La Maquina de Cantar (LP)
At long last, after remaining out of print for decades, the Milan based imprint, Dialogo, dives into the legendary catalog of Cramps, bringing forth the first ever vinyl reissue of Horacio Vaggione’s LP, "La Maquina de Cantar", issued as the 18th instalment of the label’s Nova Musicha series in 1978 and among the most important examples of Latin American experimental music from the 1970s. Engrossing and creatively riveting, heard more than 40 years on its rippling electronic tones recast the ter…
Se Ci Fosse La Luce Sarebbe Bellissimo
If you could paint the world black, rediscover it with a flashlight illuminating every single detail and turn each finding into an obsession while gliding across the murk then you might stumble into Blak Saagan’s new magniloquent quest ‘Se Ci Fosse La Luce Sarebbe Bellissimo’ (If there were light it would be beautiful), a monstrous work of dedication and sound architecture that investigates and soundtracks one of the saddest and most obscure pages of Italian history: the 1978 kidnapping of forme…
Casioworks By Gust De Meyer
Casioworks’ by Gust De Meyer, originally released as a cassette on Ding Dong Tapes and Records in 1983. ‘Casioworks’ was made at home with only one instrument: the then very popular and cheap Casio VL Tone 1 synthesizer. Every track was recorded in one take on a porta-sound Fostex 250 4 track cassette recorder/mixer. Anyway, these minimalist pieces were produced under a strict guideline : the exclusive use of the Casio VL 1, a japanese monophonic synthesizer (and calculator). Between 1979 and 19…
Try Again
**Purple vinyl edition** Distorted classical choral recordings, synths, processed guitar… The exquisitely complex human-machine interface experiments conducted by Stefano Pilia are kept in a delicate balance by John Duncan‘s lyrics and the soulful quality of his vocals, for an album of electroacoustic songs that are a unique blend for both artists. Seeds and memories from the past are re-actualized in the present through a machine electroacoustic compositional process creating a dark, gloomy and…
Sync or Swim
Yet another stunning artifact from Freedom to Spend, the first ever vinyl reissue of The Same’s legendary 1981 LP, 'Sync or Swim', stands high among the great holy-grails of '80s British Underground music’s and is one of Robert Cox’s (Rimarimba) most important statements. Its minimal and rigorously experimental sounds set the stage for what is easily among the most exciting releases of the year. We've managed to get a few of the 200 copies limited edition - already sold-out at source - that incl…
Genetisis
** Edition of 200 ** Self-titled debut album from the heavy-hitting quartet of Ka Baird, Brian Close, Bryce Hackford and Jimmy Tamborello, privately recorded at Les Ateliers Claus in Brussels following their solo appearances at Meakusma Festival. Here their individual roots get deeply interwoven: from the avant-psych sounds of Spires That In The Sunset Rise and Baird's solo output on labels such as RVNG Intl. and Drag City, to the enigmatic electronic explorations of Close's multi-disciplinary a…
Exocursion
It would be hard to find a better soundtrack for these uncertain times than multidisciplinary artist Viktor Timofeev’s latest record Exocursion. In terms of composition and sound design, the album is a progression from his earlier efforts Give_health999 and the long-ago recorded but only recently released Palace of Peace and Reconciliation (both on Lo Bit Landscapes). The music is built from a similar structure of layered guitar loops, orchestral bass chords and manipulated field recordings. Tim…
Mar Interior
**300 copies** The Mecánica Clásica project combines modified elements of early electronics, krautrock, ambient, minimalism & fourth world music, generating an interplanetary space where enterprising guitar tones, lush synth sequencing & off-kilter percussion coalesce. ‘Mar Interior’ the new album by Mecánica Clásica is a fusion of kosmische & fourth world music inspired by ancient Mediterranean culture. Loosely translated as ‘Inland Sea’, ‘Mar Interior’ is thematically centred on the history &…
Tissue of Lies
Mannequin Records celebrates 40 years of Nocturnal Emissions a reissue their first album, Tissue Of Lies, released on the band's own Sterile Records label in 1980. Tissue Of Lies shows you Nocturnal Emissions' industrial roots, from noisy collages to classic power noise, reminding the early Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire, Faust (Tapes period) or Conrad Schitzler's Schwarz. The Nocturnal Emissions project, masterminded by Nigel Ayers, has been on the cutting edge of new music since the 19…
Sentimientos / Fluence
This special bundle collects two Pascal Comelade LPs recently reissued by États-Unis, namely the following:Pascal Comelade "Sentimientos" (1982)Fluence "Fluence" (1975)
Pascal Comelade "Sentimientos"Originally released in 1982, Pascal Comelade's Sentimientos is one of the most elusive and sought after LPs in the French composer's vast catalogue. Recorded on a two-track Revox machine, the album is an eclectic series of brief pieces -- only two of the twenty tracks exceed four minutes -- showcas…
Omnibus
**300 copies** Medical brings you a great release a long time in the making. Dallas analog synthesist Jake Schrock has been very active in the Texas music scene for many years with prior releases for S U R V I V E’s Holodeck label as well as performing in //TENSE//. With a literal arsenal of vintage equipment, Jake forges a wonderful, almost 80s soundtrack vibe with deep emotive washes and playful and gentle classic drum machine patterns and beats. Seven unreleased tracks meticulously chosen fro…
Operating Manual for Floating in Space
**200 copies** Operating Manual for Floating in Space is a project by Mylan Hoezen, researching the ecstasy of our existence through manually operating a sequence of bodily movements. A gorgeous, ambient and ecstatic sort of thing to listen to. Transmitted in wobbly synth, streaks of bright lights stream past my ears like I’m moving at speed. Something is building. There is a drumbeat, or stomping. People are clapping and then they’re not. Space-shuttle cupboards are being opened and closed and …
Studies / Studien / Études
**200 copies** Studies / Studien / Etudes' is a collection of pieces on synth by Rotterdam-based artist Joost M. de Jong jr., inspired by the first wave of Krautrock, Wendy Carlos and straight-to-VHS soundtracks. His music is both abstract and melodic, playful and austere, highly experimental and endlessly replayable... TEXT ↓ It turns out that ‘Joost M. de Jong, Jr.’ is just one of the incarnations, in name and character, of the man sitting in front of me. As a person, he is apologetic about…
Auf Dem Schwarzen Kanal
Auf Dem Schwarzen Kanal is one of the most outstanding, most sought-after releases in Conrad Schnitzler's extensive catalog. It was the only Schnitzler record to appear on a major label and saw him flirting with the experimental new wave sound that was emerging in 1980, particularly on the title track. Nevertheless, it still managed to sound idiosyncratically unlike any other music around at the time. Recorded with Wolfgang Seidel at Peter Baumann's Paragon Studio in Berlin, the four tracks take…
Sonus Ruinae
**12inch vinyl LP with handprinted covers by Lorenzo Mason Studio, Venice** Tape loops are a closed path, a cyclic river, a ring around a far planet. They’re similar to our memory, continuously reenacting an artefact that belongs to a precise point in time, brought back in a process of recall where that artifact slightly and slowly becomes imprecise and shifted. An unrested repetition carved into an old pavement, in a city where every generation leaves a new mark, a new incision and maintains an…
Cassette Culture - Homemade Music and the Creative Spirit in the Pre-Internet-Age
Intensive 320 page Book written by Jerry Kranitz, it includes a 2CD loaded with almost 160 minutes of Cassette-Culture / DIY Artists. The book takes a social history/analytical approach to the growth of the global cassette culture/homemade music network that sprouted and flourished from the post-punk era through the early 1990s. The author explores how the participants communicated, traded, collaborated, and set up cottage industry labels to distribute their work. A long overdue study of this pi…
Stadspark
**250 copies** Antwerp’s Stadspark: a once-thriving triangular cruising ground, and still an occasional recreation site. These days, however, the only flash you are likely to get is that of a police badge. Linger on a bench too long and brave the consequences; to fester at home is best. But the animals just proliferate. Unwanted domestic pets – gerbils, rabbits, mice – dumped in the night in Logan’s Run; no one knows how and when this unsavoury practice was begun. To his astonishment, The Admini…
Di Lumi e Chiarori
**250 copies** "Backwards is really pleased to present the new Fabio Orsi release. This time Fabio offered a monumental work: eight long tracks contained in a huge box set with four compact discs. Musically it stands on the new course of the artist: together with the classic ambient and drone atmospheres that we know well, the work has more dynamic parts with rhythms and pulsations, and more melodic parts. A perfect meeting between ambient music and berlin-style electronics, between intimate and…
Like the Snow
**200 copies** "Like The Snow delivers his first work after five years of research and experimentation. The project comes to life collecting a series of tracks that travel through electronic and ambient music in a dark sound world... At times almost danceable, absorbing the influences of the beloved synths of the '80s, reinterpreting in his own peculiar way the moods accumulated over time. For lovers of the most classic New Wave, Clan of Xymox and Neon... A project to discover and support."
Mechanical Fantasy Box
"Patrick Cowley (1950–82) was one of the most revolutionary and influential figures in electronic dance music. Born in Buffalo, Cowley moved to San Francisco in 1971 to study music at the City College of San Francisco. By the mid '70s, his synthesizer techniques landed him a job composing and producing songs for disco diva Sylvester, including hits such as "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)." Cowley created his own brand of peak-time party music known as Hi-NRG, dubbed "the San Francisco Sound." Hi…