Rock /
God Blesses Us, Mother Dresses Us
2010 release ** Bedroom synthpop recording alias of Wesley Eisold pre Cold Cave. Expanded CD reissue of the LP released by Art Fag Records in 2009. "This 2006-2008 collection of twenty-four electronic bedroom recordings features previously unreleased songs as well as all tracks from the out of print LP and demo."
No Kidding
2007 release ** "Solo 'noise guitar' side from Mr Michael Yonkers, whose 1968 recording Microminiature Love remains one of the most avant garde garage punk recordings ever to make it to Sub Pop. This is eleven tracks of cranked-up, F/X shredding six string destruction from a guy with a whole lifetime of ferocious electric guitar re-invention already behind him. A wild one."
Additives
2004 release ** "New interesting italian prog band, with psychedelic-rock sounds. Their CD includes a cover of the Van Der Graf Generator track “Afterwards”, plus other 7 original tracks by Gap Party. This band formed in 1999 and already released several interesting albums over the years."
Still Constant
2010 release ** "By citing Pain Of Salvation, Opeth, Dream Theater, Riverside, Pink Floyd and Eloy as influences, Turkey's Hope to Find essentially reveals its sound before you even push "play." But that's no reason to overlook Still Constant, a four-track debut EP that covers a lot of moody musical territory. From the riffs-aplenty rock and roll of "The Grand Opening" (the aptly titled track that kicks off this 27-minute disc) to the more arty "Witness of Happiness," Hope To Find sounds compete…
Inducing The Sleep Sphere
2002 release ** "It's virtually impossible to discuss The Land of Nod without comparing them to My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Spacemen 3 or a gaggle of otheratmospheric shoegazer bands that did it first."
Do Not Destroy
2006 release ** ""This is the same Neville behind Pumice (Raft previously on LVD, and Yeahnahvienna (Soft Abuse) as well as a collaborator with the likes of C.J.A, Witcyst, Matt Middleton, Antony Milton, Chris Knox (Tall Dwarfs) and Campbell Kneale (Birchville Cat Motel), so you should know what to expect: eccentric one-man-band lo-fi goodness. But where Stefan's other releases have always taken the existence of pop-music for granted albeit filtered and fucked 'til broken,' Do Not Destroy makes …
Swim
2013 release ** "The members of Blue Cranes — Reed Wallsmith on alto saxophone, Joe Cunningham on tenor saxophone, Rebecca Sanborn on keyboards, Keith Brush on bass, and Ji Tanzer on drums — bring a unique array of experiences to their group-centered aesthetic, including work with AU, The Decemberists, Laura Veirs, Wayne Horvitz, Rebecca Gates, Laura Gibson, Ethan Rose, Pete Krebs, Black Prairie and Portland Cello Project. The band takes an evolutionary step forward on their fourth full-length …
La Sangre Real
2008 release ** ""Thelema - La Sangre Real" is the fifth album by the Italian dark-rock band Thelema, released in 1993. It's a conceptual work based on the legends surrounding the historical Jesus, drawing on esoteric traditions. The album explores themes like the extraterrestrial origins of Jesus' blood, the interactions between humanity and beings from other planes of existence, and the possible survival of Jesus and his lineage. Musically, it features a hypnotic and dramatic sound, fitting th…
Lanterner
2011 release ** "The debut release from Lanterner was recorded in a scummy practice pit and a high end media arts research institute. Borrowing the keys, late at night, this release was culled from live sessions, practice sessions, late night overdubs and mistakes. A quickly fastened mic in a practice space to carefully mic’d headphones in a cardboard box - techniques chosen for mood gold not textbooks. These songs Throb and Drift with a Lean Tension and pulsing, dreamt, attempt at escape(s), du…
Würmer Im Kruzifix / Klosterarbeiten
2008 release ** Handpainted, handnumbered 21x15cm cardboard box set limited to 222 copies, including an 8 page booklet and some extras: a piece of grass, a wooden cross, a "Vivimed" oblate" and a dia.
Noi Vi Odiamo
2004 release (NB: item has storage wear) ** "A miniCD containing four tracks plus two remixes of the homonymous “Noi vi odiamo!”: “Gib alarm!” is an intro consisting of overlapping samples, on a dark ambient base, of the Italian translation of the homonymous lyric by Heinrich Böll read by Simone Salvatori, characterized by an excellent success in terms of sound, which creates a nice feeling of uneasiness. “Noi vi odiamo!” was born as a very rhythmic electronic piece, close to an electrowave less…
Archaic Spines
2007 release ** "Brad Rose, the man behind the Digitalis and Foxglove labels returns with another solo album. Archaic Spines is an album that utilises only a bouzouki and a hint of vocals, spreading five celestial ragas over forty minutes of improvisation. Unlike the open tuned raga variations we've come to expect from the Takoma lineage, these pieces tend to be strummed with droning open strings as you'd find in classical sitar music. For all the nods toward Eastern harmonic patterns and improv…
Through The Gates Of Deeper Slumber
1997 release ** "2nd full-length by our favourite outfit from the Southern coast of Norway. They shifted their musical direction forward to structures in the vein of early 70's progressive mellotronic space rock while still keeping their "traditional" psychedelic influences. On side 1 TSOI take us into a floral fairyland: a 25-min. long conceptual suite in 5 parts where the music ranges from meditative raga rock bliss with sitar to percussive trance rock elements to a meadow symphony and electro…
25 Years Minimum R&B
2017 release ** "25 years of activity, an original artist, sincere and inspired. A Nordic-inspired poetry that finds its soundness in search of sound, in the company of many musicians / companions Simon, tells us, in this volume, a unique artistic journey that varies between Rock, Contemporary, Jazz, Chamberlain . Becoming an icon of the RIO movement between the 90s and 2000s, Simon Steensland proposes two discs, one that collects a collection of pieces of his first period on CD, which has long …
All The Pleasures Of The World
2009 release ** "Melbourne minor key pop magicians Crayon Fields announce the release of their long awaited second album, All the Pleasures of the World. In 2006, their airy, chiming debut, Animal Bells, was one of the year's most acclaimed releases, earning 7.8 review on Pitchfork and voted #2 in the Mess + Noise end of year critics poll (#4 in the general read poll). Crayon Fields have been working industriously on a follow up ever since. After several singles over the last 9 months, both dom…
Jardim Elétrico - A Tribute To Os Mutantes
2007 release ** "The continuing impact of Os Mutantes' music as their work became more widely known outside Brazil is reflected in this enjoyable tribute compilation -- if, as with all such tributes, nothing quite compares to hearing the original versions, it's the feeling of celebration which such a collection can produce which justifies it, so long as the performances work in their own right. The bands range from all over the map, from some long-lived legends in their own right to up-and-come…
Walk In Africa 1979-81
2013 release ** "The National Wake's lone 1981 album, is a startling rock & roll document. Recorded by a multi-racial band in an increasingly tense and radicalized South Africa between 1979 and 1981, it offers the country's spirit at the time through punk and post-punk as they met reggae and township funk in a collision of rhythm, energy, and melody. The album embodies the best elements of Gang of Four's Entertainment, the Pop Group's Y, and the Clash's Sandinista!, as well '70s-era rowdy townsh…
Leila Saida
2008 release ** "This Harmony is an Italian instrumental quartet comprised of violin, guitar, bass and drums. The classically influenced violin is the star of the show, and Leila Saida is recommended to all who love rock with violin in the lead. This Harmony are similar to the Polish band Ankh, but more refined. Obviously they are most similar to the original Ankh that included violin in the lineup, but there is also a good deal of the dreamy, psychedelic feel that Ankh adopted after their violi…
Tsaca Tsap
20014 release ** "Estonian pop music is relatively rare to find north of the Gulf of Finland. In fact, Ramo Teder, who performs under the name Pastacas, also moved to Finland after making his album Tsaca Tsap. But more than the Finnish rural landscape that opens out of Teder's window, the songs on Pastacas' third album have been influenced by his musical background. A childhood spent in music schools and the influence of a jazz guitarist father clearly belong to Tsaca Tsap, which Ramo has mainly…
Night Watch
1998 release ** "Debut by Dutch art rock/folk band. Fine sensitive folk songs, Georg Trakl poems set to music, acoustic pop ballads, a progressive feel throughout. A multi-faceted album that contains all original material ranging from the 3 minute pop song to the 7 minute tribal folk suite and encompasses influences of Kurt Weill, British folk rock in a Comus/Spirogyra vein, 70's avantgarde art rock (Lindsay Cooper). The album is hard to classify, but achieves a wholeness due to the band's songw…