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viewing 1 To 10 of 24 items
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2LP
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ABDT 050LP
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Limited edition 2LP. The Invisible Hands is the English translation of the band's original Egyptian Arabic name: El Ayadi El Khafeyya. Taking almost two years to create amidst an unusual and challenging backdrop, this is the new project of Alvarius B. (Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls). Eleven highly-crafted songs projected through his typically dark lens of songwriting and a band of brilliant musicians from Egypt; this special edition limited 2LP includes the English and Arabic language vocal versions of the album together in one set. Sides A and B are the English album delivered in AB's patented sinister style, drenched in lovely psychedelic folk arrangements and vocal choruses with a nod to what could have potentially been an album that surfaced decades ago but instead found its way into the future, superimposed over historic and tumultuous times in the center of the Arab world. Sides C and D are the Arabic version -- the exact same 11 songs but the lead vocals are sung in Arabic by Cherif El Masri and Aya Hemeda. The mixes are almost identical but there are various subtle differences in instrumentation, vocal choruses, and effects. The group was established during the summer of 2011 and the album was recorded in Cairo in May of 2012. Band members include Cherif El Masri and Aya Hemeda (both former members of popular Egyptian group Eskenderella) with drummer Magued Nagati. On a handful of songs, several other players from the Cairo scene are featured including Sam Shalabi (Shalabi Effect/Land Of Kush) on oud and Mohamed Medhat on violin and viola. This limited edition one-time 2LP vinyl pressing comes in a beautiful heavy-duty gatefold jacket with full-color artwork and all lyrics and credits printed in English and Arabic.
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7"
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ABDT 051EP
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2013 RSD release. [The Invisible Hands is the English translation of the band's original Egyptian Arabic name: El Ayadi El Khafeyya] This is the brand-new project of Alvarius B. (Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls). Recorded in Cairo in October 2012, both tracks on this 7" are not found on the new Invisible Hands self-titled album (ABDT 050CD) and are exclusive to this 45 rpm. Side one is a fully-orchestrated version of two Alvarius B. tracks, one of those tracks, "Insect Dilemma," was included on Sun City Girls' classic 330,003 Crossdressers from Beyond the Rig Veda album from 1996. Side B, "Lili Twil," is a cover of a Moroccan folk song from the early 1970s sung in Arabic by Aya Hemeda. Limited edition one-time pressing with full-color picture sleeve.
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CD
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ABDT 049CD
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Volume 3 in the series of Sun City Girls singles, compilations, and rare tracks, consists of material recorded between the mid-1980s and early 1990s. Much of this collection reflects the Arabic guitar instrumental and acoustic pseudo-Asian vocal folk styles of the band from the period when they recorded relentlessly. The 14 cuts vary wildly in scope yet maintain a consistent listening experience throughout, bridging a wide gap between the band's second full-length LP Grotto of Miracles (Track 3 -- "Gum Arabic" -- being the only true outtake from that recording session) in 1986 and the 1993 launch of the group's Abduction label after the band relocated from Phoenix to Seattle. All four tracks from the Eye Mohini single as well as all six tracks from the Borungku Si Derita double single are included here, the latter featuring a vicious rehearsal version of Esoterica of Abyssynia with a rare captured occurrence of both Bishop brothers playing electric guitars. The remaining two tracks from Three Fake Female Orgasms double single not included on Volume 2 of this series are present with the extremely rare studio version of "Kickin' the Dragon" from a triple 7" box set released by an obscure Bay Area label in 1994. The disc is rounded out by a 10-minute live track from the Heinz Afterworld Lounge in Oakland from 1992 where SCG closed the show with a heavy and ecstatic version of "The Flower" from their Torch of the Mystics LP. As in the previous two volumes of this series, this CD is sequenced to play as a full album and is an excellent entry point for the non-initiated into a band that produced as diverse and intimidating a back catalog as any other entity in modern music.
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CD
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ABDT 050CD
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The Invisible Hands is the English translation of the band's original Egyptian Arabic name: El Ayadi El Khafeyya. Taking almost two years to create amidst an unusual and challenging backdrop, this is the brand new project of Alvarius B. (Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls). Eleven highly-crafted new songs projected through his typically dark lens of songwriting and a band of brilliant musicians from Cairo, the premier, self-titled CD version of this album is the English language vocals edition (see below) delivered in AB's patented sinister style; drenched in lovely psychedelic folk arrangements and vocal choruses with a nod to what could have potentially been an album that surfaced decades ago but instead found its way into the future superimposed over historic and tumultuous times in the center of the Arab world. The group was established during the summer of 2011 and the album was recorded in Cairo in May of 2012. Band members include Cherif El Masri and Aya Hemeda (both former members of popular Egyptian group Eskenderella) with drummer Magued Nagati. On a handful of songs, several other players from the Cairo scene are featured including Sam Shalabi (Shalabi Effect/Land Of Kush) on oud and Mohamed Medhat on violin and viola. All tracks written and sung by Alvarius B. in English. Note: This is the English language CD version of the album. An Arabic language CD version will only be available to purchase in the Middle East. Both English and Arabic language versions will be available for digital download and both versions together will be available as a limited edition 2LP in the very near future.
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LP
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ABDT 048LP
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By distorting hard-boiled film music through a cracked, overcast lens, Diminished Men refocus their influences into something entirely unique. Capnomancy, their second release on the Abduction label, is a collection of stark, exotic instrumentals full of high-tension energy and infected terror. Cloaked in a supernatural fog and man-made electrical storms, chiaroscuro landscapes read like a sci-fi postcard with a giallo ransom note attached. The band's jagged, hard-charging approach evokes images of slit jugulars and accelerated heart rates, all the while swathing you in a blissful claustrophobia, reflecting elements of Morricone's dissonant horror scores, gritty noir cues, and the bloodshot nerves of a kratom-hazed Link Wray. Distant, searing guitars and pummeling drums seep with slow-pan derangement, panicked suspense and clouded '50s Americana delusion. The smoke clears and reveals a mirage of melancholy Wenders-esque backdrops and AM radio nightmares, but quickly returns to some other world that it came from. The final album to be released from his now-defunct Aleph Studio, producer Randall Dunn (Sunn O))), Earth, Secret Chiefs 3, Wolves In The Throne Room, etc.) contributes greatly with his visceral, heavy production, making this album their darkest offering yet. Another bizarre series of degenerate no-hit wonders from the phantom guitars of Steve Schmitt, drummer Dave Abramson and multi-instrumentalist Simon Henneman. Capnomancy features guest appearances from members of Master Musicians Of Bukkake as well as other Northwest delinquents, saxophonist Skerik and vocalist Sara Johanne. Extremely limited edition of 400 LP copies.
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2CD
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ABDT 011CD
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Originally released in 1998 as a limited edition vinyl 2LP -- the second Alvarius B. (Alan Bishop/Sun City Girls) full-length release. Perhaps the most deranged collection of original folk songs ever cut to wax. Dark, twisted & apocalyptic with razor twang acoustic guitar & vocal delivery, this epic lo-fi cassette deconstruction/demolition of everything "folk-singer-songwriter" slipped under the radar to a few lucky souls who grabbed the original pressing of this when it showed up 14 years ago. Here is your chance to get it again as a 2CD reissue. The tri-fold digipak includes six bonus tracks, a booklet with lyrics to all 45 songs, and liner notes by Trey Spruance. "I think it's fair to say that in AB we have the most inspiring and wholesome, cussing, violent and truthful musical interpenetrator of the psychic Realities that has probably ever graced this fair and fucked land." --Trey Spruance
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CD
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ABDT 047CD
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In the pantheon of Western-tilted South East Asian tribute groups, Oakland, California's Neung Phak (pronounced: "Noong PAHK") have carved out a decade's worth of inspired and unique recordings and performance since their 2001 debut, (birthed as a spin-off from legendary Bay Area group Mono Pause). Galvanized by exposure to thousands of South East Asian cassette tapes, LPs and radio broadcasts harvested during years of travels (co-founder Mark Gergis is a key conspirator with international record label Sublime Frequencies), the 7-piece group play folk and pop sounds from Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Vietnam and elsewhere, using a variety of Western and non-Western instruments. Neung Phak delivers international sounds that trade the gloss and sheen of so-called "World Music" for the energy and unpredictability you can find when you're somewhere else. After two releases on Abduction and several performances and tours, Neung Phak have returned with their second full-length studio LP. 2 showcases molam-folk pop and acid-rock hauntings from Thailand's yesterday and today, Javanese dancefloor dangdut, and Cambodian instrumental dramas -- all retold in inimitable Neung Phak parlance. The stunning Indonesian pop gem, "Bang Toyib," features guest Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls) on Bahasa vocals. Thai dance-pop cuts "Poot" and "Poo Jud" feature veteran singer Diana Hayes. The damning "Fucking USA" was purportedly recorded in a North Korean studio -- and the epic retelling of the classic southern Thai-styled "Sat Chatri" closes down the album in sprawling, psychedelic form.
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LP
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ABDT 047LP
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$16.50
NOT IN STOCK, SPECIAL ORDER
In the pantheon of Western-tilted South East Asian tribute groups, Oakland, California's Neung Phak (pronounced: "Noong PAHK") have carved out a decade's worth of inspired and unique recordings and performance since their 2001 debut, (birthed as a spin-off from legendary Bay Area group Mono Pause). Galvanized by exposure to thousands of South East Asian cassette tapes, LPs and radio broadcasts harvested during years of travels (co-founder Mark Gergis is a key conspirator with international record label Sublime Frequencies), the 7-piece group play folk and pop sounds from Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Vietnam and elsewhere, using a variety of Western and non-Western instruments. Neung Phak delivers international sounds that trade the gloss and sheen of so-called "World Music" for the energy and unpredictability you can find when you're somewhere else. After two releases on Abduction and several performances and tours, Neung Phak have returned with their second full-length studio LP. 2 showcases molam-folk pop and acid-rock hauntings from Thailand's yesterday and today, Javanese dancefloor dangdut, and Cambodian instrumental dramas -- all retold in inimitable Neung Phak parlance. The stunning Indonesian pop gem, "Bang Toyib," features guest Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls) on Bahasa vocals. Thai dance-pop cuts "Poot" and "Poo Jud" feature veteran singer Diana Hayes. The damning "Fucking USA" was purportedly recorded in a North Korean studio -- and the epic retelling of the classic southern Thai-styled "Sat Chatri," closes down the LP in sprawling, psychedelic form. Limited edition one-time pressing of 500 copies with download card. Last copies...
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CD
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ABDT 032CD
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Originally released in 2005 as a limited edition vinyl LP -- the first Alvarius B. (Alan Bishop/Sun City Girls) full-length release in 7 years. Blood Operatives Of The Barium Sunset is a collection of songs seemingly based on actual, but unnamed, shady characters of the global underworld past and present, according to the brief statement on the insert. Regardless of intent, this is cryptic folk music of the highest order, with several tracks employing folk/rock/psych orchestrations featuring the talents of Eyvind Kang, Tim Young, Richard Bishop, Andrew McGinnis and Randall Dunn. Hailed as a masterpiece by a fair number of the few who've actually heard it, Blood Operatives... sounds as fresh, challenging, and separated from everything else today, as it did six years ago upon initial release. Twisted Americana folklore breeding with baroque Italian cinematic pop, dark ballads, and vagrant story lines, these 11 unique tracks compile the most "produced" Alvarius B. record to date. CD tri-fold digipak comes with a booklet of song lyrics.
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CD/BOOK
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ABDT 046CD
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Repressed! "A much-needed CD issue of an LP, released this last February in microquantities. The dastardly minds behind this project, a first spurt from the reactivated Poon Village label, have collaborated on the new package as well. And it is a deluxe eye-swim through various forms of feminine beauty, its 32-page booklet displaying images that look as though they were found in a smoky catacomb carved into the hills of Charlestown. By my count, Baroque Primitiva is the sixth album by Alvarius B. and is, like its predecessors, a deep dive through mysterious waters. The 11 tracks here were recorded at various sessions over the course of several years and range from 'Humor Police' (a track imagining what Syd Barrett might have sounded like had he been a devotee of Rembetika) to a trippily Beatles-damaged version of 'You Only Live Twice' (the sole surviving shard of the aborted Alvarius B. Plays The Bond Songbook project). Baroque Primitiva is the first long-format telegram from Alvarius B. since he lost his mothership (the Sun City Girls, with whom he employed his slave name, Alan Bishop) and it also feels like his most consistently non-acerbic -- perhaps even most beauty-oriented -- work. The songs often have a meditative pace, filled with gorgeous lo-fi blends of vocals, guitar, bass and keys. Eyvind Kang guests on several tracks, but the bulk of the material was broadcast direct from the naked soul of Alvarius B., which turns out to be a warmer, sweeter place than you might imagine. And while this CD will be available for a tad longer than the 30 seconds the LP lasted, a set as thoroughly gorgeous as this will not linger. Take a deep breath of its magic and go for it. Why deny yourself such bountiful pleasures?" --Byron Coley
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viewing 1 To 10 of 24 items
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