More minimal synth madness from (Max) Brotman and (Jesse) Short, with a 2012 cassette release "Distance Unknown" pressed up onto wax where it belongs by the good folks over at Chondritic Sound!
We loved this bad-boy when it was on cassette - here's what we said back then: "We absolutely loved Brotman and Short's best-of list topping "Heights" LP from last year (so much so that we've continually restocked it to present day). So you know we couldn't be more stoked to present their follow-up tape "Distance Unknown". We previously touted "Heights" as a really catchy, minimal, dark and dingy-basement groovy record that sounds authentically 80s, yet, like any good pop record should, completely timeless. Unlike many of the folks aping the genre's forefathers, Brotman and Short keep it simple and concise, at times sounding a bit like a more minimal, less angry Pop. 1280 on a heavy Cabaret Voltaire, Suicide, Throbbing Gristle, and Tuxedomoon (John) Bender (get it? Bender?). There's no hint of cheesiness (sometimes a distracting factor on other records in the genre) at all, just dark, minimal, synthetic drums and key waves with the blasé vocal mixed just right. The same can be said about this new tape. Fresh jams, with a few more dancefloor friendly moments, but all in all, a killer continuation of the B&S sound that we can't get enough of. Ten possibly posthumous and positively potable analogically RECOMMENDED jazz-funk greats…"
YEP - we still agree with every word. Recommended back then, and (now that it's on wax) RECOMMENDED even MORE. But act fast - it's limited to 300 copies that are liable to disappear faster than you could say "synthesizer"!
French glue wave / synth destroyers, Plastobeton, finally get an vinyl version of their much sought after and previously only CDr only album "Glam Mort" with some nearly lost bonus material tacked on for extra heft, pressed up by the folks over at Tanzpocesz Records!
BRING ON THE FRENCH WEIRDNESS. Plastobeton rises from the mysterious and always challenging music collective of Centre D'Hygiene De L'Est / Do You Like Sushi, and shares a few shadowy members with such excellent bands as the Anals, Feeling Of Love, AH Kraken and Scropio Violente, all of whose records we here at the shop just can fuckin get enough of. You might already be running out the door to grab this one, but if not, just know that Plastobeton's post industrial nightmare of Suicide, Throbbing Gristle, Silver Apples and the Screamers is like nothing else you'll hear all year long. A haunting, manic, spine chilling synth horror show this eerie and way out there will of course GET OUR HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.
The French government probably won't let many copies of "Glam Mort" escape the country, so grab one now!
Get ready to rocket into the far depths of space with Fire Talk Records' latest release, "Westerner" by Denver's mind-altering psych rockers, TJUTJUNA!!!!!!
Get ready for yer mind to melt!!! TJUTJUNA (whose name is pronounced “choo-choo-na,” taken from the Russian equivalent of the Sasquatch) might just be the mythical beast you discerning music junkies have been looking for all along. "Westerner" finds TJUTJUNA's droned out kaliedoscopic psych rock earworming itself into the dark corners of your mind with hints of Spacemen 3's druggy haze, Acid Mother Temple's extendo space explorations, Amon Duul II's acid soaked, warped improvisational skills and even some of the warm analog touches of Cluster / Can's kosmische ambience. Fans of shop favorites, Cave, Verma, Mind! and Wooden Shjips will certainly wanna jump down this rabbit hole with TJUTJUNA now!!!! We have several times already. A HIGHLY RECOMMENDED SPIN, whether chemically enhanced or not!!!!!!!
Full-length effort from Montreal troubador Devon Welsh, a.k.a Majikal Cloudz, released by the good folks over at Matador Records!!!!
Somber and minimal songs - some of which (musically) border on straight up melodic drones, with Welsh crooning over the top. Welsh's vocals are super intimate and confessional - referencing specific conversations or interactions that we (as listeners) aren't privy to, creating a dark air of mystery and ennui. Welsh's voice - albeit somber - still lilts along in a hopeful confession, he's almost the Canadian equivalent to Daughan Gibson. A bewitching listen - and also RECOMMENDED!
We flipped our wigs over Vision Fortune's stunning single on Mannequin and now they have resurfaced with their first proper full length.
Vision Fortune is blending strong arm tribal drumming patterns with pulsing bass lines and swirling effects to create some boss psychedelia. When not locking shit down with their mind blowing rhythm section, Vision Fortune is stretching out with lush drone work and hypnotic instrumental ambiance. Those hombres on the cover are a bit misleading to say the least, cuz this group is supplying killer spacey modern krautrock inspired tunes in the vein of Disappears, Oneida, My Disco and Mugstar. Snatch this sucker up quick like. Yep, you guessed it… Recommended.
An LP full of bangers from The OBN IIIs - recorded in a live setting when they stopped by Jersey radio station extraordinaire WFMU in 2012 to play on Evan "Funk" Davies' radio show! Released on Gereard Cosloy's 12XU label !!!!!!
Live albums are tricky beasts - when they're great, they're GREAT - we're talkin' yer "Live At Budokan"s, yer "Live at the Harlem Square Club"s, yer "Live At The Apollo"s… but many end up falling flat. Austin TX's OBN III's have unleashed a few singles and two LPs (both on Tic Tac Totally) of high-octane, driving R'n'R akin to Sonic's Rendevous Band, The Stooges, and The Saints that capture the sweat and raw energy of shirtless rock and ROLL with gleeful aplomb. The REAL place to capture these dudes is in a live setting and THIS is what this album delivers - no edits, no overdubs, just the boys cranking it in the studio. Is it gonna be the next "Budokan"? Who knows? Time will tell - but for now, we're just gonna turn it UP and try not to overthink it! As with everything these dudes do - it's fuckin' RECOMMENDED.
Sacred Bones Records is always bringing the best of the best in new music and they've hit a home run with their latest, Abandon by Pharmakon!!!!!!!
Fuck yeah! It's been a minute since we've heard a good noise record and Pharmakon's debut for Sacred Bones is a threatening document of violence and harshness. "Abandon" melds terrifyingly harsh feedback and guttural screams with ambient washes and eerie loops. Tight and structured compositions of battering rhythms, insectoid buzzing and raw female vocals make up the content on "Abandon", an album not for the faint of heart. Brings to mind acts like early Swans, Throbbing Gristle, Diamanda Galas and Sewer Goddess. These four extended tracks of terror are nothing short of severe aural punishment. It'll find you keeping the lights on for a bit longer than you usually do. Well done! Supremely Recommended.
SHIT YEAH! The debut 1968 album from Dutch psychedelic masters Group 1850 remastered and reissued in a repro of the original 3-D cover (WITH the 3-D glasses too!)! TRIPPPPPPPYYYYYYY!!!! Missing Vinyl from Greece took their sweet time with this baby and the care and attention shows !!!!!
"Agemo's Trip To Mother Earth" is front to back filled with GREAT stuff that's alarmingly adventurous without sacrificing coherence and hooks for "lysergic compatibility" (if you know what we mean). Definitely traversing the same sonic landscape as Pink Floyd / Mothers / Arthur Brown / Captain Beyond, but from a decidedly Dutch standpoint. We're hearing echoes of The Outsiders (specifically the weirder stuff from CQ) as well as Q65 or Cosmic Dealer! Tune in, turn on and BUY THIS NOW before it takes a trip back into the out of print wonderland from whence it came! Pressed up on glorious 180gm vinyl and housed in a glossy, fabulously restored gatefold sleeve - this record hasn't looked or sounded this great since, well - 1968! RECOMMENDED - you seriously can't (Neder)beat it!
LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES!!
SOLD OUT AT THE SOURCE!
SOLD OUT AT THE SOURCE!
Stellar Leeds, UK outfit, Hookworms avoid the sophomore slump with "Pearl Mystic"! Their previous longplayer on Faux Discx was (technically) a 12-inch EP, but those 4 extended tracks took up both sides of that platter and filled our eardrums with some grade-A motorik psych-rock burners! "Pearl Mystic" was released by UK label Gringo Records and doesn't stray too far from that apt description, but the quintet has found it's legs on this album - the mellower tunes swoon and swell with more finesse and the heavier parts are more interesting and densely constructed. The UK psych-explosion of the late-Eighties/early-Nineties is an obvious touchstone for these guys, with the ghosts of Spectrum, Loop and Spacemen 3 all milling around bumming smokes, but there's a palpable whiff of the new guard of psychedelic acts raising their hands here too - Cosmonauts, Wooden Shjips, Cave and even Carlton Melton too. Hookworms are definitely carving out their own niche, though - there's a real swagger to these young bucks that often times has a Rolling Stones-y vibe, riding out the groove with rollicking, soulful reverie peppered by squalling fuzz-flanged guitar and synth. We were impressed by their EP, and this album takes it to the next logical plateau - can't wait to hear more (US Tour, please?) RECOMMENDED, but act fast - this one's already sold out at the source and these will NOT stick around for long! GET IT!
LP - Daniel Higgs - The Godward Way - $18.99 - BUY
This is one 24 minute long track. The track is repeated on the B side.
The ongoing Latitudes series has released some of the finest recordings by some of today's most interesting and limit testing artists. So when we dropped the needle on their latest installment by Daniel Higgs we knew we were in for quite the journey and "The Godward Way" delivers and then some. When Daniel Higgs performed at the Chicago shop he had completely transfixed the crowd into a conscious altering trance with his bewitching banjo skills and here on the "The Godward Way" he is supplying the same alchemical wizardry. Higg's banjo raga and sage like voice combine to draw the listener into an ever spiraling vortex of roots music that betrays any since of limits or pre-set conditions and sets course for nothing short of the center of the sun if not entire universe itself. This spirit filled experimental devotional music and Higgs will make you a believer. Mega Recommended.
More killer Iranian pop reissues coming from the purveyors of pop from the non-Western world - Pharaway Sound, who set their sights on classy Iranian pop princess Ramesh!
A killer collection of stuff we'd probably never had thought to check out of it weren't for Pharaway! Musically, Ramesh's sound lies somewhere in a fine line between the soaring sunshine-pop influenced sound of bands like Free Design or 5th Dimension and the slinky, pseudo-funk that pulls from elements of Seventies soul/funk (specifically soundtrack) records like Shaft/Trouble Man/Love Unlimited Orchestra or even Bond soundtracks like Goldfinger, but peppered with Eastern melodies. Phased sitars and guitars dance around each other before collapsing onto a bed of gurgling synthesizers all lured to the rocks by the siren's song of Ramesh's silky vocals! Apparently Ramesh was murdered for her overt and open sexuality (a severe taboo - even in Seventies Iran) which only adds to the ennui and longing in her voice. A killer comp of funky flavors that is sure to spice up your collection! RECOMMENDED!!!
We are always thrilled to get a new Umberto record round here and the latest "Night Has A Thousand Screams" is as riveting as they come. Pressed up and set loose in the wild by the formidable Rock Action Records, "Night Has A Thousand Screams" was originally performed at the Glasgow Music and Film Festival in February 2012 as a live score to 1982 cult classic slasher flick Pieces. Umberto's known admiration and inspiration from 70's and 80's horror movies is longstanding and his skills are showcased here where with finesse, subtly and a studied know-how set the scene for the gruesome chainsaw wielding lunatic slicing up co-eds on a Boston campus. All the "song" titles are scene titles, i.e Opening Credits, The Investigation, The Locker Room and so on which is a nice touch in our opinion. Here you'll find the Umberto you've come to know and love: ghostly synth builds, ticking hi-hats, arpeggiated crystalline loops, lurching funky bass lines and jump cut scare tactics more blood curdling than ever. This comes housed in a full color gatefold sleeve and comes with a handy dandy download. Super Recommended.
EXTREMELY rare soundtrack to this sexy Henry Chapier film recorded by Vangelis early on in his career (possibly while STILL in Aphrodite's Child) reissued by Greek label Missing Vinyl!
A truly weird soundtrack that on the surface has elements of traditional soundtrack interludes, but more attentive listening reveals the strangeness and avant-leanings Vangelis adopted in the later Aphrodite's Child albums like "666" with sampled bits of ambient audio (traffic, handclaps, dialogue) interspersed throughout. A large portion of the tunes however have the sort of progressive-cum-krautrock vibe of his early works like "The Dragon", with sinewy, serpentine rhythm section and persuasive keyboards and out-of-nowhere percussion peppering the mix. Plus bongos too. KILLER bongos. Heck, with a soundtrack like this it makes up want to watch the movie to see how all this music fits into the narrative, 'cuz it is some bizarre shit. Like Kenneth Anger or Jodorowsky-sounding bizarre shit. This 2013 reissue of "Sex Power" is housed in a beautiful gatefold and pressed up on 180gm vinyl for all you maximum audio-philiacs out there! RECOMMENDED? With every fiber of our sexy beings, YES.
LP - Big Butter - Brainsled 2xLP - Limited Edition Colored Vinyl w/ Hand-Numbered Tim Biskup Art Print - $99.99 - TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK IN CHICAGO, EMAIL IF INTERESTED- LISTEN 
One of the best things (aside from the music, of course) about the vinyl format is the artwork, and this record has some incredible artwork all over it. From the tip-on gatefold jacket to the 12" x 36" poster, to the full-color printed inner sleeves, there's a virtual gallery's worth of art included in this record, and it's good too - all created by the renowned pop surrealist / fine artist Tim Biskup. Tim and his brother Mike have been recording under the Big Butter moniker for nearly 30 years. This brand new double LP was derived from tapes dating back 27 years. The development of the band over time shows in the eclecticism of the tracks, but all of these tracks are pretty timeless. They could've been recorded at anytime over the last 40 or so years (the Residents' first album came out in 1974).
It's a fantastic record that will appeal deeply to fans of experimental / esoteric / electronic / avant pop music. Ed. Note - The Residents and Jad Fair are thanked in the liner notes. Although Ralph Records distributed the Big Butter records in the late-80s, it's a damn shame that Big Butter never released anything on Ralph, as they would've fit in very naturally among the esteemed label's ranks and it would've garnered them the wider audience they deserve.
Grab one of these before they melt away! Everything's better with (Big) Butter!
ANY new Limiñanas wax is cause for celebration around these parts - they're one of our favorite modern bands that have yet (in our opinion) to make a bad recording. They're alarmingly consistent and with each subsequent single and full-length have systematically refined their dead-cool French slither. This new 45 on French label Nasty Product finds the band treading the darker waters of their oeuvre - "La Melancholie" lopes along with an almost bluesy/country vibe, with a delicately plucked mandolin leading the way down a dusty path, with vocalist Nadége's smoky drawl leading you to what portends to be a very sexy doom. The flip "Votre Cote Yeye" bounces along with what's now become The Limiñanas patented stabs of deadly fuzz guitar punctuating the singsong verses of Lio Limiñana and guest vocalist Francesca Cusimano which seem to be referencing Godard in a very 'Nancy and Lee' sorta way. Ooh la la! Another absolutely KILLER release to whet our appetites while Lio and Marie prepare their next full-length! RECOMMENDED? Bien sûr!
EDITION OF 225
Image Of Life drop 2 tracks of dark minded minimal wave shrouded in mystery. Both tracks are up-tempo fog frolickers with buzzing synths, skittering drum machines and baritone laments of full moon blight. These tracks are mega catchy and hook you in immediately. Perfect for the 39 Clocks, Horrid Red, Teenage Panzerkorps set or even for fellow LA synth creepers MERX. Totally Recommended
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EDITION OF 345
Pure Ground have a fine outing with this 2 track single of synth pop cold wavery. The blurred vocals and dance-y rhythms mix nicely with the multiple layers of synthesizer passages. The keyboard structures are reminding us of some video games from days past, plus these guys would fit in great with the Minimal Wave Records roster or the amazing BIPPP comp we're always goin' on about. Most Certainly Recommended.
Hotlanta's skuzziest rock n rollers, Wymyns Prysyn, have TWO new slabs of blown out, high octane punk fury to lay down on yer turntables, a self titled EP on No Breaks Records and the "Waste Your Life" b/w "Keep in Simple" 7 inch on Pygmy Records. Both are culled from a 2012 Tour Only Cassette and mixed for maximum distortion, speaker rattling and debauchery.
"Waste Your Life" is deviant feedback damaged anthem that channels both 80s hardcore and budget rock n roll in one swift, high volume train wreck. The B Side, "Keep It Simple" could be the Wipers and Hot Snakes in a drunken knife fight over which Touch and Go record to play next at your party, YES! Someone's gotta keep it down n dirty, since the Carbonas imploded! Severely limited and TOTAL RECOMMENDED! You need this mayhem now!
Hotlanta's skuzziest rock n rollers, Wymyns Prysyn, have TWO new slabs of blown out, high octane punk fury to lay down on yer turntables, a self titled EP on No Breaks Records and the "Waste Your Life" b/w "Keep in Simple" 7 inch on Pygmy Records. Both are culled from a 2012 Tour Only Cassette and mixed for maximum distortion, speaker rattling and debauchery.
The self-titled ep blasts off with wall of massive guitar riffs, snarling vocals and pummeling drums, all fuzz coated, deranged and trashy as can be. Wymyns Prysyn rips through these four songs in one quick breath and before you know it you'll be flipping this one over and over again, til yer needle is melted, that we can promise. Equal parts KBD punk, thrashy SoCal hardcore and warped garage punk, Wymyns Prysyn's self titled ep will certainly make yer ears ring with pleasure like Action Swingers, Pussy Galore and Drive Like Jehu did back in the good ol' days. And that of course makes it, HUGELY RECOMMENDED!!!!
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES
You cannot contain Bass Drum Of Death's fuzzy garage rock to a mere 7 inch single, so Innovative Leisure pressed this Record Store Day double shot on the next best thing, 8 INCHES OF WAX!!!!
"Shattered Me" and "Crawling After You" finds that sweet spot between reverbed garage rock and sunshiny power pop that we here at the shop can never get enough of. Ty Segall, Bare Wires, Terry Malts, Heavy Times and Jay Reatard junkies like us will need this Bass Drum Of Death fix now. Super limited and SEVERELY RECOMMENDED.
