Labor Of Love
We're not complaining. Seems like a week can't go by without some new Not Not Fun opus dribbling out from the west coast label, aimed at bleeding our brains of logical thought processes and launching us into galaxies where laws are read backwards and progress is measured in long, untethering tracks of psychedelia muttered through interstellar Ham radios. This week it comes by way of slow-boiled loops and synth warbling that build towards wordless rantings best quantified as the dark prayers mean…
Musical Paintings Vol 1
"A unique collaboration between a musician and a painter: Sean O'Hagan/The High Llamas and Jean Pierre Muller. The Musical Painting can be described as a large picture composed of wooden shapes that fit into one another. It produces its own soundtrack but with a distinctive novelty - it is the viewer who, by playing with the moveable parts of the painting, is in fact the conductor of the piece. This unique fusion between vision and sound is the fruit of the collaboration between Sean O'Hagan's '…
Rare Material
Totally essential two cd collection of some of the most elusive Moondog material of all . When the "Viking of Sixth Avenue" single volume compilation was reissued, we pleaded that here was truly a taste worth acquiring. Louis Hardin somehow managed to find the musical continuities between Bach, native american Sundances, be-bop, Stravinsky and yet still pursue his own musical paths and sound utterly unique. Strong claim, but the music truly bears it out. Drawing the entire disc one from the ultr…
In Europe
Moondog’s first release after moving to Germany, “Moondog in Europe” is a very heavy listen. While there are some aspects of his quirky style, most of this album is drenched in seriousness. Despite this being his first slightly somber album though, Moondog cleverly inserts various rounds from “Moondog 2.” Like Roger Waters taking portions of melody and hooks from “The Wall” and incorporating them into his “The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking,” Moondog similarly borrows his own melodies, changing…
H\'Art Songs
Moondog's fanbase seems to be righteously on the up nowadays, with reissue after reissue re-illuminating his singularly out-there musical genius. This is a stranger album than most however: on this one Moondog sings. Yes, this is possibly the only entry into the blind Viking impersonator/singer/songwriter sub genre. Inevitably, it's really good. Even though this album (recorded in 1969, incidentally) reduces the composer's ordinarily expanded palette to little more than voice and piano, there's …
The German Years 1977-1999
The first disc is an anthology of the music Moondog made in Germany, after moving there in 1974. The second is a recording of his last concert, on 1 August 1999. Both are excellent and amazing examples of Moondog's skills. Excellent notes and photographs.
Sound Is
"Sound Is, is delightfully not what I had expected when this fine disc arrived, a beautiful soundscape, awash with more layerings and hypnotic cinematic virtues than I would ever hope to find. Though while saying that, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the ultra fine hazy jazz that both effortlessly, and rambunctiously flows through this release, and stands not starkly in juxtaposition to the soundscape, but gives it the vibrant life necessary to keep you quietly swinging at 4 in the mornin…
self-hypnosis
AWESOME!!!!! What’s going on here? Well, a couple sides of Self-Hypnosis were recorded in a concrete racquetball court (and a couple of sides weren’t) which has been mysteriously transformed into the legendary Black Ark Studios and Lee Perry is going NUTS with the ol’ echo effects. A tiny clatter in the background suddenly rushes up to your ear-bones, magnified into giant sheets of rubberized steel plates which bounces as high as you are. The backwards flow-motion is set on fire as the storm app…
The Path Of Lighting
First off, this 2xLP set has THEE best cover I’ve laid my sockets on in many moons. It is soooo eye-burningly great that I’m tempted to run out and buy a van just to have the image painted on it. It’s about time the art world came around to the lucrative “ray-gun touting topless women riding giant tarantulas through darkened valleys” market. Bra-fuckin’-vo! But I’m not getting off my high horse just yet. I must say that this latest from NorCal’s finest, Starving Weirdos is one of their most swel…
Birth/Speed/Merging
After their second album, “King of Kings,” the Pyramids relocated to Oakland & reshuffled personnel before recording “Birth/Speed/Merging” in ’76. The most obvious change in the band is the addition of an acoustic bassist, on top of the electric bass they already had. This gives the band a heavier sound at certain points, while other times the bass is strummed like some sort of strange guitar. At the same time, they lost the piano which was used on the second album, which allowed them to return …
King Of Kings
The Pyramids second album, originally released in ’74. The band continued along the same general lines as they did on their first album, but they added a pianist for much of the session, & it somewhat changed the character of the music. In some ways, it seems like a more sophisticated album than “Lalibela,” & by some standards, its probably an improvement on that record – the solos in particular seem more confident, & the percussion has become more intricate & inventive, without loosing a hair o…
Lalibela
the Pyramids first album, recorded in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1973. It was recorded in Ohio, yes, but band leader Idris Ackamoor grew up in Southside Chicago, & this album was recorded after the core of the band had made an extended trip to Africa, & these facts give a better idea of where this music is coming from. The Chicago thing is happening in that this is definitely informed by the AACM approach, especially the Art Ensemble. The African thing is probably the more important element, though…
Daily Dance
Deluxe vinyl edition of this legendary outta time private press LP, cut by the duo of electric guitarist Doug Snyder and drummer Bob Thompson in Ohio in 1972...Amazing, unique, celebrated, and genuinely rare artifact from Rural Ohio. After stepping out of a Stooges concert in 1971, Doug Snyder and Bob Thompson set up a studio in their kitchen and attempted to record a record HEAVIER than the Stooges. They were completely successful, and the resulting LP, their only release at the time (put out b…
Night Tripper
Former drummer of enigmatic LA synthpunk outfit NEW COLLAPSE, RICH BITCH (aka FRANK ALPINE) has been privately sharing his solo work with friends over the last few years on cassette. Dais is proud to announce the first vinyl release of these original cassette recordings of Alpine’s dark ambient / coldwave excursions. Limited edition of 300 hand-numbered copies.
Mad Dog\'s Hustle
A too long unheard blacksploitation soundtrack from the Fantasy Productions house -- grooves from the pool of players who laid down the sounds on Secret Stash's fantastic Porno Groove compilation -- the score for the very little seen and long lost Mad Dog's Hustle from 1974! The music is credited to The Upstroke -- the same unidentified musicians from Fantasy's adult film scores -- and in a similar fashion to the porno soundtrack material, they're working very much in the appropriate idiom, but …
Human Taste
Portland, OR-by-way-of-Michigan garage gang Little Claw first tripped our radar with their self-released Why Not 7 inch, which was/is raw and physical and swingin’ in all the ways you want a 7” to be. Their LA live shows proved even more ripping and charged; we were sold. So we sprung at the offer to enshrine their latest (and best) album, Human Taste, on vinyl for the world’s turntables to adore. Packed with classic, cracked anthems (“Frozen In The Future,” “Colors You Drown”), basement weirdo …
Silver Sea Surfer School
More out-there song sculptures from Oakland resident Eva Saelens, this time with a little added clarity and decipherability: tracks like 'Shine On' really underline the strong compositional instincts lurking beneath the cassette recorder fizz. 'Always Have You' opens the set in stripped down, phantasmagorical, lo-fi lullaby fashion, but the album soon accumulates grit with moments like 'Ruff Ridin' and the distorted, spiralling keys on 'Adventure Of Light', beckoning you down all manner of confu…
Sudoku 82
Specially priced CD single stickered with glowing reviews from Howard Skempton, Kyle Gann, and The Wire. This spare, beautiful, spacious 20-minute piece for eight pianos was composed utilizing systems derived from sudoku puzzles and GarageBand software.
Ring Mining
Ring Mining unites a psychedelic dream team comprising Brooklynites Heavy Winged and Portland's Inca Ore. On the first side its down to the epic fudge-filled grooves of Heavy Winged to dominate the horizon, blistering through their hallmark freeform avant-metal with an extra fathom or two of depth supplied by the wandering ambience of Inca Ore's toils. Flipping over, Ms. Ore takes to the mic - and it's as if Heavy Winged suddenly turn into a fully fledged rock combo with an actual lead singer. I…
The Harmonic Series (Musical Works In Just Intonation)
'The Harmonic Series' is a compilation of musical works in Just Intonation created by three generations of contemporary composers who utilize this tuning system. This compilation was curated over the span of two years by Duane Pitre and released on Important Records in November 2009. The goal of this compilation and its accompanying liner notes is to educate listeners about the origins and use of Just Intonation, as well as to portray the unique beauty of this tonal “color palette,” which is hea…