Dead Luke is in fact dead, announced last January. This self-titled cassette, released nearly a year ago, was until the announcement his only recorded document. It seems Luke is hungrier in zombification, as he has since released a slew of vinyl and plans for a wealth more. Familiar to the Sacred Bones scene/sound, and released by Florida’s Sky-Fi, the cassette’s thirteen tracks come needled with chintzy synthesizers and dipped in reverb, crashing with an Ariel Pink mad genius, though stuck in some wonderful limbo between painfully simple pop structures and the anti-structure of dark ambient neighbors like Hive Mind and Burial Hex. Drum machines ramble in every direction, and in every configuration; guitars come and go, seemingly tuned then set back down; basslines dread into a funk then relax into broad, warped whir. Vocals are effected until indecipherable, rendering abstract and often obtuse the themes of titles like “The Thermostat Has Shorted Out”, “Night Of The Zodiac”, and “Oh God Make It Stop” - to be read entirely against the music, an often steely gothic of organs, sermoned mutterings, and other loose hairs of modern Americana trash. Strangely it works like magic. Call it ‘bright nihilism’. Ruby cassette comes unmarked in a beautiful, fancy-thick J-card. (Sky-Fi cassette, sold out HERE)

BODY MORPH - 'NEGATIVE GOLDEN VOID' C20 $7(US)/$9(WORLD)
"Dan Dlugosielski (Uneven Universe, The Mossy Throats, EXBX label) offers up another burnt scraping of Saxophone , static, and awkward scum-electronics with his always wonderful Body Morph project. "Negative Golden Void" moves from sparse basement hiss and scrape to all-out delay assaults on saxophone and electronics. A far departure from his work in his other projects. Has a very "bright" sound for such a unusual recording. Absolutely wonderful. Nicely color printed, in an edition of 75 copies."

SKIN GRAFT - 'DAMNED' C10 $7(US)/$9(WORLD)
"Wyatt Howland's SKin Graft project (Cleveland, OH) is hands-down creating some of the most abrasive and disgusting electronics Ive ever heard. NOTHING like it. filth. "Damned" is especially wonderful due to its extremely short sides and his ability to do so much with 5 minutes at a time. Tapes, electronics, and gut-wrenching electronics dont waste a second of this release. one of the best Sk's ive heard! originally released in a private edition back in March with another limited FW release with xeroxed art for his short midwest tour. Just had to give it a more "official" release. Nice color prints, in an edition of 100 copies, and possibly more to follow. look forward to a skin graft 2cs box this summer!"

FACE WORKER - 'DEFORESTATION' C20 $7(US)/$9(WORLD)
"The newest in the recent stream of FW releases, recorded in April. Lots of high frequencies, arpeggios, and chime-sounding synth patterns. A fairly new and focussed direction spawning from the more lofty sounds of earlier releases and the sequencer-like patterns on "Ocean/Haze". very ambient but doesnt exactly drone. One of my personal favorites of lately and certainly something different for this project. Nicely color printed, in an edition of 65 copies."

FLOWER MAN - 'ANOTHER OZONE HEX' C30 $7(US)/$9(WORLD)
"Chris Bush (OF CABOLADIES) has been REALLLLY blowin my mind with his solo project Flower Man. After seeing a preformance of him while on tour in lexington, i was hooked. An equally beautifully reserved and chaotic offering of completely unbelievable synthesizer music. High end crunch mixed with new-agey pad-synth sounds play off each other in un-real and head-spinning harmonic motions. Engaging and mezmorizing. Truly amazing. Reminds me of Eno's "ambient 3: day of radiance". This releases' last track "wonder what you are" wlll have you cooped up in front of your tape deck playing it again and again and again! be warned.. nicely color printed, in an edition of 75 copies."

FACE WORKER - 'OCEAN/HAZE' C10 $7(US)/$9(WORLD)
"Originally released in a private edition with SKin Graft's "Damned" back in March for a show at applebees". A great deal of positive reviews inspired me to give it a more proper release. Two 5 minute tracks feature a much more "active" sound compared to the earlier FW releases. Both tracks have a very arpeggiated and stepped-harmonic chord progressions and synth flutter. LOTS of phase. much more free and clear sounding. new art, nicely printed in an edition of 65 copies."

Special: All 5 FOR $25(US)/$30(WORLD)

EMAIL to order

ARBOR75 SECRET ABUSE - 'THE IMMEASURABLE GIFT' LP $13
"“The Immeasurable Gift” is a testament to cathartic possibilities and the role of creation/release as a means of understanding. Recorded throughout the past three years in a variety of locations and personal moments; encapsulated by a common, unrelenting concern. Beautifully delicate, elegiac melodies concealed within curtains of dense electronic ambiance reveal themselves like the light at the end of the tunnel; a signifier of the temporary vessel form. Balancing recklessness with care and coming to terms with the inevitable; encountering the man on the shoulder, reminding us that we are all just weary travelers." In an edition of 425 records in full color proprinted cardboard jackets with printed labels and an insert; all design by Jeff Witscher.

ARBOR113 BRYTER LAYTER - 'IMPRINTED SEASON' C30 $6
"The debut release from this collaborative project between Joseph Raglani (Kranky) and Mike Pollard (Arbor) was conceived during Summer 2008 upon a chance meeting and mutual inspiration. The project exists on its own, filling a space removed from either artists regular mode. “Imprinted Season” consists of six songs, cohesive and focus; a presentation of a modern take on electronic music and traditional pop structure. An attempt to reconcile the conception of the synthesizer as a drone machine and reconnect it to music’s roots, filling the circuits with life and emotion. The melancholy of early morning, dew on the blossoming flowers glistening in the sun’s haze. The future is bright no matter how bleak the present." In an edition of 125 tapes with full color cardstock covers and printed labels.

ARBOR121 TREETOPS - 'AS I GAZE' C25 $6
"Throughout the past four years, Treetops has been a personal experience. The project has seen many forms in terms of growth and approach. “As I Gaze” documents the final Treetops recordings. This is the point where the exploration reaches it’s end; the final bridge between the past recordings and future directions. Slow tone floats and melancholic progression under a low, reflective grey sky. Ambient textures dissipate within the environment; a search for stasis, a clear head." In an edition of 100 tapes with full color cardstock covers and labeled tapes.

WEBSITE

A relatively straight-forward release by this experimentalist, the title ‘Approaching the Ionized Piezo Kiosk’ is about as far out as you’re going to get this time around. Sagely discriminating himself against a highly nuanced sonic field, Ophibre (Benjamin Rossignol) may be better known for his media deconstructions than the drones made collateral damage within. Nevertheless, this single half-hour track has some heft, itself a simple chord allowed to deteriorate through mediation – though where along the process of being produced this occurs is unclear – several phases of high tones quavering and warping one another in the wanton ear. File next to ‘Oliveros’ for ease of alphabet and influence. CDr comes copier-labeled with a pirated sleeve and transparency title card, in an edition of 36 copies. Available for $6 from Earjerk HERE.

The Pistil Cosmos is Vincent Caylet of “V” and one half of Monks Of The Balhill. ‘Smoking Clouds in the Land of Fire’ is a comfortable listen with two long tracks of high-spirited sprawl, one ascending, one descending, which ease the ear in and out of the sonic space without harry or hiccup. Much like the works of Pocahaunted, vocal drones accumulate guitar doodles, buffed floor squeaks, shaker lines on “The Dreamt Language”, each layer entering with reliable moderation. The stress of volume (density and decibel) pushes the latter additions through the red, creating a paradoxical smooth intensity which crackles like weather through the end of the track. “There’s No Ghost Here” begins in this overblown space and with a pulsing meter assumes some harsher textures early on in order to subdue and dismiss. This establishment of a dominant mantra further reifies the rhythmic structure, settling like a digestif though the accents may change. Available once upon a time from Stunned HERE.

Social Junk - 'Summer Concussion' CDr $8
"This is the first release in the Carbon 15YR.Series. Documenting Social Junk's 2008 Summer Tour (with Big Nurse), this is a great collection of live drone/drum/out captures. Similar to the Dead C, but with their own unique rhythm and pace." packaged with a full-color pro-printed folded card in a heavy duty vinyl sleeve. HERE

The Rita - 'Shark Knifing' 7" $7.5(North America)/$9(World)
"Lurching, ripping, and tearing. Relentless and sharp. Thrashing about in the blood water, coming back for the torso. There are sharks and then there are knives. How about sharks getting their throats slit by humans with knives? Think about that. These two sides present a concise and brutal attack by the master. As if the short format pushed him to pack each track with all the highlight elements typically spread out over longer form The Rita recordings. Hits hard, hits fast. SNSE is proud to present this large-hole 7" wrapped in a twelve page booklet adorned with not-nice artwork culled from McKinlay's massive personal collection as well as drawings inked by the man himself." Additional Information: edition of 300; black vinyl; large hole; printed labels; packaged in a twelve page booklet; includes vinyl sticker and two-sided postcard. HERE

‘Paths’ by Nick Hennies (of Weird Weeds) simmers just below a conscious listening level. Heard, but not entirely graspable. And this is more than just a case of timid mastering. Twenty four point five minutes of technophilia, the piece is derived entirely from a mixer, purring and shining in a nefarious otherness like the self-content hum of infra-red or merry whistle of a Freon condenser. Almost entirely monotone, the prismatic sound turns slowly on geometric axes, producing in the final fifth an asynchrony that refracts phasing tones. Nevertheless, this is no more enlightening a moment, and the flash-drive hush survives with impudence from high definition start to high definition finish. Clearly this was a flaw in our perception, not the tectonics of such perfect information. In vinyl sleeve with thick insert and cellophane decoder, hand-numbered to 75 copies. (Thor’s Rubber Hammer Productions CDr, $5 HERE)

(TD 12) Simon Wickham-Smith - 'A Seventh Persimmon' CDr $7
"Words are tough when it comes to describing music this astoundingly beautiful. A leading figure in the worldwide experimental music community since the early 90s, Simon Wickham-Smith adds to his sizable body of work with this masterpiece. Three tracks clocking in at almost 60 minutes, Simon’s new work is the result of years spent honing his craft. His influences are drawn from sources far and wide, but the music that results is uniquely his own. Transcending genre altogether but most clearly informed by minimalism, this release is hypnotic, mysterious, and gorgeous. If you’ve followed the arc of his career, you’ll be pleased to see how mature and powerfully focused his musical vision has become. If you’re new to his world, it’s an excellent introduction. To say that it’s an honor for us to be releasing his music would be a massive understatement. A true classic."

(TD16) Our Love Will Destroy the World - 'Broken Spine Fantasia' C30 $7
"Following an initial LP and a few singles on other labels, we present two thrilling live sides documenting recent shows in Australia and New Zealand from Campbell Kneale's new project post-Birchville Cat Motel. Kneale's been a massive personal favorite here at Tape Drift since he first hit the scene in 1997. Reborn in this new guise, he's taking no prisoners and leaving audiences stunned by the majestic power of his noisy epics. It's hard to imagine Campbell topping the peaks of his vast BCM catalog, but these two tracks are a dream come true and suggest he may just have done it. Massively brutal sound here - perhaps one of his noisiest yet, but of course it's got all the hidden melodic elements and attention to detail that you've come to know and love. A psychedelic noise master work that works amazingly well with the oxide of tape."

SPECIAL SALE - buy any three releases for $18 PPD (in the US). EMAIL to purchase.

WEBSITE

The Golden Sores - 'A Peaceable Kingdom' CD
"BloodLust! is pleased to release the new full-length recording from the Chicago ecstatic drone duo, The Golden Sores. The group began as an exploratory collaboration between software engineer, visual artist, and composer Steve Fors [unseen|unknown, United Steelworkers Union, blstr] and schoolteacher, label proprietor, and experimental musician Chris Miller [Number None, Th’ Exceptional Child, REBIS] in 2007. Bound by a shared love of red wine, the Kranky aesthetic, and the eclectic recordings of off-beat Christian Rock visionaries Daniel Amos [aka D. A., Dä], the two began their musical partnership in the "pop-drone" group Flux Bouquet. After several well-received live shows, an EP, and a scrapped full-length, Fors and Miller began to indulge their more experimental impulses, giving birth to The Golden Sores. Utilizing a combination of electric and lap steel guitar, salvaged thrift store keyboards, pedals [both broken and boutique], obscure analogue synthesizers, and other obsolete noise-making esoterica, Fors and Miller have forged deep into the realms of drone -- continuing to pursue the perfect marriage of harsh and beautiful sounds, simple melodies, and song structures through spontaneous and ecstatic improvisation. While I [Mark Solotroff, of BLOODYMINDED, etc.] have played a number of shows in Chicago with some of Fors and Millers' other groups, it was while listening to the excellent debut full-length by The Golden Sores - "Ashdod to Ekron" - that the idea first popped into my mind to discuss a release with them. Seeing them play live a while after receiving that CD definitely helped to seal the deal for me. And when a mysterious copy of "A Peaceable Kingdom" landed on my doorstep, I knew that it was certainly time. The new CD, which was mastered for total sonic purity by Carl Saff, sits comfortably amidst both "lighter" and "heavier" BloodLust! releases by Chicagoans Haptic, Locrian, Neil Jendon, and The Fortieth Day, as well between other artists on the label like Envenomist and Culver." Professionally duplicated CD, single panel, double-sided insert; color artwork; in jewel box with shrinkwrap. HERE

Soothsayer – ‘Neptune’s Daughter’ C30 $6(US)/$7(Canada)/$8(World)
”Soothsayer's debut, Neptune's Daughter, is a stark product of tensions, tensions that can be mapped through a sonic ether evocative of the deepest ocean depths and/or the far reaches of outerspace. The music can be both cavernous and claustrophobic, sometimes simultaneously. Soothsayer achieves this atmosphere by implementing, above all else, a mature restraint as well as Reverb, synth lines both brittle and crystalline, guitar oscillations and noises not attributable to given instruments. As a whole, the album conjures the act of untethering, pushing off into an expanding cathedral. On Minneapolis-based Moon Glyph." edition of 50. HERE

High Wolf s/t CDr 6€
Winged Sun Records WS01. "First Winged Sun record to be released, first cdr from High Wolf, following tapes on Not Not Fun and Stunned records from California...Various tracks celebrating the birth of High Wolf and worshiping the jaguar. Mixing percussions, guitar, synth, drum machine and voice this should become your best friend during the summer. This record contains oldest High Wolf tracks ever made."

High Wolf - 'Gabon' C30 cassette 6.5€
Winged Sun Records WS02. "Following debut tape released on Not Not Fun records, this cassette shows High Wolf looking at Africa from his native Amazonia...What's the difference between Amazonian and African jungles? When we live in the wild, with percussions and tribal singing, we're all the same..."

WEBSITE

Cassette dada in every sense but sound, Andy Futreal’s ‘Did You Find It?’ is lo-fi guitar exploitation of healthy portion, served over a bed of wildly mixed sounds including postcard carousels and plenty of electronic gadgets. This guitar is engaging yet hardly showy, seeking out sounds and repeating in tasteful quantities until the expression is perfected. The title track which consumes the first side moves comfortably between Steven Smith amp ritual and bowed whale song, with crackles of radio chatter leaking to the surface from a bubbly depth. To answer the question, no, I think he’s just fucking with us. On the reverse, “Dine Qua Non” is a starker sound, reduced to nylon string guitar as a few effects and loops (derived from a buddha machine) loom in the background. Managing to be both more defined and more droning, the rounded edges of the softer guitar sound emit like hazy thought bubbles compared to the jagged exclamations of the previous side; asiatic plucking and divined repetition steps deceptively out, and with a sweeping wash propels the second half of the track with an elegant calligraphy. Thickly-sprayed cassette comes with an over-xeroxed J-card in a labeled case. (Earjerk cassette, $6 HERE)

WHITE CRIME s/t C16 $4(US)/$6(INTL)
"Unintelligible trash-punk anthems by Sam Gas Can and John Guida. The kids are clamoring for more saxophone, right? That's what I thought. Ltd. ed. of 50" HERE

DBA097 BLUE SABBATH BLACK FIJI - 'gemini' CDr
"not to be confused with BSBcheer, this freakout noiserock duo that is heavy heavy on the noise side of thangs, way bright and neon, way explosive, and one of the most celebratory noise declarations we've ever heard around here." SAMPLE/ORDER

DBA099 LEMON BEAR - 'light-bright' CDr
"although most widely known for his collaboration with inca ore on 5rc, his "solo" work which stems equally from his experience as a trained avant-garde composer and diy noise peers and will make your summer turn a brighter shade of chilled." SAMPLE/ORDER

DBA101 SPIRIT DUPLICATOR - 'Tonight I'll Forget the English Language' CDr
"jake anderson of gang wizard / yuma nora strikes again, now know as spirit duplicator (after years of work under celesteville) small, brittle, passionate, and atonal. perfect lo-fi gems from someone that has been making them since it wasn't cool." SAMPLE/ORDER

Get the batch of all three for a discount price and a secret bonus cassette will be included, just labeled DBA099S. HERE

BH 001 V/A - 'George Ferguson McKeating' 2CDr £8(UK)/£8.5(EU)/$13(USA)
"2 Cdr compilation of exclusive tracks. All proceeds go to Pancreatic Research Fund. Well concealed cash or cheques can be made out to 'Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund' preferred."
1.01 Richard Youngs , Alex Neilson It's All Waves (4:53)
1.02 Astral Social Club Ramoon Redux (5:58)
1.03 Culver Same Time Every Year (7:21)
1.04 Mirag The Barrow (7:04)
1.05 Hapsburg Braganza Alley Collage (4:30)
1.06 Vars Of Litchi Up The Hill - Down The Hill (6:10)
1.07 Hasan Gaylani There's A Feeling I Get When I Look To The West (10:08)
2.01 Jazzfinger Brittle Wood Fallen Stone (15:43)
2.02 Graveyards Tone Clash (6:57)
2.03 Greg Kelley , Alex Neilson March! March! The Morning Sun (4:41)
2.04 Mechanical Children Leaf Clatter (7:36)
2.05 Trauma Calming Effects Of The Ocean - Precursor (6:15)
2.06 Blood Stereo Dirt Hymn (3:02)

EMAIL

Beat-centered with a restrained aesthetic and diligent use of distortion, the one-man recordings of Realax provide an understated listening experience which multiplies its value with subsequent listens. Past the superfluous, middle-brow-verging-on-nonsense wordplay of the titles, these eight lengthy tracks comprising nearly one hour offer no tedium despite their minimal inclusions. Unlike the pointed, dance-minded approach of beat-makers like Compressor, the songs of ‘Apollo Guise’ offer rhythm as the common reference which is being subverted or, more accurately, underwritten by crunchy drones, oscillations, and the occasional squall of not-quite-abrasive feedback. Like the crushed steel of the cover art, there is a certain sense of not deconstruction but disfiguration, turning tracks like “Engledam Accord” into a thorny cluster while retaining the plainly attractive fruits of melody. Partially recorded in Berlin, there is a palpable dubstep influence on this production by way of nuanced textures and odd signatures, the pattering and commas of tracks like “Tensoanmar” just a little too full to want for lyricism, but certainly not ineligible for such consideration. CDr comes tucked into a cardboard gatefold with paste-on art and ink-jet insert. Limited to 50 copies.

Another beat-y debut from Little Fury Things with the above, and taking a third course from this and Farmacia’s Ariel Pink/electro-punk mash-and-send-up ‘Nosocomio Manicomio’, the duo Universal Studios Florida offers seven tracks in half-an-hour of DNTEL-styled IDM. With a direct-drive rhythmic compulsion, the tracks push along with little interruption, taking on distinct harmonic overlays which like their predecessor do nothing to confirm the titles to which they are assigned – save the carefree connotations of that monolithic moniker, to which these tracks seem ideally suited for. Gentle synthesizer sequencings generate the bulk of the bandwidth, swarmed by little muddy clicks and warm, swirling drones that offer too much form to actually drone. Perhaps too much of a consensus-builder to really suit fans of aggressive sound, the disc offers a subtle dimension which provides an uncanny mimicry in step with its satire (though this was probably not intended). Yet another head-scratching design from the label, the painted disc arrives in a cardboard gate-fold covered with a swatch of old pillow-case with paste-on label and color insert. Limited to 50 copies. (Little Fury Things CDr, $5 HERE)

Bjerga/Iversen — 'Magnetic Colours of the Electric Rainbow' CDr (Stunned no. 37) $7
"Sindre Bjerga & Jan-Morten Iversen give the impression that they could just as easily be suited in some futuristic medical lab as they are in the venues and galleries they’ve ceaselessly toured over the last decade as a duo. We’re on the job here with Norway’s serious nano-sculptors of the aural. These guys open their scalpel sets over tape spools & modular panels and go for the daring micro incisions that make the junior techs gasp. As fans of such heroic sound operation, Stunned is proud to present this official release of Bjerga / Iversen’s epic live 2007 performance at La Generale, captured in pristine fidelity by Radio WNE, Paris. It’s a determined procedure, nearly causing all attendants to faint in the sweaty focus of high register nerve-splicing and infrared plasma spurt. Thank God for the experts." Hand numbered edition of 120 painted cdrs with full color sleeve & insert card in vinyl jacket.

Rambutan — 'Broken Infinity' CDr (Stunned no. 38) $7
"Sometimes an album comes along that just sweeps us right to those endless summer nights where lying back on the still-warm grass, we realize the scope of inverted abyss in the sky above and breathe deep in awe. Rambutan’s ‘Broken Infinity’ is just such a listening experience. Crafted by the hands of the poly-talented Eric Hardiman of the Tape Drift label & Century Plants/Burnt Hills fame, this solo release is filled with aching intention and eye opening wanderlust. Past Rambutan releases tend toward carving out crushing scoops of night-tinged tones with his nimbly-processed six string. That wall-of-guitar power is also found here, but additionally Eric investigates stretches of glassy vibrato downpour & spooked twilight sustain. It’s relieving to find compositions willing to breathe like this, balancing dark & dominant outer forces with the levity of an inner infinite impulse, broken as it may temporarily be." Hand numbered edition of 100 painted cdrs with full color sleeve & insert card in vinyl jacket.

Black Eagle Child — 'Seeds That Sprout In Summer' C50 (Stunned no. 39) $7
"This follow-up full length to editions on such labels as Blackest Rainbow and Housecraft finds Black Eagle Child rowing his boat ashore and sparking the campfire wide and bright. Let’s stretch out our legs, because we have a nearly hour long psychfolk excursion of delight on our hands here. Once BEC’s Michael Jantz starts dronin’ and fingerpicking his acoustic around the flames, things chill way out and the ears get a good cleanse. Just crack a brew and mind you don’t get sick on the s’mores. This release happily marks Black Eagle Child having created a child of his own. Along with Mike & Celeste, we welcome Mary Jantz into the world, the newest and most special sprout of summer." Hand numbered edition of 100 pro-dubbed & imprinted c50 yellow tapes with matching jcard.

ALTAR EAGLE/Pillars of Heaven/Caligine/High Wolf — 'Essential Elements' C35 + C52 (Stunned no. 40) $11
"Four heavy-hitters converge here in totally complimentary energies on Stunned’s 40th release and 1st double cassette edition. TAPE 1: Things start off right with FIRE as can only be thrown by the Digitalis dynasty’s duo of Brad & Eden Rose. ALTAR EAGLE retains the warm tactility of their previous Corsican Paintbrush project while also bumping it into wildly higher dimensional states. Hot waves of alien electronics, guitars, and voice layer like magma into a thick mix, retaining an admirable delicacy to such chemically volatile process. Countering this initial heat-swell, Sal Giorgi’s solo endeavor blows in some seriously fresh AIR on the c35’s flipside. Many are familiar with Sal’s exquisitely curated & designed Peasant Magik label, but fewer seem privy to the mega dreamscape weaving enterprise that his Pillars of Heaven project serves. This piece is for those devoted to pure lateral synth-escape. A heavy pleasant dream we don’t want to wake from ever, and another good reason why they invented rewind. TAPE 2: According to Gabriele of the Rome-based Monstres par Excès label, the pieces that comprise his Caligine projects’ half of this c52 were improvised “with the aid of fingernails, iron strings, tough woods and the eternal flow of Every-Thing above our horizons.” The perfect approach for such visionary skeletal raag which deftly spins in and out of synchromystic EARTH orbit — an unfolk matrix that’s rich as the best soil around. By the final side of this double tape set, we have certainly been primed for High Wolf’s contribution of cultural boundary dissolution. Following up his Not Not Fun debut jammer, the question lingers on the origins of this Amazonian/African/French/?/? electro-maverick. Meanwhile, as we’re scratching our heads, he’s continuing to summon the musical equivalent of Gaia’s clearest WATER & lights of her aurora borealis. Under amorphous forms of guitar, angel choir, and synthesizer emerges the pulse of a hidden heartbeat, the only identity necessary for apprehending High Wolf’s true nature. Many thanks to these four artists of unique distinction who, for the very reason of their differences, united as unlikely 'Essential Elements'." Limited & hand numbered edition of 100 c35 + c52 silver tapes in double-cassette vinyl album with transparent covers and insert.

Vakhchav — 'In Embers' CDr (Stunned no. 41) $7
"Sophomore release by Vakhchav after his’08 debut on Abandoned Ship, and there are no signs of a slump in sight. NY city artist Nickolas Mohanna has been self-releasing his guitar/electronics work in mini-editions since ’05. Now this deliberation in refining an entirely original voice over the years pays off in a big way. ‘In Embers’ is trim and to-the-point, conveying strange symmetrical realms & whole worlds of weird in half the time most musicians might take. This is a journey into the direct center of the strobe, white and black crackles and hums form the absorptive blanket in which to lay out our gray matter and drift headlong into sidereal expanses of sound. The Vakhchav orb is bound to continue cresting our horizon – watch the dark skies." Hand numbered edition of 100 painted cdrs with transparent sleeve & insert card in vinyl jacket.

Silver Bullets — 'Free Radical' C48 (Stunned no. 42) $8
"William Giacchi of Magic Lantern and Super Minerals reports: 'While visiting family in southern Sicily last December, I caught up with an old friend who has shared a very similar trajectory with me in interests of psychedelic music both newer and vintage, local and global. Much to my elated surprise, he has been equally busy producing new sounds of his own, having lately assembled a mysterious psychedelic groove ensemble known as Silver Bullets. I sat in on a recording session and realized I was in the presence of psychic brethren, and that Stunned Records would be the perfect platform to introduce their brand of tonal gyration. Both the Silver Bullets and Phil & Myste were thrilled about the partnership, and thus we present "Free Radical" — two sides, eleven tracks of kraut-funk, coned-out drone rock, and assorted experiments with space and time. Wade through bluesy head-nodders, Italian fuzz contests, interplanetary bleeps and blips, and liberated dance songs for anti-environments. Taking spiritual cues from Don Cherry's Eternal Rhythm, "Free Radical" is a statement of unity through musical expression and an ecstatic celebration of existence. Play this tape at full moon and brace yourself for the unforeseen happenings.'" Limited & hand numbered edition of 100 pro-dubbed & imprinted clear green c48 tapes in oversized single-cassette vinyl album.

$35 for all 6

WEBSITE

A 2008 release by Maxime Primault as Enfer Boréal, ‘Eldorado’ offers a fantastically idiosyncratic read of the legend, sketched in abstract ambience with heavy doses of soothing drone. Never stirring much of a tension, these evocative tracks create an alien musique concrète, a desert noir landscape of creaks, groans, and barren gusts. So it goes from “Blue Bored Star” through “Lost and Lost and Lost”, an initial 20 minutes of resigned quiet and despair. Interlude “Broken Bones” is all texture, denying the effect of glitch by a total inclusion of glitchy material, augmented by bobbing patter, snarl, and a motoric flutter – a momentary dry scrabble of grotesque activity like an oasis of crude oil. “Emptiness and Smoke” blows as cool and hushed as the second passage, though now with an urgency like a gathering storm conjured by the most artificial yet of the albums sounds, a distinctly youthful human hum and terse little wahs like psychedelic noodling. With little advertisement, we stumble upon the fifth and final track, “Don Lope”, a burst of White Rainbow ecstasy made with rattles, the layered babbling of pads, and a swelling chorus of shimmering bright drones with razor-like vibrations as their silver linings. Washing over the track, the darker hue of rain storms and insect swarms imposes itself with the original drone, weighing it down and out with the end of the track. This is a unique, if ultimately decomposing piece of storytelling. In slim clamshell with color insert, art by Jonas Delaborde (of Nazi Knife). Limited to a mere 40 copies. (Cut Hands CDr, €7(EU)/ €8(World) HERE)

BT.HN. - 'Retrospective' CDr and T-shirt
"Pointless Blank Records is proud to present, after many hiccups BT. HN. Retrospective PRO CDR and shirt. A collection of select earlier works by Sam McKinlay’s (The Rita, Zenta Sustained, etc) side project, including the original BA.KU. material from the Barrier Kult skate video as well as an out take from the same recordings from 1996, Wolf Woman Of Black Lake originally released on Audiobot, andCrypts Of Dark And Obscure Lineage originally released on Iatrogenesis. Limited to 85 copies. Packaged in silkscreened chipboard cases. Also a BT. HN T-Shirt limited to 20 copies. And a Pointless Blank T-Shirt limited to 10 copies, more to come soon. Sizes S to XL." HERE

LW052 HATRED IN EYES - 'Nothing To Condone' 3" CDr 7€
"lim. 200 / special package (mini-Dvd case). This is the third release of HATRED IN EYES a power electronic project from Hong Kong which starts 2006 run by Crow.C. and provides pure hatred sounds, topics all about racial discrimination, alien, things happen in the city .... !"

LW054 ARGENTUM - 'We Are The Fire' CDr 10€
"lim. 200 / special package. This ARGENTUM album is the first exclusive pure power electronics work coming from Argentina. It sound is based in raw and harsh sounds with aggressive revolutionary lyrics. GREY WOLVES, GREEN ARMY FRACTION and SEKTION B are their mainly influences. \"We are the Fire\" will give you 66 minutes to choose your side: \"Wolf or Lamb\", as one of the song titles say. The newest sonic terrorism to awake the consumist global citizens."

LW055 BARRIKAD & GOVERNMENT ALPHA - 'Daydreaming' 3" CDr 7€
"lim. 200 / special package (mini-Dvd case). In a gloomy bar where everyone is bored to death, a drunken woman breaks her glass, then picks up a bottle and smashes it against the wall. Nobody gets excited; the disappointed woman lets herself be thrown out. Yet everyone there could have done exactly the same thing. She alone made the thought concrete, crossing the first radioactive belt of isolation: interior isolation, the introverted separation between self and outside world. Nobody responded to a sign which she thought was explicit. She remained alone like the hooligan who burns down a church or kills a policeman, at one with herself but condemned to exile as long as other people remain exiled from their own existence. 20 minutes of fine harsh noise collaboration of 2 fine projects."

WEBSITE

Documenting Ohio, Teen Action Records has released a small flurry of no-fuss cassettes capturing the sound of this bizarre musical way-station. Of a yet to be fingered artistic disposition, the state has produced a sizeable contingent of today’s hottest acts (Emeralds, Lambsbread, Burning Star Core) and foundational experimentalists (16 Bitch Pile-Up, Mike Shiflet, and on). Less of an attempt to capture “raw energy” or some rare event, these live recordings have a filthy, vérité quality to them which suggests a well-liked dog freely exploring a festival with a Zoom strapped to her back.

With the less-woolly, rainstick-free jam approach of The Punks, Teen Action house-band Seven Lies About Girls drops ‘Post Apocalyptic Panty Pudding’ (subtitle: ‘The out sound from within’), a C60 inundated with free-form mayhem. Initially divided into a series of even segments as if it were some old greatest hits dub, side A is centered around a mid-tempo beat (really the only constantly figurative sound in this extreme lo-fi) played by Nathan Snell, the mass of sound emerges as whirlers, whistles, and whatever, an absurd swarming of carnival noise melted down into a thick blocks of dull color. Voices, applause, and some tape snippets break up this waxy wall and reinforce the liveliness and spirit which underpins the overwhelming mess. Side B, apparently demarcated by the sometimes presence of Aaron Hibbs (Noumena, Sword Heaven) on guitar, is a deeper collection of sounds without division, appearing like the mechanical innards of the other side’s festivities: sparking whips of steel, a scraping, churning murmur from outside, MIDI-afflicted chattering, and a relentless din suffocating the detail of whatever treble appears. This is the arcade of Ohio, inside and out. Cassette comes with Xeroxed J-card, limited to 50 copies.

Curled for a nap, we catch a shared set by Jason Zeh and David Reed: meditative and cold, this collaborative/live side of Reed chafes the evocative imagery of his syntheses as Luasa Raelon and Envenomist, perhaps jeopardized by Zeh’s barrage of tape noise. Filling one half of the C32, this performance from June of 2007 never leaves the room, trapping the sounds and the listeners in a tight yet breathable space of clattering tape emissions - though the clacking of the medium is more demanding than the sounds they contain - and frosty, malicious synth tones. Enthusiastic applause concludes the piece. In a suitably similar vein, the reverse side contribution by Teeth Collection (Matthew Reis) is an equally immediate event, though far more dynamic as it moves leisurely through pockets of harsh noise, textured calm, and tense juxtapositions of high detail and wide berth. Recorded March 2008, this is the certainly the most vivid of the sides, as the clatter of live garbage sounds fill the stage to be swallowed in a cleansing burst of dry hot noise, and into a sequencer symphony of three-dimensional shapes. It perks up the ears and lures us from the room before the set is finished. Cassette comes with Xeroxed J-card, limited to 50 copies. (Teen Action Records cassettes, $8 HERE)

ANONYMEYE – ‘The Disambiguation of Anonymeye’ CD AU$20
“Named in honour of John Fahey, Mariah Carey, Wikipedia or all three, The Disambiguation of Anonymeye is the second full-length album from Brisbane experimental artist Anonymeye (aka Andrew Tuttle), and his first since 2006’s Anonymeye Hotel (Half/theory). Inspired by the cities of Brisbane, Melbourne and Rotterdam, relocations, micronations, airports and new beginnings, The Disambiguation Of Anonymeye sees Tuttle add a variety of vintage synthesisers from the ARP, Putney, Korg and Roland stables to his signature blend of delicately fingerpicked bluegrass via country guitar motifs and alternately minimalist and punishing signal processing and electro-acoustic body of work. Edition of 500.”

HEIL SPIRITS – ‘Tracing New Swords…’ CDr AU$10
“Heil Spirits is an escapee from urban chaos whose coruscating power violence has been creating dense ripples among the noise community for some years now. A three-part soundtrack to the end of days, Tracing New Swords for Chasing Oblivion and Other Collected Sketches is definitely the darkest thing we've ever released, which is maybe why we've balanced it with two gentler titles. Edition of 75.”

PEFKIN – ‘Zugunruhe’ CDr AU$10
“We've been a fan of Pefkin's delicate dreamscapes for a long time, and as such we're immensely proud to be able to present Zugunruhe. With its combination of processed guitar, free-form percussion, haunting vocals and analogue electronics, Zugunruhe is a beautiful collection of tracks that walks that ever-narrowing path between pop songs and pure abstraction. Edition of Edition of 75.”

FELICITY MANGAN – ‘Lumetorm’ 3” CDr AU$8
”Lumetorm is the latest release from globetrotting sound artist Felicity Mangan. The title means 'snow storm' in Estonian, which is a perfectly appropriate term for the crystalline soundscapes on this disc. Recorded variously in Melbourne, Berlin and Estonia, Lumetorm is part travelogue, part imaginary soundtrack, part heartbreaking song-suite. Edition of 75.”

WEBSITE

HR93 Tuluum Shimmering - 'Longhouse Spirits Gather for Fragrant Island River Dreams' C60
"'Transporting' comes to mind but that doesn't seem right... this is more like a living presence. It reminds me a bit of what Siddhartha might have felt sitting on that bank, hearing/seeing an endless, seamless flow of voices/faces in the river. But rather than voices come down cautiously fused reeds, percussive bells/clatter, and rising/falling synth scales which are, at times, reminiscent of Terry Riley's work on 'Shri Camel'. Regardless of how I see it, only metaphors seem right when conveying these four compositions. This project in neck-deep in the ethereal and a must-experience for the immersive listener." Variant covers--painted shells, cases, labels, and inserts. numbered edition of 50.

HR91 Kane Pour - 'Wand in the Beak of the Yellow Bird' C20
"Some impromptu kane-to-tape dirges recorded at the LiteHouse, Gainesville in late March '09. These are the first solo recordings released in almost 20 months (see Pospulenn). Following a steady stream of Tricorn and Queue cassettes, this is falling right in stride, expanding evermore on his signature ultra-saturated poly-rhythmic stream melodics. Warm as wool." Variant covers--painted shells, cases, and inserts. numbered edition of 50.

WEBSITE

CAVE - 'Psychic Psummer' CD $10/LP $14
"Heavy psychic jams utilizing repetition and sublte variations to make maximum minimalism. Essential listening."

CAVE - 'Made In Malaysia' 7" $6
"Bonus Bside track not on the LP. Essential listening."

BARDO POND - 'Gazing At Shila' LP $15

ALASEHIR - 'Torment Of The Metals' LP $15

ALUMBRADOS - 'Monorchord' LP $15

MOON PHANTOMS - 'Moon Phantoms' LP $15
Bardo & Suishou No Fune

MERZBOW - '13 Japanese Birds Volume 5: Uzura' CD $10
"If you're a subscriber we're shipping most of the boxes this month along with Vol. 5 inside of it."

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE - 'Glorify Astrological Martyrdom' LP $20
"Handmade version. 20 copies available w/ screen printed covers & label coaster included."

WEBSITE

rh004 CORNUCOPIA - 'BALANCE OF POWE' 3"CDr
"Literally after years in the making, BALANCE OF POWER finally comes to life in an edition of 60 copies. This release sees CORNUCOPIA in their deepest, heaviest mood, producing a piece of dark industrial sounds that border on noise. Dense and toxic atmospheric sounds. Each cover was painted individually and is therefore unique. It includes insert and disc sleeve. It's been a long while since the last update!!!! Three new releases at ruidohorrible by some of our favorite bands!" HERE