Although recorded at the point of the group’s disbanding in 2001, this album (remixed last year) is publically released to coincide with a reunion of the band. Here aided and abetted by members of Providence’s own Landed, the band that defined Load Records’ sound continues to do so through their own brand of sonic scum.
Give us an hour, we'll give you music to remember. This week we bring you an episode with brand new music from Softcult, Jim Rafferty, karen vogt, Ex-Easter Island Head, Jon Collin, James Devane, Garth Erasmus, Gary Wilson, and K. Freund, plus some music from the archives from Goldblum, Rachel Goswell, Roy Montgomery. Rubber ducks and a live duck photo from Matthew in the UK. Get involved: subscribe, review, rate, share with your friends, send images!
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The latest release in LTM’s Auteur Labels series makes the odd curatorial choice of focusing on just one year in the life of Factory Records and 1984 is undeniably a rather unexpected year to pick- Martin Hannett was gone, the Haςienda (FAC-51) was not yet wildly popular and was still hemorrhaging money, and most of the label’s major bands did not record anything of consequence. Nevertheless, the gamble decisively pays off, as the rarities and obscurities compiled here showcase the freewheeling brilliance, eccentricity, and absurdity of the Factory milieu far more strikingly than any “greatest hits” compilation ever could have.
A strange voyeristic look into the world of electro-acoustic music, this album is composed of a single 40 minute composition. It lacks some important qualities, but has some interesting moments, nonetheless. Dogs in English Porcelain mixes instruments with animal sounds to create a flow of sound-energy which ultimately does little to entertain due to its emphasis on aesthetics rather than substance.
I can't tell if Aidan Baker is releasing old material and calling it new or producing muddy sounding music on purpose. Much of Gathering Blue has a basement tapes quality to it, but the reissued material that composes the second LP of this two-LP set is mostly stunning, as is the packaging that accompanies it. Baker might be in need of some quality control when it comes to his latest work, but his back catalog continues to impress me.
A 47-minute elegy to his daughter, who passed away two years before work began on the record, this disc offers a slow and meditative take on electronic composition. Combining field recordings with metallic vibrations, static hum and pure noise elements, Kahn is able to do a lot with what appears to be very little, conducting his own orchestra of sound in a piece whose emotional impact is garnered from its barren makeup.
This carefully arranged and whisper-quiet record on Sedimental squeezes the time right out of life. Kyle Dunn's slow orchestral pieces emphasize tiny movements and utilize subdued instrumentation as a means of stopping the clock and highlighting minuscule developments. The result is a beautiful and flawed record, one that shares a lot with early Stars of the Lid records, but Fragments & Compositions of... is absolutely bare-bones with little dressing and no pretense.
The unfortunate victim of a knife attack three months before the release of this album, Wolfgang Riechmann's credentials extend far beyond this, his only solo record, which is finally getting the reissue treatment. An early collaborator with Neu!'s Michael Rother and Kraftwerk's Wolfgang Fluhr, Riechmann introduced himself as an individual voice within the broad boundaries of '70s German electronic music with a focused minimalism and clear pop sensibility.
After listening to the last few Jack Rose records religiously, it's something of a shock to hear vocals on a Rose-related record. But that's just what you get as this self-titled disc starts up: a cover of "Little Sadie" rambling and swinging hard like the rock 'n' roll cornerstone it is. Colored with shades of bluegrass, blues, and country music, this self-titled record takes American roots music and strips it until all that's left is its energy and attitude.
It's no secret that Jandek is the oxymoronic title holder for most prominent musical recluse. With over 18 albums to his name in about 30 years of work, the musician has been as prolific as he has hidden. Only recently did he reveal himself to live audiences, beginning a welcome tour schedule that nevertheless has done little to diminish the mysteries buried beneath a quarter century under wraps. This, a reissue of his second album from 1981, presents for the first time since its initial pressing a vinyl copy of the album, which finds Jandek further refining his distinctly unrefined take on blues drift.
While the previously released (and reviewed) 
