New Arrivals
Benji
Mark Kozelek is back with a new Sun Kil Moon album featuring Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley, Jen Wood (who has worked with the Postal Service), Will Oldham, and Owen Ashworth (formerly known as Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, now of Advance Base).
Mantle
Mantle is Pixel's fourth release on Raster-Noton since his debut in 2003 and a further exploration of his approach to rhythm-driven electronic music. The overall atmosphere which is produced by the fragile but nevertheless complex sounds is gloomy and quite threatening. Deep, pulsating basses are accompanied by ominous and fierce tones which emerge like flashes of light or shock waves, giving the impression of being warning signals. The few calm moments are constantly disrupted by dark dr…
Die letzte Rache
Der Plan (Moritz R, Frank Fenstermacher, Pyrolator) were instrumental in ushering in the German New Wave (NDW) and are considered free spirits of synthesizer pop: electronic music created with minimal means, sometimes experimental, playful or even bordering on dilettantism, but always with a sense of humour.
Retrospectively, it makes perfect sense that Der Plan created a soundtrack. For one thing, visuals were almost as important to Der Plan as their music. And if every self-respecting pop b…
Kataract (Alpha Mix)
'Edition of 300. Daniel Menche: Waterfall recordings and electronics. All waterfall field recordings were captured around the Pacific Northwest of USA. Mixed and recorded throughout 2007-2009. Mastered in the analog domain at Stereophonic Mastering, Portland Oregon. Artwork and illustrations by Emily Hyde. Photo art reproduction by Circle 23. Design by Johnny Pinkhouse. Another sizzling power blockfrom MENCHE. This time capturing the intense force of various Pacific Northgwest waterfalls to crea…
Gate
A new 7" from Sissy Spacek on Wendy. If you have asked yourself this you know how this new vinyl sounds.Short crazy blast of terror, insane fast drums, screaming vocals, feedback and shards of noise. Play it loud. Play it at 45rpm. Flip side. Do it again. This time SS are John and Charlie. Essential lineup.
Mimikry
2010 edition, long out of print, few copies resurfaced. Box Set, Limited Edition, Special Limited Box Edition - Album comes in a cardboard sleeve with tracks 11 and 12 as bonus tracks and as part of a box set including inserts. Having nicely set up the release of this album with their Ret Marut Handshake EP a few months back, Alva Noto and Blixa Bargeld (of Einsturzende Neubauten fame) deliver a set that exceeds all expectations. One of the most strikingly obvious comparisons to arise from …
Along the way
Former Emeralds member Mark McGuire has planned a new album following his 2011 albumGet Lost. Along the Waythrough Dead Oceans. On Along The Way, McGuire writes in the liner notes, “This story is an odyssey through the vast, unknown regions of the mind…the endless unfolding of psychological landscapes, leading to perpetual discoveries and expansions, in a genuinely emergent and infinite world of worlds.” Further he writes “[the new album] is not a critique, it is not instructional, nor is it a p…
End Line
Ottaven new LP issued in a tiny run of 100 copies only, a strong and puzzling mixture of tapes, electronics, varispeeding, and multiple exposures, carefully executed, with much precision and clarity. Flipping between noisily bristling electronic frequencies and blustery washes of oscillating tones, Ottaven sounds carefully programmed even in its most frentic moments, and offers several blasts abrasive enough to unclog the dirtiest pore.
Hostile Environment
Bolder is Martin Maischein, who used to record as Heinrich At Hart on Position Chrome, and Peter Votava, also known as Pure, who has recorded previously for Mego and was half of Ilsa Gold. With their combined background in electronic music of all kinds, Bolder introduces a significant proposition to the current experimental electronic boom. Blurring the lines between industrial, techno, dub, ambient, and narrative forms, the work on Bolder's debut presents a dance amongst the abyss, a world wher…
Backpages
Ron Morelli returns to stare down the 'floor with four pieces written during the stress-busting sessions for Spit (HOS 407CD/LP). The muggy, droning welt of "Public Consumption" kicks off with the sound of New York techno shot from the hip, while "Another Hit" vents a vintage era-Regis style built on skull-chipping snares and effluent acid modulation. The album's writhing batacuda banger, "Crack Microbes," reappears here as an extra-ferric extended "Version," sustaining the hypnotic intensi…
Schizophrenia Party (Director's Cut)
Reissued on vinyl for the first time, in a strictly limited-edition of 500 copies. Comes with four exclusive bonus tracks. Schizophrenia Party (Director's Cut) represents the second chapter in the career of UK underground heroes Family Fodder after their legendary debut Monkey Banana Kitchen. This full-length album features the complete 12" EP Schizophrenia Party (including the nine-minute monster tune "Dinosaur Sex") from 1981 and the 7" singles Film Music (1981) and The Big Dig(1982), all orig…
Harmonie du Soir
Rhys Chatham's 'Harmonie Du Soir' presents three compositions. The title track is the first major piece written for the configuration of six electric guitars, electric bass and drums since Die Donnergtter (1986). The second is The Dream of Rhonabwy, a piece written for large brass ensemble and percussion, realized in 2012 by a 70-piece brass band called Harmonie de Pontarlier, lead by the French conductor Patrick Erard. The last track on the CD version and bonus download for the vinyl edition is…
Mobilisation Generale
Born Bad Records, the on-point French label that has brought you some of our favorites of the year, will release this week a compilation of French protest jazz from the 70s called Mobilisation Generale. The compilation, which you can stream below, is a fantastic look at a small slice of history that could use a little more attention. On BBR's Bandcamp, an entire oral history is written out to accompany the release, which features some truly innovative freeform jazz and poetry, and we've reprinte…
Sub Contra
People of the North is Kid Millions (drums) and Bobby Matador (keyboard, synth, vocals) of Oneida, and Sub Contra is their Thrill Jockey debut. While their sound, like Oneida's, is constantly shifting and absorbing new concepts and ideas, Sub Contra is a work that fully embraces tumult and darkness in startling and dramatic ways. People of the North have been an active entity since 2003, but it wasn't until 2010 with the release of Deep Tissue on their own Brah imprint and Steep Formations, whic…
Veterans of disorder
Back in play just to celebrate 14 years, 2 months and 12 days since its original release is Royal Trux's penultimate album, Veterans of Disorder. Coming off the fan-favorite Accelerator LP, it was clearly time to build on expectations, right? Uh... listen, maybe this isn't the band for you. Neil and Jennifer were fans of rock n roll to the finish, sure -- but in that, Royal Trux was a dyed-in-the-wool contrarian enterprise, rebels to the core, and everything they endeavored to was viewed from th…
Birth/Speed/Merging
The Pyramids' psychedelic Afro-jazz masterpiece finally lands thanks to Disko B. Originally cut in 1975 before they disbanded, 'Birth/Speed/Merging' marks a highpoint of the group's production values and was their last recording together. Since then the LP's achieved cult status for its celebratory fusion of carnivalesque groove with Sun-Ra-like cosmic vibes and progressive values; a worldly and entirely enchanting sound blessed with a real tangible sorta magic. The one to check is 'Black Man An…
Fa 2012
Fa 2012 + Fa (Mark Fell Remix). Mastered and cut by Rashad Becker at Dubplates and Mastering, Berlin, July 2012. Layout by Tina Frank. Special 12' featuring new versions of the track Fa, taken from the debut Fennesz solo album ÔHotel Paral.lel' (1997). 15 years after its initial release, Christian Fennesz gives this throbbing monster of a track a new seeing to, extending it and adding more of that magic he is so well known for. The album was always an exercise in exploring alternate means o…
Scott 2
2013 repress. "Originally released in 1968, Scott 2 made it all the way to number one on the UK pop charts, perhaps the strangest number one hit in pop history. Continuing with his orchestral obsession, Scott 2 features over-the-top string and horn arrangements, occasionally veering into dangerously schmaltzy territory. This production style is in drastic contrast to the lyrical content, songs of despair, prostitution, homosexuality, and brutal honesty, indicting the same glamorous and gli…
Scott 3
2013 repress. "Scott 3, originally released in 1969, marked a big change in Walker's approach to albums as, for the first time, the record is dominated by his original compositions. In fact, the only other songwriter that makes it onto the album is Walker's idol, Belgium's legendary singer/songwriter Jacques Brel. Scott 3 again features string heavy production courtesy of Wally Scott, though it occasionally moves out of pop ballad territory into a more cinematic feel influenced by Ennio M…
Betrayed in the Octagon
"2012's Rifts compiled Oneohtrix Point Never's (aka Daniel Lopatin) first three full albums alongside a crop of rare and out-of-print CDR and cassette material in a deluxe, five LP vinyl box set. Following the success of this sold-out one-time release, we are pleased to present all five LPs for sale individually. Each LP includes a digital download code. Betrayed in the Octagon was originally released on cassette by Deception Island in 2007. Subsequently released on LP in an edition of …