You're Either Standing Facing Me Or Next To Me
“Only this is Rock” Keiji Haino has said of new studio album You're Either Standing Facing Me Or Next To Me. “Treat what I call rock like breaking the seal of old manuscripts.” Since his beginnings in 1970 as the vocalist of the band Lost Alaaf, Haino has spread his work across multiple genres, pushing the limits as a tireless explorer of free-form experimentation. It was with the intense psychedelic soundscapes of Fushitsusha, formed in 1978, that his live set earned a formidable reputation. Th…
Slap Happy Humphrey
*2022 stock* The world of Doji appears and disappears through the stormy noise like sunlight through a tree... Slap Happy Humphrey is the world's only cover band of noise-tinged Doji Morita, and the world's only cover band of Doji Morita. Folk and noise - at first glance, these two seemingly contradictory elements create a miraculous space. Itakura Mineko's voice is also good. Morita Doji is definitely present, albeit vaguely, behind the noise... Mineko Itakura of Angelin Heavy Syrup, Hiroshi Fu…
Women as Lovers
We are proud to present a new edition of Xiu Xiu's cult classic Women as Lovers. Originally released on budget vinyl in 2008, this is its first high quality edition on vinyl ever pressed. Named after Elfriede Jelinek’s seminal novel, this album contains 14 slabs of tortured, avant pop at its best. It includes a lauded cover of the Queen/ David Bowie's single “Under Pressure” featuring Swans leader Michael Gira. The album was recorded by a legendary line up consisting of Caralee McElroy, Ches Smi…
Unclouded Sky
During the summer of 2013, Xiu Xiu frontman Jamie Stewart and producer Shahzad Ismaily traveled to Sigur Rós’s personal studio in Iceland. Having access to the space for only one day, Stewart worked on setting down his interpretations of American and Caribbean spirituals using a 1953 Silvertone guitar given to him by his father (producer Michael Stewart), the man who introduced him to religious thought and folk music. The resulting album, Unclouded Sky, explores themes of death and faith over t…
Oh No
Stoned to Death is super happy to be part of this again. We are releasing a cassette edition of Xiu Xiu's new album called Oh No. This album is a collection of 15 killer duets and collaboration with the likes of Haley Fohr, Fabrizio Modenese Palumbo, Chelsea Wolfe or Liz Harris. Xiu Xiu is one of the hardest working bands of this century. Oh No is their 15th studio album (and we don't count all the collaborations such as XXL, boxes of seven inches, eps, experimental outputs etc.). They are alway…
The Academy In Peril
*2022 stock.* Taking a sidestep from his earliest solo efforts into an exploration of his classical training and influences -- thus the title -- Cale on Academy creates a set of songs that probably bemused more than one listener at the time of release. The predominantly instrumental release, which finds him working with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on two tracks, steers away from the more grotesque classical/rock fusions at the time to find an unexpectedly happy and often compelling balance …
Dust
*Limited edition of 300 copies. 2022 stock.* For a number of years now, Sion Orgon has been crafting music that fuses abstract electronic mulch with the kind of bright melodies one would expect from a shiny pop group. Using avant-garde sensibilities and a vision partly shaped by his affiliation with both Thighpaulsandra and Coil, the Welsh producer/musician has never been afraid to push these into areas most artists of a similar disposition would never be bold enough to touch. At once catchy, ps…
Reed Whistle And Sticks
LP version. This highly experimental work represents some early sound collages from this quirky British composer. Affiliated with the avant rock group Henry Cow, Anthony Moore's works are highly regarded in the experimental music scene thanks to his Flying Doesn't Help album from 1978, a cult masterpiece of avant rock which enjoyed a much higher profile in the underground than his debut. This could be attested to the abstract nature of this recording, which explored tape-loop repetitions that bu…
Evolution Here We Come
"It’s been a minute since we’ve thought much about ‘evolution.’ Most folks these days seem focused more on change, which perhaps is as it should be—change involves things we can more readily control, or so we think. Surrounded by more global catastrophe and local collapse than we can measure, the idea of ‘evolution’ feels almost quaint, like something we literally might not have time for. But Chris Forsyth’s Evolution Here We Come suggests that we do. It reminds us that we can fight for the futu…
Trance Balance
Foam On A Wave is proud to present the first international issue of this chameleonic, shapeshifting record, from one of Hungary's most prolific musician and film composers, János Másik. At times it calls to mind 23 Skidoo, Talking Heads and The Pop Group, at others it sits in its own corner of the room.
1989 was a revolutionary year. For many in the West the fall of the Berlin Wall marked the Autumn of Nations; the End of History and the triumph of progress. In Hungary, the year saw the Round Ta…
Drama of Exile
*Limited edition of 500 copies.* After the 1974 release of The End...the magnetic and controversial Warhol muse went on a fruitful partnership with French director Philippe Garrel, for almost seven films. Back in New York in 1979 she started to perform again live, appearing firstly at the CBGB with John Cale and musical partner Lutz Ulbrich (former guitarist of Agitation Free and Ash Ra Tempel)... Back in France, she met young and talented Corsican bassist Philippe Quilichini who produced her co…
Concerts
Originally released in 1976, this collection offers a snapshot of Henry Cow as audiences would have heard it in the year before. In the chronology, Concerts came between In Praise of Learning and Western Culture - that is, after Virgin had lost interest in releasing any more Henry Cow studio records and before the band quit to make one of its own. It was also the year of the 'merger' with Robert Wyatt for a series of concerts in which compositions were shared - the last show, in Rome, was also R…
Home
Originally released in 1992, Der Abend Der Schwarzen Folklore is the third Massaker album, originally released by Rough Trade Germany. According to Caspar Brötzmann, the title track and Bass Totem are the band’s most accomplished songs. It’s certainly the most sonicly refined of their albums, recorded during a residency over several weeks at the pastoral site of Conny Plank’s studio near Cologne, and produced by Ingo Krauss and Bruno Gebhard, who had worked with the famed Krautrock producer unti…
Epic Jammers And Fortunate Little Ditties
Epic Jammers and Fortunate Little Ditties is a jam session—an improvisational democracy where everyone has equal footing—between Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Bitchin Bajas.
Out
Slapp Happy's Anthony Moore, fresh off a year of collaboration with Henry Cow and the simultaneous dissolution of his own group, bounded up from the art-rock/20th century composition underground with this chart-challenging pop set for Virgin. Dropped before its planned release in ‘76, Out is an essential grab from the Britprog cutting room floor!
Kicking it off with a tricky asymmetrical keyboard riff reminiscent of Brian Eno’s Tiger Mountain, before rolling into a narrative that unites the mach…
Phew
This is a really cool post-punk record that manages to be somber at times yet weird and funky too. Very creative! As After Dinner approaches Rock in Opposition through more of a Japanese pop lens, this record does much the same with Krautrock. Of course it doesn't hurt that the musicians Phew is playing with are huge figures from that scene: Holger Czukay, Jaki Liebezeit, and Conny Plank namely. Lots of great drumming, interesting synths, and really whacky bass sounds!
2008-2021
*385 copies limited edition* Mura were a previously little-known group from Japan, formed by friends Kota Inukai (vocals, guitar), Masaki Endo (bass) and Sho Shibata (drums) in the late noughties. Performing mostly in small events in Sapporo, they were outsiders, and felt a kinship with few other groups, though Inukai mentions rock group Green Apple Quick Step, and hardcore band Ababazure as fellow travellers. This isolation surely feeds into the uniqueness of Mura’s music – they sound little li…
Pink Flag
Wire were born at the dawn of punk, but they became the quintessential art band. In the three closing years of the 1970s, the English quartet had one of the greatest opening runs of any band, shifting to post-punk before punk began to go stale and forging three masterpieces in a creative furnace so hot it burned out by the end of 1980. Those albums-- Pink Flag, Chairs Missing, and 154-- still sound remarkably fresh, and have been re-mastered and reissued with their original vinyl tracklistings, …
Issue 77: Can. Inside the Krautrock Kaleidoscope (Magazine)
We're heading for the dark side of the krautrock kaleidoscope with this month's Electronic Sound cover stars, the inimitable Can. Prompted by the release of 'Live In Stuttgart 1975', the first in a series of archive Can gig recordings, we speak to Irmin Schmidt about the band he created with Michael Karoli, Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit towards the end of the 1960s. As we try to deconstruct their wholly unique brand of sonic voodoo, Schmidt reveals the inner workings of Can, together with his…
Gona Rubian Ranesa
*Edition of 218. Tip!* Reynols is a storied band with endless lore. Many history lessons have been written about them, still they remain one of the world's most mysterious and challenging groups. "Gona Rubian Ranesa" is Reynols' first studio album in 17 years and it updates their classic sound to new realms of hypnotic psych-rock immersion. This record was cut by the classic Argentinian quartet of Miguel Tomasin, Anla Courtis, Rob Conlazo and Pacu Conlazo and it stands as 100% proof that Reynols…