LP - Various Artists - Velvet Underground And Nico By Castle Face And Friends - $14.99 - BUY
- LISTEN 
- LISTEN The Velvet Underground are a perennial shop fave - we all love 'em, and we know we're not alone! The maniacal minds at Castle Face Records concocted an idea to record a track by track cover of "The Velvet Underground and Nico" album in honor of it's 45th anniversary (45 YEARS?!?!? holy moly!) and asked the artists on their roster to pick a tune and cover it. Check out the bands involved and you'll be sold:
"KELLEY STOLTZ, WARM SODA, TY SEGALL, BLASTED CANYONS (feat. JEREMY COX of ROYAL BATHS), WHITE FENCE, FRESH and ONLYS, BURNT ONES, THE MALLARD, K. DYLAN EDRICH AND THE BLACK ANGELS DEATHSONGSMEN, HERE COME THE HERE COMES, and THEE OH SEES."
Yeah dudes - peep that lineup. HOLY BANANAS!
Everyone does a stellar job here, some folks taking the foundation of the tune and blasting it apart (see Ty Segall's take on "Femme Fatale") and others just play it relatively straight, but giving the tune their own sprinkle of flavour (See Warm Soda's take on "I'm Waiting For The Man"). The cool thing is to see all the bands - who don't necessarily sound like each other, but are clearly influenced by VU - tackle one of the greatest albums of all time. Plus you get a cool cover reworking by underground cartoonist David Shrigley! We deem it a success and agree that after a few spins (it'll probably take just one), you will too - RECOMMENDED!!!
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!
SOLD OUT AT THE SOURCE!
YES! Scorpion Violente returns with another record of sleazy synth depravity in the form of "The Rapist". Their "Uberschleiss" LP from 2010 was one of our favorites of that year, if not of all time. SV is one of many projects of ex-ANALS mastermind Nafi, though credited here as Scott Scorpion (trying to keep track of all this dudes aliases is no small feat) and his partner in crime Toma Uberwenich. Made up of various keyboards and synthesizers in various states of disrepair, tangles of cables, duct tape, drum machines and Toma's lascivious groan Scorpion Violente dole out the noxious French glue wave proto industrial thump that we are constantly on the prowl for here at Permanent and they do it with an eerie uneasiness all their own.
These creepies have released several other records on Bruit Direct Disques, Avant! Records and Enfant Terrible to name a few, but this outing finds the fellas working with the Teenage Menopause label that brought us the amazing Catholic Spray "Amazon Hunt" album. While the sounds could be compared to the dubbed out minimal post-punk synth buzzes of The Dreams or early Cabaret Voltaire, Scorpion Violente tread a dark giallo-tinged shadowy nightmare land with just the right amount of camp that is distinctly theirs aesthetically. If the terrifying bespectacled flower offerer on the cover doesn't send you running than the eerie Halloween grooves that lay within this package should be right up your alley. We know it is certainly up ours and that we'll be spinning this thing on hard rotation for many a month to come.
Deliriously Recommended.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!
SOLD OUT AT THE SOURCE!
Third record from these Bordeaux badasses! After two LPs on Slovenly in 2010/11, JC Satan is back - this time on Teenage Menopause Records and raging like a fiery demon from the pit!
Maybe we're just remembering wrong, but GOOD GODDAMN "Faraway Land" is WAY darker and menacing than the band's previous output. Third time's the charm, indeed!
The album starts out with "Legion" - an ominous dirge that does literally sound like a horde of possessed demons inhabiting the grooves of this 12-inch record! After that we're treated to hook after hook of raging, glue-slathered, garage jangle! We were hooked from the first listen - WAY more immediate and entrancing than previous efforts! If you find yourself bewitched by the sounds of folks like Cheater Slicks, Night Beats, Oh Sees, and even some of the more recent crop of reverb'd soaked Slovenly acts like Paint Fumes or Acid Baby Jesus, then grab a map, some rations, and a canteen and head off for "Faraway Land"!
Grab this one while you can - according to the label, we allegedly have the last of the pressing of 500 so unless they repress, you might be in distress! RECOMMENDED!
ORIGINALS HAVE SOLD FOR AS HIGH AS $385
Originally released in 1986 by Spanish label Auxilio De Cientos and fetching ridiculously high sums on the inter webs, we now have a proper reissue with corrected artwork and remastered sound from the fine folks at Onder Stroom Records (the folks that brought you the bodacious Siglo XX and Bene Gesserit records).
Yep, you can chalk this one up as yet another winner from Onder Stroom Records! You all know by now we love some minimal/cold/synth wave round here and here's another record that is an absolute must-have for fans of the genre. We're hearing touches of the fanciful dance-iness of Deux and Pas De Deux, the dexterous finger work of Doris Norton, the militaristic march of 39 Clocks and Neon Judgement, the ominous slithering of Chris And Cosy and Robert Turman and the sonar/Doppler-isms of early OMD and Cabaret Voltaire. The black and white picture of dead tree-surrounded factory perfectly fits the mood for the dark and wintry industrial dance tones that Twilight Ritual is providing.
Seriously Essential and Supremely Recommended.
LP - Ceramic Hello - Absence Of A Canary - $21.99 - TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK IN
CHICAGO, EMAIL IF INTERESTED - LISTEN
CHICAGO, EMAIL IF INTERESTED - LISTEN
ORIGINALS HAVE SOLD FOR AS MUCH AS $350
We scored a stack of this obscuro cold wave classic that was long over due for a reissue. Well the wait is no more as the Suction Records heroes have done a bang up job on this here reissue pressing.
Just in time for the chilly climes we get yet another mined gem of minimal robotic grooves. Ceramic Hello are definitely plying the Tubeway Army/Gary Numan vibe here and the early Mute catalog, some vintage video game neo-classical vignettes, a touch of Chris Carter's solo work as well as some early OMD style EBM.
Icy tears and industrial rhythms collide with layered synth passages and stark talk/sung vocals to create some mid-fi cold wave minimal synth pop that runs through every shade of grey. This album would fit in nicely among the Dark Entries and Minimal Wave Records catalogs for sure so if you've been bopping to any of that stuff then grab this one immediately, it is perfect tones for the winter months. Originals are as rare as hen's teeth and when they do show up they go for outrageous amounts of money (see the above mentioned $350!?!?!?!?). Well now that Suction Records has gone and made this lovely reissue, a task 10 years in the making, at a much nicer price to boot, we can all grab a copy and enjoy the ennui.
Certainly Recommended.
Chicago's own Outer Minds are back with a brand new long player, with phasers on "kill" and set to melt brains! These guys and gals are nothing if not prolific - "Behind The Mirror" is the band's second full-length in less than a year (after the s/t affair on Southpaw from earlier in 2012), this one's a triple-y released (is that a word? Who cares?) split between FDH, Resurrection and Red Lounge Records! Everyone's just fighting over Outer Minds, but really who wouldn't wanna release this stellar new record from one of our fave local bands.
A lysergic and slinky record from this gang, packed with reverb, jangling 12-string, and droning organ - definitely a tighter, more focused effort than the debut (which seemed to find the 'Minds trying to find their legs) - but fear not! Both feet are planted firmly on the ground on this platter, and their elven boots are stomping on the grinning corpses of 'Satanic Majesties...' era Stones, The Seeds, Barbarians (there's even a Grapefruit cover!) and even rubs noses with contemporaries like The Fresh and Onlys (circa debut album), Cosmonauts, and The Night Beats!
A stellar platter from these hometown heroes! SO YOU KNOW, IT'S RECOMMENDED.
The Other Electricities and Roofless Records labels have teamed up to co-release this double album of severity from Holly Hunt and good goddamn this is some mega-heavy stuff right here! Year One is a monolithic slab of instrumental head crush that'll leave you bruised and beaten, yet cosmically conscious.
Pared down to the essentials with just guitar and drums, this duo unleashes a massive wall of sinister sonics; guitars are humongous swaths of industrial din that if you dig deep enough transform into undulating drones that function as meditative noise-scapes while being harnessed by a lock tight drummer that provides the groove and attitude.
If you dig acts like Godflesh, Om, Nadja and Holly Hunt's drummer's earlier band Floor then you better cop this double platter now. For all the loss in hearing you're sure to endure with this record it will be matched with gains in endorphin rush bliss. Dramatically heavy psychedelic drone rock is what Holly Hunt is bringing and they're bringing it in unforgiving copious amounts, so bring your gut bustingly biggest BIG GULP for this tall drink of awesome.
Severely Recommended.
The Mannequin Records has issued up a pernicious serving of minimal experimental electronics from Los Angeles based sound artist Octavius.
Dark and expansive while simultaneously forboding and dense electronics comprised of bass line driven compositons and extreme digital processing with hidden vocals meandering just beneath the surface is what one will find deep in the grooves of Octavius' "Laws". Like Tricky being molested and reappropriated by Throbbing Gristle, Octavius venture into some sleak and eerie industrial realms while maintaining a sexy strut.
You'll find hard to discern vocals cooing through the din that are at times back-masked terrifying yet compelling like a horror movie beckoning one to step further into the shadows. Recommended.
RED VINYL EDITION OF 100
12XU is back with a BANG in 2013 with this mutherfucker of a single from Aussie skumfuks Ratsak!
Killer and aggressive "post-hardcore" (what DOES that mean exactly?) with a whisper of the rock - reminds us of early Fucked Up or even the John Brannon led-outfits like Negative Approach or more accurately, Easy Action. Snarling dog vocals and aggressive Ginn-style riffage that grab the jugular and do not let go (We shouldn't be surprised, really considering the members former outfits!)
We got a few of the sold-out red vinyl editions that are limited to 100 copies, so grab it while the grabbin's good, 'cuz after this, the Ratsak's all black!
Gerard at 12XU has impeccable taste, so you KNOW this one's RECOMMENDED!
EDITION OF 320
We got a purty little 3 color silkscreened single on the A Fistful Of Records label by Jehosaphat Blow. 4 tracks of twist-a-rific lo-fi garage stomp is what Jehosaphat Blow are bringing and for a one man band he's bringing it beefy. We're hearing some BBQ/Mark Sultan action with a touch of Cramps scramble all slathered in swamp juice and 50's revelry on the a-side paired with some King Khan/Hasil Adkins sock hop lunacy on the b-side. Jehosaphat Blow is providing a fun filled mini party platter that'll bring a goobery smile to yer yap fer sure. Recommended.
Tape - Rotten Milk - Cursin By The Tabernacle - $4.99 - BUY
Our buddy Rotten Milk, known for many projects and productions, but most widely as a CAVE synth guru, not to mention local Twink doppelganger, has fled the Midwest, escaping the thermometer-drop, heading south to the Big Easy. One day during the wintery remnants of 2012 he dropped by the shop and handed off some of his solo cassettes "Cursin By The Tabernacle".
Sounding something akin to New Zealand contemporary KRAUS minus the guitar, Rotten Milk has offered up a handful of fractured synthesizer pieces that chart the more harrowing limits of outer space veering into blown-out glitches that sound like your speakers are in the process of actively bursting apart. We love us some outsider experimental electronics and Mr. Milk has provided a fine collection of blistering blips and wondrous waves.
RECOMMENDED.
