Format: lp

Abronia - Map of Dawn ()

LP Edition of 500. Co-Release with Cardinal Fuzz OUT OF PRINT For their great third LP, this Portland OR sextet heads deep into the scalding sun of what feels like the Sonoran Desert. There is an edge to the fried guitar and the ever more massive drumming that evokes a parched ritual of psychedelic worship. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact initial rehearsals took place outdoors, during which time the Pacific Northwest was on fire (both in the forests and on the streets). When you know this fact, you can begin to appreciate the smoke as a compositional component.  Abronia’s line-up has not changed since 2019’s The Whole of Each Eye (FTR 498), but their sound keeps… Read more »

Loren Connors - 9th Avenue ()

LP 180 Gram Vinyl Edition of 300. Co-Release with Carbon Records A few copies left on the FTR bandcamp…. For me, this is the blues. Utterly wailing “solos” over a base of thick distorted guitars, Loren Connors’ music conjures up scenes of lonely streets, dark nights, but also hopeful and joyful mornings. 9th Avenue is the first vinyl reissue of a CD Loren released on his Black Label in 1995, a view into his mid-90’s heavier electric guitar era, back when he was going by his Loren Mazzacane Connors moniker. 9th Avenue fits right alongside releases from that same time period, such as Long Nights (Table of the Elements) and Crucible (Black Label, with his partner Suzanne Langille), as well… Read more »

Macula Kuru - Macula Kuru ()

LP Edition of 195. Download included with LP. Only available through mail order. BANDCAMP OUT OF PRINT Amazingly psychedelic quartet session by two Japanese players (Junzo Suzuki and Mitsuru Tabata) and two Belgians (Bart De Paepe and Jan D’Hooghe.)  Originally this was recorded as a trio, while Junzo was touring Europe in March 2020, but he passed the tape to Mitusri (his partner in the gorgeous acid folk duo, 20 Guilders) to add bass. And we’re glad he did, ’cause the low-lunar notes Tabata generates kinda keep the music from floating off into space. We’d been trying to do something with Bart (who runs the Sloow Tapes concern, among many other projects) for a while. And we flipped out when… Read more »

Human Adult Band - Slog Quest Crosstime ()

LP Edition of 200. OUT OF PRINT For the last two decades or so, The Human Adult Band, led by T. Penn, has been at the vanguard of New Jersey’s sub underground scene. Sometimes there are a lot of them, sometimes there are only a few, but the size of the scumball their music generates is always quite gigantic regardless of their number.  Slog Quest Crosstime is a monstrously pleasant example of what the band does. Their LOUD free rock dynamism is a classic example of how to move things from point A to point B without even peeking at a sonic compass. They do have some similarity to bands you might know, but I can’t think of any truly… Read more »

Dimples’ - Soul Chateau ()

LP Edition of 250 Co-Released with Laughable Recordings $22 No shortage of dune buggy up the canyon honey slide action here. The first tinges of sonic solvent action provide a loosened effect, but just as the tongue gets lazy, the swagger is spat gently from the tip as clarity bursts into the room with the urgency a hungry baby. Delicate without feeling soft. Brash without feeling harsh and at times Dimples’ swing fucking hard, like JJ and Leon without forcing it one bit. But if you don’t like “new music” this might not be your cuppa. ‘Soul Chateau,’ isn’t an updated prettied up throwback, it’s all here and now, in the present time’s glory, gore, majestic beauty, and glimmering perpetual… Read more »

Double Wig - Double Wig ()

LP Edition of 300. 180 Gram Vinyl. Co-Release with Carbon Records.      Bandcamp $25 Double Wig’s debut s/t LP opening with excellent, and aptly titled Harmonium, which then leads right into the propulsive jammer Broken Cup, completed with total-Neu vibes. When Your Mask, a total curveball, is creepy and disturbing in the best possible way. Is this a Lord of the Rings thing? I saw the cartoon version in like 1981 or something. I’m more of a Watership Down person but whatever… Gone Circling closes out the A side, sounding like KARP slowly sinking in quicksand. The B side opens with Tarantula Hill (named after the venue it was recorded at), a secret C.B. radio broadcast of earth moving… Read more »

Dan Melchior - CB Odyssey ()

LP Edition of 400 Co-Released with Sophomore Lounge. $20 One of the great joys of the ever-evolving catalog of Dan Melchior is hearing where in the spectrum of styles that he has mastered each record falls. From studio recordings to lo-fidelity home experiments, full band rockers or plaintive solo excursions, fans never know what they are going to get until the needle drops. Those of us who have followed Dan on his prolific pathways are ready for anything but always assured that the spirit of the artist himself, one unique enough to be its own in any form, will deliver and somehow deal with the ramifications of an increasingly maddening world. Dan’s first full length of 2021, CB Odyssey, (co-released by… Read more »

Reynols - Tolin Asumer ()

LP 180 Gram Vinyl. Edition of 300. Co-Release with Carbon Records. Bandcamp $24 Recent cover artists on The Wire magazine, Argentinian free-noise / psych / experimental group Reynols have been exploring the weirdo/underground landscape since 1993! Led by vocalist, drummer, and spiritual advisor Miguel Tomasin, this (now) 4-piece group are legends in underground music communities all over the world. The group is rounded out by Anla Courtis, Roberto Conlazo, and more recently, Pacu Conlazo.    Throughout their career, Reynols have collaborated with a wide range of internationally known artists, including US-based minimal composer Pauline Oliveros, Canadian outsider-rock outfit The Nihilist Spasm Band, New Zealand artist/label-honcho Birchville Cat Motel (Campbell Kneale), Japanese psych heavy-weights Acid Mothers Temple (known as Acid Mothers… Read more »

Matthew J. Rolin - The Dreaming Bridge ( / )

2LP 2nd Pressing – Clear Vinyl edition of 369.     Bandcamp $33 We are living in something of a golden age of fingerstyle guitarists. This glut can be both a blessing and a curse, as it becomes increasingly difficult for even the most discerning of fans to distinguish one player from the next, however capable these players might be. It is always a pleasure, then, to hear the ways in which the braver and brighter guitarists re-think the tradition from the ground up and recast it in their own image. Enter guitarist Matthew J. Rolin, who plays as if he was born with a dreadnought in his hands. The Ohio-based guitarist’s artistic leaps in recent years are rivaled only… Read more »

Powers / Rolin Duo - S/T ()

LP edition of 400. Repressed in Pink Vinyl. $21 Hot on the heels of last year’s Matthew J. Rolin LP (FTR 502), here is a new duo recording featuring Rolin’s acoustic twelve-string and the hammered-dulcimer of Jen Powers. They’ve had a couple previous cassettes, but I’ve never seen ’em! If you have, I can offer you something fine in trade. As with his first LP, Rolin’s command of his guitar is quite wonderful to hear. He uses the whole breadth of the twelve-string’s harmonic potential, which creates a wide surging stream of sound. Powers’ work with the hammered dulcimer (an instrument we hear far too rarely these days!) utilizes a similar approach, which means we are afforded access to wide… Read more »