The Cryptic Corporation continues its reissue campaign on Mute records with two classic releases from the late '70s. Not only that but Ralph have also released a compilation of outtakes from the group's "storyteller" output. Needless to say, the Mute reissues are absolutely essential (and they are beautiful in the hardback book format that is now standard for Residents releases on Mute) and the Ralph compilation is great but maybe not as much interest to casual Residents fans.
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First in a series from Honest Jon's trawl through more than 150,000 78 rpm records stored in the EMI archive in Hayes. Originally exported to Africa, these musical letters home are exotic songs of pragmatism, resignation, warning and defiance. 
Besides this Lithops solo project, Jan St. Werner spends time in Mouse on Mars, Microstoria, and Von Südenfed in addition to few other even more obscure monikers. While the aforementioned projects are "bands," perhaps in an unconventional sense, Lithops is his chance to act completely on his own and while traces of those other projects are evident, this is a wonderfully unmanageable beast all on its own.
Mick Harris' latest release as Lull is a quiet and stately album, the sounds at times being barely above a whisper, a state of affairs entirely in keeping with the motivating philosophy behind the Italian label Glacial Movements i.e., making us aware of the paradoxically fragile strength and crystalline beauty of the polar regions before it’s too late.
Even after the passage of 27 years of recording and releasing music, Thurston continues to map new sonic geographies. Here, his particular focus is on all-out cathartic, expansive but nevertheless gritty, crater-strewn guitar-drone and feedback terrain, ranging across vast fields and landscapes to create his works of cyclopean noise.
Despite Matt Waldron describing at least one of the performances as a "live disaster," this is an excellent collection of splendid music performed with various line ups of his ongoing surrealist project. This compilation documents shows from 2005-2007 and features not only Waldron but also the not inconsiderable talents of Steven Stapleton, Jim Haynes and others.
Important have really pushed the boat out for Kluster/Cluster fans. A brace of live albums from Conrad Schnitzler's archives and another live album from one of last year's Cluster reunion shows. Not all three releases are essential but all have been made with a lot of love and care, from the audio right down to the embossed sleeves made in the style of the original Kluster LPs.
Surely having a higher concept than just to perform public domain songs that they wouldn't have to pay royalties on, Tom Carter (Charalambides) and Christian Kiefer take a run through at some infamous and not so famous pieces of classic American folk that occasionally remain faithful directly to the mood and sound of the early 20th century, and at other times diverge wildly and brilliantly.
With their debut album following up the wildly successful A Place to Bury Strangers self-titled on Killer Pimp, All the Saints have a rather large pair of shoes to fill here. This trio travels on similar roads as the their label mates, but with a different stylistic approach. The love of noise and psychedelic feedback is here, but somewhat tempered by a slightly less aggressive, more accessible sound that is no less enjoyable and shows the same attention to "songs" as opposed to just "noise."
Troy Southgate possesses something of an impeccable musical pedigree, contributing his unique vocals to H.E.R.R. and Horologium, plus guesting on albums by Von Thronstahl, Survival Unit, Sagittarius, Erich Zahn, Sistrenatus, and many others, in addition to being a writer and political commentator. Now the South Londoner conspires with Kammer Sieben's Butow Maler and Herr Twiggs (plus contributions from Maria Southgate [Troy's daughter], as well as Horologium's Eustacia Vye) to add yet another name to the ever-growing list: the Anglo-German Seelenlicht ('Soul Light'); and this, Gods and Devils, is the debut album resulting from that union.
