Calling Nina
Lucy Cliche and Matthew Hopkins are denizens of Sydney, Australia, formerly of Naked On The Vague, the Bowles, Knitted Abyss, and a kitchens sink worth of other tantalizing musical endeavors. As HALF HIGH, the two have taken everything they know about creep mood and midnight tones and used that arcane knowledge to open an audio gateway into ghostly realms. "Calling Nina" was recorded live in a performance space where the paranormal branch of the Australian Secret Service had once conducted seanc…
Well of Sorrows
Well of Sorrows is Ian Middleton's first LP release since 2009's Aural Spaces and Time Building (Swill Radio and Entr'acte respectively). Employing his signature MS10 analogue synthesizer, Middleton's sound takes on a more plaintive tone, weaving quietly lyrical melodic patterns into an ever-shifting stasis. Precise and elemental, Middleton's music reflects years of exploration into the possibilities of his chosen instrument, sidestepping the transience of current trend and carving his own path …
Good Intentions/Material Dilemma
Sound poetry/tape music from Allen Mozek/Good Area, following up the Debris Music CS released on Vitrine in 2013. Recorded at home, early 2014 in Philadelphia, PA. "The debut 7" vinyl release from No Intention, the solo project of Good Area's Allen Mozek: "sound poetry/tape music from Allen Mozek/Good Area, following up the Debris Music tape released on the artist's own Vitrine label in 2013. Recorded at home, early 2014 in Philadelphia, PA. Side A plays at 45rpm, Side B at 33 1/3rpm. 200 cop…
The Laboratory
2013 marked the 25th anniversary of Idea Fire Company, the duo of Scott Foust and Karla Borecky based in Amherst, Massachusetts. Right before the end of the year The Laboratory EP was recorded. Two tracks of icy synth work, at times sort of reminiscent of parts of the Anti-Natural LP from 1999, but this probably being the most stripped down and monotonous material you will be able to find in the splendid discography of Idea Fire Company.
A Turn of Breath
Recital here presents the premiere LP by vocalist Ian William Craig (b. 1980, Edmonton). Ian, a trained opera singer, delivers an elegant balance between theatrical and ambient sentiments. A Turn of Breath combines the essence of a choral LP from Angel Records or Deutsche Grammophon with the spontaneity of experimental home-recording. This collection holds twelve works for voice and 1/4″ tape, recorded from 2011-2013. Voice appears as the Sun’s light through a vast storm; still obscured by tape…
Newtables
Second in a series of three extended reissues from SND - 12-tracks fully remastered from DAT tapes by Rashad Becker at D&M Mark Fell and Mat Steel’s second EP as SND was released in 1999, a year after their debut ‘Tplay’. It continued to explore their distinct, highly individual take on electronic minimalism, House and UK Garage stripped to its bare bones. This extended reissue features the original 6 tracks of ’newtables’, plus 6 previously unheard recordings from the same sessions - all fully …
Travelog
Third and final instalment in a series of three extended reissues from SND. 12-tracks fully remastered from DAT tapes by Rashad Becker at D&M ‘Travelog’ was the third EP released by Mat Steel and Mark Fell as SND, arriving in 1999 just before the release of their influential debut album ‘Makesnd Cassette’ on the Mille Plateaux label. Of the three EP reissues in the series, ‘Travelog’ contains the most developed and satisfying work from the pair, edging their reduced production palette into more …
Extreme Events
Airless, ecstatic modular music from former member of Godspeed You Black Emperor. Five years after founding Le Révélateur, Montreal-bred musician Roger Tellier-Craig returns to Root Strata with Extreme Events, a collection of dense sonic studies that betray a futuristic and timeless beauty. Alongside collaborator Sabrina Ratté, who creates the project’s videos and live visuals, Le Révélateur operates at the ideological intersection of audio and visual, analog and digital, nostalgic and anticipat…
Four Infernal Rivers
*restocked* "Tom Carter and Pat Murano, two figures with decades of history behind them, offer Four Infernal Rivers, their new double long player. Four Infernal Rivers illuminates their interlocking styles in a light that blurs their individual identities. The music breathes its own life, and consistently eschews the normal meanings of its own potential descriptors. To think and act intuitively across 80 minutes in real time, without falling into boring or wasteful modes, should be taken as …
Dnmf
Sound art titan Rutger "Machinefabriek" Zuydervelt teams up with unpredictable metal-tinged jazz combo Dead Neanderthals here for two lengthy tracks on this new LP. As you would expect from a combination of two such unusual acts, this LP is a perplexing mixture of ambience, noise, rock and jazz. There are two pieces here, on side A is 'The Thing on the Doorstep' and overleaf we've got 'The Colour Out Of Space'. Broadly speaking side A errs towards the dark ambient side of things while side B vee…
Black meditations
The duo of Witchbeam & Mr. Matthews featuring Lala Ryan from Excepter, and Rachel & Grant Evans. New on Experimedia "Telecult Powers, the candle burning duo of Witchbeam & Mr. Matthews, known for their ritualistic live shows and previous releases on Baked Tapes, Draft, Pizza Night and more, bestow upon us their new album "Black Meditations", a six part sonic meditation on the connections between man, myth & magic. Black Meditations taps into the world of folk magic, reaching out to the spirit wo…
Moin EP
An EP from Moin, the duo of Tom Halstead and Joe Andrews aka Raime. This 12" follows Moin's debut offering "Elsie," which appeared as part of a 2012 split 7" release with Pete Swanson on Blackest Ever Black's Confessions sub-label. Three new tracks recorded with drums, guitar and bass, arranged with effects and sequencer. Cut by Matt Colton at Alchemy and housed in a full picture sleeve.
This is always where you've lived
Blackest Ever Black's last release of 2013 comes from Secret Boyfriend, the solo project of North Carolina's Ryan Martin, who is also one-half of Boyzone and founder of the Hot Releases label -- a catholic endeavor that has seen him release records from the cream of the contemporary N.C. underground as well as reissuing classic sides by the likes of Maurizio Bianchi, Ghedalia Tazartes, and Ashrae Fax. To date, Secret Boyfriend's presence has been felt largely in the shape of live performance…
The '81 Demos
"Now that things are different, a moment on your own brings back memories..." Blackest Ever Black is pleased to present the first vinyl edition of the legendary demos recorded in 1981 by Weekend - the trio of Alison Statton, Spike Williams and Simon Booth. Alison Statton began her recording career with Philip and Stuart Moxham in Young Marble Giants, one of the most unique and important bands to come out of the UK post-punk/independent scene. YMGs dissolved in 1981, at which point Statton began…
Killing Sound
Oblique sound-system murderers from the trio of Amos Childs, Seb Gainsborough (Vessel) and Sam Kidel -- members of Bristol's noted Young Echo collective. Killing Sound make their full recorded debut on this self-titled 2x12", with four tracks cut obnoxiously loud across four sides by Matt Colton at Alchemy.
Dead unique
Blackest Ever Black presents to you Dead Unique, an album by Officer! recorded in 1995 but - outrageously, inexplicably - never before released into the public domain. This then is not a reissue or a revival; it’s a new record that just happens to have been maturing in the cask for, oh, a little shy of 20 years. It also happens to be a lost classic of English art-rock, and the crowning achievement in the career of its mercurial creator, Mick Hobbs. Londoner Hobbs’ roots are in the fecund RIO sce…
Second launch
Mind-shattering double LP of dysphoric space-rock minimalism from two luminaries of the Swedish punk underground. Second Launch follows Bremen’s self-titled debut of 2013 and comprises 11 controlled improvisations, reinforced with overdubs, that take clear inspiration from the dark side of kraut and progressive rock, early electronic and drone music, whilst also owing something to the fathomlessly bleak interior landscapes conjured by Nico/Cale on The Marble Index and Desertshore. The complex di…
Will to be well
Will to be well is the new studio album by Dalhous, their second for Blackest Ever Black. This double-LP, due to be released on June 30th, reflects writer-producer Marc Dall’s continued interest in the life and arcana of R.D. Laing, but also alludes to more universal and enduring mysteries: the relationships between body and mind, illness and wellness, the physical and the metaphysical. The fifteen tracks assembled here also showcase the maturation of a uniquely gifted and expressive composer: D…
Dark pool
Dark Pool is the new studio album from Black Rain, the project’s first in 18 years. Produced in New York City by Stuart Argabright, Black Rain’s founder and figurehead, Dark Pool is a work of hard-edged sonic fiction rooted in cyberpunk's quintessential neo-noircityscape/dataspace but projecting into a farther future of biotechnological advancement and alienation. Partly inspired by the writings of Philip K. Dick protégé K.W. Jeter (particularly 1996’s Edge Of Human, which picked up where Ridley…
Spire - Live In Bergen I.XI.MMXIII
Recorded on 1st November 2013 as part of Bergen Kirkeautunnale, Norway. Featuring BJNilsen and John Beaumont's 'Black Death', a new project using voice (tenor) and electronics; Charles Matthews's repertoire includes performances of organ pieces by Arvo Prt, Giacinto Scelsi and Johann Sebastian Bach; Marcus Davidson's 'Ananta' is released for the first time, and Spire regulars The Eternal Chord and The Spire Ensemble also perform. Spire is an organ-based live project curated by Touch's Mike Hardi…