(C45 cassette) Inspired by films he grew up watching and a passion for vintage recording equipment, Eyot Tapes has crafted ten pieces of music recording only to cassettes, using cassette loops, spring reverbs, tape delays and a modular synthesiser. Weaving in and out of different moods, with 'Edgar Rice Burroughs' stories never far from his mind, he takes you on a trip through an off world, tropical fantasy.
Based on an ancient Sumerian poem, MORTON SUBOTNICK's follow-up to his highly influential milestone "Silver Apples Of The Moon" is no less an adventurous sonic trip on the Buchla synthesizer. Limited edition (300 items) audiophile 180gr LP, especially remastered for vinyl. 2022 repress, 300 items.
Born 1933, MORTON SUBOTNICK is a key figure in the progress of electronic music: along with PAULINE OLIVEROS and RAMON SENDER he co-founded the San Francisco Tape Music Center in 1961 and from 1963 on he worked with DON BUCHLA on the development of the early synthesizer "Buchla Series 100". In 1967 the composer and musician released his debut "Silver Apples Of The Moon", which proved to be one of the most influential albums and an undoubted milestone in electronic music (which was even selected for the Library Of Congress in 2009). A year later MORTON SUBOTNICK presented his adventurous follow-up "The Wild Bull". Loosely based on / inspired by an ancient Sumerian poem of the same name - a lament about loss and death caused by war - the two parts embark on further explorations into the hitherto unimagined creative possibilities of the synthesizer. 54 years after its initial release, "The Wild Bull" has not lost a single bit of its visionary magnitude and is still an adventurous sonic trip.
Repress !
Selva Discos returns to the LP reissue game with a bang – by giving a new life to the stunning and very sought-after Memória das Águas album by Fernando Falcão. Originally recorded in 1979 in Paris but only released independently in Brazil in 1981, the album comes complete with genre-hopping explorations that swirl around ambient soundscapes, lively jazz, experimental-leanings, Afro-rhythms and a unique blend of Latin grooves and French pop with a Brazilian accent, but it also comes with a story as deeply unique as the music.
To make a long story short, after participating in the political movements against the military regime in 1968 in Brazil, Fernando Falcão left the country and moved to France, where he lived in exile for 15 years. There, after working in music, acting, and sculpting, he involved himself in Jérôme Savary's legendary Grand Magic Circus, where he met his first wife, Valérie Kling. It was from this relationship that a partnership began between the musician and his father-in-law, the artist François-Xavier Lalanne, who guided Falcão in the process of inventing sound sculptures such as the balauê – a horizontal version of the berimbau string instrument whose sound was influenced by a water stream (since there was a hose soaking parts of the balauê wet during the performances). Much of this exploration and experimentation resulted in the album Memória das Águas.
The album still sounds like little else from the time. As audacious and experimental as it is seamlessly listenable, it takes in immersive textures one moment before breaking out into Fela Kuti-esque brass-soaked grooves the next. It’s ultimately a record that captures the spirit and rhythm of Falcão’s homeland combined with the lush production and art-pop approach associated with his exiled home; It’s a polished, well executed and glistening record. Its fusion of African, Brazilian, jazz, pop, classical and avant-garde collides to create a record that spans as many continents as it does genres.
Remastered from the original master tapes, not only the sound but the artwork of Memória das Águas was completely and faithfully restored. Also, the reissue comes with unprecedented liner notes featuring rare photos of the musician and his sound sculptures plus articles that help to explain who Fernando Falcão was and where Memória das Águas sits among other staples of Brazilian music, including one from DJ and selector John Gómez – who helped to connect Selva Discos' Augusto Olivani with Diana Lion, Fernando Falcão's daughter (since the musician died in 2002), for this project. After Memória das Águas, Selva Discos will also reissue another long lost Fernando Falcão LP album – Barracas Barrocas.
7" Black Vinyl in Fold-out Concertina Sleeve, 500 copies only. An anachronism in current times where individualism reigns supreme, Teeth Machine are a rare band knitted together through close camaraderie: a collective in the truest sense of the word, whose intricate, improvisational style resolutely resists being reduced to one single contributor. Teeth Machine found its beginnings in the close friendship and musical collaborations of Arthur Bently (saxophonist/lead guitarist) and Gray Rimmer (lead vocals/guitar). Having played together in various other projects since the age of 17 and disaffected with the music industry, the pair’s first furtive experimentations with the music that would later become Teeth Machine took place at a deliberate distance from the Outside world. This early incubation period, and the music made through endless bedroom sessions and demos recorded on laptops and tapes, became the spine of the project, fostering a sound that still retains both a precious intimacy and a large, expansive sonic scope. The band’s lineup as it stands today features long term friends and collaborators Anthony Boatright (Bass), Jamie Staples (Drums), and Ciara Reddy (Vocals/Synth). On their first self-assured, recorded offering to the wider world, Teeth Machine still bear the imprint of their origins, the band’s sound firmly grounded in the ethos of mutually weighted contribution, as well as the closeness cultivated in their early experiences, always retaining an air of uninhibited creativity and adolescent intimacy. ‘Gumball’, their first release on RaRaRok (Wulu, The Goa Express) was self-produced, mixed by Dilip Harris (King Krule, Mount Kimbie). It’s a song that conveys the tension and impossibility of communication and language, even when attempting to connect with those closest to us. Despite this, and however much the track itself bristles with an unmistakable air of friction, the listener gets the strong sense that there has not been a love lost, but rather one renegotiated, even expanded. Speaking about ‘Gumball’, Teeth Machine said: “‘Gumball’ is about the impossibility of talking. It was written during quite a chaotic period, and the lyrics came about after we had a big argument in the kitchen while trying to record a demo at the time - it tracks the madness and intensity of trying to make sense to someone you care about, or to yourself in your head. There’s a kind of antagonistic self help mantra that resonates throughout; it’s about internal and external conflict. It’s angry, but it’s also full of love too
A few Highlights from the sessions Leron recorded in 1987-88 when he was fifteen or so. China Trax, featured on SS012 ,came from these sessions. These were hand made, meaning no sequencing was used for the keys on any of the songs featured, using cassette tape overdubs, a lost science. Omar-S touched up the material from those cassettes for this release on vinyl. Tip!
Recorded &Mixed by:Leron Carson @the attic, Chicago 1987-88
Additional Engineering:Alex Smith@Fxhe Detroit 2008
Most audiophiles know Alan Parsons Project's I Robot by heart. Engineered by Parsons after he performed the same duties on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, the 1977 record reigns as a disc whose taut bass, crisp highs, clean production, and seemingly limitless dynamic range are matched only by the sensational prog-rock fare helmed by the keyboardist and his creative partner, Eric Woolfson. Not surprisingly, it's been issued myriad times. Can it be improved? Relish Mobile Fidelity's stupendous UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM box set and the question becomes moot.
Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed at RTI on MoFi SuperVinyl, I Robot comes to life with reference-setting realism on this numbered, limited-edition reissue. Boasting immaculate highs and lows, generous spaciousness, and see-through transparency that takes you into the studio with Parsons and Woolfson at Abbey Road, this definitive edition is designed to demonstrate the full-range capabilities of the world's best stereo systems while offering listeners the convenience of having all the music on one LP.
Featuring a nearly inaudible noise floor, this transcendent UD1S edition functions as a repeat invitation to savor reference-grade soundstages, immersive smoothness, sought-after instrumental separation, three-dimensional imaging, and consummate tonal balances. Able to be played back at high volumes without compromise or fatigue, it is a demonstration record for the ages – the likes of which are no longer being made. This is the very reason you own and invest in high-end audio gear.
The special characteristics of this UD1S version extend to the premium packaging. Housed in an elegant slipcase, the reissue features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics. Aurally and visually, it is made for discerning listeners who prize sound quality and production, and who desire to fully immerse themselves in everything about this conceptual landmark. The Alan Parsons Project's most famous record deserves nothing less.
Inspired by and loosely based around the Isaac Asimov stories of the same name, I Robot delves into themes of artificial intelligence and technological dominance that make the record extremely relevant in the 21st century. Indeed, Parsons and Woolfson's pinnacle creation dovetailed with the ascendency of Star Wars, which itself is experiencing a rebirth in an age of self-driving cars, smart devices, and mindless automation. Lyrically, songs such as "The Voice" call into question human behavior – and their relationship to increasing robotic supremacy – in everyday life. Parsons and Woolfson reflect the associated paranoia, dichotomy, and transformation via shifting sci-fi arrangements steeped in drama and moodiness.
The absorbing tunes on I Robot also continue to fascinate due to their perfectionism and innovation. Borrowing from Pink Floyd's strategies, Parsons and Woolfson utilize a looped sequence on the title track to create new downbeats. "Some Other Time" employs two different lead vocalists and yet gives the illusion that only one is involved. Captivating strings, a piccolo trumpet, and bona fide pipe organ grace "Don't Let It Show." The origins of "Nucleus" stem from a unique analog keyboard concoction dubbed "the Projectron," devised by Parsons and electronic engineer Keith Johnson. Andrew Powell's orchestral and choral arrangements top it all off, with "Total Eclipse" arriving as a frightening track that presages the climactic "Genesis Ch. 1 V. 32."
Does man or machine win in the end? Decide as you get lost in Mobile Fidelity's UltraDisc 180g 33RPM LP pressing. Secure your numbered copy today!
More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) technique bypasses generational losses inherent to the traditional three-step plating process by removing two steps: the production of father and mother plates, which are created to yield numerous stampers from each lacquer that is cut. For UD1S plating, stampers (also called "converts") are made directly from the lacquers. Since each lacquer yields only one stamper, multiple lacquers need to be cut. Mobile Fidelity's UD1S process produces a final LP with the lowest-possible noise floor. The removal of two steps of the plating process also reveals musical details and dynamics that would otherwise be lost due to the standard multi-step process. With UD1S, every aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the best-sounding vinyl album available today.
MoFi SuperVinyl
Developed by NEOTECH and RTI, MoFi SuperVinyl is the most exacting-to-specification vinyl compound ever devised. Analogue lovers have never seen (or heard) anything like it. Extraordinarily expensive and extremely painstaking to produce, the special proprietary compound addresses two specific areas of improvement: noise floor reduction and enhanced groove definition. The vinyl composition features a new carbonless dye (hold the disc up to the light and see) and produces the world's quietest surfaces. This high-definition formula also allows for the creation of cleaner grooves that are indistinguishable from the original lacquer. MoFi SuperVinyl provides the closest approximation of what the label's engineers hear in the mastering lab.
With its name indicative of the music's boundary-testing diversity and Southwestern inspiration, On the Border finds the Eagles leaving everything on the table and embracing a harder edge that takes the band out of more relaxed territory and establishes it as a group that knows how – and wants – to rock. Glenn Frey, Don Henley, new member Don Felder, and company immediately announce their intent on the defiant album-opening hit "Already Gone" and never look back, crafting a gem of a record that from start to finish is arguably their most consistent and balanced effort.
Limited to 10,000 numbered copies, pressed on dead-quiet MoFi SuperVinyl at RTI, and mastered from the original analogue master tapes, Mobile Fidelity's ultra-hi-fi UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP collector's edition pays tribute to the record's significance and enhances the experience for generations to come. Playing with reference sonics that elevate an effort revered by audiophiles, it provides a lively, dynamic, transparent, and intimate view of a release whose contemporary importance continues to grow. The opportunity to zero in on the particulars of the Eagles' golden harmonies, distinct vocal timbres, and cohesive interplay has never been better.
Visually, the premium packaging and gorgeous presentation of the UD1S On the Border pressing befit its select status. Housed in a deluxe box, it features special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. No expense has been spared. From every angle, this UD1S reissue exists as a curatorial artefact meant to be preserved, touched, and examined. It is made for discerning listeners that prize sound quality and production, and who desire to fully immerse themselves in the art – and everything involved with the album, from the iconic Navajo cover painting to the meticulous finishes.
And with On the Border, there's plenty to take in and soak up. Declared by famed critic Robert Christgau as "the Eagles' best album," the 1974 set claims a rich backstory. Initially recorded amid tumultuous sessions with producer Glyn Johns in London shortly after the release of the group's sophomore Desperado set, On the Border took a new turn after the band elected to scrap most of the prior work, return to its native California, and team with producer Bill Szymczyk to give the material less of a smooth, polished sheen and more toughness. Szymczyk also afforded the Eagles more input and freedom in the arrangements, and suggested adding another guitarist to play on "Good Day in Hell." Felder got the call, and so won over the Eagles with his skills, he quickly became the fifth member of the band.
While the late-arriving Felder only plays on one other album cut, "Already Gone," his mates more than prove their muster on the remainder of a double-platinum affair that established the Eagles as a force whose range transcended the calmer country-leaning style it perfected on their first two LPs. Primarily written by Jackson Browne and shelved during the Desperado sessions due to its higher-energy nature, the throttle-twisting "James Dean" ricochets with barbed riffs and rebellious swagger. Listen without limits to how Szymczyk's raw production stamps the song with a leather-and-jeans cool befitting its protagonist. Similarly rugged, the slide-guitar-fueled "Good Day in Hell" boasts its own mean streak. And the funk-laced, boot-stomping title track cautions "don't you tell me 'bout your law and order." Throughout On the Border, the Eagles are in no mood to mess around.
Not that the band skirts sentimental territory. On one of the era's finest covers, the Eagles nail the bittersweet feelings and bring high-definition detail to the vivid scenery of Tom Waits' "Ol' '55," a song the group makes its own. The rustic ballad "My Man" serves as a tribute to the recently deceased Gram Parsons, with singer-guitarist Bernie Leadon taking the lead on the microphone as he pours his heart out to his former Flying Burrito Brothers mate. And when it comes to romance, is it possible to top "Best of My Love"? Graced with Henley's honey-dipped vocals, refined wordless group harmonies, brushed drums, and the gentle strum of acoustic guitars, the Johns-produced cut soared to Number One and set the stage for what would soon be the Eagles' reality: global dominance.
More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior
Instead of utilizing the industry-standard three-step lacquer process, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's new UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) uses only one step, bypassing two processes of generational loss. While three-step processing is designed for optimum yield and efficiency, UD1S is created for the ultimate in sound quality. Just as Mobile Fidelity pioneered the UHQR (Ultra High-Quality Record) with JVC in the 1980s, UD1S again represents another state-of-the-art advance in the record-manufacturing process. MFSL engineers begin with the original master recordings, painstakingly transfer them to DSD 256, and meticulously cut a set of lacquers. These lacquers are used to create a very fragile, pristine UD1S stamper called a "convert." Delicate "converts" are then formed into the actual record stampers, producing a final product that literally and figuratively brings you closer to the music. By skipping the additional steps of pulling another positive and an additional negative, as done in the three-step process used in standard pressings, UD1S produces a final LP with the lowest noise floor possible today. The removal of the additional two steps of generational loss in the plating process reveals tremendous amounts of extra musical detail and dynamics, which are otherwise lost due to the standard copying process. The exclusive nature of these very limited pressings guarantees that every UD1S pressing serves as an immaculate replica of the lacquer sourced directly from the original master recording. Every conceivable aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the most perfect record album available today.
Black Vinyl[22,48 €]
Written and recorded between 1972 and 1982 in Western Oregon, Back to the Woodlands is a previously unreleased, and nearly lost, album made by Ernest Hood during the same era as his near mythical album Neighborhoods . A visionary combination of field recordings, zithers, and synthesizers, Back to the Woodlands offers an unprecedented depth of access to this singular artistic mind. Born into a musical family, Ernest Hood began a promising career as a jazz guitarist during the 1940s, touring internationally with his brother Bill Hood and the saxophonist Charlie Barnet , before contracting polio in his late twenties. The disease left Ernest unable to play the guitar and confined him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. It also forced him to adapt and innovate around his musical practices in the face of adversity; Hood's value of sound matured with a remarkably democratic and nonhierarchical approach and application. Taking up the zither, a less physically-demanding stringed instrument to the guitar, embarking upon the unprecedented process of incorporating field recordings into his work as early as 1956, and eventually discovering the synthesizer, Hood's music became imbued with optimism and subtle cultural critique. This ethos and technique - refined over the coming decades - would lay the groundwork for a sprawling body of radio work, mail order recordings for homebound listeners, and Neighborhoods , self- issued as a small vinyl edition in 1975. Where Neighborhoods , a nostalgic opus, drawing from a well of collective memory of the 1950s, is defined by traces of human activity, Back to the Woodlands leaves the modern world behind, delving into Hood's love for nature. Only recently discovered in his archives, the album dramatically expands his concept of "musical cinematography," imagistically triggering states of sensory memory from within its zither and synthesizer melodies, intertwined with field recordings made during Hood's extensive travels throughout Oregon. If Neighborhoods is a retreat into the gauzy joys of a romanticized past, Back to the Woodlands is an immersion in the timeless sanctuary of the natural world. A fascinating counterpoint to its predecessor, Back to the Woodlands brings us even closer to Hood's belief in the transportive qualities of sound; that field recordings could serve as a vehicle for the imagination and liberation, particularly for those with similar mobile disabilities as his own. Across the album's twelve compositions, the rippling instrumental harmonics - shifting between abstraction and playful melody - fold so seamlessly into the birdsong, bubbling brooks, and other environmental ambiences, that they often give the impression of having been recording within the landscapes toward which they whisper. Falling somewhere between the immersive calm of healing music and New Age, the creative field recording practices of sound ecologists world building for Folkways, and the jazz infected ambiences during Obscure / Editions EG's highest heights, Back to the Woodlands sculpts an singular proximity of music for its moment; a form of ambient sonic realism that draws the consciousness toward its surroundings as much as within. Working closely with his estate to maintain his original vision, Freedom to Spend has restored and remastered this never before released, lost masterpiece by Ernest Hood from the original tapes. Ernest Hood's Back to the Woodlands will be issued on vinyl, as well as on CD in combination with its contemporary Where the Woods Begin , with new liner notes by Michael Klausman . On behalf of Ernest Hood and Freedom To Spend, a portion of the proceeds from this release will benefit Oregon Wild, an organization dedicated to protecting and restoring Oregon's wildlands, wildlife, and waters as an enduring legacy for future generations.
"Now comes Analogue Productions' 180-gram double 45 RPM reissue sourced from the original Island master tapes sent over from the U.K., cut by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio, pressed at RTI and housed in a laminated gatefold "Tip on" jacket complete with "pop up" band. The packaging is exquisite! Only word for it. AP couldn't get permission to use the pink label so it uses the green Chrysalis one. ... if the goal was to duplicate the original pink label Island sound, this reissue misses that, which is good because this new double 45 reissue is far superior to the original in every possible way. The tape was in great shape, that's for sure. Clarity, transparency, high frequency extension and especially transient precision are all far superior to the original. Bass is honest, not hyped up and the mastering delivers full dynamics that are somewhat (but only slightly), compressed on the original. Ian Anderson's vocals are naturally present as if you are on the other side of the microphone. Most importantly, the overall timbral balance sounds honest and correct. But especially great is the transient clarity on top and bottom. ... Best of all, as the title suggests this album "stands up" to time. It hasn't lost a thing musically, lyrically or sonically. Highly recommended!" — Music = 9/11; Sound = 9/11 — Michael Fremer.
Jethro Tull's second album, Stand Up, marked an early turning point for the band with the addition of guitarist Martin Barre along with Ian Anderson's introduction of folk-rock influences to the group's blues-based sound.
Released in the summer of 1969, Stand Up rose quickly to the top of the U.K. Albums Chart, and eventually earned gold certification in the U.S.
Stand Up was the first album where Anderson controlled the music and lyrics, resulting in a group of diverse songs that ranged from the swirling blues of "A New Day Yesterday" and the mandolin-fueled rave-up of "Fat Man," to the group's spirited re-working of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Bouree in E Minor." In a recent interview, Anderson picked Stand Up as his favorite Jethro Tull album, "because that was my first album of first really original music. It has a special place in my heart."
Now with our 45 RPM release, plated at QRP and pressed at RTI, the best-sounding version of this historic album gives listeners an even richer sonic experience. The dead-quiet double-LP, with the music spread over four sides of vinyl, reduces distortion and high frequency loss as the wider-spaced grooves let your stereo cartridge track more accurately.
Clean, balanced, richly detailed. Just the way an Analogue Productions reissue should sound. You'll experience Jethro Tull classics such as "Bouree," "A New Day Yesterday," "Look Into The Sun," "We Used To Know," "Fat Man" and the rest with a new appreciation for the Grammy-winning progressive act's musical skill and innovation.
"You and Me" by Penny & the Quarters simply refused to stay lost. For 40 years, the song sat silent in a box of reels before heartthrob Ryan Gosling selected it to star in 2010's indie weeper Blue Valentine. The power of the track set off an international treasure hunt in pursuit of the mysterious artists behind it. Since then, "You and Me" has soundtracked thousands of weddings, spawned hundreds of YouTube covers, and tugged heartstrings for scores of advertisements and films. Fifteen years after "Eccentric Soul: The Prix Label" became Numero's worst selling compilation, we've reanalyzed the tapes and selected 11 equally-as-fascinating rehearsals caught by engineer Clem Price in Columbus, Ohio, in 1970.
Phase Group continue their exploration of the fringes of contemporary electronic music with a release that brings together two separate projects born from analogue hardware improvisations.
‘A Given Moment’ presents the dub-laden, mind-bending and noise-driven music of Brussels-based artist and Vastechoses label head Lostsoundbytes, and the lo-fi, early morning lysergic experiments of Lowspace, an unearthed, forgotten collaborative project by French DJ and musician Low Bat and Dresden-based producer Heninspace.
This is music that takes you deeper into the vortex, made for dark and smoke-enveloped clubs and cosmic day-break afterparty moments. On the A-side, Lostsoundbytes continues his prolific output of masterfully crafted bass-heavy and dub-wise analogue machine jams, while the B-side presents two lost psychotropic experimental recordings by Lowspace made in 2016 upon a visit by Low Bat to Heninspace’s Dresden studio.
'A Given Moment' will be out on Phase Group in December 2022
Artwork by Andrija Čugurović
Mastered in Glasgow by Murray Collier.
Professionally dubbed to cassette in Prague by Headless Duplicated Tapes.
On their third album, »Rideau«, Swedish trio Tape made their great leap forward. Released in 2005 on Häpna, following two albums of pastoral folk meets electronica, »Rideau« saw the trio of Andreas and Johan Berthling, and Tomas Hallonsten, working with an outside producer, Marcus Schmickler (best known for his post-rock outfit Pluramon). On »Rideau«, Tape’s music opened out considerably, embracing traditional minimalism, and luscious melodicism. Now, seventeen years later, »Rideau« has a new home with Morr Music, who are reissuing the album on vinyl, marking its first appearance on the format, including an extra track.
It’s only logical that »Rideau« should reappear via Morr Music. Like Tape themselves, Morr Music was a significant part of the worldwide gang busy reconciling electronica, pop, and acoustic, group- oriented sound across the 2000s, and »Rideau« sits neatly alongside other releases of similar heritage. And yet, »Rideau« feels contemporary, suggesting the creative discoveries made by the trio have ongoing resonance; their elliptical poetry echoes through recent music from the likes of Tara Clerkin Trio, and Tape’s sometime collaborators, Tenniscoats.
Asked about the album, Johan Berthling recalls, “»Rideau« was a special album for us to make”. While they had previously recorded their albums in rural Sweden, for »Rideau«, the trio decamped to Schmickler’s Piethopraxis Studio in Cologne. The creative space that Schmickler carved out for the group allowed them to explore this new material to its fullest. For his part, Schmickler found himself drawn to Tape’s music –“Their focus was a combination of seemingly timeless folk influences with noisy electronics and field recordings,” he explains. You can hear Schmickler’s influence at an almost molecular level – Tape had never sounded quite so graceful and assured with their compositions. “Marcus really shaped the music, working architecturally to build the form of the pieces,” Berthling recalls.
»Rideau« represents a collective exhalation for Tape, with the trio exploring more involved, longer pieces, which situates them in yet broader musical contexts. There are clear connections with the history of minimalism, for example, via the repeating organ phrase of »Sunrefrain«, and the insistent piano arpeggio of »A Spire«, which builds into a Reich-ian dream song, with sensuous electronics and glinting vibraphone dappling abstract shapes across the song’s stretched canvas.
Reflecting on Tape’s essence, Schmickler isolates their “uncompromised ethos, caring about small details.” This echoes most radically through the twilight environment of »Long Lost Engine«, which sets the listener adrift on impossibly radiant drones, while a gentle, almost Feldman-esque melody plays out over the song’s surface. It’s followed by the reissue’s extra track, Japanese electronica quartet Minamo’s remix of »Roulette«, a connection that would lead to a Minamo/Tape collaborative album, »Birds Of A Feather« (2007).
For now, though, here is the gorgeous, penumbral abstraction of »Rideau«, an album of whispers and clues, quiet moments and grand gestures, reintroduced to a welcoming world.
Tape
»No Date Tapes 2« is the second official cassette release from Harry Bertoia's tape archive and, like the first cassette, these recordings were chosen from a small collection of tapes in Bertoia's archive missing recording dates.
This cassette is packaged in a metallic shell and produced on super-ferro tape for incredible analog sound.
Bio:
Harry Bertoia first gained some artistic visibility in the early 1940s, then came into prominence with his sculptural, ergonomic chairs, produced by Knoll Furniture beginning in 1952, which quickly became classics of modernist furniture. Inspired by the resonant sounds emanating from metals as he worked them and encouraged by his brother Oreste, whose passion was music, Harry restored a fieldstone "Pennsylvania Dutch" barn as the home for this experiment in sounding sculptures which he had begun in the late 1950s. Bertoia was an obsessive composer and relentless experimenter, often working late into the night and accumulating hundreds of tapes of his best performances; Oreste, too, would explore and record the sculptures' sounds during his annual visits to his brother's home in rural Pennsylvania.
Harry Bertoia's recently dismantled Sonambient barn collection was an attentive listener's paradise full of warm, expressive instruments that were gorgeous visually and audibly. Nothing could prepare you, even on return visits, for the overwhelming experience of entering the spacious wood and plaster interior where gongs, some of them giant, hung among the ranks of standing sculptures of various metals. Over nearly twenty years of adding, culling and rearranging, Bertoia carefully selected nearly 100 harmonious pieces ranging in height from under a foot to more than fifteen feet. He considered this barn a full experience, sights and sounds comprising not a collection of works, but one piece unto itself. It was here, deep in the woods, that his Sonambient recording work took place.
Learning by experimentation was common for Bertoia and he mastered the art of tape recording, turning the Sonambient barn into a sound studio with four overhead microphones hanging from the rafters in a square formation. He would experiment with overdubbing by performing along to previous recordings, sometimes backwards, constantly improving his methods while also honing his performance skills. Bertoia was a careful editor of his own work and only chosen recordings remained, each with a date and carefully considered observations written on a note included with each tape. Through these pieces of paper a the artist's logic can be uncovered, a careful approach to composition, ideas, feelings and forms. The story of Sonambient barn collection will slowly be told through the release of recordings from the archive as well as installations and performances built from Bertoia's own recordings, lectures and a book.
Terapia Records is thrilled to introduce you the very first release of its catalogue, a stunning LP by the two founders Luca and Michele (aka Complementary Minds) called Butch Haynes introduces Complementary Minds Vol. 1. The newborn label launches its ambitious, yet very much considered project, after the debut of one of the two head-honchos Luca Ferrara aka Butch Haynes on Apparel Music and Sistrum Recordings. He metaphorically introduces the first LP by the Milan born and bred duo, who share a deep love for music and a great productive connection. They deliver a brilliant eleven-track album, full of diversified sonic influences and quite representative of their bright talent. The record, which will be presented to you both on vinyl and digital, starts with a couple of masterly produced beats (Fantastic/Teacher Carey), both with an analogous mellow, warm energy, some brilliantly crafted bass-lines and a substantial harmonic presence. The album keeps rolling with the Deep feeling of Flower Diva: its soulful, skilfully arranged vocals and the dreamy synthetic chords help the pair to perpetuate this passionate, balmy vibe. Insomnia ends the first quartet of sexy tunes with some seductive improvised spacey key stabs and its delicate pensive chords while Q Orchestra (the lost tape mix) speeds up the heartbeat and leads to the closing track of the A side, Bebi: a gorgeous groovy interlude. B side kicks off in style with the slightly darker feel of Myers Boogie Man where the pitched sampled vocals, the solid rhythm section, a profound array of sonic details and a marvellous warm synth melody towards the end of the track make it a true ghetto hit! Right On, with its broken-beat and a radiant harmonic progression, Contact 911 with its tight kick-snare connection and some far-out, whimsical chord evolution and G Buster with its irresistible slightly acid driving force, pave the way for the grand finale where Maam, a proper club banger, ends this amazing LP in epic fashion. Butch Haynes introduces Complementary Minds Vol. 1. is such a cohesive, yet incredibly diversified album and their authors, Luca Ferrara and Michele Fallabrino, achieve the challenging task of telling their sonic story with a flawless work. What a way to start Terapia Records’ experience.
Bristol don Nicky Soft Touch makes his eagerly awaited return with the follow up to his last TIN release, Lonely City Sampler. Set for release almost exactly one year on, Lonely City Cuts sees Soft Touch continue in his deft explorations of sampling, chopping and rearranging beats using cuts from helter skelter and sidewinder tapes. Much like his previous release, as well as the self-released projects he's shared in the meantime, the LP is centred around a DIY aesthetic, making intimacy and introspection two of its defining features.
Conceived during a stint living in London, the series is imbued with a sense of place. Delivered via raw production techniques, voice recordings and off-kilter, broken garage beats, this positions the release amongst the moody, urban landscapes which provide the backdrop for Burial and Actress' music. On Volume One, this sounds like narling basslines that ricochet around swung percussion, and plaintive ambience that immerses you in its shadowy worlds. On Volume Two, like hip hop interludes, deep house grooves and hyper referential skits.
- Unreleased material from the lost tapes of the album that Avi Matos recorded in 1986. First seeing the light of day nearly 40 years after.
- First ever reggae and dub record to be made in Israel
- Produced by the legendary Dennis Bovell
Módulo 1000 were not messing around when they made 'Não Fale Com Paredes’. It holds its own, not just as a raw, heavy, experimental “Brazilian” psychedelic rock album, but as a raw, heavy, experimental psychedelic rock album, full-stop!
Formed in Rio de Janeiro in 1969, Módulo 1000 honed their craft as the house band in clubs and resorts in São Paulo where they predominantly covered American artists such as Jimmy Hendrix as well as British giants, Led Zeppelin. After acquiring a taste for fame following the performance of one of their tracks at the Rio International Song Festival, the band focussed their attention on composing original material. Their manager, Marinaldo Guimarães, encouraged the band to explore their experimental and creative sides. This, in parallel with the explosion of experimental music in Brazil, resulted in the band performing alongside heavyweights such as O Têrço; there was a happening in the air.
Módulo 1000 recorded just one album. Released on Top Tape records in 1972, it featured Eduardo Leal on bass, Candido Faria on drums, Daniel Cardone on guitar, violin and vocals, and Luiz Paulo Simas on organ, piano, and vocals. 'Não Fale Com Paredes' was produced by the popular DJ, Ademir Lemos, and came housed in a fold-out cover featuring tripped-out artwork and design by Wander Borges. However, due the uncompromising nature of its wild, heavy psychedelic rock sound, the album was destined not to be played on the radio in Brazil. Rumours suggest that the label didn't understand the album, and as a result, it wasn't promoted or marketed. Thus, like many other underground cult classics, it was lost in the ether, only later to be rediscovered by a new audience at a different time.
One thing is certain, you definitely know when you've heard Módulo 1000. The sound is raw, heavy and at points quite aggressive, more Black Sabbath than Os Mutantes. It floats between psychedelic rock, prog rock, early metal, and dare we say, displays elements of proto-math-rock.
The band’s discography includes a 7" single, as well as their music being featured on several compilations for Odeon Records, additionally they released a 7" single under their alias 'Love Machine' for Top Tape Records. These compositions are included as bonus tracks on the CD version of our reissue.
Tape
Originally released in 2019, Craig Tattersall unspooled a gorgeous tape of disintegrated piano meditations and dusty lower case ephemera.
On the A-side it’s a dreamily searching, silty flux of piano notes peeling in slow motion. Strings drift over, connoting cold breezes and infrasonic, spectral presences, but the effect is far from menacing, it’s more a tranquil shade of sublime, like those hours after midnight when the meridian sounds of road traffic and human life have ebbed off into the distance and you’re left with the sighing creaks of a room.
The sound is remarkably different on the B-side. Here the air gradually thickens with murkier sub-harmonic distortion, bordering on a seething sense of aggression relative to most of Tattersall’s other output, pushing the grim murk to a logical entropy that precipitates elegiac pauses for reflection and warbling closure.
MILK GREY VINYL
100% GALCHER was by all accounts a game-changer when it landed in 2013 as an hour of original music from a relatively unknown producer ushered in by the beloved mix series Blowing Up The Workshop. Galcher Lustwerk's signature sound _ a smoky stream-of-consciousness baritone shadow-boxing with beats, informed by funk, rap, rhythm, and blues _ felt like an epiphany, impossibly hypnotic and complete. Resident Advisor writes, "100% GALCHER laid out a louche, lysergic and resolutely black take on deep house." Pitchfork remembers the music's immediate impact: "It's the sort of gem you felt inclined to pass around" _ and by year-end list time, word-of-mouth intensified. It was Resident Advisor and Juno's mix of the year, and earned a top-ten placement in FACT Magazine's albums list, as well as Philip Sherburne's personal rundown for Spin." Since then, select songs from 100% GALCHER have seen small-run pressings, while the album has lived primarily on SoundCloud and YouTube as a low-key cult legend. The gateway into Lustwerk's now well-established catalog, known for its reliability as a late-night listen and its prophetic vision for the near future of underground dance music. RA would later name it a mix of the decade, citing its influence and imagination: "Original in every sense _ unknown, unheard and unbelievably good." In late 2022, marking ten years since he first recorded the material, Lustwerk returns to Ghostly International to release 100% GALCHER as a remastered limited-edition double LP. Lustwerk is a product of the Midwest. Growing up in Cleveland, he'd tape over his parents' cassettes and spend hours at his family computer recording loops and designing artwork for the jewel cases of burned CDs. In high school, he turned to Ableton Live and absorbed every electronic music magazine he could find at the local Borders Books store. As a college student at RISD, he played in noise bands, plugged into Providence's DIY scene via Myspace, and started DJing weeknights at bars downtown. There he connected with Young Male and DJ Richard, who would go on to found White Material Records and offer their third release to Galcher Lustwerk, an alias realized via CAPTCHA test, a perfect artifact of its internet age. By 2012, Lustwerk had drifted to New York City and settled into a graphic design job, quickly growing disenfranchised by office culture. "Some days I felt like a token, other days I felt invisible." At night, he and his friends were carving out their own space, throwing parties in small basements, office buildings, and off-beat karaoke bars in Manhattan, influenced by series such as Mr. Sunday in Gowanus and The Bunker at Public Assembly. The lifestyle started to bleed into Lustwerk's musical vision. He remembers the night it clicked in Providence, partying and listening to tunes with Morgan Louis and Alvin Aronson. He went back to New York and pieced together his bedroom setup: a Dave Smith Tempest drum machine, a Waldorf Blofeld synthesizer, and a TEAC cassette recorder. Early snippets went straight to SoundCloud, where Lustwerk tested the crowd. Comments and messages offered instant feedback. One DM proved to be the greenlight: from Matthew Kent, an invitation to his burgeoning mix series Blowing Up The Workshop. 100% GALCHER traveled fast and far. A phenomenon he could only enjoy for a short period before discovering that nearly all the masters of the tracks got wiped by water damage to his computer. "The only copies were now on the 192kbs mp3 mix I sent Matt." Until now, after Lustwerk revived the lost tracks and handed them to Josh Bonati for remastering. "The original mix was never mastered so I hope older fans can find something new here." Hearing the enhanced set for the first time delineated by tracklist reveals this was a proper album all along. Sly synth interludes (all titled "Stem") clear the air for raspy house anthems like "Fifty" and "Parlay," the set's original breakout. Themes present across Lustwerk's catalog first materialize in this iconic run _ the link between the meditative state of Midwest driving and the solitary comedowns of nightlife. Lust- werk, the narrator, is an elusive character, a secret agent of the club, embodied by the hooks: "One minute I'm on / next minute I'm gone," he reminds us on cult-favor- ite "Put On." These narcotic, one-line refrains stick with you; look no further than the original YouTube upload of "Kaint" to know that fans can't let these phrases go. While recorded alone, 100% GALCHER was a collective moment. A decade later, Lustwerk sees the legacy as shared: "Making music can be an alienating experience, especially for DJs who travel a lot, it's all super isolating. It's easy to express lone- liness in the music itself, but when it comes down to getting things done, putting music out, you def should go on that journey w other people, friends, or maybe just a group of people online, build things with your friends then they can build to help you."
1970s/80s San Francisco art-punk band 14-track collection includes
remixed tracks and previously unreleased recordings
It's hard to let go of a good thing
More than four decades after The Mutants first appeared on the San Francisco
underground music scene, four of the original members are still playing shows
together under that name in 2022. After all, mutants are known to mutate, and
that's what this colourful, energetic musical collective has been doing off and on
since 1977.
Perhaps even more surprisingly, the sessions for their lone album, 1982's ‘Fun
Terminal’, continue to bring forth lost nuggets. In punk and new wave lore, ‘Fun
Terminal’ is considered a troubled project. Prior to the album's appearance, The
Mutants had released only one 7-inch single -- 1980s' ‘The Mutants EP’ -- and the
band also had songs featured on two local compilations. Both the EP and one of
the compilations were issued by 415 Records, the legendary Bay Area indie that
made the jump from the new wave trenches to the majors when they signed a
deal with Columbia Records in 1981. Many scenesters felt that The Mutants
should have begun album sessions for 415 immediately after the EP, but that
didn't happen.
Each of the 14 tracks on the new collection, ‘Curse Of The Easily Amused’ has
either been remixed, or sourced from previously unreleased tapes. Eight songs
have never been officially released on vinyl or CD in any form. The versions of
'Think, Think, Think' and 'Tribute to Russ Meyer' feature radically different
approaches than what was heard on the ‘Fun Terminal’ reissue.<
