AIDAN BAKER - 'I Fall Into You' CD (Basses Frequences)
Reissue of the limited 2002 release from Canadian artist Aidan Baker (Nadja, Arc), originally issued on US label Public Eyesore. "Mixing drone with post rock and experimental electronics, this 5 track, 50-minute release takes inspiration from tons of different sources and stirs them together into one drifting mass of sound... heaving layers shift over one another like a Stars Of The Lid track, but instead of letting the washes go wherever they want, he introduces a very subtle beat behind it all... Combined, the first three tracks on the release are some of the best work in the area of drone and ambient that I've heard this year... if you're a fan of drone and ambient music, definitely seek out this release, as Baker is definitely doing some great things (Almost Cool). Ltd x 500 with new artwork including lyrics.
Arkhonia's "Trails/Traces" fulfils the much promised, but seldom delivered, remit of large portions of ambient music - "to take the listener on a journey". From the deep rumblings of the album's opener to the final decaying notes and crackles of its closing track, all manner of mood-shifting experimentation directs (and occasionally derails) the listener along a sonic path that is at times unnerving and, at others, warmly welcoming. Each piece leads neatly into the next and one would not suspect that this album was assembled from material produced over the span of the last decade - the production values on display in the oldest pieces are qualitatively indistinguishable from the most recent and all are invested with a luscious, finely honed depth of texture. Slow-burning drone constructions for fans of Andrew Chalk, Thomas Koner, Machinefabriek and Alva Noto.
UK 11£
Europe 12£
World 13£
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BETA CLOUD - 'Lunar Monograph' CD (Laughing Bride Media)
Latest disc of blissed out soft focus dronemusic from this longtime aQ fave. After past collaborations with Lull as well as Aidan Baker, Lunar Monograph is the first disc we've head from BC on his own, and it's definitely a divine bit of ethereal and ephemeral drift. Field recordings are deftly woven into soft swirling shimmering tones, guitars are spidery and delicate, spinning crystalline webs of hushed melody... pealing tones, and barely there melodies, drifting weightlessly through a field of minimal effects, and slow shifting whirs, as well as some mysterious field recordings, that make the end of the record feel like you've just come out of a trance, and found yourself back in the real world, which is not all that far off the mark. So nice." (Aquarius). Mastered by James Plotkin. Digipak.
UK 10.50£
Europe 11.50£
World 12.50£
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BLACK CROW KING - 'To Pay The Debt Of Nature' CD (Bad God Music)
The bastard offspring of extreme Doom, Death Industrial, Black Metal and Dark Ambient. Think along the lines of Khanate meets Gnaw Their Tongues with some harsh electronics and black atmospherics thrown in for good measure. A soul-snuffing dirgeful paean to Crows, Nature, Death and Misanthropy. Blackened doom at its best...and ugliest. "...if you're a brave soul and seeking a paradigm shift in your perceptions of just how harrowing a musical recording can be... then Black Crow King is pretty much your last stop before entering the realm of pure, undiluted hell-noise. Wear a flak jacket, make out your will and say a prayer to whatever made up deity might comfort you."
UK 10.50£
Europe 11.50£
World 12.50£
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BLINDHAED - 'Whether That Will Make People Want To Become Archaeologists, We'll Have To See' SINGLE SIDED 12" (Ini.Itu)
The first release on this Belgian label is a single-sided , 20-minute 12" from Blindhæd. Abstract, musique concrete and experimental sounds, citing their influences as Lull, Asmus Tietchens, Phill Niblock etc. "The slight metallic rumble, the same subaquatic sound processing, the debris of contact microphone rumble. It seems to be dealing less with field recordings, and more with the electronic layering of various concrete actions and sounds, which shift along each other in quite an intelligent way. One can sense that there is quite some time and effort in this piece, since it flows subtle and moves into various different textures" (Vital Weekly). Ltd x 250 hand-numbered copies in a full colour sleeve.
UK 9.00£
Europe 12.50£
World 16.00£
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BRION GYSIN - 'Live In London 1982' CD (Sub Rosa)
"Live In London 1982" is the Beat Generation revamped. Recorded in Brixton four years before the death of Beat legend, this live set features Gysin reciting poems from the late '50s and early '60s, accompanied by a makeshift no wave backing band consisting of Slits bassist Tessa Pollitt (also on cello), Rip Rig Panic, drummer Steve Noble, Penguin Cafe Orchestra percussionist Gile and guitarist Ramuntcho Matta. Most of the texts were written upon meeting Burroughs, at the time of the invention of the cut-up. The influence that Brion Gysin has had on contemporary music may never be taken fully into account. The music is resolutely avant rock: dissonant, provocative, and largely improvised. Gysin called this session "White Funk". Live in London 1982 is an interesting document, which will appeal to connoisseurs of William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin's legacy.
UK 13£
Europe 14£
World 15£
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BRUCE GILBERT - 'Oblivio Agitatum' CD (Editions Mego)
The new album by Bruce Gilbert, whose career stretches back to late 1960’s British avant-garde art & music scenes, and has since played an important and influential role with his involvement in various rock based formations, work for choreographic projects and art installations. ‘Oblivio Agitatum’ is Gilbert’s first album length release since ‘Ordier’ (realised 1996 and released in 2004), essentially making this his first album of the 21st century. A startling and mesmerizing work which recalls some of his mid 1980’s works such as ‘This Way’ and ‘Shivering Man’. An ever shifting set of agitated and obscure tones creating a sense of confusion while still being highly structured and concentrated. Digipak.
UK 13£
Europe 14£
World 15£
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BT.HN - 'Her Serpent' CD (Troniks / PACrec)
BT.HN is Sam McKinlay (The Rita, Vice Wears Black Hose, Black To Comm) and Josh Rose (Sick Buildings). A deep, crushing soundwork fuelled by the duo's dark powers. Obscured vocal rituals and throbbing electronics push through shifting harsh noise walls. PLAY AS LOUD AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE. Ltd x 500 copies in a card sleeve.
CULVER / SEPPUKU - 'Dedicated To Soledad Miranda' CD (At War With False Noise)
First time on CD for both these bands: Culver is the awe-inspiring drone / noise project of Lee Stokoe (Marzuraan, Skullflower). Here he gives us a 30 min+ deluge of harrowing, bassy drone, purveying a sense of crawling dread at what is to come. Soon things get more desperate before being crushed into oblivion by a wall of crushing amplifier noise, which slowly develops into a more sedative shifting tone. Seppuku give two tracks in very different styles... the first is an unbearably heavy doom piece, giving way to some Throbbing Gristle-esque hydraulic pumping before the guitars kick in and everything is laid to waste... heavy duty! The second track sounds very post-industrial power electronics, with walls of bleak static forming the backbone of the track, interspersed with what sounds like post-apocalyptic winds of death, and some distorted lines of screeched vocal. Unpleasant. Ltd x 500 copies.
UK 9£
Europe 10£
World 11£
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DIALING IN - 'Cows In Lye' CD (PseudoArcana)
Dialing In is the ecstatic roaring psychedelic drone project of Seattle based sound artist Reita Piecuch. Utilising the natural acoustics of a series of reverberant spaces she weaves together super saturated soundscapes by recording in one environment, playing back in another, and then re-recording this recording playing back in yet another environment. On 'Cows in Lye' the original sound sources range from loops of field recordings from a trip to India, piano, and the shifting drones of a "Shruti Box" (electronic Tamboura). One track also features a long stream of consciousness vocal performance from avant-crooner 'Herb Diamante'. 6-panel digifile.
UK 10.50£
Europe 11.50£
World 12.50£
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ELYSIÜM & MONARCH! - 'Elysiüm & Monarch!' CD (Solitude Records / Throne Records / Shifty Records / Amertume Corruption / Parade Records / 213 Records / Wee Wee / Fidelio / Amanita / Murder Records)
Talk about your polar opposites, it’s like night and day on this one! This French pairing brings together the skull exploding grind antics of Elysiüm and the super slow motion doom of Monarch. Elysiüm splatters gray matter with four cuts in 10 minutes of noxious, hyper speed grind frenzy. Meanwhile Monarch eclipses the sun with a 58 minute dirge featuring some of the sickest female vocals ever committed to CD! Apocalyptic droning, dredging doom riffs and a fetid air of misery impact with all the subtlety of a rusted knife to the groin. If Burning is too fast for you, then Monarch! should fit just right! Second edition of 500 copies.
Singular work from this Dutch-born Belgian composer who isolates elements from The Conet Project’s macabre collection of secret shortwave "number stations" and assembles them in massively brooding late night dronescapes, repeat tone clusters and flashes of phantom electricity. Something supremely disconcerting about the mechanised voices and occult number calls and put in this context the whole piece takes on a bizarre / surreal almost Nurse With Wound air. 'Shift Coordinate Points' refers to an excerpt from William Burrough's novel 'Nova Express. Edition of 300 copies.
UK 12.00£
Europe 15.50£
World 19.00£
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FABIO ORSI & MAMUTHONES - 'The First Born' CD (A Silent Place)
"The First Born" contains four long tracks of dark, brooding modern psychedelia. Tthe whole album feels like an ancient sea ebbing and flowing on some distant alien shore, making for a curiously disjointed listening experience, at the same time peaceful and menacing. The ever-shifting sonic textures evoke both the starchildren krautrockers of old and more recent outer-world explorers but always keep a strong personal identity, firmly rooted in the current weird Italian take on space rock. Digifile.
UK 8£
Europe 9£
World 10£
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FLATLINE SKYLINE - 'All Sound / No Vision' CD (Mechanoise Labs)
The second album from Jacen Kemp and Robert Andrew Scott stands as a stylistic counter-statement to 2005's "Horizon Grid." Fierce, emotionally driven and abrasively textured, "All Sound / No Vision" confirms Flatline Skyline's masterful sense of tension and release and melodic sensibility while further evolving their sound beyond any previous expectation. Forged atmospheres of lethargic bliss, energetic vocals, noisy electronic shudders and multi-faceted intonations are perfectly suited to the shifting electronic foundation. Ltd x 500 copies in a digisleeve with 12-page booklet.
What Freiband proposes here is 2 sides of radically reworked gamelan. Side A seems to progress through an acid bath and take the magnifying glass to enhance the digital decays, evoking various stages of textural corrosion. Through these aggressive and irreverent treatments, the naturally metallic harmonics are by twist and turns abruptly dismantled and fractured into crunchy, dense and fuzzy fireworks. On side B, through some arcane wiring, some machines end up spitting out shifting binary patterns with a somewhat alienating feeling. Dry and uncompromising “Unerforschtes Gebiet” between minimal beats and Steve Reich’s early tape compositions. File alongside Hecker, Pita, Mika Vaino, Fennesz or Alva Noto's Xerrox LPs. Features 2 locked grooves. Ltd x 250 numbered copies.
HAARE - 'Madon Evankeliumi' CD (At War With False Noise)
Finland's Haare are one of the most exciting noise artists around. This is total swirling psychedelia, incredibly heavy shifting tides of drone with evil organ lines permeating the noise. Haare himself describes it as "a slow, heavy bell". Based on source sounds provided by MOSS members Olly Pearson, Chris Chantler and Dom Finbow. Ltd x 500 copies in an A5 pro-printed gatefold wallet and PVC sleeve with amazing art by Andrew Labanaris (Electric Wizard and MOSS).
UK 9£
Europe 10£
World 11£
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HALF MAKESHIFT - 'L'Anse Amort' CD (20 Buck Spin)
Half Makeshift is the solo project of Pennsylvania's Nathan Michael. L'anse Amort contains four tracks that expand on the density of his debut "Aphotic Leech", creating more space and reflection, more peaks and valleys. The monumental 17 minute opener "Whale Heart" builds from a simple melody and crackling electro-static to eventually collapse under its own weight in a huge Nadja-esque wall of drone riffery , while other tracks are comparable to Bohren Und Der Club Of Gore. "L'anse Amort" is epic in a way most "post-rock" bands can only aspire to. Comes specially packaged in a outsize gatefold sleeve.
HEAVY WINGED - 'Waking / Shaking' LP (Aurora Borealis)
The vinyl-only "Waking, Shaking" release consists of two lengthy tracks: 'Tidal Blackness' is a 23 minute cloud of improvised guitar and bass drone, underpinned with sparse percussive elements and dappled with the rays of ethereal melodies. This track, recorded live in Oakland in 2008, represents the more gentle side of Heavy Winged in some ways and is largely soothing. The second side harbors 'Morning Flesh'; 18 minutes that veer towards the caveman Krautrock of the recent "Alive In My Mouth" LP, drums pounding, Neanderthal guitar chugging, though with a melodic haze drifting across the musical landscape like a lysergic mistral, leading the listener ever further into the shifting sands of the forbidden zone.. Ltd x 500 copies on transparent grey vinyl.
UK 14.00£
Europe 17.50£
World 21.00£
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IHVHLXXII - 'Dtxenioutha' CD (Dying Art Productions)
IHVHLXXII are reputedly the first Dark ambient group from China. Their music comes with a deep philosophical and historical origin. The music shifts from ghostly and heavy dark ambient with insane Chinese screams and ramblings, to guitar-based and percussive pieces, to melancholic neoclassical compositions. IHVHLXXII are building their own mythical empire of melancholy, isolation and exquisite rumbling soundscapes. IHVH forms four basic elements of the world in the philosophy of ancient Greece. Every Hebraic letter has a value, and the total value of IHVH is 72 (the LXXII in the band's name). Ltd x 1000 copies.
UK 10.50£
Europe 11.50£
World 12.50£
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KARL BOSMANN feat. JAN VAN DEN DOBBELSTEEN / ULTRA MILKMAIDS / HIROSHI HASEGAWA - 'Levoton - RED / BLACK MARBLED' LP (Psych.KG)
"The original on one side and the remixes on the other side. Karl Bösmann plays zither, bows, voice, hammer, ventillation, timpani, trumpet and trombone in the twenty minute title piece. I usually quite like his work and this new piece is no different. It seems to creating a hiatus with his older work in that it all seems to be derived from acoustic sound sources, rather than electronics. Its slowly building up, layer by layer and from a certain point on a moire like effect takes place, of shifting sounds, moving in and out of the mix. A fine complexity of dense sounds arrives and has a weird, almost avant-folk like character. The first remix is by Jan van den Dobbelsteen, The Netherlands' more conceptual composer. I have no idea what he did to the material, but 'radical rework' surely applies here. A static beep, like an alarm clock, repeated over and over. Ultra Milkmaids also do a form of reduction but in a more musical way, bringing everything down to just a few meandering organ like sounds. Hiroshi Hasegawa (Astro), on the other hand does what he does best, which is putting down a fine psychedelic mix of noise like sounds. Three entirely different remixes, none of which resembles the original at all. Now that's what I call a great remix project" (Vital Weekly). Ltd x 150 numbered copies on different red vinyl with 4 inserts in a hand-printed die-cut sleeve. This edition is on RED/BLACK MARBLED vinyl and is limited to 20 copies only!
ONE COPY PER CUSTOMER ONLY! If you attempt to purchase more than 1 copy, your order will be refunded.
UK 18.00£
Europe 21.50£
World 25.00£
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KARL BOSMANN feat. JAN VAN DEN DOBBELSTEEN / ULTRA MILKMAIDS / HIROSHI HASEGAWA - 'Levoton - SOLID RED' LP (Psych.KG)
"The original on one side and the remixes on the other side. Karl Bösmann plays zither, bows, voice, hammer, ventillation, timpani, trumpet and trombone in the twenty minute title piece. I usually quite like his work and this new piece is no different. It seems to creating a hiatus with his older work in that it all seems to be derived from acoustic sound sources, rather than electronics. Its slowly building up, layer by layer and from a certain point on a moire like effect takes place, of shifting sounds, moving in and out of the mix. A fine complexity of dense sounds arrives and has a weird, almost avant-folk like character. The first remix is by Jan van den Dobbelsteen, The Netherlands' more conceptual composer. I have no idea what he did to the material, but 'radical rework' surely applies here. A static beep, like an alarm clock, repeated over and over. Ultra Milkmaids also do a form of reduction but in a more musical way, bringing everything down to just a few meandering organ like sounds. Hiroshi Hasegawa (Astro), on the other hand does what he does best, which is putting down a fine psychedelic mix of noise like sounds. Three entirely different remixes, none of which resembles the original at all. Now that's what I call a great remix project" (Vital Weekly). Ltd x 150 numbered copies on different red vinyl with 4 inserts in a hand-printed die-cut sleeve. This edition is on SOLID RED vinyl and is limited to 105 copies only!
UK 15.00£
Europe 18.50£
World 22.00£
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LOCRIAN - 'Rain Of Ashes' CD (Basses Frequencies)
"Essentially a single, hour long track split into two parts, Rain of Ashes brings in even more elements to the duo’s normally guitar/electronic sourced metal tinged drone/doom. The introduction’s shimmering guitar feedback over a simple electronic bed is not far removed from the band’s earlier works, but the building complexity of guitar tone is extremely dynamic, alternating between melodic post-punk tones and shrill piercing feedback, all the while the frozen wall of electronic textures stay in place. Eventually the noise shifts away to allow the subtle low end electronic sounds to move forward." (Brainwashed). Ltd x 400 copies with obi strip.
UK 11£
Europe 12£
World 13£
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LYCIA - 'The Burning Circle And Then Dust' CD (Silber Records)
The classic Ethereal / Darkwave album from 1995, stunningly remastered and released as the definitive version, as intended by Lycia frontman Mike VanPortFleet. "The Burning Circle..." was a groundbreaking point in Lycia's career. It marked a shift from more atmospheric music towards song-oriented tracks and the addition of David Galas' bass / synth and Tara Vanflower's seductive vocals. An hour of stunning music, reminiscent of early Cocteau Twins.
MACHINEFABRIEK - 'Loops For Voerman' 3" Metallised CD (None)
With this remarkable MCD containing the most intensely affecting Machinefabriek recording since last year's career-defining 'Dauw'. 'Loops For Voerman' was recorded as part of an art installation/sculpture by Rob Voerman but doesn't rely on any visual association for its unique, almost harrowing quality. Bowed strings take on a metallic, razor-like identity, with vocal shards and found sounds arranging themselves throughout the looped cycle of the track, each time re-positioning themselves with an almost imperceptible shift of emphasis. Originally performed on a three-way speaker system, one can only imagine the impact on the listener with all that extra movement of sound, intensifying an already overpowering aural experience and delivering one of the most valuable artefacts yet in the already mightily impressive Machinefabriek canon. Very highly recommended. Second edition, beautifully presented on a 3" metallised CD in a gold printed card sleeve and including a free bonus download (Live For Voerman).
UK 8£
Europe 9£
World 10£
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MACHINEFABRIEK - 'Weleer' 2 x CD (Lampse)
"This is a collection of recordings culled from 3" CD releases from Dutch musician Rutger Zuydervelt, yet arranged and sequenced in a way that makes it a perfectly flowing listening experience. The warm ambience definitely harks back to some ground level krautworks, but almost every instrument blurs into placid soundscapes that are constantly shifting and evolving, electronic crackles rise out of dark lakes of guitar drone; the sounds are very intimate, immediate, not overwhelmingly dark but definitely indicating Zuydervelt's past as a guitarist in a doom band. With both live instruments and assorted programming, the sheer human emotion injected into a machinated music form is stunning, and the variety of places these tracks go to are timed perfectly to hold the listeners' attention and reveal a seemingly limitless bank of ideas that I can't recall being utilised since the golden days of Seefeel's Polyfusia record. Very grand" (WMFU).
Debut EP from this French duo containing the two title tracks and two remix tracks. 'Psychoide' is a "gorgeous soft cacophony of epic post rock drift", while 'Participation Shift' has "deep soft swells of shimmering warmth and distant bits of industrial clatter, a slow burning ambient drift that is eventually joined by a simple motorik rhythm". The two remix tracks are: 'Psychoide' remixed by SCANNER (Robin Rimbaud) and Participation Mystic remixed by JESU (Justin Broadrick of Final, Techno Animal, Godflesh). The result is a very cinematic, mesmerising warm piece of music, spanning 43 minutes. Limited to 1000 copies in a nice digipak with sticker.
UK 9£
Europe 10£
World 11£
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MARK O'LEARY / GUNTER MULLER - 'Skyshifter' CD (Creative Sources)
"...the duo weave a shimmering tapestry of alien drone, scattering bits of harddrive flotsam across squalls of ringing jetsam. "Improvisational" this recording might be, but aesthetically more than a few chronologically cultural links are forged with pioneer soundscapers of yesteryear (Xenakis, Stockhausen, Babbitt, Subotnick) more so than any straightforward diagrammatical connection with post-jazz avant-gardists... the duo delight in erecting a quakebasket quiverfest of extraordinarily well-articulated electronic music: gently warbling pulses course and murmur as they feint between preening tone clusters and software backwash, a bubbling cauldron of intense sonic energy that is factory resistant to pigeonholing." (The Squid's Ear)
UK 9£
Europe 10£
World 11£
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MAURIZIO BIANCHI - 'Celtichants' CD (Alone At Last)
Lost and found all of a sudden, this album is an exploration made with the chanting voices of an unknown nature. Choral fragments were decomposed and restructured, arranged with the effects and atmospheric shifts, creating the mysterious soundtrack to the otherworldly ceremony. These echoing voices come directly from lost memories or daydreams, nobody can tell you where they are from, where they are calling you. Here are some words of the author, giving you just the hint but not the clear explanation. Limited edition of 500 copies in special packaging - custom made of textured paper with black/silver print, assembled by hand. Comes in 8 different colours (we stock the vanilla/cream edition). Comes with a set of 3 photos of miocenic basalts made by Siegmar Fricke in Maspalomas (Gran Canaria). Highly recommended!
UK 15£
Europe 16£
World 17£
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MAURIZIO BIANCHI - 'Hibernum' CD (EE Tapes)
New work by the Italian Industrial legend. "A marginal division of the whole existence in four palpable seasons, marked by pestilential changes in emotional hemisphere. Seasonal differences in the reformistic exposure turn on the climatic sounds for a thermostatic solstice while modular equinoxes transit along the nodulous diagram of astronomical devices. Usually considered as ephemeral like consciousness neurectomy which includes a mixture of chronological elements. The principle of living originates from electric sources of materialistic disturbances for unequivocal substances. At the end, the hibernating organisms organise a reproducing molecule of environmental for a silent 'hybernum'. 3 lengthy, slowly shifting atmospheres for private meditation". Ltd x 300 copies in a silver print on black cardboard sleeve with insert.
UK 11£
Europe 12£
World 13£
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MERZBOW - 'Cycle' CD (Very Friendly)
Merzbow crafts sound, creating terrifying atmospheres and emotionally heavy soundscapes. Musically, the album borders on the most abusive power noise with a semblance of percussive structure. These rhythms keep this album from falling into an abyss of intolerable dissonance. Part one, at almost 30 minutes in length, will test not only your will-power, but your speakers as well. Part two is 40 minutes of shifting, throbbing noise, totally free of melody and structure Recommended for headphone listening. Digipak.
UK 13£
Europe 14£
World 15£
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MICHAEL MANTRA - 'D#m / Gm' CD (Purple Soil)
"D#m / Gm" is an album of extended ambient listening of sonic icebergs, slowly shifting over time. The album is based in ultra minimal atmospheric dronecore - an exploration into the dark unknown of sombre sonic states, of the mysterious unknown, leveraging changes in states of feeling and states of consciousness. Presented in a stunning 6-panel digisleeve with images courtesy of NASA. Recommended!
UK 10.50£
Europe 11.50£
World 12.50£
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MUSTERION - 'The Wondrous Journey Through The Catacombs Of Life' CD (Horus Cyclic Daemon)
The second album of Musterion is built upon complex and obscure composition techniques and musical innovation, dragging the listener on a brilliantly imaginative and frightening journey that combines elements of dark ambient, surrealism, absurdity, with the help advanced structural and theoretical considerations in terms of the composition. The tale concerns mind control by psychic, electronic, sexual, subliminal and other means. Simon AA Kölle (Abnocto, Za Frumi) exorcises some demons of his own, where the rhythm of a piece could be dictated by breathless inspiration more than moving pictures (as with film music) or to fit a specific genre. Yet he again expands and evolves the genre of dark ambient into art music. A shifting pace of both horror and atmosphere, incorporating organic instruments and electro-acoustic instruments. Improvisations, twisted circus music, industrial parts and many atmospheric moments give way for a highly symbolic album where all elements are pieces of the broken puzzle. Ltd x 500 copies in a digipak with 12-page booklet on special heavy paper.
UK 12.50£
Europe 13.50£
World 14.50£
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NOISEGATE - 'Suspended Animation Ambient Vol. I' CD (Tumult)
For their second full length album, this East Bay ambient act abandon the violent, corrosive noise that peppered their first full length and instead have created a dark and barren dronescape of ominous, almost imperceptibly shifting, deep, resonant rumbles. Shimmering luminescent shards of low end flow effortlessly through the glistening darkness while hazy tonal reverberations reflect microscopic textures, grey and austere. Breath-taking arrangements of hum and buzz, chime and soothe. Reminiscent of the isolationist experiments and drone investigations of Lustmord, Organum, Zoviet France, Andrew Chalk and Jonathan Coleclough.
"Shift to the Ghost," a long-form continuous piece with indexed track points. Each song is distinctly different in feel, but the songs evolve seamlessly into each other. Numina himself states that the album "is about the life and death of the physical self," hence the title. Whatever the concept, this album contains all the elements Numina fans enjoy, from deep and sombre ambient, to twinkling, swirling space music, constantly evolving. It's a long, fascinating visual journey, and it never grows tired. The latest work from ambient "rising star" Numina is possibly his best yet.
UK 10.50£
Europe 11.50£
World 12.50£
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OREN AMBARCHI & MARTIN NG - 'Reconnaissance' CD (Staubgold)
Reconnaissance is the first duo release by Australian composers Oren Ambarchi and Martin Ng from Sydney - a trilogy of pieces based upon the fluid architectural modulation of harmonics and resonances. Recalling the landmark experiments of the Sonic Arts Union (Robert Ashley, David Behrman, Alvin Lucier and Gordon Mumma), Ambarchi and Ng create an enigmatic tapestry of pulsing, shimmering and shifting sound which represents a subtle and compelling realignment of Eastern and Western minimalist traditions.
UK 11£
Europe 12£
World 13£
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R.Y.N. - 'Astral Death' CD (Unrest Productions)
RYN is the project of UK drone duo Pete Burn (Marzuraan) and Dean Glaister (Romance). With one previous 7" on Drone Records, this is their first full-length album. "6 long tracks of waving and slowly shifting massive drones, based on guitar, bass, metal and effects. The sounds here are just flooding immensely, there's nothing 'concrete' you can hold onto; the mind and body seem to be washed out slowly by these rustling feedbacking and deeply reverberating overtune-waves. "Astral Death" is a journey into the pulsating, meandering heart of disintegration" (Drone Records).
UK 11£
Europe 12£
World 13£
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RALF WEHOWSKY - 'Nameless Victims' 3" CD (Metamkine)
Musique concrète realized in 1994 / 95 in the studio of the composer. Part of the Collection Cinéma pour l’oreille, curated by Jérôme Noetinger. "Ralf Wehowsky was once the founding father of legendary German post musique concretists P16.D4 and has produced some fine solo CD's under the name RLW. This work, divided in 3 parts, uses the sound of a contra bass, which his intelligently treats with studio techniques. He shifts away from the analog stuff with P16.D4 and now works entirely digital. The result is a strong piece of modern musique concrete. Sometimes the sound is clean and dry and sometimes remote and wrapped" (Vital Weekly). Just over 18 minutes of music. Comes in a cardboard gatefold sleeve with shrinkwrap.
UK 5£
Europe 6£
World 7£
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REHBERG & BAUER - 'Passt' CD (Touch)
Following 'Faßt' and 'Ballt', 'Passt' completes Peter Rehberg and Ramon Bauer's trilogy for Touch. Full of effects, glitches, pulses and interruptions, this music puts you in surprising places as it constantly shifts its gears. Rehberg and Bauer subject their sounds to all manner of effects and run them through the cogs on their laptops, which slice and dice them into multitudes of abstract and often harsh electronic elements. All tracks were recorded live at three venues in Sydney and Melbourne in 2000.
UK 10.50£
Europe 11.50£
World 12.50£
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SHIFT - 'Bulk' CD (Silken Tofu / Unrest Productions)
Swedish artist Shift with the usual dynamics removed. Or as one Unrest employee described it: "Like Planets burning down or the day ten million tons of filthy black shit rained down on the heads of a beaten species". With 3 inserts in full colour, spot varnish print. Limited to 300 copies. Recommended.
UK 10.50£
Europe 11.50£
World 12.50£
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SHIFT - 'Have No Fury' 7" (Heidenlärm Sounds)
First release from Swedish Noise artist Shift. The title track initiates proceedings with dark ambient soundscapes and strong industrial rhythms, developing into heavy electronics. Flipping over, 'Jag Var I Kulverten' opens into a vast industrial soundscape, carried by a subtle repetitive melody. Heavily distorted low and mid frequency textures dominate the early moments, giving way to confrontational high-pitched abrasions. Heavyweight, clear vinyl presented in a nice outsize sleeve with artwork by Stephen O'Malley (Sunn O))), Khanate etc). Ltd x 500.
UK 6.00£
Europe 7.50
World 8.00£
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SHIFT - 'Sleep Paralysis' CD (Freak Animal)
Re-issue of the 2006 cassette, originally released by Freak Animal. A simply landmark release in Swedish act Shift's discography. Heaviness, slowness, heavily processed vocals, deep throbbing synths... Somewhere between power electronics, death industrial and heavy drone, not fitting exactly to the easy sub-genres, but suitable for anyone appreciating dark and heavy electronics.
UK 10.50£
Europe 11.50£
World 12.50£
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SHIFT / OPERATIV PERMANENT - 'Battle Ahead / You Won't Always Have Your Friends' 7" (Heidenlarm Sounds)
Two noisy acts collaborate in their battle against “everyday indolence and mass mentality”. Shift is a Swedish Noise artist based in Hampshire, UK and presents grinding and distorted Death Industrial and rhythmic Power Electronics. Operative Permanent is another project of Lirim Cajani (Institut), whose track (mastered by Peter Andersson of Raison D'Etre) is filled with militant vocals and aggressive Power Electronics in the way of Genocide Organ, Whitehouse etc. Limited to 300 hand-numbered copies in a foldout sleeve.
Shift is at his most aggressive here. A monolith track ranging from harsh crackling industrial noise with aggressive voice to thick and heavy droning sounds with subtle spoken word sampling. Sick Seed presents 3 tracks of caveman power electronics. Ugly, fierce and nasty stuff. Jewelcase with 3 inserts containing all lyrics.
Shift is at his most aggressive here. A monolith track ranging from harsh crackling industrial noise with aggressive voice to thick and heavy droning sounds with subtle spoken word sampling. Sick Seed presents 3 tracks of caveman power electronics. Ugly, fierce and nasty stuff. full colour sleeve with insert containing all lyrics.
UK 15.00£
Europe 18.50£
World 22.00£
QUANTITY
SHIFTS - 'Trees / Leaves' LP (Entr'Acte)
After a decade, this record is Shifts’ probable farewell. Initiated by Frans de Waard (Kapotte Muziek, Freiband, Goem etc and label boss of Korm Plastics) for a ‘soft guitar’ record on Fourth Dimension label in 1995, the project has evolved to include many releases, all distinguished by their singular instrumentation (including two deviations from the guitar - Sonates and Interlude uses the piano, while One Piece for Cymbal has a single cymbal). 'Trees / Leaves' was made with a four-string Spanish guitar de Waard bought for 1 Euro on Koninginnedag (Dutch Queen’s Day) in 2004. Ltd x 200 copies in a heat-sealed sleeve.
UK 13.00£
Europe 16.50£
World 20.00£
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SISTRENATUS - 'Sensitive Disturbance' CD (Cold Spring CSR108CD)
Blurring the lines between Dark Ambient, Industrial and Noise, Sistrenatus storms forth, shifting between oppressive aggression and unsettling atmospheres. "Sensitive Disturbance" is the third offering from this now legendary Canadian act, whose debut "Division One" was issued on Cold Spring in 2007. An aural journey through the urban decay of abandoned factories, scorched landscapes and underground passageways. "Sensitive Disturbance" is an abrasive rendition of the industrial revolution in its darkest phases.
Skare is the collaboration of Swedish droners Mathias Josefson (Moljebka Pvlse), Per Åhlund (Diskrepant) and Fredrik Olofsson. The members of Skare are all fascinated by the circulation of water, snow and ice. The metamorphosis from gas to floating liquid to snow to solid ice through freezing, the light reflecting from the snow and filtered through the ice as a prisma and - most of all - the sound of this ever ongoing circle. "Solstice City" is an interpretation of a journey through a shifting landscape where the city meets nature. The vehicles used by Skare on this journey are field recordings, found sounds and treated and manipulated instruments. Digipak.
"Into The Dark" is a beautifully restrained and elegant piece of ambient music reminiscent of "Neroli" by Brian Eno, and "Entering Twilight" by James Johnson. Moving patterns of sounds, varying from bell-like chimes to deep rumbles vaguely-ethnic rattles, interact and react to create an always-shifting atmosphere, a sense of "place" and mood while avoiding ambient music cliches. A single, continuously-evolving track of over 74 minutes, "Into The Dark" works great as a background atmosphere for continuous repeat play. But like the best ambient music, it is appealing enough for careful listening as patterns repeat and evolve, and themes emerge throughout.
STILLBIRTH / PRURIENT - 'The Mirror Of Purification' 7" (Semata Productions)
The first vinyl release for Stillbirth unfolds with complex guitar work, tape manipulation, shortwave radios and clever synth leads, giving 'The View Untangled' an almost musique concrete feel at times. 'Where Secrets are Guarded' brings forth new techniques in the Prurient sound. Melodic vocals mix in with pitch shifted dialogue and spiralling synth lines. Harmonic shapes take form within the electro-acoustic mist underlining this exceptional text. A work that deems repeat listening. Two innovative artists at the top of their game, paving the way - there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Ltd x 500 copies on randomly mixed coloured vinyl.
TAMAGAWA - 'Plus Tard, Le Meme Jour...' CD (Noecho)
Quite a varied release - from warm washed out ambient dreaminess, to buzzing crumbling drones, to squiggly spaciness, to gorgeous glistening sun baked post rock, to reverb drenched guitar drift, to thick super distorted dirgedrone, and each of those allowed to shift and shimmer, change shape, and alter sound, transform from one into the other, and then back again, the drone is definitely the root of the music here, but even that is sometimes relegated to whirring way off in the distance, while harmonics sparkle and rhythms shuffle, but just as often, the drone wipes the slate clean, and all the other elements drift and whirl in the background while the drone rumbles and buzzes. Ltd x 500 copies in a 6-panel, die-cut digipak.
UK 10.50£
Europe 11.50£
World 12.50£
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TELEPHERIQUE - 'Slowmotion' CD (Force Of Nature)
One of Germany's most recognisable names has returned with another ambient masterpiece. "This CD is dedicated to all the people who try to simplify their life in modern times, marked with materialism, business, stress and sickness". The eight tracks have no titles but they are divided into three 'steps', being "Out of balance", "Down shifting" and "Fountain of flow". The whole results in a ritualistic, flowing album with moments of rhythm, ambience and complex soundscapes."
THE STARGAZER'S ASSISTANT - 'The Other Side Of The Island' CD (Aurora Borealis)
'The Other Side Of The Island' is the soundtrack to the sculptural works of David J Smith. In addition to his percussion duties with Guapo, Smith has spent the last two years bringing his visions to life; life that emerged slowly, painstakingly, out of wax, coal, copper and lead. In much the same way, the soundtrack itself slowly writhes organically before the listener: the groan of the motherlode, the shifting of tectonic plates, the song of the Earth's crust. In collaboration with longstanding musical cohort Daniel O'Sullivan (Guapo, Miasma & The Carousel Of Dead Horses) and audio engineer Antti Uusumaki (Mothlite), Smith has created a strange work comprising of layered vocals, percussion, electronics and prepared strings. The Stargazer's Assistant offer up the soundtrack of eternal, elemental labour. Jewelcase with metallic print.
Cold Spring are very proud to re-issue the legendary LP released by Broken Flag in 1986, now for the first time on CD. Formed in October 1984 from the ashes of Ramleh. The membership was shifting, though focused around two members (Gary Mundy and Matthew Frith) and included contributions from several friends around the world. Featuring Tim Gane (Stereolab), Paul Lemos (Controlled Bleeding) and Pacific 231. This completely remastered disc features the complete 'Christ Knows' LP plus 3 previously unreleased bonus tracks. Classic old-school British Industrial.
This is the much-welcomed re-release of Troum's debut album, first released in an edition of 500 copies on Myotis Records in October 1998. "Troum is the next step in the evolution of Maeror Tri, taking the highly processed guitar ambiance of their previous venture and channeling it through a more tumultuous, volatile outlet... The general feel of the sounds here is reminiscent of the earth moving, tectonic plates in constant shuffle, the tracks building and then either shifting or worn away via attrition. It‘s as if Maeror Tri learned to fly through ingenuity, smoke and mirrors, while Troum has taken the ingenuity, smoke and mirrors and, somehow, grown wings." [Side-Line]. Presented in a stunning digipak.
UK 11£
Europe 12£
World 13£
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YEN POX - 'Blood Music' 2 x CD (Malignant Records)
15 years after it’s original release, and out of print for almost as long, Yen Pox’ Blood Music has finally been re-issued. Regarded by many as a benchmark recording within the realm of dark ambient music, this deluxe 2CD edition contains a completely re-mastered and remixed version of "Blood Music" plus a previously unreleased track on disc 1, as well as the first cassette and various compilation and 7” releases on disc 2. Combined, the discs offer well over two hours of colossal, mind bending atmospherics of the highest order, the sounds radiating outwards into a sprawling horizon of sulfur dark skies, then descending into a relentless maelstrom of shifting textures, treacherous reverberations, and endless, sinister drift. Packaged in a luxurious 8 panel DVD digipak, with completely new design by Andre Coelho (Sektor 304), this is the perfect marriage of both music and packaging, and will further solidify Blood Music’s status as one of the all time classic dark ambient releases.
UK 15£
Europe 17£
World 19£
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ZILVERHILL - 'Eotvos' CD (Adeptsound / Blind Shouter)
Zilverhill is an integration of Schuster and Present Day Buna - two longstanding experimental collaborators, whose work emerges from a shared understanding. Both first appeared in the early 1980's as IBF. Incorporating elemental contrasting themes of inertia and movement, the shifting sounds presented here encompass a many-layered evocation of somewhere else. A third period... the 11th house... the day's end. Ltd x 500 copies in a digipak. Australian import.
