New Arrivals
Piece Of Mind
"As K.J. Gustin wrote, Piece Of Mind is a work of 'exotic psychedelic free-jazz-meets-rock, East-meets-West, progressive and smoky moment in late Twentieth Century music history'. Add to that a spice of jazzy brassed R&B and a touch of minor-key popsike sensitivity and you get an accurate description of the sounds contained in Roger Bunn's astonishing 1969 LP, originally released in the UK on the Major Minor budget label, but issued in some European countries (Ohr label in Germany or Phil…
Bronze Age Subway
"Fruitful meeting of two very consistent mainstays in the southern drone hemispheres... The recordings took place in Buenos Aires when Antony recently was on a trip to South America.. Dark and broodling, yet also soothing and narcoleptic drone works from these two masters of their fields.. Guitars, violins and organs create buzzing forcefields and nocturnal sonic transfixions.... Top shelf trans-continental drone extravaganza from these highly prolific gentlemen. Don't miss out!"
Das Testament
Backwards proudly presents the reissue of a private Maurizio Bianchi vinyl LP, issued in a small edition of 300 copies in 1983 and titled "Das Testament". M.B. is an Italian pioneer of noise music, born near Milan. Bianchi began to produce music in 1979, and since 1980 has used electronic equipment with the avowed goal "to produce technological sounds and in such a way to work on complete realising of the modern decadence". Now remastered, for this release MB plays electronics, rhythms, neutroni…
Barca beach
Live recordings from Barcelona, summer 2009. Frankensteins Ballet features Mik Quantius (Embryo) speaking-in-tongues and Thomas Hopf on drums. Other members have played with Damo Suzuki, Michael Karoli, Michael Rother etc. Some serious damaged krautrock jams happening on this one, not to mention the weird dub space some of this is floating into. Edition of 70 copies.
Black Magic & Mustache
Seattle-based Simon Henneman's first solo vinyl release is here. Mr. Henneman has worn many hats in the musical vortex of the Seattle sub-underground, most "famously" as one of the Diminished Men, who released an LP on the Sun City Girls Abduction label in 2009. That LP gave the lucky few who procured a copy an idea of the talents of that great band. Here, Mr. Henneman strikes out on his own and creates a solo journey of a much more intimate palette. Playing every instrument on the reco…
100 Moons Hindustani Vocal Art 1930 to 1955
Amazing sounds from the subcontinent – a selection of mid-century recordings that focuses on the incredible vocal range in Indian music, served up by a set of singers we might never have known otherwise! The voice is almost the lead instrument here – usually just supported by a bit of percussion or sitar, and set free in open space with these insane inflections and cascading tones that really leave us breathless! Mediative and exciting vocals from the masters. Great liner notes and master…
Beyond the Valley of Ultrahits
Thus was the simple dare handed to Richard Youngs from his friend Andrew "Paz" Paine during their weekly Sunday meet-up. Ever the modest master, Youngs said in accepting this friendly challenge that he merely endeavored to capture the "beats and hooks" of contemporary pop. He's never attempted to disguise his gift for catchy musical phrases, though they may have come by way of careening, pleading, soothing or challenging multi-tracked voices.We present the results here as Beyond The Valley Of Ul…
United States of America Triptych (I)
Voice by Pete Simonelli, guitar by Miron Grzegorkiewicz, bass Guitar by Michael‚ Biela, turntable by DJ Lenar. Text excerpted from 1939 Southern Recording Trip Fieldnotes by John Lomax and Ruby LomaxAudio quotes excerpted from their recordings.
Los Doroncos
A monument to Japanese rock! Los Doroncos are a Tokyo supergroup formed by Kiyohiro Takada (Les Rallizes Denudes), Kawaguchi Masami (Dustbreeders, New Rock Syndicate), Mako Hsegawa (Maher Shalal Hash Baz). This is their debut Lp and it is just amazing. 4 long pieces that evolve into beautiful electric jams: past, present and future of the Tokyo underground sound are all in here! Released in an edition of 150 copies on the 8mm Records label. Housed in handmade cover."It’s a lot more laid back a…
333 Loops (Volume 1)
333 Loops (Volume 1) is the first chapter of a CD/DL live series, which documents the sound events generated by the homonymous modular system, designed in 2011 by the Italian musician Emiliano Romanelli.
The system is composed by an archive of 333 pre-recorded sound loops, produced between 2008 and 2011 by a sound synthesis software played in different acoustic environments, and documented mainly with internal microphones of several digital and analog portable recorders. Subsequently, by a custo…
A Gourd of Gold
2013 release "From the time we started Latitudes, we’ve held a secret wish list of bands that we intended to lure into our studio. We’ve cut a major notch in our bedpost by finally scoring with Arbouretum, a band that meets universal approval at Latitudes HQ. Arbouretum offer up four cover versions of the brilliant Gordon Lightfoot, the oft-overlooked Canadian singer-songwriter who helped define the folk-rock sound of the Sixties and Seventies. The highlight of the session is unsurprisingly the …
Lou Lou... In Tokyo
Sewing together dissonant notes, distorted vocal blasts, intent chaotic torrents of howling noise and highly active percussive waves. Sounding caustic on a surface level, the collaboration revealed a sense of calm determination, life-affirming energy, and creative joy - a veil of sonic warmth shrouding all participants before their return to the cold embrace of Tokyo in early spring.
Litio Folk
Rob Aiki Aubrey Lowe (Om, 90 Day Men) swiftly proceeds his stunning 'Timon Irnok Manta' side for Type with a humbling, stripped down suite crafted almost entirely from his own vocals, subtly layered with some synth work. 'Lítió Fólk' feels at once vast and intimate: Lowe's vocals resonate deeply, instinctively - quavering notes and curling overtones centre the sound within the body - while the layered and sustained drone structure seems to draw the spirit ever outwards, drawing enchanting melodi…
Tidal
Full colour digipak designed by Slavek Kwi. Limited to 300 copies. On 'Tidal' : Tidal zone is a fluid line between land and sea, a site of perpetual motion and metamorphoses. During 2008 - 2010 I collected a variety of sounds in coastal areas of Western and Southern Ireland and on the other side of Atlantic Ocean in Newfoundland, Canada: the remote fishing village of Conche, the ghost settlement of Crouse, and the St.Georges peninsula. I recorded underwater : crackles of decapods, dolphins, mink…
Enharmonic intervals (For Paschen organ)
Forget what you know about the Seattle-area sound-art project Mamiffer and the Finnish hypno-rock institution Circle. Enharmonic Intervals (for Paschen Organ), the first in a proposed series of joint efforts involving these parties, contains few of the musical hallmarks you might associate with either performer. The comforts of austere piano sketches and solemn nocturnes are largely absent; the wallop of repetitive rhythms and metallic kitsch is nowhere to be found. It’s as if an unseen h…
Spectral life
Debut LP of one third of avant drone metal outfit Locrian. Contemporary artist / musician Terence Hannum is back on wax with two side of meditative and sonic cathartic noise torrents. Following on a dozen of highly regarded solo tapes and cdr, Spectral Life follows the artist through 2 tracks of electronic and acoustic drones blending in the most efficient way all the previous works of the artist. While the A side is made of short different synth-driven pieces blended together in an immense open…
Mountains Of Tongues
Important collection of recordings documenting and preserving "fringe" or under-represented folk cultures and voices from a unique region at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. It spans a diverse cross-section of music by Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Georgians, Chechens and many other ethnicities which fall outside their country's definition of national folk music - Azeris from Georgia, Kurds from Tbilisi, Avars and Lezgis from Azerbaijan, or Molokans in the South Caucasus - giving room for al…
Spider John
This vinyl-only album fills a crucial gap in the evolution of legendary folk artist Spider John Koerner. Recorded in between 1965's Spider Blues and 1969's Running, Jumping, Standing Still (with Willie Murphy, both released on Elektra), Koerner is captured here live and unaccompanied at The Ash Grove in Los Angeles, bringing to light an exciting and previously-undocumented period in the career of Spider John. The excellent recording captures Koerner at the absolute peak of his guitar-playin…
Monstrance
Now also on vinyl.Mika Vainio, Electric Guitar, Processing, Metallic Percussion. Joachim Nordwall, Electronics, Electric Bass Guitar, Metal Objects, Hammond Organ, Vibraphone.Recorded in Berlin at Studio Schwedenstrasse one day in June 2010. Recording Engineer: Marco Paschke. Mixed and Mastered by Daniel Karlsson in Stockholm at Elektronmusikstudion. Mika Vainio was a member of the legendary minimal electronic duo Pan Sonic. Emerging from the Finnish industrial and rave music scene in the early …
Rv8
With RV8, the Osaka-based producer and musician Aoki Takamasa continues his long-term project that focuses on the modulation of rhythms and grooves. It began with his first EP Rhythm Variations in 2009, released as part three of the Unun-series. Besides his collaboration with Raster-Noton, he released records on several labels like Commmons, Progressive Form and Op.Disc, produced remixes for well-known musicians like Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yoshihiro Hanno and played performances at Elektra/Mont…