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CD
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CF 151CD
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"This album (SORCS 80) was a self-imposed ambitious project for us (OSEES). Something to kick in the creative flow. The last few years, having been a challenging time in general, felt like a good time for a pivot. The last two albums were so guitar and keyboard-centric, I wanted a weird and fun set of parameters for us to work with. I demo'd everything at home on cassette four track (harkening back to simpler times) using drum loops, and just had at it 'til I had a pile of 'songs.' Tom Dolas and I chose one sound each using synths and created a range of three octaves of that sample, then loaded them into Roland SPD-SX samplers and learned the transcribed songs using drum sticks. The idea was to change the way we wrote and to have four people along the front of the stage essentially playing percussion. So no guitar, no keys. As we were recording, I kept thinking how the sounds, when paired up, sounded a bit like brass. So, we added a saxophone horn section to round out the horniness of the sound with a bit of reedy bell tones. Thanks to Cansfis Foote and Brad Caulkins on tenor and baritone saxophones. Sort of a Dexy's Midnight Runners meets Von LMO meets The Flesh Eaters meets the Screamers kinda punk junk. Poppy and hooky, heavy at times. Sort of vacuous and maybe a bit sci-fi in sound. Boneheaded in riff and heady in lyrics. Recorded at Stu-Stu-Studio by me on eight track 1/4-inch tape. So pretty hot and raw. Lots to write about today. A lot of these lyrics were taken from things people said in passing about taking on life right now that stuck with me. Things that made me reflect. Things that made me laugh. Things that made me WTF. Some folks are kind, genuine and give you love and energy. Some are greedy manipulative ghouls who hang off your veins. You must be strong, composed and take care of yourself. Be self-aware and check your mind for cracks. Learn to relax and be well. There are moments of beauty and redemption. It's not all bad news and there's always hope. People continue to surprise me one way or another. Anyhow, hope you enjoy and good luck out there." --John Dwyer
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CF 151LP
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LP version. "This album (SORCS 80) was a self-imposed ambitious project for us (OSEES). Something to kick in the creative flow. The last few years, having been a challenging time in general, felt like a good time for a pivot. The last two albums were so guitar and keyboard-centric, I wanted a weird and fun set of parameters for us to work with. I demo'd everything at home on cassette four track (harkening back to simpler times) using drum loops, and just had at it 'til I had a pile of 'songs.' Tom Dolas and I chose one sound each using synths and created a range of three octaves of that sample, then loaded them into Roland SPD-SX samplers and learned the transcribed songs using drum sticks. The idea was to change the way we wrote and to have four people along the front of the stage essentially playing percussion. So no guitar, no keys. As we were recording, I kept thinking how the sounds, when paired up, sounded a bit like brass. So, we added a saxophone horn section to round out the horniness of the sound with a bit of reedy bell tones. Thanks to Cansfis Foote and Brad Caulkins on tenor and baritone saxophones. Sort of a Dexy's Midnight Runners meets Von LMO meets The Flesh Eaters meets the Screamers kinda punk junk. Poppy and hooky, heavy at times. Sort of vacuous and maybe a bit sci-fi in sound. Boneheaded in riff and heady in lyrics. Recorded at Stu-Stu-Studio by me on eight track 1/4-inch tape. So pretty hot and raw. Lots to write about today. A lot of these lyrics were taken from things people said in passing about taking on life right now that stuck with me. Things that made me reflect. Things that made me laugh. Things that made me WTF. Some folks are kind, genuine and give you love and energy. Some are greedy manipulative ghouls who hang off your veins. You must be strong, composed and take care of yourself. Be self-aware and check your mind for cracks. Learn to relax and be well. There are moments of beauty and redemption. It's not all bad news and there's always hope. People continue to surprise me one way or another. Anyhow, hope you enjoy and good luck out there." --John Dwyer
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CF 151X-LP
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LP version. Green and magenta splatter color vinyl. "This album (SORCS 80) was a self-imposed ambitious project for us (OSEES). Something to kick in the creative flow. The last few years, having been a challenging time in general, felt like a good time for a pivot. The last two albums were so guitar and keyboard-centric, I wanted a weird and fun set of parameters for us to work with. I demo'd everything at home on cassette four track (harkening back to simpler times) using drum loops, and just had at it 'til I had a pile of 'songs.' Tom Dolas and I chose one sound each using synths and created a range of three octaves of that sample, then loaded them into Roland SPD-SX samplers and learned the transcribed songs using drum sticks. The idea was to change the way we wrote and to have four people along the front of the stage essentially playing percussion. So no guitar, no keys. As we were recording, I kept thinking how the sounds, when paired up, sounded a bit like brass. So, we added a saxophone horn section to round out the horniness of the sound with a bit of reedy bell tones. Thanks to Cansfis Foote and Brad Caulkins on tenor and baritone saxophones. Sort of a Dexy's Midnight Runners meets Von LMO meets The Flesh Eaters meets the Screamers kinda punk junk. Poppy and hooky, heavy at times. Sort of vacuous and maybe a bit sci-fi in sound. Boneheaded in riff and heady in lyrics. Recorded at Stu-Stu-Studio by me on eight track 1/4-inch tape. So pretty hot and raw. Lots to write about today. A lot of these lyrics were taken from things people said in passing about taking on life right now that stuck with me. Things that made me reflect. Things that made me laugh. Things that made me WTF. Some folks are kind, genuine and give you love and energy. Some are greedy manipulative ghouls who hang off your veins. You must be strong, composed and take care of yourself. Be self-aware and check your mind for cracks. Learn to relax and be well. There are moments of beauty and redemption. It's not all bad news and there's always hope. People continue to surprise me one way or another. Anyhow, hope you enjoy and good luck out there." --John Dwyer
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CF 150LP
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"New Castle Face reissue edition. A pop record for tired times. Sugared with bits of shatterproof glass to put more crack in your strap. At long last, verse/chorus. A weathered thesaurus. This is OSEES bookend sound. Early grade garage pop meets proto-synth punk suicide-repellant. Have a whack at the grass or listen while flat on your ass. Heaps of electronic whirling accelerants to gum up your cheapskate broadband. Social media toilet scrapers unite! Allow your 24-hour news cycle eyes to squint at this smiling abattoir doorman. You can find your place here at long last. All are welcome from the get go to the finale; a distant crackling transmission of '80s synth last-dance-of-the-night tune for your lost loves. Suffering from Politic amnesia? Bored of AI-generated pop slop? Then this one is for you, our friends. Wasteland wanderer, stick around. Love y'all. For fans of Teutonic synth punk and Thee Oh Sees (who the fuck are they?)" --John Dwyer
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CF 149CD
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"Castle Face presents Dan Rincon's (OSEES, Wild Thing, Apache, Personal and the Pizzas) premier solo release Spotlight City. Artificial landscapes and melodies comprised of Moog Grandmother, Mellotron and a kinky Modular system span from beautiful and lilting to haunting and ethereal. The album was a years-long learning experience of getting all components and ingredients to link arms and blend comfortably. Wrangling was part of the process. Strings soaring and sines weaving. Sometimes in the atmosphere, sometimes in the Earth's core, sometimes flanked by neon blur as it hums and weave patterns through a world imagined in vintage sci-fi pulp. 'I was listening to a lot of solo Roedelius and Conrad Schnitzler records while writing this record and I'd say that both have been hugely inspirational on what I want to do as a solo recording artist. The way both of those artists pushed the early, chaotic electronic music into something more melodic is really inspiring to me, it's not that dissimilar than trying to get melodies out of a modular synthesizer.' An absolute necessary slab for anyone a fan of CF, OSEES, Popol Vuh soundtracks, eight-bit video game accompaniment, and '80s Tangerine Dream. Burn one and burn out."
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CF 149LP
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LP version. "Castle Face presents Dan Rincon's (OSEES, Wild Thing, Apache, Personal and the Pizzas) premier solo release Spotlight City. Artificial landscapes and melodies comprised of Moog Grandmother, Mellotron and a kinky Modular system span from beautiful and lilting to haunting and ethereal. The album was a years-long learning experience of getting all components and ingredients to link arms and blend comfortably. Wrangling was part of the process. Strings soaring and sines weaving. Sometimes in the atmosphere, sometimes in the Earth's core, sometimes flanked by neon blur as it hums and weave patterns through a world imagined in vintage sci-fi pulp. 'I was listening to a lot of solo Roedelius and Conrad Schnitzler records while writing this record and I'd say that both have been hugely inspirational on what I want to do as a solo recording artist. The way both of those artists pushed the early, chaotic electronic music into something more melodic is really inspiring to me, it's not that dissimilar than trying to get melodies out of a modular synthesizer.' An absolute necessary slab for anyone a fan of CF, OSEES, Popol Vuh soundtracks, eight-bit video game accompaniment, and '80s Tangerine Dream. Burn one and burn out."
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CF 148CD
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"The band is John Dwyer (synths, vocals), Heather Lockie (viola), Thomas Dolas (synths), Andres Renteria (hand percussion), Brad Caulkins (tenor saxophone), Kyp Malone (synths) and Archie Carey (bassoon). The singers are YoshimiO (Boredoms, OOIOO), Albert Wolski (EXEK), Gracie Jackson (GracieHorse), Ciriza (Artist Extraordinaire), Kyp Malone (Bent Arcana, TV On The Radio, Rain Machine), Brigid Dawson (Thee Oh Sees, The Mothers Network), AZITA (Scissor Girls, Bride of NONO, AZITA). For fans of Steve Roach, Eno, Syrinx, Howard Shore, Current 93, Terry Riley, Tangerine Dream, and a proper sage scrub."
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LP + 7"
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CF 133X-LP
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Clear vinyl. "I've had the pleasure of being a [The] Fall fan since I was a teen. I was lucky enough to have some guidance from my local record shop stoner-lords. They turned me on to many of my heroes, but once I heard my first slanted and barky Fall song, I was part of the army for life. The word prolific gets tossed around a lot. It almost seems like a slag-off in the press, as if they wish the artist would produce less so they wouldn't have to do their self-imposed job of judging releases for the rabble. The Fall is subjected to this lazy word often. Yet I can honestly say that I am so thankful for any nugget of Fall that lands at my feet and in my brain. Live Fall performances are always a pleasure because they seem to take what already made the Fall great and push it even a bit more into the rough and bloody uncharted wasteland that is drug scorched proto-punk and heady political poetry. So, it is with great pleasure that we introduce this Fall bootleg soundboard recording to you. Recorded during one of the many strong points in the bands vast and mighty history. They really burn bright here and bring every ounce of what you expect from this formidable force. We have reached out to every surviving member of the band, the sound person, the bootlegger who recorded it and the photographer and received their blessings and help piecing it all together. Castle Face will be donating 50% of our profits to Centrepoint, which helps the homeless in the Manchester area get back on their feet, so the local and deserving Fall fans get a little, and give a little back, too. Nothing but the hits here folks and as raw as you dig it. This one really is exceptional in terms of live sound for The Fall. All the stars were aligned over St. Helens that eve. And it wouldn't be complete with a bit of Fall fan saltiness so, fuck you too, Jason." --John Dwyer
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2LP
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CASTLE 007LP
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2022 repress. 2011 release. "A double-LP collection of every single and compilation track Thee Oh Sees have released to date, along with one previously unreleased gem. Tracks run the gambit from very mellow stuff with strings to completely fried burners."
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LP
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CF 145LP
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"Twin giant towers of amps grinding out minimal beat bloop, the transient sound molecules smell of burning gear and the floor of the pit -- this is organic, electronic music at its finest. Dance? Why not. Freak out? For sure. Brothers from a different mother (Bjorn Copeland and Aaron Warren) à la two-thirds of Black Dice have come together with this fantastic debut [Flaccid Mojo] for us. These are mean beat vipers, spitting and tumescent on the abattoir floor. I would call it drug music, but I'm not sure what drugs these humans consume. Stem cell and adrenal gland cocktails I'm guessing. Futuristic and primal it is, beats from the Thunder-Dome, fight music for fuckers. I've seen them on two separate occasions blow the power for an entire building. Baller move, boys. Produced perfectly by Chris Coady (look him up to be impressed). This record is a burning car in a field and I love it. For fans of Black Dice, Container, Whitehouse, Negativland, Ralph Records, minimal beats à la Profan, vintage Japanese noise, Severed Heads, windburn and chapped lips." --John Dwyer
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2LP
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CF 146LP
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"Recorded at Zebulon in Los Angeles as a warm-up show for a show I had booked in Holland. What was meant to be a jumping point for the 'first show' ended up being a real burning set. A slightly more stripped-down version on the ten-piece band [Bent Arcana] (for sake of ease) keeps it nice and concise. Nerves sometimes bring out these little lost jewels of which this recording is full of... gotta love improvisation for fleeting moments. Recorded super-hot by none other than our sound person Liza Boldyreva. Selections of songs from Bent Arcana and Moon-Drenched -- cockpit stoned space jazz here you come. Mixed by John Dwyer and mastered by JJ Golden. This hunky double disk sports a zoetropic screen-printed animation of the Death's Head moth circling on its D side that works with a strobe light off yer phone... fucking cool. Fucking hot. Dig in and be well." --John Dwyer
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CD
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CF 147CD
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"Brain stem cracking scum-punk recorded tersely in the basement of my home. After a notoriously frustrating eon, the knee-jerk song path was aggressive and hooky. This is an homage to the punk bands we grew up on -- the weirdos and art freaks that piqued our interests and pointed us on the trail head to here / now. Bad times make for strong music is something I agree with. I would say that is evident by the past few years of output from the underground. Transmissions have been all over the map: scanning...searching...sweeping out in the darkness looking for a foot hold. [OSEES] A Foul From represents some of our most savage and primal instincts. Fight or flight. And the importance of a sense of humor in the darkest hour. Nothing wrong with keeping it snappy in the meantime. For fans of Rudimentary Peni, Crass, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Screamers, Abwarts, Stooges and all things aggressively tilted towards your face. You can lean back but don't flinch...it's a brief foray into the exhausting pogo pit, so stiffen your back and jerk with your knees. Enjoy." --John Dwyer
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LP
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CF 147LP
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LP version. "Brain stem cracking scum-punk recorded tersely in the basement of my home. After a notoriously frustrating eon, the knee-jerk song path was aggressive and hooky. This is an homage to the punk bands we grew up on -- the weirdos and art freaks that piqued our interests and pointed us on the trail head to here / now. Bad times make for strong music is something I agree with. I would say that is evident by the past few years of output from the underground. Transmissions have been all over the map: scanning...searching...sweeping out in the darkness looking for a foot hold. [OSEES] A Foul From represents some of our most savage and primal instincts. Fight or flight. And the importance of a sense of humor in the darkest hour. Nothing wrong with keeping it snappy in the meantime. For fans of Rudimentary Peni, Crass, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Screamers, Abwarts, Stooges and all things aggressively tilted towards your face. You can lean back but don't flinch...it's a brief foray into the exhausting pogo pit, so stiffen your back and jerk with your knees. Enjoy." --John Dwyer
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2LP
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CF 093LP
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2022 repress. 2017 release. "Received a 7.4 rating from Pitchfork. The newly shorn Oh Sees waste no time in racing headlong into nightmarish battle with the mighty Orc, clawing even farther up the ghastly peak stormed so satisfyingly by last year's A Weird Exits. The band is in tour-greased, anvil-on-a-balance beam, gut-pleasingly heavy form, nimbly braining -- with equal dashes of abandon and menace -- on this fresh batch of bruisers and brooders, hypnotically stirred into to the cauldron of chaos you've come to expect. Fresh blood Paul Quattrone joins Dan Rincon to form a phalanx of interlocking double drums, alternately propelling and fleet-footing shifting ground to pinion John Dwyer's cliff-face guitars to the boogie. Tim Hellman keeps it swinging like a battle-axe to the eyebrows. The tunes veer toward the violence of their live shows, with a few tasty swerves into other lanes: heavy to lush, groovy to stately. Throughout, it remains sinister in its swaggering skulk, manic in its fuzz-fried fugues. They hit all the sweet spots the heads foggily remember, and there's plenty to sweat over if you just hopped into the sauna. More evil... more complex... more narcotic... more screech... more blare... more whisper... there's even more Brigid. Less 'Thee,' but more of everything else."
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LP
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CF 055LP
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2024 repress. "Received a 7.8 rating from Pitchfork. Here we have a new batch from Thee Oh Sees for your absorption -- nine muscular tunes primed to pummel. Last year's Drop was more schizophrenic, ranging from heavy to whimsical and back; Mutilator Defeated at Last has more in common with the monolithic hugeness of Floating Coffin. With only two brief reprieves from its onslaught, this record is made to be played loudly and demands bodily sacrifice. Despite the plutonium heavy feel, Thee Oh Sees continue to be omnivorous. Synths and acoustic guitars wind throughout the album like veins of gold through granite. Any and all that stands in its way will be devoured and assimilated. This is the sound of a band doing what they do best."
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2LP
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CF 075LP
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"Perched in the belfry of The Chapel we caught thee mighty Oh Sees, alive and in their natural element, with our shutters aflutter and our tapes on a roll. After a short incubation period, the beast has reached full maturity and it is hideous. Over three nights they pummeled, and we've culled some great photographs, a wicked recording, and even a little live video action. Castle Face is happy to announce the first double LP in the Live in San Francisco series, presented on two discs, in a handsome double gatefold jacket. Finally, you depraved Oh Sees freaks have something to take home with you when you lose your shoes and your girlfriend at the show. Put it on at home and pretend to wait in line for the bathroom and it's like you're really there. The thrash, the throb, the mob is all present and pushed to the front. Dual drummers synced in each ear, Tim Hellman rounding out the bottom and Castle Face's own John Dwyer up front on guitar, lasering young brains off and fomenting the crowd to a froth -- it's a great band, in a great room, with a great crowd and it's cooked to perfection... Take a little bit of it with you this time."
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LP
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CASTLE 034LP
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2022 repress. 2014 release. "Recorded at home in the fall of 2013 with a variety of synthesizers, drum machines and assorted handmade electronics, Damaged Bug is Oh Sees mastermind John Dwyer's latest bit of cracked pop alchemy. The project is the cure to the ailment of too much guitar for too long. Fizzing and sputtering like a glowing, temperamental cockpit control panel, Dwyer bunkered deep in a blinking laboratory, penning songs about the long arc of our travels across space and time. Propulsive beats and synthetic veneers coat laser-guided melodies reflecting off shiny metal surfaces while instrumental interludes pop in and out like breaks in the asteroid belt. A far-out side of our main man -- nocturnal, hard-wired, and chrome-plated. Hubba Bubba features original artwork by Deirdre White."
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LP
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CF 092LP
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2022 repress. 2017 release. "Flat Worms belt-sanded everyone with their 7-inch on Volar, and Castle Face is proud as new papas to present their debut album. The band continues their ride on a buzz-saw wave of feedback-tipped riffs into the middle distance, the smog-choked sunset receding in the rearview, with a thousand-yard dead pan stare surgically pinned to a high octane set of boredom-energized punk pistons. This is an ear-ringing missive from the end of the cul-de-sac, a mirage wavering above a mid-sized American suburb at dusk, with the constellations bleached black by the sprawl. A little Wipers, a little Wire, and a lot of late-capitalist era anxious energy -- Flat Worms scratch the itch quite nicely."
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CD
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CF 142CD
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"The folks at Castle Face dig a good trance. Hypnosis, mesmerization, and brain trickery are some of their favorite results of deep listening and it is a suggestive, ritualistic and dreamlike vibe that Bronze ooze like pheromones all over their excellent new record. Absolute Compliance is a truly hypnogogic group of tunes from Bronze on their best and weirdest behavior and it hits all Castle Face's favorite things about them immediately and repeatedly: insistently strange synth voicings emanating from Miles Friction's mad scientist's lab worth of equipment, controlled by a homemade-looking oversized knob; Brian Hock's throbbing, woolly, hall-of-mirror grooves; and above it all Rob Spector's thousand yard croon, the vaguely familiar touchstone amongst these Lynchian, mutated surroundings -- these are songs of dreams and nightmares, hidden rituals observed, futuristic coliseum entertainments displaced in time, sci-fi jams of an uncertain future. Bronze are one-of-a kind great and if unfamiliar, go find their other records (including their great live record for Castle Face) and get caught up. They are real-deal weirdo kings of San Francisco and their spell is not easily dissipated once cast."
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CF 142LP
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LP version. "The folks at Castle Face dig a good trance. Hypnosis, mesmerization, and brain trickery are some of their favorite results of deep listening and it is a suggestive, ritualistic and dreamlike vibe that Bronze ooze like pheromones all over their excellent new record. Absolute Compliance is a truly hypnogogic group of tunes from Bronze on their best and weirdest behavior and it hits all Castle Face's favorite things about them immediately and repeatedly: insistently strange synth voicings emanating from Miles Friction's mad scientist's lab worth of equipment, controlled by a homemade-looking oversized knob; Brian Hock's throbbing, woolly, hall-of-mirror grooves; and above it all Rob Spector's thousand yard croon, the vaguely familiar touchstone amongst these Lynchian, mutated surroundings -- these are songs of dreams and nightmares, hidden rituals observed, futuristic coliseum entertainments displaced in time, sci-fi jams of an uncertain future. Bronze are one-of-a kind great and if unfamiliar, go find their other records (including their great live record for Castle Face) and get caught up. They are real-deal weirdo kings of San Francisco and their spell is not easily dissipated once cast."
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CF 050LP
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2022 repress. "John Dwyer has a surprise... While everyone eagerly anticipates the next Oh Sees record, he's been working tirelessly in his synth laboratory, hand-crafting a follow-up to last year's neon-noir Damaged Bug debut -- one that shakes up the snow globe considerably. If Hubba Bubba was a brush with a robotic exoskeleton on deep-space patrol, Cold Hot Plumbs visits the alien world that sent it into the cosmos. Lush, textural and psychedelic, the songs breathe with an otherworldly sadness and heart. Barbed, sophisticated arrangements flower in every direction. The vintage-perfect sound palette would be window dressing if not for the songs themselves: fresh, vital, and above all catchier than the flu. Cold Hot Plumbs is a strange, beautiful, and oddly infectious addition to Dwyer's oeuvre, and not one to be missed."
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CD
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CF 141CD
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"Gliding in on the twin engine discordant tones we've come to love from EXEK comes their new transmission Advertise Here. Beats bumping up thru a flapping spring reverb, gilded production choices, striped bass bubbling in the cauldron. With each pass of the witch's ladle, words float in the steam over the cacophonous concoction. The coven that croons together slays together, with every layer peeling back on our ear's tongue we will exclaim 'wicked' -- perhaps their strongest effort yet. The twin engines reappear now, tardy, guitar and synthesis, rounded edges, worn and ever so slightly fuzzed out -- perfection. This LP strives for new lyrical highs in my opinion. Pop at an arm's length, thru a greasy lens: A conversation. A conversation on drugs. A passing comment that sticks an utterance from the death bed. Reminiscent of Brian Eno, White Fence, PiL, Full Circle, ESG, all things Geoff Barrows, Eroc, Lard Free, and music of free weirdos everywhere. This one is the mossy titled deck of a half submerged shipwreck, a green light in a red room, a lump of clay, the end of the night when you think 'perhaps I should have left ages ago,' but it's too late now... you're in too deep... might as well have one more dance." "This LP is leaping even further out into the unknown for EXEK. A trip indeed, full of hits with zero diss and lots of hiss on no near miss." --John Dwyer
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LP
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CF 140LP
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LP version. "Often when music is constructed with synths and other electronically generated sound makers, their level of exactitude and control is such that the vocalist will either wittingly or otherwise seek to emulate the relative artifice of the soundscape. This is often done to great effect, think Kraftwerk. But what if there was a unit whose music was synth-generated but the vocals were coming from a hot-blooded, singing-for-the-cheap-seats approach? If done well, it's a case of two great tastes that taste great together, which brings me to System Exclusive. Their multi genre / time period collision is like a car accident where all parties walk away not only unscathed but sure they had a great time, like two different recording sessions sharing the same space and making it work. Vocalist Ari Blaisdell (previously of Lower Self, The Beat Offs) co-exists excellently amidst the driving beats and synth waves and her guitar further helps to jailbreak the tunes from the often sterile entrapments that synths provide. Matt Jones (previously of Male Gaze, Blasted Canyons, and continuing Castle Face behind-the-scenesman)'s smart use of live drums bring great juxtaposition against the machines. Ari's irony-free sincere delivery is the perfect closer on this very cool record, recorded ably by Enrique Tena Padilla (Osees, Wand, Beach House) in their backyard studio mid-pandemic and adorned with original artwork by Miles Wintner (L.A. Takedown, Mr. Elevator, Devon Williams). If you don't get this slab of goodness, well, that act of non-compliance will confirm you as the pain-in-the-ass that many have described you to be in great detail during Zoom chats. How dare they! Prove them wrong! Reduce their snark to mere pseudo-intellectual piffle! Your lifeline arrives in March. Grab it." --Henry Rollins
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CF 141LP
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LP version. "Gliding in on the twin engine discordant tones we've come to love from EXEK comes their new transmission Advertise Here. Beats bumping up thru a flapping spring reverb, gilded production choices, striped bass bubbling in the cauldron. With each pass of the witch's ladle, words float in the steam over the cacophonous concoction. The coven that croons together slays together, with every layer peeling back on our ear's tongue we will exclaim 'wicked' -- perhaps their strongest effort yet. The twin engines reappear now, tardy, guitar and synthesis, rounded edges, worn and ever so slightly fuzzed out -- perfection. This LP strives for new lyrical highs in my opinion. Pop at an arm's length, thru a greasy lens: A conversation. A conversation on drugs. A passing comment that sticks an utterance from the death bed. Reminiscent of Brian Eno, White Fence, PiL, Full Circle, ESG, all things Geoff Barrows, Eroc, Lard Free, and music of free weirdos everywhere. This one is the mossy titled deck of a half submerged shipwreck, a green light in a red room, a lump of clay, the end of the night when you think 'perhaps I should have left ages ago,' but it's too late now... you're in too deep... might as well have one more dance." "This LP is leaping even further out into the unknown for EXEK. A trip indeed, full of hits with zero diss and lots of hiss on no near miss." --John Dwyer
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CD
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CF 140CD
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"Often when music is constructed with synths and other electronically generated sound makers, their level of exactitude and control is such that the vocalist will either wittingly or otherwise seek to emulate the relative artifice of the soundscape. This is often done to great effect, think Kraftwerk. But what if there was a unit whose music was synth-generated but the vocals were coming from a hot-blooded, singing-for-the-cheap-seats approach? If done well, it's a case of two great tastes that taste great together, which brings me to System Exclusive. Their multi genre / time period collision is like a car accident where all parties walk away not only unscathed but sure they had a great time, like two different recording sessions sharing the same space and making it work. Vocalist Ari Blaisdell (previously of Lower Self, The Beat Offs) co-exists excellently amidst the driving beats and synth waves and her guitar further helps to jailbreak the tunes from the often sterile entrapments that synths provide. Matt Jones (previously of Male Gaze, Blasted Canyons, and continuing Castle Face behind-the-scenesman)'s smart use of live drums bring great juxtaposition against the machines. Ari's irony-free sincere delivery is the perfect closer on this very cool record, recorded ably by Enrique Tena Padilla (Osees, Wand, Beach House) in their backyard studio mid-pandemic and adorned with original artwork by Miles Wintner (L.A. Takedown, Mr. Elevator, Devon Williams). If you don't get this slab of goodness, well, that act of non-compliance will confirm you as the pain-in-the-ass that many have described you to be in great detail during Zoom chats. How dare they! Prove them wrong! Reduce their snark to mere pseudo-intellectual piffle! Your lifeline arrives in March. Grab it." --Henry Rollins
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