"The yearly summit of Keiji Haino, Jim O'Rourke and Oren Ambarchi continues with Imikuzushi, which finds the group extending the power-trio strategies of 2011's highly-praised In A Flash Everything Comes Together As One There Is No Need For A Subject (BT 005LP) and bringing to them a newly-sustained intensity. For this performance, Haino limits himself to electric guitar and vocals, forming complex networks of slashing rhythm work, noise squall and chromatic shredding, moving at times to near-silent passages of howled vocals and isolated, hanging guitar strums. The tendency towards driving free-rock which surfaced on moments of the trio's last release is cemented here, with O'Rourke's fuzzed-out, non-linear bass riffing moving the music into almost garage-rock areas, combining with Ambarchi's drums to form a bedrock of hypnotic, metronomic pounding which transforms itself effortlessly into passages of flowing free-time. Like all of Haino's best work, the trio transcends any 'rock' genre exercise to enter a non-idiomatic zone of ritual intensity, creating a music formed purely out of instrumental and group-mind possibility. Presented as four unedited excerpts salvaged from an epic show that lasted well over three hours, the sometimes raw nature of the recording only adds to its directness and harshly emotive quality." --Francis Plagne, Melbourne, November, 2011; Released as a 6-panel digipak CD. Design by Stephen O'Malley (Sunn O)))) with high quality live shots by Ujin Matsuo and stunning images by Tokyo-based photographer and sound artist Shunichiro Okada.
Bureau B reissues this collaboration between Dieter Moebius and Karl Renziehausen, initially released on the Pinpoint label in 1990. Liner notes by Asmus Tietchens. "1990 sees Dieter Moebius enter new musical territory, cautiously reconnoitering the digital world. His companion on this excursion is Karl Renziehausen, a visual artist and constructor of sound sculptures. The two of them distance themselves sonically and musically from existing Moebius collaborations with Conny Plank and Gerd Beerbohm (almost all of which have been reissued on Bureau B); similarly, only sporadic echoes can be heard of Cluster and Harmonia, two projects whose style Moebius influenced significantly over a number of years. There is an exactness to the music of Moebius and Renziehausen, who allow nothing to stray from their chosen path. They stage seven little musical comedies with different plots, much as if they were writing for the theater. Common to each of the pieces is a prevailing mood of surrealism: Moebius appears to have an unlimited menagerie of imaginary sonic creatures at his disposal, introduced to the audience in a clearly discernible framework of dramaturgy. Their actions are utterly unpredictable, the 'plot' develops in the listener's head. Renziehausen constructs the space: moving scenery to accommodate wonderful transparency and depth, as warm, bright light affords a clear view of each and every delectable detail. Ersatz is music at its most pictorial, far removed from cheap, programmed music. Although Moebius and Renziehausen frequently cross the boundaries of tonality, they still remain firmly grounded. The connection to the real world is never completely severed. Which is what makes this music so puzzling to anyone willing to engage with it: the occasional fleeting sense of something familiar, yet no sooner than something appears which one might have heard before, it disappears again, replaced by something new and unrecognizable. Listeners can look forward to nine meticulously crafted soundscapes of uncharted, fantastic regions. Soundscapes, perhaps, of some imitation paradise? Rather than measure this album by a musical yardstick then, one ought to evaluate it as one of the great discoveries in its own right." --Asmus Tietchens
LP version with CD, poster & sticker.
Total Reflection X-ray Fluorescence (TXRF)* is a method used to analyze the surfaces of materials by firing extremely flat X-rays. Subsequently, the physicist Joachim Knoth (1941-2004) developed a patent for precise measurement of defects in semiconductor chips. In 10 sequenced-based electronic miniatures, Felix Kubin, who presently consists of dangerous uninsulated powerlines, conducts the TXRF through an acoustical test arrangement. The experiment consists solely of a synthesizer, filter and sequencer. Full-bodied consecutive organisms arise out of which kaleidoscopic iridescent blossoms sprout. At times they appear as acoustic by-products of high energy discharges on an X-ray picture and sometimes as quiescent fluorescent images. Who knows when the experiment will come to an end? Will X-rays break at irregularities? Will transparent ears crawl over fixtures and make laboratory benches corrode? In view of the entire event's musical beauty, all these questions are completely unimportant. Felix Kubin is one of electronic music's most dynamic and versatile personalities. A love-child of the home recording era, his various experiments and epithets include radio playwright, composer of Futurist and Dadatronic experimental pop as well as chamber orchestra music, filmmaker, incendiary performer, record label owner, lecturer and curator. He has made artwork in all sorts of fields since the 1980s, after studying media art at the ArtEZ Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in Enschede, Netherlands and illustration/animation at the University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg. Kubin's music is saturated with enthusiasm for disharmonic pop, industrial noise, and 20th-century avant-garde music.
French label extraordinaire Kitsuné releases Kitsuné Parisien II, a colorful and exciting collection of tracks from the latest emerging bands and acts on the vibrant Parisian scene(s) and beyond. Rich from its experience and contacts, Kitsuné -- a great Parisian export -- is, of course, well-placed to encounter the new breed and single out talented hopefuls. This is precisely what the Parisien series aims to do, gather and present to the world some of the romantic city's freshest players, whether they rehearse in damp cellars, compose on their laptop in the kitchen or record in state-of-the-art home-studios. Of course, it's not just about Paris, as a few artists here don't actually live in the capital, but they're all French and have a Parisian connection going (not least for having been welcomed in the extended Kitsuné family). Covering the many bases of electro-pop, indie-dance and everything in between, Parisien II -- selected by Kitsuné chef Gildas Loaëc and designed by night bird/graffiti artist André -- offers a lively snapshot of what is cooking up for 2012 in Paris and further afield. Artists include: Tomorrow's World, Juveniles, Owlle, LESCOP, About The Girl, Nameless, Birkii, BeatauCue, We Are Knights, Wolfpack Beartrack, Slowdance, Exotica, LA//KVLKD and Pyramid.
Over the course of ten albums -- not to mention an avalanche of side projects, remixes and collaborations -- Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma of Mouse On Mars established themselves as two of the most inventive and unpredictable artists in electronic music. But since they delivered the bracing, angular salvo that was Varcharz back in 2006 and their Von Südenfed collaboration with Mark E. Smith (The Fall) in 2007, there has been an uncharacteristic period of silence. In 2012, that silence is broken. Mouse On Mars' triumphant return comes in the shape of Parastrophics, a life-affirming and constantly surprising album which is crammed with ideas, exuberance and sheer kinetic energy. It's like listening to the entire history of pop music -- distilled, refined and crystallized into a string of compulsive new shapes, full of glitter, intrigue and addictive detail. Atomized fragments from two lifetimes of listening flare and fade, tiny scraps of memory shrapnel hover, tantalizing and insubstantial, before being whisked away by the next impatient idea. But despite all that restless curiosity, Parastrophics also demonstrates a peerless command of pace. Whereas some previous Mouse On Mars releases have bordered on the frenetic, their latest displays a subtle but persuasive sense of control. Even when tempos climb, 303s squirm and kick/snare patterns snap to brisk attention, there's an elegance to the way that each element slips in and out of the mix which speaks of maturity. Parastrophics is as a playful as ever, but it's never throwaway. The closing track "Seaqz" is a gorgeous slice of space-age mood music, measured in tone despite all its microscopic activity, and it brings into focus the beguiling sense of confidence that suffuses the whole record. All of which is a roundabout way of saying that, after six years away, Mouse On Mars have come back with their best record yet.
Based in Bristol, UK, Ryan Teague is a composer, producer and guitarist working in the field of electro-acoustic and minimalist composition. His music combines contemporary instrumentation and arrangements with electronics and processing. He also produces music and sound design for various film and TV productions. Working with an array of instruments and sound sources, Ryan's music often blurs the line between organic and processed sound, resulting in a unique range of soundscapes. The results are incorporated into a minimalist framework combining structured composition with improvised spontaneity, making for highly original contemporary works. Ryan has released music on labels such as Type Records, Sonic Pieces and Village Green, and has contributed to numerous compilations and other releases. He has subsequently worked with an array of musicians and ensembles and has toured internationally in support of these releases. As well as receiving extensive national radio play on BBC Radio 3, BBC 6 Music and Classic FM, Ryan's film and TV credits include work for Coca-Cola©, Subaru, Universal Music Group and the BBC, amongst others. Mastered by Andreas Tilliander.
'"In 1995 Steve Peters and Steve Roden toured as a trio with singer Anna Homler; sometimes they would vocalize behind her, and they liked the way their voices blended together. They then spent about 15 years saying that 'someday' they should record a voice-based project together. Aside from the physical distance between them, the problem was always: What would we sing? Neither wanted to write or sing lyrics. Inspiration came in the form of a book of Japanese jisei -- poems allegedly written by monks on their death bed -- printed in both English translation and Romanized Japanese. Phonetically pronouncing the Japanese reminded Peters of the technique Roden has used of systematically chopping up the syllables in English texts to transform them into sound poems. Since neither of them speaks Japanese, it seemed like a good place to begin. The two of them applied for a residency at Jack Straw, a non-profit recording facility in Seattle that gives grants of studio time. They had no exact plans other than they intended to avoid electronic instruments, or directly referencing the poems' literal meaning, or imitating any Japanese musical idioms or 'Zen' stereotypes. Culling some of the poems that made references to sound and noting them on 3x5 cards, Peters and Roden sorted the cards into four groups according to the seasons of the year that the poems represented, divided the cards between them, and taped them to their music stands. They then sang random fragments from the various cards - a word here, a line there, maybe backwards, maybe the English translation. They made no effort to keep the poems intact or retain any of their meaning, instead treating the material simply as phonemes to put in their mouths. 12k is known to be a label of understatement and restraint, however, Not A Leaf Remains As It Was is arguably the most hushed and delicate record in the label's catalog. Every sound on the album's four tracks, be it the artists' voices, a pump organ or melodica hangs by a thread, played ever so slightly, with utmost care. Noises, created from turtle shells, leaves, and bells shuffle and flutter, as if they are quietly alive, in the background providing a textural backdrop to the sublime tones and ghostly voices."
Robbie Basho's 1969 guitar classic. Basho was one of the main '60s acoustic guitar innovators, alongside John Fahey and Leo Kottke. Gatefold 180 gram reissue.
Vinyl compilation of Boysnoize digital-only sublabel BNR TRAX. Just 15 months after the launch of BNR's sub-label BNR TRAX, Boysnoize Records is proud to see that the newborn has grown up and become a highly profiled digital platform for innovative experimental music and real techno rockets. So far there have been 11 BNR TRAX releases so far... strong releases featuring Benny Rodrigues, Para One, Bobmo, Maelstrom or completely unknown youngsters such as Audionite and BS1. BNR TRAX 01-10 is a compilation of the best stuff that BNR TRAX has to offer over the first 10 releases and a good opportunity to have bombs like Strip Steve & Das Glow's "Calcium," Para One's "Nevrosis" and Bobmo's "Northside" as a physical copy. BNR is proud to be able to offer you this release, especially if you weren't aware of the great music that has been happening here on BNR TRAX. BNR TRAX 01-10 features Strip Steve & Das Glow, Djedjotronic, Shadow Dancer, Para One, Maxime Dangles, Benny Rodrigues, Electric Rescue, Audionite and Maelstrom. Boysnoize is looking forward to a new year with more bombs and rockets.
ROEDELIUS
Plays Piano (Live In London 1985) LP
LP version. Breathtakingly beautiful piano fantasies from the year 1985 -- released for the very first time! In 1985, Hans-Joachim Roedelius was still perceived by the music community as an electronic artist. Yet ever since acquiring his Bösendorfer grand piano in 1983, his interest had grown in the most royal of instruments: the piano. While staying with Brian Eno in 1985 (they had collaborated earlier in the '70s), Roedelius composed a wealth of new material on his friend's two grand pianos (or, as Roedelius would say: the music flew to him). He organized a series of concerts to introduce his new musical direction, with the Bloomsbury Theatre in London amongst the venues. Guests included Brian Eno and The Edge, with Roedelius taking the belated opportunity to use the artwork to thank them accordingly for their support. For Roedelius, this London concert remains one of the highlights of his career: "At the Bloomsbury Theatre I encountered a Steinway grand piano of exceptional quality. I was thus given the perfect opportunity to put my ideas of simple piano rendition into practice. For me, the aural explorer, it was a gift from heaven," he describes of the instrument. The audience responded enthusiastically. "People were kneeling down before me in gratitude and happiness," Roedelius recalls. And anyone who listens to the recordings will understand why. Roedelius plays his way through 21 delicate, drifting piano fantasies, sometimes meandering dreamfully, often progressing towards gorgeous, deeply moving melodies. Asmus Tietchens musings on Roedelius' 1991 opus Piano Piano are just as valid here: "His music is quiet and focused, but to call it contemplative or even meditative would also be wide of the mark: not all music which draws us out of ourselves is accompanied by spiritual pomp." (Fortunately, there is no audible trace of the audience at any point of the recording.) Which leaves us with the question: why did we have to wait 25 years for this treasure to see the light of day? Roedelius explains: "I always knew that this concert would have to be made available some day, I was just waiting for the right moment, for the right partners who would do it justice." On 180 gram vinyl with free download code.
180 gram LP version. Bureau B reissues the second collaboration between Dieter Moebius and Karl Renziehausen, originally released in 1992 on the Spanish Nova Era label. Liner notes by Asmus Tietchens. "Two years after the release of Ersatz (1990), Moebius and Renziehausen issued Ersatz II as the culmination of their ongoing studio collaboration. It is as meticulously-crafted as Ersatz, dipped in the same luminance and confounds with a similar wealth of musical ideas. And yet Ersatz II does not simply carry on where Ersatz left off. Moebius and Renziehausen composed and improvised quite intuitively on Ersatz, emptying their music of messy ballast, yet adding decorous, delicate detail. This is even more true of Ersatz II, with the marked difference that the music has become even more transparent and the individual tracks shorter in length. The two sound artists reach an almost ascetic level with their unwavering concentration on musical substance and the deliberateness of their creative approach. 'Almost' is the word, for this is a pop album with all of the vibrancy associated with this world. It is neither minimalist in the academic sense nor suitable for any form of meditative exercise, the brevity of the tracks already enough to preclude this. The album also differs from Ersatz rhythmically: it is almost danceable. Again, only 'almost,' as Renziehausen and Moebius defy conventional rules of rhythm to such an extent that one might easily stumble. Harmonies and melodies, on the other hand, appear immediately familiar. Nevertheless, listeners will still have a sense of standing (or listening) on shaky ground. Ersatz II defines pop music in an idiosyncratic, rather odd manner, using the same pieces but coming up with whole new patterns. If there were such a thing as a kaleidoscope with asymmetrical pictures, then this would be something to which one could compare the music of Ersatz II. Colorful, shimmering and always a little off-kilter. When Ersatz II appeared almost 20 years ago, this form of electronic music had no place in the hype of the early '90s. Moebius and Renziehausen were not bothered in the slightest, instead working towards the goal of their own musical world, a place as vivid and imaginative as possible. Far removed from turgid abstraction, Ersatz II is particularly enjoyable as the two musicians can really be heard playing with one another, intelligently, spontaneously and more than adeptly." --Asmus Tietchens
Following the success of Guerssen's first Ahmad Zahir release, here's a stronger second chapter: a full double LP set. A new, exciting selection from this Afghani legend's proud discography, with his very own sound blending folk with pop and hits of psychedelia, the Afghan way. This second volume features a surprising marriage of Western music with Afghan melodies, and at the center, the crooning voice of a one-of-a-kind artist that happened to shake his country's musical and cultural foundations forever.
Gatefold double LP version. Marc Houle has been famous for his releases on Richie Hawtin's M_nus label. Now the U.S. producer unleashes his brand-new album on his own imprint Items & Things (which is co-owned by Magda and Troy Pierce). Undercover is a double departure. His last album, Drift (MINUS 098CD/LP) was on M_nus, and his label, Items & Things, was a M_nus sub-label. He's now left the label, and Items & Things stands on its own two feet. With this new-found freedom, Marc's synth-driven techno sound continues to grow, evolve and surprise. Nowhere is this growth more evident than in the tracks that make up Undercover. Things kick off with "Hearing," which has a bassline that drives like a vintage Mercedes shifting gears on the Autobahn as it picks up speed. The synths, with their soft melody, let you know how smooth the suspension is while a metallic voice whispers in your ear from the back seat. "Undercover" is a case study in the deep and moody side of old school Chicago house. "Juno 6660" sounds like what could have happened if early Warp artists like LFO and Sweet Exorcist had grown up on NYC freestyle rather than Detroit techno. "Very Bad" is actually very good, so Marc must be referring to something else entirely. "Bink" sounds like it's from an old music box that's been wound up just a little too far, held steady only by 4/4 beat, acid house claps and bouncy bass. On "Am Am Am," Marc takes things in a bit of an industrial direction. Not the industrial of Nitzer Ebb and Einstürzende Neubauten, but rather, a construction site buried deep inside an unsettling dream. When "Mooder" drops, you wake up slowly and find yourself back on the dancefloor. The track's driving rhythm and pitter-pat toms keep things moving underneath the track's ever-dreamy pads. The album concludes with "Under The Neath," which succeeds in taking things even deeper while at the same time unearthing Marc's roots in the sound of Detroit techno. With influence and inspiration from such diverse sources, Undercover carves out a distinctive flow that is all his own.
"Right on cue, the third annual report from Chicago's Disappears is submitted for your consideration. Following up on the acclaimed Guider album released just over a year ago, and with new drummer Steve Shelley now fully integrated into the group, these songs were again forged into proper shape during live shows before heading to the studio and the tape machine. Never ones to dither or be indecisive, it's a full-bore assault from the opening track to the last as Disappears attack these new songs with their usual relentless determination. It's a sinister proceeding - debut Lux was preoccupied with death and endings while follow up Guider with protection - but Pre Language finds the band speaking on, of all things, love. Direct allusions to Philip K. Dick, James Baldwin, and Joan of Arc sit side by side with songs about the lows of life and the characters that permeate it. Recorded in Hoboken New Jersey at Sonic Youth's Echo Canyon West studio and mixed with John Congleton, Pre Language finds Disappears at their most potent and focused. The band has finally stepped into their own world and the results are thrilling."
2012 repress. Produced slowly and meticulously, these seven tracks by Manchester's Andy Stott take influence from an array of seemingly incoherent noises, from the indefinable and unforgettable mind-tricks of Arthur Russell to the slow house of Kassem Mosse, from the alternate VHS realities of James Ferraro and Jamal Moss to the LinnDrum classics of the vintage Prince era. These seven tracks create their own pace and agenda, largely shying away from the dancefloor in favor of something more complex and hard to define. Following on from the tribal malfunctions of opening intro "Signature," "New Ground" heads into a chasm of layered loops, creating a decimated and re-wired funk template colored in with frayed percussion and dislodged vocal samples. "North To South" starts off from similar ground but adds a shuffling vibe at a deceptively intoxicated 110 bpm. "Intermittent" is something altogether different, taking perfectly formed boogie templates and screwing with them until nothing quite fits, brittle elements floating in and out of time yet somehow keeping it together, before "Dark Details" delivers the most dancefloor compatible six-minute stretch of the set, all clanging stabs and dense percussion, somewhere between Shackleton and Bam Bam. "Execution" and "Passed Me By" end things off on a slowed-down tip, the former deploying an anaesthetized and padded 4/4 template sunk deeper into the abyss by deformed, time-stretched vocals, the latter ending off proceedings with a more delicate palette, letting go of all that pent-up emotion with nothing but that rumbling low-end and some strings for company. Mastered and cut at Dubpates & Mastering, Berlin.
2012 repress. Recorded in the immediate aftermath of his last EP Passed Me By, this new double pack from Andy Stott features six new productions that are more desolate and exposed than anything on its predecessor. The opening "Submission" tumbles into being with layers of washed-out digital revolutions, creating an artificial landscape that's quite at odds with the analog machinations that follow -- yet somehow rendering the alienated feel of this material perfectly. "Posers" nudges its way into being abruptly and embeds another squashed funk variant that's all low-lit neon and growling textures, awkwardly shuffling into a more robust 4/4 template suffused with sparkling percussion and disembodied vocals. "Bad Wires" is the centerpiece of the EP, a relentless percussive clusterfuck that belies its slow tempo with a fearless, rhythmic attitude. It's as immersive and narcotic as anything ever produced by Stott -- peeling away one layer after another with each repeated listen. "We Stay Together" (Part One) was the first track written for the EP and offers a more spacious narrative and a more sparkling, hazy palette -- culminating in a beautifully frayed central hook that's somehow in keeping with the VHS aesthetic of both Jamal Moss and Ferris Bueller. "Cherry Eye" tumbles deep into a darkened hole before EP closer "Cracked" turns up, fuelled by an odd mixture of adrenalin and sorrow to send you on your way, buzzing and forlorn. Mastered and cut at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin.
"John Bischoff (b. 1949) is an early pioneer of live computer music. He was a founding member of the League of Automatic Music Composers (1978), considered to be the world's first Computer Network Band. His long experience teaching music theory, harmony, and counterpoint is evident in his work: in the elegant balance of elements in his pieces can be heard an intuitive understanding of traditional musical forms expressed in sonic palettes far removed from the ones around which those forms were originally constructed. He describes his work as 'a music built from the intrinsic features of the electronic medium at hand: high definition noise components, tonal edges, digital shading, and non-linear motion, all evolving in the variable context of live performance.' While these features are all prominent, his work can also be considered fundamentally as a form of 'expanded counterpoint,' one in which the juxtaposition of sonic elements and their compositional development is a central concern. His work possesses a clear and intuitive sense of formal clarity combined with a nuanced deployment of audio events and textures. The title of this collection refers most literally to the methods of assembling the elements of Bischoff's work. In one brief phrase it describes both a methodology that is used to build the pieces and the concrete results of that activity. By terming the process combine rather than combination, he focuses on the act and experience of juxtaposing sounds over their semantic results once they are combined. Though some of the processes heard here involve recycling timings or sounds, their deployment is always in the present and they are imbued with a clarity that only listening in the moment can provide. As new combinations and permutations of sonic materials emerge, the perceptual focus is always on the physical sound, whether acoustic or electronic in origin."
One of the innumerable bands to emerge from the post-Beatles Japanese tour of 1966 with Fab Four pretentions. The Mops were a Tokyo quintet led by drummer Mikiharu Suzuki who had cut his musical teeth in a Ventures-style combo in the previous spring. The line-up was augmented by the arrival of Suzuki's older brother, Hiromitu, a lead vocalist with an Eric Burdon obsession who added hugely to the band's fuzzy garage soul sound. Not just a Merseyside homage turn, The Mops were a dedicated family whose love of garage rock and the nascent psychedelia would help them to create some of the most urgently deranged and musically disruptive music of the entire Group Sounds-era. Exit, a live recording, features in its entirety the band's 1974 last concert at Nakano San Plaza. Features the original LP artwork and includes the original Japanese insert. This is the first 180 gram vinyl reissue.
LP version. Sven Kacirek, the much-praised multi-instrumentalist from Hamburg, releases his third album with Pingipung. Scarlet Pitch Dreams presents intimate solo works, following his debut The Palmin Sessions (2007) and the international success The Kenya Sessions (PING 020CD), which was honored with a German Record Critic's Award for the second quarter of 2011. While The Kenya Sessions revealed fruitful collaborations with Kenyan musicians, almost every single instrument on Scarlet Pitch Dreams has been played, recorded and produced by Sven Kacirek himself. Within these dreamy séances of percussive virtuosity, Kacirek has effortlessly found his original sound -- from the first whirring of the prepared grand in the opener to the massively rolling drumset crescendo in the last track. Jazzbrush patterns define Sven Kacirek's sonic identity. They create beat structures on wood, glass, and paper which sound like digital sampler tweakings -- but they are not. "For the previous records I had been led by the production process in the first place, cutting loops, use of FX and so on. But here, everything has been written down in notation first, and has then been properly recorded," Kacirek says. This handcraft -- and the craftiness in Sven Kacirek's handling of his recording and production technology -- are two blessed aspects to this record. The 11 tracks burst with sonic details and never dwell on aimless repetition -- they are tied together with wide melodic arcs, and at times they sound like a classical jazz recording, at other times they show their influences from dub techno and clicks & cuts. Featured guests on this record include Jana Plewa (Old Splendifolia, The Kat Cosm) on vocals, and Johannes Huth (Efim Jourist, Anthony Braxton) and John Eckhardt (Alvin Lucier, Evan Parker) on upright bass. Vinyl version contains 9 of the 11 tracks on the CD, plus an mp3 coupon for the entire album.
"On the cover: The Bee Gees: Rare, precious & beautiful: from brilliance to burnout in the 1960s. The first of an exclusive two-part insight into the all-conquering brothers Gibb's '60s success; Jason Falkner: Perfect pop wunderkind spills the beans; Jerry Yester: Farewell Aldebaran, Modern Folk Quartet and Lovin' Spoonful; Mighty Baby/Chilli Willi: Out of the festivals and into the pubs; The Mind Garage: Psychedelia goes to church. Plus Jerry Shirley, the M-80s, the Leopards, Mary Epworth, Kaleidoscope and so much more..."
Largely known for their fantastic album And I Turned As I Had Turned As A Boy from 1971, a true folk-rock delight, British group Dulcimer had also recorded a second album to be released that same year, but for some reason it went unreleased. So here, finally, is the first-ever vinyl release of this lost UK folk-rock album, and it's taken from the original mastertapes. Limited to 500 copies in nice artwork and backflapped old-style covers. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
LP version. Digging deeper into the 1970s Nigerian rock scene, Soundway are excited to announce the release of Edzayawa's first and only LP Projection One. Originally released in 1973 by EMI Nigeria, Projection One came out at a time when Osibisa and Fela's influence was being felt across West Africa, and was the young Ghanaians' band attempt at creating something unique and distinctly African. Re-issued here on LP for the first time outside of Nigeria, the album sounds as exciting and unrivaled today as it did 35 years ago. Writing songs with a heavy rock influence but also a distinctly African feel, Edzayawa wrote dark and deeply philosophical tracks with strong traditional themes far removed from the sweet love songs many of their contemporaries were writing. The majority of their songs were based around a 6/8 rhythm, influenced by the Ewe people originating in the South East of Ghana. With their new repertoire, they headed off to Lagos, Nigeria with hardly any money in their pockets and no instruments. They headed straight to Tommy Benson's club, son of the legendary Nigerian entertainer and musician Bobby Benson, and got a gig playing at The Caban Bamboo in return for one hotel room between the four of them. Constantly searching for an adventure, they headed to Fela Kuti's Kalakuta Republic. After waiting two hours for an audience with Fela, they were led through to meet him. There they had a long talk with Fela and eventually got asked to play at The Shrine. At the time Joni Haastrup's MonoMono were playing at The Shrine, too, coming on after Edzayawa and before Fela's Africa 70. It was during this time the band recorded Projection One in EMI Studio Lagos. Recorded over two days, the album was to be their only release. Projection One never got a release in their home country of Ghana -- the only copies that made it into the country were the few that the band took back themselves. Soundway release Projection One here in its full original format on gatefold vinyl: remastered and accompanied by liner notes that contain the reminiscences of band leader Nana Danso (who subsequently founded and now runs the Accra-based Pan African Orchestra). On 180 gram vinyl with free download coupon.
LP version. At long last the rarest and most peculiar of all Radiophonic Workshop albums is available. Originally issued in 1969, The Seasons has become almost mythical over the last few years. With its mix of unexpected electronics, percussion, tape manipulation and austere poetry, it sounds like no other. The Seasons has also become a major influence on bands such as Broadcast and a key reference in the development of Ghost Box and the whole "hauntology" soundscape. It is seen and heard very much now as an important and lost classic. And after over one year of detective work and rights investigation (which is a lot in this modern world of instant communication), this impressive, strange and wholly unique album is seeing the light of day once again. Originally made as part of the BBC's Drama Workshop broadcasts, this album was meant for educational purposes. Coming in the later period of what is commonly known and remembered as "Music and Movement" or "Movement and Mime Classes," the album was issued briefly as a teaching aid for the modern thinking 1960s classroom. The idea was to play the album and get the school children to dance, improvise, think and create to the sounds and words. The music was originated by one of the early pioneering Radiophonic musicians, David Cain. Very little of his music has ever been made available (except on the classic BBC "pink" album) but to some followers of early British electronics, he is the forgotten master. And for this release he has been interviewed by Julian House (The Focus Group) with a fascinating Q&A, which will appear in the new sleevenotes. As for the poet Ronald Duncan, he is now deceased, but had an interesting and inspired life. A born pacifist, he famously wrote the libretto for Britten's opera The Rape Of Lucretia, wrote the script for Girl On A Motorcycle, and started the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre. His poetry was published by Faber And Faber by T.S. Eliot, who became a friend. Duncan's 16 featured poems were specially written in 1969 just for this project. The album sold in tiny quantities when it came out and was quickly deleted by the BBC. Even the BBC Archive doesn't have a copy. In fact the album's scarcity has only added to its mythical status. A handful of originals started appearing in bargain bins throughout the mid-1990s, and as interest in British electronics and the Radiophonic Workshop started to grow, the album's reputation began to gain a little momentum. The album rarely surfaces, but Jonny Trunk and fellow collector Martin Green found three copies at back in about 1998, one of which was passed on to Jarvis Cocker. This limited edition LP comes with the original 1969 BBC sleeve and an insert of all the poetry. Also worth noting is that this album has been remastered from the original Radiophonic Workshop tapes.
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Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas CD
Not A Leaf Remains As It Was CD
Eucalipto/Zuckerkrawatte 12"
If I Could Only Remember My Name.... LP
Turn It Around/Physical 12"
Life Is Music Is Life 12"
Volume 2: Afghan 70s Psychedelic Folk-Pop 2LP
Lose Yourself To Jenny 12"
The Arrival Of Kenny Dorham LP
Sampledelics EP Vol. 1 12"
Colombia! The Golden Age of Discos Fuentes CD
Qat, Coffee & Qambus: Raw 45s From Yemen LP
Plays Piano (Live In London 1985) CD
Listen, Whitey! The Sounds of Black Power 1967-1974 CD
#50 10th Anniversary/Winter 2012 MAG
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