ETAT BRUT Mutations Et Protheses (Sub Rosa) cd 16.98
Can't really tell you much about Etat Brut, other than the limited information provided by Sub Rosa. EB were an obscure industrial duo from Belgium operating between 1978 and 1983, with connections to the transgressive collective Club Moral and the Cabs-inspired Pseudo Code. Supposedly, both of the individuals in Etat Brut were named Phillipe and went on to become science teachers after leaving all of this junk, noise, and squalid rhythm behind. But that's all the information we could dig up, which is a bit disappointing, as we'd love to know more about these guys, we imagine Club Moral must have published something about the group in their Force Mental zine. Anyway, for those keen on the more brutal / guttural / abject side of industrial culture (e.g. TG's Second Annual Report, Factrix' Sheintot, or SPK's Leichenshrei), this is a very compelling document of primitive sound-demolition with an equally primitive approach to deconstructing music into its rawest elements - noise, rhythm, screams, more noise, and plenty of aggro / provocateur antics. The post-punk monochord basslines and drum machine anti-groove of "Homme Nus" is a compellingly bleak track of Frankensteinian proportions, where "Crash" conveys a dehumanized atmosphere through grim blorping electronics, musique concrete techniques, and cut-up dialogue that could very well allude to JG Ballard if only we understood French. Crumbling tape machinations, rhythms looped from shortwave radio beacons, fucked-up noise, and guttural vocalizations fill in the blanks, very prescient of what Atelecine is attempting to recreate nowadays and holding up very well against the better known projects we listed earlier.
The cd comes with two bonus tracks not found on the vinyl, btw.
MPEG Stream: "Hommes Nus"
MPEG Stream: "Douce Nuit"
MPEG Stream: "Bande Sonore Du Film Paysage Mental "

ETAT BRUT Mutations Et Protheses (Sub Rosa) lp 16.98
Can't really tell you much about Etat Brut, other than the limited information provided by Sub Rosa. EB were an obscure industrial duo from Belgium operating between 1978 and 1983, with connections to the transgressive collective Club Moral and the Cabs-inspired Pseudo Code. Supposedly, both of the individuals in Etat Brut were named Phillipe and went on to become science teachers after leaving all of this junk, noise, and squalid rhythm behind. But that's all the information we could dig up, which is a bit disappointing, as we'd love to know more about these guys, we imagine Club Moral must have published something about the group in their Force Mental zine. Anyway, for those keen on the more brutal / guttural / abject side of industrial culture (e.g. TG's Second Annual Report, Factrix' Sheintot, or SPK's Leichenshrei), this is a very compelling document of primitive sound-demolition with an equally primitive approach to deconstructing music into its rawest elements - noise, rhythm, screams, more noise, and plenty of aggro / provocateur antics. The post-punk monochord basslines and drum machine anti-groove of "Homme Nus" is a compellingly bleak track of Frankensteinian proportions, where "Crash" conveys a dehumanized atmosphere through grim blorping electronics, musique concrete techniques, and cut-up dialogue that could very well allude to JG Ballard if only we understood French. Crumbling tape machinations, rhythms looped from shortwave radio beacons, fucked-up noise, and guttural vocalizations fill in the blanks, very prescient of what Atelecine is attempting to recreate nowadays and holding up very well against the better known projects we listed earlier.
The cd comes with two bonus tracks not found on the vinyl, btw.
MPEG Stream: "Hommes Nus"
MPEG Stream: "Douce Nuit"
MPEG Stream: "Bande Sonore Du Film Paysage Mental "

ETERNAL TAPESTRY Beyond The 4th Door (Thrill Jockey) cd 15.98
Latest from these Portland psych rockers, their first for new label Thrill Jockey, which is where they now call home, alongside their pals, SF dronerockers Barn Owl.
For Beyond The 4th Door, these guys haven't really changed their MO all that much, but then as they say, why fix what ain't broke? The opener is a sprawling smoldering psychedelic drift, all minimal stripped down drums, effected guitar, processed vox, deep low end buzz, and helicopter like thrum, the sound twangy and sun baked, almost like they're taking a page from label mates Barn Owl, the same sort of deserty drift, but ET augment their drift with strange effects, whirring synths, culminating in a thick buzzing denouement, before slipping right back into a slowly fading outro.
That track bleeds right into the next, another chunk of psychedelic smolder, this time the guitars more distorted, a sound that reminds us of Flower Travellin' Band actually, like those wailing vox could swoop in at any second. Instead, the song unfurls, a mesmerizing chunk of hypo psychedelia, which again blurs right into the next track, a hazy slow burner, all tangled psych guitars, and shuffling skeletal rhythms, and finally on this one, the band get heavy (not crazy heavy, but heaviER), there's some sax here too, but it almost sounds just like another guitar, the band unleashing loose softly chaotic squalls of dueling guitars/sax, the whole thing hazy and druggy and pretty excellent, the sort of modern shit that should moss definitely appeal to all the Japrock obsessives who worship at the alter of Les Rallizes.
The record finishes with two sprawling epics, "Reflections In A Mirage", a droney, twangy, stretch of minimal, spacious shuffle, vocals return, to chant, and moan ominously, while the guitars warble and buzz, all tangled an spidery, draped over swirls of shimmery drone, the song never explodes or climaxes, which only makes it cooler, the instruments gradually blurring together and finally coalescing into a closing stretch of layered drone. The comes "Time Winds Through A Glass, Clearly", topping out at 12 minutes, beginning like some strange sort of country jam, loping low slung bass, and twangy reverbed guitars, soon sizzling clouds of cymbal shimmer drift overhead, the saxophone returns and skronks off in the distance, the song drifts and lopes and meanders, slowly picking up steam, but staying mostly restrained, until the last few minutes, where the band do let loose again, the drums pounding, the guitars distorted, wild streaks of psychedelic leads everywhere, a serious sonic squall, but only briefly, before things quickly settle back down and the track unwinds in a soft psychedelic haze. Great stuff. And refreshing that they managed to avoid the ubiquitous soft/loud, slow build, explosive ending thing that seems to be the way most bands do psychedelic space rock, instead, each song was a expansive sprawling epics that were both hypnotic and heavy, mesmerizing and mysteriousÉ
MPEG Stream: "Ancient Echoes"
MPEG Stream: "Cosmic Manhunt"
MPEG Stream: "Galactic Derelict"

ETERNAL TAPESTRY Beyond The 4th Door (Thrill Jockey) lp 16.98
Latest from these Portland psych rockers, their first for new label Thrill Jockey, which is where they now call home, alongside their pals, SF dronerockers Barn Owl.
For Beyond The 4th Door, these guys haven't really changed their MO all that much, but then as they say, why fix what ain't broke? The opener is a sprawling smoldering psychedelic drift, all minimal stripped down drums, effected guitar, processed vox, deep low end buzz, and helicopter like thrum, the sound twangy and sun baked, almost like they're taking a page from label mates Barn Owl, the same sort of deserty drift, but ET augment their drift with strange effects, whirring synths, culminating in a thick buzzing denouement, before slipping right back into a slowly fading outro.
That track bleeds right into the next, another chunk of psychedelic smolder, this time the guitars more distorted, a sound that reminds us of Flower Travellin' Band actually, like those wailing vox could swoop in at any second. Instead, the song unfurls, a mesmerizing chunk of hypo psychedelia, which again blurs right into the next track, a hazy slow burner, all tangled psych guitars, and shuffling skeletal rhythms, and finally on this one, the band get heavy (not crazy heavy, but heaviER), there's some sax here too, but it almost sounds just like another guitar, the band unleashing loose softly chaotic squalls of dueling guitars/sax, the whole thing hazy and druggy and pretty excellent, the sort of modern shit that should moss definitely appeal to all the Japrock obsessives who worship at the alter of Les Rallizes.
The record finishes with two sprawling epics, "Reflections In A Mirage", a droney, twangy, stretch of minimal, spacious shuffle, vocals return, to chant, and moan ominously, while the guitars warble and buzz, all tangled an spidery, draped over swirls of shimmery drone, the song never explodes or climaxes, which only makes it cooler, the instruments gradually blurring together and finally coalescing into a closing stretch of layered drone. The comes "Time Winds Through A Glass, Clearly", topping out at 12 minutes, beginning like some strange sort of country jam, loping low slung bass, and twangy reverbed guitars, soon sizzling clouds of cymbal shimmer drift overhead, the saxophone returns and skronks off in the distance, the song drifts and lopes and meanders, slowly picking up steam, but staying mostly restrained, until the last few minutes, where the band do let loose again, the drums pounding, the guitars distorted, wild streaks of psychedelic leads everywhere, a serious sonic squall, but only briefly, before things quickly settle back down and the track unwinds in a soft psychedelic haze. Great stuff. And refreshing that they managed to avoid the ubiquitous soft/loud, slow build, explosive ending thing that seems to be the way most bands do psychedelic space rock, instead, each song was a expansive sprawling epics that were both hypnotic and heavy, mesmerizing and mysteriousÉ
MPEG Stream: "Ancient Echoes"
MPEG Stream: "Cosmic Manhunt"
MPEG Stream: "Galactic Derelict"

ETHER Music For Air Raids (Extreme) cd 15.98
Ether's "Music For Air Raids" could easily be an open letter to Caspar Brotzmann, asking him to consider that Ether be the new backing band for his guitar pyrotechnics. This six piece ensemble fits all of the Caspar Brotzmann Massaker requirements -- big tribal rhythms, plodding basslines, interesting production tricks, and an overall masculinity that propels Ether's sound. A sound that's complete in itself, without the added Brotzmann guitar that we find ourselves fantasizing about.

ETHERNET Opus 2 (Kranky) cd 14.98
We've never reviewed anything by Ethernet before, but now upon the release of ambient composer Tim Gray's third album under the moniker and second for the Kranky label, we wonder to ourselves why it took us so long. Opus 2 is cut from the same cloth as many ambient drone composers we've loved so much in the past: Aphex Twin, Tim Hecker, Gas, White Rainbow, Boards of Canada, etc. In fact it reminds us some of BoC's polygonal musical forms, but pulled apart under layers of the kind of warm propulsive chill often explored in the Kompakt label's Ambient Pop series. Largely composed in a process of self-hypnotic improvisation, the resulting pieces are culled of overtly compositional elements, so instead we hear layers of polished down melodic forms and rhythmic pulsations under a brilliant haze of wondrous sonic drift. Beginning gently with waves of airy exploratory melodies that soon become overwhelmed by an embryonic vastness of sound that is both pastoral and bleak, the sun-dappled vibrancy soon mired in weathered earthy textures and slow windswept turbulence that gradually darken in gorgeous decay. Quite lovely!
MPEG Stream: "Monarch"
MPEG Stream: "Correction"
MPEG Stream: "Pieroma"

ETHNIC ACID Power-Works 1986-88 (Industrial Recollections / Freak Animal) 2cd 15.98
Anthony Di Franco is probably best known as a member of British noise rockers Ramleh, as well as the legendary Skullflower, playing on that band's seminal, industrial sludge records including Obsidian Shaking Codex, a bunch of impossible to find singles, and the universally revered IIIrd Gatekeeper. Di Franco also had a couple of other solo projects in Ax and Novatron, the latter has proven to be an awesome, if rarely heard slab of headrinsing, low-end noise, and Ax, holy shit, so punishingly good, c'mon someone, reissue those NOW!!!
Di Franco was also the man responsible for the power electronics noise project Ethnic Acid, which existed for a short two year period from 1986 to 1988 but managed eight cassettes during that time period. A couple of those tapes were self-released through Di Franco's own JFK imprint; and most importantly as a historical note, one of those cassettes was released by Broken Flag. It's most likely due to Di Franco's working relationship with Broken Flag's Gary Mundy, that he become one of the revolving members of Mundy's Ramleh. Outside of his better known bands, Di Franco's solo work has always been very worthwhile, and these early recordings of tape splatter and electronic bloodletting do not disappoint! Managing to be heavy and noisy and caustic, but also surprisingly listenable. As we've mentioned before in the past, we're not always that into full on noise / power electronics, we're way more into texture and timbre and dynamics, and thankfully, for every spurt of face melting crush found on Power-Works, there's a long stretch of rumbling drone, or strange stuttering collaged heaviness.
Di Franco's pedigree should probably be enough to get most folks on board, and noiseniks were probably already anxiously awaiting this collection, but for the rest of you, definitely check this out, if you're not into noisemusic AT ALL, this might not be your thing, but anyone into dronemusic and dark ambience, and experimental tape music, this is some seriously powerful and varied stuff. From heaving digital crunch, to stuttering almost metallic sounding loops, to murky stumble and blackened rumble, to spaced out soundscapes of sine waves and looped classical music, to wild squalls of distorted sort-of-riffage, to whispered industrial whir, to smeared and blurred dronescapes, it's all pretty fantastic and heady stuff, especially for being 20 years old. And anyone who's been digging Skullflower's recent return to noisiness (Vile Veil, Malediction, The Paris Working, Desire For A Holy Warm, Pure Imperial Reform) will most likely find lots to love here, although in comparison to those discs, lots of this stuff is downright pretty!
MPEG Stream: "Severed From Life"
MPEG Stream: "Il Papa"
MPEG Stream: "Sexodus I"
MPEG Stream: "Sexodus II"

ETTINGER, DYLAN New Age Outlaws (Not Not Fun) lp 14.98
Originally released on cassette, this chunk of psychedelic atmospheric synth-fi futurism has been gussied up, the original tracks, remixed and/or re-recorded with more parts, more music, subtle alterations here and there, not so subtle changes as well, but since we missed out on the cassette completely, it hardly matters, and according to the label, this is indeed the definitive version.
So who the heck is Dylan Ettinger? We have no idea, but what we do know, is that New Age Outlaws is a fantastic collection of synth driven sc-fi new age/wave atmospherics. Fans of Majeure, Zombi, Umberto and similarly minded retro futurists will definitely dig.
Just check out the sprawling nearly 12 minute opener, "City Lights, City Streets", that ends up sounding like Expo 70 covering Zombi, droned out and mesmerizing, thick layered synths, slowly unfurling melodies, a simple robotic rhythm, bits of psychedelic wah guitar, thick swells of rumbling crumbling low end, a slow burning epic, that only really shifts gears _ of the way through, when some of the low end drops out leaving the high end to shimmer and soar and glisten, infused with some swirling minor key melodies, only to build to a Sunroof!-like climax, with synth melodies that sound weirdly like sun baked steel drums, everything hazy and washed out and gorgeously blissy.
The rest of the record explores similarly spacey and psychedelic territory, the sound raw and buzzy, "Rico's Pawn Shop" loops a strange stuttery bit of melody, beneath warm whirring chords, and some rubbery synth bass, that man loop never letting up, while the various other synths tangle and intertwine. "Gordon's Theme" is more mellow, more muted and minimal, but again, anchored to a simple synth loop that entrances while the various surrounding sounds paint in the rest of the picture, adding warm lustrous ambience, deep layered textures, a gorgeous hazy sonic drift.
Imagine James Ferraro trying his hand at this sort of Carpenter/Goblin style synth wave, primitive loops, strange hypnogogic melodies, not sleek and polished, more home brewed, which is precisely what makes New Age Outlaws so unique, so strange and so good.
LIMITED TO 490 COPIES!!

ETTRIC Feaders Of Ravens (Not Not Fun) lp 14.98

ETTRICK Infinite Horned Abomination (Heule) cd-r 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
On the same label as the more spaced out free-form black jazz ambience of Hodag (reviewed elsewhere on this list), Ettrick on the surface seems like they must be a way more metal proposition, the record's called Infinite Horned Abomination for chrissakes! And their logo is of the spiky illegible classic metal style, but in fact, this is way more of a sputtery skronky free jazz, with wild horns and chaotic bursts of sputtering drum splatter. Each half of this duo handles both sax and drums, each player safely ensconced in their own channel, sometimes it's two horns, sometimes it's horn and drums, sometimes all drums, a dizzying barrage coming scattershot from both the left and right channels, as if there were some sort of free jazz monkeys screaming and beating their chests wildly in each channel, pelting the listener with sonic stones and hurling great handfuls of free jazz dung! Intense and aggressive and furiously freaked out. You might think you're tough, jazz sissy, and we're happy to let you have a go, but this stuff is dangerous, and sharp, and sort of scary, so stand back and let the more highly decorated free jazz warriors step forward, unless you're feeling particularly brave today...
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES!!! Each disc packaged in a cool hand screened cardboard sleeve.
MPEG Stream: "Before The Semantic"
MPEG Stream: "Village Of Necromposition"

ETZIONY, YAIR Flawed (Spekk) cd 17.98
Another gorgeous mysterious little gem from Japanese label Spekk, who also released the Texture In Glass Tubes And Reed Organ reviewed elsewhere on this list. As we mentioned in that review as well, Spekk has staked out a nice little niche, a surprisingly varied one, including releases by free folk SF collective The Alps, a solo disc from Jefre Cantu of Tarentel, as well as a killer comp of electronic lullabies.
This disc by Yair Etziony, as the title might suggest, embraces mistakes and malfunctions, turning them into music both haunting and lovely. Even the track title point to some sort of assemblage of misfires: "Corrosion", "Broken", "Flawed", "Dirt" etc. but if you weren't aware of the genesis of these tracks, it's very unlikely you would assume they were borne of mistakes.
Instead, the sounds here are dark and brooding, muted and underwater sounding, hovering in some ghostly realm situated right in between the aquatic skipping cd-scapes of Oval, the glimmering gauzy shimmer of Pop Ambient, and the murky pulse of Chain Reaction. Most of the tracks shimmer dreamlike, some hushed and ephemeral, others more skittery and spidery, the various tracks peppered with bits of glitch and crackle. The prettier tracks remind us of a super tranquil Boards Of Canada, the darker tracks have a definite Oval via Chain Reaction vibe, with some parts splintering into super abstract dubbed out drift, others locking into looped motorik pulses, others still like some mysterious haunted house music, creepy and atmospheric, but always bleary eyed and softly blurred, layers of fuzz and whir wrapped around delicate melodies and barely there beats. Super nice.
Packaged in a cool, sleek oversized digipak style folder.
MPEG Stream: "Corrosion"
MPEG Stream: "Broken"
MPEG Stream: "Flawed"

EUBANKS, BRIAN / J. P. JENKINS split (Olde English) lp 15.98
You might not recognize these two names, but you probably recognize the bands they call home, all big time AQ faves. Bryan Eubanks is the man behind GOD, whose last disc on Jyrk we raved about a while back, and J.P. Jenkins is a member of Portland outfit Ghosting (as well as the Portland Bike Ensemble).
Two sidelong tracks, both lovely, and neither are all that far removed from these guys' actual bands. Eubanks side is a never ending (well, almost) wall of grinding low level hum, a relentless buzz, warm and layered and slowly shifting, sounding like a lo-fi Phill Niblock, blissful and meditative, the sort of track that when it stops, your ears almost pop, so suddenly deprived of the drone that was filling them moments earlier. Sometimes the simplest sounds are the most pleasing, and this sort of fuzzy hum is the sort of thing we could listen to forever (and we listened to it with the record reverser, which we also sell, and it sounded even cooler backwards! But then again, what doesn't?!)
Jenkins side sounds like it could have come straight off a Ghosting record, which is not at all a bad thing. A cloudy expanse of simple finger picked guitar nestled amidst soft focus billows of reverberating metallic hum. Eventually the hum dissipates, and what's left is some haunting alien Appalachia, with various notes hurled skyward and stretched into long peals of moaning high end drift. So nice.
LIMITED TO 300 COPIES!! Each one stamped on the lp label, housed in hand assembled and hand screened sleeves with a printed insert, two different color sleeves: gold on black cover or blue on white.

EVANS, GRANT False Flag Loops (Hooker Vision) cassette 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another fine cassette of home-droned electronics from Hooker Vision founder Grant Evans (aka Nova Scotian Arms, Crippling, and half of Quiet Evenings). What sounds like guitar, synth, and maybe even a bit of piano seems to get into the loops that Evans cycles with the same languid pacing that William Basinski presents via his own tape loop miasma. An underbelly of smoldering grit and amplifier distortion haunts the distant regions of some of the loops as if they were bleed-through artifacts from a previous noise construction that refused to be erased from the tape and points to a latent psychic violence that runs counter to the dreamy, lulling drones which receive a minimal amount of information as to their origin from Evans "soft sounds from 1/4" tape." Super limited pressing of 50 copies, and it's already sold out at the source, these are the last copies.
MPEG Stream: "False Flag Loops"

EVANS, GRANT Jewels From The House Of Worms (A Guide To Saints) cassette 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This super limited tape was released by the new Room 40 cassette imprint A Guide To Saints. It's already out of print at the source, and we've only got a small amount so we won't dwell too much on this. Grant Evans, of course, is one of the proprietors of the incredible Hooker Vision label out of Georgia, and he's also responsible for the druggy, dreamy dronemuzik under the guises Nova Scotia Arms, Crippling, and Quiet Evenings (this being in collaboration with his wife Rachel aka Motion Sickness Of Time Travel). The A side sports contemplative synth lines with innervision pursuits that are buried through thick pedal effects of phase-shifted oscillations and low-pass distortion, giving a decidedly lo-fi spell of rural psychedelia. The B-side is a more gnarled affair with scabrous drones swarming with tight flanges and corrosive textures. The cosmic synths do reemerge through these thickets of noise, with Evans still conjuring the darker facets of Maeror Tri. Thirty-eight minutes in length. Too bad we couldn't get more.

EVANS, GRANT Tactical Gamelan (Hooker Vision) cassette 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
After a spate of tape releases under the moniker Nova Scotian Arms and as Quiet Evenings (with his wife Rachel Evans aka Motion Sickness Of Time Travel), Grant Evans has released this drone-n-murk cassette through his mighty fine tape label Hooker Vision. There's a strong link between the sounds here, and on the NSA album Cult Spectrum released earlier in 2012 on Digitalis. Mossy, subterranean drones shift and wiggle out of the initial burst of a noisy industrial-strength flange that opens the first side of the tape. The soft, malleable surfaces of Evans' dark-minded sources (synth? guitar? processed field recordings?) settle nicely into the murk of the tape itself. Here, the sounds are akin to the occluded dronemuzik of Maeror Tri in one of their more circumspect, dreamtime moods, mixed with the likes of RV Paintings. The flip is equally as murky, although the syrupy tones seem to crawl from a turntable playing a 78 of morse code tutorials at 16 rpm, with aerated, black drones spewing smoke and shadow in the distance and spluttering synth percolations coming into focus. Limited to 100 copies; and unfortunately, already sold out at the source.

EVANS, PETER + WEASEL WALTER GROUP Oculus Ex Abyssus (self-released) lp 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

EVENINGS Growing Isolation (Fedora Corpse) lp 16.98
A massive, throbbing, pulsing, heaving, slab of buzzing, filthy, crusty, abject lo-fi drone bliss courtesy of the one man band known as Evenings. Besides running the kick ass Tapeworm label, Mr. Evenings creates epic sprawls of brutal low end soft sludge, layered expanses of crumbling bass drones, of buried crunch and clatter, everything muted and muddy and murky and ominous and creepy as fuck.
It's no surprise John Olson (of the mighty Wolf Eyes among other equally kick ass noise making entities) penned the confusional rambling liner notes, this definitely speaks to the same Wolf Eyes-ian aesthetic, the sort of crumbled sonic ruins, the wasted scorched Earth soundscape, whatever melodies there are, you have to dig for, up to your elbows in a viscous black ooooooooze. Surprisingly, amidst all this grit and grime, the sound of Growing Isolation (fairly apt title we think) does occasionally seem to smooth out into something almost pretty, but even then, their are soul sucking spirits lurking just below that misleadingly lovely top layer, a glimmering glistening crust over a constantly roiling cauldron of bottomless blackness, of grinding, slow motion industrial sprawl, everything smeared and blurred into a lurching, lumbering crawl so slow, it sounds like a field recording of mighty black icebergs, drifting in a pitch black sea, beneath a black hole sky, two sidelong tracks, each a slow burning, slow melting, black crust dirge drone epic. Like Lustmord and Tomas Koner collaborating on a soundscape cobbled together with field recordings made of hell. Awesome!
LIMITED TO 300 COPIES! Pressed on thick maroon colored vinyl, with cool, super striking one color silk screened sleeves.

EVERLOVELY LIGHTNINGHEART Cusp (Double H Noise Industries) cd 14.98
We'd been hearing about this band for ages. But had no real idea what to expect. This was most definitely not it.
Everlovely Lightningheart are a 3 piece (or 14 piece if you count all the contributors) ensemble, whose debut has somehow found its way to Hydra Head imprint Double H Noise Industries. That distinction is most definitely important in this case, so all you Hydra Head geeks expecting more Isis / Pelican / Old Man Gloom can relax, sit back, throw on the headphones and prepare for a distinctly unheavy, but beautifully fucked up sonic experience.
It's one slow growing 40 minute track, that is all over the map sonically, never getting heavy, in fact there are no RIFFS here, this is abstract free noise, but most of the noise is of the subtle subdued variety. ELLH would most certainly be at home on Kranky, Celebrate Psi Phenomenon, PseudoArcana, or any one of a hundred microlabels who have been unfurling gentle abstract soundscapes.
Everlovely cover a lot of ground in 40 minutes, most of the time is spent drifting lazily through slow shifting fields of ethereal sound, ever lovely indeed. A reverb drenched piano plays some sort of dirgey ballad before dissipating into chimes and tinkling bells, which are quickly smoothed out into an abstract lowercase drift. Soon buzzing steel strings and squealing sine waves join the fray, becoming some sort of otherworldly Appalachia. The rest of the record is like strolling through little sonic vignettes, from clattery percussive workouts, to lilting dreamlike melodies, to some fuzzy muted metallic guitar, to soundscapes of keening strings and delicate chimes, it's all quite beautiful, an incredibly compelling listen, but definitely the kind of soundwork that requires the listener to -really- listen to truly appreciate everything that is going on. Sometime it's foolish to list all the instruments used on a record, but with music like this, it's as much about the instruments as it is the players: accordion, various metals, a creosote bush, exhaust pipe, receivers, bass, acoustic guitar, microphone, metal bucket, blood, wood, piano, rivers, springs, sheet metal, distortion pedals, cymbals, hand made harp, drums, skin, jars full of liquid, broken glass, bells, a boot, tin cans, frying pan, record player, broken clarinet, harmonica, megaphone firecrackers, xylophone, as well as objects and IDEAS like a feather, ghosts, gasping for life, jars full of memories, breathing, dragon's blood, bat wing, icicles, monsoons, scars, bullets, thoughts, trains and more. Phew. Recorded in a monastery's barn, the dead end of a tunnel, a train station, various abandoned rooms, hallways and basements and the desert. Sounds like it too!
Packaged in a striking gatefold with a dense animal collage cover, each disc comes with a hand sewn booklet.
MPEG Stream: "Cusp"

EVERYDAY LONELINESS An Error In Judgement (Ekhein) cassette 5.98

EVERYTHING BUT THE GARGOYLE Four Flies On Grey Velvet (Panaxis) cd-r 9.98
Everything But The Gargoyle is a new project spearheaded by San Francisco's Ferrara Brain Pan and fellow Californian Kyra Pixy. Working under the guise of Forms Of Things Unknown, Ferrara has previously mustered occult atmospheres with plenty of nods to Nurse With Wound, Coil, and even some Ryoji Ikeda through an ever intriguing mixture of bass clarinet, electronics, bowed psaltry, and then some. His uneasy and evocative sound design pairs with the breathy cooing of Kyra Pixy, who's reciting the poetry of one G. James Wyrick. The nature of the lyrics is somewhat obscured by the breathy nature of Pixy's delivery, although a pretty good guess would land this somewhere in the supernatural horror and the oblique gothic. The arrangements are well suited to these themes, with martial overtures of slow motion drums lumbering behind eerie reeds that hold the apocalyptic mysticism that Coil achieved on Horse Rotovator many years ago. On other tracks, a slinky noir approach is taken, with the clarinets matching a smokey Barry Adamson / Angelo Badalamenti vibe, making for a brief 4 track ep that's well done and certainly a teaser for a future full-length recording.
MPEG Stream: "Susto"
MPEG Stream: "The Hum Of Blood"

EVIL MADNESS Super Great Love (Editions Mego) cd 16.98
Now available on cd!!
To look at the personnel line-up of Evil Madness, you probably wouldn't know what to expect. There's the melancholy composer Johann Johannsson with a number of acclaimed cinematic records on 4AD. There's the bleak-minded drone specialist BJ Nilsen and his long-time collaborators Stillupsteypa. And there's another Icelander dude named Petur Eyvindsson, who has some oddball releases under the name DJ Musician. Given that, the punchy discotheque grooves of Evil Madness are way out of left-field and totally great. Italo disco, minimal wave / EMB, anthemic Detroit techno circa 1988, John Carpenter's paranoiac synth arpeggiations, lots of analogue synth worship, and pre-fab electronic beats all come together underneath the stoic yet tongue-in-cheek banner of Evil Madness. We suspect that Sigtryggur from Stilluppsteypa has quite a lot to do with this one, given the electro-breaks that would occasionally slap in the face of his seriously minded crackled dronemuzik; no matter who's responsible, both sides of Super Great Love are brilliantly hedonistic mash-ups of vintage synth stabs, stupidly good anthemic electronic melodies, and plenty cybernetic Moroder sequences, spiralling upon techno, disco, and electro rhythms. Super Great Love is actually the fourth record by Evil Madness, with their other releases coming out through the poorly distributed 12 Tonar label and the dada-fetish imprint Ultra Eczema, so this album on Editions Mego should garner a broader audience for Evil Madness. Fans of Majeure, Umberto, K-X-P, and the Oneohtrix Point Never sideproject Games would be well served to check this out!
MPEG Stream: "Divine Sensual Love Fantasy"
MPEG Stream: "Cafe Eindhoven"
MPEG Stream: "Maxim's Goldfinger"
MPEG Stream: "Stundin Okkar"

EVIL MADNESS Super Great Love (Editions Mego) lp 21.00
To look at the personnel line-up of Evil Madness, you probably wouldn't know what to expect. There's the melancholy composer Johann Johannsson with a number of acclaimed cinematic records on 4AD. There's the bleak-minded drone specialist BJ Nilsen and his long-time collaborators Stillupsteypa. And there's another Icelander dude named Petur Eyvindsson, who has some oddball releases under the name DJ Musician. Given that, the punchy discotheque grooves of Evil Madness are way out of left-field and totally great. Italo disco, minimal wave / EMB, anthemic Detroit techno circa 1988, John Carpenter's paranoiac synth arpeggiations, lots of analogue synth worship, and pre-fab electronic beats all come together underneath the stoic yet tongue-in-cheek banner of Evil Madness. We suspect that Sigtryggur from Stilluppsteypa has quite a lot to do with this one, given the electro-breaks that would occasionally slap in the face of his seriously minded crackled dronemuzik; no matter who's responsible, both sides of Super Great Love are brilliantly hedonistic mash-ups of vintage synth stabs, stupidly good anthemic electronic melodies, and plenty cybernetic Moroder sequences, spiralling upon techno, disco, and electro rhythms. Super Great Love is actually the fourth record by Evil Madness, with their other releases coming out through the poorly distributed 12 Tonar label and the dada-fetish imprint Ultra Eczema, so this album on Editions Mego should garner a broader audience for Evil Madness (they'll be releasing a cd version eventually too). Fans of Majeure, Umberto, K-X-P, and the Oneohtrix Point Never sideproject Games would be well served to check this out!

EVIL MOISTURE / HANATARASH Fatanarchy On Airtube (Harbinger / Tochnit Aleph) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
If we told Hanatarash fans that this new cd WASN'T chock full of totally insane, random, chaotic noise, they'd be disappointed. So -- don't worry, no disappointment! The first release from Boredoms leader Eye Yamantaka's noise project Hanatarash in many moons (10 years?) is finally here, and it's a collaboration with UK noise artist Evil Moisture, aka Andy Bolus, who's based now in France and has quite a few cassettes and cds of extremely difficult listening under his belt. Together (and you can't tell who's doing what) they've produced 35 brief tracks of ear-hole destroying noise, somewhat in the style of Hanatarash 4: Aids-a-delic from 1994. It's a crazy collage of cut-up sounds, some snippets of recognizable "music" sprinkled amidst a heckuva lot of distorted turntable and microphone abuse, whooshing groaning screaming overload that just keeps on keepin' on, an endless barrage with no discernible structure, noises constantly morphing into some new noises but never making any sense. It's a bit like the sounds you might imagine some truly nightmarish Rube Goldberg device might make. And you've gotta love the "song" titles: "Never Mind The Overdosing", "Fingertip Believer", "Atomichy in the LSD", "Bank Punks / Noise Bank"... Also this includes "covers" of songs by both Survivor and The Exploited, supposedly. Limited edition of 500 copies by the way.
MPEG Stream: "Sleepwalking Guaide Book At Ohio"
MPEG Stream: "track 34"

EVIL OCEAN s/t (Old Scientist Records) cd-r 9.98
To begin with, there's already something special about bands from New Zealand, whether they're making eccentric indie pop or droned-out experimental noise, we like ourselves a lot of NZ music! So this band Evil Ocean, from Auckland, already has that going for them. But then add in the fact that they're flat-out obsessed with music from another of our favorite locales, Finland, specifically what our friends in Circle like to call NWOFHM, and what do you get? A really, really awesome and unclassifiable album indeed. Krauty confusional garagey distorted DIY doom metal new wave soundtrack music? Maybe we can call it NWONZHM??
Apart from several interludes of eerie, abstract weirdness, the disc mostly consists of some fairly blown-out, rockin' songs, which are ALSO weird as all heck though. These tracks are full of thick fuzz guitar, churning riffage riding the rinky-dink ticky-tock of the manic, machine-sounding percussion. Other ingredients include dramatic female vocals and gnarlier, sneering male vox (rising into a falsetto at times), plenty of effects and sci-fi synth sounds everywhere, tons o' fuzz (we mentioned that already), spooky suspenseful bits, metallic gallop, industrial clank, seasick keyboards, and more... There's ritualistic stuff that sounds like Sylvester Anfang, propulsive parts a la Circle, and heads-down Hawkwindy hypno-rock. The mood can get genuinely intense and disturbing, yet Evil Oceans also obviously display a bizarre, even nerdy sense of humor, heck there's a track here called "Rise Of The Administration Daleks", complete with hysterical Dalek voices... but also Spaghetti Western whistling... what does it all mean?? It's art, or arty (several of the members are apparently successful painters) but most importantly it rocks in a quite entertaining WTF? fashion.
Recommended to anyone into so-called NWOFHM stuff (Circle, Pharaoh Overlord, Steel Mammoth, etc.), also White Hills, Brain Donor, and other gritty post-Stooges space rockers and post-punk derelicts. Released on pro-printed cd-r, packaged in a in a full-color ecopak with photos and artwork celebrating both the epic New Zealand landscape, and Charles Darwin.
MPEG Stream: "Rise Of The Administration Daleks"
MPEG Stream: "I Foresee"
MPEG Stream: "Intro "

EVOLUTION CONTROL COMMITTEE All Rights Reserved (Seeland) 2cd 13.98
Probably best known for their legendary mash up fusing the a cappella vocals from a Public Enemy song to a jam by Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass, this lawsuit baiting plunderphonic duo return with a new record of twisted samples, mutated mashups, and a sure fire way to fend off lawsuits (which will come in handy, since on this album they fuck up a Beatles track, quite brilliantly, more on that in a moment), but how exactly does the ECC expect to insulate themselves from the teams of entertainment lawyers who will no doubt be knocking down their doors? Simple. By legally and contractually forbidding you, the listener, to listen to their record. What? Yep, it's right there, TWICE in fact, an audio contract stating that by listening to the record, you have broken a binding legal contract, and thus the ECC are absolved of any wrongdoing. Pretty genius, especially considering by listening to the contract, you're already breaking said contract. Who knows it if would actually hold up in court, but pretty dang funny nonetheless, and since we already broke the contract by listening to the record, well, heck, we might as well tell you what it sounds like.
Our favorite might have to be "What Would You Think If I Sang Autotune", which uses the oft abused Autotune program for what it was originally designed for, to subtly tweak vocals to change their pitch and 'autotune', them, but here, instead of shifting the vocals so they're IN tune, they take a Beatles song, and do nothing but nudge the vocals slightly out of tune, turning a classic into a cringeworthy exercise in terrible karaoke. Then there's "Stairway To Britney" which finds Ms. Spears groaning and crooning over Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven", and it's a surprisingly good fit.
Or maybe "California Dreamings" which seems to take about a million different cover versions of "California Dreaming" cuts em up into little parts and weaves them together into a schizophrenic ADD cover version. Or "Fock It" which melds Herbie Hancock's 'Rockit" and the surprisingly similar sounding "Axel F Theme" from Beverly Hills Cop. And so it goes, a dizzying head spinning mix of samples, and chopped up beats, voices, and sound snippets, each song a plunderphonic mash up of epic proportions, groovy, funky, twisted, stuttery, confusional, baffling and brilliant.
The cd version includes a second computer data disc, with high quality MP3 files of the record as well as album length commentary tracks, outtakes, remixable song versions and more!
MPEG Stream: "What Would You Think If I Sang AutoTune"
RealAudio clip: "Stairway To Britney"
MPEG Stream: "California Dreamings"
MPEG Stream: "Feel Like Breakin' Love"

EVOLUTION CONTROL COMMITTEE All Rights Reserved (Seeland) lp 13.98
Probably best known for their legendary mash up fusing the a cappella vocals from a Public Enemy song to a jam by Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass, this lawsuit baiting plunderphonic duo return with a new record of twisted samples, mutated mashups, and a sure fire way to fend off lawsuits (which will come in handy, since on this album they fuck up a Beatles track, quite brilliantly, more on that in a moment), but how exactly does the ECC expect to insulate themselves from the teams of entertainment lawyers who will no doubt be knocking down their doors? Simple. By legally and contractually forbidding you, the listener, to listen to their record. What? Yep, it's right there, TWICE in fact, an audio contract stating that by listening to the record, you have broken a binding legal contract, and thus the ECC are absolved of any wrongdoing. Pretty genius, especially considering by listening to the contract, you're already breaking said contract. Who knows it if would actually hold up in court, but pretty dang funny nonetheless, and since we already broke the contract by listening to the record, well, heck, we might as well tell you what it sounds like.
Our favorite might have to be "What Would You Think If I Sang Autotune", which uses the oft abused Autotune program for what it was originally designed for, to subtly tweak vocals to change their pitch and 'autotune', them, but here, instead of shifting the vocals so they're IN tune, they take a Beatles song, and do nothing but nudge the vocals slightly out of tune, turning a classic into a cringeworthy exercise in terrible karaoke. Then there's "Stairway To Britney" which finds Ms. Spears groaning and crooning over Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven", and it's a surprisingly good fit.
Or maybe "California Dreamings" which seems to take about a million different cover versions of "California Dreaming" cuts em up into little parts and weaves them together into a schizophrenic ADD cover version. Or "Fock It" which melds Herbie Hancock's 'Rockit" and the surprisingly similar sounding "Axel F Theme" from Beverly Hills Cop. And so it goes, a dizzying head spinning mix of samples, and chopped up beats, voices, and sound snippets, each song a plunderphonic mash up of epic proportions, groovy, funky, twisted, stuttery, confusional, baffling and brilliant.
The cd version includes a second computer data disc, with high quality MP3 files of the record as well as album length commentary tracks, outtakes, remixable song versions and more!
MPEG Stream: "What Would You Think If I Sang AutoTune"
RealAudio clip: "Stairway To Britney"
MPEG Stream: "California Dreamings"
MPEG Stream: "Feel Like Breakin' Love"

EVOLUTION CONTROL COMMITTEE Plagiarythm Nation V2.0 (Seeland) cd 14.98
Probably best known for their Public Enemy / Herb Alpert mash-up, years before the bootleg/remix craze, Evolution Control Comittee return with a brand new full length of cut and paste, steal and reappropriate madness on Negativland's Seeland label. Nothing totally groundbreaking, quite reminiscent of early Negativland / Tape-beatles but with way more of an emphasis on humor and goofiness, with the musical emphasis being on the hip hop / funk / R+B side of things. But it is fun and funky and really funny. The perfect mix-tape / party record. Childrens records over vintage funky soul breaks, a foul mouthed astronaut over luxurious Beach Boys harmonies, more chopped up Public Enemy and much more!! Everyone who dug the Bran Flakes record from a few lists back will totally love this!!
MPEG Stream: "Star Spangled Bologna"
MPEG Stream: "I Want A Cookie"

EVOLUTIONARY JASS BAND Change Of Scene (Community Library) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The strangely monickered Evolutionary Jass Band features two ex members of free noise abstract improvisors Jackie-O-Motherfucker, and while that pedigree definitely informs the sound of the EJB, their sound is much more aligned with traditional jazz, a mix of dark New Orleans funeral jazz and skittery post bop, but all sort of laid back and dreamy, dark and dolorous. Horns don't skronk so much as swoon and shimmer. Dark tones shift and slide, drifting thick and rich over dense tribal drumming, and simple slippery bass. There's even some sitar to add some droney buzz. The EJS are a pretty big ensemble, but it doesn't sound cluttery or crowded, each player contributes and deftly interacts with the rest of the group, but also knows when to let someone else step forward.
This will definitely hit the spot for modern jazz-heads, and might even appeal to the more traditionally inclined, but folks who dig the abstract clatter and free form drift of bands like JOMF, No Neck Blues Band, Sunburned Hand Of The Man and the like, might dig this too. It could be their gateway to a lifelong love of jazz, which is at least partially responsible for informing the new breed of improvised abstraction that is all the rage these days.
Great stuff.
MPEG Stream: "Aunt Dot"
MPEG Stream: "Change Of Scene"

EX-COCAINE / YELLOW SWANS split (Not Not Fun) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Is it even necessary to point out that Noise nerds and Free Jazz freaks tend to keep the sort of the same company? Probably not, but if it were, then we would just play you this record and say goodnight. Those of you who don't like jazz, don't get scared off! The sensibility coloring this record with that spirit is really just one of genuinely free improvisation, so don't expect Coltrane or anything like that, this is still largely a Noise affair. Ex-Cocaine starts off with a loose instrumental guitar piece, accompanied by various drum sounds. The second track follows a similar trajectory, with the addition of vocals. If Aztec Camera were a lo-fi art rock band, this is what it might sound like. Side two features none other than the prolific -- and soon to be extinct -- Yellow Swans. Yes, it's true, after 7 years or so of trying to destroy both your ears and your speakers, Gabriel Saloman and Pete Swanson are calling it quits. They're not exactly going to disappear though, just saying goodbye to the Swans and starting some new things. If you saw our last list, then you probably noticed Mr. Saloman's collaborative effort with Aja Rose of In Flux. As for Pete Swanson, he's got a new label called Freedom to Spend -- check our review of it's first release, the album "Light Ships" by Axolotl off-shoot Bulbs. Okay, you're all caught up, now: the second side of the record. From mindfuck analog meltdown to blissful psych incantations, YS have certainly changed over the years, and, perhaps for the best, their final days have drifted into a more melodic, psychedelic direction. This track could not possibly better demonstrate that trend. In fact, if you didn't know who this actually was, it would be pretty dang impressive if you could guess. Meandering guitars, buried vocals, and a final showdown that dissolves into beautiful sheets of noise. Recommended!

EXCEPTER Alternation (5RC) cd 14.98
For the last several years Excepter have been creating super fucked up, seriously pleasurable waves on outsider dancefloors everywhere, with an onslaught of ep's, 12"s, split releases and full lengths. Alternation is full length number three, and as always these guys do not disappoint! A dizzying slab of herky-jerky rhythms, beat up electronics, drugged out rumblings, late night salvation. The first half has some almost catchy pop moments (this is all relative of course) including quite possibly their most infectious song to date "Rock Stepper", while the second half of the album features longer tracks that melt and burst with the unique flavor we've come to love from these guys. They seem to be taking some of the more melodic moments of Throbbing Gristle's legacy (a friend even suggested one might throw one of these songs on a mix right next to TG's "Hot On The Heels Of Love!") Excepter makes sounds that are the perfect conglomeration of the now and hip with a eyes toward the future and a knowing nod to the past. And while their music sounds nothing like Ariel Pink, we can totally imagine the sort of craziness that might result if those wonderfully warped melody makers got together. Since they both approach music making from a damaged and drugged out, Technicolor drenched angle unlike almost any other bands we've heard. Until then, we'll just be content to soak up this super kick ass full length.
MPEG Stream: "The "Rock" Stepper"
MPEG Stream: "Op Pop"

EXCEPTER Debt Dept. (Paw Tracks) cd 14.98
Haunted and humorous, Excepter's Debt Dept. opens with a Sabbath like riff, looped and fuzzed to create the platform for the vocals of not 1, nor 2, but 3 vocalists' unhinged ramblings.
Excepter's cast flood the track with faithless and caustically delivered lyrics, half sung, half spoken. The effect is oddly chilling, considering the tone is ultimately that of Excepter's tried and true mix of futurist-dub, narcotic fuzz and drone, and mellow yet schizophrenic vocals; a pastiche sometimes too dynamic, ridiculous, or slapdash to take "seriously." Nonetheless, on Debt Dept., Excepter's sardonic wit and notedly more focused approach gives them a winning hand. Their most recent efforts have been less oriented towards vocals and lyrics, but the addition of two new vocalists, Clare Amory and Lala Harrison, has changed that. The vocals by committee approach is made a dominant fixture through the diverse array of effects their digressions are filtered through. The rhythmic collision course is more spacious than previous efforts giving time for grooves to develop, and even a few hooks to set in. Beyond the half-sung/postpunk/almost-rap like vocal delivery, there are also spectral vocal interludes, resulting in blanketed and billowing textures that soften the harsh and incisive beats and guttural, expulsive, and erotic moaning.
Those who love Excepter will find themselves well satisfied with Dept Debt., as it embellishes and improves upon their developing style of droney, dubby eclecticism. On this, their full length Paw Tracks debut, the band offers a near staggering swirl of most of the styles and sounds the label already offers, with heavy ladle-fulls of Black Dice, Rings, and Ariel Pink added to the already potent brew. Lest this hint at a lack originality, it must be stressed that the way in which the band incorporates and stirs these qualities is wholly original. Rhythmically, the album is a little tighter and more committed than previous efforts, with a greater apprenticeship to hip hop and dub, and some wacked notion of post-industrial dance. It could work well as the soundtrack to some alchemists in a satellite factory processing dark matter into... well... dark pop. Or perhaps like watching a disco ball shatter in slow motion, its shards reflecting a disparate collection of cultural references as they fly past you. Whichever the more operative metaphor, the band has invited you lovingly to their fucked-up, post-everything party, and if we were you, we'd be joining them in the festivities.
MPEG Stream: "Kill People"
MPEG Stream: "Sunrise"

EXCEPTER FRKWYS Vol.2 (RVNG International) 12" 16.98
Really? Carter Tutti and Foetus remixing Excepter? Yup, that's what you'll get on this 12" from the newly birthed Frkwys imprint (read Freakways as a play on Folkways). Carter Tutti (the re-named duo for Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti, then and now of Throbbing Gristle fame) have tightened up the jammy industrial wanderings of Excepter's "Shors Ring" (from the Debt Dept. album) within their own rhythmicist precision that recalls some of the best work they've ever produced over the past 30 years (e.g. Heartbeat, Synaesthesia, The Space Between, etc.). Mr. Foetus twists Excepter's "Stretch" (also from Debt Dept.) into one of his manic marches of bombastic drum corps rhythms and huge melodic crescendos certainly not dissimilar from his twisted anthems of old. It's hard to hear much of the Excepter sounds within either track, but the productions from both remixing agents are so strong that it really doesn't matter.

EXCEPTER Ka (Fusetron) cd 14.98
Both Excepter 12"s finally on cd. Excepter is yet another No Neck Blues Band offshoot, this time spearheaded by ex-NNBB yokel John Fell Ryan, and this time, gone are those clattery, free-folk hippy drum circle jams, and in their place is some bizarre reverb drenched space dub, complete with throbbing, gothic soundscapes, sequenced drones, muted pulsing grooves, dubbed out drums, noisy programmed beats under fuzzed out static and bleeping synths, dreamy ethereal atmospheres and ghostly moaning vocals. Sort of like Can jamming at the bottom of an abandoned swimming pool recorded onto beat up cassettes that have been in the glovebox of your car for years, or maybe King Tubby manning the desk for a VERY STONED Sunburned Hand jam session. This is a gorgeously muddy, beautifully murky head on collision between krautrock propulsion, druggy dream dub, and damaged experimetal weirdness. Pretty fucking great.
MPEG Stream: "Vacation"
MPEG Stream: "Be Beyond Me"

EXCEPTER KA (Fusetron) lp 14.98
Another No Neck Blues Band offshoot, this time spearheaded by ex-NNBB yokel John Fell Ryan, and this time, gone are those clattery, free-folk hippy drum circle jams, and in their place, throbbing, haunting, gothic soundscapes of sequenced drones and haunting vocals, muted pulsing grooves, like Can jamming at the bottom of a pool, noisy programmed beats under fuzzed out static and bleeping synths, and dreamy ethereal soundscapes. Unexpected and really nice!

EXCEPTER Self Destruction (Fusetron) lp 13.98
According to the band, "this is a house record". If it is, then raves must be way more scary and fucked up than I ever imagined. We've been digging Excepter's freeform avant space dub weirdness for a while now, and as much as the band would like to claim that this is a dance record, it's just as damaged and out there sounding as their last two full lengths. Throbbing synths, haunting reverbed vocals, warm warbly bass lines, creepy ghostly ambience, squiggly synths and all manner of bleeps and bloops. Muted mumbling vocalisations drift through pusling dronescapes until toward the end of the record, skittery drum machines spew spastic rhythms, pushing Self Destruction about as far dance-ward as it's gonna get, and even then, it's way to druggy and psychedelic to be dance music for anything but a wasted and stumbling, blood soaked, moonlit, satanic sacrifice, pagan ritual dance party. Which when you put it that way...
MPEG Stream: "Shoot Me First"
MPEG Stream: "In The Rain"

EXCEPTER Self-Destruction (Fusetron) cd 13.98
According to the band, "this is a house record". If it is, then raves must be way more scary and fucked up than I ever imagined. We've been digging Excepter's freeform avant space dub weirdness for a while now, and as much as the band would like to claim that this is a dance record, it's just as damaged and out there sounding as their last two full lengths. Throbbing synths, haunting reverbed vocals, warm warbly bass lines, creepy ghostly ambience, squiggly synths and all manner of bleeps and bloops. Muted mumbling vocalisations drift through pusling dronescapes until toward the end of the record, skittery drum machines spew spastic rhythms, pushing Self Destruction about as far dance-ward as it's gonna get, and even then, it's way to druggy and psychedelic to be dance music for anything but a wasted and stumbling, blood soaked, moonlit, satanic sacrifice, pagan ritual dance party. Which when you put it that way...
MPEG Stream: "Shoot Me First"
MPEG Stream: "In The Rain"

EXCEPTER Sunbomber (5RC) cd 9.98
Apparently recorded in one hour on a hot summer's day this new Excepter ep finds them with a slightly different lineup and in fine fucked up form. Sun soaked and dripping with melting casios, warped vocals and all sorts of effects they got hidden up their tricky sleeves. The last ep found them channeling the ghost of Third Eye Foundation while this time out it's a little less twisted dark dub and a little more twisted kaleidoscope of sounds. There's the inclusion of vocals on a few tracks that we're not sure how we feel about, but when the vocals fade away on tracks like "Dawn Patrol" it's fucked up and blissed out electronic tinged noise at its best. Excepter have this way of walking a fine line between half assed and totally off the cuff (they say they recorded this in one hour) and totally brilliant but when they hit their mark they hit is soooo hard that we keep coming back for more and more.
MPEG Stream: "One More Try"
MPEG Stream: "Dawn Patrol"

EXCEPTER Sunbomber (5RC) 12" 9.98
Apparently recorded in one hour on a hot summer's day this new Excepter ep finds them with a slightly different lineup and in fine fucked up form. Sun soaked and dripping with melting casios, warped vocals and all sorts of effects they got hidden up their tricky sleeves. The last ep found them channeling the ghost of Third Eye Foundation while this time out it's a little less twisted dark dub and a little more twisted kaleidoscope of sounds. There's the inclusion of vocals on a few tracks that we're not sure how we feel about, but when the vocals fade away on tracks like "Dawn Patrol" it's fucked up and blissed out electronic tinged noise at its best. Excepter have this way of walking a fine line between half assed and totally off the cuff (they say they recorded this in one hour) and totally brilliant but when they hit their mark they hit is soooo hard that we keep coming back for more and more.
MPEG Stream: "One More Try"
MPEG Stream: "Dawn Patrol"

EXCEPTER Throne (Load) cd 14.98
Second full length from these NY abstract free-rock, free-folk, free-whatever weirdos. Featuring ex No Neck Blues Bander John Fell Ryan, Excepter take the abstractions of the NNBB even further out. Way more abstract, way more blissed out, way more dreamy and ethereal. No clattery drum circle rhythms or pagan ritual folk, no this is drifting and deliriously unmoored. Female vocals hover ghost like over slowly rolling waves of electronic sound. Drones that pulse and weave and slither but mostly just drift. Outer space swooshes and simple percussive splashes demarcate the wide open expanses of each song. Like Hawkwind's space rock with all the rock removed, and in its place, even MORE space, as well as hushed and whispered vocals, shuffling electronic skitters, woozy distant melodies and lots of rumbling weirdness and whooshing swirl. Like the spirit of Can or Faust, a ghostly shimmer of krautrock, rhythmic and propulsive but with all the flesh pulled off, so the sounds are gauzy and barely there, a flicker of rhythmic urgency, now just a gorgeously ghostly amble.
MPEG Stream: "Jrone (Three)"
MPEG Stream: "The Heart Beat"

EXCEPTER Vacation / Forget Me (Fusetron) 12" 12.98

EXIT IN GREY Nameless Droplet (Mystery Sea) cd-r 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The Mystery Sea label specializes in "Night-Ocean Drones" which as you can imagine definitely appealed to the AQ sensibility. And their series of ultra limited, gorgeously hand assembled, elaborate cd-r's has included releases from Aidan Baker, Ultrasound, Moljebka Pvlse, Troum, mnortham, Paul Bradley, Coelacanth and others, you can understand why we're just as excited to check out Mystery Sea releases by bands we've never heard before. This is only the second Mystery Sea release we've been able to get enough of to review and list (the first being the amazing Emerge cd-r) and it's absolutely fantastic.
Two lengthy epics from this Russian duo, each a massive slow motion trawl through some dark and dimly lit undersea world. Drifting and floating, huge swaths of low end resonate and reverberate... It's the sound of glaciers drifting across black seas, old abandoned ships forever floating on huge slow shifting swells, a musical bathysphere drifting along the ocean floor, this IS night-ocean music. Dreamy and shimmery, dark and dense, mysterious and haunting, but the music of Exit In Grey is not simple, not just one dimensional drone, these tracks are thick and layered, deep and rich, with all manner of overtones getting all tangled up, strange sonic subtleties, various shades of sound, slowly changing hue, twisting and distorting to form other shapes. Nameless Droplet most definitely benefits from deep listening, although like most drone records, it's perfectly okay to just float on the surface, but dive deep and there are wonders to behold.
STRICTLY LIMITED TO 100 COPIES! We got 30. Once they are gone, they are gone FOREVER! Gorgeously packaged with full color artwork, each copy numbered. So nice!
MPEG Stream: "Part 1"
MPEG Stream: "Part 2"

EXPANSION BAY Star Obsolescence (Spanish Magic) cd 14.98
Expansion Bay is the (more) spaced out ambient side project of Sandoz Lab Technician Nathan Thompson, who has also done time in Sleep, EYE and a handful of others like minded outfits.
Utilizing field recordings, laptop, an arsenal of heavily processed instruments as well as samples from his previous bands, Thompson has put together a gorgeously expansive ambient drone world that is rife with sonic action. None of that static drift, no pushing a button or pressing a pedal and letting things take their course, no, these three lengthy tracks are dense, and heavily layered, sounds atop sounds atop sounds, different sonic fragments bleeding into other bits and shards, melodies getting all tangled up with other melodies, droney and ambient certainly, but alive and constantly moving and expanding.
The opener is a nine minute stretch of glistening high end buzz and gleaming sonar shimmers, like a less soothing Oval, sort of underwater sounding, static on the surface, but just below, sounds are constantly shifting and vibrating and changing shape and texture. Bits of melody float by like strange microscopic creatures in a musical petri dish, beneath it all, various whirs and rumbles cause different parts and sounds to shift and birth other sounds.
The title track, is a 16+ minute drift through inner space, beginning with a high end whir, slowly shedding the upper registers, gradually slowing down to a dronelike crawl, the whole thing peppered with glistening glimmering sonic sparkles, like stars in some volatile solar system.
The final twenty minute is the most lush of the bunch, sounding at first like wheezing organs, but as the sounds separate and the fuzz clears away like clouds after a rainstorm, the sounds reveal themselves to be bells, or what certainly sounds like bells, a gorgeously dense cacophony of ringing and clanging, huge thick clouds of overtones, the timbre and tonal colors always changing, so gorgeous and nearly overwhelming, finally fading out in a muted minimal stretch of glitchy low end buzz...
MPEG Stream: "Lateral Drift 1"
MPEG Stream: "Star Obsolescence"

EXPERIENCE One Amazing Day (V/Vm Test Records) cd 14.98
There are two ways to look at the work of V/Vm and their croneys: 1. that they actually are the ultimate post-modern pranksters offering aural jokes so complex as to confound even the most astute cultral analyst, or 2. that they have convinced themselves that they are the ultimate post-modern pranksters, but have gotten so wrapped up in their self-consecration within the realm of the Genius that they forgot what the point of their joke was. This rough, untreated field recording by The Experience is a puzzler. If one is to believe the liner notes (in part creditted to a Tony Balony - either some fictional member of Parliament, or more likely V/Vm's pet name for Tony Blair), the event which The Experience documented was an uplifting, family oriented, and certainly cheesy multi-media extravaganza celebrating the dawn of the new Millenium with music by Peter Gabriel(!). Muddled recordings of this multi-media event are situated next to recordings of construction site clatter, the vocal din of a busy pub, and strongman arcade games that blurt out, in American dialects, "Totally Radical" and "Awesome." It appears that the Experience views these public offerings of mass media consumption with great disdain yet also with unblinking fascination, as if this were the most egregious display of vile pornography they had ever seen, but couldn't look away. Is is really a joke or high art to poke fun at those who truely enjoy mass media? Who knows? Who cares.

EXPO '70 Animism (Kill Shaman) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's amazing how quickly Expo '70 went from being a group we had never heard of, whose cd-r we got randomly sent to us in the mail, to a dronerock juggernaut, releasing disc after disc of amazing ambient kraut-flecked drift, what is beginning to seem remarkably like a monthly installment of outerspace sonic exploration. But heck, we'd much rather get a new 'issue' of far out Expo '70 dronebliss every month than say, Star Magazine (well, actually, okay, maybe Star was a bad example, but definitely more than say Spin or Rolling Stone or pretty much any other monthly installment sort of thing, anyway...).
Animism just so happens to be Expo '70's first actual cd as well, the first release that's not a limited edition cd-r, which is one of the reasons we decided to make it record of the week. 'Cuz to be totally honest, every single one of the Expo '70 releases could have been, and heck, maybe should have been Records of the Week. Certainly if we based it on how much they get played in the store, and the reaction of the folks hearing it, and the fact that the cds have been impossible to keep in stock. But that's only one of the reasons. The other, is that Animism, in it's own subtly space-y and psychedelic way, is quite possibly the 'heaviest' Expo '70 release yet.
The record begins much in the same way as most of the others. A huge drifting rumbling soundscape. Spare and wide open. Across this warm expanse drift disembodied guitar squiggles, reverbed scrapes, bits of fragmented melodies, post rock snippets, tinkling percussive shimmer,
all drifting over soft swells of undulating low end. There are tons of FX, but it's not Acid Mothers style freakout, instead, these sonic aktions are muted and smeared into dreamy streaks. Never has a music sounded so much like what it must feel like to drift weightless through space. Cloaked in inky blackness, but with the sparkle of a million stars illuminating the seemingly endless emptiness. And so it goes on, each track, a slow lugubrious crawl through the galaxies, strange shapes drift by, colored lights, every bit of melody like some barely visible shooting star, soft billow clouds of FX enveloping you before dissipating and leaving you to once again drift wide-eyed into infinity.
Track three, though, is where things start to get a little scary. In come the guitars, and this time it's not the little glimmers and twinkles, these are thick sheets of crumbling rumbling distorted buzz. Relentlessly trudging beast like across the same barren soundscapes, but leaving a trail of blown speakers in its wake. The effects here are much more blown out, melodies slip and slither amidst the coruscating heaviness, sounding almost like someone transported SUNNO))) back to the seventies, where they ended up jamming with Klaus Schulze and Ash Ra Tempel. Granted the Expo '70 cd-r Center Of The Earth, was also pretty heavy, but on Animism, the heaviness seems to be more deftly integrated with the lovelier psych-drone-drift parts, an organic space kraut doom, as dark and dense as it is dreamy and effervescent. The record effortlessly drifts back and forth, from black drone to space-y drift, as if one couldn't possibly exist in this universe without the other.
There are some subtle sonic surprises too, like the way-up-in-the-mix, tripped out harmonized guitars on "Entering The Night On A Highway Of Astral Projection", the folky acoustic strum on "Missing Sun", and the swirling SUNNO)))-y murk of "Shape-Shifting Mountain Mover", sounding a bit like the Angelic Process with the treble turned all the way down and the bass all the way up! Blissy and muddy, an epic blown out glistening dirge, suffocated under layer after layer of FX drenched detritus.
If there was ever an ultimate soundtrack for blowing the hatch and floating free, doomed to a languorous eternity of drug fueled drift and buzzing rumbling psychedelic space rock torpor, this is most certainly it.
So recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Mahogany Lake"
MPEG Stream: "Eagle Talons"

EXPO '70 Audio Archive 001 - Music From Inaudible Depths (Kill Shaman) cd-r 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
For a while there it was practically raining Expo 70 cd-r's around here, and we of course couldn't get enough, we were shirtless, soaking wet, jumping around, splashing madly in the sonic downpour. Expo 70 are masters of a sound that so perfectly pushes all of our buttons, a dark spaced out dronemusic, that manages to infuse the typical minimal drone, with the organic pulse of krautrock, the subtle propulsion of prog, the blissed out sonic effulgence of FX drenched space rock, all boiled down to their very essence, a throbbing pulsing organic world of sound, organs whirring, guitars rumbling, buzzing electronics, Moogs spinning out soft spacey shapes, bits of guitar strum, fragments of melody, all drifting in an expansive abyss of shimmering low end.
Dark and melodious, but blurred and smeared into expansive sonic sprawls, a black stream flowing heavenward, carrying us along with it, ambient music, but not wooshy or wussy, fierce and dense, dark and layered, keening sheets of feedback, crumbling chunks of distortion, breaking off like chunks of ice and floating weightless in a sea of hiss and buzz. Heavy enough to block out the SUNNO))), but serene enough to wrap around you like a warm blanket and sink into the soft feathery depths.
These two discs collect unused, unfinished and alternate tracks recorded over the last two years. Both are fantastic, gorgeous, minimal, intense, heavy, dreamy, 001 is packaged in a retro looking paper sleeve, while 002 is in a plain black sleeve with a sticker, and a black on black printed insert. Both are essential, whether you own all the other Expo 70 cds or none of them, and both are crazy cheap, the two together are still less than most single cds, you'd be foolish to buy just one...
MPEG Stream: "Summoning The Cosmos"
MPEG Stream: "Mirrors Of Confusion"

EXPO '70 Audio Archive 002 (Kill Shaman) cd-r 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
For a while there it was practically raining Expo 70 cd-r's around here, and we of course couldn't get enough, we were shirtless, soaking wet, jumping around, splashing madly in the sonic downpour. Expo 70 are masters of a sound that so perfectly pushes all of our buttons, a dark spaced out dronemusic, that manages to infuse the typical minimal drone, with the organic pulse of krautrock, the subtle propulsion of prog, the blissed out sonic effulgence of FX drenched space rock, all boiled down to their very essence, a throbbing pulsing organic world of sound, organs whirring, guitars rumbling, buzzing electronics, Moogs spinning out soft spacey shapes, bits of guitar strum, fragments of melody, all drifting in an expansive abyss of shimmering low end.
Dark and melodious, but blurred and smeared into expansive sonic sprawls, a black stream flowing heavenward, carrying us along with it, ambient music, but not wooshy or wussy, fierce and dense, dark and layered, keening sheets of feedback, crumbling chunks of distortion, breaking off like chunks of ice and floating weightless in a sea of hiss and buzz. Heavy enough to block out the SUNNO))), but serene enough to wrap around you like a warm blanket and sink into the soft feathery depths.
These two discs collect unused, unfinished and alternate tracks recorded over the last two years. Both are fantastic, gorgeous, minimal, intense, heavy, dreamy, 001 is packaged in a retro looking paper sleeve, while 002 is in a plain black sleeve with a sticker, and a black on black printed insert. Both are essential, whether you own all the other Expo 70 cds or none of them, and both are crazy cheap, the two together are still less than most single cds, you'd be foolish to buy just one...
MPEG Stream: "042507"
MPEG Stream: "112706"

EXPO '70 Audio Archive 003 (Kill Shaman) cd-r 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Volume 3 in the ongoing Audio Archive series from our favorite droney, krautrock inspired combo, Expo '70, whose recent Black Ohms record we made Record Of The Week. And heck we really could have (and maybe should have) made all of Expo '70's Records Of The Week. They all seem to be part of some epic swirling black sonic universe, each cd-r a satellite of sound circling a mysterious sonic black hole, every release another stage, another leap forward into the abyss, an ever expanding sea of deep black drones, of rumbling whirring drift, guitars and synths woven into vast expanses of starry sky shimmer, and underwater moonlight drift.
Volume 3 takes up right where number two left off, taking the glacial crush of SUNNO)), and the blissed out ambience of Popol Vuh, and fusing them into a thick undulating mass, an organic world of sound, painted in shades of grey and black, mesmerizing, hypnotic, lulling us into a black trance, carrying us off on a sluggish stream of downtuned blur and smeared soft focus melodies, these are lullabyes for dark stormy nights, this is meditation music for channeling the dark side.
At once heavy, and mysterious, thick, and buzzing, warm, and dark and expansive, almost metallic, blackened and blissful, ominous and intense, this is some seriously uneasy listening, dark music for dead souls, each track a step further into a dying black sun, into a bottomless black pit, a living sound that entrances, enthralls, ensorcels... we are unable to resist, we give in, we let go, we slowly sink into the inky blackness, letting the drones and rumbles and whirs, fill our ears, our lungs, wrapping us in a gauzy hazy swirl of low end, releasing our spirit from its earthly bonds, letting us pass over into a glorious and haunting otherworld of sound.
Another dark, heavy, blackened missive from these krautdrone innerspace explorers. And like the others, recommended.
Simple packaging, silver and black ink on cardstock, with printed insert. LIMITED TO 100 COPIES!!!
MPEG Stream: "Great Glass Mountain"
MPEG Stream: "Vampire Flower"
MPEG Stream: "Blissful Morning"

EXPO '70 Black Ohms (Beta-Lactam Ring) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
As regular readers of the aQ list can no doubt attest to, we sure do love droning guitars. Whether downtuned and mostly motionless, or frenzied and buzzing, or blown out and shimmery, there's just something about the sound of those steel strings vibrating projected through massive walls of amplification. There's the primal primeval sound itself, the actual drone, a sound found everywhere in nature, then there's the power, the amplification, this transformed sound. The drone is most certainly linked to the machinations of life and the universe, we can only imagine, the Big Bang resulted in an aeons-long drone that hung over the nascent Earth, the sound of insects, the growls of beasts, the rumble of thunder, the white noise of the surf, all harnessed and sculpted into a more modern, more human experience of sound, into actual music. But the best drone music, with the most resonance, is the music that conflates the two. That creates a listening experience, wherein we find ourselves drifting off, sometimes to some man made universe, of songs and sounds and music, sometimes to someplace wholly other, where the music looses itself from the strictures of composition and arrangement, and is allowed to float freely, to drift. It's then, that the music maker becomes more than a musician, more than a rock band, almost more like and esoteric, ethereal wrangler of sound. The magic is creating music, that sounds like it wasn't 'created' at all, but instead, was discovered, unearthed, or if created, not from guitars and 4-tracks and drums, but from some strange energy, or some alternate universe, the sounds become glimpses into other worlds, or peeks into the music maker's soul. In creating these sorts of sounds, the listener is inexorably drawn in, and pulled quite willingly into a whole new dimension, where unlike the creator, who may have meticulously assembled the various elements, they are allowed to wander, and wonder, to float and drift and get lost, to allow the sounds to unleash emotions, to open up their mind, their hear, maybe in some cases even their soul.
As you might imagine, and we've mentioned it before, the drone is a mercurial beast, and one not wrangled easily. There are plenty of comers, who feel like once you've conjured the drone, it does the work for you, but such is not the case, as is proven time and time again, by sonic alchemists like Expo '70, whose take on the drone is less monochromatic, less one dimensional, whose dronemusic is infused with elements of krautrock, spacerock, postrock, but all woven into vast black expanses of sound.
Even more than past Expo '70 releases, Black Ohms manages to create some impossible world of sound, that is at once dark and sinister and foreboding, yet somehow dreamlike and serene, a collection of tracks woven into a seemingly continuous sonic drift, beginning with a deep, almost corrosive buzz, pulsing and undulating, shot through with streaks of melody, layered and textured, looped and hypnotic, heavy and dense and in its own minimal way, quite brutal, before giving way to something much more tranquil, a sea of glimmering, harmonics, and deep drifting tones, here the guitar is revealed as just that, a guitar, its abstract chords and minimal riffage, clipped and effected, draped in reverb and delay, and allowed to unfurl into softly propulsive rhythms, and spider web-like textures, again, infused with subtle melody, and blurred, burnished shadings.
The record wanders through miniature otherworlds of atonal melody, of machine like click and chitter, fifties computer bleeps and bloops, soft chiming jammy summer sun guitars, before returning to the deep, dark drone for a nearly 35 minute two part finale. The first part, a fifteen minute return to the sound of the album opener, the guitar again distorted and dark, not so much riffing as buzzing, a Niblockian soundscape of overtones and harmonics, a warm blackened bed for the ethereal melodic drift above, streaks of glimmering melody, soft stretches of wispy ambience, laced with an almost buried, looped guitar figure, all subtly rhythmic, a distant throb, like the pulse of some buried giant, muted and mysterious, but supporting the whole delicate structure.
The second, a 20 minute slow burn, a crystalline assemblage of barely there rhythms, deep layers of shimmering drone, this is the sound of a million dronemusic cd-r's fully realized, a smoldering chunk of minimal propulsion, rife with strange, tape speeds shift, but instead of jarring, it only manages to make the sound woozy, slightly alien, underwater, glimmering melodies, sparkling like black diamonds, fields of soft static like clouds of tiny insects, deep soft swells like the ebb and flow of some otherworldy tide.
Imagine the most minimal krautrock record you own, dubbed over and over and over onto the shittiest tapes possible, left in the sun, then played back on a car stereo, with only one woofer, but then render that in ear popping hi fi. The sound may seem murky and muted, but it is most definitely by design, there is nothing low fidelity about the sound of Expo '70, because within the meticulously and deftly obscured sound world, lurk all manner of sonic mysteries, each suspended in an impossibly beautiful blurred constellation of sound, which in turn is left to drift across a vast expanse of Black Ohms.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!
MPEG Stream: "Lysergic Sunrise"
MPEG Stream: "Mind Echo Unit"

EXPO '70 Center Of The Earth (Sonic Meditations) cassette 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on tape! Super rad old school style cassettes, with cool full color multi panel sleeves printed inside and out!
Third missive from our new favorite modern ambient space rock / krautrocky outfit. As if there were even any other contenders. These guys (or this guy rather) came out of nowhere and just blew our fucking minds. Expo '70, aka Justin Wright, has, over the last few months. given us two full lengths of gloriously dreamy kraut infused dronemusic, looped cyclical guitars, thick waves of smeared riffs and muted murky FX. A heavier, dronier take on Eno, Popol Vuh, Ash Ra Tempel. This latest transmission from the deepest reaches of the Expo '70's universe, is by far the heaviest and most aggressive sounding yet, as if they decided to give the boys in SUNNO))) and Earth a run for their money. But this is not just some massive slab of caveman sludge, instead this is an ominous soundworld of thick coruscating waves of grinding low end guitar fuzz, roiling and churning, but with a propulsive inner pulse, like some lost Ash Ra jam dipped in tar, and launched into the ether. Or if the other two Expo '70 records were the sounds of drifting weightlessly through space, the stars a distant shimmer, everything muted and slowly shifting, like some huge black expanse of water, Center Of The Earth is the sound of the sky buckling, the galaxy fracturing, of being sucked into some mysterious other universe, a subterranean world beneath our visible existence, murky and turbulent, a darkness impenetrable except for a few swirling swaths of grey light, quickly tangled up in the dark, the endless drift into a black hole, the sound a reverberating whir, a massive resonant hum that thickens and intensifies, until you can feel the drone in your bones, every cell in your body vibrating sympathetically, until you slip into glorious blackness. The final track is like the aftermath, your ship a ruined wreckage, floating through the sky, just another piece of debris in a sky full of memories and regrets and ruin, a drifting blissed out space rock riff beneath abstract streaks of psychedelia, wrapped in a gauzy film, the rays of some alien sun lighting up the sky and wrapping you in warm shadows. So gorgeous.
MPEG Stream: "I"
MPEG Stream: "II"

EXPO '70 Center Of The Earth (Kill Shaman) cd-r 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Third missive from our new favorite modern ambient space rock / krautrocky outfit. As if there were even any other contenders. These guys (or this guy rather) came out of nowhere and just blew our fucking minds. Expo '70, aka Justin Wright, has, over the last few months. given us two full lengths of gloriously dreamy kraut infused dronemusic, looped cyclical guitars, thick waves of smeared riffs and muted murky FX. A heavier, dronier take on Eno, Popol Vuh, Ash Ra Tempel. This latest transmission from the deepest reaches of the Expo '70's universe, is by far the heaviest and most aggressive sounding yet, as if they decided to give the boys in SUNNO))) and Earth a run for their money. But this is not just some massive slab of caveman sludge, instead this is an ominous soundworld of thick coruscating waves of grinding low end guitar fuzz, roiling and churning, but with a propulsive inner pulse, like some lost Ash Ra jam dipped in tar, and launched into the ether. Or if the other two Expo '70 records were the sounds of drifting weightlessly through space, the stars a distant shimmer, everything muted and slowly shifting, like some huge black expanse of water, Center Of The Earth is the sound of the sky buckling, the galaxy fracturing, of being sucked into some mysterious other universe, a subterranean world beneath our visible existence, murky and turbulent, a darkness impenetrable except for a few swirling swaths of grey light, quickly tangled up in the dark, the endless drift into a black hole, the sound a reverberating whir, a massive resonant hum that thickens and intensifies, until you can feel the drone in your bones, every cell in your body vibrating sympathetically, until you slip into glorious blackness. The final track is like the aftermath, your ship a ruined wreckage, floating through the sky, just another piece of debris in a sky full of memories and regrets and ruin, a drifting blissed out space rock riff beneath abstract streaks of psychedelia, wrapped in a gauzy film, the rays of some alien sun lighting up the sky and wrapping you in warm shadows. So gorgeous.
MPEG Stream: "I"
MPEG Stream: "II"