Releases

Julia Reidy - All Is Ablaze ()

LP w.Download slip / insert Edition of 300 $20 Recently we touched base with the New Zealand ex-pat guitarist Dean Roberts. He’s living in Berlin these days, teaching, playing and staying out late. When asked if there were any interesting, unheralded players we should know about he immediately mentioned Julia Reidy.  Julia is also a guitarist currently based in Berlin, but the city from which she’s apart is Sydney, NSW. While there she was embroiled in the Australian improv scene, and played with the likes of Jon Rose et al. She was focused exclusively on electric guitar back in those days. Since relocating to Europe she has split her concentrations between electric and acoustic, playing in two duos —  Tennis… Read more »

The Futurians - Distorted Living ()

LP Edition of 300 Clayton Noone (aka CJA) has been cranking oddball noise out of Dunedin since before your mom even heard of the town. The same goes for Beth Dawson (aka Ducklingmonster) and Pat Kraus (aka Kraus), who co-founded this sci-fi-punk-astro-juggernaut back in 2001. They invited Clayton to join right away. Kraus left soon after, to be replaced by Jason Aldridge (aka ISO-12) and Sean Norling (aka Rocko Mandroid), although he still hangs around and his head actually pops up on this very LP. I guess the concept of distorted living has too strong a pull on his  brain. Regardless of the fact that Clayton runs several labels, most notably the very long-lived Root Don Lonie for Cash, this… Read more »

Gross - Gross ()

LP Edition of 100. Numbered. After nine critically-hailed cassettes, the free-splooge trio Gross finally hits vinyl. Comprised of saxophonist/bassist David Gross, bassist Andy Crespo, and drummer “Ted”, Gross bellows with low-end bluster and fully-cracked clamor.  True to the cover image, which shows the three in full Muppet drag, there’s humor underlying the instrumental ferocity here. Can’t say I really find the locked grooves that pepper the B-side all that funny, but I can certainly appreciate the idea.  But it’s the music that’s the killing feature here. While there are definite jazz elements present inside the way they construct sound, this reminds me a lot more of some weirdo NYC band that Borbetomagus would have invited to play their annual festival… Read more »

Grass Path - 118 Elliot ()

LP Edition of 100. Numbered. Mono. Artwork by Joel Paxton Letter-pressed Covers Printed by Middle Press Recorded live at the Brattleboro venue noted in the album’s title, this is the debut vinyl by the Valley’s latest eruption of deviant activity. Some people may have speculated what it would be like if Donkey No No jammed with Viewer. The mix of lovers-drift and zone-tongue-articulation seems like it would be a marriage made in Olompali. Well, my friends, you need guess no longer, While Grass Path is not an exact merging of these two unstoppable forces, it is an approximation (and a damn fine one) of what might result. Since the time of this recording, the two units have flowed together in… Read more »

Gary Wilson - A Beautiful Bliss ()

LP Edition of 100. Numbered. Cover Photo by Jessy Parr OUT OF PRINT By our count, this is the 18th album by the Lord of Endicott, patron saint to everyone who ever went on a blind date. For this session, Gary took to his bedroom with just his wig, his dog and his keyboard for company. Given the situation, one might expect this album would be a toss-off, but when Gary decides he’s going to do something he does it right. And so it is here. The setting and arrangements are intimate, resulting in a record that’s something like “Pillow Talk with Mr. Wilson.” Gary doesn’t mince any words here. ALL the songs are about romance in bloom, the roads… Read more »

Donkey No No - 6.13.17 ( / )

Edition of 20. Numbered.  12″ lathe. Out Of Print Unlike some of their more deviously zoned sessions, this recording catches Donkey No No in a reflective and ruralist mood. Omeed’s guitars, Jen’s violin, and Ted’s bowed cymbal all sound like something Bob Dylan would have listened to as a way of negating a bad hangover while on the Rolling Thunder tour. Notes and drones are carefully placed, allowing lots of breathing room to exist on their margins. Probably so that Bob’s head can stop its throbbing. And one can easily imagine, Dylan, sitting on the commode, slowly chewing on an Egg McMuffin, while he awaits the arrival of his poop de jour, wondering what it would sound like if Bruce… Read more »

Tarp + Arkm Foam - Do Synthesizers Draw Electronic Sheep? ( / )

Reissue of a cassette we recorded live, dubbed and gave away to the attendees of Joshua Burkett & Conrad Capistran’s “Do Synthesizers Draw Electronic Sheep?” show at Rozz Tox Art. Pro-Dubbed , Hand Stamped Cassettes. Edition of 50.   CASSETTE VERSION       CDr VERSION  Edition of 50.    

Lords Of Thyme - The Future Of Things Past ()

LP Edition of 400. No Download code included.  Co-Release With Shagrat Records I have learned over the years that when Nigel Cross (founder of Bucketfull of Brains fanzine and the Shagrat label) speaks, it’s worth paying attention. Thus, when he began telling us about this great UK quartet, we sat up straight. His descriptions of their action, name-checking Joe Boyd’s Witchseason Productions, Shelagh McDonald’s debut LP and much else inspired unbridled longing. The Lords cut a 7” and a couple of CDs for the elusive Sunstone label, but Nigel managed to get them to agree to putting together this odds ‘n sods collection for American consumption. The process of getting this record together ran into every mess you can imagine… Read more »

Curse Purse - Tyfus ()

7″ Edition of 150. Numbered.    Cover by Dennis Tyfus Although this record is purported to be the goodbye kiss from Curse Purse, we have also heard that Gary Panter (the King of the Hippies) has hidden away some secret tapes of the band which may some day see the light of wicked dawn. But for now, this is “it” from Mr. Panter’s favorite trio. And hey, they had a good run, especially considering they were something like an off-shoot of Egg Eggs (that most baroque of all dither-rock units) even if not all of them ever appear on the same Egg Eggs release. But during their run, they really sorta fucked god where he lived. The combination of Miss… Read more »

chik white - stranger calls to land ()

LP with download.  Edition of 250 OUT OF PRINT TINY MIX TAPES REVIEW! Vulcher Review by Eddie Flowers Over the past few years, we started hearing solo jaw harp cassettes by a Canadian musician who called himself chik white. Some of them were straight-forward somewhat-folky blasts of righteousness, others used studio effects to emphasize the psychedelic qualities of the instrument (or so it seemed), and others were nature-based explorations of the jaw harp’s drone possibilities. Heard individually they were striking, but listened to as a group, they went way beyond that. We got in touch with chik (the soubriquet for Darcy Spidle when he’s playing in this format) and suggested doing an LP that would provide a thorough overview of the… Read more »