New Arrivals
On fire
Norway's Smalltown Supersound label is just one of those imprints that you have to keep an eye on, because if not you're sure to miss out on some nugget of psyched avant-metal or North European disco that you'll be kicking yourself over neglecting in 10 years time. 'Smalltown Supersound On Fire' is a very handy and rather essential compendium of forthcoming releases on the label, including tracks from Arp, Meanderthals, Diskjokke and Tussle alongside remixes from the likes of Prins Thomas and Bj…
Life (...It eats you up)
Whereas previous works by Mika Vainio have utilised guitar Life (… It Eats You Up) is the first to use the instrument as its primary sound source. A fascinating, sometimes disturbing and deeply personal work this new 10 track set bears all the hallmarks (exacting attention to detail of tone, rhythm and texture) of Vainio's previous works with some stunning surprises, such as his cover version of The Stooges' 'Open Up and Bleed'.Tracks such as ‘Mining’ hark bark to the banging beat exces…
Live At Praxis 1984
Decades before his time, political and musical revolutionary, Sun Ra, developed a new plane of cultural existence where black people were all-powerful beings from outer space, sending their intergalactic message through jazz music. Recorded live in 1975 at Cleveland's legendary jazz club, the Smiling Dog Saloon, when Sun Ra and his Arkestra descended on the city for a week-long residency. You can imagine how the uninitiated's jaw must have dropped when Ra and his 15 musicians marched out onto th…
Drums Between The Bells
Gatefold 2LP version. "Pairing prickly electronics with live drum patterns, Eno dumps great globs of blotchy machine -- malfunction into the mix. Holland's poetry is interlaced courtesy of [a] monotone voice...the combined effect makes the whole undertaking sound like a wild William Gibson fantasy come to life." --Pitchfork "Brian Eno first came across the work of Rick Holland in the late '90s during the Map-Making project; a series of collaborative works between students of the Royal College, t…
Narc Beacon/Nag Nag Bacon
Goodiepal or Gæoudjiparl van den Dobbelsteen, whose real name is Parl Kristian Bjørn Vester, is a controversial Danish/Faroese musician and composer. The eccentric and self-made Goodiepal has influenced the course of modern music through radical excursions into computer technology and media art. Until recently he has been employed as a teacher at DIEM (Danish Institute for Electro-acoustic Music) at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, Denmark. Goodiepal declared intellectual war against …
Popofoni
This 2LP is a reissue of the holy grail of Norwegian free-jazz and electronic music, Popofoni, released by Sonet in 1973. It features compositions by Arne Nordheim, Terje Rypdal, Kåre Kolberg, Gunnar Sønstevold and Alfred Janson played by an extended Jan Garbarek Quintet. The Popofoni-project was initiated after a heated debate on Haagen Ringnes’ TV-show Åpen Post in autumn 1969, which dealt with the subject popmusic. Standing on one side you found the defenders of pop, actress and sin…
Tidings / Amethyst Waves
Mark McGuire has been a member of triadic mega-unit Emeralds since their inception. Besides contributing to their ever growing catalogue, he's also worked with Daniel "Oneohtrix Point Never" Lopatin as Skyramp and a prolific number of other solo projects. His most recent album for Weird Forest (originally released on Cassette by the Wagon label) has been hailed as his most definitive to date, crossing astral lines and psychedelic boundaries between noise squalls, lush-out synth washes and …
Just To Feel Anything
Just to Feel Anything, the new album by Emeralds, surpasses all expectations, just as its predecessor, Does It Look Like I’m Here, did in 2010. This expertly recorded new album sees the band deliver plenty of their distinctive aesthetic for old fans to enjoy while offering a new range of fresh, exciting ideas for newcomers. 'Before Your Eyes' begins the record with a steady build-up, which bleeds into humid layers of synthesizer pads and warm guitar. The track sets the tone perfectly for…
Split
This four way split 2LP is released for Record Store Day 2012 and features exclusive full sides of material from Pulse Emitter, Date Palms, Expo 70, and Faceplant (Aaron Coyes of Peaking Lights) The material was mastered and cut to vinyl by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at D&M in Berlin and pressed to high quality virgin vinyl at RTI. The 2LP is packaged in a beautiful uncoated stock jacket featuring visual artwork by Will Hutchinson and is limited to only 1,000 copies worldwide with a free downl…
Deutsche Elektronische Vol1
What's in a name? Good question. On first glance, Deutsche Elektronische Musik gives the impression that the pieces for Soul Jazz's new collection were selected for how they later fed into house and techno. But then there's that subtitle—"Experimental German Rock and Electronic Music 1972-83"—one which gently reminds listeners that much of the most fertile music from Germany in the '70s wasn't electronic at all. So why not Krautrock? Well, that doesn't quite work either: A title like that…
Old news #8
More archival works from Jim O'Rourke see the light of day on Old News #8. Recorded in 1991-1992. Originally released as part of Disengage by Staalplaat. Special thanks to Geert-Jan Hobijn and Frans de Waard for their years of support. Jeff Cortazzo (trombone), Sue Wolf (cello), Michael Prime (shortwave), Geoff Fontaine (voice), Gretchen Wells, Matt Guerierri, Scott Shell. "Merely" recorded live at DePaul University, 1991 -- Carrie Biolo (percussion). Remastered in 2012, Steamroom Tokyo. This on…
Pantheon Of The Lesser
Pantheon Of The Lesser was composed over a period of two years in Ocean's home studio in Portland, Maine. As the seasons passed each track was written, re-written, played and then re-played as layers were slowly stripped away until the true essence of the song was revealed. Once Ocean entered the studio it took another two years to deconstruct Pantheon Of The Lesser until they had found the essence of their writing. This disciplined deconstructionist approach to songwriting is how Ocean t…
Touch. 30 Years and Counting
**Double gatefold LP w/exclusives from Fennesz, Vainio, Jeck, Eleh, Chris Watson and so much more** Part of Touch's extended 30th anniversary celebrations, this compilation, with a cover photograph depicting Colossus, the first computer - serves first and foremost as a survey of the extraordinary breadth of the imprint's roster. Touch bosses Mike Harding and Jon Wozencroft consider the release to be a "group show" and a piece "documentary realism" as opposed to a compilation, one which provides …
Kill For Love
16 Track Deluxe Double LP on Magenta coloured wax finally available, includes downloiad code redeemable from the label* At long last available for public consumption - Johnny Jewel and co make their loooong overdue return with a gorgeous new album. It's now five years since 'Night Drive' triggered an avalanche of copy-cats and even a film - Nicolas Winding Refn's 'Drive' - and although we were all blessed with Johnny Jewel's sumptuous 'Symmetry, Themes for an Imaginary Film' earlier this…
The Ballasted Orchestra
The much-in-demand vinyl version of the second (or third, depending on how you calculate) Stars of the Lid album, their first for Kranky, now finally reissued on vinyl. The original 4 track cassette recordings were remastered and new lacquers were cut, and the original artwork has been updated* When it comes to genre-defining releases, even releases that define a band's career, few sum up ambient music, and the work of Stars of the Lid in general like 'The Ballasted Orchestra'. Released in 1…
Black Tar Prophecies Vol 4
While Grail’s studio records are expertly crafted affairs, full of expert production and cinematic flair, but the Black Tar Prophecies series has been the set of songs which has brought Grails to the forefront of the instrumental scene. Lo-fi and bared back, it gives the band a place to experiment outside of the norm. Volume 4 of the Black Tar Prophecies series utterly drips in dark atmosphere; opener I Want A New Drug starts with a tape recording which slowly descends into warbling, becom…
La Barca
Very Special double vinyl edition of Thomas Koner's 'La Barca' album - featuring a whole extra side/over 20 minutes of exclusive material never before available on any format, cut at Berlin's Dubplates and Mastering and pressed up in an edition of just 500 copies for the world. If you're a follower of Drone/Dark Ambient, and have admired the work of anyone from Deathprod to Rhythm & Sound to BJ Nilsen to Chris Watson to Angelo Badalamenti - this will blow your mind* There are few artists …
S/T
All things must come to pass, if you love something set it free, it’s better to burn out than fade away, blah blah blah. No platitude can mask the permanent bummer of a favorite band breaking up in their prime, and such is the case with Iowa City’s most untamed civic treasure, feral-psych foursome Raccoo-oo-oon, who decided to dissolve this year after nearly half a decade of radical and galvanizing activity (tapes, tours, t-shirts, etc). Fortunately they’re generous sorts, so their parting gift …
Second live salvage
'Editions Mego is proud to announce this double vinyl set. Five tracks recorded live (Valencia, Stockholm, Frankfurt, Brighton, Paris) + 'Bonus Recording', Russell HASWELL & Toshiji Mikawa live in Japan. Cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin, April 2008. Follow up to the award winning 'Live Salvage 1997->2000' CD (mego 012, 2000). Hot on the heels of recent collaborative releases with Florian Hecker (as HASWELL & Hecker) on Warner Classics and Warp Records, Russell HASWELL (b.1…
Second Original Silence
Thurston Moore, Jim O'Rourke and Mats Gustafsson last convened for the monumentally noisy Diskaholics Anonymous LP, Weapons of Ass Destruction. Now the trio have returned to Smalltown Superjazz for yet more sonic carnage, this time joined by ace drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, guitarist Terrie Ex and bassist Massimo Pupillo. There's a tremendous breadth to the kind of ground covered by these musicians. At no point do you feel as if the ensemble is running out of ideas or stagnating on one particular …