New Arrivals
LA Vampires & Zola Jesus
Easily one of the releases of the year so far, finally available on limited edition vinyl* Ghostly goings on from gothic psych queen Zola Jesus and kindred spirit LA Vampires (the current guise of Amanda Brown from Pocahaunted), who collaborate across this killer new mini album. 'Bone Is Bloodstone' rumbles into motion with those familiarly smudged out, indecipherable vocals and evaporating drum machines but there's a heavy bass groove and some ghoulish melodic developments set to balance …
Kablys. Live at 11:20
This is a great live performance of the best Lithuanian contemporary jazz musicians played live at the small punk club in Vilnius. That was a hot night. Liudas Mockunas - tenor, baritone and soprano saxophonesEugenijus Kanevicius - bass and electronicsDalius Naujokaitis – drums
psychic smog
New ASC effort on qbico, a duo this time. THIS is the social club for astral spirits..."
Asleep On The Floodplain
Ben Chasny has spent many years at this point perfecting his very personal vision of the American landscape. With his early LPs he managed to grab a groundswell of support for his distinctly lo-fi recordings, and since hitting the Drag City label with the breathtaking 'School of Flower' he has managed to extend his vision to countless others. 'Asleep on the Floodplain' continues his exploration, and while it doesn't change up the formula too much (apart from the odd analogue synth blurt here and…
Valley Tangents
Don't lose control — dig Blues Control! Following a circular path in order to access the unknown, Russ and Lea nab chaos in a plastic cup and crush rock into diamonds, or something that looks like them anyway. Valley ho! This new record is like drugs for your ears.
The Burden of Hope
"I don't know about you lot but we're absolutely crazy about Grails here at Boomkat HQ, last year's incredible 'Black Tar Prophecies' album on Important blew us away so it's great to see 'The Burden of Hope', the band's 2003 debut, back in press on vinyl finally. At this time the band were working under the messy banner of 'post-rock' and lumped in with the whole Godspeed You! Black Emperor/Constellation scene; they were using violins, letting themselves succumb to the influence of dusty America…
Black Love
Saxophonist Carlos Garnett recorded with Pharoah Sanders, Miles Davis and Art Blakey. His 1974 spiritual jazz album features an amazing line-up of Reggie Lucas (Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins), Buster Williams, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Alex Blake (Sun Ra), Charles Sullivan, Mauricio Smith (Tito Puente), Norman Connors, and Billy Hart. Exact repro reissue.
Espoo
Vladislav Delay's EP Espoo features two conceptual, rhythm-intense tracks. Whereas the groove of the opener "Olari" derives from a sound loop which is manipulated by filters and echoes, the reverse is done with "Kolari." Starting from an impulsive, staccato beat, a sound carpet is woven by means of modifiers which gradually shape a permanent melody, close to Terry Riley's minimalistic concepts. Both tracks share a linear increase in density, and because of their break with the common four…
The Violent Blow
After a long time out of print Sacred Trails 7", a new release from Altar Of Flies for Wendy.Minimalistic textures, tape loops, field recordings and junk abuse, all mixed in an unique cruel sound. AOF explores line between man and nature, with analog machines he transforms in sound the cold of his lands, the feeling of no light, the man perfection in loneliness. The result is the must organic, deep and dark AOF release ever.A new start for this criminally underrated artist, a new powerfully soun…
Ever And Anon
The mythical LAFMS collective Smegma really needs no introduction, where would we all be without them? How many bands were so ahead of their time (1973!), and have been for so long, like Smegma have? Well, here they are with a brand new LP of their famous mix of free jazz, industrial noise, improvisation, straight-up weird music so typical of these masters / US freaks. On the opening track, they are riding on the amazing drums of historical member Dennis Duck (of Dream Syndicate) to pay h…
Nero\'s Expedition
Tetuzi Akiyama - guitars. Johan Arrias - saxophone, electronics, no input mixingboard. Leo Svensson - cello, organ. Henrik Olsson - drums, electronics, piano. Artwork and screenprint by Peter Larsson. Mixed by Giuseppe Ielasi. Mastered by Daniel Karlsson. Produced by Johan Berthling. Album and songtitles are inspired by the lyrics of Moondog (Louis Thomas Hardin). Recorded in Stockholm 2006. Limited edition of 250 hand numbered copies. The cover is hand printed by its author on recycled covers c…
Henzai
Tokyo-based guitarist/singer Hisato Higuchi presents his fourth full-length and first LP release. Henzai is Higuchi at his most bare. Each song appears like a spectral poem -- sewn together with hushed electricity and whispers. This recording is wholly intimate, recorded in seclusion, and washes over the listener like a hazy, day-break dream. Higuchi splits these 12 torch-songs between slow-motion improvisations and the composed, yet each is sung with a mix of beautiful wordless/Japanese languag…
djTRIO - 21 September 2002 Hirshhorn Museum Washington DC
World-renowned multi-media artist Christian Marclay may be best known these days for his globally embraced film collage piece "The Clock," but he began by redefining the roles of "musician," "DJ," and even "artist" itself. Since the late '70s, Marclay has created art by masterfully mistreating both vinyl and phonographic equipment, using them both in a manner more consistent with the way an abstract sculptor employs raw materials in the service of a larger vision. He was one of the earlies…
Clear
Clear and Discovery were originally released as two companion CDRs by James Ferraro (of the whole Skaters / Lamborghini Crystal / 90120 / Splash / Nirvana axis) and comprise the August 1974 (Taj-Mahal Travellers) of his discography. Both albums contain absolutely beautiful whirling hall-of-knives-style synth drone that makes one want to reference Klaus Schulze or Bobby Beausoleil. Clear bursts with flam beats and a cluster of melodies muffled like a calliope wrapped in a soggy tarp, while Discov…
Outdoor Spell
Rhys Chatham has trail-blazed a course through late 20th century music, equally aplomb in post-minimalist composition as he is in punk. Not since Roebling laid his span across the East River has there been an artist who builds bridges in both how we hear music and how we can appreciate art. His latest album, Outdoor Spell, is a further document in that direction. Here has has eschewed 100 guitars, or even himself playing a single guitar, for the trumpet and voice, both electrified and dry. It is…
Mats G Plays Albert A
99 copies only one-sided LP black vinyl, with insert. Mats Gustafsson -- baritone sax, music box rec, mixed and mastered June 16, 2009 by Ola Glans, Svinaberga, Sweden. After his rendition of Duke Ellington pieces, the series continue with Mats unique versions/visions of classic Ayler's tunes like 'Our Prayer' and 'Angels/Spirits.' Here he plays music box and baritone sax; the sound is full and warm. Recorded in June 2009. 'These two albums on yr label are two of the ones I m most pleased with e…
Thing
For fifteen years, Trans Am has forged a musical legacy that has consistently confounded those who would confine them to generic indie-rock labels and rather spoken for itself. Trans Am a-la 2010 is a band of veterans unafraid to contradict themselves, one that has grown stronger in its music and more confident in its identity over the course of now nine full length albums.
Always Wrong
f you're wondering whether record labels still matter, consider the case of Wolf Eyes. Their last two widely distributed albums, 2004's Burned Mind and 2006's Human Animal, came out on Sub Pop and got lots of media attention, even landing the band on the cover of The Wire. Three years later, Wolf Eyes return with Always Wrong, a follow-up of sorts after reams of smaller-run releases. It came out on Hospital in May, and I can't find a single review beyond a few blog entries and tweets. Even The W…
Glass Fountain
The duo mainly sticks to their guns, mining the same post-Suicide art-trance vein they perfected on Dream, but here there's an added emphasis on the disembodied, oscillator pop mode that they often toy with. Mesmerizing organ melodies over plink-plonky vintage drum machines with weirdo soulful singing & outer space electronics, like an outsider-punk Silver Apples or something. Edition of 600
Leaving The Commonwealth
D. Charles Speer & the Helix came together through a shared love of musical interplay that moves the mind and body. Born from the obsessions and predilections of David Charles Shuford, strains of glassine cruelty, broken glasses and ruptured knees mixed with memories of Chet Atkins lullabies and ZZ Top vids to generate a songcraft steeped in tradition but themed for the burned. A practicing multi-instrumentalist in various New York City improvisational ensembles for the last 15 plus yea…