New Arrivals

A flop-eared rodent frolics in a lush field. In from the horizon sweeps a black cloud, kicked up by an army of similar-looking rodents. That's the basic set-up of Varmints, a 24-minute film by Studio AKA animator Marc Craste, based on a book written by Helen Ward and illustrated by Craste. Jóhann Jóhannsson draws the title of his latest album from the book, and this is the music he composed for the film's soundtrack. There's quite a bit of extra material-- the album is a full 1…

LP version. A marked change had come over the forest, as if dusk had begun to fall. Everywhere the glacé sheaths which enveloped the trees and vegetation had become duller and more opaque. The crystal floor underfoot was occluded and gray, turning the needles into spurs of basalt. The brilliant panoply of colored light had gone, and a dim amber glow moved across the trees, shadowing the sequined floor. At the same time it had become considerably colder.The Crystal World, the third studio album f…

REL is proud to present the debut LP of the scottish duo USURPER (Ali Robertson and Malcy Duff). Creating a sound nearly impossible to describe, USURPER combines obsessive metallic clunk, destroyed voices, broken horns and dropped marbles (?), into dense fields of activity. Working towards an intuitive sound logic all it's own, USURPER creates a surreal, comic structure that is unmatched and an energy that will make you laugh as soon as you shake your head in bafflement. The B side features a tr…

Don't lose control — dig Blues Control! Following a circular path in order to access the unknown, Russ and Lea nab chaos in a plastic cup and crush rock into diamonds, or something that looks like them anyway. Valley ho! This new record is like drugs for your ears.

A lasting gravestone release from Philadelphia's Clockcleaner packs in more drama than your mama with enough bad attitude to make the food court cry. Since 2007's release of "Babylon Rules", Clockcleaner have toured the trailer park areas of the United States as well as conquering the scorched earth of Australia. During this time the band recorded this 4 song EP length record that sharpens their midnight howl in a direction only hinted at in previous releases. The band now operates in a d…

From Brian McBride: When George and Myriam approached me to compose for their film they suggested I concentrate on four different themes: the gloriousness of the bees, the endurance and hardships of traditional beekeepers, pesticides and the holistic nature of non-industrial agriculture. I was especially intrigued with the idea of combining some of their mournful aspirations with something more serene. Composing began in May of 2009. I had decided to start fresh not using anything that I …

Original 1981 release! Slava Ranko(aka Don Philippi) released only one album, Arctic Hysteria (1981), that quotes John Cage, Brian Eno, minimalism, Indian music Don Philippi (October 2 1930-January 26 1993) was a noted translator of Japanese and Ainu and a musician.Born in Los Angeles, Philippi studied at the University of Southern California before going to Japan in 1957 on a Fulbright scholarship to study at the Kokugakuin University. In Japan he became an expert in classical Japanese an…

This year marks a milestone for the Chicago Underground Duo.  It is their 15th year together as a band. In celebration of this momentous occasion they have released a new record on a brand new label.Age of Energy is Chad Taylor and Rob Mazurek’s sixth release as Chicago Underground Duo and the twelfth release in the Chicago Underground catalog. Finding time to get back in the studio was a challenge, as Rob has been touring with his trio Starlicker, The Sao Paulo Underground and the Exploding Sta…

'Imagine the moment before the origin of the Universe, when nothing yet existed. According to the standard theory, our universe sprang into existence as 'singularity', a zone of infinite density, which is also what is thought to exist at the core of the 'black hole'. The result of its expansion is what we call the 'Universe' and it is also what this album is all about. The gate was opened one night in May, in a basement of Northampton, Ma. by Paul Flaherty on saxophone and Weasel Walter on drums…

Vinyl version of Klaus Schulze's first solo album, from 1972. "After stints in the legendary bands Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel, Irrlicht was Klaus Schulze's first stab at a a solo project. He had radical ideas for the newly developed electronic music scene which are blatantly present here. Equipped with a small orchestra, 4-track, guitar, percussion, organ, and a little electronic gadgetry, he created a 'cosmic classic'. No synthesizers were used here, just a remarkable use of sampl…

LP version. The is the second full-length release by Sweden's Andreas Tilliander as Mokira for the Type label. It's hard to believe that five years have passed since the release of Album, Tilliander's first outing on the Type label. Album marked the final stage in Andreas' development as a "laptop" artist, and since then he has collected synthesizer upon synthesizer and enough tape to make the boys in Berlin jealous. Ditching the zeroes and ones, Andreas set about piecing together a follow-up to…

When you think of Seattle, what do you see? No doubt it revolves around Grunge, rain or Frasier... Well prepare to have your cultural preconceptions realigned by the stunning new album 'Daydreaming' from Seattle's Rafael Anton Irisarri, an artist better known under his 'The Sight Below' moniker. Whilst the notion of another record combining modern production with a set of ivories may seem something of a cliché, Rafael Anton Irisarri ensures any such misgivings are dispensed with soon afte…

Even though Warmth main man Steev Thompson still appears to be incommunicado, totally epic recordings continue to surface. Before Roxanne Jean Polise was officially over and Steev still lived in Chicago, he joined up with another then-Chicago resident Branden Diven of Quilts/American Grizzly Records. The jams that were created filled a couple of CD-Rs and the Warmth side of the split with Quintana Roo on Not Not Fun. This LP consists of a remixed and edited version of the original CD-R ru…

VHF is releasing a bunch of solo guitar dudes over the next few weeks. Here's one of 'em! It's an album from New York's Alexander Turnquist called Hallway of Mirrors. It says that above so it's kinda pointless me saying that. Having said that the New York thing was a new bit of info so it's not all filler! I've not heard this chap before but I was rather taken with him on first listen. It's not a million miles away from the likes of James Blackshaw.... ie extreme 12 string fingerpluckery which i…

"It’s been a long journey for Northern-Spy artist Collin Langenus and Tom Hohmann, like floating stoned on the back of the turtle that carries the world. Or primal scream therapy. That trip culminates with R.I.P., the group’s final release, and the first of Brooklyn’s newest indie label. A swan song of a group at the top of its form, flowing with ease through psychedelia, stoner rock, prog, Native American mythos, and even political disintegration. R.I.P. was mixed by sludge-riff wunderkind, Max…

“Brand” is the new trio of Gary Smith (guitar), Silvia Kastel (voice and synth), Ninni Morgia (guitar). On this recording Gary Smith produces the playing for which he’s considered a master of avant guitar: multiple layering, complex grainy textures, dense counterpoint, influences of birdsong. Fused with the guitar of Ninni Morgia, which floats between minimal movements of primordial electronics, pre-war slide blues and Hendrix-esque feedback. Over, and blending with them, Silvia Kastel’s mo…

Edition of 110 copies, vinyl only, one time pressing with download card. “Whereas most other music squabbles for your attention whilst it plays, Unraveling Designs is content to remain in your subconscious mind, gently seducing you in an unhurried manner. The steady swelling of opener Recognition is a welcoming crescendo of highly atmospheric textures, seguing perfectly into the bubbling Down From The Sea, which is certainly one of the most carefully conceived and expertly executed number…

Brand new LP from Kawabata Makoto, his second for Blackest Rainbow following on nicely from where 2008's 'Rainbow Of Love' left off. White Summer of Love Dreamer continues to develop Kawabata's experimentation into psychedelic drone music using a variety of instruments. Across the two tracks on this LP, Kawabata seamlessly uses acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bouzouki, sarangi, tambura, organ, hurdy-gurdy, electronics, field recording, and his voice to create a stunning soundscape of hazy summ…

Limited Copies! By some mysterious and fantastic stroke of luck Sixtoo and Marco's Bully imprint have landed themselves the exclusive rights for this obscure third album from electronic psych masters The Silver Apples. Not only that but they have also now produced the first ever vinyl version of this seminal LP and have even dug deep enough to include some killer bonus cuts - never before heard. The band's name was inspired by the same poetic source that Morton Subotnick nabbed for his se…

one-sided lp of recordings from the installation of the same name (from a series of works, started in 1991, using fluorescent lamps). Description: an irregular state, when it surrounds us, makes us unable to identify individual things, or to find any law of variations within it. We usually regard it as having no significant nature more than the specific nature from which emerges repetition. It seems homogeneous rather than heterogeneous because we feel it as a form of flatness without spec…