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LP
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FTR 367LP
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"There is something very special about the sound of a bummed-out smart person alone in a room somewhere (studio or not) with just their guitar for solace. Many killer examples of the form exist -- Skip Spence's Oar (1969), Pip Proud's Adrenaline And Richard (1968), Roy Montgomery's 324 E. 13th Street #7 (1999), and so on. All of these records shine with very special darkness. To this list, I submit the new Mazozma LP, Stark Joy. Kentucky ex-pat, Mike Turner has been using this recording handle for a while. We did one previous album with him, Heavy Death Head (FTR 268LP, 2017), and like most of his solo work we've heard, it was a blasted lo-fi ramble through fields of destroyed form. Elegantly crafted, but so utterly fucked-up, it could make you feel dizzy. Stark Joy is a horse of an entirely different color. The music here is song-based, only strange in its detailing, and more straight ahead than any Warmer Milks fan would dare dream. Still, the ineffable Turner genius shines through like a lighthouse in a shitstorm. Recorded on an iPhone, probably nude, Turner's songs here contain a world of folk-longing, played with an all-mid-range approach that broadcasts deep spiritual weariness with the best of them. I could start name-checking the hordes, but I'll spare you. People familiar with Mikey's work will be struck by how straightforward and outright pretty his melodic constructions and guitar figures are. Those who are new to his work will just dig how open the album is. It's the kind of record that gives you a certain amount of comfort if you're wrapped up in your own personal storm. Conversely, if you're feeling good, you can focus on the vaguely upbeat tone that eventually suffuses everything. Having a hard time getting it off the turntable. It's that kind of record. Deeply personal in a certain way, but one which leaves it available to infinite interpretation, depending entirely on the listener. In a word -- interactive. As fuck. Get it today." --Byron Coley, 2018 Co-released with Mystra Records. Edition of 200.
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LP
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FTR 268LP
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"Michael Turner, famed resident of Louisville/Lexington KY, main cog in the splendid Warmer Milks and valuable presence in many other ensembles, has recently migrated to New England. And we are honored to have him amongst us. As a way of making him feel 'to home,' Feeding Tube has released his most recent slab of insane solo aktion, Heavy Death Hand, as splendidly 'out' an LP as anyone could ask for. Mazozma is a recent nom de musique assumed by Turner, following a passel of albums released under the name Ma Turner. And every one of them we've heard is a pure blitz of sound designed to make your brain feel all soft and runny. The vibe of the music is pure American zonerism -- think of stuff like the Bobby J Records catalog, the Department Store Santas, Willimantic Shrin, and other LPs that seem to exist inside their own personal aesthetic continuum. One gets the feeling that they carry their own very real message, but that it is so deeply coded, so artfully fucked-with, and so weirdly personal that getting to its essence is like trying to play chess with Kaspar Hauser. The music itself is rock-based, but abstract, chittering, and incredibly fascinating. There are lots of people who try to do something new and original with guitar pedals and keyboard toggles and altered vocals, but usually it just ends up sounding like stoner bong-dust. Mazozma's music coheres somehow, venting poison gases with a gentle scent and strange allure. All of Turner's albums are pretty amazing, but this one seems to go further in terms of pure sonic reach. The record more or less defines a very specific type of 'late night music,' one which is favored by people who embrace the aether at just around the time most of us abandon hope and wish only to slip into the arms of Morpheus. As the soundtrack to a waking dream, it almost makes sense." --Byron Coley Edition of 400.
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