Andy and His Grandmother
Andy Kaufman changed the worlds of comedy and performance in the 1970s, showing fans and friends alike a determination to follow put-ons into territory no one had ever even considered 'comic' before. His fervor was so intense that when he passed away suddenly in 1984, it seemed as if the ultimate disappearing act had been staged; one that some people believe is still ongoing, with the reveal soon to come. This makes him the quintessential entertainer of our generation, a man ahead of his …
Bitchitronics
Bitchin Bajas are back... Bitchitronics, is ready with the quickness we expect from the Chi-based duo -- which is funny, since their area of expertise and mastery is in the area of synthetic ephemeral sonic languid-ity known more instinctively, inclusively (and let's face it, irresponsibly) as drone music. They make slow music at a fast pace is what we're saying. Now these guys are paying attention to this on the micro-level because that's where their fun is, so how will you react when we…
Kairos: Chronos
French globe-tourist High Wolf has hand-rolled his way up Mount Fuji, trainspotted every corner of Europe, hitch-hiked across America and Australia, chugged Ganges water, and crouched on all manner of smoke-stained prayer rug since first looping a bongo back in ’09. His apprenticeship in the House of Wah nearly complete, he’s hinted at a potentially seismic shift in the High Wolf third eye doctrine lurking in the near future; perhaps his Away Team exfoliation moment is nigh. Fortunately, …
Fever Logic
Ensemble Economique has emerged as an unusually globe-trotting creative valve for Arcata, CA, beachcomber Brian Pyle. The last year alone has seen him backpacking through Scandinavia, Europe and Russia—twice. Maybe his spirit’s too absorbent, ’cause he’s brought back some deeply heavier moods and ancient world weariness since his last outing on Not Not Fun, 2010’s demonic tribal monsoon Psychical. Recent splits with similarly instinctual psychedelic unclassifiables like Lee Noble and Her…
Mirage
Primordial moves and stone cold drones from this New York duo of Taketo Shimada and Tres Warren (Sacred Bones Records). Save for a small long-gone edition of CD-Rs, Mirage is the third full-length release by Messages, recorded in 2008 before their first two albums and has remained unreleased until now. This record documents the duo's earliest long-form drone explorations and intonations, most of which were recorded during long sessions in Tres' basement bunker in the East Village. Mixing orbits …
Black Tie
LP version. Includes mp3 download and full-color poster. After two bone-chilling full-lengths for the Type Recordings imprint, Erik K. Skodvin has embarked on his first journey for his own Miasmah label with Black Tie. While originally conceived as a soundtrack to an installation by Norwegian artist Marit Følstad, Skodvin uses this as a starting point to craft his most unnerving long-form pieces to date. Split into two distinct movements, "Black Tie" and "White Noise," we are exposed to the y…
Antithesis
2013 repress, originally released in 2004 "first of two lp-only releases on kranky; this one features some of my favorite archival material, over which i labored some time ago, then again for some time late last year... on one hand i love theses pieces dearly and listen to them often, but on the other i didn’t want to seem like i was eschewing computer music altogether for a more “organic” route (couldn’t be further from the truth). i came very close to doing a 300 copy lo-fi lp of this material…
Vengeance Candle
"Clay Rendering is a new band born of Aries couple Mike (Wolf Eyes, Hair Police, Failing Lights) and Tara Connelly (the Haunting and The Pool at Metz). The two began work on the project in the fall of 2012, dedicated to resurrection, (much like their sun signs) with a focus on arcane structures. Droning and melancholic guitars are propelled by the skeletal remains of industrial music. Low light vocals weave in and out of the stark atmosphere. Electronics mix with acoustics, vocals and gui…
Twenty Systems
Twenty tracks made on 20 synthesizers spanning 20 years, accompanied by a 60-page color book with a foreword by Robin "Scanner" Rimbaud, Twenty Systems is Benge's acclaimed concept album, first released in 2008. His 10th solo album, this ambitious project combines an audio CD of new music with a hardbound full-color book containing photos and diagrams of the electronic instruments used, along with a detailed history documenting the development of synthesizers between 1968 and 1988. The purpo…
Jo Ha Kyu
"Tradition belongs more to the present than the past. For three weeks Parisian cellist and composer Gaspar Claus met with traditional and modern Japanese musicians in a Tokyo studio to record Jo Ha Kyu. Performing with Claus on this piece are: Eiko Ishibashi (voice, piano, drums), Keiji Haino (voice), Kakushin Nishihara (voice, satsuma biwa), Ryuichi Sakamoto (piano), Hirochimi Sakamoto (electric cello), Sachiko M (sine wave), Otomo Yoshihide (turntable), Leonard Eto (wadaiko), Kazutoki Umezu (t…
Svapiti
Born of Six, featuring Amelia Cuni, Catherine Christer Hennix, and Werner Durand, create exemplary drone compositions rooted in the traditions of Dhrupad, early minimalism and just intonation. Composed by Durand, Cuni, Hennix, Svapiti is one long composition measuring 55 minutes in length. 'A solid foundation is the best basis for the fundamental.' Narada´s exposition of the seven notes begins as follows: because Sadja (the tonic) arises from the combination of nose, throat, chest, palate, tongu…
Bridges
"Duane Pitre's Bridges, features two pieces taken from a suite of analogous compositions by the same name, and was composed by Pitre in 2012. The two pieces that comprise the album are meant to work together in sequence as a composite work; or they can be isolated and listened to on their own. The title derives its name from the original concept for this work, which was to bring together aspects of traditional Eastern music (such as compositional form and tuning) with Western musical trad…
EG-1
After their first single, Necrosis en la poya (1981), Spanish industrial band Esplendor Geométrico released their first cassette that same year: EG-1. A cult band and pioneers of industrial music, they were one of the first cases of true independence in the history of Spanish music -- not only financially and organizationally, but also in terms of creative independence. These first works were self-produced and distributed by the band themselves, before the appearance of Spanish independent recor…
Fur mich
Tired of quarreling endlessly with his imperious brother Klaus, Thomas Dinger quit the production of Viva, the second La Düsseldorf album, and promptly set off for the south of France. Frustrated and far away from home, his mind turned to the possibility of a solo album. An album devoted to his own musical ideas, free from domineering voices telling him what to do. Presenting his own vision in the context of a La Düsseldorf LP would have been difficult at the best of times. "I wanted to cre…
Great Dose Of Monotonous Techno
Calling someone "ahead of his/her time" is straight out of Music Marketing 101 and is a claim that rarely holds much merit. On occasion, though, it's a phrase that is entirely appropriate and accurate. Joel Brindefalk was as integral a part of Sweden's premiere off-kilter dance label, Börft, as anyone outside its founders, Jan Svensson (FRAK, etc), Birre Isgren (FRAK, etc), and, eventually, Joachim Nordwall (Skull Defekts, etc). While Brindefalk's work under monikers such as Contemporary …
Spectramorphic Iridescence
Signifiers can send all the wrong signals just as often as they can send the right ones. There’s a delicate balance between enticement and giving it all a way. Resident Los Angeles android, [PHYSICS], rides that line and then some on his first LP, Spectramorphic Iridescence. Glazed electronics and polymorphic beats run through wetware enhancements left behind by future civilizations. This music is black ice for all the hackers, ready to fry circuits from the inside and hardwire your dreams.Even …
Prototype EP
*The debut by Black Sites, a collaboration between Hamburg based artists Helena Hauff and F#X* Black Sites' 'Protoype EP' debuts the rapidly ascendant DJ/producer Helena Hauff and her Golden Püdel pal, F#X in a proper rugged warehouse showdown. From their base at Hamburg's unanimously adored nightclub they've brewed an uncut take on classic hardware funk importing inspiration from Drexciya to Unit Moebius and blending it with a direct dockside attitude demanding a physical response. Thei…
New Release (1)
*Regis and Haswell finally debut their Concrete Fence project - 12" mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at D&M, pressed on 140g white vinyl which itself is housed in a silk screened pvc sleeve with artwork by Bill Kouligas & Russell Haswell* Regis & Russell Haswell's Concrete Fence is a tantalising proposition for noise and techno freaks. As a duo they first rallied under the aegis at the 2012 Blackest Ever Black party in London's Corsica Studios with an improvised live set that veered bet…
Radio Embudagonn
Not that many of these on stock, we're afraid to say... and we will not be able to get any more of these once they're gone! The label tried to press a decent sized run of 300 copies, but less than half of those made their way into circulation for reasons that seemed to be lost in translation. This strange bit of record-release self-immolation is almost fitting for this strange piece of outsider audio collage. Embudagonn 108 is the work of the hermetic Wataru Kasahara, who smashes field r…
Viosphere+ selected works 1984-1991
Hideaki Shimada who started making art and improvised violin experiments in the late 1970s in Kanazawa. As a continuation of some of these ideas, he started adding tapes, which led to the creation of the Agencement electronic project in 1985. Two LPs were released under that name, then his first CD 'Viosphere' in 1991. Art into Life is now reissuing this album, plus three previously unissued tracks from the same period, under the title 'Viosphere +'. Of particular interest is the previously unre…