. 450 numbered/glossy/heavy sleeve/180 gram pressing/insert.
tom thayer is a ny visual artist who creates paintings, drawings, sculpture, music, puppetry, film and theatrical experiments. these works are often loosely strung, frail objects depicting dilapidated, fantastical scenes of abstract human and animal figures. this is his first record of music, self-titled lp, edition of 550, released on his own cardboard mirror label. from the artist, “this record contains a broken, mildewed darkride of songs and beats held together by adhesive tape and string.” we saw his gig and there were bird puppets playing records with their beaks, speeding up/slowing down, pecking the vinyl. this recordingemdash remember the plonsky record, or the recordings of jean dubuffet? profound minimal electronic manipulation in real time by his own hand, mixed with crude sampling, creates a stunning first offering. check his art at www.tomthayer.net. – sound at one.
mysterious canadian 100 copy private press stoner psych improv slab, featuring mark alexander mcintyre, who has just released a rather great little solo folk psych album as well. this is the follow-up yo ‘biker smell’. wrap around color paste-on cover wth double-sided xerox insert. hand numbered edition of only 100 copies, and very few in stock.
the hippie groundswell of the late ’60s left a lot of young people on the road to self-discovery in the new decade of the 1970s. some were true “dropouts,” but there were also a number of artisans and talented people out there, footloose yet fascinated with the workings of the world and determined to make something of the pieces they’d been given. these trails echoes back to us from hawaii, and specifically the world of the nature cult there. hawaii’s (comparatively) unspoiled wilderness bore great fascination to the gentle young people of the west coast back in those days. musicians as diverse as the beach boys, merrell fankhauser, sky saxon, dan hicks and ry cooder all drew vibes and inspiration from the hawaiian mystique and music-but these trails gains distinction having been made by everyday-people-type inhabitants of the islands. hiking, swimming and surfing were the auspices under which margaret morgan and patrick cockett first met. they were local kids, who’d grown up on the island of kaua’i. they’d both been studying native hawaiian music and their shared interests and island upbringing inspired them to write and play new music together. by the time this music got to tape, a greater environment had been created with the addition of dave choy’s arp synthesizer, uruguayan carlos pardeiro’s guitar and sitar, and the soft rhythm of ipu, hawaii’s traditional percussion. the music of these trails is a psychedelic bridging of folk musics that has a natural and melodic flow and a somber, spiritual air. these trails was never really a band; it was an album of music. it wasn’t pressed in any great numbers and created only a few ripples locally when it was released in 1973. nonetheless, it was a powerful expression that stands with up other recently-discovered heroes of the private-press world, such as linda perhacs and gary higgins, whose singular musical endeavors stand with the best of what the hippified 1970s had to offer… nice to see this super blissed-out gem on wax again. great stuff!
co-release between sparrows & wires and horror bag recordings. not live-evil, not evilive, but live evils. these wonderful evils outside reverberation vinyl records, central illinois, august 2011. decaying echo boxes, fuzz by hudson electronics, cats, kids, davy graham tunings… newest private press from this cool folk primitive / loner fuzz psych solo project. crude xerox folkways style wrap-around paste-on covers, with funny insert. pressed on splatter magenta vinyl. hand numbered edition of only 205 copies. nice one!
numbered edition of 504. home cooked post-psf tkop fsa x/way solo joint. mixed geography in orange. close mic-ed and creaking chair. magazine love. song for bobby neuwirth. exquisite fucking happy televised thompson trails. sola sound mk5. sunn and silvertone. still the spirit of ’66. for ron asheton. for john martyn… following 2008′s excellent regine flory, parade room is a dark and awe-inspiring beast, starting with sub-aqua tendrils of guitar echoing laughing stock & tim buckley’s blue afternoon. the magical thing about this record is the incredible balance of excellent guitar playing and extreme noise, suddenly you’re buried inside hawkwind’s p.a. system listening to bert jansch at full volume, and then you’re on side two listening to the bastard son of ‘lady godiva’s operation,’ writing a paranoid letter from the lower east side, circa 1968. timeless, fascinating and very highly recommended! – reckless records… very sweet follow up to his great debut.
the debut album from chicago’s these wonderful evils is a dark, psychedelic meditation, echoing richard youngs & nico, as well as the more experimental side of the velvet underground. voices & guitars buried deep in the forest are both familiar and chilling at the same time, from the drowning drone of the opener “north atlantic” through the drifting, forlorn closer “st.jo.” – reckless records… really excellent private press here. if you dug the galbraith / neilson / youngs lp on time-lag you’ll dig this for sure. second numbered edition of only 208 copies, this time in fancy metallic printed covers. highly recommended… if you missed it last time, don’t make the same mistake again cuz these will go quick.
obscure early 70s heavy psych. lyric inner sleeve. machine promo stamped back. EX++/NM-.
obscure minneapolis prog/psych/jazz private press. nice electric guitar work throughout. cool cover art. with original inner sleeve with notes. VG++/EX-.
real clean micro label US original, not the more common german pressing. rural folk country ssw outlaw vibes. nice thick b&w cover & thick wax. EX+/NM-.
micro label original pressing. rural folk country ssw outlaw vibes. clear tape top seam, two names circled in pen on the back. VG++/NM-.
great underground acid folk lp by greek singer/songwriter (and a film director today) andreas thomopoulos, who lived in uk for many years. recorded at chalk farm and released in 1971, by mushroom. this is his second album, more acid, sensitive and enigmatic than his first singer/songwriter approach called “songs of the street”. andreas accompanies his melancholic voice with guitars, piano, bouzouki, kalimba and harmonica while his colleagues, from the same label, second hand (ken elliot, george hart and kieran o’connor) help on organ, bass, violin and drums. yet, the well-known barbara thompson guests on flute, malcolm budd on sitar, nick hoare on kalimba, triangle, tony pedroza on electric guitars and raphie on vocals. lyrics are in english and only “the stranger” is in greek (and what a song!!!). a totally vanished album as original and a “must”!!! 400 black copies edition. licenced by andreas thomopoloulos. it includes the original lyric sheet plus one more insert with photos. pvc protective outersleeve. 180gm vinyl as usual… very sweet one.
classic femme blues. heavy printed b&w cover. red/black labels. EX+/EX-.
improvisational bay area quartet thuja create aural landscapes that capture the reverberations of wood and wire, the sounds of breaking sticks and scraping stones, and the ambience of their surroundings into a shifting, dynamic musical framework… jewelled antler folks. vinyl limited to only 500 copies, so act quick.
private press on cool custom label (collective tools, floss, blues prism, etc.) crude lo-fi xian conceptual psych rock opus, flowing from choral mass to heavy psych. amazing crude life-cycle b&w cover art, with an equally cool back. lots of marks, but most just surface stuff. ultra-cheap press so surface noise anyway. VG++/VG.
one of the rarest and most mysterious of all 1960’s uk psych/pop albums. the band had released a handful of 45’s on decca between 1967-68. this album was set for release in 1969, but the lp was pulled at the last minute. only a handful of finished copies with covers survived, and now command a hefty £1500+ price tag. taken from the analogue masters this is a superb sounding album. not only this, the original painting used for the lp artwork has also recently come to light, and we are lucky enough to reproduce it for this reissue. this is a superb collection of 1960’s uk sike pop with a mix of american sunshine pop. finally after 40 years the album is seeing the light of day for the first time! this is a strict limited edition of 450 copies only, dmm mastered and pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl.
one copy only. out of print.
scarce old 300 copy euro reissue of the original “big one” in the school project bag. originally released on much loved RPC label. great stoned-out mix of underground psych, loner folk, female acid folk, etc. not all amazing, but a great trip all the way through, and the best tracks are total jewels. altered front cover. super thick wax and thick carton cover. loose slicks front & back. pretty tough to score these days, even as a reissue. NM/NM.
the lp version of the cd released by quecksilber in 2007. presented in a limited edition of 500, mastered direct to metal and pressed on 200g virgin vinyl. the jacket features the rui toscano drawing from the cd version expanded for the 12-inch format printed in black and pantone red on reversed stock with the pocket flooded red.
dutch orig in thin fragile single cover. much cheaper way to own a vintage pressing of this monstrous & amazing brit psychfolk masterpiece led by the duo of JUDY DYBLE (vocalist on the first FAIRPORT CONVENTION lp) and JACKIE McAULEY (ex-THEM). a really wonderful album that adds extra acid to the usual brit folkrock sound with twisted lyrics, great effects, fuzz bursts, etc. originally of the way collectible DAWN label, but that version will set you back big bucks so this is a great option. awesome sound. tiny sticker tear on front, super clean wax. NM-/NM.
second US label press of their much loved debut, with totally different cover art then the uk version. NM-/VG++.
same titled album by oregon group tree people has finally reached its deserved status after the excellent cd reissue released by japanese label tiliqua a couple years ago. ‘tree people’ is no other than a fantastic piece of hippie acid folk that clearly anticipates today’s ‘freak folk’ movement. very clean production, with an eastern flavour noticeable in many passages and using acoustic guitars, varied percussions and flutes, while the strong vocals of stephen cohen finalize the picture. remastered sound from masters, has insert with rare photos.
wonderful oregon haunting rural folk psych private press. recently reissued & much loved by many. its a beautiful, mellow, deep album with sparse acoustic guitar, flute, hand drums, electric bass, etc. great late phase hippie cottage vibes for sure. cover opening was trimmed at a slight angle, so not exactly square. otherwise, just about perfect in shrink NM-/NM-.
first three songs on this album are as good as anything; trimble’s music is an utterly unique blend of melodic songwriting, gorgeous high vocals, overwhelmingly echoey and warbly production, synthesized guitar and fuzz guitar, and it’s mesmerizing and life-changing. side two was recorded a few years earlier and is simpler in terms of production, but the songwriting is equally good. over the years it has become apparent that this album has aged very well and is every bit as good as the more heralded second album. trimble’s music is utterly timeless, utterly distinctive, and utterly beautiful. – acid archives… nice reissue of this lost-in-time 80s gem.
trúbrot was the first supergroup ever founded in iceland. it was created in may 1969 when leading members of ‘hljómar’ (sounds) and ‘flowers’ set out to create the finest icelandic rock group of all time. guitarist and composer gunnar thórgarson, bass player and singer rúnar júlíusson and lead vocalist shady owens of hljómar had been plotting this for some months, along with organist karl sighvatsson and drummer gunnar jökull hákonarson of flowers, before the band’s genesis was announced publicly. these were troubled times and trúbrot had countless hurdles to overcome before the band eventually fell apart early in 1973. after the debut album was released in december 1969 by emi, vocalist shady owens announced that she was quitting. trúbrot recorded 3 more albums. tony branwell of apple records was saying these were one of the two best bands he had seen perform on stage in the preceding six months. really cool underground album full of musical ideas and well-crafted music, male & female vocals. the music should hit the same listener of uk bands such as blossom toes, billy nichols; underground with a touch of pop…. numbered edition of 500, heavy gatefold sleeve on 180 gram vinyl with 2 page insert.
the unified duo of che chen (founder of o’sirhan o’sirhan zine) & rolyn hu (operatrix of brooklyn’s glasslands space) are on a mission to reverse the flow of negative energy with their elemental brand of ecstatic pop & anthemic noise, live & on the record. join inn! true primes disinfect disaffection with their brand of elemental buzzing unrock. tp are adding a new chapter to the growing saga of ny’s long, fruitful history of downtown artrock by grafting a smiley face on the body of no wave’s penchant for alienation. we have won is the band’s debut. lp edition of 330 available now, covers done up sweet by che chen… 180gm vinyl. paste-on xerox covers. numbered edition.
the third album from tunng, the pastoral pop band behind the acclaimed mother’s daughter and other songs and comments of the inner chorus albums. good arrows is a totally immersive record, enveloping the listener in tunng’s wyrd world, and is their first to feature the full six-piece band. eleven songs that borrow from icelandinc prog rock, choral music, and film soundtracks… limited vinyl version.
brand new full length vinyl lp from natural snow buildings’ mehdi ameziane’s solo project. this is the third vinyl release from twinsistermoon since last summer’s the hollow mountain lp and bride of spirits 7″ which were both released on the excellent dull knife label. following on from these two gems, as well as various obscure self released discs and cds on digitalis and students of decay, ameziane’s sound has grown somewhat darker at times with this brand new lp featuring nearly 50 minutes of new material. the a side features 6 tracks, where as the b side is a huge almost 25 minute track. the opening track ‘black nebulae’ is a gorgeously textured psychedelic drone based piece, followed by a short, quieter, guitar plucked piece with vocals, but no words entitled ’1976′. ‘ghost that was your life’ is a stunning beautiful layered guitar piece with ameziane’s astounding beautiful vocals shining through. ‘big sand’ opens as one of the darker pieces, with an occult feeling to its sound, swirling vocal drones, almost like a choir at times, and in come those stunning warm and distinctive gutar sounds with layered ghostly sound scapes, that haunt much of ameziane’s solo and nsb recordings. half way through this track it fades into layered field recordings, drones, and distant chimes, the sound of this track at this point just has a real melancholy vintage sound, the last two minutes are again a change of sound with a slow plucking of guitar strings. ‘desert prophecy’ returns of the sound of just ameziane and his guitar, with some lo-fi electric riffing distrotion in the background. its pretty incredible to hear this and think that its from 2010, and not from the 60s or 70s. the sixth and final track on the first side is ‘trailer’, another beautiful somewhat lighter folk sound, which is interesting considering the following is the albums title track ‘then the ashes fell’, a side long track which is a considerably darker and heavier than much of the rest of the lp, but it weaves in some beautiful lighter more reflective moments. pro printed sleeves and labels. heavyweight vinyl… massively thick old style covers.
beautiful and very rare UK original blue label stereo pressing of their 3rd album masterpiece. pre-T. REX underground pagan mystical folk psych from another realm. final album with STEVE PEREGRIN TOOK, and also their final all acoustic album, as well as their first album recorded in a 8-track studio… the combination of an increasingly turned-on vision with the possibilities of multi-tracking, all before any macho les paul posturing kicked in makes for a just about perfect album to my ears, and a long time fave ‘round here. incredible songs, mind boggling bent pixie lyrics, frantic playing, plus warm, honest, and deeply psychedelic TONY VISCONTI production. awesome JOHN PEEL read children’s story too. a must own album in any form, and this is a real sweet form to own it in. beautiful fragile laminated gatefold cover is real clean with just tiny signs of corner wear, and rubbed bottom seam. name in pen on inside gatefold. beautiful labels. few stray hairline scuff on the thick sparkling wax. NM-/NM-.
obscure & recently in demand ‘sound art’ private press. huge long metallic drones created by bowed sheet steel sculptures. taking the ideas of BERTOIA, etc. to a more dark & ominous realm. should appeal to fans of NWW, AMM, etc. as well as the usual sound art crew. a rare one. VG++/NM-.
the ukes bring us all another butter country moon fried farm folk
bammer to sing or bang a gong along to. once again this release
features a full band of self taught weirdo clinger and clangers
carefully caressing tones out of anything from an effected mandolin to a marble in the bottom if a well tuned 5 gallon bucket. players include andy neubauer, dan b, amy moon o-s, kristen myers, caleb gamble, and ben grubb. cover art by janel beckman and printed by leif goldburg. insert art by amy moon and kristen myers… newest from this great belfast maine bent rural folk crew. maybe their best yet?! beautiful full color offset printed wrap-around paste-on art over a chipboard cover. tons of insert. recommended!
gloomy psych-folk fuzz, in recycled classical lp sleeves, members of seanceorchstramindzoo, common oracles, hisseaters, mummers, grim spell etc… nice deep underground psych micro press monster for fans of residual echoes and such. awesome one-of-a-kind hand decorated art covers. edition of only 200 copies sure to vanish as quickly as they appeared. nice.
teenage home recordings of nrbq’s tom ardolino from 1971… “i made these tapes in my basement…i was 17, still two years away from joining nrbq…..i had some friends who would come to the basement at night and we would smoke and listen to records. they would leave around midnight and i would start to record one track over another using the(kenwood reel to reel) recorder’s sound on sound feature. i would add drums the next day….sometimes i would try to do songs that i just felt like doing(like the nutty squirrels’ “zowee”…) but usually things were just made up. i would just kind of hear things in my head and just try to go for it…i never thought these tapes would be heard by anyone except for a few friends. warning: if out-of-tuneness bothers you, do not listen.”… newest on joshua burkett’s micro label. screen printed / stamped / numbered covers. 500 copies. first 100 or so include a set of magic markers to hand color the cover, we’ve got a few with the markers here so first come…
new studio album by these japanese heads, this one is sure to place your third eye right onto the eternal cosmic plane. feels like spacing out in a hammock set between massively fucked-up, stripped-down mantra rhythms licking that sweet essence of crazed fuzz guitars and beautifully mellow acid ballads. a classic nocturnal journey into deep tokyo psychedelica. full-color artwork by bart de paepe, edition of 300 copies… awesome vinyl debut from the sloow tapes label, and a killer lp. very last copies here. recommended!
“alitaju ylimina” is the first vinyl album by finland’s uton released in a strictly limited edition of 500 copies in a marvellous fold-out sleeve with a full-colour drawing by uton himself on the outer sleeve and some fierce black¨white illustrations by dutch artist christelle gualdi inside. uton is the one-man project of jani hirvonen originally hailing from tampere and currently travelling and recording in india. hirvonen is one of the most active musicians of the finnish underground scene that has recently presented us the likes of kuupuu, kemialliset ystävät, islaja, paavoharju and lau nau and a seemingly never-ending stream of beautiful and highly original record releases. the music of uton is no exception there, drawing inspirations from psychedelia to free jazz to pure ecstatic drones and noises using a wide range of acoustic instruments from various parts of the globe and a bulk of electronics. recorded in glorious lo-fi the mystery of hirvonen’s sound is difficult to pinpoint; sheer ravishing beauty, elegancy and variegation is stashed behind a wall of grey, inscrutable haze – gorgeous melodies and voices, reeds and alien sounds gleaming through the mist from time to time, shimmering like diamonds through layers of dust. uton has previously released dozens of cd’s, cd-r’s and cassettes on a myriad of labels including jewelled antler, pseudo arcana, last visible dog, digitalis and his own ikuisuus. he has collaborated with amon dude (avarus), anla courtis (reynols), antony milton (black boned angel), ben reynolds, peter wright, phil todd (ashtray navigations) and jan anderzen (tomutonttu, kemialliset ystävät) among others. the latter collaboration (under the hevoset moniker) will be released on lp by dekorder later this year.
“straight edge xxs” is the 2nd vinyl album by finland’s uton released in a strictly limited edition of 500 copies on the dekorder label. it comes in a gorgeous full-colour collage sleeve assembled by hirvonen himself. while uton’s last dekorder album “alitaju ylimina” (and most of his other recorded works respectively) are hazy lo-fi drone masterpieces for the most part, this is a completely diffferent affair. recorded straight to tape within one month, right after returning from a 6-month trip to india, these songs (if you could call them songs) are completely out-of-this-world; very short and crazed sketch-like pieces sounding like a nonesuch explorer lp of long lost field recordings from an as yet unexplored continent. or is it world music from an unknown planet recorded by those sublime frequencies guys from mysterious short wave transmissions? well, it is all that and more. it is pure ecstatic expression channelized through psychedelia, free jazz, noise and rural ancient folk music from all over the world in a completely naked, predominantly acoustic setting. one of the purest forms of music you could imagine; while all the familiar uton elements remain evident in a hazy backcloth. uton is the one-man project of jani hirvonen originally hailing from tampere. hirvonen is one of the most active musicians of the finnish underground scene that has recently presented us the likes of kuupuu, kemialliset ystevet, islaja, paavoharju and lau nau and a seemingly never-ending stream of beautiful and highly original record releases. uton has previously released dozens of cd’s, cd-r’s and cassettes on a myriad of labels including jewelled antler, pseudo arcana, last visible dog, digitalis, ruralfauna and his own ikuisuus. he has collaborated with amon dude (avarus), anla courtis (reynols), antony milton (black boned angel), ben reynolds, peter wright, phil todd (ashtray navigations) and jan anderzen (tomutonttu, kemialliset ystevet) among others. the latter collaboration (under the hevoset moniker) is released on lp by dekorder simultaneously. limited edition of 500 copies.
“unexplained objects” is the 3rd vinyl-only lp by finland’s uton for the dekorder label, like his previous dekorder albums released in a strictly limited edition of 500 copies in a beautiful full-colour heavy duty sleeve designed by hirvonen himself. while the last albums explored rural soundworlds from the outer reaches of this planet and hidden places of the inner human (and animal) mind, he has finally left planet earth completely and is now reaching out for outer space and alien communication. hirvonen seems to have traveled the spaceways, bringing home folk music and field recordings from faraway planets and alien cultures. erich von däniken beware! uton is the one-man project of jani hirvonen originally hailing from tampere. hirvonen is one of the most active musicians of the finnish underground scene that has recently presented us the likes of kuupuu, kemialliset ystävät, islaja, paavoharju and lau nau and a seemingly never-ending stream of beautiful and highly original record releases. uton has previously released dozens of cd’s, cd-r’s and cassettes on a myriad of labels including jewelled antler, pseudo arcana, last visible dog, digitalis, ruralfauna and his own
ikuisuus. he has collaborated with amon dude (avarus), anla courtis (reynols), antony milton (black boned angel), ben reynolds, peter wright, phil todd (ashtray navigations) and jan anderzen (tomutonttu, kemialliset ystävät) among others. the latter collaboration (under the hevoset moniker) has been released on lp by dekorder as well. limited edition of 500 copies!
uw owl has finally found their first proper release after making numerous small edition cd-rs and contributing a track on united bamboos they keep me smiling compilation curated by hisham bharoocha (x- black dice, soft circle). this lp features ten songs chosen from a mass of recordings between 2003 and 2004. electrical currents, desolate sound scapes, dark tunnels, late night jams and structured waste recorded on a broken dust-filled concrete basement floor in bushwick – brooklyn, ny. 333 copies. 140g vinyl. packaged in a self assembled dye-cut and letterpressed jacket by jonas asher, with insert.
if string theory is correct, this is approximately the thirteenth album matt valentine has released that definitely shouldnt be filed
under a group name (tower recordings, bummer road, golden road, etc.). on the other hand, if string theory is correct, this might also be his 11,000th album. the truth, one suspects, is somewhere in between. since bedding down in southern vermont at the dawn of the century, mv has been as cussedly prolific as anyone. the gout of lps, cassettes, cdrs, singles and 10-inches emerging from maximum arousal farm has dwarfed the output of everyone cept maybe sunburned or thurston. regardless, there can never be enough mv lps in the world, and what i became is a beaut. most of it is as solo as satan, apart from
percussionist jeremy earl (of woods fame), whose presence is sometimes felt more than heard. erika ee elder and mike muskox smith also pop up on a track, but the general approach here is as naked-and-loaded as the soul of icepick slim. as usual, mvs tunes and procedures beggar easy generification. elements of deep forest psychedelia brush against crazy horse guitar / vocal flourishes that explode to reveal volk-based form mayhem at its hickiest. my particular fave here is pk dick,
a paean to nth dimensional logic in the form of a swedish psych-folk readymade. my son prefers the haunted-harvest-vibe (his words) of ave. b. my wife goes for the seventh sons approach offered by sweet little indian girl (always a fave with the ladies). and my daughter nods in the direction of continuing the good life for reasons she will not explain. i suspect its the hooty vocals, reminding her of teen pop giants like the shins and of montreal, but she aint sayin. all this just goes to show that what i became is a fun album for the whole family. it will soothe your savage breasts. it will turn your evil mother-in-law into a porpoise. it will wash yr dishes and darn yr socks. darn them! motherfucker, who else would do that? nobody, jack. cept mv. this guy has the magic touch. and it has never been displayed better than here. just get the fucking rec. or prepare to go sockless. kind of a no-brainer, eh? -byron coley… really sweet one. recommended!
minneapolis’ vampire hands are a rather difficult-to-pigeonhole lot, one with so many disparately abundant ideas bubbling out of their collective skulls that they barely keep pace with them. citing influences as diverse as exuma, can, neil young and simply saucer, vampire hand’s sound might (lazily) be described as marc bolan meets mayo thompson in neil haggerty’s cannabistro. fuzzy, distorted guitars meet tribal, pulsating rhythms. an eerily affecting falsetto melds with a lower, drier voice to create delightfully off-kilter harmonies. get this now before this band assuredly ascends the hype-ladder… super limited tour release in a very cool multi-layer screen printed envelope cover. nice.
little known & underrated femme folk / folkrock psych jewel on this tiny private virginia label. same label who did the much more well known MASON ‘harbor’ & POLYPHONY ‘without introduction’ lps. the handful of covers & trad. songs are well picked, and highly enjoyable… but the originals are totally amazing, especially ‘wishing well’ which is beautiful drifting gentle folkpsych with echo, flute, hand drums, etc. and ‘closer’ which is a jaw-dropping full band acidfolk rocker as good as any early 70s femme psychers you hear hyped all the time (and pay a lot more for). very cool purple on pale blue textured cover as well. totally recommended! cover has very slight adding at edges but really nice still. EX+/NM-.
new age / space / synth music from ex APHRODITE’S CHILD frontman. in shrink. NM-/EX+.
charming if typical mid 60s xian beatnik folk with kids singing & some cool hand drumming on 95% of this one. not bad for what it is, but… one total monster cut with bizarre lyrics, exotica clatter, weirdo vocals, and persistent fuzz guitar soloing in the distance. a total killer that sounds like the FUGS jamming with EDEN AHBEZ! well worth the price just for the one track, but a pretty fun lp anyway, especially with the awesome super crude cover design. VG+/VG++.
total can-style audacity from brooklyn drone stew edward goreyean broken house sufic wanderers the vanishing voice. the vanishing voice head down from the mountain for another dip in a lake of elephant seals. a misty warbling leads down a twisted path where molten earth and crust collide. the beginning of the end of the beginning. stone tab is a trip to be sure. mother mark ospovat cracks the whip of dogsled imandi while snarling bad dog pete nolan kept a forward propulsion on skins and molten guitar spew. mad man steve j taveniere of local faves meneguar lent a cool head and a popular sensibility to the proceedings with skills on the acoustic axe to be sure. non horse crane, magnetic wizard and dj, let loose his usual bag of hidden charms and h. “reality” diehl, with a voice said to make many a grown man cry, a magik trash harp and the mind o the other, kept us all in the ethereal realm. don’t worry though, this strange brew rocks out for real and you can be sure it was recorded in the highest fidelity known to man. lp features a bonus track and different mixes than on the cd, and is limited to 500 copies… another killer one from the vanishing voice!!! great heavy screen printed cover. recommended!
ab-1 is a lp with individually hand painted covers feat. great earthquake, humansixbillion, patinka cha cha and the thimble orchestra, low rise estate, fulton girls club, extreme wheeze, popolice, touch typist, guns for saint sebastion, seagull, johnny saw horses, and oscar’s psuche. live in a bedroom. here’s a review from terrascope… finally from me, one of the most terrascopic items i have received, a self released compilation lp documenting a collection of underground musician working out of melbourne. recorded in one night at a gig in a bedroom, the whole thing was captured live on one microphone into a computer. featuring twelve bands, the music ranges from melodic instrumentals through lo-fi songs in unique styles, and carries on into heavier territory and fuzzed up mayhem. the remarkable thing about this endeavour however is that it is so damn listenable, the recording is excellent considering the circumstances and every piece of music has a spark of something that hold your attention. it seems churlish to pick out individuals so i wont, just to say, this must have been a magical night and the atmosphere has been perfectly captured on this record so go and buy one. oh yes, even the cover is a home made treat fitting the mood with perfection. – simon lewis… pretty great comp with real nice covers.
piaptk is starting a new series. 4 geographically centralized artists that are good friends on one lp. the inaugural issue is this split between karl blau, gift machine, graves, and nate ashley. comes in a hand-screened jacket (from an amazing pen and ink drawing by nate ashley) and on colored vinyl. 50 copies on swampy green marble, 75 copies on purple, and 375 copies on grey marble.
features a long (11+ minute) track from TERRY RILEY plus stuff from YAS, STEVEN HALPERN and KITARO. EX-/NM-.
rather rare collection of uk paisley underground style retro psych in very suiting day-glo cover. with THE TIMES, MARBLE STAIRCASE, THE EARWIGS, THE HIGH TIDE, MOOD SIX, THE DOCTOR, MILES OVER MATTER, THE SILENCE, and THE BARRACUDAS. NM-/NM-.
nice TRANSATLANTIC label showcase comp full of cool folk, psych and rock sounds. featuring great tracks from PENTANGLE, STEFAN GROSSMAN, MR. FOX, BERT JANSCH, JOHN RENBOURN, STEVE TILSTON, JOHN JAMES, THE JOHNSTONS, THE HUMBLEBUMS, UNICORN, and STRAY. great fully laminated black/white/silver cover. includes a beautiful full color foldout transatlanic poster which is pretty sweet and in perfect condition. lovely EX++/NM.
throughout the 1960s and 1970s, george mitchell recorded extensively in the south. mitchell concentrated mainly on local blues traditions recording some famous bluesmen and many otherwise ignored artists. the george mitchell collection was originally released as a series of forty-five eps on fat possum, this lp contains our favorite fourteen tracks. this lp represents songs from many well known blues musicians such as fred mcdowell, furry lewis and joe calicott as well as some from criminally under represented artists like jessie mae hemphill, rosa lee hill and john lee ziegler. comes with a short booklet of photos, discographical notes and recollections.
mismatched cover/wax here, please take note! cover is orig 1963 vol. 1, wax is 1972 ‘broadside reunion – vol. 6’… cover is rough anyway, with splits, stickers, stamps, so you’re buying this for the wax which includes 4 rare BLIND BOY GRUNT (aka BOB DYLAN) tracks. VG-/EX.
mostly very dull dance exploitation comp, but with the major exception of including including two tracks from italian instro psych crew THE UNDERGROUND SET, with groovy fuzz & hammond groove galore. nice freaky “dancing mod girls” laminated cover. VG++/VG++.
rare comp of outsider avant, dark, noise, pornographic, occult, etc. features the exclusive NURSE WITH WOUND track “i’ve plumbed this whole neighborhood” plus SLEEP CHAMBER, DATA BANK-A, TRIUMVERATE, ARCHITECTURAL METAPHOR, TRAINED CIRCUS DOGS, PSY FIELD, THE FLAGELLENTS, WOMEN OF THE SS, and MASSMAN. pretty scarce one. NM-/EX+.
pretty rare & cool micro label post punk comp ep featuring two tracks each from JOY DIVISION, BASCZAX, and THURSDAYS. both joy division cuts are from the “unknown pleasure” sessions, but were not on the album and were only available here until the late 80s, so pretty cool item. original inner sleeve with notes. VG++/VG++.
for centuries, the jemaa el fna (rendezvous of the dead) has remained the stage for one of the most spectacular social forums on the planet. by day, this central square in the city of marrakesh, one of morocco’s great imperial cities, fosters a kaleidoscope of entertainment for its local inhabitants; storytellers, acrobats, magicians and snake charmers all create intriguing displays of bewitching spectacle. as the sun sets, the evening grows frantic with the pulse of the crowd; it is then that the night musicians set up. free from the restrictions and expectations of light entertainment for a tourist crowd, these musicians manifest ecstatic performances that animate the audience and players alike. the groups represented on this album; troupe majidi, amal saha, and mustapha mahjoub, are working and carrying the torch of their musical heroes nightly in the square. these songs come from the repertoire of morocco’s greatest musical exports: nass el ghiwane, lemchaheb, jil jilala, larssad and many others from the chaabi (moroccan popular music) canon and are given a raw, emotional and fiery interpretation. instruments are powered by car batteries and blown out through megaphone speakers. these recordings represent a rare opportunity to hear this music at such close proximity taking in all the power and passion of the performances. the raw fidelity captures an unflinching immersion of what is simply some of the greatest street music on earth. recorded by hisham mayet in 2005, a few of these performances were featured in his film musical brotherhoods from the trans-saharan highway (sublime frequencies dvd sf041). this collection also contains tracks not present in the film for a more potent snapshot of the ecstatic jemaa el fna. limited edition lp comes in a beautiful full color gatefold jacket with photos of the musicians and liner notes by hisham mayet… limited edition, already out of print. nice one.
second part of this cool three lp series highlighting the uk folk/rock/psych crossover. tracks recorded between 1963-1973 from PENTANGLE, DAVEY GRAHAM, BERT JANSCH, JOHN RENBOURN, ROY HARPER, MARTIN CARTHY, AL STEWART, JOHN & BEVERLEY MARTYN, FAIRPORT CONVENTION and more. many scuffs on vinyl but plays ok. EX/VG+.
good old comp of rare uk psych / freakbeat sounds. real clean copy. NM-/NM-.
over a three year period in the late 1990s, charlie brooks embarked on two long field recording trips in madagasikara. brooks primarily concentrated on the more remote north and west regions of the island. upon his return in 1999 he pressed 200 copies of a triple record and stored them under his bed for the last ten years. the three themed lps: vocal, valiha marovany and miscellaneous instruments were released as the now out of print mr-061 fihavanana. this single lp collection compiles seventeen tracks from fihavanana. comes with a twelve page booklet of photography and notes.
limited edition full-color gatefold lp version of the first sublime frequencies cd release from 2003. the equator runs through only ten countries on earth and i bet that you cannot name them all without consulting a map. indonesia is one of them and the only nation in asia with the equatorial stripe impaling it. there are so many different cultures spread out on this chain of islands that it would take several lifetimes to experience them all properly. within this umbrella of diversity is one of the world’s richest and most dazzling sound museums. sumatra is the northwestern entry point to the great archipelago. approximately the size of california, indonesia’s largest island has a wide variety of natural wonders: dense jungles, picturesque mountain peaks, gargantuan lakes, lowland swamps, active volcanoes, and highly frequent seismic activity. populating this gorgeous setting are orangutans, tigers, durian trees, the largest flower on earth, dozens of cultures and languages, myths and folklore, and much more music than you’ve ever been allowed to discover. the style selections on this lp include forms of droning beat pop, early orkes melayu songs, batak tapanuli, traditional minang music, and folk drama soundtracks heard by only a handful of outsiders. the recordings are from old cassette tapes; decaying documents of various sound qualities containing some of the most eccentric artifacts ever uncovered from this fascinating island. assembled and compiled by alan bishop (sun city girls) in july of 1989… great to see this one vinyl!
getting rid of the glue is a curatorial project by pendu gallery and is available through pendu sound recordings. it is a tribute to the continuing positive influence of john cage on free /improv /creative /& noise music. getting rid of the glue is a phrase first used by henry cowell before introducing the music of christian wolff, earl brown, morton feldman, and john cage at a new school concert in 1950s. john cage in his influential lecture entitled “history of experimental music in the united states& #148; recounts the remarks of henry cowell. “that here were – composers getting rid of glue. that is: where people had felt the necessity to stick sounds together to make a continuity, we – felt the opposite necessity to get rid of the glue so that sounds would beam themselves.” – john cage. this will be the first in a series of “getting rid of the glue” themed lps dedicated to improv / experimental / & noise music. limited to 300 lps so they won’t last long. includes a 11×17 xerox poster with art contributed by each of the bands – heres the track list: 1. dirty churches – eat birth 2. spin-17 – fin fang foom 3. k.p. – birds fucking outside my window 4. big a little a – yves st. sean 5. fessenden – pt. iii/ii 6. eager meek – to accidental crashes and long naps 7. mialessot + daniel carter + old ghost – hemorrhage 8. maria chavez – untitled (live @ spoken word, 04/06) 9. talibam – talibam eat a sound soup 10. excepter – sonja.
scarce early garage comp. with extensive notes. EX++/EX++.
scarce early garage comp. with extensive notes. NM/NM.
fourth installment in the field recordings from alan lomax’s “southern journey”, 1959-1960 series, featuring recordings from blue ridge instrumentalist wade ward performing alongside an eighty-one year old charlie higgins, sought-after mississippi church singers james short and viola james, more from fred mcdowell (“woke up this morning”), a locally composed religious piece written from words spoken by mountain view, arkansas resident joseph looney while on his deathbed, hillsville, virginia’s the mountain ramblers, spiritual singers from the georgia sea island of st. simons and banjo master hobart smith’s “banging breakdown.”… heavy cover with extensive notes.
third installment in the field recordings from alan lomax’s “southern journey”, 1959-1960 series, featuring recordings from fred mcdowell, carlos “bookmiller” shannon’s rendition of “the eighth of january” (another variation of which — “the battle of new orleans” — was a billboard charting hit by johnny horton in 1959), a medley of classic african american spirituals by virginia’s union choir of the church of god and saints of christ, lined hymns from kentucky’s george spangler and a baptist church congregation, ozark balladeer neal morris, work songs from mississippi state penitentiary, a previously unissued version of “moses was a servant of the lord” performed by charles barnett (vocal and washtub) and arkansas’ almeda “granny” riddle performing “rainbow mid life’s willows,” based on a british broadsheet originally published in 1631… heavy cover with extensive notes.
fifth installment in the field recordings from alan lomax’s “southern journey”, 1959-1960 series, featuring recordings from north carolina’s mountaineers, migratory labor songs from fishermen the bright light quartet, a stark religious meditation on the end of days from virginia service station owner e.c. ball, bessie jones (later a touring performer) singing the spiritual “daniel in the lion’s den,” an evening worship service at a pentecostal temple in memphis, emma hammond’s dance tune “shout lula,” an excerpt from alabama religious radio testimony and music performed on caned panpipes (or quills) at a country picnic in senatobia, mississippi… heavy cover with extensive notes.
compilation focusing on mellow dramatic music from around the world. everything from calypso to flamenco to thai ballads to indonesian instrumentals to american country to hawaiian music. designed as a sort of sequel to our i don’t feel at home in this world anymore compilation. cover art by chris johaanson… heavyweight folkways style sleeve with paste-on art.
the second compilation compiled and conceived by london-based illustrator jake blanchard continues on its strength of eclectic audio vibes paired with visual glory by an array of excellent artists. eight artists were given a track and their finished artwork is based around their assigned track. with the previous cd release of menagerie #1, there was only 100 copies available with the zine. but with this new issue, every single copy comes with a super-slick, pro-printed, full-colour zine of artwork from: jake blanchard, pete fowler, will sweeney, andrew rae, sarah king, solange gularte, james trimmer/mirt, and mat pringle. this time the audio is appearing on vinyl only, with exclusive tracks from: MOON DUO, NATURAL SNOW BUILDINGS, WAND (AKA WOODEN WAND), THE SEE SEE, SEADOG, JOANNE ROBERTSON & MATTHEW ASHWORTH, MARRIED IN BERDICHEV, and AKRON/FAMILY. the pro-printed sleeve features artwork by jake blanchard. heavyweight vinyl, with full colour labels. edition of 500. joint release between blackest rainbow, and jake’s new tor press label for zines and music… nice comp already sold out from the label.
first ever nnf vinyl compilation (more in the future hopefully?) finds the spotlight landing fairly on the fairer sex, and the glare is glorious. 11 diverse femme musical energies corralled across 12 inches of black vinyl, all exclusive contributions, and the breadth of zones and interzones traversed is a beautiful thing to hear. carry on my wayward non-sons. lps in jackets with artwork by pocahaunted bassist/scholar diva dompe, plus a full-color double-sided insert. edition of 500. this year’s estrogeneration includes: zola jesus – tickley feather – pocahaunted (vintage unused track from gold miner’s daughters sessions) – inca ore – topaz rags – hny – talk normal – islaja (featuring samara lubelski and blevin blectum) – l.a. vampires – u.s. girls – valet.
very rare & obscure compilation of north-eastern brazilian folk music. a really cool comp from any angle, but of serious note for the inclusion of an exclusive track by LULA CORTES, ZE RAMALHO & ZE LIMEIRA. its an amazing alternate acoustic version of a cut from the PAEBIRU album, recorded during the album sessions. totally different from the electrified version on the legendary double album, this version has upfront vocals & lula’s trademark flowing tricordio, backed by seriously droned-out 6 & 12-string guitar. really awesome stuff, and if you know the power of paebiru / satwa / marconi notaro albums, you’ll know this little known track is an essential piece of the puzzle. fragile waxy laminated cover. lots of lite scuffs on wax, but nothing major and the cortes track plays great with just a little surface noise. very rare. EX-/VG+.
super obscure 3rd lp in the PERSPECTIVE (later FOLLIES BAZAAR) series released by the students at the university rhode island. for me this volume and the first one are by far the strongest of the whole series. great mix of loner folk, folk psych, and moody folkrock. some great female vocals, really great all original material, and ending with a heartbreaking neil young inspired downer full band folkrock killer. only a couple hundred copies pressed. manufacture at legendary RITE RECORDS plant. cover art is just too amazing to believe! cover & vinyl both really nice. just scattered surface marks on vinyl, plays super. highly recommended. EX-/EX-.
four french and swiss artists dish up solo drone offerings – tamagawa: minimalism musik between earth and lamonte young. oldine: ambient pop between spacemen 3 et brian eno. shit: solo project of vomit for breakfast singer, noise ambiant between merzbow and bastard noise b¬°tong: solo project of cult swiss band mercury 4¬°f, electronica noise between throbbing gristle and lustmord – transparent blue vinyl and hand painted cardboard covers. extremely limited. 200 copies?
quite rare second volume of this wild all 1966 garage punk comp. super clean copy! NM-/NM-.
perfect original copy of classic garage psych comp. NM+/NM+.
perfect original copy of classic garage psych comp. NM+/NM+.
perfect original copy of classic garage psych comp. NM+/NM+.
limited edition full-color gatefold lp version of the sublime frequencies cd release from 2004. original description from 2004: how do they do it? are they smarter? are they better? how can it be ignored or denied? how is it possible that one of the most unique, perfectly composed and performed, intense and awe-inspiring musical legacies the world has ever known is looming north of the equator physically tucked between world cultural giants india, china, and thailand, without more than a whisper from ethnomusicologists or those who define themselves as “purveyors of world music?” not only are the roots of this music unique, but so are the results after incorporating outside instrumentation from modern colonial and (unavoidable) international influence. what the burmese have done with a piano is so precise in the adaptation to their existing form and melody that one would think they invented it. burmese music has a very distinct sound and whatever instrument is assimilated into its core only seems to magnify the original intent without depending upon outside ideas relating to each component utilized. this collection will immediately bring you up to speed to what you have been missing all along. the time is now to put the real music of myanmar on the map once and for all. here are some of the greatest names from the past 50 years of burmese musical history from the original recordings featuring mar mar aye, bo sein, and the incomparable tonte theintan. listen, and be amazed! compiled by alan bishop (sun city girls) in 1993 and originally released on majora records (lp/1994)… great to see this one vinyl!
rec. live @ dynamo klubi on march 11, 2006 by mikko lagernohm side a: RAKHIM with HANS-JOACHIM IRMLER. side b: LAUHKEAT LAMPAAT with LAU NAU and KUUPUU… two unique sides: on side a you’d hear a rare meeting among rakhim (circle’s more dark side project) and hans-joachim irmler from legendary faust! while on side b, a two male / two female playful affair (qbico’s idea) among brothers tolvi (rahun orkesteri) and antti tolvi’s wife lau nau with kuupuu. true unite spirit and perfect balance between both sides with opposite moods… 200gm clear blue vinyl. quite limited.
nice early comp of rare 60s wild uk & euro garage punkers. NM/NM.
totally obscure new compilation on a totally obscure (non)label or something, we think – as far as we can tell this features about 30 different bands, whose members seem to overlap quite a bit – but as the liner notes seem to barely grasp the reality of the lp, its pretty hard to say just what’s going on here – we do know that there’s some elephant micah action on here, as well as some sounds from the great kitchen typists, plus lots of other lo-fi, basement loving, entertaining, and plain old head-scratichingly strange bits – all packaged in some totally hand made, collaged, recycled, spraypainted covers, and extremely limited.
red garrett label MONO first pressing of very rare minneapolis raw garage comp. later repressed on the great SOMA label. two names in marker & a small sticker tear on front. general wear. many lite marks on the vinyl, but still plays pretty great. VG+/VG.
perfect copy of this early and long out of print comp of top rare UK psych, acidpunk, garage, and beat action 1965-1969. loads of excellent & rare cuts from the likes of THE WHEELS, THE PRIMITIVES, PANDAMONIUM, WIMPLE WINCH, THE KOOBAS, HERBAL MIXTURE, THE ATTACK and loads more. nice all analog mastering. awesome early 80s retro psych cover art. good liner notes. perfect NM/NM.
real scarce & great early comp of obscure mostly midwestern garage punk. hot stuff! everything recorded between 1965-1968. super clean copy! NM/NM.
beautiful original brazilian MONO pressing of this groundbreaking artifact. features OS MUTANTES, GILBERTO GIL, CAETANO VELOSO, NARA LEAO, and GAL COSTA playing all together & alone, and jamming on each other’s tunes. pretty amazing glimpse into the birth of a movement. ultra fragile cover is super clean with just a little discoloration on the back edges. real nice wax too. NM-/VG++.
“people were saying that southern folk song was dead, that the land that had produced american jazz, the blues, the spirituals, the mountain ballads and the work songs had gone sterile.” — alan lomax, 1960.
“in 1959 and 1960, at the height of the folk revival, alan lomax undertook the first-ever stereo field recording trip through the american south to document its still thriving vernacular musical culture. he traveled through virginia, kentucky, tennessee, alabama, mississippi, arkansas, georgia, and north carolina, making over 70 hours of recordings. the trip came to be known as lomax’s ‘southern journey,’ and its recordings were first issued for the atlantic and prestige labels in the early ’60s. those, however, as well as subsequent releases on new world and rounder records, are now all out of print. to remedy this, and to celebrate the southern journey’s 50th anniversary, mississippi records and the alan lomax collection have collaborated on five commemorative lps, spanning the breadth of lomax’s ’59-60 southern recordings, drawing on new transfers of the original 1/4″ tapes, and featuring a considerable amount of previously unreleased material. the five lp volumes feature singing siblings hobart smith and texas gladden from saltville, virginia; menhaden fishermen’s chorus the bright light quartet; the young brothers’ mississippi hill country fife and drum band; blue ridge instrumentalists wade ward and charlie higgins; bessie jones and the georgia sea island singers; work songs and hollers from parchman farm; congregational hymns from african american and white appalachian meeting-houses; alabama’s singing washerwoman vera ward hall; the 1959 united sacred harp convention; and the debut recordings of bluesman fred mcdowell, among much else. each volume is being sold separately with its own distinctive packaging. all come with a 12-page booklet featuring many never before published photos. old school tip on sleeves & beautiful sound. not to be missed!
beautiful vinyl edition (limited to 300) of the seminal basho tribute first released on cd by important records in 2010. released in response to strong demand after being included in acoustic guitar magazine’s best albums of 2010, textura’s best of 2010 and 4 or 5 star reviews everywhere else. featuring the best guitar, folk and new psych artists around and curated by buck curran this album really benefits from the lush re-mastered for vinyl sound and 180gm pressing (vinyl mastering by patrick klem). we are all one, in the sun: a tribute to robbie basho, represents a humble tribute to this truly original and passionate american guitarist, musician and composer curated and realized by musician, producer, and acoustic guitar maker buck curran (who along with his wife shanti performs as the duo arborea). this collection of both original compositions and new interpretations of basho songs befittingly begins with german guitarist and painter steffen basho junghans, who has devoted almost 20 years to composing guitar music in the spirit of robbie basho. there is also a gorgeous composition by glenn jones, a friend of basho and another musician who has dedicated his life to proliferated music composed on the steel string guitar, and the young irish guitarist cian nugent…who represents a new generation of guitarist-composers carrying on the torch. meg baird, arborea and fern knight all represent beautiful female led vocal tributes to robbie basho compositions that feature his passionate and evocative singing. curran’s choice of female led vocal performances is a tribute honoring basho’s own profound spiritual reverence and fantastical love for women. basho’s own singing was said to have been first inspired by the beautiful and powerful voice of peruvian soprano yma sumac. the choice of involving instrumentalists rahim alhaj and helena espvall in this project was simple, in that curran feels basho would have appreciated their roots, virtuosity, and passion and in their sound he also hears a kindred spirit linking all three musicians. rahim alhaj is a grammy nominated iraqi born master of the persian oud. alhaj, a student of the great munir bashir, exhibits great technique and a pure emotional style. cellist helena espvall, a native of sweden, represents a musician with a deep connection to her instrument, a musician who conjures up mysterious and emotionally charged improvisational music from bow and cello, music that is an amalgamation of sounds and textures from her travels all over the world. this record is also dedicated to the memory of philadelphia based guitarist jack rose, who passed away too young (1971 to 2009) and who over the past decade created and recorded some of the most beautiful and powerful guitar music in the tradition pioneered by robbie basho. (excerpted from the original press release from important records)… features meg baird, helena espvall, fern knight, cian nugent, glenn jones, arborea, and basho-junghans. deluxe vinyl edition of only 300 copies.
it’s true–the sons and daughters of homestead, xpressway and first-wave drag city (et al.) are now making good music. the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and ’00s are all there, bound together by shitty tape machines, reverb and easy chord changes, but melody is back and so is the joy of jamming a perfectly mangled pop song. welcome home might hit some new kids the way human music or nuggets did back in their day. in any case, it’s one of those rare compilations you can play straight through and over again. -glenn donaldson. all tracks (excepting white fence’s “the love between”) are exclusive to this release… nice vinyl upgrade of this rad comp. features : woods / run dmt / white fence / the fresh & onlys / the mantles / skygreen leopards / alex bleeker / moon duo / city center / cause co motion / art museums / nodzzz / ducktails.
second installment in the field recordings from alan lomax’s “southern journey”, 1959-1960 series, featuring recordings from blues singer sidney carter, seventy year-old norman edmonds, rosa lee (or rosalie) hill performing on fred mcdowell’s porch, two mississippi gospel groups, the united sacred harp convention in 1959 alabama, the first-ever recordings of the fife and drum music of the mississippi hill country and the bright light quartet, a group of fishermen recorded in virginia in 1960… heavy cover with extensive notes.
of contemp bizarro & acoustic based ‘christmas and seasonal sounds’ by 24+ groups and individuals like: sop, ed askew, prisma, exusamwa (fat day & preggy peggy folks), dawn cook, bromp treb, pat conte (secret museum), ralph white, jack callahan, bunwinkies, flaming dragons of middle earth, defneg & tumblecat duo, big kids, cycles inside, crystaline roses, happy jawbone band, betsy nichols, bengeorge7, richie & the zip code & a bunch more! comes with a cassette with more similar soundz & a big fold-out art cover with seperate pages by jeff hartford, josh verizon, ruth garbus, john moloney,& josh burkett. 350 copies… totally bonkers concept & packaging from joshua burkett’s great mystra label.
totally vanished original MONO copy of this massively brilliant and endlessly influential masterpiece. you know the deal, the godfathers of dope damaged avant-pop, spiky punk attitude, and psychedelic noise all at once. amazing alternate mono mix is a real treat for sure. peeled banana, airbrushed back cover. no inner sleeve. punch hole. all around solid copy. EX-/VG++.
totally vanished original MONO copy of this massively brilliant and endlessly influential masterpiece. you know the deal, the godfathers of dope damaged avant-pop, spiky punk attitude, and psychedelic noise all at once. amazing alternate mono mix is a real treat for sure. first state cover with the emerson torso back cover (pre censor stick or airbrush job), peelable banana, and mono matrix number. cover has general ring/edge/corner wear. very small crack at spine. banana is missing the stream and looks like it was peeled and re-stuck quite a few times, its wrinkled & dirty, but at least its there. wax has numerous paper scuff and some lite marks, but nothing major. plays well. gotta love the deep, rich mono sound. getting way rare in any condition. with original inner sleeve. VG+/VG+.
original WHITE LABEL MONO PROMO copy of the great live album recorded 1970. sticker residue on front. clean labels. EX-/VG++.
awesome new live bootleg lp recorded at the gymnasium, new york city, new york, april 1967. includes the never before released track ‘i’m not a young man anymore’ as well as the earliest live performance of ‘sister ray’. great rare vintage photo cover art as well. very limited. highest recommendation.
cool velvets bootleg with all the max’s kansas city live recordings that didn’t make it on to the official album. a must have for any fan hoping to catch a deeper glimps of those last couple gigs before lou reed split the band for good. very limited pressing.
nice early black-on-black skull cover, blue/silver label pressing. few small chips to spine/top seam, and mild general wear, but no heavy ring wear which is pretty rare. original inner sleeve. just minor hairlines on wax. VG++/EX-.
the third of three new lps from the vibracathedral orchestra. smoke song’s more gentle exposition starts with adam davenport’s santoor (a type of hammered dulcimer) leading the band into a lengthy mid-tempo groove on “smoke song,” followed on the second half of the side by the short, quiet “cholita maria.” the second side’s 17-minute “get it?” lays down the tremolo and phase in a manner reminiscent of the best spacemen 3 comedowns, taking a pulse and riding it into organ- and percussion-fueled bliss.
the second of three new lps from the vibracathedral orchestra. the secret base starts up at full throttle, straight into a raw-sounding live outing, with mick flower’s overdriven guitar occupying the same sonic space that gives his japan banjo / shaahi baaja workouts with chris corsano their urgency. the sound is dark and rough, almost xpressway-like in its claustrophobic atmosphere. the percolating krautrock stylings of “if you can’t smoke ‘em” chugs along hypnotically for over 13 minutes to close out the side. the entire b-side’s 20-plus minutes are devoted to the clanging free sound of “eyes of wood,” where gamelan-like metal percussion dominates the proceedings.
san fran femme hippie folkpsych. with insert. VG++/VG++.
hailing from gothenburg, viking jews is the brainchild of hannes norrvide (also a member of bleak rascal duo lust for youth), which after a few selfreleased cassettes here offers up 20 shimmering minutes for his vinyl debut. melancholic and rhythmic stuff melted through cheap keyboards, distinguished vocals and some serious cassette-flippin’, somewhat covered under layers of dust, delay and piles of trashed skateboard decks. twisted west coast ambience and scandinavian heat all over. think of monopoly child star searchers, early dolphins into the future and innercity and maybe you are halfways. all new material, except the inclusion of the beautiful ambient-closer from the boneless cassette which we just couldn’t resist to put on vinyl. smycken resides in gothenburg / malmö / copenhagen and consists of rasmus svensson and hanna nilsson. just as with viking jews, this is the first vinyl-apperance from smycken after most notably a cassette on night people and a cd-r on psychic malmö (both released in 2009). 4 tracks of hazy and dreamy music, pushing forward everything towards a more refined pop-sound but without loosing it’s initial fonal-esque psychedelic blurs and almost folky undertones. current popular culture is being demolished and embraced at the same time. tracks like marble slabz will have you, with a big smile, asking yourself what the fuck just happened and the closer mysterious moonlight is the closest thing we have come to a ballad in the rtb discography since… well, ever… edition of only 275 copies, pressed on lovely pale blue vinyl.
constant hitmaker’s songs are varied and twisted in their arrangements, but most often include exquisite melodies floating atop a bed of hissing psych-pop experiments that fall together as nearly perfect pop songs. the album is steeped in an atmosphere of four-track recording and homespun obscurity, however it frequently, almost if by mistake, references a collection of some of pop music’s best: my bloody valentine are felt on ‘space forklift,’ lee hazlewood’s spirit haunts ‘slow talkers,’ and lou reed adorns ‘don’t get cute.’ all this without mentioning the album’s most distinct song, ‘freeway,’ the lone studio recording and a piece of music that will become lodged in every head that hears it. constant hitmaker comes off a bit straighter than anything on the siltbreeze label, but more lovingly deranged than most every other indie rock album. it’s something noteworthy, no doubt, and not just because it lives up to its title. – skyscraper magazine.
more than a mere odds-n-ends collection, kurt vile’s latest lp is a compilation of tracks from overnite kv, a tour-only cdr made in conjunction with a european tour of kurt’s other project (the war on drugs), along with a handful of extra tracks recorded specifically for this release. here we find kurt solo, four-trackin’ as usual, and blowing minds with his mix of bluegrass guitar, blazed singer-songwriterisms, and the knowledge of how to balance these contexts out with laidback precision. psychedelic to its core, these twelve tracks speak to the will of the casual perfectionist, honing his craft with effortless aplomb. you’ll be hearing plenty more from this philadelphian wizard in the months to follow, and we’re happy to keep the ball rolling with god is saying this to you… repressed numbered edition of 2000.
having changed their name from uke of phillips, to uke of spaces corners, this time around, on their 4th full length album, we see another moniker shift, to village of spaces. collaborating with michael hurley, big blood, ancestral diet and caethua, “alchemy and trust” might be this crew’s most potent release to date if not their most deliberate and un-compromising. recordings made over the last 3 years make up this 34 minute lp, which was recorded at the pool recording studios in portland, oregon, big blood’s tank 26 studios in so. portland, maine, and by nemo bidstrup at the bands home in midcoast, maine. heavy trance elements are woven throughout the entire lp, as opposed to hinging on the individual songs themselves. neo-traditional, butter fried homesteader volk, with extended vamps on, but not limited to, the g chord… vinyl edition of 500 with heavy screen printed insert. really happy to have helped with this wonderful album. recommended!
first ever reissue of this hopelessly rare & obscure 1971 rural virginia private press folk masterpiece. a true anomaly in the seemingly bottomless world of self released albums, this one charts a truly unique realm all its own… while the sound itself may draw some clear influence from classics of the day, even lifting the band name from a song by the band, the mood & vibe here is ponderously uncharted territory, seemingly birthed complete from some parallel sonic reality. crude lo-fi metaphysical basement folkrock filtered through a deeply southern gothic / appalachian / americana band aesthetic and executed in the purest, most sincere, spontaneous, vibe-thick sense possible. the atmosphere trapped in these grooves is truly as strong as it gets and is sure to engulf any open-minded listener given half a chance… the near magical power of the album seems to lay in its extreme polarization; on the one hand there is a fully developed lyrical depth and intellect that’s profoundly poetic, even novelistic, yet the music & recording is shockingly raw, unhinged, completely unselfconscious, and downright weird. it’s a dusty, creaky, ebb & flow of clackity percussion, acoustic strum, shaky low-watt electric guitar licks, occasional floorboard rattling bass, and thick southern drawl. even the recording quality has a bizarre lo-fi character of its own, with some sounds seeming to barely hit the tape at all, while others are wildly overblown, wrapping the whole deal in a gauzy tape hiss fog, with hints of garagy distortion. the album progresses with a casual but surprisingly purposeful intent, hitting an intimately mystical, visionary, dream-like arc through the entire second side of the record and ending in complete dissipation… all taken together it’s a seriously teleportive trip to a flicker in time & place that is really quite special… the scratchy textless black & white band photo cover art suites the album perfectly: striking yet vague, timeless yet ancient, simple yet mysterious… pressed on highest quality 180gm virgin vinyl and packaged in an exact reproduction heavy old-style cover, with exact repro labels. also includes a double-sided heavy stock insert with new liner notes from main songwriter and vocalist roger mannon, as well as introductory notes from band scholar and devoted fan jack d. fleischer. one time vinyl only pressing of 500 copies.
caitlin cook and calder martin, formerly vocalist/players in excepter, resurface as a rock duo with martin weaving holographic guitar riffs around cook’s wails and gloomy poems. the pair spent two years living in the skylight studio of the historic matthew brady daguerreotype building at 359 broadway nyc, recording in the same vaulted rooms where abe lincoln, felicita vestvali, edgar allan poe, frederick douglas, and sitting bull voluntarily screwed their heads into iron stabilizers in order to be photographed. the resulting album conveys a falsely two-sided pattern of epic american triumph, contemplative grooviness, and crumbling disaster in the guise of hyperactive fun. cameo drum appearances blast through at key moments, courtesy of spencer herbst, nathan corbin, and the inimitable fiz. released on seres, a longstanding label cohort of the no-neck blues band. at the right volume, the crackle of the amps will make your ass ripple.
on vlasman recorded this amazing piece of acid euro folk back in 1970, making it sound like an outer space freaked out bob dylan with the help of frans schoonen (organ, flute and harmonica) and leo van vugt (chincha tumba and tambourine). the seven original compositions are stunning, drug inspired psychedelic pieces of acid folk that mix dylan with indian ragas and even add some pink floyd overtones, yet from an acoustic rather than electric point of view. and the album contains also a very cool version of the velvet underground’s ‘pale blue eyes.’ if you ever wondered how dylan would have sounded covering the v.u., here’s a close example! the album, originally released on the small flame label from amsterdam, sold poorly back in the seventies — thus becoming a collector’s piece when it was rediscovered in the eighties. since then it has been gathering new fans that pay small fortunes for a copy, no reissue has been available until now that wah wah offers 500 copies in a lavish edition that will probably sell out soon, so grab your copy before it’s too late! the beautiful cover art and full color poster insert with the lyrics are the work of leendert le duc, and both are here faithfully reproduced as they deserve. the wah wah reissue also features an extra insert with a text by reputed dutch collector jean jöbses and a couple of rare unseen period photos courtesy of the frans schoonen and leo van vugt archives. the album has been carefully remastered by sound wizard denis blackham @ skye mastering, making these songs sound like never before. 500 copies only… great album! beautiful exact repro cover art too.
voks aka mikkel moir pihl from copenhagen, denmark is a household name on dekorder, being signed to the label since its inception six years ago. though keeping a low profile with only two 3″cd releases in all these years he won over some dedicated fans such as the late john peel, who shortly before his death played a different voks track every week for several weeks in a row. now voks is finally presenting his first full-length album (though only 30 minutes long this is epic in voks’ universe – both 3″cd’s included 10 tracks each within 20 minutes). while keeping his trademark style of hyperactive and nervous high-pitched twisted pop songs a newborn interest in (italo-western) movie soundtracks seems to be evident. the sound of super fast surf guitars is colliding with what seems chinese opera samples, world music is combined with children’s whisteling tunes. think raymond scott, joe meek, ennio morricone or carl stalling collaborating with the residents and then getting an 8-bit remix by the aphex twin. a surprising & amazing record, really! it will leave a huge grin on your face (and a few question marks as well)….
originally released as three 3inch cdr’s and now compiled as a 12inch lp these recordings have appropriately become the first self-titled vollmar album. the approach employed embraces immediacy much like the “4 separate things” cd-r. it’s the most stylistically diverse collection available. players: dorey fox – keyboard, david brant – bass guitar, and distorted keyboard percussion, nathan vollmar – keyboard drums, drums, keyboard, justin vollmar – acoustic and electric guitar, vocals, omnichord, and recording, john ringhofer – sleigh bells, melodica (unheard for all practical purposes)… nice one. screen printed chipboard covers. limited edition.
west virginia native and bloomington, indiana resident justin vollmar has been making leftfield folk-rock for longer than most. he’s toured the western world over with like-minded artists such as half-handed cloud and elephant micah, and released a small library of critically-acclaimed home recordings. a mainstay in the midwest scene, vollmar has also lent his talents to countless bands (mt. gigantic, bronze float, matty pop chart, etc.), and held at least one word-of-mouth music festival in the vacant field beside his house. tell the dirt is vollmar’s newest release as “vollmar,” a band name accommodating two more musicians-drummer/brother/pianist nathan vollmar and bassist david brant. dirt finds the band in a formal studio environment, trying on a slightly more “refined” sound. all the hallmarks of the vollmarian approach, though, remain happily in place. dirt is a characteristically sparse affair, featuring band performances that sound more “live” than “layered.” the brain-twisting songwriting and moments of experimental flourish that have historically set vollmar’s music apart from the indie-folk crowd are likewise here in spades… great new album. numbered edition of 300. hand packaged with hand penciled titles, and a unique large photo print, each a frame from a stop motion film. great concept, right? watch the film here: www.vollmarmusic.com/videos/tell%20the%20dirt-tell%20the%20dirt-h.264.mov
the proprietors of underwater tea party records offered to pay a month of justin vollmar’s rent if he’d make a record for their label. he then went on a family vacation, sat out on the beach late one night, and made some solo recordings straight to simultaneous tape and minidisk recorders. the results make for a kind of sonic portraiture that sets aside ‘objective’ recording aesthetics in favor of a more personal, contextual representation of the songs – we love this guy and we think you should too! very limited edition, with screenprinted chipboard covers and paste-on family vacation’ photo. nice!
much anticipated reissue of obscure kraut masterpiece from this mysterious unit. a classic kosmische sound dream, hitting multiple familiar mind harmonics assembled in stereo polyphony. guru is you… 300 copies in lovely screen printed fancy packaging. sweet.
while remaining largely unknown to the general public, peter walker was something of a legend along the boston-new york folk axis of the 1960s, releasing a few celebrated albums for vanguard during this period. playing with various folk luminaries like fred neil, joan baez, tim hardin and karen dalton, and studying spanish flamenco and indian classical guitar with none other than ravi shankar, walker was both a true student of his instrument and a pioneer, using not only acoustic guitar, but, as can be heard on this album, also electric. recorded in 1970 at levon helm’s (the band) house in woodstock, with the likes of legendary detroit drummer maruga booker and tabla god badal roy, this is an essential release for fans.
peter walker’s quintessential debut, reissued on vinyl for the very first time since its original 1966 release on vanguard. featuring contributions from jazz flautist jeremy steig and dylan session veteran bruce langhorn, walker’s fusion of psych-folk and traditional indian raga was ahead of its time. “exploring a tonal range that would be best described as the perfect lsd soundtrack, this album is a gentle, evocative affair, and often recalls some of the passages that stephen stills would use for ‘suite: judy blue eyes,’ among others.” – all music guide… finally a vinyl reissue of this gem! heavy cover & vinyl.
even though warmth main man steev thompson still appears to be incommunicado totally epic recordings continue to surface. before roxanne jean police was officially over and steev still lived in chicago, he joined up with another then chicago resident branden diven of quilts / american grizzly records. the jams that were created filled a couple of cdrs and the warmth side of the split with quintana roo on not not fun. this lp consists of a remixed and edited version of the original cdr running at just under 45 minutes. forgotten smog floats through a northside basement. sounds emanate but their source is totally unrecognizable. quiet growing tonal blobs erupt into washes of aural color. a complete union of samplers, synths, vocals, guitar, organs, percussion, and electronics merge to create the sounds contained within; a loss of individual existence. completely serene. in an edition of 300 lps on creamy yellow vinyl with hand stamped labels in pro-printed and screened fold over sleeves with art by roy tatum and an insert by steev.
really odd lp made to promote washington apples! side one is mainly decent pop about apples, sunshine, etc. but side two gets into some great original bluesy psych garage zones with longer tracks, fuzz, organs, strong female vocals, etc. pretty cool. funny cover. real cheap rather noisy pressing. VG/VG.
as of today, it’s officially crispy in new york, so we are seeking one last summer solace with the california crust-pop of san diego’s wavves. as you might expect from a socal band named after ocean motion, this shit sounds like a living version of thrilla gorilla & da’ boys. as you might not expect, it is made by one kid named nathan who has a classic rap blog called ghost ramp. wavves has a follow-up coming in 2009 on de stijl which will include ‘so bored’ and ‘wavves’ which is also ridiculously great and streaming on his myspace. – the fader.
in the spring of 2007 a tour commenced from latvia to holland called “way of the cross: on the path of the ninefold muse”, titled from robert graves’ book the white goddess. the tour spanned polish clubs, dutch radio, berlin galleries, and the latvian beach; ‘mind of the dolphin’ documents the music spawned at these stops. wotc members include dave nuss (nnck), stellar om source, the skaters, jan anderzen (kemialliset ystavat), kuupuu, mik quantius (embryo), and tiitus petajaniemi and jari koho (uton, keijo). “the white goddess is far more than a long-discredited pagan deity. she is still alive, and her worship takes many strange forms both inside an outside the conventions of western morality. in particular, she continues as the ninefold muse, patroness of the white magic of poetry.”
experimental heavyweights adam forkner (white rainbow, rob walmart, atlas sound), honey owens (valet, miracles club, atlas sound), and eva salens (inca ore) collaborate to exploit their highly vibed-out dubby post-yoga practice chilling with the cats killer band that has made a great debut record called proper eats. vinyl version comes with bonus download remixes.
private chicago area combo doing country/blues covers & trad material with an odd peppy loungy electric folkrock sound. few good moments mostly due to the nice female vocals and some good electric guitar licks. totally great super crude band portrait cover art! VG++/VG++.
awesome copy of UK humorous folk on wonderful & collectible label. fragile laminated cover. starting lamination lift at spine. vinyl looks unplayed! NM-/NM-.
space is a place, the second release from western standards, continues the mysterious journey that began with 2010’s energy centre, which was praised by boomkat online as “a lovely slab of hazy, impressionistic audio landscaping… one of those albums that almost manages to pass under the radar undetected, but really deserves some wider attention”. comparisons have been made to tim hecker, roedelius and evan caminiti, just to name a few. the new record is comprised of carefully orchestrated tape loops and drones, kosmische-inspired electronics and heavily processed bass and baritone guitars. six tracks. thirty-eight minutes. fifty-eight seconds. features artwork designed and assembled by western standards. limited to 110 copies, includes cd-r of the album.
repress of 400 copies. when iowa city freak-out free-rockers raccoo-oo-oon called it quits last year it left a bummer scar in the midwest underground scene. but time is a great healer, and so are new bands. so out of the ashes of the rac pack comes wet hair, a synth-punk-trance duo composed of keyboardist/vocalizer shawn reed and keyboardist / drummer ryan garbes, and dream is the band’s debut vinyl full-length after a series of increasingly shredding limited-edition cassettes on their own night people label. piling together an unlikely trash heap of suicide-style drum machine beat-bops, zone-droned krautrock keys, and fucked up outsider crooning, the lp’s four tracks careen across a spectrum of moods and mangled melodies. recorded at flat black studios by luke tweedy and mastered by pete swanson, wet hair’s cult electric annihilation has never gleamed with such razor-edged weirdness; this is their dream made real. black vinyl lps in jackets with artwork by reed and garbes, plus a pro-printed full-color 11×11 insert.
welcome back. one of nnf’s total favorite active bands return with a second full-length (most of which was recorded during the same sessions that birthed their debut lp, dream) and we are pleased as spiked fruit punch. the reed/garbes duo mainly sticks to their guns, mining the same post-suicide art-trance vein they perfected on dream, but with glass fountain there’s an added emphasis on the disembodied, oscillator pop mode that wet hair often toy with. fountain’s five tracks include some of the band’s simplest but catchiest songs (“crucifix in the waves,” “when the right time comes,” etc), mesmerizing organ melodies over plink-plonky vintage drum machines with weirdo soulful singing and outer space electronics, like an outsider-punk silver apples or something. hard to say exactly what universe wet hair are operating in and that’s probably part of why we love it so much. a killer record that gets better each spin. in jackets with art drawn and designed by the band, plus a pro-printed 11×11 insert. edition of 600 (400 on opaque lavendar vinyl, 200 on black).
great long beach wasted basement garage psych private press on the much loved century custom label. totally drugged-out sound here with lots of crude fuzz, electric piano, blasted rhythms, deadpan vocals, etc. features ‘mississippi’ who later made the great oddball ‘velvet sandpaper’ lp. two versions exist, this is the 11 track version with ‘heartbreak hotel’. a few other covers including the FUGS ‘i couldn’t get high’ and the VELVET UNDERGROUND’s ‘i’m waiting for my man’! pretty awesome for an from that, or any, era, and gives you a real good idea of the themes here. great looking cover is like new fully in shrink, 100% crisp & bright. vinyl is very clean too with just a couple super lite scuffs, but theres a weird pressing flaw in the first song side one. it looks ugly but plays through fine, and doesn’t even make much noise. it’s also the worst track on the album, sort of a short loungy instro thing, so no big loss really. cover NM / side one EX- / side two NM-.
single copy.
emily jane white is a san francisco folk singer/songwriter. armed with little more than an acoustic guitar and her own voice, emily offers complex tales of melancholy and isolation. comparisons to artists like cat power and hope sandoval are frequent, yet emily’s music owes a clear debt to classic female jazz and blues singers such as billie holiday. one of her songs is actually entitled “bessie smith.” catch a rising star. limited edition of 500 copies pressed on clear vinyl with slightly different inserts, lyrics included… nice vinyl edition with huge full color foldout insert. debut release on this tiny label. if you dig brooding femme folk melancholy this one is well recommended. sure to go quick.
ralph white, ex-fiddler for the legendary austin, tx country-punk band, the bad livers, gives us a newly recorded collection of american and caribbean songs, plus one original. ralph is a truly inspirational folk artist. his music could be described as “psychedelic”, but only in the way that his voice cuts straight through your psyche into the very heart of your being, melting away all resistance. no, really, it’s that powerful. white’s voice soars mournfully over interlocking banjo and kalimba parts that are firmly rooted in traditional americana, but belie the influences he garnered on his cross continental african bike trip. this beautiful gem is garnished with a hand-cut stamp and each edition is subtly different. check out ralph’s “navasota river devil squirrel” lp on mystra records. edition of 200… more recommended sounds! nice covers too.
beautiful original black label stereo pressing. always trashed, this one is super clean! massively influential & undeniably great debut album. british mod garage classic, all the way… cover has a couple very small chips along spine, otherwise very minor wear only. small name in pen on back. vinyl is sparkling clean with a couple micro scuffs that do nothing. original inner sleeve. really tough to find this clean. EX+/NM-.
first-time ever reissue of rare evil psycho machine-funk from ’80s washington, d.c., including previously-unreleased mixes. now is not the time to doubt your senses — the wicked witch does exist. born and raised in the musical magical cauldron of washington d.c., wicked witch combines elements from alchemical mentors parliament funkadelic, sun ra, esg, run dmc, james brown and jimi hendrix to cast a crazed spell on the innocent listener. an evil mass of machine-funk with lashings of rhythm and blues and fusion delivered direct from the heart of the witch, a misunderstood psycho-genius weaving his solo web deep within the dark studio walls. trained by masters at the duke ellington school of the arts, wicked witch is in full control; he plays all, knows all, tells all. his message will not be denied. believe your ears, believe your eyes: the wicked witch does indeed exist. first-time ever re-issue, remastered from the original master tapes… very limited vinyl version, now out of print. crazy shit!
original orange label tower MONO pressing. if you dig biker flick soundtracks, this is an essential one. dominated by DAVIE ALLEN & THE ARROWS doing their sleazy fuzz-fest surf garage thing. pretty wicked. gotta love the peter fonda / nancy sinatra all smiles cover shot too! plays great in mono… EX-/VG+.
recently discovered private press xian folkrock. nothing mindblowing here, but its a nice listen with a mellow rural vibe and some unusual lyrics in spots. one cut is a strange heavy soulful thing with fuzz bursts, it appears on the recent “electric holyland” comp. real nice looking & very thick cover, with insert. perfect like new in shrink NM/NM.
one of the best from the usa, legit reissue with insert, many photos, extensive liner notes, posters, from master tapes, a killer guitar album. i was searching for an original lp for many many years but never saw one. even the band has no extra copies. california trio wildfire came to austin in 1969. they shared the stage with many performers such as johnny winter, allman brothers, freddy king, shivas headband and many more. after laying down partial tracks at the beach boys’ recording studios (wildfire guitarist randy love is beach boy mike love’s cousin) the trio ended up at sonobeat studios to record this 8-track album. sonobeat became famous for the recording of the first johnny winter album, dark shadow/cold sun and mariani. this album is extra heavy psychedelic rock with dual vocals, great stereo effects, all original songs in moby grape/blue cheer direction. they use to be one of the loudest band’s around on their custom build quilter amps. for the first time officially released direct from copies of the master tapes… way heavy 1970 american private press. deluxe extra heavy laminated gatfold cover, 180gm vinyl. numbered edition of 450 copies.
breezy AOR pop psych in an awesome chrome mirror cover on micro label. perfect NM+/NM+.
nice copy orig US pressing of extended uk progpsych. gatefold cover. great album! small promo sticker on back. VG++/EX++.
another out-of-nowhere african ’70s rock discovery in the blo mold. completely unknown band from zambia, privately pressed on a small local label, this five-piece electric band plays a strong electric african underground style. tons of wah wah-fuzz guitar in every track, african style beats and vocals and all original songs. after the successful release of the other witch album lazy bones, here is the earlier introduction. crazy & wild fuzz guitars all over, african beats and chanting, as good as it gets. incredible cool and stoned album from the southern african country. again we need to say: if you’re feeling depressed, low, disturbed, out-of-sorts, sad, frustrated or widely demented, then folks, we suggest you seek out a quiet place, indulge in some soothing meditation and cut away that headache by listening to this inspirational album… numbered edition of 500, glossy heavy sleeve, 180gm vinyl. originally released in zambia, 1973… if you dug their other lp, blo, question mark, the peace, ofege, etc. this is highly recommended!
fuck the old miami is a 12inch featuring the entire live performance on the a side and a b side etching hand carved into the original laquers by wolf eyes. on their home lathe wolf eyes cut playable grooves into and around the etching, playable at your own risk.
virtually unknown private press on the much in demand century label. really awesome west coast femme folkpsych, with a totally lost, sunburnt, melancholy, wide-eyed vibe dripping all over. very cool zoned-out real people mood, but simple, folky, and catchy at the same time. some tracks are stripped down with just guitar or autoharp, but most of the album features full band electric backing to great effect. a hard one to describe, but i keep coming back to this one again & again. generic guitar/sunset cover with an intensely weird back cover portrait photo. only 225 copies pressed!! perfect SEALED NM+.
this is the vinyl edition of wolfmangler’s cd release on digitalis industries, minus the bonus tracks. the core tracks of the release make for a perfect lp. this has been extensively written up all over the place, so i won’t go into detail, expect avant folk by way of doom metal depression. all acoustic. packaged in a silkscreened glue pocket sleeve, red and silver on black stock, same as the cd version, but with expanded art. includes 3 inserts, screened in the same colors with printed labels. edition of 500, 250 on black and 250 on red.
wooden veil is a berlin-based art group formed in 2007. inspired by the shared hauntedness of their respective homelands, they combine elements from forgotten and misremembered traditions to create a microcosmic world which only wooden veil inhabits, complete with its own symbols, clothing, food and shelters. performances, installations and videos are characterized by an expansive wardrobe of ritual dress, and the creation of shrines, relics and talismans used to create music. the group consists of artists marcel türkowsky (also a composer, founder of snake figures arkestra, cones, uuhuu, collaborations with datashock and christoph heemann), hanayo (known for her solo work as a photographer and singer, collaborating with the likes of christoph schlingensief, merzbow, red crayola, and kai althoff), christopher kline (valkenburg hermitage, †, night music, and soft peace), dominik noé (member of krautrock legends lustfaust), and jan pfeiffer (songs for rocks, soft peace, purple).to understand: hold right hand, cupped near right ear; turn hand back and forth slightly with wrist. bring left hand to opposite eye with the second finger pointing in the direction one is looking. with index and thumb of right hand, form an incomplete circle, space of one inch between tips; hold hand towards the earth, then move it in a curve across the heavens and back toward the horizon.
last year, james jackson “wooden wand” toth went to alabama to record a split 7″ with the gum creek killers (feat. members of verbena) a while back and had such a good time, he decided to go back and record an entire wooden wand record with the gum creek killers as his backing band. briarwood is the result of that collaboration. another wand album full of great one liners (“we were all at the wal-mart for the irony…”) and down south pomp and swagger. limited to only 500 copies… pressed on nice swirled colored vinyl. totally great album! recommended.
a brand new album from rising folk scene favorite wooden wand and his sky high band-members of skygreen leopards, vanishing voice, and davenport. recorded live on vintage equipment, the album features eleven rollicking tunes that recall such cracked masterpieces as “tonight’s the night” and “mendocino,” as wand blends surreal lyrical imagery with equal amounts of sunshine and grease. unhinged.
new solo album featuring guests steve shelley & lee ranaldo (sonic youth), jeremy earl (woods), jarvis taveniere (vanishing voice, woods)… great brooding folkrock goodness.limited vinyl version.
the latest in a very long line of essential releases from james jackson toth, sees this brand new collection for the gps. following 2 treasures from the mighty wand canon previously released on the label over the last 3 years. “my week beats your year” acts as a follow up to fans favourite “born bad” released 2 years ago on mad monk / people in a position to know. a collection of home recordings and demos from various points since 2002 to the present. an intimate, up close, occasionally stark collection of late night blues, and darkside musings that somehow manage to yet again raise the songwriting bar within the wand catalogue- (check out “tribulation fear” and “pale fire“). includes one of his most in yr face, confessional tracks ever put to wax- an ace take on jimmy rogers’ “sloppy drunk”. an utterly fabulous collection in a sleeve to match- beautiful inside and out pro printed jackets, and brown 70s french lined inners – a killer lp in an edition of 400 numbered copies… great new album, in that nice sorta country folk zone.
new vinyl edition of the instantly sold out red records first edition, co-released with the woodsist label… newest incarnation of nyc’s wondrous woods, as the trio of jeremy earl, jarvis taveniere, and g lucas crane. for sure the finest yet from these folks… lysergic & infectiously bent acidfolk mashed into faust IV style electronically dosed pop grooving, all awash in odd studio effects, motorik percussion, cracked fuzz, unique vocal gush, twisted lyrics, and burning psych jams… plus enough sweet hooks to get yr next freakout party moving right. hell yes, its a wicked one… 140gm black vinyl packaged in a heavy 60s style cover with insert. edition of 1000 copies.
red records #2… newest incarnation of nyc’s wondrous woods, as the trio of jeremy earl, jarvis taveniere, and g lucas crane. for sure the finest yet from these folks… lysergic & infectiously bent acidfolk mashed into faust IV style electronically dosed pop grooving, all awash in odd studio effects, motorik percussion, cracked fuzz, unique vocal gush, twisted lyrics, and burning psych jams… plus enough sweet hooks to get yr next freakout party moving right. hell yes, its a wicked one… lusciously hand packaged in a custom black art paper heavy 60s style gatefold cover with full size, full color paste-on front photo artwork, black on black screen printed back cover & interior, printed labels, hand stamped spine, and pressed on 180gm bright red vinyl. hand numbered limited edition of 300 copies.
with a title like at echo lake the fifth album from new york’s woods intimates a modern rock aesthetic fully informed by historical manifestations of teenage along with a concomitant feel for the specifics of time and place. the distance between 2007’s at rear house and 2010’s at echo lake may at first seem only semantic but it more properly represents a move from a kind of informal back porch jam ethos to a fully-committed vision of the infinite possibilities of group playing. over the past few years woods have established themselves as an anomaly in a world of freaks. they were an odd proposition even in the outré company of vocalist/guitarist/label owner jeremy earl’s woodsist roster, perpetually out of time, committed to songsmanship in an age of noise, drone and improvisation, to extended soloing, oblique instrumentals and the usurping use of tapes and f/x in an age of dead-end singer-songwriters. recent live shows have seen them best confuse the two, playing beautifully-constructed songs torn apart by fuzztone jams and odd electronics. at echo lake feels like a diamond-sharp distillation of the turbulent power of their live shows, in much the same way that the grateful dead’s “dark star” single amplified and engulfed the planetary aspect of their improvised takes. some of the material here – the opening “blood dries darker”, the euphoric “mornin’ time” – is so lush that lesser brains would’ve succumbed to the appeal of strings and horns but at echo lake is more fifth dimension than notorious byrd brothers, nowhere more so than on “from the horn”, a track that is as beautiful in its assault on form as “eight miles high” or swell maps’ “midget submarines”. but despite the instrumental innovation that the album heralds – g. lucas cranes’ psychedelic tapework on “suffering season”, guest musician matthew valentine’s harmonica and modified banjo/sitar on “time fading lines” – at echo lake is all about the vocals. woods’ secret weapon is the quality of earl’s voice, osmosing the naive style of jad fair, jonathan richman and neil young while re-thinking it as a discipline and a tradition. here he is singing at the peak of his powers, in a high soulful style that is bolstered by heavenly arrangements of backing vocals. at echo lake feels like the transmission point for teenage garage from the past to the future. deformed by contemporary experiments, bolstered by magical traditions from the past, it’s the sound of now, right here, at echo lake. -david keenan/glasgow/march 2010… with free download coupon. awesome!
the woods’ 2005 debut, initially issued as a double-cassette on the fuckittapes label, was recorded in two bedrooms with no intention of being shared with the outside world. how to survive in / in the woods finds the woods family at their most stripped-down and primitive. thirteen cuts of home-cooked measles and grout gingerly pulled out of the spleen of a tape deck are now reissued on the popular lp and cd formats. the woods are in the midst of touring and recording a follow-up long player due out in 2008. check out their almost fully baked humble beginnings on this much sought-after reissue.
the fourth full length by woods, songs of shame, rips deeper with both 90-second and 10-minute forays into skeletal psychedelia. this is not to say the idiosyncratic songwriting style & vocalizing of jeremy earl is not present in spades but expanded, colored, and twisted into a tie-dye of soundscapes. having toured incessantly over the last 12 months as a four piece (jarvis taveniere, g. lucas crane & kevin morby round out the band), many of the songs on shame benefit from having been road worn, windblown, and deeply grooved… awesome!
woods delivers the follow-up to 2010′s amazing at echo lake with another full-length gem. “woods is a two-headed dog asleep on the porch and a butterfly on the windowsill… a janus, a gemini and a screen door. the sun won’t fade and the earworms will not leave, but the jams go on too long for the girl in the back who wonders if her friends are at another bar. still, the ballads always make her cry. woods is up there relaying the woods-feel: folk-rock, fuzz, tambourines, tapes and raw lunch pulled straight from the yard. pop songs and other things: sun and shade. – glenn donaldson.
mysterious, little known & very rare xian new jersey femme private press. really a magical one for those who can get down with this type of thing. its got a definite folky coffeehouse vibe, but theres a depth & fragility here way beyond your average SSW stuff. very deep loner vibe. she’s clearly totally burnt on the hippy scene as well as the church, so she’s left quite alone with her feelings. at moments you can literally hear that she’s on verge of tears. pretty intense stuff. all solo guitar and voice other then the albums centerpiece ‘autumn’s child’ which is mindblowning psychfolk with wailing hand drums, really heavy acoustic guitar, and blasted vocals. a really monster track… not every track is a winner, but as a whole a really stunning album and a real grower full of hidden charms. its totally got the look too: heavy textured folkways type split pocket cover, with very crude yellow paper xerox warp-around paste-on art, with hand stamped ‘have a happy day’ smiley face. xerox lyric insert as well. cover has spine wear (not split), slight staining, and a tear to the xerox art about an inch square, but it misses all the art and its really quite subtle considering. vinyl has many scuffs and lite scratches, but nothing too deep and it still plays very well, better then it looks. the right person is really gonna dig this one… VG++/VG.
very last copies of this deleted album!
the xenis emputae travelling band is mr. phil legard of the hallowe’ed borough of yorkshire, england. he has been hard at work since 2001 making psychedelic folk-concrete inspired by the psychogeography and mythology of various secret regions of the british countryside. xetb has released plenty of cdrs and tapes over the years (all limited editions, long sold out etc etc) but, aside from one track on a cold spring records cd, nothing at all in a “posh” format – something we at memoirs thought we should do something about. we are, after all, classy folks and that. mr. legard is also a writer on various occult and esoteric matters, his most recent publication being a contribution to the new translation of “the consecrated little book of black venus” (waning moon publications). he also has several other music projects, most notably the neon death slittes and pneumonic consort. he is also, for his many sins, a frequent collaborator in ashtray navigations. “the pyrognomic glass” was originally released by us as a ltd. ed cdr back in 2005. by popular demand it is back, this time on vinyl, and including “abital – or conferences with the genii of nocturnal and diurnal dew in vii chapters”, a beautifully-printed 28 page chapbook by mr legard, most profitable to students of natural philosophy. limited to 250 copies… great to see this sweet album on vinyl!
original pressing of this west coast cult psych private press. only 500 pressed. father yod sits out this session, letting the band take total control, and as a result this is one of their most accessible & best with some real killers. totally classic cover art, and includes the rare art inner sleeve too. sweet copy. neat 1.5 inch split to bottom seam, but otherwise only very faint wear. real clean wax & inner sleeve. EX+/EX+.
the legendary father yod was a wealthy man, with a rich inner life, a family of disciples that loved him, many, many women and seemingly unlimited power. so why at the height of his success, did he choose to spend his time playing rock and roll? having a band in residency at father house provided him and all his children with another path to travel in their never-ending search for experience and wisdom. taking time out from their busy schedule as father’s students and spiritual seekers in the source family, sunflower, octavius, pythias and djin took instruments in hand and, at a mere gesture from father, turned up the amps and began tapping into the cosmos. first, they recorded themselves. the energy was good. equipped by father with instruments and effects pedals to ensure that they could create music that came ‘from the spheres,’ their sounds provided spiritual growth to everyone in the source family. after a time, father became the lead singer, as ‘a way to record wisdom in a modern, youth-oriented way,’ djin tells us. and yahowha 13 was born with sunflower, octavius and djin. the music was recorded at a studio in the father house on a teac 4-track reel-to-reel machine and was released on the source family’s higher key records label. in a couple short years, nine lps were created, to be sold at the source restaurant and at yahowha 13 shows. much sought-after items today, they’ve all been reissued. even more exciting is the material that wasn’t released – enough music to fill over sixty albums, all of them mind-blowers. skimmed from the riches in isis aquarian’s vaults (by dave nuss of the no-neck blues band), the nine tracks on magnificence in the memory run the gamut of yahowha 13′s rainbow of styles, from the whispered funk of ‘camp of the gypsies’ to the screaming and stomping of, well, ‘camp of the gypsies.’ storming through moments with abandon, father and his sons never repeated themselves, committing everything they did to tape in a single take. the capacity of their riffs and grooves to sound like german prog bands of the same era, psychedelic rock bands of several years previous or the as-yet-uncreated avant sounds from the indie rock movement a decade away is testament to their ability to tap the source of human inspiration. adds octavius, ‘these cuts will always be a source of inspiration.’ the songs on magnificence in the memory were chosen to provide a non-stop exciting listening experience for source fans and neophytes alike – and as sunflower has stated, ‘father’s music is our legacy and represents the voice of the times.’
first studio recordings in 30 years from the incredible underground psych masters! the organic fluctuations of sonic chemistry. wildly primal. jazzy. blues-y. electrical. contagious. always inspired. music is channeled from the divine. unpracticed, unpretentious, and wickedly rockable! fire. water. air. ether. earth. fusing every element; taking you on an energetic cosmic carpet ride. sonic portation is the long awaited result, the first studio recordings in over 30 years by yahowha 13! released in november 2008 by prophase music, original members djin, octavius and sunflower jam out like the ensuing years never happened. incredible improv pieces with mind melting guitar and the psychedelic low end throb that all yod fans will immediately recognize. 2009 saw the band tour extensively for the first time in their fabled career, including performances in seattle, portland, arcata, san francisco, and la (where they were joined at the end of their set by billy corgan !?!). during their run of the east coast, dc, balt, philly, ny and new haven, the band had the opportunity to spend some time at the welfare line studios in royersford pa to record the foundation to their follow up release for sonic portation, “2013″. in july 2009, the band headlined the million tongues festival in chicago and performed at the ottawa blues festival, one of the largest music festivals in n america. additionally the entire east coast tour was professionally documented in high definition film by a very active hollywood filmmaker. a 17 minute short of this document will be debuting at film festivals throughout n america beginning this winter… hand numbered vinyl gatefold limited to 500. multi-color vinyl.
beater MONO orig. of their best US album. VG-/VG-.
monster rare usa private pressing from 1968, rated with 6 stars in the hans pokora 3001 book. the yays & nays were a groovy, hip group comprised of three guys and three girls. this is a truly unique sounding album, full of creative songwriting and vocal arrangements and a style that defies any categorization. there’s some fab garage folk-rock on it (the opening track ‘gotta keep travelling’ is really astounding!), and also some tracks in a bizarre crooner-lounge incredibly strange music vein. reissued for the first time, in collaboration with band members, and with original artwork… great & unusual album!
second solo full-length from ed yazijian, also known for his long running but sparsely documented collaborations with dredd foole, featuring eight disparate tracks recorded between 1996 and 2009. each side starts off with some slow burning guitar (accented by bowed contrabass and violin on side two) that reverberates with an ease past midnight vibe. the album then weaves through a personalized space featuring eastern percussion, mainlined/cosmic violin drones and intercepted radio transmissions from an unknown origin. the record concludes with a contemplative guitar which is enveloped in tape hiss that eases its way in before fading away. the lp pressed in an edition of 350 copies and is presented in a full colour printed sleeve that is at one itself and with the spirits an opaque facsimile.
minimal and tense recordings from the man behind burning star core. made up of ten unprocessed live to tape violin experiments edited from the original tapes originally issued as limited edition cdrs on c. spencer yeh’s drone disco imprint. the sounds on this record range from tense scrapes to minimal textural drones. a beautiful statement. edition of 400 copies with three-color screen print on front, one color on back… sweet one.
first ever vinyl reissue of this rare and sought after us psychedelic folk album from 1977, very much uk folk-styled. limited to 600 copies, all with exact reproduction of the original insert with lyrics… great intense pagan folk psych obscurity, recorded in the same studio within weeks of black flag’s nervous breakdown lp! ***there were warping problems with most copies sold, but these copies included a second lp (no cover) without warping, so you essentially get 2 copies for the price one, one of which may or may not be warped. got it? can’t go wrong, 2 for one…
west coast psych with some strong yardbirds / stones vibes and one stand-out neil young influenced downer folkrock ballad complete with a sweet vocal harmonies & a hot extended fuzz solo. uni-pak gatefold cover. punch hole. EX-/VG+.
a chance nightclub pairing of the incomparable michael yonkers with minneapolis noise rockers the blind shake went so exceptionally well that a studio session ensued. the result is this, one of two vinyl documents that represent by far the most exciting new work that yonkers has recorded since his international emergence. the blind shake rock with a sound not unlike latter-day hammerhead (which might be a better thing than you think), with yonkers splattering maniacal guitar shards and impassioned vocals over the top. add the best collection of songs (with great, skewered goddamn hooks) yonkers has come up with since at least the early ’70s and you have a serious contender for rock record of the year. packaged in beautiful silkscreened sleeves designed by zak sally (ex-low). limited edition of 400 copies… totally sweet packaging!
the second of two startling michael yonkers releases is an eight-band lp of solo, modified guitar improvisations. these recordings were picked from a number of tapes representing the entire works recorded by yonkers that utilized a severely altered steinberger knockoff guitar (that has since been retired). the music was recorded on a high-speed four-channel cassette machine, further manipulated during mastering. this is the “noise” record that lucky regional yonkers aficionados have been hoping for since witnessing his infrequent, brain-scrambling, all-instrumental performances-and then some! vinyl-only edition of 303 numbered copies in a gorgeous, four-color hand-screened jacket by minneapolis artist and printer dan black complete the scrumptious package… another real sweet one.
quite rare jersey private press underground new-wave/no-wave synth-pop. really cool ultra-obscure b&w cover could totally pass for a 60s psych private. marker on back, ring wear, seam splits. nice super thick wax. VG/EX+.
totally obscure & pretty cool maine xian teen garage folk / folkrock. some sappy typical duds of course, but about half the cuts are well above average with crude production, jangly tambourine, cheapo organ, drum kit, electric bass, and those wide-eyed teen vocals just off enough to be right. the few self penned tracks are obviously especially cool. ‘power to be’ is full of wild ham-fisted drumming, disjointed organ/piano interplay and pretty whacked vocals harmonies hitting almost MYSTIC ZEPHYRS 4 territory. a definite real people kiddie psych winner. great cover photo too. minor ring wear. nice wax. EX-/EX.
beautiful original silver label MONO pressing of powerful uk trad folk. striking nearly all black cover is ultra-clean fully in shrink. tiny dill hole. have removed old price sticker on shrink. orig inner sleeve. NM-/NM-.
cool & rare bootleg from a benefit concert organized by bill graham in early ’75 with RICK DANKO and others backing. dylan is mixed badly, but tons of fun anyway. two solo dylan tracks from ’64 tacked at the end too. b&w wraparound paste-on cover. awesome BLUE & BLACK SPLATTER VINYL. EX-/EX+.
surprising tough to score two-tone label first pressing of his 100% essential 2nd album. VG++/EX.
totally awesome full band bootleg recorded ‘69. great sound, amazing concert. 11”x11” pale green xerox insert taped to blank white cover. small ‘neil young’ in pen at edge of cover (not on insert). blank white labels hand labeled in pencil. essential one! EX-/VG++.
great & rare early 70s bootleg from a live radio broadcast. real good sound & a great session. blank white cover hand titled in marker. blank white labels. very clean wax! VG++/NM-.
debut album from the duo of richard youngs and tirath singh nirmala (nee john clyde-evans) that has the pair creating a bucolic minimalist meditation. side one interchangeably features hammered strings, gong/cymbal washes, droning vocals, and breathed shackuhachi/flutes. the second side leads with a melodious encounter before delving further into a glimmering psychedelia with sawed strings, fluttering reed organ and electronic drift. the results resemble a non-western approach to traditional musics filtered through the personalized aesthetic that runs through each of the artist’s prior works. the lp is enclosed in a full colour cover with suitable “of the earth” imagery… very limited pressing. beautiful full color cover art.
a reissue of richard young’s debut record, originally released in 1990 on his no fans label in an edition of 300 copies, and then again on table of the elements.”a three-part composition for piano, voice and ultra-nasty oboe and electric guitar. — alan licht… much needed vinyl reissue. very recommended!
richard youngs is a prolific british musician (located in glasgow) with an extremely diverse output. dusted magazine once wrote he is “defying strict genre classifications since the early nineties, swapping labels, styles, partners, motifs, and recording techniques as the desire has struck him”. so his new album for dekorder might not be a surprise to anyone following his career. still, a self-proclaimed all-electronic “ecstatic house record” comes somewhat unexpected. with a line of distinctive synthesizers often used for techno/house music youngs recreates the energy, euphoria and frenzy of these styles without ever trying to recreate the music note by note.the final outcome sounds like recordings made by aliens who have received transmissions about house music but never listened to the music itself. the album reminds of the sound of hallways/corridors inbetween large house parties where you can hear the music from several floors collide. while it’s an emulation, interpretation or replica of house music, it’s still managing to evoke similar feelings even though some might find it difficult to dance to the music. in the past, youngs has released several albums on a dozen labels such as vhf, jagjaguwar, table of the elements, gipsy sphinx, majora, chocolate monk, celebrate psi phenomena, fusetron and his own no fans outlet. he has collaborated with neil campbell (aka astral social club), matthew bower, simon wickham-smith and many others and was a member of the a-band and has performed live and in the studio with sunroof! and skullflower. additionally, youngs played bass for jandek, appearing on three of his live records/dvd’s.
guerssen reissues this mega-rare private pressing from france, 1975, with only 300 copies originally made. pretty unknown album, and a killer! nothing you would expect from a french record, really. this is 100% usa early-’70s sounding stuff: west coast folk-rock with a psychedelic edge, csny feel, acoustic & electric guitars, some fierce fuzz assaults and english vocals. an incredible discovery! the original pressing came with a plain white cover, and a few copies were later pasted-on with a few very low quality photos. for this reissue guerssen used this restored original artwork and also included a booklet with info and photos. fantastic remastered sound.
very limited. sweet packaging & 180gm vinyl. one copy only.
zaimph is working cover for the solo experiments of marcia bassett, formerly of un and double leopards, currently of ghq and hototogisu. the undetermined dyad functions as the fulcrum of her career to date, looking back towards her experiments in group levitation with double leopards while extrapolating on her recent solo work. most of all it’s a *guitar* record and one that sits comfortably alongside previous six-string monoliths like john fahey’s days have gone by, donald miller’s a little treatise on morals or masayuki takayanagi’s live at zojoji hall while sounding quite unlike any of them. bassett’s re-imagining of the instrument pushes it to the point of almost-translucence, where the physical fact of the guitar itself is almost completely subsumed by echo, f/x, loops and the kind of improvisatory logic that prizes infinite expansion and organic growth over repeated tropes or riffs. aspects of the first side – the eerie ghost voices, the deep space echo – recall the electrified ritual of nomadic japanese avant gardists taj mahal travellers but more immediately it sounds like a magnification of her individual contribution to double leopards, generating towers of electricity that move from malevolent arcs of anti-gravity and spumes of throttled single notes through to deep wormholes that do violence to feeble notions of time and space. the b side is a little more aggressive, with the tactile sound of strings on pick-ups anchoring a gorgeous wash of all-consuming drone and garage band fuzz before bassett cranks the tone into realms of total sonic reducer. if your concept of the guitar begins with jimi hendrix setting the fucking thing on fire and ends with the sound of voltage completely liberated from any kind of tonal or harmonic anchor whatsoever then this record may well be the girl you’ve been praying for. but you won’t wanna introduce her to your parents. edition of 300 copies, with jackets featuring original artwork by marcia bassett, all silkscreened by alan sherry of siwa and with a full-colour insert wrapped in a japanese plastic sleeve. expertly mastered by tom carter of charalambides.
absolute mega-rarity, an incredible discovery and the ultimate folk-psych artifact unearthed directly from teheran! female vocalist pari zangeneh recorded this really amazing album in 1976 with a full backing band, covering a number of traditional persian folk songs and giving them a lovely psychedelic flavor. beautiful strings, flutes, really charming and tasty drumming, some organ and orchestration, percussion. a truly fantastic album, and one of the rarest folk-psych records ever to file along other obscurities as book of am or mellow candle! … deluxe reissue in a super heavy (shadoks style) exact repro textured cover, 180gm vinyl, numbered edition of 350.
blue label original. VG/VG.
in 2004 the zashiki warashi organization began sending out pieces of music through the mail to various parties in different geographic locations asking them to interact with it in some way and return it, which would then be assembled into a larger whole. this album is the result. includes battles with: burning star core, alan dubin (khanate, gnaw, old), marcia bassett (double leopards, zaimph), david shuford (nnck, enos slaughter), pigeons, kuwayama kiyoharu, marshall avett (zandosis), greg wildes (gas tank orchestra), carter thornton, carl smith / derek phelps, darwin smith, smith harrison, dr. mijin kim. vinyl only. limited to 550 copies.
twenty dense minutes of one guitar flipping from amp to two dollar box in a small room of sweet tile… one sided with action photo pasted to the wax…. edition of 200 copies… out of print. paste-on/hand made recycled covers.
it’s back to the bathroom for another twenty minute slice – this time four cellos zone and drone around the tiled walls (my bathroom, your brain) – lights out, goodnight – hand embellished recycled cover. long out of print. limited to 200 copies.
after their world-wide and unexpected hit with time of the season, the somehow announced death of the zombies, who had indeed already disbanded, was put off by an attempt at prolonging this success. using new odyssey & oracle-era recordings, and rescuing some old decca outtakes and demos, a new album was prepared for release. unfortunately the album never saw the light; instead, a couple of singles were released, and the rest of the album was discarded… until some of the material featured here was released in several compilation albums during the ’70s and the ’80s, much to the astonishment of zombies fans. this is the first time that the album is released in the way it was conceived. unlike much of the ‘unreleased’ material of other bands, the content of the lp matches the published work of the zombies, in terms of song-writing and production, confirming the talent of one of the most influential bands of the sixties… very cool item for the serious fan.