Forced Exposure New Releases for the Week of 7/22/2024

 

PRICE: $25.50

CAT #: AUK 006LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2024 repress; 180 gram black vinyl for the first time. This 1997 album is seen as a classic Brian Jonestown Massacre release. The Brian Jonestown Massacre is a psychedelic rock band originally from San Francisco, California, led by guitarist/singer Anton Newcombe. Since 1995 The Brian Jonestown Massacre has released numerous albums, first for Bomp! Records, the label which gave them their start, and later for TVT, Tee Pee, and now on Anton Newcombe's own A Recordings label. BJM has been essential in the development of the modern U.S. garage scene, and many L.A. and SF musicians got their start playing with Newcombe, including Peter Hayes of The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Originally Newcombe was heavily influenced by The Rolling Stones' psychedelic phase -- the name comes from Stones guitarist Brian Jones combined with a reference to cult leader Jim Jones, but his work in the 2000s has expanded into aesthetic dimensions approximating the UK shoegazing genre of the 1990s, and incorporates influences from world music, especially Middle Eastern and Brazilian music.

 

PRICE: $25.50

CAT #: AUK 026LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2024 repress. Pressed on 180 gram black vinyl and housed in a gatefold sleeve. Remastered for a vinyl release. This 15-track compilation spans the years 1995-2004, featuring key tracks from all their albums as well as live recordings and many unreleased tracks. The Brian Jonestown Massacre is a psychedelic rock band originally from San Francisco, California, led by guitarist/singer Anton Newcombe. Since 1995 The Brian Jonestown Massacre has released numerous albums, first for Bomp! Records, the label which gave them their start, and later for TVT and Tee Pee. BJM has been essential in the development of the modern U.S. garage scene, and many L.A. and SF musicians got their start playing with Newcombe, including Peter Hayes of The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Originally Newcombe was heavily influenced by The Rolling Stones' psychedelic phase -- the name comes from Stones guitarist Brian Jones combined with a reference to cult leader Jim Jones, but his work in the 2000s has expanded into aesthetic dimensions approximating the UK shoegazing genre of the 1990s, and incorporates influences from world music, especially Middle Eastern and Brazilian music.

 

PRICE: $25.50

CAT #: AUK 027LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2024 repress. Tepid Peppermint Wonderland Volume 2 includes the second half of the double CD Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective (AUK 013CD, 2004), remastered for vinyl. Following Tepid Peppermint Wonderland Volume 1 (AUK 026LP, 2004), Volume 2 continues to mine the period of 1995 through 2004 and includes key tracks from all of The Brian Jonestown Massacre's albums as well as live recordings and many otherwise unreleased tracks. The Brian Jonestown Massacre is a psychedelic rock band originally from San Francisco, California, led by guitarist and singer Anton Newcombe. Beginning in 1995, The Brian Jonestown Massacre released numerous albums, first on BOMP!, the label that gave them their start, and later on TVT Records and Tee Pee Records. The band was essential in the development of the modern U.S. garage scene, and many LA and SF musicians got their start playing with Newcombe, including Peter Hayes of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Originally Newcombe was heavily influenced by The Rolling Stones' psychedelic phase (the band name is a reference to Stones guitarist Brian Jones and Peoples Temple founder Jim Jones), but his work in the 2000s expanded into aesthetic dimensions approximating the UK shoegazing genre of the 1990s and incorporating influences from world music, especially Middle Eastern and Brazilian music. Gatefold double LP version.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: AZ 005LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. "A band who have justifiably been championed across the world, Tokyo's Melt-Banana have been responsible for some of the most complex punk rock ever made, that far outshines ninety-nine percent of most other bands out there. The band once described their live show as 'Shooting machine gun and laser beam, chaos in order.' And I think that pretty much sums them up." --Olli Siebelt, BBC"No wave without the self-conscious pretension, avant garde composition compressed into one-minute-or-less bursts, urgency, intricate destruction, pure glorious abandon. Melt-Banana play the same way that Repulsion, Naked City, The Ruins, or The Boredoms all make you want to scream and dance and kill your neighbors. This is not music that we are conditioned to accept. This is you delirious with joy scraping your five senses off the floor." --Matthew Moyer, Ink19"Melt-Banana are in a league of their own. There are other extreme hardcore bands out there who are experimental and unique but Melt-Banana are more than that. They area giants amongst infants. Masters amongst pupils. Kings amongst serfs. Nobody can do what they do and nobody can adequately use words to describe them." --Jeb, Crass Menagerie

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: N 096LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

I Can See Our House From Here is Andi Haberl's debut solo album as Sun. It's not about nostalgia, not about actually returning to a specific place. Instead, it's about finding a personal frequency, an overlapping of sounds and samples, an open space that mirrors and extends whatever frequencies felt right at different points in time. Talking about his first solo album, Haberl recalls many stages: early compositions that ended up on Alien Ensemble's albums, early DIY/home studio/multi-instrumentalist inspirations (Le Millipede), new technologies that came and went, even a set of wildly convincing arrangements (done with Cico Beck's crucial input) that ultimately became stepping stones for yet another round of DIY takes. "I want to take people on a journey. A personal journey, too, because when my parents split up and sold the house I grew up in, I felt a bit like the ground had fallen out from under my feet. But I have dedicated the album title and the accompanying piece to this house, so I can keep it in good memory," he says. I Can See Our House From Here has been a long time coming. It's been a long journey. Homeward-bound. Leading to a place that's really Haberl's -- his sound. His frequencies. Known as a long-time member of The Notwist and various other bands/projects (Alien Ensemble, AMEO, jersey, Ditty etc.), Berlin-based drummer/composer Andi Haberl has also worked with My Brightest Diamond, Till Br?nner, Owen Pallet, and Kurt Rosenwinkel, to name a few.

 

PRICE: $10.00

CAT #: VIRUS 315CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2024 repress. "Of all the hotly sought-after original Killed-By-Death punk singles, few to none are as notorious -- or mysterious -- as the Gacy's Place EP by The Mentally Ill. The sleeve, the topics, the so-horrible-it's-amazing production values, that voice. Many in the know crown it the sickest punk record ever made. But there is more -- much more. The Gacy's Place sessions yielded eight songs, only three were ever released. A dig in the ol' crawlspace turned up even cruder earlier demos with alternate versions of the EP songs, plus over half-a-dozen others, heard only by a handful of people. A true labor of man-boy love, it took Jello Biafra years to pry this loose from the band. They kept insisting each album be housed in a three-foot wide scale model of Gacy's house itself! Now their affliction has subsided enough so that everyone finally has a chance to save their $200 'evil-Bay' bucks and grab a whole album's worth of mental illness before their condition comes back. Another exciting chapter in Alternative's 'Punk Re-Issues Of Necessity' series!"

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: VIRUS 460CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2024 repress. "The Shaggs' Philosophy of the World quietly debuted in 1980 and eventually became the crown jewel for outsider music fans for its charming and discordant pop songs. Frank Zappa said The Shaggs were 'better than The Beatles' and Kurt Cobain regarded them as 'so obviously the real thing.' Now, Shaggs' singer and songwriter Dot Wiggin is back to break the silence and share her uncommonly cute, uncanny music on her first-ever solo album -- a mix of never-recorded Shaggs songs and new classics written by Wiggin and her band! Ready! Get! Go! retains The Shaggs' essential qualities without missing a beat or trying to recreate what once was. The material ranges from raw, punkish indie to pretty melodies, all with Wiggin's trademark whimsy. Her lyrics are simple but haunting, without ever becoming formulaic or gimmicky, and her peculiar, sweet voice rolls along the different musical styles with surprising ease, tying Ready! Get Go! together. It is exactly what one wants to hear after a 44-year musical hiatus -- something reminiscent of The Shaggs, but refreshingly matured. 'Speed Limit' is a danceable track with a catchy chorus chant that showcases the innocent, fun-loving side of the band, whereas 'Boo Hoo' shows their capacity for melancholy. 'Speed Limit 2' offers rambunctious and berserk rock 'n' roll noise that comes as a powerful surprise and delight. 'Banana Bike' is an unrecorded Shaggs song given new life with Wiggin's signature bashfulness. Upbeat and heavyhearted, 'The Fella with a Happy Heart,' is another classic Shaggs-era tune never heard until now. The album ends with a cover of 'End of the World,' a new take on Skeeter Davis's 1962 cowboy hit. Ready! Get ! Go! is the surprise comeback album of the year."

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: VIRUS 460LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. 2024 repress. "The Shaggs' Philosophy of the World quietly debuted in 1980 and eventually became the crown jewel for outsider music fans for its charming and discordant pop songs. Frank Zappa said The Shaggs were 'better than The Beatles' and Kurt Cobain regarded them as 'so obviously the real thing.' Now, Shaggs' singer and songwriter Dot Wiggin is back to break the silence and share her uncommonly cute, uncanny music on her first-ever solo album -- a mix of never-recorded Shaggs songs and new classics written by Wiggin and her band! Ready! Get! Go! retains The Shaggs' essential qualities without missing a beat or trying to recreate what once was. The material ranges from raw, punkish indie to pretty melodies, all with Wiggin's trademark whimsy. Her lyrics are simple but haunting, without ever becoming formulaic or gimmicky, and her peculiar, sweet voice rolls along the different musical styles with surprising ease, tying Ready! Get Go! together. It is exactly what one wants to hear after a 44-year musical hiatus -- something reminiscent of The Shaggs, but refreshingly matured. 'Speed Limit' is a danceable track with a catchy chorus chant that showcases the innocent, fun-loving side of the band, whereas 'Boo Hoo' shows their capacity for melancholy. 'Speed Limit 2' offers rambunctious and berserk rock 'n' roll noise that comes as a powerful surprise and delight. 'Banana Bike' is an unrecorded Shaggs song given new life with Wiggin's signature bashfulness. Upbeat and heavyhearted, 'The Fella with a Happy Heart,' is another classic Shaggs-era tune never heard until now. The album ends with a cover of 'End of the World,' a new take on Skeeter Davis's 1962 cowboy hit. Ready! Get ! Go! is the surprise comeback album of the year."

 

PRICE: $33.00

CAT #: AU 1001LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

2024 repress! "The compilation that started the renaissance. In 2002 Audika Records entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with the estate of Arthur Russell to compile and issue previously unreleased and out of print material from Arthur's vast archive. This first album Calling Out of Context, features 12 previously unreleased tracks of Buddhist Bubblegum Alt Disco Pop recorded during Arthur's prime years 1985-90."

 

PRICE: $32.00

CAT #: AX 117LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

The Eyewitness is the newest album from Jeff Mills and it is composed from the perspective of an unknowingly complicit bystander and it is at the very least, psychologically pathological in nature. What this release is essentially proposing is an admission to the diagnosis that no one is immune to shock and trauma. The Eyewitness reveals a habitual pattern in the way it symbolizes a mirror reflection of mankind in its most vulnerable moments. As an artist, what Mills is notoriously known for is the perspectives and paths he chooses to approach hefty, complex, and sometimes, awkward subjects. He suggests sound as a reflection and what listeners might be able to see in themselves. In the same vicinity of his recent solo albums, the direction, scope, and target of The Eyewitness is first about listeners, then about it. More than the few previous albums he's released lately, this one has a unique relationship in terms of imagery and visual treatments that represent the concept. The front cover shows Mills, neatly dressed in a black suit that ap-pears to be caught in the act of doing something methodically as he cohorts to support with a bright white type of surgical light towards the viewer. Other photos show him in darkened spaces. Remote and deep in thought. Other clues are the titles of the tracks such as "Sacred Iridescent Mirror (The Pledge)": this refers to the act of installing value and credit to something ambiguous, and "Menticide" which means the systematic effort to undermine and destroy a person's values and beliefs. In the opening track, "In A Traumatized World," listeners hear the narration spoken by Mills, in a language he specifically created for this album. It's a dialect that is designed to be undistinguishable, but spoken with a compassion that it could be sympathized with. In the latter part of the track, it reaches a climatic point. Meaning, "it" has happened. And the album is the evidence.

 

PRICE: $33.00

CAT #: AX 119LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

This double LP is cut in reverse, and plays inside out. Jeff Mills presents his new album The Trip, the world's first cosmic opera. What happens on the cosmic journey toward the black hole? What is on the other side of the black hole? Jeff Mills explores these questions through a performance and an album release, that appeals to the auditory and visual senses. A performance focusing on being lost in space The Trip began about leaving planet Earth and searching the cosmos for new locations to live. This album displays, in five theoretical scenarios, what could happen after entering through a black hole and exiting on the other side. Featuring special guest Jun Togawa . Jeff Mills, fascinated by Jun's unique way of singing as well as a commanding stage presence, approached her through the right channels and by the evening of the same day, Jun Togawa agreed and the lyrics had been written. The recording sessions were conducted remotely between their locations in Japan and the US. Two songs featuring Jun are "Contradiction" and "Hole." For both songs, Jun added the vocals to the rhythm originally composed by Jeff Mills, and the final synth pad (added by Shinichi Yamaguchi) was edited by Jeff Mills. On "Contradiction," he wanted to include a guitar similar to the style of rock and roll legend Bo Diddley, which is masterfully played by Kazuhide Yamaji of the current Yapoos.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: BING 206LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Asher White's third album in two years (and fifteenth overall), Home Constellation Study is less a refinement of 2023's sly, quaint New Excellent Woman, and more an explosion of it. Her meticulous chamber pop has given way to resplendent swells of horns and squeals of noise, throbbing bass and queasy orchestral loops. The cover, painted by White, frames a burst of flowers against a dark blue abyss, mimicking the music: over-frenzied sambas, bleary slacker rock, hushed ambient meditations, and surprisingly slick disco, White mines her personal minutiae for tokens of political decay, alienation, and religious rapture. 2024 has found the prolific Providence-based singer-songwriter ascending through her city's fertile experimental rock scene alongside the breakout synth-punk act babybaby explores and her labelmates Or Best Offer. Live, White's band plays riotous, unpredictable noise rock that nods to their city's storied DIY scene; on Home Constellation Study, mid-album highlights like 'Downstate Prairie' and 'Hymn' nod to Providence's bands of yore with their blistering sheets of feedback and pummeling drums, placing White, improbably, within the lineage of local heroes Les Savy Fav or the broken pop dispatches of Black Pus. At its core, however, Home Constellation Study is the product of studied, monastic auteurism. Like New Excellent Woman, it was arranged, performed, recorded and mixed by White alone in her basement studio in Providence. 'Happy Birthday' is an earnest psalm, a paean of devotion and remorse to God a la Beverly Glenn-Copeland that drifts along with Panda Bear haziness. White's concept of 'toxic femininity' undergoes further investigation on 'Good Luck!' and 'Runes,' both with Elliott Smith-like chord changes and the barbs of cynical romantics like Aimee Mann. Asher White's vision has never been so expansive and unpredictable."

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: BING 210LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Forgive Too Slow, avant-garde artist Julia-Sophie's deeply personal debut album is testament to her ability to transform adversity into raw beauty, combining her traditional songwriting roots with her own take on experimental electronica. It features her intimate voice backed by warm and precise electronic sounds whose free-spirited explorations give body to the carefully written personal songs. Julia-Sophie comes off the drama of her 2010s rock band, Little Fish, which was signed to a major label. The surreal experiences (like being flown to Las Vegas in helicopters with a bag of slot machine money or given limousines for the day to go shopping), along with having to work in environments where she felt unsafe, drove her decision to leave the fame game. She turned down the offer to emigrate to America and engage with the machinations of the system as it did not feel 'true or congruent with who I was.' Instead, she focused her attention on her hometown (Oxford, UK). She started recording lo-fi pop in her garage, using an old laptop, wonky microphones and hitting whatever was around for beats. Her band at the time, Candy Says, grew to be more of a collective than a band, and eventually co-wrote a film score for indie film Burn Burn Burn and recorded a cover of 'Running Up That Hill' for the Netflix film Close (starring Noomi Rapace). Julia-Sophie soon started recording songs with her friend B, who had a studio stacked from wall-to-wall with analogue recording gear, vintage synths and drum machines. She decided to self-release and the music reached audiences beyond her expectations, including support from BBC Radio 6 and a feature in The Quietus. Forgive Too Slow is Julia-Sophie's debut solo album, and concerns relationships and the struggles one goes through when one 'forgives too slow' and can't break out of patterns from the past. The songs narrate her story of self-destruction ('Numb'), love ('Falling'), and loss ('Telephone'). By the end, embers are still burning and there is no telling if Julia-Sophie has found peace, but one does get a sense that she has gotten closer to the core of her being and is finally living authentically."

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: BACIL 9860711LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Epsilon's music improved considerably on their second offering Move On (1972). It consists of clear prog-rock elements like inspired organ passages, classical music parts, some more complicated soloing or beautiful acoustic guitars fragments. But still the sound of the band had changed since the release of their debut album. Following a more commercial approach, the songs became shorter and the guitars more prominent. Nevertheless, a few tracks on Move On are absolutely essential for prog rock fans. When the album came out, they could be seen as a German parallel to Traffic, with their soulish vocals, instrumentation of organ, guitars and flute and their slightly jazzy mood -- just listen to the tracks "Feelings" and "Move On." At the time of Move On's release in December 1971, both Ortel and Ertl had already quit. Epsilon, which was originally formed from the ashes of the two legendary formations Nosferatu and Orange Peel, virtually moved on! This revamped group warmed up for the British band IF, during their German tour of 1972. Peter Koch (ex-Jeronimo) was temporarily added as a fifth member during this year. Produced by Peter Hauke and Dieter Dierks. Guests include Curt Cress (drums), Rainer Marz (backing vocals, guitar, ex-Jeronimo), Pete Bender (backing vocals, aka Wyoming), and Christian Felke (flute, ex- Nosferatu). Remastered in 2017 by Stefan Noltemeyer, Berlin.

 

PRICE: $23.50

CAT #: BACIL 9861916LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

180gram, green color vinyl. Limited to 500 copies. Originally released in 1971 the first and self-titled album by Nine Days Wonder was one of the very first recordings for the newly found label Bacillus of producer Peter Hauke. Nine Days Wonder, with their international line-up consisting of founder and singer Walter Seyffer, Rolf Henning (guitar, piano), Karl Mutschlechner (bass) from Austria, John Earle (vocals saxophone, flute, guitar) from Ireland, and drummer Martin Roscoe from England, taking inspiration from Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, King Crimson, and Soft Machine. The album's four titles were recorded by top recording engineer Dieter Dirks in his studio in Cologne. It turned out exceptional, both with regard to music and to artistic form: the music highly complex, with surprising arrangements, ranging from rough guitar riffs to the feel-good sound of acoustic guitar, unisonal baubles of guitar and saxophone, weird and harmonic songs, sudden changes of tempo -- the album features such a multitude of facets that multiple hearings are required to appreciate them all, and they certainly make for entertaining listening. A musical fireworks display bubbling over with ideas that need not shun international comparison. From the artistic point of view the band had also come up with quite something.

 

PRICE: $22.50

CAT #: BCM 9601CD

FILE UNDER: SOUNDTRACK

Beat Records relaunches on the market the classic OST by Ennio Morricone for the Western film Le pistole non discutono, directed in 1964 by Mario Caiano and starring Rod Cameron, ?ngel Aranda, Vivi Bach, Horst Frank, Jos? Canalejas, Kay Fisher, Joseph Martin, Hans Nielsen, Dick Palmer, Judy Robbins, and Andrew Ray. For this film, Ennio Morricone composed the song "Lonesome Billy," a Western ballad with an American sound introduced by guitars and whistle with the voice of Pete Tevis (who also wrote the lyrics). Le pistole non discutono, a cavalcade theme for orchestra with horns alternated to dramatic orchestral passages such as "Gli indiani" and the percussive "Le pistole non discutono (#2)" with accompanying harmonica. This OST is also characterized by the burlesque motif "La ragazza e lo sceriffo" and Mexican mariachi music performed on solo guitar and also with female vocals. This CD, with a total duration of 41:45, was assembled using the mono masters of the original sessions, with the inclusion of the three stereo mixes that Maestro Morricone authorized for the previous edition released years ago. Mastering and liner notes by Claudio Fuiano, graphic layout by Daniele De Gemini.

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: BELLA 9665613LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Remastered edition from 2013, now on 180gram double vinyl. The two singles from the album, "Baba und foi ned" and the reggae-like "Hoit di is a Spoit," alongside songs such as the bluesy "Glaub jo ned," the fast-paced "Hoiba Zw?fe," the fun grenade "Eibischzuckerl," the cult "Du schwoaza Afghana," the rocking "UFO" and many other hits offer a very versatile listening pleasure from Wolfgang Ambros' heyday. Wolfgang Ambros records live from their narrative density. His art of bringing stories close to you with so few words that they always get under your skin. What he says doesn't have to be true for others -- for him it's always the truth as he feels it. there are no qualitative slips with him.

 

PRICE: $34.00

CAT #: BNR 238LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Unklevon announces debut UN1C LP on Boysnoize Records. The album consists of 11 tracks and features collaborations with Boys Noize, Alina Pash, Maral, Vel, and DJ MELL G. The title track starts with a steady snare-heavy beat, foreboding atmospherics and a futuristic vocal. It introduces the France-based producer's Detroit-inspired electro LP and also marks his debut full-length, landing on Boysnoize Records, a label Unklevon's been affiliated with since 2022. For the second track the International Chrome and Nechto artist is joined by Maral for "Bag Secured," adding her sensual vocals to a raw cut featuring rough synthlines and racing rhythm. "Science Club" then continues with infectious and hypnotic energy driven by a deep, earworm vocal before "Speed Chains" picks up pace with speedy basslines and rhythms shot through with bleeps. Ukrainian singer Alina Pash infuses Unklevon's "High Key" with fantastic modern hip-hop flair, with "All 4 Homies" returning to the club with cut-up sampling and tripped-out electro sonics. Boysnoize Records' Boys Noize also teams up with Unklevon for "Spa8cid," a menacing dancefloor heavy-hitter which eases into the acid madness of "Miami South Express" which follows. Next up, Unklevon and Vel drop the aptly named "Transed About U," a true peak-time roller boasting hypnotic trance-like gated vocals, with German electro superstar DJ MELL G joining him for "Wizard Snakes," taking a more classical approach with rich synth lines and crisp drum work. Closing out this fantastic first album from a promising name in the global electro spheres is "Call Me Von," another amped-up, bass-laden track ready to rock the warehouse.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: CF 150LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"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

 

PRICE: $23.50

CAT #: COSMR 026LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Reverse side print. Re-issue of the Canadian band's only album released back in 1973 on the small Kot'Ai label. Moonstone came from Winnipeg, Manitoba and were a small cult band active in the early 1970s. They played mainly acoustic folk rock with psychedelic overtones and beautiful harmonies.

 

PRICE: $23.50

CAT #: COSMR 027LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Reverse side print. Another lost gem from the non-jazz Verve catalogue, Color Him In is a daydream experience from loner singer/songwriter Bobby Jameson. Released in 1967, the album is an orchestrated psychedelic trip, so it's no surprise then Jameson had a part in the cult film Mondo Hollywood. Produced by Curt Boettcher the album had several psych-pop numbers with rare female vocals harmonization.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: DE 307LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"The seductive sounds of Portugal swing to Dark Entries on Rock Rendez Vous: M?sica Moderna Portuguesa 1985-1986, a compilation of vintage Iberian synth, wave, and postpunk gems. The legendary club Rock Rendez Vous (RRV) opened its doors in Lisbon in 1980, heralding a new era in the Portuguese underground. Although touring acts like Killing Joke, Danse Society, or Echo & the Bunnymen graced its stage, RRV more vitally served as ground zero for a new generation of Portuguese bands, one simultaneously in touch with broader international musical movements while being invested in establishing a national sonic identity. Rock Rendez Vous culls nine tracks of prime Portuguese indie tunes from the M?sica Moderna Portuguesa compilations released in 1985 and 1986, documenting the heyday of this movement. Jangly and brooding postpunk gems like 'Levante' from Jovem Guarda, Projecto Azul's 'New Sides,' and Essa Entente's 'Festa Final' are well-represented here. Meanwhile, quirky Balearic-laced synthpop gems like D. W. Art's 'Mate' or Zona Proibida's 'Musak' add a subtly regional flare. Rock Rendez Vous: M?sica Moderna Portuguesa comes housed in a sleeve designed by Eloise Leigh featuring a photo of the club RRV, and also includes a double-sided insert with lyrics, photos, and liner notes."

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: DE 324LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Ortrotasce comes to Dark Entries with Dispatches From Solitude, their latest LP. For over a decade, Nic Hamersly has been using the Ortotrasce (pronounced: or-tro-task) moniker to unleash brooding-yet-propulsive darkwave anthems upon the world. Hamersly's work explores the intersection between industrial and synth pop, drawing a line from the sounds of the past to the present. Recorded during the Covid and post-Covid era, Dispatches from Solitude brings eight tracks of tightly wrought synth-pop exploring grief, romance, and our strange world -- which just keeps getting stranger. The cover art was designed by Hamersly, and the record includes a postcard with notes. Dispatches From Solitude will thrill fans of classic industrial-laced wave bands like Hard Corps, Fad Gadget, and SPK."

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: DE 328LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Dark Entries celebrates its 15th anniversary with legendary synth-punk deviants Crash Course in Science. Dale Feliciello, Mallory Yago, and Michael Zodorozny formed CCIS in 1979 after meeting at art school in Philadelphia. As a gesture born of equal parts punk irreverence and brute necessity, the band incorporated toy instruments and kitchen appliances into their aggressive, angular sound. Their anthems 'Cardboard Lamb' and 'Flying Turns' from 1981's Signals From Pier Thirteen EP have been staples in adventurous DJ sets for over 40 years -- yet some of their finest work is to be found on Near Marineland, a full-length LP recorded in 1981 but remained unreleased in its time. Near Marineland shows the band moving into more diverse and polished territory (although it's still as abrasive as sandpaper). Tracks like 'No More Hollow Doors' and 'Jump Over Barrels' highlight CCIS's singular knack for embedding infectiously monotone hooks in their stiff-yet-funky grooves. Elsewhere, CCIS goes fully unhinged, like on the searing 'Someone Reads' or the demented 'Pompeii Spared,' where a spray of honks is barely glued together by a frantic synthetic pulse. While this masterwork of malfunctioning analog electronics has surfaced on a few occasions -- this first-time stand-alone remaster includes four never-before-released bonus tracks and includes a lyric sheet. Near Marineland is crucial listening for all devotees of synth-punk and minimal electronics."

 

PRICE: $31.00

CAT #: DFPRKPM 005LP

FILE UNDER: HIPHOP

"London-based label, Def Presse are pleased to announce their partnership with legendary Library Music label KPM. Def Presse Editions/KPM Crate Diggers are works built around samples from KPM releases. As part of the series -- Blockhead presents his new album, Luminous Rubble, where the artist dives deep into KPM's iconic music and sound design library. Blockhead has released 15 albums over the past 15 years and is regarded as one of the modern masters of instrumental hip-hop. It's a producer's dream: Being given access to a vast library of material to construct something completely new and exciting out of all of it and when Blockhead's at the controls, the results are a listener's paradise, too. The New York City-based hip-hop production legend's Luminous Rubble is the latest missive in a particularly busy period for the underground hip-hop veteran, who's spent the last decades lending his considerable talents to work from artists like Armand Hammer, billy woods, Murs, and Open Mike Eagle; in 2021, he released the critically acclaimed collab LP Garbology with rap legend and longtime collaborator Aesop Rock, and in 2023 he unleashed his twelfth solo album, The Aux. After hearing Luminous Rubble, you'll be happy he stuck around."

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: ELE 035CD

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Robert Johnson of Indonesia's Orkes Melayu music finally comes out from the shadows. Between 1961 and 1964, Kelana Ria recorded 48 songs that were spread over four records, Kafilah, Yam El Shamah, Ya Mahmud, and Ya Hamidah, which became the primary sources for this compilation. In the early 1960s, two of the best talents in the Indonesian music scene, songwriter and band leader Adi Karso and Gambus musician Munif Bahasuan teamed up to form Orkes Melayu (Malay Orchestra) Kelana Ria. These four recordings changed the trajectory of Indonesian popular music. "Renungkanlah" has been covered by many countless other musicians in Indonesia and Malaysia and it has become a hit many times over. The song has become a go-to song in karaoke bars in the region, with fans oblivious to who actually wrote this song or who performed it the first time. Or take the song "Ratapan Anak Tiri" ("Lament of a Stepchild"), a song that has traversed national boundaries and has become a universal sad song in the Malay world, turning into a shorthand for melancholia that permeates this archipelago of nations. Another stunner is the melancholia-laden "Kesunyian Jiwa" ("Silence of the Soul"), an operatic tune so majestic that it could open any black and white Kurosawa film from the late 1940s. The songs and the soulful vocal performance belong to Muhamad Mashabi, who despite the popularity of the songs he created is now largely forgotten, whose history was kept alive only in the neighborhood where he grew up in Central Jakarta. With only a short musical career and only nine recorded songs from almost 40 compositions, Mashabi fell by the wayside in the early 1970s, especially with the rise of pop and rock from bands like Koes Plus, Panbers, and God Bless. Yet his songs, inspired by Malay traditional songs but performed in the modern studio setting, lay the foundations for what would become the biggest musical genre in the country, dangdut, especially the kind that was popularized by the self-styled king of the genre, Rhoma Irama.

 

PRICE: $22.00

CAT #: EMP 051LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. "Christopher McVicker could capably add a chapter or two to the omnipresent tall tale of perfect pop's supposed rebirth in 21st century San Francisco. That's assuming he could be bothered to weigh in on the subject. Still, for the last decade-plus, McVicker's chosen musical guise of Swiftumz has certainly been inspirational to the current pack. This perennially loose project allows McVicker to shape myriad aural obsessions into something quintessentially his own. From the distorted fuzz-centric moments on his earliest recordings through his more recent punky bursts of shiny pop, McVicker's work has wowed the fortunate few who have bent an ear in his direction. For sure, 'Everybody loves Chris.' Now returning with Simply The Best, he has leveled up. Aided by some of The City's finest like-minded volunteers -- Kelley Stoltz, folks from The Aislers Set, The Bananas, Dirty Ghosts and many others, Simply The Best is a varied, all-hits endeavor, placing vibey, holed-up bedroom ballads alongside idealized, sparkling pop rock, chilled on one occasion, sharpened on another. Of particular note are the lead guitar contributions courtesy of Chris Guthridge, adding punch to McVicker's effortlessly cool arrangements. These combinations and contributions always seem to boost Swiftumz beyond expectations, toward the timeless and classic. The prime testament to McVicker's songcraft is that he makes it look and sound so easy. In truth, Simply The Best earned its name over six long years of construction, a tumultuous period that saw the tragic loss of a cherished friend and guitarist, the abrupt closure of the record's pressing plant and countless other personal and professional upheavals. Somehow McVicker, far too blessed to ever be stressed, was able to see through all these hardships and get all these gems cut and polished."

 

PRICE: $22.00

CAT #: FTR 761LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"MX-80 Sound are one of the foundational underground rock bands of the last half century. Formed in the university town of Bloomington IN in 1974, the original version came about when Bruce Anderson and Dale Sophiea (from Screaming Gypsy Bandits) teamed up with Rich Stim and Dave Mahoney (from Chinaboise), adding another couple of drummers for extra confusion. Things fluxxed and mutated for a while. MX-80 played the Bloomington Public Library and rehearsed a lot. They opened for Patti Smith, one drummer left and they recorded the great Big Hits EP in '76 for local label BRBQ. Reviewed in Sounds by Carline Coons, the EP got the band a deal by which UK Island licensed and released their equally great first album, Hard Attack, in '77. Another drummer left and MX-80 Sound moved to San Francisco, where they made a couple of amazing albums for the Residents' label, Ralph. Drummers changed, but Anderson, Stim and Sophiea remained fairly constant, and together they created a signature sound featuring massive repeating guitar riffs, biting angular rhythms and casually surreal vocals. Over the years they all did their own things, but regularly rehearsed together as MX-80, at which point things generally coalesced into an easily identifiable (impossibly to categorize) style. As great as their live sets were, they didn't tour often, but every time I saw them they were superb. And the recordings that came from their regular meet-ups are as brilliant as they are idiosyncratic. Better Than Life was recorded shortly before the death of Bruce Anderson, which assures it will be the final MX-80 studio album, and it's a wonderful testament to how long you can keep creating fresh and vital avant rock music without ever making any goddamn money doing it. Better Than Life sounds great. Anderson's guitar is a huge as ever, Stim's movie-oriented lyric inventions and wry delivery are as weirdly dead pan as could be, Dael Sophiea's bass defines the urgent edges of the songs, and the other players -- guitarists John Moreman and Jim Hrabetin, bassist Chris Xefos, and drummer Nico Sophiea (son of Dale) -- are spot-on. Together, they create a lovely, complex and intelligent mix of the wildest avant-prog/punk-rock hybrid you'll never hear again. As much as we'll miss MX-80 Sound, their legacy will live forever, and the crazy blend of elements they created with such unforced power should stand as a challenge to every new band that comes along. This album demonstrates it's indeed possible to create a unique sound for yourself with enough interior space you can explore its mysterious sonic corridors for almost 50 years. This should be enough to give us all hope, and we should offer thanks to MX-80 for creating such a fine and freaky aesthetic model. If more artists followed their path, we'd all live a much better world." --Byron Coley, 2024

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: FEELIT 127LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Marcel Wave write eulogies for tragic actresses, ancient riverbeds and concrete obscenity. Their inaugural sonic instalment Something Looming is part trades club symphony, part itchy serenade, and part wistful lament. As their heady concoction of 'Meades meets Pat-E-Smith meets Kirklees Borough Council' gets prepped to be formally baptized on a dank stage near you, Upset the Rhythm and Feel It Records have dutifully stepped in to deliver its songbook to the masses on both sides of the pond. Formed when Lindsay Corstorphine and Christopher Murphy of Sauna Youth and brethren Oliver and Patrick Fisher of Cold Pumas were summoned by northern ink-slinger Maike Hale-Jones, Marcel Wave's debut offering is a walk through a smoke-filled pub with yellowing wallpaper and all eyes on you. It's a chronicle of the death of the docklands, the decline of industry, of the high street, of civic pride, of civilizations, of hopes and dreams. As Hale-Jones delivers the bad news in her low, West Yorkshire brogue, Corstorphine adds the bells and whistles via the frantic pulsations of a wheezing Hohner organ in tandem with Fisher O's rasping guitar. MW are completed by the throbbing basslines of Murphy and Fisher P's fervent rhythms. There's a sense of foreboding in Hale-Jones' lyrics which sit at the quintet's core -- elegiac, sardonic and piquant in equal measure. A mixture of narrative epilogues and inward paeans, her words weave tales across a broad thematic church. A snaking, existential dread also runs through the album, stated more obliquely in the otherwise poppier interludes of the title track 'Something Looming' and album opener 'Bent Out of Shape', and present too on the comparatively ramshackle 'Discount Centre', where Hale-Jones reports 'On a mini bus on the outskirts of Enfield, I'm losing all of my spark'. On the album closing weeper 'Linoleum Floor', it is laid barer still -- a keyboard-led reflection on the deflating nights out of early-twenties. Marcel Wave invites the listener to dance to society's decline, and then to later weep into its lukewarm pint."

 

PRICE: $27.00

CAT #: FEELIT 128LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"The Drin forge further into their own captivating world of sound on their fourth album, Elude the Torch. Since 2021, the Cincinnati group has released one strikingly original album per year, crawling closer to the aether with a driving, reverberated rhythm. The Drin's current sextet lineup is at a new height -- loose, yet focused and commanding. Deep layers of saxophone, synthesizer, percussion, strings and opaque environments stir with flickering emotion across Elude the Torch, while D McCartney's nebulous verbiage and grim auguries paint landscapes within the rock 'n roll murk."

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: FREAK 071LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Limited restock. "Finally on vinyl! There's not much musical output from the twisted and magical mind of the legendary Syd Barrett, so these two complete and amazingly sounding two sessions he recorded for the BBC are absolutely essential for anyone remotely interested in Barrett's incredible music. The legendary Pink Floyd founding father is captured here at the peak of his delicate power, making this beautiful record an astonishing psychedelic ride through the mind of a mad genius. A must!"

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: GBVI 121CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Building on forty years of GBV history, the majestic and triumphant Strut Of Kings is the forty-first album by indie rock royalty Guided By Voices. Largely recorded in Kings County, New York (Brooklyn), the album is perhaps a gesture towards the malevolent 'kings' on the world stage. As the 'Serene King' waltzes across the battlefield, Emperor Pollard evokes castles, King Kong and strutting roosters, a surreal yet regal journey."

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: GBVI 121LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. "Building on forty years of GBV history, the majestic and triumphant Strut Of Kings is the forty-first album by indie rock royalty Guided By Voices. Largely recorded in Kings County, New York (Brooklyn), the album is perhaps a gesture towards the malevolent 'kings' on the world stage. As the 'Serene King' waltzes across the battlefield, Emperor Pollard evokes castles, King Kong and strutting roosters, a surreal yet regal journey."

 

PRICE: $36.00

CAT #: GET 51515LP

FILE UNDER: HIPHOP

"In the early 1990s, gangsta rap was becoming more popular. KRS-One took to the mic and continued to write socially conscious raps resulting in the hard-hitting 1992 album Sex And Violence which would be the fifth and final studio album under the Boogie Down Productions name. Produced by KRS-One, Pal Joey, Kenny Parker, D-Square, and Prince Paul, the album explores the darkest sides of the American urban landscape and psyche, with KRS as narrator, detailing all sides of the matrix. While singles like the alarming drum-driven 'Duck Down' and the funky-as-hell 'We In There' got most of the attention in '92, the deeper sequence reveals plenty of additional gems: the history lesson of the dark and dusty 'Drug Dealer'; 'Ruff Ruff,' with scowling MC favorite Freddie Foxxx (aka Bumpy Knuckles); the grooving 'Questions and Answers,' and the frantic record industry track 'How Not To Get Jerked.' The album kicks off with an intro skit featuring KRS-One as a DJ in panic needing vinyl which at the time was a dying format while cassettes and CDs became the dominant format. Thirty-two years later vinyl DJs and hip-hop vinyl collectors no longer need to panic. Get On Down in partnership with Sony Music's CERTIFIED is proud to bring back to vinyl this underrated gem in the BDP catalog. Featuring one of the dopest album covers by American artist Robert Williams, Sex and Violence is pressed on colored vinyl and packaged in a gatefold jacket with full lyrics."

 

PRICE: $39.00

CAT #: GET 51531LP

FILE UNDER: HIPHOP

"In 1996, after 14 years in the game that started with Too $hort and Freddy B selling tapes out of the trunk of their car in East Oakland, Too $hort announced he would be retiring. On May 21, 1996, Too $hort released his tenth studio album Gettin' It with the lead single of the same name featuring Parliament Funkadelic. Retirement was more of a hiatus as Too $hort got back in the game in 1999 with the appropriately named album Can't Stay Away. If Gettin' It was going to be Too $hort's last album, he was going off on a high note by earning his sixth Platinum record. In addition to having Parliament Funkadelic contribute to two songs, Ant Banks and Shorty B are back with their laid-back Bay Area funk along with some G-Funk contributions by Colin Wolfe, L.A. Dre, and Spearhead X. Too $hort delivers another Bay Area classic full of nasty pimpin' rhymes with dope features by MC Breed, Erick Sermon, and Rappin' 4-Tay. Previously only available on promo vinyl, Get On Down in partnership with Sony's CERTIFED is proud to present a proper vinyl release of Gettin' It in an orange swirl-colored vinyl run packaged in a gatefold jacket with a foldout lyric sheet."

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: GONE 096LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Sometime in the winter of 1989-90, I wandered into New York City's Midnight Records, a store famous for its deep catalog of '60s garage and psychedelic music, as well as a strong selection of classic punk rock and a cantankerous French owner with ridiculous hair. On this visit, instead of hearing a puny French bootleg of The Standells or the Seeds, as I opened the door I was enveloped in the massive opening chords to the first song on the Cosmic Psychos' then-new album Go the Hack? This was my introduction to the Cosmic Psychos, and I was hooked. I loved that a band could be so powerful, sound so big and unapologetically simple, and incorporate so much of what I loved about music -- well, basically the attitudes and sounds of The Stooges and Ramones: setting up songs with a good title or idea, matching it with a massive riff, then running it out with squeals of wah-wah and manly disregard for cleverness or adornment. And they called themselves the Cosmic Psychos! Earlier records proved to be the same formula with even less refinement, and that was definitely a good thing? They were the real deal before the deal was dealt. And they couldn't care less. The Psychos enjoyed a long run through the '80s and '90s on such Australian labels as What Goes On, Mr Spaceman, Survival and Rattlesnake, as well as American stalwarts Sub Pop and Amphetamine Reptile. Many bands from that era no longer seem vital today, lost in a murk of crisp drums, loud guitars, flannel shirts and shallow aspirations. These first Cosmic Psychos releases are as timeless and necessary as ever -- still a bullshit bulldozer, a blurry loud night at the bar, a rollicking time hanging with the guys. The time has come for a new generation to be uplifted by these initial blasts from the Cosmic Psychos. Goner is proud to partner with Melbourne's esteemed Aarght! Records to bring these platters of primal perfection back into a world that definitely needs them." --Eric Friedl, Oblivians/Goner Records

 

PRICE: $17.00

CAT #: GREEDY 028LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"This specially priced LP features seven brand-new tracks, as well as two remixes and one song from the Dwarves 2023 sprawling Concept Album. More high-spirited nasty rock and roll from the last punk band! Standout tracks include: 'Parasite,' 'One Musketeer,' 'I Had a Dream,' 'Invisible People,' and 'Voodoo (Remix).'"

 

PRICE: $19.00

CAT #: GREEDY 028SILLP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Silver color vinyl version. Indie exclusive. "This specially priced LP features seven brand-new tracks, as well as two remixes and one song from the Dwarves 2023 sprawling Concept Album. More high-spirited nasty rock and roll from the last punk band! Standout tracks include: 'Parasite,' 'One Musketeer,' 'I Had a Dream,' 'Invisible People,' and 'Voodoo (Remix).'"

 

PRICE: $36.50

CAT #: HPS 133ULTRA-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Repress of Mondo Generator's Cocaine Rodeo (originally released in 2000) on color vinyl. Prior to the formation of Queens of the Stone Age, bassist/singer Nick Oliveri recorded some originals with ex-Kyuss bandmates Josh Homme (guitar) and Brant Bjork (drums), plus Karma To Burn's Rob (drums) and others. But once recording was completed, Oliveri decided to shelve the tapes; it wasn't until several years later (well after Queens of the Stone Age began to establish themselves) that the bassist decided to release the songs on a friend's indie label, Southern Lord Records. Going by the name Mondo Generator, ten tracks were compiled for the 2000 release Cocaine Rodeo. The majority of the songs are much more-raw and hardcore/punk-based than Oliveri's output with QOTSA, as evidenced by such tracks as "Shawnette", "Uncle Tommy", "Unless I Can Kill", and "I Want You to Die". Available as Black/white/magenta color vinyl (HPS 133ULTRA-LP) and orange transparent/striped vinyl (HPS 133ULTRA2-LP).

 

PRICE: $36.50

CAT #: HPS 133ULTRA2LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Striped color vinyl version. Repress of Mondo Generator's Cocaine Rodeo (originally released in 2000) on color vinyl. Prior to the formation of Queens of the Stone Age, bassist/singer Nick Oliveri recorded some originals with ex-Kyuss bandmates Josh Homme (guitar) and Brant Bjork (drums), plus Karma To Burn's Rob (drums) and others. But once recording was completed, Oliveri decided to shelve the tapes; it wasn't until several years later (well after Queens of the Stone Age began to establish themselves) that the bassist decided to release the songs on a friend's indie label, Southern Lord Records. Going by the name Mondo Generator, ten tracks were compiled for the 2000 release Cocaine Rodeo. The majority of the songs are much more-raw and hardcore/punk-based than Oliveri's output with QOTSA, as evidenced by such tracks as "Shawnette", "Uncle Tommy", "Unless I Can Kill", and "I Want You to Die". Available as Black/white/magenta color vinyl (HPS 133ULTRA-LP) and orange transparent/striped vinyl (HPS 133ULTRA2-LP).

 

PRICE: $22.50

CAT #: HPS 300LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. There's not much to add, two of the greatest Heavy Psych bands of the scene join the forces to give birth to an incredible split album. Packed with 32 minutes of the highest quality heavy rock you can find out there; a joint venture which can happen only once every 100 years. Heavy Psych king-pioneers Nebula bring to life three brand new songs, recorded expressly for this incredible project. Three new gems which follow their latest Holy Shit and Transmission. Black Rainbows add in three songs of their own, handpicked from the recording session of their latest success Superskull, released back in 2023. Delivering two stoner in-your-face heavy fuzz pieces and one heavy space tune to celebrate this awesome collaboration. The cover art pairs perfectly with the vision and vibe of the album and is credited to the mighty Simon Berndt. Also available on CD (HPS 300CD), Yellow Vinyl (HPS 300LTD-LP), and Splatter Vinyl (HPS 300ULTRA-LP).

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: HPS 300LTD-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Yellow color vinyl. There's not much to add, two of the greatest Heavy Psych bands of the scene join the forces to give birth to an incredible split album. Packed with 32 minutes of the highest quality heavy rock you can find out there; a joint venture which can happen only once every 100 years. Heavy Psych king-pioneers Nebula bring to life three brand new songs, recorded expressly for this incredible project. Three new gems which follow their latest Holy Shit and Transmission. Black Rainbows add in three songs of their own, handpicked from the recording session of their latest success Superskull, released back in 2023. Delivering two stoner in-your-face heavy fuzz pieces and one heavy space tune to celebrate this awesome collaboration. The cover art pairs perfectly with the vision and vibe of the album and is credited to the mighty Simon Berndt. Also available on CD (HPS 300CD), Black Vinyl (HPS 300LP), and Splatter Vinyl (HPS 300ULTRA-LP).

 

PRICE: $22.50

CAT #: HPS 305LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Phantom is the fifth album by The Sonic Dawn, unfolding as a journey through ten acid rock tracks that absorb the impressions of a world gone mad. Reflecting on the album's themes, singer and guitarist Emil Bureau notes, "When we sing about killing machines in the sky and the 21st-century blues, I think many will be able to relate. We're here to say that mankind has a future on this planet if we want one." Diverging from the band's earlier work, The Sonic Dawn embraces a more raw and heavy sound on several tracks, complementing the dark themes. Simultaneously, the band's signature melodic psychedelia weaves moments of sonic grace into the tapestry. Phantom, true to its name, oscillates between horror and reassuring beauty, akin to a fever dream where reality is clung to by a single thread. "Every song, line, and solo is delivered with intention and intensity. I hope people will receive it as we intend it. That is, as real acid rock from a band with a message," states Emil Bureau. Also available on CD (HPS 305CD), Purple Vinyl (HPS 305LTD-LP), and Black/White/Magenta Vinyl (HPS 305ULTRA-LP).

 

PRICE: $22.50

CAT #: HPS 306LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Geezer: "As the 'Interstellar Cosmic Blues' half of this EP, we consider these songs to be some of the best that we've produced. Songs that could all be 'singles' all on their own. And they better be because 'The Riffalicious Stoner Dudes' brought some savage riffage of their own! Put it all together with amazing artwork by Mirkow Gastow and release it on Heavy Psych Sounds, the BEST record label on the planet, and you've got all the makings of a great record! A modern classic right out of the box. Dig it!"Isaak: "Art comes from change and experimentation. These three songs are exactly that. Three songs, three different souls. This recording session is born from the collaboration of some friends invited by the band, and these are: Fabio Cuomo from Gotho & Liquido di Morte, Fabio Palombi from Nerve & Burn the Ocean, and last but not the least, Levre from Ufomammut."Also available on CD (HPS 306CD), Blue Vinyl (HPS 306LTD-LP), and Splatter Vinyl (HPS 306ULTRA-LP).

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: HPS 306LTD-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Blue color vinyl. Geezer: "As the 'Interstellar Cosmic Blues' half of this EP, we consider these songs to be some of the best that we've produced. Songs that could all be 'singles' all on their own. And they better be because 'The Riffalicious Stoner Dudes' brought some savage riffage of their own! Put it all together with amazing artwork by Mirkow Gastow and release it on Heavy Psych Sounds, the BEST record label on the planet, and you've got all the makings of a great record! A modern classic right out of the box. Dig it!"Isaak: "Art comes from change and experimentation. These three songs are exactly that. Three songs, three different souls. This recording session is born from the collaboration of some friends invited by the band, and these are: Fabio Cuomo from Gotho & Liquido di Morte, Fabio Palombi from Nerve & Burn the Ocean, and last but not the least, Levre from Ufomammut."Also available on CD (HPS 306CD), Black Vinyl (HPS 306LP), and Splatter Vinyl (HPS 306ULTRA-LP).

 

PRICE: $22.50

CAT #: HPS 307LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. With Saltpig's debut album, Mitch Davis takes a dark journey into occult themes and horrific storylines dancing around melodic yet dissonant layers of noisy guitars, overdriven bass and floating drums. The album forgoes the expected fuzz sounds for a palette of tones that largely disregards genre in order for Saltpig to build songs that are simply evil and completely human. It's fully embracing a love of distortion and feedback in all forms while pushing tape to its breaking point. The band plays with different tempos and tunings as a way mostly to keep things interesting for themselves, creating what feels akin to a greatest hits album where the songs take on different personalities but feel completely like Saltpig songs at the same time. They find influences from early Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate, and Black Sabbath at a time when metal was still finding its way. Rewind to an era before metal began its evolution towards greater precision, bigger drums and more robust production, then imagine that evolution taking a different turn. Mitch tries to put himself in that place where metal might be today if things had gone that different direction. It's neither nostalgic for the way music used to be, nor is it trying follow any trends of today. It's really more of a "make the music we want to hear" than a purposeful innovation. While familiar, it doesn't quite fit neatly into an existing metal sub-genre. The idea was always "don't try to be like other bands, but don't be different just for the sake of being different." The result is an album that means a lot of different things to different people. But to Saltpig, they are just making music. Also available on CD (HPS 307CD), Blue Vinyl (HPS 307LTD-LP), and Splatter Vinyl (HPS 307ULTRA-LP).

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: HPS 307LTD-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Blue color vinyl. With Saltpig's debut album, Mitch Davis takes a dark journey into occult themes and horrific storylines dancing around melodic yet dissonant layers of noisy guitars, overdriven bass and floating drums. The album forgoes the expected fuzz sounds for a palette of tones that largely disregards genre in order for Saltpig to build songs that are simply evil and completely human. It's fully embracing a love of distortion and feedback in all forms while pushing tape to its breaking point. The band plays with different tempos and tunings as a way mostly to keep things interesting for themselves, creating what feels akin to a greatest hits album where the songs take on different personalities but feel completely like Saltpig songs at the same time. They find influences from early Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate, and Black Sabbath at a time when metal was still finding its way. Rewind to an era before metal began its evolution towards greater precision, bigger drums and more robust production, then imagine that evolution taking a different turn. Mitch tries to put himself in that place where metal might be today if things had gone that different direction. It's neither nostalgic for the way music used to be, nor is it trying follow any trends of today. It's really more of a "make the music we want to hear" than a purposeful innovation. While familiar, it doesn't quite fit neatly into an existing metal sub-genre. The idea was always "don't try to be like other bands, but don't be different just for the sake of being different." The result is an album that means a lot of different things to different people. But to Saltpig, they are just making music. Also available on CD (HPS 307CD), Black Vinyl (HPS 307LP), and Splatter Vinyl (HPS 307ULTRA-LP).

 

PRICE: $22.50

CAT #: HPS 311LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Look who got up on the wrong side of the bed! Breakfast With Death is the fifth studio album by Austin Texas stoner metal riff dealers Duel. Nine angry, blistering tracks flexing the faster and heavier side of Duel. Every song is a beer-soaked banger capturing the ferocity of the band's legendary live performances. Also available on CD (HPS 311CD), Purple Vinyl (HPS 311LTD-LP), and Splatter Vinyl (HPS 311ULTRA-LP).

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: HPS 311LTD-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Purple color vinyl. Look who got up on the wrong side of the bed! Breakfast With Death is the fifth studio album by Austin Texas stoner metal riff dealers Duel. Nine angry, blistering tracks flexing the faster and heavier side of Duel. Every song is a beer-soaked banger capturing the ferocity of the band's legendary live performances. Also available on CD (HPS 311CD), Black Vinyl (HPS 311LP), and Splatter Vinyl (HPS 311ULTRA-LP).

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: HPS 312CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"On Tuesday, June 20, 2023, we had the pleasure of playing a live concert for the audience of Duna Jam while the sun was setting on the beach and heat waves and sandstorms were rising from the Sahara in the west. It was an unforgettable concert for us, which had a profound emotional impact, as the situation and the atmosphere 'crystallized' in their own space-time, so to speak. Thank you." Produced by Ananda Mida. Live recordings by Tim H?fer. Ananda Mida is a stoner and psychedelic rock music collective led by Max Ear (OJM's drummer and Go Down Records' Art Director) and Matteo Pablo Scolaro. From the very beginning of the project, graphic imagery has been given a crucial role thanks to the precious collaboration with the visual artist Eeviac. Since 2015, they have been performing with different lineups, from three to six members, either instrumental or featuring singers. Their sound is inspired by '70s rock, mixed with desert and psychedelic grooves. In 2015, they debuted with the double A-sided 7-inch Aktavas/Passavas, which gave rise to the band's mythology, elaborated from some fragments of enigmatic teachings. In Fall 2016 they released their first full-length Anodnatius, co-produced by Go Down Records and Vincebus Eruptum Recordings. It reminds us of all the positive forces and slight vibrations settled inside and outside everything and everyone. In January 2019, the second chapter Cathodnatius was published, depicting all the opposing forces and obscure vibes we live in today. This record featured Conny Ochs on vocals and dropped via Go Down and Vincebus Eruptum on vinyl, CD, and digital. In June 2021, the band put out the live EP Karnak on a deluxe picture-back disc, featuring a special appearance by Desert Rock icon Mario Lalli on guitar.

 

PRICE: $22.50

CAT #: HPS 312LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. "On Tuesday, June 20, 2023, we had the pleasure of playing a live concert for the audience of Duna Jam while the sun was setting on the beach and heat waves and sandstorms were rising from the Sahara in the west. It was an unforgettable concert for us, which had a profound emotional impact, as the situation and the atmosphere 'crystallized' in their own space-time, so to speak. Thank you." Produced by Ananda Mida. Live recordings by Tim H?fer. Ananda Mida is a stoner and psychedelic rock music collective led by Max Ear (OJM's drummer and Go Down Records' Art Director) and Matteo Pablo Scolaro. From the very beginning of the project, graphic imagery has been given a crucial role thanks to the precious collaboration with the visual artist Eeviac. Since 2015, they have been performing with different lineups, from three to six members, either instrumental or featuring singers. Their sound is inspired by '70s rock, mixed with desert and psychedelic grooves. In 2015, they debuted with the double A-sided 7-inch Aktavas/Passavas, which gave rise to the band's mythology, elaborated from some fragments of enigmatic teachings. In Fall 2016 they released their first full-length Anodnatius, co-produced by Go Down Records and Vincebus Eruptum Recordings. It reminds us of all the positive forces and slight vibrations settled inside and outside everything and everyone. In January 2019, the second chapter Cathodnatius was published, depicting all the opposing forces and obscure vibes we live in today. This record featured Conny Ochs on vocals and dropped via Go Down and Vincebus Eruptum on vinyl, CD, and digital. In June 2021, the band put out the live EP Karnak on a deluxe picture-back disc, featuring a special appearance by Desert Rock icon Mario Lalli on guitar.

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: HPS 312LTD-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Purple color vinyl. "On Tuesday, June 20, 2023, we had the pleasure of playing a live concert for the audience of Duna Jam while the sun was setting on the beach and heat waves and sandstorms were rising from the Sahara in the west. It was an unforgettable concert for us, which had a profound emotional impact, as the situation and the atmosphere 'crystallized' in their own space-time, so to speak. Thank you." Produced by Ananda Mida. Live recordings by Tim H?fer. Ananda Mida is a stoner and psychedelic rock music collective led by Max Ear (OJM's drummer and Go Down Records' Art Director) and Matteo Pablo Scolaro. From the very beginning of the project, graphic imagery has been given a crucial role thanks to the precious collaboration with the visual artist Eeviac. Since 2015, they have been performing with different lineups, from three to six members, either instrumental or featuring singers. Their sound is inspired by '70s rock, mixed with desert and psychedelic grooves. In 2015, they debuted with the double A-sided 7-inch Aktavas/Passavas, which gave rise to the band's mythology, elaborated from some fragments of enigmatic teachings. In Fall 2016 they released their first full-length Anodnatius, co-produced by Go Down Records and Vincebus Eruptum Recordings. It reminds us of all the positive forces and slight vibrations settled inside and outside everything and everyone. In January 2019, the second chapter Cathodnatius was published, depicting all the opposing forces and obscure vibes we live in today. This record featured Conny Ochs on vocals and dropped via Go Down and Vincebus Eruptum on vinyl, CD, and digital. In June 2021, the band put out the live EP Karnak on a deluxe picture-back disc, featuring a special appearance by Desert Rock icon Mario Lalli on guitar.

 

PRICE: $37.50

CAT #: HPS 312ULTRA-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Black/yellow/orange color vinyl. "On Tuesday, June 20, 2023, we had the pleasure of playing a live concert for the audience of Duna Jam while the sun was setting on the beach and heat waves and sandstorms were rising from the Sahara in the west. It was an unforgettable concert for us, which had a profound emotional impact, as the situation and the atmosphere 'crystallized' in their own space-time, so to speak. Thank you." Produced by Ananda Mida. Live recordings by Tim H?fer. Ananda Mida is a stoner and psychedelic rock music collective led by Max Ear (OJM's drummer and Go Down Records' Art Director) and Matteo Pablo Scolaro. From the very beginning of the project, graphic imagery has been given a crucial role thanks to the precious collaboration with the visual artist Eeviac. Since 2015, they have been performing with different lineups, from three to six members, either instrumental or featuring singers. Their sound is inspired by '70s rock, mixed with desert and psychedelic grooves. In 2015, they debuted with the double A-sided 7-inch Aktavas/Passavas, which gave rise to the band's mythology, elaborated from some fragments of enigmatic teachings. In Fall 2016 they released their first full-length Anodnatius, co-produced by Go Down Records and Vincebus Eruptum Recordings. It reminds us of all the positive forces and slight vibrations settled inside and outside everything and everyone. In January 2019, the second chapter Cathodnatius was published, depicting all the opposing forces and obscure vibes we live in today. This record featured Conny Ochs on vocals and dropped via Go Down and Vincebus Eruptum on vinyl, CD, and digital. In June 2021, the band put out the live EP Karnak on a deluxe picture-back disc, featuring a special appearance by Desert Rock icon Mario Lalli on guitar.

 

PRICE: $33.00

CAT #: HISC 003LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

In 2020, confined to the neighborhoods of Yser and Myst?re in Brussels, Alex and Ludo dream of Greek islands, of scorching sun on their skin, of salty baths, chilled ouzo and braised octopus. But everywhere, time stands still. Must one necessarily move to travel? To levitate? In the absence of Elsewhere, the Franco-Canadian duo will compose the imaginary soundtrack to their escape. Glika (which means "sweet" in Greek) perfectly synthesizes the musical influences of Les Cyclades: a cosmic saxophone inherited from Alex's dub and free jazz past, an architect-pastry chef-botanist from Normandy, and Ludo's "Balearic" tracks, a musician-performer-wine lover who frequented his first raves in 1995 in Houston, Texas. From a hedonistic encounter on a friendly terrace in the 19th arrondissement of Paris to their chosen exile in Brussels, these hypersensitive jacks-of-all-trades first danced and mixed records. Featuring phantasmagorical sonic territories, where cinema and poetry meet more or less human voices, brass instruments, synthesizers and analogue drum machines. From one track to another, there are interludes influenced by Xenakis, Vangelis, and Jean-Michel Jarre.

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: ITR 385CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"In The Red Records presents a previously unreleased new album by Brooklyn-born master of minimalism Alan Vega, Insurrection. The eleven songs here showcase the unparalleled vision and uncompromising force from one of the most influential artists of all time. Alan Vega was born in Brooklyn in 1938. He co-founded the legendary New York City punk band Suicide with Martin Rev in 1970. Suicide's groundbreaking 1977 debut is considered one of the most influential albums of all time. Vega considered his solo records the audio counterpoint to his visual art that reflected the world around him while simultaneously exploring universal themes. It makes his work as relevant today as it was when he created them. It was during his highly experimental period beginning in the late '80s that he began working with Liz Lamere, who became the most crucial collaborator of his solo career until his death in 2016. Lamere, along with Jared Artaud, resurrected these newly unearthed collections of lost recordings, which they co-produced and mixed. Lamere and Artaud spearhead the Vega Vault project, which aims to bring rare, unreleased and back catalog work spanning Alan Vega and Suicide's career to the public for the first time. On Insurrection, Lamere says: 'Insurrection was created in the time period around 1997/98, after Mutator and prior to Vega's 1999 release of 2007 and captures the intense energy of NYC in the '90s rife with crime, killing, hate, fascism, racism, and moral bankruptcy. You can hear the tortured souls floating through this album. Post-Gulf War angst still enveloped Alan. He was having premonitions about a major terror attack in the US, well before 9/11. The upcoming birth of his son raised further awareness of the state of our world. All these emotions are mirrored in the sounds he magnetized. And true to Vega form, there remains hope and empowerment coursing through the tracks. In the almost three decades of going into the studio with Vega, we recorded significantly more material than the seven albums released. Vega's intention was to experiment with sound which would become the canvas for the poetry that reflected his vision of the universe. Because the goal wasn't to make albums, he had no timeline or constraints and would freely follow new paths uncovered along the way.'"

 

PRICE: $36.00

CAT #: ITR 385LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Double LP version. "In The Red Records presents a previously unreleased new album by Brooklyn-born master of minimalism Alan Vega, Insurrection. The eleven songs here showcase the unparalleled vision and uncompromising force from one of the most influential artists of all time. Alan Vega was born in Brooklyn in 1938. He co-founded the legendary New York City punk band Suicide with Martin Rev in 1970. Suicide's groundbreaking 1977 debut is considered one of the most influential albums of all time. Vega considered his solo records the audio counterpoint to his visual art that reflected the world around him while simultaneously exploring universal themes. It makes his work as relevant today as it was when he created them. It was during his highly experimental period beginning in the late '80s that he began working with Liz Lamere, who became the most crucial collaborator of his solo career until his death in 2016. Lamere, along with Jared Artaud, resurrected these newly unearthed collections of lost recordings, which they co-produced and mixed. Lamere and Artaud spearhead the Vega Vault project, which aims to bring rare, unreleased and back catalog work spanning Alan Vega and Suicide's career to the public for the first time. On Insurrection, Lamere says: 'Insurrection was created in the time period around 1997/98, after Mutator and prior to Vega's 1999 release of 2007 and captures the intense energy of NYC in the '90s rife with crime, killing, hate, fascism, racism, and moral bankruptcy. You can hear the tortured souls floating through this album. Post-Gulf War angst still enveloped Alan. He was having premonitions about a major terror attack in the US, well before 9/11. The upcoming birth of his son raised further awareness of the state of our world. All these emotions are mirrored in the sounds he magnetized. And true to Vega form, there remains hope and empowerment coursing through the tracks. In the almost three decades of going into the studio with Vega, we recorded significantly more material than the seven albums released. Vega's intention was to experiment with sound which would become the canvas for the poetry that reflected his vision of the universe. Because the goal wasn't to make albums, he had no timeline or constraints and would freely follow new paths uncovered along the way.'"

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: ITR 387LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Memo PST was formed in 2022 by longtime associates Orville Neeley and Chris Shaw. The band released a self-recorded cassette demo and played a handful of shows in California before setting up shop at Discount Mirrors (the neighborhood studio owned by John Dwyer and Eric Bauer) to lay down an LP. Recorded the first five days in May of 2023, the debut album from Memo PST features twelve blasts of raw and primitive Los Angeles punk rock, with Orville Neeley (Bad Sports, OBN IIIs) handling songwriting duties and Chris Shaw (Ex-Cult, Vile Nation) handling vocals and lyrics. The debut long player from Memo PST is everything fans have come to expect from the two longtime fixtures in underground rock, but also features some of their most memorable songs yet, including 'I Used To Be A Pretty Boy' the debut single from the band that sold out in hours via record label In The Red. The black and white album cover photo (taken behind the iconic rocker shop Worship) and the stark presentation that Memo PST has thus far deployed is a clear statement that this is punk made for punks, and the band has little to no regard for current trends created and championed by those less informed. Written, recorded, and released in Los Angeles, this is the latest chapter in the LA transplants discography, and only the beginning of what fans can expect to hear from the songwriting duo. Rounding out the live lineup is life-long Los Angeles punk Danny Clodfelter on bass and San Clemente surf punk Jackson Todd on drums. Crumple up your scribblings, this is Memo PST." --Johnny Dog Face

 

PRICE: $15.00

CAT #: ITR 392CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"A glorious dirty little gem in Los Angeles finally rears its four heads again. Love Fiend have been slaying sine waves and bashing bongos boldly for a while now in the dusty dens of the unkempt underground. Good news for you, you can get an injection in your own home soon enough, you Fiend! Hooks for days, these young humans are now leaning fast forward into the reverse-future with Handle With Care out on OG In The Red Records. Perhaps they can join the upper echelons of Tik Tok barf famous good feelin' peddlers like some of their label mates or perhaps they can just wear you out on the dance floor. One can dream anyhow. Either way this is gonna get stuck in your ear hole eyes, thank heavens. Deffo some neon drizzled '80s synth punk highway tunes here. Just the right amount of this and just a bit of that in the roux to make you forget that we are teetering on the edge for 30 minutes or so at least. Whew close one. Really all you need to get on. All hail the medicinal extra strength over these counter pop pills. For fans of Nick Lowe, The Cars, Gary Numan, Blondie, The Nerves. I could go on but why reveal everything in the trailer. Twist! Enjoy." --John Peter Dwyer

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: ITR 392LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. "A glorious dirty little gem in Los Angeles finally rears its four heads again. Love Fiend have been slaying sine waves and bashing bongos boldly for a while now in the dusty dens of the unkempt underground. Good news for you, you can get an injection in your own home soon enough, you Fiend! Hooks for days, these young humans are now leaning fast forward into the reverse-future with Handle With Care out on OG In The Red Records. Perhaps they can join the upper echelons of Tik Tok barf famous good feelin' peddlers like some of their label mates or perhaps they can just wear you out on the dance floor. One can dream anyhow. Either way this is gonna get stuck in your ear hole eyes, thank heavens. Deffo some neon drizzled '80s synth punk highway tunes here. Just the right amount of this and just a bit of that in the roux to make you forget that we are teetering on the edge for 30 minutes or so at least. Whew close one. Really all you need to get on. All hail the medicinal extra strength over these counter pop pills. For fans of Nick Lowe, The Cars, Gary Numan, Blondie, The Nerves. I could go on but why reveal everything in the trailer. Twist! Enjoy." --John Peter Dwyer

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: ITR 400CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"In 1979, two school-kids all hopped-up on punk-rock started their own group in their hometown of Hawthorne, Los Angeles (birthplace of the Beach Boys) and soon found themselves opening shows for notorious scene pioneers Black Flag. Jeff McDonald was fifteen, his brother Steven McDonald only eleven. But that didn't stop their group from becoming one of the most remarkable, enduring and unique outfits punk-rock ever belched up. 2024, then, marks Redd Kross's forty-fifth birthday -- an important anniversary for any group whose heart pulses at 45RPM -- and the brothers are celebrating the event with a veritable multimedia extravaganza. There's a memoir, Now You're One Of Us, due in November 2024, author Dan Epstein telling the group's story in the McDonalds' unmistakable (and occasionally contrary) voices. A brilliant rockumentary, Born Innocent, directed by Andrew Reich, will premiere later in the year. Most exciting of all, this new album -- an eponymous double-album, no less, packed with eighteen of their sharpest, most addictive songs yet. These years of joyful service to rock'n'roll have seen Redd Kross evolve into a killer pop-rock concern, dealing in dayglo power-chords, choruses as tall as skyscrapers and a lyric sheet thick with acid couplets and arch pop-cultural references their loyal following will gobble up like quaaludes."

 

PRICE: $36.00

CAT #: ITR 400LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Double-LP version. "In 1979, two school-kids all hopped-up on punk-rock started their own group in their hometown of Hawthorne, Los Angeles (birthplace of the Beach Boys) and soon found themselves opening shows for notorious scene pioneers Black Flag. Jeff McDonald was fifteen, his brother Steven McDonald only eleven. But that didn't stop their group from becoming one of the most remarkable, enduring and unique outfits punk-rock ever belched up. 2024, then, marks Redd Kross's forty-fifth birthday -- an important anniversary for any group whose heart pulses at 45RPM -- and the brothers are celebrating the event with a veritable multimedia extravaganza. There's a memoir, Now You're One Of Us, due in November 2024, author Dan Epstein telling the group's story in the McDonalds' unmistakable (and occasionally contrary) voices. A brilliant rockumentary, Born Innocent, directed by Andrew Reich, will premiere later in the year. Most exciting of all, this new album -- an eponymous double-album, no less, packed with eighteen of their sharpest, most addictive songs yet. These years of joyful service to rock'n'roll have seen Redd Kross evolve into a killer pop-rock concern, dealing in dayglo power-chords, choruses as tall as skyscrapers and a lyric sheet thick with acid couplets and arch pop-cultural references their loyal following will gobble up like quaaludes."

 

PRICE: $29.00

CAT #: JPR 034LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

2024 restock, liquid smoke vinyl edition. Formed in 1967 as a psychedelic electronic duo featuring Dan Taylor on drums and Simeon on a homemade synthesizer consisting of 12 oscillators (and an assortment of sound filters, telegraph keys, radio parts, lab gear and a variety of second hand electronic junk), Silver Apples quickly gained a reputation as New York's leading underground musical expression. Their pulsating rhythmic beats with the use of electronics laid the groundwork for what would become 'Krautrock' Silver Apples was released in 1968 and still remains an innovative and revolutionary album. Their highly influential sound has influenced countless bands from Stereolab, Beastie Boys, Blur and more."

 

PRICE: $29.00

CAT #: JPR 063LP

FILE UNDER: SOUNDTRACK

2024 restock. "Soundtrack to David Lynch's 1984 cult film. Composed by TOTO and Brian Eno. Sourced from the original master tapes. Audiophile Pressing at RTI."

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: KK 135LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Through the folded sky to America Ten albums in three years. That's still the cosmic mission of the Berlin post-kraut trio Yelka with Daniel Meteo, Christian Obermaier, and the namesake Yelka Wehmeier. With the album For, there was a label change. After releasing three albums in 2023 with Maurice Summen, head of Fun In The Church they passed the label responsibilities to Karaoke Kalk. The trio's fourth album was also created with Arne Berger at Popschutz Studio, and the team is definitely well-rehearsed. Instead of recording the planned tracks, the band decided to improvise the session, and all tracks, except for the krauty Doors cover "The Crystal Ship," were created in five days in the studio, mostly on the first or second take, but with significantly more overdubs -- keyboards, backing vocals, second and third guitars, percussion, and piano. The sound of For has become warmer, and the album begins with a kind of '60s-Kinks feeling. Overall, the current record has become much more exuberant. In the first instrumental of the album "Is this enough?," the band reverse tracks like Jimi Hendrix in his Electric Ladyland, and listeners dive deeper and deeper into the endless sky until Yelka finally arrive on newly trodden sound paths with "MM" to their beginnings on their debut album Nowhere Jive. At the popular intersection of post-rock and jazz, where guest singer Bela Hagel also likes to linger for a moment. The guitars sound like a desert, and the reverb reminds us of the expansive space in the opening track "Skies." "Do you wanna dance?" Yelka Wehmeier finally asks, while a chorus in the best Sun Ra manner mantra-like repeats "Cold dogs, cool cats." The whole band sings. Everything sounds good.

 

PRICE: $36.50

CAT #: KEPLARREV 019LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Released in 1999 on Taylor Deupree's 12k label, optimal.lp was the debut album by Dan Abrams under his Shuttle358 moniker. For its 25th anniversary, Keplar presents it on vinyl for the first time with three previously unreleased tracks, as well as a new artwork recreated by Daniel Castrej?n and a remaster by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich based on the original pre-masters that were been restored and cleaned up for the reissue project by Abrams. optimal.lp was inspired by the rich tradition of ambient music and the rhythmic complexity of 1990s electronica while also sharing many traits with the then-emerging clicks'n'cuts movement, making it a true sui generis piece of work -- both informed by tradition and visionary, idiosyncratic and seminal for many artists after him. During the 1990s, Abrams increasingly immersed himself in the electronica scene and the output of labels such as Instinct, where Deupree worked as an art director and released his first records as Human Mesh Dance. Abrams found a home on 12k after sending Deupree a demo tape that would later evolve into optimal.lp, released as the label's fifth catalogue number. This sense of timelessness remains tangible after a quarter of a century after the album's original CD release and is even being expanded upon by the vinyl reissue, which is complemented by three pieces that were made while Abrams was working on the album. The digital release even features an entirely new take on the original album's final piece, "Tank." While Abrams let one of the masters go through his customized reverb unit when preparing the reissue, he started recording the results of this accidental dialogue between past and present. It's a fitting tribute to an album whose delicate circular rhythms, rich textures, and ethereal melodies are precisely so exhilarating because their interplay seems to suspend the passing of time altogether.

 

PRICE: $23.50

CAT #: KOY 002LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Long-awaited reissue of this rare Jamaican ska record, originally released in 1964. In 1961 Byron Lee And The Dragonaries took a huge break when they were part of the first James Bond film -- Dr. No -- as the hotel band. In 1964, the band was also featured in a broadcast called "This is Ska!" alongside Jimmy Cliff, Prince Buster, and Toots and the Maytals. Amazing back cover illustrations: how to learn classic ska dance in 12 easy steps!

 

PRICE: $23.00

CAT #: MJJ 366LP

FILE UNDER: CLASSICAL

Warehouse find, last copies. "An accomplished group in the world of chamber music, the Concord String Quartet, active from 1971-1987, gained almost immediate attention from the press as well as a dedicated following, after winning the prestigious Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award in 1972. Although the quartet was a classical string quartet, these rare 1973 recordings show the group's affinity for the 'New York School' of avant-garde composers, like Earle Brown, John Cage, and Morton Feldman. Side B is entirely comprised of John Cage's 1950 String Quartet in Four Parts, where each section of the piece corresponds to one of the four seasons as well as a particular force: spring/creation, summer/preservation, autumn/ destruction, and winter/quiescence." Featured works: Earle Brown, String Quartet 2; Morton Feldman, Structures for String Quartet; John Cage, String Quartet in Four Parts.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: KRANK 045LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2024 repress. "For the first time in almost 20 years, Windy & Carl's second album for Kranky is available on vinyl format once again. The fourth album from Michigan's premier space duo, again delivers their shimmering trademark wall of sound, beautiful vocalization, and delicate songcraft. Six sweet and easy new tracks recorded in their home studio in Dearborn, that drift and dream with layered guitars, keyboards, bass and a love-arsenal of delicious effects and distortion.""These two won't be happy until they find a combination of sounds that encompasses all feeling, at which point they will then stretch that chord to the vanishing point." --Pitchfork"Perhaps it's a prayer, perhaps a blessing, perhaps a poem full of questions?it hardly matters. Humble, moving, and brilliant." --All Music

 

PRICE: $36.00

CAT #: KRANK 049LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

"Completing Kranky's chronologically reverse reissue program of the earlier Loscil albums on vinyl, the 2001 debut album is issued on the format for the first time with the addition of three bonus tracks from the same sessions that produced the original release.""Pay no mind to the label and pay no mind to the producer's locale (Vancouver isn't Cologne or Detroit); Triple Point is one of the finest -- and most varied -- ambient techno releases of 2001." --AllMusic"Finding itself nestled halfway between the endlessly spacious mechanoid constructions of Berlin's Basic Channel and the drifting expanses of Labradford, Scott Morgan's work as Loscil never ceases to impress with its deft use of technology and percussion." --Boomkat

 

PRICE: $16.00

CAT #: KYNX 004EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Twenty years after its original release, Paul St. Hilaire (AKA Tikiman) and Ren? L?we's eternal classic Faith is being reissued for the first time. Richard Akingbehin's Kynant Records -- which recently released the first solo Tikiman album since 2006 -- is behind the reissue of Faith, giving new life and the first digital release to one of the most beloved dub techno 12"s of all time.

 

PRICE: $29.00

CAT #: LG 013LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"A band with many chapters and an everchanging sound, Shudder To Think's story began in 1986 in Glover Park, Washington DC. Bass player Stuart Hill and drummer Mike Russell had just recruited Chris Matthews to play guitar in their fledgling hardcore band St?ge (1984-86) when they suddenly found themselves in need of a new singer as well. Matthews suggested his friend Craig Wedren for the role. At the audition, Wedren's style clashed with the style of the band's previous singer, but the group all sensed that they might have stumbled into a 'chocolate-in-my-peanut-butter' situation with intriguing potential. The group changed their name and headed into new territory. Side A of this LP is comprised of five songs from one of their first recording sessions together. The tracks chosen are songs that were only released on demo tapes, never to be re-recorded for future proper releases (this version of 'Too Little, Too Late' did appear on the local punk compilation FR-5 in 1987). Side B consists of four tracks that were originally released as their first 7-inch release, the It Was Arson EP, a split release by Sammich/Dischord Records. Included at the end of side B is a version of 'Take The Child' from this session (later re-recorded for their first album in 1988)."

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: LIFE 049LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

This extremely rare psychedelic album contains two long tracks, which provide an interesting forty-seven minutes long surreal experience for willing listeners. Led by Japanese guru Karuna Khyal, the band literally shows a narcotic and hypnotic groovy feel heading to massive bluesy tribal section. A cult in its own.

 

PRICE: $17.50

CAT #: MPM 046EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Following on from the special release of Robert Hood and Femi Kuti's live jazz set Variations, Robert Hood delivers his latest techno EP for M-Plant. This is the first new solo music from him since 2022's Hectic / Amazon Dust double-header. Although Robert Hood should need little introduction, with his and his daughter Lyric's Floorplan moniker riding high with a new album forthcoming on Classic, his techno legacy should not be forgotten. Throughout the '90s, he helped pave the way for techno to flourish -- giving birth to minimal techno with his seminal album Minimal Nation. Since then, he has been consistently forwarding electronic music culture with ground-breaking productions, sensational performances and his M-Plant label. His style is characterized by minimalist and experimental tones with an assertive groove. His Alpha Key EP features four driving cuts of characteristically Hood music that prove when it comes to techno, he's still a high-ranking master.

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: MGART 904LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

2024 repress. 180-gram LP version with embossed chessboard artwork print and printed inner sleeve. In celebration of the 2016 35th anniversary of the December 12, 1981, recording of Manuel G?ttsching's legendary E2-E4, one of electronic music's most influential recordings, G?ttsching's MG.ART label presents an official reissue, carefully overseen by the master himself. Includes liner notes by Manuel G?ttsching, archival photos, and an excerpt of David Elliott's review in Sounds from June 16, 1984."As the story is sometimes told, G?ttsching stopped in the studio for a couple of hours in 1981 and invented techno. E2-E4 is the most compelling argument that techno came from Germany-- more so than any single Kraftwerk album, anyway. The sleeve credits the former Ash Ra Tempel leader with 'guitar and electronics', but few could stretch that meager toolkit like G?ttsching. Over a heavenly two-chord synth vamp and simple sequenced drum and bass, G?ttsching's played his guitar like a percussion instrument, creating music that defines the word 'hypnotic' over the sixty minutes . . . A key piece in the electronic music puzzle that's been name-checked, reworked and expanded upon countless times." --Mark Richardson, Pitchfork

 

PRICE: $35.50

CAT #: MIA 059LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

The undefinable Kaboom Karavan returns to the dusty Belgian roads with a total Fiasko! -- or a full blown disaster if you will (seen from a minimalist perspective), although one that might be the antidote to the sterilized and scattered world. Fiasko! represents a musical chaos that feels both ecstatic, fun, as well as deeply melancholic. Like an overwhelming moment where the world seems to touch you on all senses. This is music for a new underground of black-tie workers raising up to the dullness of societal norms by connecting to their inner child. It's protest music towards the new normal, where the rules are thrown out of the window and unpredictable sense of joy prevails. Shortly said, Fiasko! is contemporary exotica made by a madman with too much time on his hands. As usual, Kaboom Karavan releases contains a conglomerate of strange, mostly home-made instrumentation, which will be too long to list here. To shorten it down? Bram Bosteels himself, the captain of the ship, plays all kinds of acoustic instruments, guitars, electronics and uses his voice. Additionally, there is Bart Maris on trumpet, tuba and trombone. Stefaan Smagghe plays violin and sarangi. Lastly comes Raphael de Cock on such typical instruments as igir, jadagan and uillean pipes. All that remains to be said is: Bring your neighbour, let yourself loose and have some fun. Listen to Fiasko!

 

PRICE: $18.00

CAT #: MORR 188CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Following a ten-year hiatus, multi-instrumentalists Rafael Anton Irisarri and Beno?t Pioulard return with How to Color a Thousand Mistakes, their third LP together as Orcas. Building on the electronic minimalism of Orcas (MORR 111CD, 2012) and the Twin Peaks-inspired haze of Yearling (MORR 128CD, 2014), the duo have expanded their sound and vision into a full-spectrum ensemble. Recorded in a variety of studios and cities including Brooklyn, Cambridge, Oxford, Seattle, and upstate New York, the resulting album, under the tutelage of UK producer James Brown (Arctic Monkeys, Kevin Shields, Nine Inch Nails), is a patiently-crafted beast, equally inspired by impressionism, British new wave, and dream pop. With Irisarri's guidance and Brown's encouragement, Pioulard brings his velvety voice to its harmonized peak on songs like "Wrong Way to Fall" and the Durutti Column-indebted "Fare." Where his most recent solo albums for Morr Music (Sylva and Eidetic) navigated foggy forests of ambient pop and stacked tape loops, here his characteristic blur shifts into focus with a unique degree of clarity and confidence. Lead single, "Riptide," is a summary of Pioulard's life changes and personal upheavals in the past decade, "flitting eastward toward a yen deep in the past" and learning to glide through the tumult of ocean waves, as a metaphor for the punches one takes in pursuit of grace. Its towering, key-changing midsection arrives with the monumental drumming of Slowdive's Simon Scott. On third-act highlight, "Bruise," Scott is doubled on the drum kit by MONO's Dahm Majuri Cipolla, whose Liebezeit-influenced metronomy anchors a nimble bass groove from Andrew Tasselmyer (of Hotel Neon), and some of the album's most syncopated, spaced-out interplay, courtesy of Puerto Rican guitar player Orlando M?ndez (a childhood friend of Irisarri's). Throughout How to Color a Thousand Mistakes, Irisarri uses his deep well of production experience to paint the stereo field with meticulously designed textures, exemplified on the slow burn of "Heaven's Despite" and the heady rush of "Swells." How to Color a Thousand Mistakes brims with tight, complex art rock songwriting, masterful production, and sonic versatility, informed by a plethora of genres and tonal hues. The title might promise answers, but the gravitational center of the album is the dawning realization that, as you reckon with the infinite whims of the cosmos, there could be none.

 

PRICE: $33.00

CAT #: MORR 188LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

LP version. Following a ten-year hiatus, multi-instrumentalists Rafael Anton Irisarri and Beno?t Pioulard return with How to Color a Thousand Mistakes, their third LP together as Orcas. Building on the electronic minimalism of Orcas (MORR 111CD, 2012) and the Twin Peaks-inspired haze of Yearling (MORR 128CD, 2014), the duo have expanded their sound and vision into a full-spectrum ensemble. Recorded in a variety of studios and cities including Brooklyn, Cambridge, Oxford, Seattle, and upstate New York, the resulting album, under the tutelage of UK producer James Brown (Arctic Monkeys, Kevin Shields, Nine Inch Nails), is a patiently-crafted beast, equally inspired by impressionism, British new wave, and dream pop. With Irisarri's guidance and Brown's encouragement, Pioulard brings his velvety voice to its harmonized peak on songs like "Wrong Way to Fall" and the Durutti Column-indebted "Fare." Where his most recent solo albums for Morr Music (Sylva and Eidetic) navigated foggy forests of ambient pop and stacked tape loops, here his characteristic blur shifts into focus with a unique degree of clarity and confidence. Lead single, "Riptide," is a summary of Pioulard's life changes and personal upheavals in the past decade, "flitting eastward toward a yen deep in the past" and learning to glide through the tumult of ocean waves, as a metaphor for the punches one takes in pursuit of grace. Its towering, key-changing midsection arrives with the monumental drumming of Slowdive's Simon Scott. On third-act highlight, "Bruise," Scott is doubled on the drum kit by MONO's Dahm Majuri Cipolla, whose Liebezeit-influenced metronomy anchors a nimble bass groove from Andrew Tasselmyer (of Hotel Neon), and some of the album's most syncopated, spaced-out interplay, courtesy of Puerto Rican guitar player Orlando M?ndez (a childhood friend of Irisarri's). Throughout How to Color a Thousand Mistakes, Irisarri uses his deep well of production experience to paint the stereo field with meticulously designed textures, exemplified on the slow burn of "Heaven's Despite" and the heady rush of "Swells." How to Color a Thousand Mistakes brims with tight, complex art rock songwriting, masterful production, and sonic versatility, informed by a plethora of genres and tonal hues. The title might promise answers, but the gravitational center of the album is the dawning realization that, as you reckon with the infinite whims of the cosmos, there could be none.

 

PRICE: $36.00

CAT #: MOV 3791LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

"In the summer of 1980, the jazz world bore witness to an electrifying fusion of talent, rhythm, and soul as Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers Big Band took the stages of two iconic European festivals: Montreux and North Sea. The Big Band performers, next to Art Blakey on drums, consisted of a stellar line-up with Bill Pierce, Bobby Watson, Valery Ponomarev, James Williams, Charles Fambrough, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Robin Eubanks, Kevin Eubanks, and John Ramsey. For the Marsalis brothers, Wynton and Branford, and also Eubanks brothers Robin and Kevin, these were the first ever recordings of them together. Tracks include 'Minor Thesis,' 'A Wheel Within A Wheel,' 'Bit A Bittadose' and two more compositions serve as a testament to the power of improvisation. Live At Montreux and North Sea includes liner-notes on the back sleeve written by Robert (Bobby) Watson."

 

PRICE: $43.50

CAT #: MPI 014LP

FILE UNDER: SOUNDTRACK

Ti Ho Sposato Per Allegria (1967) is a comedy directed by Luciano Salce, taken from the theatrical play of the same name (1965) by Natalia Ginzburg. A lawyer from a good family, serious, accustomed to a calm and regular life who got married to a indolent and dazed girl with a difficult past a month after meeting her at a party. The story has become a minor classic with each new representation. On both stage and screen the themes of everyday life, and the more complex and existential ones, are addressed. The subtle irony of the work relies on recounting problematic events in a carefree tone: realities such as abortion, death, separation and the couple's incommunicability are underplayed with naturalness. The funny events of the film are commented on by Piero Piccioni's music, published for the first time on vinyl by Musica Per Immagini, with a harmonious tracklist. For this first orchestra rehearsal with the director, which will be followed by other important soundtracks, the composer makes an effective and elegant synthesis: on the one hand he reworks moods and aesthetic intuitions of some previous and happy experiences, while on the other he identifies and anticipates the first bars of that unmistakable sound between bossa nova, funk and lounge nuances that will characterize almost all the production of the '70s. In fact, the Turin-native artist simplifies in a positive sense the articulated harmonic structures that have always distinguished his authorial figure -- where the so-called jazz features are to be considered more than central in the musical texture, as prominent elements of the harmonic syntax -- and he tries a melodic reduction that will make the compositions more-catchy or memorized, but not easier for this. Lightness of spirit and rarefied elegance are the keys of this new Dionysian world.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: LSSN 026RB-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Solo Paraiso is Molly Nilsson's mini-album from 2014 recorded during a two-month residency in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For its tenth anniversary, Night School and Dark Skies Association is making the most sought-after long player in Molly Nilsson's catalogue available again on a new format with new artwork. Pop music rarely comes as honest and heartfelt as when delivered by Molly Nilsson. Having traveled around the world singing to the romantic and the doomed, Nilsson found herself in the Summer of 2014 in Buenos Aires. Inspired by the crumbling urban landscape and the heavy hearts that populate it, S?lo Para?so is not only an ode to a specific time and space but a musical novella that meditates on youth, idealism and belonging. The soundtrack to a summer you thought you had when looking over bleached out old photo albums. S?lo Para?so has the feel of a bridge between the more lo fi, first phase of Nilsson's career and the expanded sonic scope she has employed in the last decade. Recorded quickly, with instinct and feeling of paramount importance over rectitude or perfection, amongst the eight tracks of this mini-LP are some of the biggest fan favorites of her career. As with all Molly Nilsson songs, each of these tracks is bursting with perfect moments. Opener 'Summer Cats' sails over sun-kissed piano chords, chasing the sun eternally as it dips over the horizon, while show-stealer 'Blue Dollar' draws parallels between the doomed Argentine economy and the failure of a love affair. It's the most feel-good, romantic peon to an economic downturn you'll ever hear. As Molly says 'why is it so damn easy to break all the things that are so damn difficult to make?' Using cracked synths, shimmering piano, heat-stroked drum machines and above all her direct, from-the-heart vocal delivery, Nilsson's songs have never been so precise and on-point. For fellow doomed romantics, S?lo Para?so is the perfect sound for an imperfect Summer."

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: LSSN 026RW-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

White color vinyl version. "Solo Paraiso is Molly Nilsson's mini-album from 2014 recorded during a two-month residency in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For its tenth anniversary, Night School and Dark Skies Association is making the most sought-after long player in Molly Nilsson's catalogue available again on a new format with new artwork. Pop music rarely comes as honest and heartfelt as when delivered by Molly Nilsson. Having traveled around the world singing to the romantic and the doomed, Nilsson found herself in the Summer of 2014 in Buenos Aires. Inspired by the crumbling urban landscape and the heavy hearts that populate it, S?lo Para?so is not only an ode to a specific time and space but a musical novella that meditates on youth, idealism and belonging. The soundtrack to a summer you thought you had when looking over bleached out old photo albums. S?lo Para?so has the feel of a bridge between the more lo fi, first phase of Nilsson's career and the expanded sonic scope she has employed in the last decade. Recorded quickly, with instinct and feeling of paramount importance over rectitude or perfection, amongst the eight tracks of this mini-LP are some of the biggest fan favorites of her career. As with all Molly Nilsson songs, each of these tracks is bursting with perfect moments. Opener 'Summer Cats' sails over sun-kissed piano chords, chasing the sun eternally as it dips over the horizon, while show-stealer 'Blue Dollar' draws parallels between the doomed Argentine economy and the failure of a love affair. It's the most feel-good, romantic peon to an economic downturn you'll ever hear. As Molly says 'why is it so damn easy to break all the things that are so damn difficult to make?' Using cracked synths, shimmering piano, heat-stroked drum machines and above all her direct, from-the-heart vocal delivery, Nilsson's songs have never been so precise and on-point. For fellow doomed romantics, S?lo Para?so is the perfect sound for an imperfect Summer."

 

PRICE: $25.00

CAT #: LSSN 092LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Continue As Amery is the debut album by Montreal-based artist Amery. Formerly recording under the moniker Alpen Glow, Continue As Amery sees the songwriter step out into a bold, colorful world full of pop hooks, snagging feelings of abandon and the mornings after. Amery Sandford began releasing as Alpen Glow in 2020 after years playing in punk groups in Newfoundland and as half of Montreal pop duo Born At Midnite (Arbutus). Recorded in Montreal by David Carriere (TOPS, Marci), Patrick Holland, and Kristian North, Continue As Amery is a blast of melodic joie de vivre. On her debut Sandford brings her punk and DIY credentials into sharp focus on 8 perfect pop odes to city living, making mistakes and figuring it out as you go along. Suffuse with powerful imagery and an almost uncanny talent at spinning out hooks brimming with humor and spirit, Amery's soundworld is informed by friendship, experience and by her day job as a renowned illustrator and visual artist. Each song is rich with story. Featuring live band members Sarah Harris, Jack Bielli, and Frank Climenhage, the singer bristles to get out of her stifling hometown while lamenting the wide-eyed adventurer who left for the big city. As an illustrator and visual artist, Sandford's images detail dancing instrument-clad animals, party scenes that nod to historical image making heavy hitters like Hieronymus Bosch and Ludwig Bemelmans. On "Miracles," Amery deals in bold pop production and her yearning to escape into fantasy, given wings by Korgs and drum machines. On "Rocker Blues," originally by French artist FR David, Amery brings the heavy with synth-guitar and an undeniable chorus. "C9" is in some ways the album's centerpiece, a mid-tempo funk jam and duet with Montreal stalwart Fireball Kid, it's the party just out of reach on the horizon."

 

PRICE: $37.00

CAT #: POL 001-2024LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"For their fifth collaboration Marc Barreca and Kerry Leimer set aside their more abstract creative approaches to composition in favor of basing the music of Arrhythmian on beats. Using rhythm as texture, the tracks gravitate to concussive and bass voices, high bpm rates, and constantly evolving timbres shaped by granular synthesis, sampling, heavy processing, audio manipulation, rich distortion, with the maximum dynamic range vinyl can offer. 'We're always thinking about sound quality, about what's possible in a recording for vinyl demands a very specific approach. Pitch, dynamics, layering, density all play a more significant role in analog recording and reproduction,' says Leimer, as Barreca continues, 'Let's just say it's not music you can dance to.' Arrhythmian is released as a double disc vinyl set, produced to safely allow the grooves their maximum possible excursion while giving one's stylus a rewarding and demanding workout. Marc Barreca and Kerry Leimer have worked on a nearly parallel musical course for more than forty years. Nearly parallel because their musical paths do occasionally cross. First in 1980 with 'Four Pages From An Unfinished Novel' on K. Leimer's first solo album Closed System Potentials. Again during the live performance of Music For Land And Water and for the massive loop piece 'Heart Of Stillness' from The Neo-Realist (At Risk) by the virtual group Savant. K. Leimer founded Palace Of Lights in 1979 and has been actively producing music since the mid-1970s. Marc Barreca has created and performed electronic music since the mid-1970s. His 1980 vinyl album, Twilight, was among the first releases for Palace of Lights Records. Their work is part of the Collection of the British Library. With Steve Peters, Leimer and Barreca form the collaborative trio Three Point Circle."

 

PRICE: $39.50

CAT #: POTOMAK 254751

FILE UNDER: ROCK

Restocked; double LP version. Einst?rzende Neubauten present their new album Rampen (apm: alien pop music). Since the band was founded on April 1, 1980, Einst?rzende Neubauten have been shifting the parameters of mainstream and subculture to make the inaudible audible -- perhaps the unheard as well. This experimental field research, spanning more than four decades, is now entering the next stage. In its 44th year of existence, the band is going back to its roots while redefining itself. It's a change in self-image, for which the Berlin quintet plus one has created its own genre -- alien pop music.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: EZRDR 178LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Another unearthed ripper from St Louis MO recorded during the years 1968-1973 and never released until now! Over the course of about five years beginning in late 1968, several musicians living in eastern Missouri rocked the area clubs and festivals with a mix of cover and heavy original songs. The band's name, Parchment Farm, came from a song on Blue Cheer's debut LP, Vincebus Eruptum. In their first iteration, lasting from 1968 to 1971, they opened up for such acts as Sons of Champlin and Brian Auger & Trinity. Following a line-up change in 1971, the development of original songs ramped up and they began playing and recording them right away. Opening slots for ZZ Top, Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes, and the Velvet Underground & Brownsville Station followed. More line-up changes occurred and more opening gigs for the likes of Canned Heat, The Hollies, Rare Earth, and REO Speedwagon. They disbanded in late 1973."

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: SDBANU 039CD

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Lefto Presents Jazz Cats is back with Volume 3 and still doing what it does best: putting you in the front row of what the thriving Belgian jazz scene currently has to offer and revealing a melting pot of the musical talent coming out one of the smallest countries in Europe. Although you expect the compilation to be talking jazz, Volume 3 explores a broader array of styles, genres, and sounds than ever before, arriving at a point where the "young cats" of today don't bother no more. From the empowering and bittersweet voices of Oriana Ikomo and Adja, over the more acoustic-electronic productions of Moodprint, Ciao Kennedy, Kassius, and echofarmer. It's even expanding the Jazz Cats universe to dub and bass-heavy tracks with Kin Gajo and Le Minist?re, Ethio-jazz from Azmari, while sending you back to earth with bodies' swirling sax and drums. That saxophone still rings in your ears when you end up in the orbit of the march-like drums of Bodem, Orson Claeys' piano testing your ability to follow him, slamming the breaks to go smooth cruisin' with HONEY, to crashing in a raging tempo on that last track of Bruno x Soet x Moene. Tastemaker, selector, curator, DJ and producer, these words often get mentioned when Lefto's name pops up in discussions. And rightly so. If you've ever had the pleasure to listen to one of his incredible Boiler Room sets or one of his many radio shows, you'll know why. Famed for his gloriously eclectic taste on the decks, he switches effortlessly between hip hop, funk, breaks, neck-snapping beats, future bass, South-American influences, bruk riddims, some wild African rhythms and of course, jazz.

 

PRICE: $34.00

CAT #: SDBANU 039LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Double LP version. Lefto Presents Jazz Cats is back with Volume 3 and still doing what it does best: putting you in the front row of what the thriving Belgian jazz scene currently has to offer and revealing a melting pot of the musical talent coming out one of the smallest countries in Europe. Although you expect the compilation to be talking jazz, Volume 3 explores a broader array of styles, genres, and sounds than ever before, arriving at a point where the "young cats" of today don't bother no more. From the empowering and bittersweet voices of Oriana Ikomo and Adja, over the more acoustic-electronic productions of Moodprint, Ciao Kennedy, Kassius, and echofarmer. It's even expanding the Jazz Cats universe to dub and bass-heavy tracks with Kin Gajo and Le Minist?re, Ethio-jazz from Azmari, while sending you back to earth with bodies' swirling sax and drums. That saxophone still rings in your ears when you end up in the orbit of the march-like drums of Bodem, Orson Claeys' piano testing your ability to follow him, slamming the breaks to go smooth cruisin' with HONEY, to crashing in a raging tempo on that last track of Bruno x Soet x Moene. Tastemaker, selector, curator, DJ and producer, these words often get mentioned when Lefto's name pops up in discussions. And rightly so. If you've ever had the pleasure to listen to one of his incredible Boiler Room sets or one of his many radio shows, you'll know why. Famed for his gloriously eclectic taste on the decks, he switches effortlessly between hip hop, funk, breaks, neck-snapping beats, future bass, South-American influences, bruk riddims, some wild African rhythms and of course, jazz.

 

PRICE: $39.00

CAT #: SB 1112LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Originally seeing the light of day in April of 1992, Harsh 70s Reality was not just a high water mark for that year, but for the ages. Technically this was the band's fourth long-play outing, and as a double-album, it followed (and was ever so slightly informed by) two formidable juggernauts that preceded it: Twin Infinitives and Lake. But it was Harsh 70s Reality that left the decade stronger and more resonant than it came in. People say that rock music died with the passing of Kurt Cobain. But The Dead C slaughtered it in its sleep with this tremendous set of grinding thud. It is in every sense the ultimate post-rock album. To hear it is to understand why one scribe back in the day referred to their sound as 'a garbage truck backing over the abyss.' A legendary release from a legendary band on a legendary label."

 

PRICE: $15.00

CAT #: SAB 106CD

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"A colorful world emerges from Fireflies, the latest and most distinct statement yet conjured by Matthew De Gennaro. Everyday moments, from the mysterious to the joyful to the still and most points in between, are traversed in this set of shifting stories (mostly wordless). Echoes of Reiko and Tori Kudo, Bruce Langhorne's The Hired Hand soundtrack and Souled American tether the otherworldly compositions to our plane, if only slightly. De Gennaro's own personal micro-orchestra of arcane sounds -- augmented on Firefles by past collaborators Jameson Sweiger and Scott Tuma and draped in artwork by Scott Macleod -- have rarely sounded as spry or stark. And as with all of his records, Fireflies rewards attentiveness with rippling beauty. Matthew De Gennaro has been active on the margins for more than 25 years, composing and home recording out-of-time works centered on arcane instruments and crumbling equipment. His first forays into public consciousness and consumption were the works he produced in tandem with Alistair Galbriath, issued by Corpus Hermeticum, Emperor Jones and others. The Michigan native relocated several times in recent years, and has finally resettled in rural southern Indiana, where his quietly prolific streak continues."

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: SOULG 015LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

A key funk release from 1971, For The People was the second album by interracial soul-rock band led by vocalist Milt Matthews. All the way from Wilson, North Carolina, Milton Ray Matthews was an inspired songwriter in the vein of master Curtis Mayfield and follower Lou Bond. With a series of excellent cover version -- BB King's "The Thrill Is Gone," The Beatles' "A Hard Days' Night," and Blind Faith's "Presence Of The Lord" -- the record is full of acid-blues chops and sensuous numbers. Filling the gap between modern psychedelia and Afro-American consciousness, For The People literally ascend to the title of black tinged rock opera.

 

PRICE: $37.50

CAT #: SSLP 007LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

CHBB was a project by Beate Bartel (Mania D./Matador) and Chris Haas (DAF) that developed from their collaboration in 1981, while working on the self-titled album Liaisons Dangereuses. They released their music only on four limited cassettes. This compilation presents the complete works of CHBB, including all recordings from their original cassettes alongside previously unreleased tracks produced by both artists.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: SPEAKEASY 009LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Noelle & The Deserters bring South-Western honky tonk and songs of heartbreak from the high deserts of New Mexico to the golden hills of California. Fronted by singer-songwriter Noelle Fiore, their music draws inspiration from the likes of Emmylou Harris, Loretta Lynn, Marty Robbins, J.J Cale, Gene Clark, Townes Van Zandt, and the great outlaw country players. The Deserters include seasoned players Graham Norwood (Bryan Scary, Graham Norwood) on guitar, Alicia Vanden Heuvel (The Aislers Set) on bass, David Cuetter (Tarnation) on pedal steel, and Jerry Fiore (Sonic Love Affair) on drums, all based in the Bay Area and Sacramento. Fiore was raised in Taos, New Mexico. As a guitar player and vocalist, she was a founding member of Sweet Chariot, singing and playing guitar/banjo. Later, she and Tim Cohen (The Fresh & Onlys) founded the band Magic Trick, recording four full length albums for labels Hardly Art and Captured Tracks. Fiore is also a current member of the Shannon Shaw Band, on guitar and vocals. High Desert Daydream is Noelle & The Deserters debut album, out on Speakeasy Studios SF. The songs on the album, written by Fiore, touch on life in the west, growing up in Taos, living in California, songs of love, memory, marriage, work, good times, and bad times. Like all classic country music, the songs are infused with a sense of real-life struggles and living life in the everyday. Fiore's incredible voice carries the album, and her songs are at once moving, powerful, tender, humorous, and intimately relatable. Produced by Noelle Fiore and Alicia Vanden Heuvel, High Desert Daydream feels country, yet of the west, of California and New Mexico, of experimental fronts in country music, and is truly a work of beauty."

 

PRICE: $12.50

CAT #: SOD 135CS

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Campo Amaro is the fourth album by Rosso Polare, the Milan-based duo of Cesare Lopopolo and Anna Vezzosi. These compositions were inspired by observing the waterways that surround the fields of various Italian regions, the so-called ditches (fossi), bodies of water that are often polluted, but may also be full of flora and wildlife, lined with bitter and edible herbs. Throughout this land, small and distant chants emerge, twisted traditional songs of resistance or made-up tunes of revolution. There are small local legends that survive thanks to anonymous monuments placed in indiscreet contexts, rescued here through the vivid storytelling of Lopopolo and Vezzosi. Written and performed by Cesare Lopopolo and Anna Vezzosi. Recorded between Milan and Brescia, 2022-2023. Mixed and produced by Cesare Lopopolo. Mastered by Angelo Harmsworth. Album art by Anna Vezzosi. Design by Josh Mason.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: SR 474LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

2024 repress. Orange vinyl. On Elephantine, Maurice Louca's new album released exclusively on Sub Rosa on vinyl LP, the Cairo-based musician guides a 12-piece ensemble through a 38-minute masterwork that might best be described as panoramic. Elements of free improvisation, Sun Ra's cosmic jazz, gorgeous Arabic melody, trancelike African and Yemeni music, and minimalism meet in his wholly unique compositional vision. Louca has in recent years garnered a global reputation through two previous solo albums and an expanding, evolving lineup of genre-defying collaborations. The Wire called his 2014 sophomore solo effort, Benhayyi Al-Baghbaghan (Salute the Parrot) (NAWA 002CD/LP/X-LP, 2014), "remarkable music-dense, driven and splashed with colour." In 2017, Lekhfa (MST 003CD/MST 4001LP), the debut by the trio of Louca and vocalists Maryam Saleh and Tamer Abu Ghazaleh, was praised as an "edgy triumph" by the Guardian. For Louca, 36, Elephantine serves as both the pinnacle of his wide-ranging experience and a bold next step in his development as a composer, arranger, and bandleader. "There was a blessed thing about the process of making this record," Louca says of the sessions, held in Stockholm. "The dynamic between us musically but also as people . . . What these musicians delivered was really more than I could ask for, Everyone played their hearts out on this record." The music-from its pensive lulls through its stretches of hard-grooving hypnosis and moments of avant-jazz catharsis-testifies to that rapport. Best absorbed as a continuous performance, Elephantine's six individually named tracks nonetheless present striking self-contained landscapes. "The Leper" entrances through a deft use of repetition that Louca gleaned from cosmic jazz, African and Yemeni music, and other transcendental modal traditions. "Laika" manages to evoke the minimalists, though on the combustible terms of '60s and '70s free jazz; "One More for the Gutter", on which Louca ingeniously pits one half of his ensemble against the other, albeit in a synergistic way, mines similarly fiery terrain. "The Palm of a Ghost" distills the band to a Cairo-rooted core, featuring stirring spontaneous melodies from oud player Natik Awayez, violinist Ayman Asfour, and vocalist Nadah El Shazly. The album's title track follows, and it too blurs the border between composition and improvisation with gorgeously atmospheric results. "Al Khawaga", with its colossal ensemble riffs, beautifully dirty swing, and impassioned blowing, is an ideal finale. RIYL: Sun City Girls, '70s Miles Davis, Don Cherry, Alice Coltrane, Tortoise. Cover art by Egyptian visual artist Maha Maamoun.

 

PRICE: $31.50

CAT #: SUBSOUND 047LTD

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

For over 15 years, Zu's modus operandi of straddling and abusing musical genres has resulted in over fifteen unique album releases across labels such as Ipecac, Atavistic and Headz (Japan). Their experimental amalgam of metal, math, no-wave, noise and electronics, led acclaimed composer John Zorn to describe their sound as "a powerful and expressive music that totally blows away what most bands do these days." In the running for the title of "the world's hardest working band," Zu have performed over 1000 shows throughout Europe, US, Canada, Asia, Russia, Mexico and even Africa, touring with the like of Mike Patton (as the Zu/Patton Quartet), also sharing the stage with Faith No More, Fant?mas, The Melvins, Lightning Bolt, Sonic Youth, The Ex, and countless others. They have also collaborated with a vast number of musicians including Mike Patton, The Melvins, D?lek, Jim O' Rourke, FM Einheit (Einsturzende Neubauten), Peter Br?tzmann, Nobukazu Takemura, Eugene Robinson (Oxbow), Steve MacKay (The Stooges), The Ex, Thurston Moore, Stephen O Malley, Damo Suzuki (Can), Mats Gustafsson, NoMeansNo, and Joe Lally (Fugazi). Carboniferous is their masterpiece. Originally released on Ipecac in 2009, it includes collaborations with Mike Patton, King Buzzo, and Giulio Ragno Favero.

 

PRICE: $29.00

CAT #: SV 198LP

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL

2024 restock; LP version. "La Monte Young was born in Bern, Idaho in 1935. He began his music studies in Los Angeles and later Berkeley, California before relocating to New York City in 1960, where he became a primary influence on Minimalism, the Fluxus movement and performance art through his legendary compositions of extended time durations and the development of just intonation and rational number based tuning systems. With wife and collaborator, artist Marian Zazeela, they would formulate the composite sound environments of the Dream House, which continues to this day. Seeing reissue for the first time since its initial 1969 release, Young and Zazeela's first full-length album is often referred to as The Black Record due to Zazeela's stunning cover design, complete with Young's original liner notes in magnificent calligraphy. Side one was recorded in 1969 (on the date and time indicated by the title) at the gallery of Heiner Friedrich in Munich, where Young and Zazeela premiered their Dream House sound and light installation. Featuring Young and Zazeela's voices against a sine wave drone, the recording is a section of the longer composition "Map of 49's Dream the Two Systems of Eleven Sets of Galactic Intervals Ornamental Lightyears Tracery" (begun in 1966 as a sub-section of the even larger work The Tortoise, His Dreams and Journeys, which was begun in 1964 with Young's group The Theatre of Eternal Music). According to Young, the raga-like melodic phrases of his voice were heavily influenced by his future teacher, the Hindustani singer Pandit Pran Nath. Side two, recorded in Young and Zazeela's NYC studio in 1964, is a section of the longer composition Studies in the Bowed Disc. This composition is an extended, highly abstract noise piece for bowed gong (gifted by sculptor Robert Morris). The liner notes state that the live performance can be heard at 33 and 1/3 RPM, but may also be played at any constant slower speed down to 8 and 1/3 RPM for turntables with this capacity." "La Monte Young is the daddy of us all." --Brian Eno

 

PRICE: $35.00

CAT #: TU 006LE-LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Ezra Feinberg's third album Soft Power sees the composer-guitarist enlist an impressive array of fellow musicians including Mary Lattimore, David Moore (Bing & Ruth), Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, and Robbie Lee. Defined by its abundance of melodies, repeating figures and ecstatic improvisations, Soft Power exudes an enlightened and transformative spirit to empower the listener. Feinberg, a practicing psychoanalyst and former founding member of the San Francisco psychedelic collective Citay (Dead Oceans/Important Records) resides in the artistic enclave of upstate New York's Hudson River Valley. Initial recordings emerged in the late summer of 2020, before added synthesis with collaborator John Thayer (Arp, Sunwatchers) during early 2021. Soft Power follows previous albums Recumbent Speech (2020) and Pentimento And Others (2018). Feinberg artfully transcends the listener to an enriched place, his compositions distinguished by the deep humanity that lies at their core, plugging the listener into a state of wide eyed being, open and alive. Soft Power then is Feinberg's own mantra but also one of power giving -- a colorful catharsis translated into music. Feinberg's music always speaks to the listener, but Soft Power, in whispering, speaks loudest."

 

PRICE: $14.50

CAT #: TONE 085CD

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

When KMRU relocated to Berlin from Nairobi, he was immediately fascinated by the German capital's relative silence. Back home, he was surrounded by sound: the omnipresent churr of birds and insects, the chatter of passers-by, and the electrical smog belched out by criss-crossing power lines and roaring transformers. In Berlin, this noise was muzzled; pedestrians wandered the streets with headphones in, barely communicating, while electrical cables were hidden away underground, and wildlife retreated from the imposing, concrete jungle. KMRU compares this observation with his visual experiences. Acclimatizing to life in Western Europe, he realized that night, a dusky blue-black lit up by streetlights and shops, offered little contrast with day. Nighttime in Kenya felt more tangible, somehow. After 6PM, when the sun sets, even the dim glow of a screen can dazzle the eyes, which must quickly adapt to the conditions. And as anyone who's closed their eyes while listening to music will know, the ears also adjust when visibility is impaired, enhancing even the tiniest sounds. So KMRU used this phenomenon to inform Natur, a billowing long-form narrative that blurs the audible spectrum with an imperceptible sonic universe, contrasting cacophonous electromagnetic soundscapes with more familiar and grounding natural sounds. The piece was composed in 2022, and since then KMRU has made it a live staple, tweaking and reshaping it as he performed on tour with Fennesz, and with the London Contemporary Orchestra at Southbank Centre. The experience allowed KMRU to sculpt not only the album's crucial dynamics, but its philosophy. Natur is KMRU's most uncompromising work to date, crackling to life from dense clouds of static and intimidating, dissonant drones. Using electromagnetic microphones, he uncloaks the commotion hidden by the digital era's ambiguous stillness, juxtaposing roaring, mechanical growls with microscopic glitches and tranquil, electrical wails. When environmental recordings do appear, they're used as transitions between the thickets of harsh noise; sometimes hard to identify, they subconsciously remind the listener that behind the wall of sound there's a natural world in constant communication, continually adapting to the fluctuating ecosystem. KMRU sees Natur as a way to reconsider what technology actually is and how it changes perceptions of reality. On Natur, KMRU allows listeners to visualize a concealed landscape, one that's teeming with life and in dialog with mechanization.

 

PRICE: $18.00

CAT #: UOH 012CD

FILE UNDER: WORLD

"A sense of destiny hangs over Sentir que no sabes, Mabe Fratti's fourth solo-credited album released in a five-year span. Her work has always possessed a finely tuned sense of drama capable of expressing a range of emotional states, and across this new album, she conveys the struggle to process various relationships or situations -- and the actions that come next. Sentir que no sabes is urgent and clear, poppy, generous and approachable, while showcasing a considerable emotional hinterland. It is also, as Fratti is quick to mention, 'groovy.' Written and recorded with her partner, multi-instrumentalist, and co-composer H?ctor Tosta (I.La Cat?lica, Titanic), Sentir que no sabes, is the result of an intense, detail-oriented process. Fueled by a new confidence gained in their collaborative project, Titanic, and its critically acclaimed 2023 LP, Vidrio, the two hunkered down in the familiarity of their studio (aka Tinho Studios) to bash out the initial sonic coordinates of her new record. 'We talked and talked, and discussed ways of playing and recording, until things became inevitable,' Fratti explains. 'We recorded a bunch of demos at our home studio and that meant we had a lot of time to re-edit and experiment. We really dug in. We were super focused on detail.' Tosta also took up the controls as producer and arranger-in-chief for all additional instruments. The album was later completed at Willem Twee Studios in Den Bosch in the Netherlands, and Pedro y el Lobo Studios and Soy Sauce Studios, in Mexico City. For the final studio recordings, the pair were joined by drummer Gibran Andrade and trumpetist Jacob Wick to fill out and expand on Tosta's percussion and brass arrangements. This small group of friends were able to work quickly and openly, and without fear: a testament to the exhaustive groundwork put in at Tinho Studios."

 

PRICE: $34.00

CAT #: UOH 012LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

LP version. "A sense of destiny hangs over Sentir que no sabes, Mabe Fratti's fourth solo-credited album released in a five-year span. Her work has always possessed a finely tuned sense of drama capable of expressing a range of emotional states, and across this new album, she conveys the struggle to process various relationships or situations -- and the actions that come next. Sentir que no sabes is urgent and clear, poppy, generous and approachable, while showcasing a considerable emotional hinterland. It is also, as Fratti is quick to mention, 'groovy.' Written and recorded with her partner, multi-instrumentalist, and co-composer H?ctor Tosta (I.La Cat?lica, Titanic), Sentir que no sabes, is the result of an intense, detail-oriented process. Fueled by a new confidence gained in their collaborative project, Titanic, and its critically acclaimed 2023 LP, Vidrio, the two hunkered down in the familiarity of their studio (aka Tinho Studios) to bash out the initial sonic coordinates of her new record. 'We talked and talked, and discussed ways of playing and recording, until things became inevitable,' Fratti explains. 'We recorded a bunch of demos at our home studio and that meant we had a lot of time to re-edit and experiment. We really dug in. We were super focused on detail.' Tosta also took up the controls as producer and arranger-in-chief for all additional instruments. The album was later completed at Willem Twee Studios in Den Bosch in the Netherlands, and Pedro y el Lobo Studios and Soy Sauce Studios, in Mexico City. For the final studio recordings, the pair were joined by drummer Gibran Andrade and trumpetist Jacob Wick to fill out and expand on Tosta's percussion and brass arrangements. This small group of friends were able to work quickly and openly, and without fear: a testament to the exhaustive groundwork put in at Tinho Studios."

 

PRICE: $34.00

CAT #: UOH 012X-LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

LP version. Color vinyl. "A sense of destiny hangs over Sentir que no sabes, Mabe Fratti's fourth solo-credited album released in a five-year span. Her work has always possessed a finely tuned sense of drama capable of expressing a range of emotional states, and across this new album, she conveys the struggle to process various relationships or situations -- and the actions that come next. Sentir que no sabes is urgent and clear, poppy, generous and approachable, while showcasing a considerable emotional hinterland. It is also, as Fratti is quick to mention, 'groovy.' Written and recorded with her partner, multi-instrumentalist, and co-composer H?ctor Tosta (I.La Cat?lica, Titanic), Sentir que no sabes, is the result of an intense, detail-oriented process. Fueled by a new confidence gained in their collaborative project, Titanic, and its critically acclaimed 2023 LP, Vidrio, the two hunkered down in the familiarity of their studio (aka Tinho Studios) to bash out the initial sonic coordinates of her new record. 'We talked and talked, and discussed ways of playing and recording, until things became inevitable,' Fratti explains. 'We recorded a bunch of demos at our home studio and that meant we had a lot of time to re-edit and experiment. We really dug in. We were super focused on detail.' Tosta also took up the controls as producer and arranger-in-chief for all additional instruments. The album was later completed at Willem Twee Studios in Den Bosch in the Netherlands, and Pedro y el Lobo Studios and Soy Sauce Studios, in Mexico City. For the final studio recordings, the pair were joined by drummer Gibran Andrade and trumpetist Jacob Wick to fill out and expand on Tosta's percussion and brass arrangements. This small group of friends were able to work quickly and openly, and without fear: a testament to the exhaustive groundwork put in at Tinho Studios."

 

PRICE: $26.50

CAT #: VAMPI 231LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

2024 repress. Vampisoul present a reissue of Afrosound's La Danza De Los Mirlos, originally released in 1973. Afrosound was born from the desire of Discos Fuentes vice-president Jos? Mar?a Fuentes to come up with a domestic version of the emerging African and Latin rock sounds coming from outside the country, inspired by groups like Osibisa and Santana. The mission was to emulate the guitar-heavy tropical sounds emanating from Per? and Ecuador at the time. According to various sources, the 1972 tune "La Danza De Los Mirlos" (by Peru's Los Mirlos) emerged as a great success in Colombia and with it a new way of interpreting the country's most famous musical export, namely cumbia, through a Peruvian perspective. Afrosound would cover not only "La Danza De Los Mirlos" and name their debut LP after the song in 1973, but they would also faithfully reproduce the unique sound of their guitar hero Enrique Delgado. The first Afrosound recordings were made with a fantastic rhythm section consisting of talented musicians that had played with Fruko y sus Tesos. To add to the hippie vibe, there were plenty of whacky improvised vocal asides (called "inspiraciones"), plus custom fuzz, wah-wah, flange and echo effects boxes for the guitar and keyboards. A barrage of odd sounding synths, drum machines and other electronic flourishes were sprinkled in to spice up the proceedings, providing a competitive edge that made the Fuentes sound so unique. La Danza De Los Mirlos kicks off with most famous Afrosound hit of all, 'Caliventura', a genius blend of funk and cumbia. Aside from the cumbia amaz?nica title tune, there are several other covers including three popular songs by Nelson y Sus Estrellas, plus radically reimagined versions of various Colombian coste?o classics published by Fuentes. Mario "Pachanga" provides a sad but still groove-oriented Christmas son montuno/cumbia hybrid while Fruko brings us the bomba-funk ditty "El Chorrillo" and the rocking cumbia Andina gem "Cabeza De Chorlito" where Sep?lveda channels Enrique Delgado. Fruko collaborator Hern?n "Hercovalle" Colorado Vallejo rounds things out with the melancholic psychedelic cumbia "Esperando Por Ti", proving that every tropical party has to have its down side as well. All in all, the dozen tracks on Afrosound's debut long play make for a surprisingly diverse palette from which these Colombian musicians painted their daring portrait of Peruvian cumbia, returning the favor in bold colors that still resonate almost 50 years later. The original Fuentes artwork, with a far more outrageous "cheesecake" image, can be seen on the back cover.

 

PRICE: $13.50

CAT #: VAMPI 45094EP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Repressed. If Bach can go Moog, so can cumbia! This surprisingly funky novelty tune has one of those break-beat intros that loop makers drool for and is hardly recognizable from its original '60s version by Los Falcons (worth checking out for its dark syncopated beauty). The weird synth noodles and chipmunk chorus vocals only add to the "what the?" factor (in a good way!) Lyrics sketch a night time party on the beach with drink and dance, with the smell of sea salt, the beat of the drums, and the rustle of swaying palm leaves providing a natural stimulant for the proceedings. The B-side of Cumbias en Moog's sole 45 is equally brilliant. Like the A side, this gem is a radically updated coste?o classic, with crazy synth noodles, scratchy guitar looping and odd vocals (this time wordless, sounding like a Mellotron). The only thing wrong is it's too short! Hats off to Fruko and Fuentes for letting this experiment in Afro-modernization happen.

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: VG+ 008LP

FILE UNDER: SOUNDTRACK

"Neil Feather has spent decades creating a musical world of his own through dozens of one-of-a-kind instruments he invented and built himself. His work as an instrument inventor, improviser, musical iconoclast, and stalwart of the idiosyncratic Baltimore experimental scene culminated in the late 2010s when filmmaker Skizz Cyzyk shot hours of footage of Feather taking stock of his workshop and his collaborations with musicians from Baltimore and beyond as he prepared to relocate permanently to New Zealand. That period produced Sound Mechanic, Skizz's 2022 feature-length documentary about Feather's work and music. It also produced an album-length collection of recordings of Feather's music from the film that captures the spectrum of his unique sonic vision. Uninterested in the traditional rules and roles of music from his early years, Feather began constructing noisemakers out of what was around him -- pieces of metal, spare parts from bikes and other gadgets, discarded traditional instruments, various electronics, ball bearings, and so on. By the time he moved to Baltimore in 1985, his work had become more codified into a practice of instruments and families of instruments, such as the Nondo, the Vibrawheel, and the Former Guitars. At the same time, he became a mainstay of the burgeoning experimental/improvised music scene that erupted from the Red Room and the internationally renowned High Zero Festival. Sound Mechanic the album serves as an ideal audio entry point into Neil's music. Skizz, who recorded and co-produced, captured a variety of solo demonstrations and improvised performances with long-time collaborators including Kristin Toedtman, Rupert Wondolowski, and his now-spouse Rosie Langabeer. Tracks such as 'Untitled 1' and 'Untitled 3' find Neil performing solo on the Wiggler and the Vibrowheel, instruments whose agitated strings and spinning oscillators, respectively, mimic some of the timbres of more recognizable instruments but bend and distort them in alien ways. 'Unititled 4,' one of two duo improvisations with Langabeer under the banner Popular Organ Fun Party, channels a Venusian jazz combo in its wild exclamations and percolating rhythms. 'Personal Space,' from an impromptu trio with Zula Wildheart and Robert Beamer, puts Neil's attack in the context of contemporary hardcore. A special bundle offers a chance to capture both the music and the film in one package -- as close as you're going to get to the full Neil Feather experience outside of a live show."

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: VHF 162LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Finland has long had a uniquely progressive underground, with thriving punk, avant, jazz, and rock scenes with oversized output and impact. Jussi Lehtisalo's (Circle, Pharaoh Overlord, Mahti, etc) label Ektro has been at the center of this activity for the last three decades, with a stream of excellent and conceptually bonkers releases covering music of all types. Here, Lehtisalo joins up with Jan Anderz?n (of Kemialliset Yst?v?t among others) for an album of absolutely fun and unusual miniature duets that sound like alien Library music beamed in from the outerlands. Tracks like 'Luukku Yksi' and 'Puistossa' use a charmingly retro synth-y sound palate and Cluster-like melodic sensibility to make accessible some deceptively 'out' music. Some cuts (like 'Kylpy') have a vague hint of early '80s post-punk / new wave vibes, bouncing along in a friendly way with odd interjections of sample debris and electronics jumping out of the mix to keep it weird. The surging 'Hymy y?ss?' could be music for the credits of the world's hippest newscast. Beautiful jacket by renown Helsinki-based artist Dylan Ray Arnold, bringing the die-cut techniques of their gallery pieces like 'Growth of the Night Plants' to LP form."

 

PRICE: $36.00

CAT #: VHF 163LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Third album from Finnish group Mahti, a collaboration between three members of stalwart avant-rock legends Circle and Hannu Saha. Saha plays the Kantele, a traditional Finnish acoustic instrument which can have five, ten, fifteen, or thirty-six strings, and which is plucked like a zither or harp, producing a delicate string sound. Following their two very limited studio albums on UK label Riot Season, Konsertti I is an excellent recording of the group in live performance, capturing their understated and beautiful mix of ambient, electronic, and string music. Saha's Kantele centers the music, sometimes plucking out melodic arpeggios, at others blending in with the burbling-but-subtle electronic and electric guitar backdrop. Doesn't really sound like anything else, but recommended to fans of AR & Machines, Ash Ra Temple, Richter Band, Durutti Column, etc." "These ancient musicians played their 'mahti'?and the sound they produced was called 'musiikki'."

 

PRICE: $24.00

CAT #: VHF 164LP

FILE UNDER: ROCK

"Debut standalone VHF album by the Elkhorn duo of Drew Gardner and Jesse Sheppard, a tight set of six studio recordings in a variety of moods and featuring a lot of new sound textures. Elkhorn's prolific stream of releases since 2016 has highlighted their mastery of sprawling long-form, acoustic-driven hypno-jams, with an emphasis on live performance (including on their collaboration with Pelt's Mike Gangloff on the Shackamaxon Concert album). The Red Valley is a more layered and composed-sounding set, with the duo overdubbing extensively on top of their own dual guitars. Leading off the LP, 'Crystal Hummingbird' features one of their signature minor-modal vamps, with layers of fuzz bass, zither, and frame drum providing weight and psychedelic density. 'Gray Salt Trail' continues the vibe, with thick fuzz vibraphone supplementing the cinematic palate, leading into the spare side-closer 'Black Wind Of Kayenta,' where Sheppard plays electric 12-string and Gardner solos on acoustic guitar. Side two starts with 'Road to Chaco Canyon,' a brooding duet that builds momentum with Gardner's insistent frame drum cadence, dropping down into the quiet string pool of 'Inside Spider Rock' (featuring Fern Knight's Jesse Sparhawk on gloriously swirling lever harp) and the graceful finale 'Jackrabbit Hops.'"

 

PRICE: $28.00

CAT #: VIERNULV 005LP

FILE UNDER: ELECTRONIC

Miaux presents new LP Never Coming Back on Viernulvier Records. The Belgian composer's LP is inspired by the new film score she wrote for 1962 cult film Carnival Of Souls. Directed by American filmmaker Herk Harvey, this enigmatic ghost film influenced contemporary directors like David Lynch, George A. Romero, and Lucrecia Martel. Miaux meticulously crafted the score in her home studio, relying solely on her two hands and a single synthesizer during the spring and summer of 2022. The inaugural performance of this renewed score with film unfolded at Videodroom/Film Fest Gent 2022 in Ghent, Belgium. The compositions were subsequently unraveled, rewritten into full-fledged songs, and assembled into a new record entitled Never Coming Back, bearing Miaux's unmistakable signature.

 

PRICE: $29.50

CAT #: WJLP 070LP

FILE UNDER: JAZZ

Chicago's Black Diamond debuts on We Jazz Records with their new album Furniture Of the Mind Rearranging. Co-led by Artie Black and Hunter Diamond (composers, saxophones, and other woodwinds), Black Diamond appears in both quartet and duo formations. The first three album sides present the quartet, complete with long standing band members Matt Ulery (double bass) and Neil Hemphill (drums), under the heading "Furniture Of the Mind." The remaining two tracks on side D fall under the title "The Mind Rearranging," with Black and Diamond presenting a meditative duo encounter of two tenor saxophones. Furniture Of the Mind Rearranging is an assemblage of new compositions and improvisations that develop the band's established sound and exemplify the way in which this band folds into the Chicago creative music community. The quartet traverses their familiar aesthetic ranges between driving off-kilter groove, plaintive minimalism, and intimate chamber music, with the ever-present spirit of small-group jazz and a hovering influence of Chicago's improvised music culture. And while this collection represents three previous albums and more than a decade of close kinship and artistic evolution between co-leaders Black and Diamond, neither are too precious about any one element on the album. This is very simply the latest work in what continues to be an expanding body work founded on a guiding principle: cultivation without expectation. "Say To Yourself" epitomizes Black Diamond's flexibility, moving with a sense of inevitability between danceable grooves and abstracted improvisation. On this track the band develops material collaboratively, speaking a shared language born out of a decade of growth as an ensemble. The main theme of the piece emphasizes the distinctive blend of Black and Diamond's tenors, unfolded through rhythmic layering and permutation often evident in Black's compositional voice. The two long form duo improvisations "Mycelium" and "Motor Neurons" that make up "The Mind Rearranging" teem with visual prompts and miniature tone-poems. In this instance, the music takes a leap forward as a stark two-saxophone dialogue reminiscent of the austere and nuanced duo recordings of BAG (Black Artists Group) saxophonists Oliver Lake and Julius Hemphill's "Buster Bee" or the title track of AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) saxophonists Joseph Jarman and Anthony Braxton's "Together Alone." The four sides with two formations flow together in a natural way, forming an idiosyncratic musical entity that is sure to grow with each new spin on the turntable.

 

PRICE: $26.00

CAT #: ZEHRA 006LP

FILE UNDER: WORLD

Limited restock, last copies. Remastered vinyl reissue of this 1990 Bill Laswell/Richard Horowitz production of local Gnawa musicians, recorded in the Medina of Marrakesh. According to AllMusic it is "a must for fans of both African and Middle Eastern music" and voted one of the "10 essential Gnawa albums" by Songlines. The Gnawa are an ethnic minority in today's Morocco, descendants of slaves from West Africa who were brought to Morocco in the 16th century and who (although they quickly converted to Islam) nevertheless brought with them remnants of their animistic practices. The Gnawa perform a complex ceremony (called lila or derdeba) that over the duration of several hours recreates the genesis of the universe by the evocation of the seven main manifestations of the divine, represented by seven colors. Those ceremonies, led by a master or "maleem", are still taking place today privately while Gnawa music in general has clearly been modernizing and thus become more profane, but witnessing a performance is still an astonishing experience. With the exception of a handful of recordings by Paul Bowles and Philip Schuyler (more ethnographic documents in a field recordings style), Gnawa music was barely heard outside of Morocco before 1990 -- one of the first westerners to come and record the music was Bill Laswell, back then running his Axiom label that portrayed a wide range of ethnic music and musicians like The Master Musicians Of Jajouka or Maleem Mahmoud Ghania, to name just two. Night Spirit Masters, recorded in the Medina of Marrakech, delivers soulful tracks of lead and group singers in call-and-response mode, fired by sentirs, drums, hand clapping, and qrakechs, while others are drum features or sentir/vocal pieces. Over 30 years after its initial release, this essential Gnawa album is finally available again. Gnawa, bottom heavy trance music of North Africa. Repetitive bass lines, generated by the gimbri or sintir with metal clappers, hand drums and voice. Seven trances, seven colors, seven scents, Gnawa not only moves, it can remove. 180 gram vinyl; includes download card.