★Ecstatic Peace!
Intercepts
"Intercepts is a split album between Pye Corner audio and not waving. Taking inspiration from the world of espionage, most specifically spy rings, both artists provide four tracks each, creating a thrilling musical call and response between these kindred producers. Some of the greates world espionage stories involve spy rings. From the rosenbergs, to the cambridge five and the duquesne case, stories that have haunted the annals of the covert world and remain shrouded in mystery and fascination t…
An Airless Field
Once again teaming up with Vampire Belt bod Bill Nace, improvisational grandmaster Paul Flaherty returns for this new LP, An Airless Field, which features Nace on guitar and Flaherty on tenor and alto sax. Nace opens the LP with a sustaining, steely effects-laden wash of noise, leaving a dark, almost industrial background for Flaherty to solo over. Much of the dynamic between the two seems to involve Nace laying down vibe-heavy atmospherics while Flaherty roams freely. The counterpoint…
Devin & Gary Go Outside!
What’s this? A rockin’ new album by Devin Flynn and Gary Panter? Yes, it’s a breezy country/psych full length jam from Devin and Gary. Gary sings lead and guitar and Devin conjures forth ambitious, omnivorous and altogether ambidextrous soundscapes, not to mention some sweet harmonizing. The sound of this record is the sound of two dudes hanging out on a Spring day, having fun. Devin and Gary: they don’t just go outside, they go all the way. - Picture Box
Spit & Squalor Swallow
Little Claw's second album, Spit and Squalor Swallow the Snow, was also the last they recorded before they moved from Detroit to Portland, and it has ghostly traces of the Motor City all over it. The band recorded these songs in the living room of Outrageous Cherry's Matthew Smith, and while Little Claw's noise-punk experiments are miles away from Smith's flawless psych pop, he gives the proceedings warmth and intimacy. There's also an undeniable Detroit swagger to the band's rockers, whe…
A
A is Sunburned's second album with producer Kieran Hebden, a.k.a. Four Tet. Directed by Kieran like actors in a film, Sunburned is taken off the bandana smokestage of their previous collaboration -- Fire Escape -- and put onto a sweat-soaked 4am lysergic dance floor. Kieran uses the band like his live instrument laptop and sampler. The results are truly stunning which makes this record into one of the best moments of each artist's respective musical careers. With artwork by California vis…
Barn Nova
After five years and 20-plus albums-- most released on their own Child of Microtones label-- MV & EE's 2006 move to Ecstatic Peace began on a high note. "East Mountain Joint", the opening track on Green Blues, is a hypnotic hymn to unscheduled freedom, and it's catchy without losing the duo's loose, do-what-we-feel-like vibe. In fact, it's so entrancing that it's made subsequent work by Matt Valentine, Erika Elder, and their various colleagues seem like insufficient attempts to recapture…
Divisionals
Mouthus are professionals. Not that their music is a full-time job, or is made out of obligation. Rather, Brian Sullivan and Nate Nelson approach every recording seriously and diligently, never bending their methods to fit expectations or pander to an audience. Often this devout methodology produces a glorious alchemy; other times it results in workmanlike exercises in sound excavation. But every Mouthus album comes with an implicit seal of quality craftsmanship. You may not find an epiphany in …
Future Slip
For her fifth solo album, Samara Lubelski finds a new home on Ecstatic Peace, with label boss Thurston Moore taking on a role as producer, even roping in his band's drummer (the estimable Steve Shelley). Moore recruited Lubelski for violin duties on his own solo LP, 2007's Trees Outside The Academy, and set about coaxing her into recording a different type of record from her established Social Registry output. Future Slip certainly diverges from the more baroque folk tendencies of her recent wor…
Tall Firs meet Soft
The core elements of the Soft Location sound are Kathy Leisen’s haunting voice and boneyard guitar, and Matt Kantor’s slo-mo jet fuel bass jamminating. Add Tall Firs: Ryan Sawyer’s could-blow-your-pants-off-but-prefer-to-slowly-work-them-over-your-hips drumming and Dave Mies and Aaron Mullan’s creamy dual-savant guitar stylings: two dudes who don’t even know how the other guy’s guitar is tuned but nonetheless have brought the tandem knockout reverb dropkick since 1991. The band actively refuses …
Be the Climb
Nancy Garcia is among the most galvanizing and evocative provocateurs in the current underground strata of New York multi-media art. Coming from a fully realized performance background Garcia translates the experience to her compositions and delivers Be the Climb, her solo debut for Ecstatic Peace. The album is part of a new project called "I need more", which is comprised of an online video, a live performance, and the album. While the project's components can function independently, together t…
Z
“Z is about infinity and the double dimension we all live in yet don't fully understand. Z is the sound of that feeling you get when you think you're being watched or followed by the omnipotent one. Z is for believers and followers of the "Ecstatic Truth" that fuels this mysterious universe. Z has always existed and here is is as remembered and transfered solid by the people under the sun, the Sunburned..” – John Moloney, Sunburned
Senso
Senso is a live recording from two shows at the heralded and, sadly shut, Tonic club in NYC December 18, 2004. It was a lovely evening when O'Rourke and Moore, both of whom had played with White Out, but never together, would set the controls for the heart of the universe. Each set was its own distinct drama and captured the four players in a unified mind meld bringing the audience with them on a spirit-high journey.
Drunken Little Mass
White Out is a sound terrorist collective of two, arising from the freedom-charged excitement of the NYC improv community. Drunken Little Mass marks the summit meeting between the combustible duo of multi-instrumentalist Lin Culbertson (analog synthesizers, autoharp, flute, and treated voice) and Tom Surgal (drums, gongs and infinite percussion), and free agent/renaissance maestro Jim O'Rourke (Powerbook and guitar). The contents of this album are totally improvised, recorded in one take, with n…
trees outside the academy
It's Thurston's first solo outing since 1995's Psychic Hearts. Of course, Thurston's been releasing records here, there and everywhere, mostly in the context of rowdy and rambunctious noise/improv escapades but this new one is killer diller SONGS! Unlike Psychic Hearts' skeletal trio rock, this new jammer, 12 years post, has a far fuller bouquet of sonic depth and proves this Sonic dude to have a very real songwriting life outside of the legendary Sonic Youth (of which he is a founding figure, d…
Hard Knox
To quickly address the elephant in the room -- certainly, collections of demos, outtakes and home recordings are mostly bogus, but obviously you're reading this, so obviously I've somehow been coerced into releasing this batch of tunes, and you've bought it or stolen it or borrowed it or gotten a promo or whatever, so let's cut to the chase. In my defense, all of the cuts contained herein are 'songs' in the traditional western sense -- my experiments in 'surf harmonica' and 'doom zydeco' will no…
Suppression In The Third
Jason Crumer likes what you like: noise, girls, getting wasted once in while and maybe a spot of trouble here and there. He first started blowing minds as guitarist in the insane sludge punk core outfits Aluminum Noise and Facedowninshit. As well as the ultra-weirdo outfits American Band, Now In Darkness World Stops Turning and Amazing Grace. Since going solo in 2005 he's released fascinating and brainmelting USA noise death on labels like Iatrogenesis, Audiobot, Ignivomous, RRR, Nazot, Chondrit…
Samantha (My Wack Panther)
Menstruation Sisters hail from Sydney, Australia. Basically a duo comprised of wildboy poet ululationist and guitar strangler Nick Kamiussis (aka Rizili aka Riz) and OZ wonderkid Oren Ambarchi (Sunn 0))), Burial Chamber, Grave Temple, John Zorn etc etc), and sometimes aided by Brendan Walls and others. Their first LP, Ma, was in an edition of 100 copies, all of which had razor blades, balloons and hypodermic needles applied to one side. As an objet d'art it became a highly desirable item for noi…
Erotic Yorkshire
Mutant Ape is the insane noise project by Yorkshire, UK resident George Proctor. George runs the Turgid Animal label, which since 2005 has been the go-to place for harsh noise, power electronics and other demented spuzz releasing over 500 CDs, CDRS, cassettes, LPs, 10"s, 7"s etc. He has been releasing Mutant Ape sounds wherever and whenever establishing his classic yet contemporary noise/horror vision of lust and spectacle as one of the premier scum artists of the last decade. Erotic Yorkshire i…
Negative/Offensive
A project in celebration of the work and influence of mysterious UK (anti) artist noise outfit The New Blockaders as constructed by Houston, Texas black whips and male-on-male noise pioneer Richard Ramirez (Black Leather Jesus et al) and the sadly departed Japanese harsh noise maestro Koji Tano (MSBR). A mail collaboration where each artist would send source materials to be decomposed by each other. Fantastic walls of brutal shard skum splatter taken to points of demented anguish and resultant c…
Too Old To Die Young
'Talls Firs' Too Old To Die Young wax with limited edition handmade jackets. These things are being silk-screened to order, limited to 250 copies in the States. Rough hewn bunting for the haunted hymns inside. This LP edition has been mastered by JJ Golden and manufactured at RTI in California, the USA's unquestioned best vinyl manufacturer. Tall Firs have shredded Arthurfest in 2006, All Tomorrow's Parties in 2007 and the McCarren Park Pool Parties in 2008. Tall Firs have toured the USA and UK …