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Mouse On The Keys - An Anxious Object [Machu Picchu] Limited Edition CD (Little
is known about the mysterious trio that goes by the name of Mouse on
the Keys. Their names, Akira Kawasaki (drums, keyboards, piano and of
Nine Days Wonder) Atsushi Kiyota (keyboard, piano) and Daisuke Niitome
(keybord, piano). The songs of instrumental drum and piano, sometimes
jazzy, sometimes almost classical, other times sounding like a
soundtrack to a rainy drive through the heart of a city. Whatever they
do, it's a dark and grim journey.)
Enemies - Alpha Waves [Machu Picchu] Japan Edition CD with Bonus Track (Enemies
are a new irish based post rock four piece and the album features some
lovely meandering post rock sounds with a bit of everything from the
early jazzy like vibes of tortoise to the more hard hitting explosive
sounds of the redneck manifesto. the album six extensive post rock
workouts with plenty of clever twists and turns along the way. features
some beautifully intricate guitar interplay and complex jazz like
rhythms.)
VA - Hub Opus Tokyo [Op. Disc] 2CD
(Hub Opus Tokyo, a double-CD compilation bearing ample samplings of its
distinctive techno. Yes, the label's style is in one sense minimal—many
cuts are stripped-back to skeletal beat structures and bass lines, and
fragments of melodies, electronic noises, and samples—yet the label's
artists still manage to spin endlessly inventive and captivating
variations on the theme. Some of the contributors—Radiq, Dublee, Ditch,
Aoki Takamasa, Takuya Morita, Ryo Murakami, and Dartriix, for
example—have released previously on the label while others are
newcomers. Intensifying the groove factor, some of the twenty-one
tracks (most in the seven-minute range) sprinkle jazz spice over
strutting minimal grooves, and dress up the material with percussive
touches, claps, synths, electric piano noodling, and voice samples and
edits.)
The Late Parade - In Chase of Red Beads [Carroway] Japan Edition CD with 3 Bonus Tracks
(The EP from 2007 was highly praised both in Denmark and
internationally, especially in Japan. Which resulted in a lot of sold
EPs and a long list of concerts including both SPOT and Roskilde
Festival last year. On the album, In Chase of Red Beads, The Late
Parade has developed their sound from the highly praised EP. According
to the band the sound has gone from “quiet to elevating”. The music of
The Late Parade is sensitive and insisting. The lead singer Rune
Vigil’s vocal is a superior falsetto with a very broad spectrum. The
beautiful vocal and the weight of the drums make out the focal point of
the band’s melancholy songs.)
The Crayon Fields - All The Pleasures Of The World [Rallye] Japan Edition CD with Bonus Track
(In true Crayon Fields style, they have delivered two delightfully
indie pop singles that don't grate on the ears with annoying bubblegum
cuteness. All the Pleasures... is not as dominated by percussion like
most tracks from their last album Animal Bells, preferring a guitar
driven melody that retains it's sweet charm through singer Geoff
O'Connor's quiet and sensible pop vocals. This track in particular is
reminiscent of late Kings of Convenience but with a more danceable
quality.)
Julian Abelar - The Julian Abelar [Octave Lab] Japan Edition CD with Bonus Track (Julian
Abelar taps into the possibilities of dance music for the now. But this
is nit the sound of a "Nu Age". It is an excavation of ancient
practices aimed at stopping the world. Julian brings with him from the
mountains of sonora a systematic sequence of soundscapes to reacquaint
the body with the energy surroundings it. As the records moves through
a number of initiatory rhythms, the listener/seeker acquaints himself
with the hidden dimension of inner space. All movement is inwards.
towards the source. Julian uses a combination of sounds that are
neither organic nor synthetic but end up fulfilling both extremes and
spectrum in between. Pineal beats with a shamanic bounce.)
Goldmund - Corduroy Road [P*dis] Japan Edition CD with 2 Bonus Tracks
(As Goldmund, Kenniff has disregarded the electronic elements of his
music almost entirely in favour of just a piano, a microphone and
occasionally a guitar. ‘Corduroy Road’ is thirteen tracks of pure
recording, the sound of the piano being opened and the feet on the
pedals, the sound of fingers pressing lovingly onto the keys. This is a
record of rare and unusual beauty, so shocking and yet unpretentious in
its simplicity. When the guitar does emerge from beside the delicately
touched piano, it serves as a balancing point for the record. Weaving
in and out of the melodies, it adds another layer to what is already
incredibly moving music.)
Cuushe - Red Rocket Telepahy [Flau] CD
(The much anticipated debut album by the multi-talented Cuushe, “Red
Rocket Telepathy”. Although “nostalgic” may be a word that most would
use to describe this wonderful album of Cuushe, but her music is
actually deeply rooted into the genre of dream pop….perhaps a much more
broken type of dream pop. Start right from the beginning of the album,
the feathery voices of Cuushe float in between the cleverly placed
electronics sounds and gracefully sampled noises and field-recordings,
carrying out melodies after melodies that are truly sublime and
captivating. These beautiful electro-infused dreamscapes may vaguely
remind you of cokiyu, tujiko noriko or even Björk, but it is also an
undeniable fact that in this album, Cuushe has crafted some of the most
uniquely exquisite pop sounds that you can ever find in today’s indie
music scene.)
Orla Wren - The One Two Bird and The Half Horse [Flau] CD
(The One Two Bird And The Half Horse' is the second album from Orla
Wren. Recorded over the last two years in the environs of an isolated
cold water cottage in the Scottish hills, it develops Tui’s happy
obsession with rendering the minutiae of nature into sonic form,
combining the oldest, wonkiest most organic of possible sound sources,
instrumental or otherwise, fashioned into textures of pinprick detail.
A wide array of stylistically disparate musical and vocal
collaborators, from places as varied as Japan, the Georgian Republic
and 'down-home' U.K., lend their weight to the process, alternately
spooking and soothing the music, filtered through Tui’s “wires” into an
intensely colorful democratic weave.)
Implosion Quintet - The Future Sound of Yesterday [Cookshop] CD
(Implosion Quintet is singular fivesome James Baker, a British musician
now residing in Norway. Following a scattering of tracks on the
Cookshop label, we're proud to present his highly ambitious &
accomplished debut album, 'The Future Sound Of Yesterday'. Driven by a
short attention span & love of prog, proto-metal, jazz,
electronica, klezmer, tango & everything in between, IQ takes us on
a bizarre journey through said styles infused with a cinematic quality
lending it the feel of a soundtrack to some long forgotten cult eastern
European flick. This is undoubtedly one of the most dizzyingly unique
records to come round in quite some time...)
Yucatan - S/T [Happy Prince] CD
(Yucatan clearly gaze with wonderment at every night sky as if it's the
last they'll see, counting the stars one by one until it's mapped to
memory. It's up there that Yucatan will sound at its most perfect, when
the only object of note against an ocean of darkness is our own Earth.
Llwyd's music is that transcendental when at its finest, and we're
already looking forward to album number two and more of the same, if
not just more.)
Jim O'Rourke - 実録・連合赤軍 あさま山荘への道程 [Solid] OST CD
(Recorded at Steel Room Tokyo and Sear Sound. Mixed at Steel Room
Tokyo. Soundtrack to Koji Wakamatsu's 2008 film "Jitsuroku: Rengo
sekigun" (United Red Army).)
Itaru Oki - Phantom Note [Doubt Music] CD
(A long time out of printed OFF BEAT label LP is reprinted on CD. Itaru
Oki visited Paris, France in the 70s and when he came back to Japan
temporarily in '75, he organized a elite free jazz troop and recorded
in studio. "Phantom Note" is his 3rd album, more straight, heavier and
flamed out free jazz than experimental music part of his 1st "Satsujin
Kyoshitsu (Murder Class)" or 2nd "Shirasagi (Egret)". Especially, the
tune called 'Kodai Tenmondai (Ancient Observatory)' which Gozo
Yoshimasu read his poet has a vigorous voice and playing, and it will
move your heart surely. The masterpiece on '75 in Japan.)
Masayuki Takayanagi 高柳昌行- The complete works of JOJO - Action Direct 1[Jinya Disc] DVD
(A live footage which recorded the ultimate noise music performance
"Action Direct" by Masayuki Takayanagi, an unparalleled guitarist who
played an active role in Japanese jazz music scene since its beginning.
Filmed by Yasunori Saito and Kyoko Saito at the New Direction for the
Arts Regular Concert Vol. 69 (1, 2) and Vol. 70 (3, 4), August 4 and
December 17, 1990. NTSC, region free, stereo, 41 minutes.)
Keiji Haino 灰野敬二 / Makoto Kawabata 河端一 / Tatsuya Yoshida 吉田達也 - Live at Mission's [PSF] DVD
(Second release by a new super-group featuring Keiji Haino, Makoto
Kawabata (Acid Mothers Temple), and Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins). Recorded
live in Tokyo in December 2008. An hour's worth of sharply photographed
alternately dense, brutal, coruscating and beautiful interplay from
three of the hardest hitters in the Japanese underground, with the
interplay between Haino's scalding, molten darkness and Kawabata's
crunch and ripple particularly invigorating. For those confused by the
title, the trio's previous release on Magaibutsu was entitled Ichi to
ichi ga kasanatte shimaumade ('Until one and one come to overlap').
This one is Ichi to ichi to ichi ga kasanatte shimaumade ('Until one
and one and one come to overlap'). Just so you know. Fifty-nine
minutes. Region-free NTSC DVD.)
Tori Kudo 工藤冬里 - Piano Solo, He Would Come Home Through The Window, Job in Hand [PSF] CD
(Solo piano album from Tori Kudo of Worst Noise/Guys N Dolls/Maher
Shalal Hash Baz et al. Tori’s style relates to both free jazz and
classical composition, albeit elevating ‘errors’ to the status of
creative prima materia. Some of his playing here sounds a little bit
like Muhal Richard Abrams’ early AACM recordings, that same slightly
off sense of melancholy, a quality which the boxy nature of the
recording gives further emphasis to, giving the performance a nice
alone-in-a-room ambience. Kudo plays fairly gently, chasing fortuitous
ghostly ideas up and down the keyboard, now stuck on a simple repeating
melody, now spreading out into elegiac waves of stumbling exegesis.)
Li Jianhong 李劍鴻 - Classic of the Mountains sad Seas [PSF] CD
(Two totally *wailing* 30 minute plus tracks of narcotic guitar
evisceration from this prodigious Chinese psychedelic/noise guitarist.
Described as an “avant garde mandala” this is closest to Munehiro
Narita’s splurging freeform wah-wah attack style, with Jianhong tearing
screaming melodic guitar patterns from a vortex of fuzz suspended over
a doomy single note drone. The second track has a more screaming E-bow
drone style that is nicely brain rearranging. Easily the most full-on
psych out/PSF style release from Jianhong this far.)
New Miminokoto - All About Mimi [PSF] CD
(Woah – some kinda upheaval in the ranks of Miminokoto results in the
replacement of Masami Kawaguchi with Suzuki Junzo (Astral Travelling
Unit/Overhang Party) on guitar and vocals and then they only go and cut
an unbelievable album for PSF with no less than two (!) cover versions
of Kousokuya tracks penned by the late Jutok Kaneko. To say that this
is precisely my kinda deal is state the bleeding obvious. One of the
things that always made Miminokoto stand out was the languorous,
sun-swallowing vocal style of Kawaguchi and Junzo does a great job of
approximating his post-Jim Morrison style.)
Wax Poetics #35 June/July MAGAZINE
(On the covers, front: Roger Troutman, back: Booker T. Jones. Contents:
Editor's Letter, Re:Discovery, El Michels Affair, Broken Keys, STS9,
Glass Candy, Lord Finesse, Ralph MacDonald, Booker T. Jones, Byron Lee,
Mahavishnu Orchestra, E.Z. Mike Simpson, Def Jef, Roger Troutman,
Analog Out." 104 pages, full color, high gloss, incredibly well done
& essential. 35th issue of this U.S.-based production.)
Oliver Huntemann - H-3 [Ideal] 2CD
(German producer Oliver Huntemann presents his third solo artist album
-- his first full-length release on Ideal Recordings. Huntemann had
great years in 2007 and 2008, with remixes for The Chemical Brothers,
Depeche Mode and Underworld, as well as arguably the biggest track of
the year in "Dios," co-produced with Dubfire. On to 2009, Huntemann
continues his career-long form with H-3. Consisting of two CDs and 15
full-length tracks, H-3 is unpretentious dancefloor music which
combines elements of techno, house and electro to create a long-player
which truly captures a sound that only the artist himself can claim as
his own. Linear, driving arrangements, metallic synths and shuffling
rhythms twist throughout while fractured melodies occasionally surface,
resulting in something which sums up Huntemann's personal journey
through electronic music through to his veteran status as producer and
DJ. With a passionate belief in letting the music do the talking,
Huntemann has kept a low personal profile, hand-picking projects he can
invest in properly, and H-3 is the superb result.)
V/A - Oz Days Live [OZ] 2CD
(New CD reissue of the super-rare 1973 2LP set commemorating 'The 'Oz
Days' benefit festival for the owner of Tokyo's legendary Oz Rock Cafe,
which had been shut down after one too many drug busts'. Authentic
packaging, with hand-stamped outer bag and gatefold insert. The Les
Rallizes Denudes and Taj Mahal Travellers sides have been briefly
reissued before -- here's the complete picture!" Other artists featured
here: Miyako Ochi, Acid Seven and Minami Masato.)
Masahiko Satoh & Soundbreakers - Amalgamation [Drone Syndicate] CD (Number
seven on the Japrocksampler Top 50, available again for the first time
in over a decade! Over two side-long tracks, shaman Masahiko Satoh
sends us through a sonic mind-field, baffling our senses and our sense
of gravity. Located at the centre of Amalgamation's giddy sessions was
the frantic Detroit drumming of hard-bop legend Louis Hayes, whose role
it was to play the bubbling ever unfolding fundament on which Masahiko
Satoh's whole trip proceeded, as though the rhythm section were a magic
carpet magically pulled out from under the feet of the other
performers. Over this rhythmic shaking, Satoh scattered Hammond organ
around and ring-modulated* his Fender Rhodes piano solos (*Roland built
three especially for the record), added lead guitar from 'super
session' legend Kimio Mizutani, trumpets and sax from Mototeru Takagi,
scat singing from Kayoko Itoh, and strings from the Wehnne Strings
Consort.)
Träd Gräs Och Stenar - Homeless Cats [Subliminal Sounds] CD
(Just in time for Träd Gräs och Stenar's ("Trees Grass and Stones")
40-year anniversary, the Swedish psychedelic trance-rock pioneers
release a new album, Homeless Cats. The first one in 7 years, and the
seventh since they began in 1969. Eleven boundless tracks with organic
music for open minds. Träd Gräs och Stenar create their own
contemporary music, even if they have been compared to Krautrockers
like Can and Faust, internationally. Rhythmic, and heart-pounding for
sure -- but at the same time, peculiarly Swedish, with their roots in
the mold and soil, and with branches that reach high up into the clear
air. In the meaty album booklet, they give us a couple of personal
travelogues. Träd Gräs och Stenar have evolved a clear and mature sound
with space enough for both suggestive heaviness and mind-expansion.)
Saxon Shore - It Doesn't Matter [Self-Released] CD
(It Doesn't Matter is the follow-up to 2005's The Exquisite Death of
Saxon Shore, and the fourth release from American post-rockers Saxon
Shore. The sound of this new, five-member group was what Saxon Shore
wanted to capture with a new album. It Doesn't Matter was recorded with
producer Dave Fridmann (MGMT, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Flaming
Lips) in the Tarbox Road Studios cabin, located in the backwoods of
Cassadaga, NY.)
Konntinent / Adam Flynn - If I Could Buy A Map of Hope... [Sonic Pieces] CDr (Adam
Flynn delivers 2 pieces of utter drone classa with some seriously deep
textures and resonant soundscapes rolling through the tracks. They
follow each other beautifully and create a soothing, yet slightly dark
envelope of depth. Seriously fine. Konntinent provides the remaining 4
tracks and they really are simply lovely. Using an electronic / organic
style they feature live manipulated guitar and super processing to give
it all life and charm. Melodic to the core, these tracks have a sort of
Green Kingdom-esque feel to them (listen and you'll see what I mean). A
wonderful CD that won't be hanging around too long, so snap it up while
you can. *Packaged in Handmade hardcover Gatefold, Limited to 100 copies!)
Lotus Plaza - The Floodlight Collective [Kranky] CD / LP
(Deerhunter's guitarist / songwriter Lockett Pundt delivers his debut
solo album and it's really quite a fascinating work. Taking influences
from '60s psychedelia, shoegaze, indie rock and, inevitably,
Deerhunter, he's put together a friendly and warm collection of songs
that certainly wear their heart on their sleeve. Kind of hippyish at
times and certainly something that fans of Animal Collective will enjoy
- definitely on a few of the tracks as it has that slightly out there,
old-school vocal harmony stye - it's all the better for these flavours
being added into the mix. A heartfelt and really nice guitar album all
round.)
Motohiro Nakashima - We Hum On The Way Home [Schole] CD
(An outstanding instrumental ensemble and the melody gems made out of
family-love. After 3 years, the awaited latest comes out!! After the
release of his 1st album “And I Went to Sleep” from Lo Recordings, and
“I Dreamt Constellations Song” from its affiliated LoAF in 2006,
finally the awaited new album is about to release from schole. While
the tunes of guitar and piano take a leading part, there are
instruments such as violin, cello, clarinet, trombone, and percussion
for creating beautiful ensemble. As you all may see in its title,
“family” is the theme of this album. Putting a warm loving feeling
towards to his family, Motohiro Nakashima expresses and makes every
listeners recall their scenes or memoir with this piece of work.)
Neils Children - X. NEC [Vinyl Junkie] CD
(Perfectly fusing the bands darker edges with more melodic sounds, this
is one of the most exciting albums to come from the London underground
scene in the past 10 years. Finally. It’s been a long wait but well
worth it. The new Neils Children album ‘X.ENC’ has been honing itself
in the isolation of a warehouse in Hertfordshire. The band returned to
their hometown with a PC, microphones, guitars and drums to record
there masterpiece. They describe the album as “the ultimate Neils
Children record” and they’re not wrong. The album fuses their trademark
vorticist post-punk with dark, tribal atmospherics and all out post-Big
Black noise . With influences ranging as far as A Certain Ratio, The
Whispers, Alton Ellis and Josef K, the album is as dynamic as Neils
Children promised is would be. *Japanese Edition with 3 Bonus Tracks.)
Dietmar Dath & Kammerflimmer Kollektief - Im Erwachten Garten [Staubgold] CD
(Kammerflimmer Kollektief team up with the author Dietmar Dath, who
went from journalism (he's an erstwhile editor of the German magazine
Spex and the daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) to writing
both novels and non-fiction. This album finds him reading out an
unpublished 'alternate version' of his novel Die Abschaffung Der Arten
(translated as The Abolition Of The Species) with musical
contextualisation provided by Kammerflimmer Kollektief. The hour-long
album plays out like a duet of sorts between Dath (the reader) and the
music itself. While parts of the disc play out like a radio production
with the Kammerflimmer component operating as a lulling bed of sound
design, certain sequences take over from Dath's narration altogether,
ascending into beautifully formed passages of electronics and
instrumental improvisation. Of course, to get the full effect of this
record a decent working knowledge of the German language would be
fairly essential, but even we notoriously monolingual Brits can enjoy
the interplay between Kammerflimmer's refined electronic post-rock and
the human voice.)
Three Trapped Tigers - EP 8 [Rallye] CD
(A five track EP plus 3 bonus tracks from Three Trapped Tigers has just
given me a much needed adrenalin rush with its screeching guitars and
big volume changes... Then a hugely infectious keyboard melody,
cascading drums and incredibly complex arrangements. They really do
sound like a clever bunch. There's bits of Trans Am, Battles, Trumans
Water, The Skin Graft label, Laddio Bolocko all in there but their
sound is genuinely unique. Constantly shifting in direction stradling
both noisy and melodic rock templates with a light smattering of
electro pop. Imagine if Squarepusher joined your favourite Math rock
band they might sound like track 3. This may well appeal to folks that
like 65 Days of Static's blend of Rock and electronics. Exciting stuff
that deserves your attention. *Japanese Edition with 3 Bonus Tracks.)
Takahiro Kido - In My Time [Ricco] CD (In
this album, the avante-garde track maker Takahiro Kido uses a
Glockenspiel or as it is more commonly referred to as, a music box.
This gives the album a fantasy feel to it. Takahiro Kido is a sound
artist, recording and mixing engineer, a designer and programmer for
webs from Tokyo, Japan. You can hear various instruments in the album
and they all have rich textures as he records these instruments in very
unique situation like in the tunnel, mountains, abandoned hotel lobby -
He is very conscious about the colorful and diverse reverberation of
the nature.)
Takahiro Kido - A Short Happy Life [Ricco] CD
(Takahiro Kido releases the minimal A Short Happy Life. Filled with
subdued sounds and ambiance, this is an album for those looking for
that which is far out of their mental grasp. Takahiro Kido is a sound
artist, recording and mixing engineer, a designer and programmer for
webs from Tokyo, Japan. You can hear various instruments in the album
and they all have rich textures as he records these instruments in very
unique situation like in the tunnel, mountains, abandoned hotel lobby -
He is very conscious about the colorful and diverse reverberation of
the nature.)
Yuki Murata - Films [Ricco] CD
(Yuki Murata's first solo release through Ricco label. This pianist and
composer released her first solo release "Films". Yuki Murata is
regarded highly by greats like Ryuichi Sakamoto and has won numerous
awards. Marked with beautiful piano and mixing by none other than
Takahiro Kido handling the mixing of the album.)
Cru - re-Silence [Ricco] CD (re-Silence
is a brooding masterpiece that is only made possible by the two
geniuses behind it, Yuki Murata and Takahiro Kido. This album is what
is called 'post-classical'. re-Silence should especially be appealing
to fans of Claude Achille Debussy and Arvo Pärt.)
Mokyow - Variations For Spiegel [Ricco] CD
(Mokyow as a band was formed in summer 2007 by Takahiro Kido, Takahiro
Matsue and Tadashi Yoshikawa they were one of the members of Anoice
that is six piece band in Tokyo, after desire to make freer music with
the expanse more. mokyow is making music mainly on the instrumental
music using modern technologies and many type of acoustic instruments
or often guest Vocals.)
Swoop Swoop - Somewhere In The Shadows [Metal Postcard] CD (This
is Swoop Swoop’s 2nd album. His debut was released under the moniker
Streaky Jake in 2006. Swoop Swoop lives in Perth and likes to read,
surf and write songs. He has performed live in Perth, London & New
York. Swoop Swoop’s ’It’s spring’ is a beautifully steeped soured
romance of sorts - acoustically drawn, spectral and haunting as though
Bruce Springsteen's ’The ghost of tom joad’ had been magically invested
with the numbingly mercurial mindset of June Panic. ’Tomorrow we
triumph’ comes across like a lost 60’s folk troubadour and discovers
Swoop Swoop finding the dusty bottle containing the mercurial essence
of Donovan’s wayward but beguiling song craft only to ever so gently
unscrew the cork to release the genie within.)
Popular Computer - Senso Data [Rise / Octave-Lab] CD
(Popular Computer is a duo consisting of Parisian producer Sylvain
DALIdo and his computer. The name Popular computer fits this
musical persona completely. Sylvain DALIdo creates an amalgam of pop
music and shiny retro-futurist electronic dance, the world he creates
is a fantasy of sophistication and technological elegance. Following
this Sylvain DALIdo and his computer got more exposure via the Kitsune
Maison series and his remixes for the likes of Mylo, New Young Pony
Club, Hot Chip, and Midnight Juggernauts. *Japanese Edition with 3 Bonus Tracks.)
V/A - Environ : Selective Amnesia [Octave-Lab] CD
(Selective Amnesia is a 12 song Japanese only compilation of stuff from
Morgan Geist's Environ Records. Material spans 2001 to 2007. Incl.Metro
Area, Morgan Geist, Daniel Wang, Kelley Polar...etc, most of tracks
just first time on CD and unreleased version. *Japanese Edition Release Only / Most of tracks are released on CD at the first time!)
Flica - Windvane & Window [Schole] CD
(Take the scent of a Sunday morning air, add a touch of an after-rain
breeze, multiply it by the silent beauty of a couple of seashore sunset
but removed the over-powering awe that surrounds it, and add a pinch of
urban avant-garde grandeur, you’d be somewhere close to Flica. Windvane
and Qindow captures Flica’s impeccable ability to balance simple
playful musical creativity with subtle, honest emotional depths,
combining youthful pop sensibilities with matured artistry. *Japanese Edition / Re-Issued with 3 bonus tracks.)
Asana - Kupu Kupu [Easel] CD
(Asana's Kupu Kupu is a highly distinctive record and is separated by
many of the other post rock bands today by its ability to create a
surreal and placid environment for the listener. Not since Tortoise's
TNT have I felt like I have spent a recent duration of my time in a
place so lovely it can't possibly exist. Nevertheless, the record is a
delightful experience and goes well with the perfect candlelit dinner,
a relaxing massage, or time spent with a significant other. This one
should not be overlooked. *Japanese Edition / Re-Issued with 7 Bonus Tracks.)
A Very Sonic Membrane Filmachine by Keiichiro Shibuya and Takashi Ikegami [Diaphanes] BOOK
(This book offers reflections and discussions about "filmachine", a
groundbreaking work of art that challenges the way we think of music,
sound, and space. filmachine is a vortex of sound and light. It is a
sound installation by Japanese composer Keiichiro Shibuya and complex
systems scientist Takashi Ikegami. Three circles of loudspeakers are
suspended from the ceiling above an abstract landscape. A delicate
composition of space and time gives rise to an imaginary aural space in
which sound objects and sound membranes are circulating, at times
within an intimate proximity, at other times at a great distance. The
essays in this volume offer insights into a unique dialogue between art
and science. With contributions by Alva Noë, Otto E. Rössler, Kazunao
Abe, Keiichiro Shibuya, Takashi Ikegami, and an introductory essay by
Andreas Broeckmann and Stefan Riekeles.)
Minilogue - Animals - The Movie [Cocoon] DVD
(With 'Animals - The Movie', Minilogue's visual world comes fully into
existence. The film is divided into fifteen chapters. Each chapter has
a topic of its own and develops a unique visual style. All parts are
connected by a certain theme: the conjunctive concept of the film is
the idea of universal transformation and movement, which is represented
in the animals. The artists follow the surrealist credo that everything
is linked with everything else in a hidden way. The only way to uncover
these links is art. With its irresistible synthetic dynamics, the film
reveals these secret connections. The first chapter puts beautiful old
drawings of unfamiliar foreign animals in a memory game. The game sets
the whole screen in motion, the animals become part of an unstoppable
transformation. After this initializing prologue, the film starts with
a labyrinth of windows. Yet there is no floor, no walls and no ceiling:
it is the space of a surrealist image. We enter an old barn, which
opens to a large landscape with artificial trees. No entity is fixed
anymore, everything becomes open and moving. It turns dark, and the
trees are immersed in a thick layer of fog. In a very tense and
exciting moment, a very special animal appears: At first we only see
the texture of a Leopard's skin - but it is not the fur of a real
animal, but the artificial fur of a toy pet. As we get a glimpse on the
whole animal, we realize it's not a leopard, but a fantasy-animal with
the body of a penguin, the nose and ears of a pig and the horns of an
rhinoceros and it starts a charming dance to Minilogue's elegant music.)
Earth - Radio/Live [Southern Lord] LP (In
the interest of documenting exceptional and vibrant live performances
by our artists, we are proud to present a exclusive, vinyl only live
album from Earth. Comprised of two tracks from a live radio broadcast
on KFJC (New Years Eve 2007) and two track from a live performance in
Vienna on there 2008 European tour. Of particular note is that Trey
Spruance (Secret Chief 3, Faxed Head) plays Baritone Guitar and sitar
on the KFJC recordings. The sound quality is incredible and crystal
clear! Randall Dunn (sunn 0))) , Boris, Kinski) was the live sound
engineer and the recordings were ultimately mastered by Mell Dettmer.
The 180 gram black vinyl comes housed in a beautiful cloth-like
textured heavy-weight cardboard sleeve with metallic silver foil
printing!)
Ipso Facto - If [Vinyl Junkies] Japan Edition CD with Bonus Tracks
(6 track japanese only cd from Ipso Facto. It compiles the limited and
sold out singles on mute irregulars and germs of youth plus 'five
golden stars' and a demo version of 'balderdash'. These four women from
southend play ghoulishly brilliant garage pop / psychedelica.
everything is taut black and white; guitars sound like they're being
played through straitjackets, the organ lines like slowly snapping ice.
though it's something more than a horrors-esque revivalism of dark
garage-pop; ipso facto posses a cutting edge of melody and melancholy
whilst most bands struggle with the crux of their own conviction.)
Matryoshka - Coctura [Nature Bliss/Novel Sounds] CD
(Matryoshka is a Tokyo, Japan based band consisting of the track maker
Sen and the female vocalist Calu. During the days when they were
playing in the band Parachute Coats, their material was released as a 7
inch vinyl by a fan in Netherlands and received good attention in the
club scene there. Only a year after the band was formed, they had
already received sponsorship offers from Yamaha and were digitally
distributed on their download site. The ablum is a remixed work done by
Goldmuld, Tujiko Noriko, world's end girlfriend, aus, Fort Wayne...)
The Boats - Words Are Something Else [Home Normal] CD
(As the saying goes, a change is as good as a rest. Never the band to
rest on their illustrious laurels, or to misinterpret tradition, The
Boats deliver a surprise in the form of ‘Words Are Something Else’.
Taking their influence from myriad places has always been a subtle hint
toward the Boats current psyche, and using the words deep, and techno,
while alluding to their new album is a new, if not slightly fashionable
(and disconcerting to tradition) statement. The Boats, fashionable, in
the same sentence? Well, not really, but the 4/4 underpinning, and
synthesis of almost an ‘acid’ character of most of the album is
definitely a new facet of the rough diamond that they’ve shaped over
their career.)
Christopher Hipgrave - Day [Home Normal] CD (Kurt
Vonnegut, Jr. once spoke of nature as needing to be held close to
humanity, to be a friend, instead of an enemy. ‘Day’, by Christopher
Hipgrave, who is a composer, sound designer, and software programmer
from England, presents the harmony of the humanity and closeness to
nature, while still allowing the time of the day to pass hardly without
notice, but with change and closeness.)
Stephan Mathieu + Taylor Deupree - Transcriptions [Spekk] CD
['Transcriptions', a collaborative work by Stephan Mathieu and Taylor
Deupree, contains 8 tracks of music that is both historic, decayed,
angelic and revolving, while also existing in warmth, purity, and
transcendence through acoustic instruments, and vintage synthesizer.
The result of the century-apart sources combined with the methodology
and talent of these two leading experimentalists creates an immutable,
impressing magnetism, while still balancing so gently on the vibrations
of the decayed, and the frail humanity of the past.)
I8U + Tomas Phillips - Ligne [Atak] CD
(Montreal sound-sculpture artist France Jobin has been performing and
recording as i8u since the mid-nineties. i8u's compositions reveal
powerful, opaque and complex sound environments that traverse the sonic
spectrum from low-end bass rumblings to high-octane microscopic treble.
Her installation/web art can be said to follow a parallel path,
incorporating both musical and visual elements. Jobin's overall effect
is best likened to experiments in ambient frequency collage. She has
released numerous solo albums, the latest being 2008's 10-33 cm,
on the acclaimed Australian ambient imprint ROOM40. She has
collaborated notably with Goem, Martin Tétreault, David Kristian and
recently with Tomas Phillips. Their work is featured on the album
"ligne".)
Masayuki Takayanagi 高柳昌行 - Archive 1 [Jinya Disc] 5CD+DVD Boxset (On
1977/1978, Takayanagi made independent gigs regularly and played with
Ino Nobuyoshi(b), Mori Kenji, Fujikawa Yoshiaki(as), Yamazaki
Hiroshi(ds), Iijima Akira(g), Seyama Kenji(perc), and so on as "New
Direction Unit". New Direction Unit was various form --trio,
quartet, quintet, sextet, .... This box include 5 gigs on each
form into 5 CDs. The booklet will be included chronology of New
Direction, memo sig. of Takayanagi on each gigs and liner note text
etc. Attached DVD (8 minutes Action Direct movie excerpt from next
archive series, region free) only initial order. 5CD box is 500 set
limited.)
Tortoise - Beacons Of Ancestorship [Thrill Jockey] CD / LP
(Beacons of Ancestorship is Tortoise's sixth full-length album, and
their first release of new material in five years, since 2004's It's
All Around You. In the interim, the group also released and toured
behind the 2006 career retrospective box set A Lazarus Taxon, and an
album of covers with vocalist Will Oldham by the likes of Elton John,
Bruce Springsteen, Richard Thompson, and The Minutemen, entitled The
Brave and the Bold. Additionally, the individual members have kept busy
with various other projects, including but not limited to Exploding
Star Orchestra, Bumps, Fflashlights, and Powerhouse Sound. Tortoise
remains unique in the world of contemporary music for their boundless
intellectual curiosity, their unmistakable compositional voice, and
their synthesis of seemingly contradictory sound worlds far from their
doorstep.)
V/A - Hälsningar från skogen [Greetings from the Woods] OST [Kning Disk] CD
(A film by Mikel Cee Karlsson. CD (Ltd. Ed. Box set of 499 handmade
copies with a book - 44 pages / size: 165 x 165 mm). With visual
precision and attention to detail, feature film debutant Mikel Cee
Karlsson captures people and their existence in a small village deep
inside the Swedish forest. Over a period of four years, the music video
director and former professional skateboarder Mikel has been capturing
singular scenes from a part of today's Sweden where reality inexorably
seeps in behind the well-kept hedges. With a mixture of playful
precision, humour and melancholy he portrays people’s dreams, their
relationships and everyday destinies. Greetings from the Woods is a
visual and personal portrait of Swedish rural life stripped bare.)
Radiq - People [Cirque] 2CD
(Radia's new ablum in 2CD set. Radiq aka Yoshihiro Hanno is a noble
producer/composer who practices broad creation from electronic music to
acoustic movie sound track in all over the world and writes music
basing on unique and individual point of view. His latest type of
electronic project Radiq which collects dynamism of Dub, Jazz, Hip Hop
and Deep Minimal.)
Nils Frahm - The Bells [Kning Disk] CD
(Nils Frahm (born on September 1982 in Hamburg, Germany) is a
multiple-group and solo musican as well as a producer with a very broad
variety of talents. Taught piano by Nahum Brodski (a student of the
last scholar of Tschaikowski), Nils Frahm mingled with classical
co-noted and ECM-influenced soundworlds during the late eigthies. n his
capacity as a solo artist, Nils kept investigating the horizons of
analog music and instrumentation. All the sounds used in his work gain
their warmth and organic expression from accoustic instruments and
analog sound generators and alterizers from the 60’s and 70’s.)
Jerry Johansson Octet - Circles and Changes [Kning Disk] CD (Composer,
and for this new release, guitar player, Jerry Johansson comes up with
a surprise in his sleeve; a brand new composition for guitar and jazz
octet. After having explored Indian-Swedish themes and states with his
sitar and a chamber ensemble from the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra for
his three latest releases, Jerry Johansson now turns his energies and
skills to the directions and domains of jazz. At the same time, he
switches his trademark sitar to electric guitar. The personal imprint
of Johansson´s is as always totally present in this work also; east,
west, jazz, classical, drones, joyful saxophones, birds, bees, birches,
branches and sand.)
Jerry Johansson - Book of Dreams [Kning Disk] CD
(Book of Dreams is the new and latest cd-release by composer and sitar
player Jerry Johansson; as always a treat! Just as in the dreamy sleep,
different themes moves freely around their own orbits in the very
centre of concentration. Entwining together, phasing, changing shape,
echoing further on. The personal inprint runs like a wonderfully
glowing and red dream-thread; sometimes through the sitar, sometimes
through the cello, sometimes through other instruments. And just as in
the dream, the feeling of time and space dissolves in this magical
journey.)
Rick Tomlinson - Night Time Recordings From Göteborg [Kning Disk] CD
(Manchester-based Rick Tomlinson aka Voice of the Seven Woods takes his
free bearded Eastern-tinged raga-folktravels to new heights, as
displayed here in intimate live recordings from the westcoastmetropolis
Gothenburg. Having self-released a slew of CD-Rs to universal acclaim,
Tomlinson – aka Voice of the Seven Woods – has kept on impressing, and
is nuttin but a shining dronestar here in Dotistan.)
Misophone - Be Glad You Are Only Human [Kning Disk] CD (Providing
a journey to challenge the synapses and strain every sinew, the latest
album from Misophone – Be Glad You Are Only Human – is a lesson in
conflicting sounds and emotions; simultaneously a joyous and melancholy
record which nevertheless bursts with life and vivid brushstrokes of
colour despite its often sepia-tinged feel, lending a sense of both
intimacy and intrigue.)
Rickard Jäverling - The Valley [Kning Disk] CD
(With a handful of split singles and self-released recordings already
under his belt, The Valleys – released on Kning Disk – is Rickard
Jäverling’s second full-length album, and the follow-up to his debut
outing Two Times Five Lullaby. Pulling together myriad strands of folk
music, Jäverling excels at creating wonderfully evocative images and
sounds via delicate finger-picking and deft instrumentation, in a
similar vein to his fellow countrymen Andreas Söderström (ASS) and
Karl-Jonas Winqvist (Blood Music). Naturalistic yet with a sprawling
complexity, The Valleys finds this talented songwriter on devastating
form – a must for all fans of folk, both old and new.)
ES - Kesämaan Lapset [Fonal] CD / LP
(This is my fifth solo release as Es. Kesämaan lapset was recorded
during a three year period. It is a mix of soundscapes and pop tunes.
You can hear influences varying from contemporary indie to ancient
classical music. It’s a summer album and a childhood photo album. The
name translates as “The Children Of The Summerland”. It an homage to
the Pekka Streng album “Kesämaa” (Summerland) which is one of my
favourite Finnish albums ever made. It also refers to Finland of
course. I’ve been travelling a lot these past three years and every
time I return here it feels more and more like home.)
Kiila - Touta Touta [Fonal] CD / LP
(Tuota tuota is the third full-length album by Kiila. Its songs were
born of peaceful, focused work and intense rehearsals with friends,
interspersed with sleep and mealtimes. As musical form, songs
have always been important to Kiila, and consequently Tuota tuota
develops around its songs. On the other hand, the album consists of
many details: the sound is full, the web of instruments more varied and
carefully orchestrated than before. It is unnecessary to separate the
electronic from the non-electronic components. Different traditions of
folk and pop music intermingle with electronic music and improvisation,
tones and sound itself. This way, the album also poses questions about
songs and songwriting.)
Tomutonttu - S/T [Peippo] 10"
(First ever made tomutonttu tape re-released, and re-mastered by man
him self, mr TT! Where does Tomutonttu begin? From here. We have
re-released the hunchback’s first tape (Tomutonttu, Huutomerkki!, 2003)
on 10 inch vinyl that works as a gateway from Kemialliset Ystävät to
the melted seduction song world of Tomutonttu. He is one of the most
important characters in new music, and even though they say you should
avoid looking towards him, everybody’s a bit sweeter when being born.)
Tomutonttu - Tomutonto [Fonal] CD
(Re-releasing this long sold out gem previously released on vinyl by
Ultra Eczema. Tomutonttu (“dust gnome”) is a human called Jan Anderzén,
a visual artist and the leader of a respected avant-garde sound group
Kemialliset Ystävät. Toy reed streams, mutilated vocals and groovy
loops of animal noise are some of the colours used to create the
whirling mess that is the lonely song of Tomutonttu. It is like a
confusing detail of the Kemialliset Ystävät freedom flow, a microcosmos
of strange sound creatures and dirt flying around in the stereo space
and interacting with a logic all of their own.)
Tomutonttu - S/T [Fonal] CD (Re-releasing
this long sold out debut Tomutonttu originally released on LP by Beta
Lactam Ring records. This solo album from Jan Anderzen of Kemialliset
Ystavat gets the reissue treatment from Fonal. For all his subterranean
psych credentials, you can certainly hear an element of childlike fun
and excitement at play here; the musical constituents of the album
include animal sounds and toy instruments, warped into shape with a
gleeful grasp on lo-fi psychedelia.)
Peter Broderick - Music For Falling From Trees [Erased Tapes] CD
(Born January 20, 1987, he grew up in a small town in Oregon. By now,
Peter Broderick's credentials need no repeating; his solo albums have
quickly become among the most respected in the recent modern classical
canon, but his talents stretch far beyond that... Broderick's music
paints its own vivid and very opulent picture.)
Codes In The Clouds - Paper Canyon [Erased Tapes] CD
(All kinds of epic, Codes In The Clouds' Paper Canyon strives (and
indeed attains) a state of textbook post-rock euphoria that
incorporates the emotive tug of Sigur Ros, the finely constructed
guitar interplay of Explosions In The Sky and the unfeasibly immense
crescendos of Mono in one handy package. The band pull all this
together wonderfully well, and while you might not be able to pronounce
Paper Canyon as an especially innovative piece of work within its
genre, it's easily one of the most refined and complete sounding
instrumental post-rock long-players of recent times.)
SUNN O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions [Southern Lord] CD
(7th studio album, after 10 years of existence, entitled Monoliths
& Dimensions. The album showcases the core guitar duo - Stephen
O’Malley and Greg Anderson - incorporating influences from a plethora
of guest musicians, bringing the SUNN O))) sound to epic new levels.
The album is not “SUNN O))) with strings” or “metal meets orchestra”
material. The band took an approach concentrating on more of allusion
toward the timbre of feedback and the instruments involved, so the
piece is really illusory, beautiful and not entirely linear, stating
that the end product is “the most musical piece we’ve done, and also
the heaviest, powerful and most abstract set of chords we’ve laid to
tape".)
Suishou No Fune 水晶の舟 - Phantom of the Eternal Night [There] CD
(April 2009 release! Recorded at Studio UEN, April/September 2008
featuring Pirako (vocals, guitar), Kageo (vocals, guitar), NISHIMURA
Takuya (bass) the basist of Che-SHIZU, MIMINOKOTO, KIKUKAWA Takahisa
(drums) ex. Che-SHIZU, UZU, duo with Jutok Kaneko (Kousokuya) on Siwa
LP.)
Akio Suzuki 鈴木昭男 - Ki-Date 点気 [三岸節子記念美術館] DVD + Exhibition Catalogue Boxset
(This is Akio Suzuki's brand new fantastic item consisted of an
exhibition catalog and DVD boxed! He carried out an exhibition at a
small museun in Aichi pref. in last summer. This DVD includes his
installations, talking with poet Syuntaro Tanikawa, live performances
and some past events in 3 hours and a half !! Also small catalog is
included many photographs of this exhibition and very rare performances
in earlier period. 189 pp, text is in Japanese and English (translated
by Alan Cummings). Also box is appeared two colors (white and brown).
large pic. The Theme of the exhibition is ki-date - a phase which
orginally derives from the tea ceremony, where no-date means to brew
tea outdoors. But rather than brewing tea, Suzuki means to kindle our
awareness, and our spirit (ki ). Ki appears in many Japanese words -
tenki (weather), kisei (elan), iki (spirited). In each of these cases,
ki points to the latent potentioal to reveal its inner life.
Atmosphere, life-force, beauty - each is composed of ki itself. -
excerpt of foreword of catalog. Box available on White and Browm
Colour.)
Jeniferever - Spring Tides [Thomason Sounds] CD
(Jeniferever is a 4-piece band from Uppsala, Sweden. Over the years,
they have gained an ever-growing band of admirers, who have
bestowed descriptions such as ‘lush’, ‘melodic’, ‘swooping’, ‘glacial’,
‘beautiful’, ‘shimmering’, ‘sublime’, ‘electrifying’ and ‘atmospheric’
on their music. Some have compared their sound to the physical
beauty of their native country, with its aural landscapes of slow-paced
melodies which build to orchestral-like climaxes. Stylistically, the
music can fit into a number of different genres, with its elements of
ambient indie rock, post-rock, shoegaze and dream pop.)
toe - New Sentimentality "Tour Edition" [White Noise] CD
(Limited to 1000 Individually Numbered copies. S.E. Asia edition for
their first tour outside Japan. One bonus track " Velvet Blanc" that
never release on CD before, plus two live video clips "New
Sentimentality" and "Past and Language" that took from their show this
year. toe is a beautiful math rock group that plays tunes that are
complex and gorgeous. Their drummer is excellent and the arrangements
of the songs are very interesting. This is a great EP and just a very
relaxing listen.)
We have many more new items
which are not listed on this page. The best ways to find out our new
releases are by subscribing to our newsletter or simply come to the
shop.
Mouse On The Keys - An Anxious Object [Machu Picchu] Limited Edition CD (Little
is known about the mysterious trio that goes by the name of Mouse on
the Keys. Their names, Akira Kawasaki (drums, keyboards, piano and of
Nine Days Wonder) Atsushi Kiyota (keyboard, piano) and Daisuke Niitome
(keybord, piano). The songs of instrumental drum and piano, sometimes
jazzy, sometimes almost classical, other times sounding like a
soundtrack to a rainy drive through the heart of a city. Whatever they
do, it's a dark and grim journey.)
Enemies - Alpha Waves [Machu Picchu] Japan Edition CD with Bonus Track (Enemies
are a new irish based post rock four piece and the album features some
lovely meandering post rock sounds with a bit of everything from the
early jazzy like vibes of tortoise to the more hard hitting explosive
sounds of the redneck manifesto. the album six extensive post rock
workouts with plenty of clever twists and turns along the way. features
some beautifully intricate guitar interplay and complex jazz like
rhythms.)
VA - Hub Opus Tokyo [Op. Disc] 2CD
(Hub Opus Tokyo, a double-CD compilation bearing ample samplings of its
distinctive techno. Yes, the label's style is in one sense minimal—many
cuts are stripped-back to skeletal beat structures and bass lines, and
fragments of melodies, electronic noises, and samples—yet the label's
artists still manage to spin endlessly inventive and captivating
variations on the theme. Some of the contributors—Radiq, Dublee, Ditch,
Aoki Takamasa, Takuya Morita, Ryo Murakami, and Dartriix, for
example—have released previously on the label while others are
newcomers. Intensifying the groove factor, some of the twenty-one
tracks (most in the seven-minute range) sprinkle jazz spice over
strutting minimal grooves, and dress up the material with percussive
touches, claps, synths, electric piano noodling, and voice samples and
edits.)
The Late Parade - In Chase of Red Beads [Carroway] Japan Edition CD with 3 Bonus Tracks
(The EP from 2007 was highly praised both in Denmark and
internationally, especially in Japan. Which resulted in a lot of sold
EPs and a long list of concerts including both SPOT and Roskilde
Festival last year. On the album, In Chase of Red Beads, The Late
Parade has developed their sound from the highly praised EP. According
to the band the sound has gone from “quiet to elevating”. The music of
The Late Parade is sensitive and insisting. The lead singer Rune
Vigil’s vocal is a superior falsetto with a very broad spectrum. The
beautiful vocal and the weight of the drums make out the focal point of
the band’s melancholy songs.)
The Crayon Fields - All The Pleasures Of The World [Rallye] Japan Edition CD with Bonus Track
(In true Crayon Fields style, they have delivered two delightfully
indie pop singles that don't grate on the ears with annoying bubblegum
cuteness. All the Pleasures... is not as dominated by percussion like
most tracks from their last album Animal Bells, preferring a guitar
driven melody that retains it's sweet charm through singer Geoff
O'Connor's quiet and sensible pop vocals. This track in particular is
reminiscent of late Kings of Convenience but with a more danceable
quality.)
Julian Abelar - The Julian Abelar [Octave Lab] Japan Edition CD with Bonus Track (Julian
Abelar taps into the possibilities of dance music for the now. But this
is nit the sound of a "Nu Age". It is an excavation of ancient
practices aimed at stopping the world. Julian brings with him from the
mountains of sonora a systematic sequence of soundscapes to reacquaint
the body with the energy surroundings it. As the records moves through
a number of initiatory rhythms, the listener/seeker acquaints himself
with the hidden dimension of inner space. All movement is inwards.
towards the source. Julian uses a combination of sounds that are
neither organic nor synthetic but end up fulfilling both extremes and
spectrum in between. Pineal beats with a shamanic bounce.)
Goldmund - Corduroy Road [P*dis] Japan Edition CD with 2 Bonus Tracks
(As Goldmund, Kenniff has disregarded the electronic elements of his
music almost entirely in favour of just a piano, a microphone and
occasionally a guitar. ‘Corduroy Road’ is thirteen tracks of pure
recording, the sound of the piano being opened and the feet on the
pedals, the sound of fingers pressing lovingly onto the keys. This is a
record of rare and unusual beauty, so shocking and yet unpretentious in
its simplicity. When the guitar does emerge from beside the delicately
touched piano, it serves as a balancing point for the record. Weaving
in and out of the melodies, it adds another layer to what is already
incredibly moving music.)
Cuushe - Red Rocket Telepahy [Flau] CD
(The much anticipated debut album by the multi-talented Cuushe, “Red
Rocket Telepathy”. Although “nostalgic” may be a word that most would
use to describe this wonderful album of Cuushe, but her music is
actually deeply rooted into the genre of dream pop….perhaps a much more
broken type of dream pop. Start right from the beginning of the album,
the feathery voices of Cuushe float in between the cleverly placed
electronics sounds and gracefully sampled noises and field-recordings,
carrying out melodies after melodies that are truly sublime and
captivating. These beautiful electro-infused dreamscapes may vaguely
remind you of cokiyu, tujiko noriko or even Björk, but it is also an
undeniable fact that in this album, Cuushe has crafted some of the most
uniquely exquisite pop sounds that you can ever find in today’s indie
music scene.)
Orla Wren - The One Two Bird and The Half Horse [Flau] CD
(The One Two Bird And The Half Horse' is the second album from Orla
Wren. Recorded over the last two years in the environs of an isolated
cold water cottage in the Scottish hills, it develops Tui’s happy
obsession with rendering the minutiae of nature into sonic form,
combining the oldest, wonkiest most organic of possible sound sources,
instrumental or otherwise, fashioned into textures of pinprick detail.
A wide array of stylistically disparate musical and vocal
collaborators, from places as varied as Japan, the Georgian Republic
and 'down-home' U.K., lend their weight to the process, alternately
spooking and soothing the music, filtered through Tui’s “wires” into an
intensely colorful democratic weave.)
Implosion Quintet - The Future Sound of Yesterday [Cookshop] CD
(Implosion Quintet is singular fivesome James Baker, a British musician
now residing in Norway. Following a scattering of tracks on the
Cookshop label, we're proud to present his highly ambitious &
accomplished debut album, 'The Future Sound Of Yesterday'. Driven by a
short attention span & love of prog, proto-metal, jazz,
electronica, klezmer, tango & everything in between, IQ takes us on
a bizarre journey through said styles infused with a cinematic quality
lending it the feel of a soundtrack to some long forgotten cult eastern
European flick. This is undoubtedly one of the most dizzyingly unique
records to come round in quite some time...)
Yucatan - S/T [Happy Prince] CD
(Yucatan clearly gaze with wonderment at every night sky as if it's the
last they'll see, counting the stars one by one until it's mapped to
memory. It's up there that Yucatan will sound at its most perfect, when
the only object of note against an ocean of darkness is our own Earth.
Llwyd's music is that transcendental when at its finest, and we're
already looking forward to album number two and more of the same, if
not just more.)
Jim O'Rourke - 実録・連合赤軍 あさま山荘への道程 [Solid] OST CD
(Recorded at Steel Room Tokyo and Sear Sound. Mixed at Steel Room
Tokyo. Soundtrack to Koji Wakamatsu's 2008 film "Jitsuroku: Rengo
sekigun" (United Red Army).)
Itaru Oki - Phantom Note [Doubt Music] CD
(A long time out of printed OFF BEAT label LP is reprinted on CD. Itaru
Oki visited Paris, France in the 70s and when he came back to Japan
temporarily in '75, he organized a elite free jazz troop and recorded
in studio. "Phantom Note" is his 3rd album, more straight, heavier and
flamed out free jazz than experimental music part of his 1st "Satsujin
Kyoshitsu (Murder Class)" or 2nd "Shirasagi (Egret)". Especially, the
tune called 'Kodai Tenmondai (Ancient Observatory)' which Gozo
Yoshimasu read his poet has a vigorous voice and playing, and it will
move your heart surely. The masterpiece on '75 in Japan.)
Masayuki Takayanagi 高柳昌行- The complete works of JOJO - Action Direct 1[Jinya Disc] DVD
(A live footage which recorded the ultimate noise music performance
"Action Direct" by Masayuki Takayanagi, an unparalleled guitarist who
played an active role in Japanese jazz music scene since its beginning.
Filmed by Yasunori Saito and Kyoko Saito at the New Direction for the
Arts Regular Concert Vol. 69 (1, 2) and Vol. 70 (3, 4), August 4 and
December 17, 1990. NTSC, region free, stereo, 41 minutes.)
Keiji Haino 灰野敬二 / Makoto Kawabata 河端一 / Tatsuya Yoshida 吉田達也 - Live at Mission's [PSF] DVD
(Second release by a new super-group featuring Keiji Haino, Makoto
Kawabata (Acid Mothers Temple), and Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins). Recorded
live in Tokyo in December 2008. An hour's worth of sharply photographed
alternately dense, brutal, coruscating and beautiful interplay from
three of the hardest hitters in the Japanese underground, with the
interplay between Haino's scalding, molten darkness and Kawabata's
crunch and ripple particularly invigorating. For those confused by the
title, the trio's previous release on Magaibutsu was entitled Ichi to
ichi ga kasanatte shimaumade ('Until one and one come to overlap').
This one is Ichi to ichi to ichi ga kasanatte shimaumade ('Until one
and one and one come to overlap'). Just so you know. Fifty-nine
minutes. Region-free NTSC DVD.)
Tori Kudo 工藤冬里 - Piano Solo, He Would Come Home Through The Window, Job in Hand [PSF] CD
(Solo piano album from Tori Kudo of Worst Noise/Guys N Dolls/Maher
Shalal Hash Baz et al. Tori’s style relates to both free jazz and
classical composition, albeit elevating ‘errors’ to the status of
creative prima materia. Some of his playing here sounds a little bit
like Muhal Richard Abrams’ early AACM recordings, that same slightly
off sense of melancholy, a quality which the boxy nature of the
recording gives further emphasis to, giving the performance a nice
alone-in-a-room ambience. Kudo plays fairly gently, chasing fortuitous
ghostly ideas up and down the keyboard, now stuck on a simple repeating
melody, now spreading out into elegiac waves of stumbling exegesis.)
Li Jianhong 李劍鴻 - Classic of the Mountains sad Seas [PSF] CD
(Two totally *wailing* 30 minute plus tracks of narcotic guitar
evisceration from this prodigious Chinese psychedelic/noise guitarist.
Described as an “avant garde mandala” this is closest to Munehiro
Narita’s splurging freeform wah-wah attack style, with Jianhong tearing
screaming melodic guitar patterns from a vortex of fuzz suspended over
a doomy single note drone. The second track has a more screaming E-bow
drone style that is nicely brain rearranging. Easily the most full-on
psych out/PSF style release from Jianhong this far.)
New Miminokoto - All About Mimi [PSF] CD
(Woah – some kinda upheaval in the ranks of Miminokoto results in the
replacement of Masami Kawaguchi with Suzuki Junzo (Astral Travelling
Unit/Overhang Party) on guitar and vocals and then they only go and cut
an unbelievable album for PSF with no less than two (!) cover versions
of Kousokuya tracks penned by the late Jutok Kaneko. To say that this
is precisely my kinda deal is state the bleeding obvious. One of the
things that always made Miminokoto stand out was the languorous,
sun-swallowing vocal style of Kawaguchi and Junzo does a great job of
approximating his post-Jim Morrison style.)
Wax Poetics #35 June/July MAGAZINE
(On the covers, front: Roger Troutman, back: Booker T. Jones. Contents:
Editor's Letter, Re:Discovery, El Michels Affair, Broken Keys, STS9,
Glass Candy, Lord Finesse, Ralph MacDonald, Booker T. Jones, Byron Lee,
Mahavishnu Orchestra, E.Z. Mike Simpson, Def Jef, Roger Troutman,
Analog Out." 104 pages, full color, high gloss, incredibly well done
& essential. 35th issue of this U.S.-based production.)
Oliver Huntemann - H-3 [Ideal] 2CD
(German producer Oliver Huntemann presents his third solo artist album
-- his first full-length release on Ideal Recordings. Huntemann had
great years in 2007 and 2008, with remixes for The Chemical Brothers,
Depeche Mode and Underworld, as well as arguably the biggest track of
the year in "Dios," co-produced with Dubfire. On to 2009, Huntemann
continues his career-long form with H-3. Consisting of two CDs and 15
full-length tracks, H-3 is unpretentious dancefloor music which
combines elements of techno, house and electro to create a long-player
which truly captures a sound that only the artist himself can claim as
his own. Linear, driving arrangements, metallic synths and shuffling
rhythms twist throughout while fractured melodies occasionally surface,
resulting in something which sums up Huntemann's personal journey
through electronic music through to his veteran status as producer and
DJ. With a passionate belief in letting the music do the talking,
Huntemann has kept a low personal profile, hand-picking projects he can
invest in properly, and H-3 is the superb result.)
V/A - Oz Days Live [OZ] 2CD
(New CD reissue of the super-rare 1973 2LP set commemorating 'The 'Oz
Days' benefit festival for the owner of Tokyo's legendary Oz Rock Cafe,
which had been shut down after one too many drug busts'. Authentic
packaging, with hand-stamped outer bag and gatefold insert. The Les
Rallizes Denudes and Taj Mahal Travellers sides have been briefly
reissued before -- here's the complete picture!" Other artists featured
here: Miyako Ochi, Acid Seven and Minami Masato.)
Masahiko Satoh & Soundbreakers - Amalgamation [Drone Syndicate] CD (Number
seven on the Japrocksampler Top 50, available again for the first time
in over a decade! Over two side-long tracks, shaman Masahiko Satoh
sends us through a sonic mind-field, baffling our senses and our sense
of gravity. Located at the centre of Amalgamation's giddy sessions was
the frantic Detroit drumming of hard-bop legend Louis Hayes, whose role
it was to play the bubbling ever unfolding fundament on which Masahiko
Satoh's whole trip proceeded, as though the rhythm section were a magic
carpet magically pulled out from under the feet of the other
performers. Over this rhythmic shaking, Satoh scattered Hammond organ
around and ring-modulated* his Fender Rhodes piano solos (*Roland built
three especially for the record), added lead guitar from 'super
session' legend Kimio Mizutani, trumpets and sax from Mototeru Takagi,
scat singing from Kayoko Itoh, and strings from the Wehnne Strings
Consort.)
Träd Gräs Och Stenar - Homeless Cats [Subliminal Sounds] CD
(Just in time for Träd Gräs och Stenar's ("Trees Grass and Stones")
40-year anniversary, the Swedish psychedelic trance-rock pioneers
release a new album, Homeless Cats. The first one in 7 years, and the
seventh since they began in 1969. Eleven boundless tracks with organic
music for open minds. Träd Gräs och Stenar create their own
contemporary music, even if they have been compared to Krautrockers
like Can and Faust, internationally. Rhythmic, and heart-pounding for
sure -- but at the same time, peculiarly Swedish, with their roots in
the mold and soil, and with branches that reach high up into the clear
air. In the meaty album booklet, they give us a couple of personal
travelogues. Träd Gräs och Stenar have evolved a clear and mature sound
with space enough for both suggestive heaviness and mind-expansion.)
Saxon Shore - It Doesn't Matter [Self-Released] CD
(It Doesn't Matter is the follow-up to 2005's The Exquisite Death of
Saxon Shore, and the fourth release from American post-rockers Saxon
Shore. The sound of this new, five-member group was what Saxon Shore
wanted to capture with a new album. It Doesn't Matter was recorded with
producer Dave Fridmann (MGMT, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Flaming
Lips) in the Tarbox Road Studios cabin, located in the backwoods of
Cassadaga, NY.)
Konntinent / Adam Flynn - If I Could Buy A Map of Hope... [Sonic Pieces] CDr (Adam
Flynn delivers 2 pieces of utter drone classa with some seriously deep
textures and resonant soundscapes rolling through the tracks. They
follow each other beautifully and create a soothing, yet slightly dark
envelope of depth. Seriously fine. Konntinent provides the remaining 4
tracks and they really are simply lovely. Using an electronic / organic
style they feature live manipulated guitar and super processing to give
it all life and charm. Melodic to the core, these tracks have a sort of
Green Kingdom-esque feel to them (listen and you'll see what I mean). A
wonderful CD that won't be hanging around too long, so snap it up while
you can. *Packaged in Handmade hardcover Gatefold, Limited to 100 copies!)
Lotus Plaza - The Floodlight Collective [Kranky] CD / LP
(Deerhunter's guitarist / songwriter Lockett Pundt delivers his debut
solo album and it's really quite a fascinating work. Taking influences
from '60s psychedelia, shoegaze, indie rock and, inevitably,
Deerhunter, he's put together a friendly and warm collection of songs
that certainly wear their heart on their sleeve. Kind of hippyish at
times and certainly something that fans of Animal Collective will enjoy
- definitely on a few of the tracks as it has that slightly out there,
old-school vocal harmony stye - it's all the better for these flavours
being added into the mix. A heartfelt and really nice guitar album all
round.)
Motohiro Nakashima - We Hum On The Way Home [Schole] CD
(An outstanding instrumental ensemble and the melody gems made out of
family-love. After 3 years, the awaited latest comes out!! After the
release of his 1st album “And I Went to Sleep” from Lo Recordings, and
“I Dreamt Constellations Song” from its affiliated LoAF in 2006,
finally the awaited new album is about to release from schole. While
the tunes of guitar and piano take a leading part, there are
instruments such as violin, cello, clarinet, trombone, and percussion
for creating beautiful ensemble. As you all may see in its title,
“family” is the theme of this album. Putting a warm loving feeling
towards to his family, Motohiro Nakashima expresses and makes every
listeners recall their scenes or memoir with this piece of work.)
Neils Children - X. NEC [Vinyl Junkie] CD
(Perfectly fusing the bands darker edges with more melodic sounds, this
is one of the most exciting albums to come from the London underground
scene in the past 10 years. Finally. It’s been a long wait but well
worth it. The new Neils Children album ‘X.ENC’ has been honing itself
in the isolation of a warehouse in Hertfordshire. The band returned to
their hometown with a PC, microphones, guitars and drums to record
there masterpiece. They describe the album as “the ultimate Neils
Children record” and they’re not wrong. The album fuses their trademark
vorticist post-punk with dark, tribal atmospherics and all out post-Big
Black noise . With influences ranging as far as A Certain Ratio, The
Whispers, Alton Ellis and Josef K, the album is as dynamic as Neils
Children promised is would be. *Japanese Edition with 3 Bonus Tracks.)
Dietmar Dath & Kammerflimmer Kollektief - Im Erwachten Garten [Staubgold] CD
(Kammerflimmer Kollektief team up with the author Dietmar Dath, who
went from journalism (he's an erstwhile editor of the German magazine
Spex and the daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) to writing
both novels and non-fiction. This album finds him reading out an
unpublished 'alternate version' of his novel Die Abschaffung Der Arten
(translated as The Abolition Of The Species) with musical
contextualisation provided by Kammerflimmer Kollektief. The hour-long
album plays out like a duet of sorts between Dath (the reader) and the
music itself. While parts of the disc play out like a radio production
with the Kammerflimmer component operating as a lulling bed of sound
design, certain sequences take over from Dath's narration altogether,
ascending into beautifully formed passages of electronics and
instrumental improvisation. Of course, to get the full effect of this
record a decent working knowledge of the German language would be
fairly essential, but even we notoriously monolingual Brits can enjoy
the interplay between Kammerflimmer's refined electronic post-rock and
the human voice.)
Three Trapped Tigers - EP 8 [Rallye] CD
(A five track EP plus 3 bonus tracks from Three Trapped Tigers has just
given me a much needed adrenalin rush with its screeching guitars and
big volume changes... Then a hugely infectious keyboard melody,
cascading drums and incredibly complex arrangements. They really do
sound like a clever bunch. There's bits of Trans Am, Battles, Trumans
Water, The Skin Graft label, Laddio Bolocko all in there but their
sound is genuinely unique. Constantly shifting in direction stradling
both noisy and melodic rock templates with a light smattering of
electro pop. Imagine if Squarepusher joined your favourite Math rock
band they might sound like track 3. This may well appeal to folks that
like 65 Days of Static's blend of Rock and electronics. Exciting stuff
that deserves your attention. *Japanese Edition with 3 Bonus Tracks.)
Takahiro Kido - In My Time [Ricco] CD (In
this album, the avante-garde track maker Takahiro Kido uses a
Glockenspiel or as it is more commonly referred to as, a music box.
This gives the album a fantasy feel to it. Takahiro Kido is a sound
artist, recording and mixing engineer, a designer and programmer for
webs from Tokyo, Japan. You can hear various instruments in the album
and they all have rich textures as he records these instruments in very
unique situation like in the tunnel, mountains, abandoned hotel lobby -
He is very conscious about the colorful and diverse reverberation of
the nature.)
Takahiro Kido - A Short Happy Life [Ricco] CD
(Takahiro Kido releases the minimal A Short Happy Life. Filled with
subdued sounds and ambiance, this is an album for those looking for
that which is far out of their mental grasp. Takahiro Kido is a sound
artist, recording and mixing engineer, a designer and programmer for
webs from Tokyo, Japan. You can hear various instruments in the album
and they all have rich textures as he records these instruments in very
unique situation like in the tunnel, mountains, abandoned hotel lobby -
He is very conscious about the colorful and diverse reverberation of
the nature.)
Yuki Murata - Films [Ricco] CD
(Yuki Murata's first solo release through Ricco label. This pianist and
composer released her first solo release "Films". Yuki Murata is
regarded highly by greats like Ryuichi Sakamoto and has won numerous
awards. Marked with beautiful piano and mixing by none other than
Takahiro Kido handling the mixing of the album.)
Cru - re-Silence [Ricco] CD (re-Silence
is a brooding masterpiece that is only made possible by the two
geniuses behind it, Yuki Murata and Takahiro Kido. This album is what
is called 'post-classical'. re-Silence should especially be appealing
to fans of Claude Achille Debussy and Arvo Pärt.)
Mokyow - Variations For Spiegel [Ricco] CD
(Mokyow as a band was formed in summer 2007 by Takahiro Kido, Takahiro
Matsue and Tadashi Yoshikawa they were one of the members of Anoice
that is six piece band in Tokyo, after desire to make freer music with
the expanse more. mokyow is making music mainly on the instrumental
music using modern technologies and many type of acoustic instruments
or often guest Vocals.)
Swoop Swoop - Somewhere In The Shadows [Metal Postcard] CD (This
is Swoop Swoop’s 2nd album. His debut was released under the moniker
Streaky Jake in 2006. Swoop Swoop lives in Perth and likes to read,
surf and write songs. He has performed live in Perth, London & New
York. Swoop Swoop’s ’It’s spring’ is a beautifully steeped soured
romance of sorts - acoustically drawn, spectral and haunting as though
Bruce Springsteen's ’The ghost of tom joad’ had been magically invested
with the numbingly mercurial mindset of June Panic. ’Tomorrow we
triumph’ comes across like a lost 60’s folk troubadour and discovers
Swoop Swoop finding the dusty bottle containing the mercurial essence
of Donovan’s wayward but beguiling song craft only to ever so gently
unscrew the cork to release the genie within.)
Popular Computer - Senso Data [Rise / Octave-Lab] CD
(Popular Computer is a duo consisting of Parisian producer Sylvain
DALIdo and his computer. The name Popular computer fits this
musical persona completely. Sylvain DALIdo creates an amalgam of pop
music and shiny retro-futurist electronic dance, the world he creates
is a fantasy of sophistication and technological elegance. Following
this Sylvain DALIdo and his computer got more exposure via the Kitsune
Maison series and his remixes for the likes of Mylo, New Young Pony
Club, Hot Chip, and Midnight Juggernauts. *Japanese Edition with 3 Bonus Tracks.)
V/A - Environ : Selective Amnesia [Octave-Lab] CD
(Selective Amnesia is a 12 song Japanese only compilation of stuff from
Morgan Geist's Environ Records. Material spans 2001 to 2007. Incl.Metro
Area, Morgan Geist, Daniel Wang, Kelley Polar...etc, most of tracks
just first time on CD and unreleased version. *Japanese Edition Release Only / Most of tracks are released on CD at the first time!)
Flica - Windvane & Window [Schole] CD
(Take the scent of a Sunday morning air, add a touch of an after-rain
breeze, multiply it by the silent beauty of a couple of seashore sunset
but removed the over-powering awe that surrounds it, and add a pinch of
urban avant-garde grandeur, you’d be somewhere close to Flica. Windvane
and Qindow captures Flica’s impeccable ability to balance simple
playful musical creativity with subtle, honest emotional depths,
combining youthful pop sensibilities with matured artistry. *Japanese Edition / Re-Issued with 3 bonus tracks.)
Asana - Kupu Kupu [Easel] CD
(Asana's Kupu Kupu is a highly distinctive record and is separated by
many of the other post rock bands today by its ability to create a
surreal and placid environment for the listener. Not since Tortoise's
TNT have I felt like I have spent a recent duration of my time in a
place so lovely it can't possibly exist. Nevertheless, the record is a
delightful experience and goes well with the perfect candlelit dinner,
a relaxing massage, or time spent with a significant other. This one
should not be overlooked. *Japanese Edition / Re-Issued with 7 Bonus Tracks.)
A Very Sonic Membrane Filmachine by Keiichiro Shibuya and Takashi Ikegami [Diaphanes] BOOK
(This book offers reflections and discussions about "filmachine", a
groundbreaking work of art that challenges the way we think of music,
sound, and space. filmachine is a vortex of sound and light. It is a
sound installation by Japanese composer Keiichiro Shibuya and complex
systems scientist Takashi Ikegami. Three circles of loudspeakers are
suspended from the ceiling above an abstract landscape. A delicate
composition of space and time gives rise to an imaginary aural space in
which sound objects and sound membranes are circulating, at times
within an intimate proximity, at other times at a great distance. The
essays in this volume offer insights into a unique dialogue between art
and science. With contributions by Alva Noë, Otto E. Rössler, Kazunao
Abe, Keiichiro Shibuya, Takashi Ikegami, and an introductory essay by
Andreas Broeckmann and Stefan Riekeles.)
Minilogue - Animals - The Movie [Cocoon] DVD
(With 'Animals - The Movie', Minilogue's visual world comes fully into
existence. The film is divided into fifteen chapters. Each chapter has
a topic of its own and develops a unique visual style. All parts are
connected by a certain theme: the conjunctive concept of the film is
the idea of universal transformation and movement, which is represented
in the animals. The artists follow the surrealist credo that everything
is linked with everything else in a hidden way. The only way to uncover
these links is art. With its irresistible synthetic dynamics, the film
reveals these secret connections. The first chapter puts beautiful old
drawings of unfamiliar foreign animals in a memory game. The game sets
the whole screen in motion, the animals become part of an unstoppable
transformation. After this initializing prologue, the film starts with
a labyrinth of windows. Yet there is no floor, no walls and no ceiling:
it is the space of a surrealist image. We enter an old barn, which
opens to a large landscape with artificial trees. No entity is fixed
anymore, everything becomes open and moving. It turns dark, and the
trees are immersed in a thick layer of fog. In a very tense and
exciting moment, a very special animal appears: At first we only see
the texture of a Leopard's skin - but it is not the fur of a real
animal, but the artificial fur of a toy pet. As we get a glimpse on the
whole animal, we realize it's not a leopard, but a fantasy-animal with
the body of a penguin, the nose and ears of a pig and the horns of an
rhinoceros and it starts a charming dance to Minilogue's elegant music.)
Earth - Radio/Live [Southern Lord] LP (In
the interest of documenting exceptional and vibrant live performances
by our artists, we are proud to present a exclusive, vinyl only live
album from Earth. Comprised of two tracks from a live radio broadcast
on KFJC (New Years Eve 2007) and two track from a live performance in
Vienna on there 2008 European tour. Of particular note is that Trey
Spruance (Secret Chief 3, Faxed Head) plays Baritone Guitar and sitar
on the KFJC recordings. The sound quality is incredible and crystal
clear! Randall Dunn (sunn 0))) , Boris, Kinski) was the live sound
engineer and the recordings were ultimately mastered by Mell Dettmer.
The 180 gram black vinyl comes housed in a beautiful cloth-like
textured heavy-weight cardboard sleeve with metallic silver foil
printing!)
Ipso Facto - If [Vinyl Junkies] Japan Edition CD with Bonus Tracks
(6 track japanese only cd from Ipso Facto. It compiles the limited and
sold out singles on mute irregulars and germs of youth plus 'five
golden stars' and a demo version of 'balderdash'. These four women from
southend play ghoulishly brilliant garage pop / psychedelica.
everything is taut black and white; guitars sound like they're being
played through straitjackets, the organ lines like slowly snapping ice.
though it's something more than a horrors-esque revivalism of dark
garage-pop; ipso facto posses a cutting edge of melody and melancholy
whilst most bands struggle with the crux of their own conviction.)
Matryoshka - Coctura [Nature Bliss/Novel Sounds] CD
(Matryoshka is a Tokyo, Japan based band consisting of the track maker
Sen and the female vocalist Calu. During the days when they were
playing in the band Parachute Coats, their material was released as a 7
inch vinyl by a fan in Netherlands and received good attention in the
club scene there. Only a year after the band was formed, they had
already received sponsorship offers from Yamaha and were digitally
distributed on their download site. The ablum is a remixed work done by
Goldmuld, Tujiko Noriko, world's end girlfriend, aus, Fort Wayne...)
The Boats - Words Are Something Else [Home Normal] CD
(As the saying goes, a change is as good as a rest. Never the band to
rest on their illustrious laurels, or to misinterpret tradition, The
Boats deliver a surprise in the form of ‘Words Are Something Else’.
Taking their influence from myriad places has always been a subtle hint
toward the Boats current psyche, and using the words deep, and techno,
while alluding to their new album is a new, if not slightly fashionable
(and disconcerting to tradition) statement. The Boats, fashionable, in
the same sentence? Well, not really, but the 4/4 underpinning, and
synthesis of almost an ‘acid’ character of most of the album is
definitely a new facet of the rough diamond that they’ve shaped over
their career.)
Christopher Hipgrave - Day [Home Normal] CD (Kurt
Vonnegut, Jr. once spoke of nature as needing to be held close to
humanity, to be a friend, instead of an enemy. ‘Day’, by Christopher
Hipgrave, who is a composer, sound designer, and software programmer
from England, presents the harmony of the humanity and closeness to
nature, while still allowing the time of the day to pass hardly without
notice, but with change and closeness.)
Stephan Mathieu + Taylor Deupree - Transcriptions [Spekk] CD
['Transcriptions', a collaborative work by Stephan Mathieu and Taylor
Deupree, contains 8 tracks of music that is both historic, decayed,
angelic and revolving, while also existing in warmth, purity, and
transcendence through acoustic instruments, and vintage synthesizer.
The result of the century-apart sources combined with the methodology
and talent of these two leading experimentalists creates an immutable,
impressing magnetism, while still balancing so gently on the vibrations
of the decayed, and the frail humanity of the past.)
I8U + Tomas Phillips - Ligne [Atak] CD
(Montreal sound-sculpture artist France Jobin has been performing and
recording as i8u since the mid-nineties. i8u's compositions reveal
powerful, opaque and complex sound environments that traverse the sonic
spectrum from low-end bass rumblings to high-octane microscopic treble.
Her installation/web art can be said to follow a parallel path,
incorporating both musical and visual elements. Jobin's overall effect
is best likened to experiments in ambient frequency collage. She has
released numerous solo albums, the latest being 2008's 10-33 cm,
on the acclaimed Australian ambient imprint ROOM40. She has
collaborated notably with Goem, Martin Tétreault, David Kristian and
recently with Tomas Phillips. Their work is featured on the album
"ligne".)
Masayuki Takayanagi 高柳昌行 - Archive 1 [Jinya Disc] 5CD+DVD Boxset (On
1977/1978, Takayanagi made independent gigs regularly and played with
Ino Nobuyoshi(b), Mori Kenji, Fujikawa Yoshiaki(as), Yamazaki
Hiroshi(ds), Iijima Akira(g), Seyama Kenji(perc), and so on as "New
Direction Unit". New Direction Unit was various form --trio,
quartet, quintet, sextet, .... This box include 5 gigs on each
form into 5 CDs. The booklet will be included chronology of New
Direction, memo sig. of Takayanagi on each gigs and liner note text
etc. Attached DVD (8 minutes Action Direct movie excerpt from next
archive series, region free) only initial order. 5CD box is 500 set
limited.)
Tortoise - Beacons Of Ancestorship [Thrill Jockey] CD / LP
(Beacons of Ancestorship is Tortoise's sixth full-length album, and
their first release of new material in five years, since 2004's It's
All Around You. In the interim, the group also released and toured
behind the 2006 career retrospective box set A Lazarus Taxon, and an
album of covers with vocalist Will Oldham by the likes of Elton John,
Bruce Springsteen, Richard Thompson, and The Minutemen, entitled The
Brave and the Bold. Additionally, the individual members have kept busy
with various other projects, including but not limited to Exploding
Star Orchestra, Bumps, Fflashlights, and Powerhouse Sound. Tortoise
remains unique in the world of contemporary music for their boundless
intellectual curiosity, their unmistakable compositional voice, and
their synthesis of seemingly contradictory sound worlds far from their
doorstep.)
V/A - Hälsningar från skogen [Greetings from the Woods] OST [Kning Disk] CD
(A film by Mikel Cee Karlsson. CD (Ltd. Ed. Box set of 499 handmade
copies with a book - 44 pages / size: 165 x 165 mm). With visual
precision and attention to detail, feature film debutant Mikel Cee
Karlsson captures people and their existence in a small village deep
inside the Swedish forest. Over a period of four years, the music video
director and former professional skateboarder Mikel has been capturing
singular scenes from a part of today's Sweden where reality inexorably
seeps in behind the well-kept hedges. With a mixture of playful
precision, humour and melancholy he portrays people’s dreams, their
relationships and everyday destinies. Greetings from the Woods is a
visual and personal portrait of Swedish rural life stripped bare.)
Radiq - People [Cirque] 2CD
(Radia's new ablum in 2CD set. Radiq aka Yoshihiro Hanno is a noble
producer/composer who practices broad creation from electronic music to
acoustic movie sound track in all over the world and writes music
basing on unique and individual point of view. His latest type of
electronic project Radiq which collects dynamism of Dub, Jazz, Hip Hop
and Deep Minimal.)
Nils Frahm - The Bells [Kning Disk] CD
(Nils Frahm (born on September 1982 in Hamburg, Germany) is a
multiple-group and solo musican as well as a producer with a very broad
variety of talents. Taught piano by Nahum Brodski (a student of the
last scholar of Tschaikowski), Nils Frahm mingled with classical
co-noted and ECM-influenced soundworlds during the late eigthies. n his
capacity as a solo artist, Nils kept investigating the horizons of
analog music and instrumentation. All the sounds used in his work gain
their warmth and organic expression from accoustic instruments and
analog sound generators and alterizers from the 60’s and 70’s.)
Jerry Johansson Octet - Circles and Changes [Kning Disk] CD (Composer,
and for this new release, guitar player, Jerry Johansson comes up with
a surprise in his sleeve; a brand new composition for guitar and jazz
octet. After having explored Indian-Swedish themes and states with his
sitar and a chamber ensemble from the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra for
his three latest releases, Jerry Johansson now turns his energies and
skills to the directions and domains of jazz. At the same time, he
switches his trademark sitar to electric guitar. The personal imprint
of Johansson´s is as always totally present in this work also; east,
west, jazz, classical, drones, joyful saxophones, birds, bees, birches,
branches and sand.)
Jerry Johansson - Book of Dreams [Kning Disk] CD
(Book of Dreams is the new and latest cd-release by composer and sitar
player Jerry Johansson; as always a treat! Just as in the dreamy sleep,
different themes moves freely around their own orbits in the very
centre of concentration. Entwining together, phasing, changing shape,
echoing further on. The personal inprint runs like a wonderfully
glowing and red dream-thread; sometimes through the sitar, sometimes
through the cello, sometimes through other instruments. And just as in
the dream, the feeling of time and space dissolves in this magical
journey.)
Rick Tomlinson - Night Time Recordings From Göteborg [Kning Disk] CD
(Manchester-based Rick Tomlinson aka Voice of the Seven Woods takes his
free bearded Eastern-tinged raga-folktravels to new heights, as
displayed here in intimate live recordings from the westcoastmetropolis
Gothenburg. Having self-released a slew of CD-Rs to universal acclaim,
Tomlinson – aka Voice of the Seven Woods – has kept on impressing, and
is nuttin but a shining dronestar here in Dotistan.)
Misophone - Be Glad You Are Only Human [Kning Disk] CD (Providing
a journey to challenge the synapses and strain every sinew, the latest
album from Misophone – Be Glad You Are Only Human – is a lesson in
conflicting sounds and emotions; simultaneously a joyous and melancholy
record which nevertheless bursts with life and vivid brushstrokes of
colour despite its often sepia-tinged feel, lending a sense of both
intimacy and intrigue.)
Rickard Jäverling - The Valley [Kning Disk] CD
(With a handful of split singles and self-released recordings already
under his belt, The Valleys – released on Kning Disk – is Rickard
Jäverling’s second full-length album, and the follow-up to his debut
outing Two Times Five Lullaby. Pulling together myriad strands of folk
music, Jäverling excels at creating wonderfully evocative images and
sounds via delicate finger-picking and deft instrumentation, in a
similar vein to his fellow countrymen Andreas Söderström (ASS) and
Karl-Jonas Winqvist (Blood Music). Naturalistic yet with a sprawling
complexity, The Valleys finds this talented songwriter on devastating
form – a must for all fans of folk, both old and new.)
ES - Kesämaan Lapset [Fonal] CD / LP
(This is my fifth solo release as Es. Kesämaan lapset was recorded
during a three year period. It is a mix of soundscapes and pop tunes.
You can hear influences varying from contemporary indie to ancient
classical music. It’s a summer album and a childhood photo album. The
name translates as “The Children Of The Summerland”. It an homage to
the Pekka Streng album “Kesämaa” (Summerland) which is one of my
favourite Finnish albums ever made. It also refers to Finland of
course. I’ve been travelling a lot these past three years and every
time I return here it feels more and more like home.)
Kiila - Touta Touta [Fonal] CD / LP
(Tuota tuota is the third full-length album by Kiila. Its songs were
born of peaceful, focused work and intense rehearsals with friends,
interspersed with sleep and mealtimes. As musical form, songs
have always been important to Kiila, and consequently Tuota tuota
develops around its songs. On the other hand, the album consists of
many details: the sound is full, the web of instruments more varied and
carefully orchestrated than before. It is unnecessary to separate the
electronic from the non-electronic components. Different traditions of
folk and pop music intermingle with electronic music and improvisation,
tones and sound itself. This way, the album also poses questions about
songs and songwriting.)
Tomutonttu - S/T [Peippo] 10"
(First ever made tomutonttu tape re-released, and re-mastered by man
him self, mr TT! Where does Tomutonttu begin? From here. We have
re-released the hunchback’s first tape (Tomutonttu, Huutomerkki!, 2003)
on 10 inch vinyl that works as a gateway from Kemialliset Ystävät to
the melted seduction song world of Tomutonttu. He is one of the most
important characters in new music, and even though they say you should
avoid looking towards him, everybody’s a bit sweeter when being born.)
Tomutonttu - Tomutonto [Fonal] CD
(Re-releasing this long sold out gem previously released on vinyl by
Ultra Eczema. Tomutonttu (“dust gnome”) is a human called Jan Anderzén,
a visual artist and the leader of a respected avant-garde sound group
Kemialliset Ystävät. Toy reed streams, mutilated vocals and groovy
loops of animal noise are some of the colours used to create the
whirling mess that is the lonely song of Tomutonttu. It is like a
confusing detail of the Kemialliset Ystävät freedom flow, a microcosmos
of strange sound creatures and dirt flying around in the stereo space
and interacting with a logic all of their own.)
Tomutonttu - S/T [Fonal] CD (Re-releasing
this long sold out debut Tomutonttu originally released on LP by Beta
Lactam Ring records. This solo album from Jan Anderzen of Kemialliset
Ystavat gets the reissue treatment from Fonal. For all his subterranean
psych credentials, you can certainly hear an element of childlike fun
and excitement at play here; the musical constituents of the album
include animal sounds and toy instruments, warped into shape with a
gleeful grasp on lo-fi psychedelia.)
Peter Broderick - Music For Falling From Trees [Erased Tapes] CD
(Born January 20, 1987, he grew up in a small town in Oregon. By now,
Peter Broderick's credentials need no repeating; his solo albums have
quickly become among the most respected in the recent modern classical
canon, but his talents stretch far beyond that... Broderick's music
paints its own vivid and very opulent picture.)
Codes In The Clouds - Paper Canyon [Erased Tapes] CD
(All kinds of epic, Codes In The Clouds' Paper Canyon strives (and
indeed attains) a state of textbook post-rock euphoria that
incorporates the emotive tug of Sigur Ros, the finely constructed
guitar interplay of Explosions In The Sky and the unfeasibly immense
crescendos of Mono in one handy package. The band pull all this
together wonderfully well, and while you might not be able to pronounce
Paper Canyon as an especially innovative piece of work within its
genre, it's easily one of the most refined and complete sounding
instrumental post-rock long-players of recent times.)
SUNN O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions [Southern Lord] CD
(7th studio album, after 10 years of existence, entitled Monoliths
& Dimensions. The album showcases the core guitar duo - Stephen
O’Malley and Greg Anderson - incorporating influences from a plethora
of guest musicians, bringing the SUNN O))) sound to epic new levels.
The album is not “SUNN O))) with strings” or “metal meets orchestra”
material. The band took an approach concentrating on more of allusion
toward the timbre of feedback and the instruments involved, so the
piece is really illusory, beautiful and not entirely linear, stating
that the end product is “the most musical piece we’ve done, and also
the heaviest, powerful and most abstract set of chords we’ve laid to
tape".)
Suishou No Fune 水晶の舟 - Phantom of the Eternal Night [There] CD
(April 2009 release! Recorded at Studio UEN, April/September 2008
featuring Pirako (vocals, guitar), Kageo (vocals, guitar), NISHIMURA
Takuya (bass) the basist of Che-SHIZU, MIMINOKOTO, KIKUKAWA Takahisa
(drums) ex. Che-SHIZU, UZU, duo with Jutok Kaneko (Kousokuya) on Siwa
LP.)
Akio Suzuki 鈴木昭男 - Ki-Date 点気 [三岸節子記念美術館] DVD + Exhibition Catalogue Boxset
(This is Akio Suzuki's brand new fantastic item consisted of an
exhibition catalog and DVD boxed! He carried out an exhibition at a
small museun in Aichi pref. in last summer. This DVD includes his
installations, talking with poet Syuntaro Tanikawa, live performances
and some past events in 3 hours and a half !! Also small catalog is
included many photographs of this exhibition and very rare performances
in earlier period. 189 pp, text is in Japanese and English (translated
by Alan Cummings). Also box is appeared two colors (white and brown).
large pic. The Theme of the exhibition is ki-date - a phase which
orginally derives from the tea ceremony, where no-date means to brew
tea outdoors. But rather than brewing tea, Suzuki means to kindle our
awareness, and our spirit (ki ). Ki appears in many Japanese words -
tenki (weather), kisei (elan), iki (spirited). In each of these cases,
ki points to the latent potentioal to reveal its inner life.
Atmosphere, life-force, beauty - each is composed of ki itself. -
excerpt of foreword of catalog. Box available on White and Browm
Colour.)
Jeniferever - Spring Tides [Thomason Sounds] CD
(Jeniferever is a 4-piece band from Uppsala, Sweden. Over the years,
they have gained an ever-growing band of admirers, who have
bestowed descriptions such as ‘lush’, ‘melodic’, ‘swooping’, ‘glacial’,
‘beautiful’, ‘shimmering’, ‘sublime’, ‘electrifying’ and ‘atmospheric’
on their music. Some have compared their sound to the physical
beauty of their native country, with its aural landscapes of slow-paced
melodies which build to orchestral-like climaxes. Stylistically, the
music can fit into a number of different genres, with its elements of
ambient indie rock, post-rock, shoegaze and dream pop.)
toe - New Sentimentality "Tour Edition" [White Noise] CD
(Limited to 1000 Individually Numbered copies. S.E. Asia edition for
their first tour outside Japan. One bonus track " Velvet Blanc" that
never release on CD before, plus two live video clips "New
Sentimentality" and "Past and Language" that took from their show this
year. toe is a beautiful math rock group that plays tunes that are
complex and gorgeous. Their drummer is excellent and the arrangements
of the songs are very interesting. This is a great EP and just a very
relaxing listen.)