L Holy Letters (VHF) cd 13.98
The mysterious L (actually Japanese folk-psych troubadour Hiroyuki Usui, an ex-member of both Fushitsusha and Marble Sheep) released the Holy Letters album back in 1992, as a cd + 7" set in oversized packaging, on his own Holy Castle label, only to see it fade immediately into obscurity. In the years since, the whole underground Japanese psych scene has grown in popularity, with artists such as Ghost, Acid Mothers Temple, and Nagisa Ni Te among others gaining a measure of popularity and recognition. However, L's lone recording languished in the realm of collector/fanboy rumour, unknown to most, beloved by some and sought after by others. Amongst AQers, both Andee and Allan had finally managed to track down copies of the original edition of L's Holy Letters for themselves (to the tune of $25 or so apiece, yikes!) when it was announced that the VHF label would be reissuing this modern day acid-folk holy grail domestically. This lovely digipack reissue is now here, and comes complete with not only the music from the both the original cd and 7", but also with a seven minute previously unreleased bonus track from the original sessions circa 1989-90! VHF didn't attempt to replicate the original packaging, but does provide a handsome subsitute, in the form of a cardstock sleeve housing the disc and a booklet thick with color photos and liner notes by both Hiroyuki Usui himself and devoted L fan Ben Chasny of Six Organs of Admittance. On the cd, you get about 70 minutes in total of slowly unfolding, sparse and beautiful music, with L taking the listener on an aural trip that includes drones, field recordings, throat singing...and his own otherworldly take on bottleneck slide blues (in fact, the first track is a version of Blind Willie Johnson's "Cold Was The Ground"). There's an introspective Nick Drake feel to this, but it's more abstract and free-floating and eerie than that... Sad and shimmering, these songs/suites will have you believe that ocean waves come lapping up to L's strummed acoustic guitar, while Tibetan monks join in with ritualistic percussion and backing vocals/whispers... There's shades of a Japanese Jandek in L's charmingly atonal vocals (Chasny's gushing liner notes liken them to "a favorite uncle singing knowingly about things you will one day learn"), half-spoken, half-sung, hushed with spiritual import. Everything on here was played by L (guitars, bass, vibes, drums, organ, harmonium, etc.). In addition there's a guest cellist on one track and electric guitar on another (by Taku Sugimoto).
We really can't argue with the assesessment that VHF themselves give this: "For anyone who's into Richard Youngs, Popol Vuh, Six Organs of Admittance, Tim Buckley, acid-folk, or Japanese underground, this is an essential purchase." Of special note to Six Organs fans, actually, since Hiroyuki Usui will be releasing a record in collaboration with Six Organs sometime next year...Chasny must be in heaven! A few weeks ago we made Drag City's reissue of Ghost leader Masaki Batoh's solo cd our Record Of The Week. This belongs on the same pedestal with the best of Ghost and Batoh, so if you like those folks, please don't miss this.
MPEG Stream: "Blues Trip #2"
MPEG Stream: "Holy Letter"
MPEG Stream: "Troll"

L'ACEPHALE Mord Und Totsclag (Aurora Borealis) cd 15.98
A year or so back, a strange and mysterious cd was left for us to listen to. An oversized black package adorned with a cryptic white woodcut, all sorts of strange text, in other languages. It took us forever to get around to it, but once we did we were kicking ourselves BIG time. One of the most amazing slabs of buzzing black grimness EVER. With lots of weird ambient and acoustic stuff mixed in. So we got in touch with the band to order a whole bunch, but unfortunately, it was limited to 100 copies and was gone gone gone. 
So here we are a while later and in swoops Aurora Borealis to save the day, reissuing that very same cd-r, as an actual cd, in a a super swank dvd style case, with a printed slipcover, as well as a bunch of inserts and even a poster. But all that stuff is just extra, it's the creepy fucked up black damage inside that we're most concerned with. 
A French band name, a German album title, but the band is in fact from Portland, which is a bit unexpected once the filthy black fog of Mord Un Totschlag comes creeping out of your speakers. The guitars are harsh and buzzing, super high end, whirling and furious, with strange little epic melodies and harmonies surfacing here and there, but for the most part, each track is an extreme blast of buzzing blackness, the drums barely there, a constant pound way down in the mix, and the vocals, even more brittle and acidic than the guitars, threatening to overwhelm everything, a harsh hateful hissy howl. Repetitive and hypnotic, epic and majestic, and ultra grim and raw. Lo-fi but still heavy and relentless. 
These black blasts are separated by haunting stretches of apocalyptic folk, which makes a bit of sense when you realize the band features at least one member of Blood Axis and Waldteufel. Dark, dolorous, downtuned guitars strewn over vast expanses of murk and grime, haunting vocals, crumbling industrial ambience, tolling bells, the final track, "Euntes Ibant Et Flebant" is a black ambient epic, a spare sonic wasteland, with angelic vocals buried in the mix, what sound like bombs exploding in the distance and random low end disturbances way way off, rain, thunder, disembodied voices, simple muted percussion, angular guitars drenched in reverb, a gorgeous sprawl of wartime shimmer, of dismal desolate ambience. 
The record seems to center around the 21 minute "Against A Weeping Sea Of Sleep" which begins as a white hot burst of hellish hateful buzz, the vocals AND guitar blown out almost to the point of becoming pure white noise, until the buzz dissipates, giving way to a simple funeral strum, over a shifting shimmering soundscape of ghostly vocals, and industrial whirs, until the buzz returns, but it's been transformed into a wispy sheet of sound which is draped over a swirling sea of mournful melodies and strummed flamenco sounding guitar, as well as that original steel string dirge, strangely lovely and haunting. The perfect combination of L'Acephale's two seemingly disparate sonic sides. 
Packaged in a dvd style case, housed in a cardstock slipcover, with a huge booklet featuring tons of intense woodcuts, random text, notes on each song, photos, diagrams and drawings, as well as a fold out black and white mini poster. 
MPEG Stream: "Terror Is Our Tenderness"
MPEG Stream: "The Book Of Lies"
MPEG Stream: "Heartless & Miserable"

L'AUGMENTATION (Pickled Egg) 7" 3.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Extremely likable Birmingham space-pop for fans of Pram, Broadcast, and Stereolab. We like Pickled Egg's releases so much we imported these straight from the UK.

L'INFONIE Vol. 333 (Tir Groupe / Mucho Gusto) 2cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This swank double cd reissues the 1972 third album from Canada's craziest new music/psychedelic rock collective, the anarchic L'Infonie which flourished from '67-'74. (Giving you some clue about their methodical madness, their other LPs were titled "Vol. 3", "Vol. 33", and "Vol. 3333", of which only the first has also been reissued on cd as yet -- we recommended it here back in '01.) Hailing from Montreal, Quebec these academic avant-garde freaks mixed classical chamber music, acid fuzz rock, weird warbling vocal babble, jazzy groove, free improv, musique concrete, prog overload, etc. etc. into a confusing, chaotic, comedic happening that should appeal equally to Terry Riley and Zappa fans. I know sometimes mentioning Zappa is the kiss of death, so don't take it the wrong way. Let's mention some other stuff this reminds us of, in part: Soft Machine Goblin New Trolls Univers Zero Faust Mahogany Brain Art Zoyd Nurse With Wound. This is pretty darn cool and weird and original, bizarrely funny sometimes and simply strange and beautiful on other occasions. Disc one is more "rock", disc two more "classical." What it all means, I don't know -- there's lotsa liner notes, but useful only to the francophones among us.
MPEG Stream: "Section 19-23"
MPEG Stream: "Ubiquital"

L'INFONIE Volume 3 (Tir Groupe / Mucho Gusto) cd 14.98
On the same label that reissued that weird Les Maledictus Sound album, comes this even weirder French-Canadian late '60s artifact. But this isn't really like the pop-psych commerical craziness of the Maledictus disc. L'Infonie was a much more avant-garde group, playing psychedelic-rock infused "new music", mixing Moog synths, primal screams, 20th century academic experimental chamber music, and more, over the course of their 1967-1974 career ("seven years of pure mayhem" say the liner notes), the weirdest and wildest examples of which seem to be compiled onto this cd. Youthful anarchic energy and serious somber musical beauty are simulanteously evident here. Terry Riley fans may already know L'Infonie as the student group who performed a somewhat more psychedelic than usual version of his minimalist classic "In C", which is found on the Cortical Foundation cd version of Riley's Reed Streams.
RealAudio clip: "J'ai perdu 15 cents dans le nez froid..."
RealAudio clip: "Ode a L'Affaire -- Ouverture"
RealAudio clip: "Viens danser le 'OK La!'"

L'USINE s/t (Isophlux) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
An interesting discovery in the overcrowded IDM genre (intelligent dance music); densely programmed melodies and rhythmmic elements building into impressively catchy grooves recalling Richard D. James' 'Polygon Window' and the more recent works of Autechre.

L. PIERRE Dip (Melodic) cd 14.98
Dip is quite possibly Aidan Moffat's most expansive and varied L. Pierre release to date. So much so that it's easy to get lost in and forget who you're listening to. It's quite unlike anything we've heard from him (either on his previous L.Pierre and Lucky Pierre recordings or his other band Arab Strap's). With considerably more forward motion and development, each of the six tracks certainly seem far less loop-centric than 2005's Touchpool. Super pretty at times quite majestic.
MPEG Stream: "Gullsong"
MPEG Stream: "Drift"

L. PIERRE Dip (Melodic) lp 14.98
Dip is quite possibly Aidan Moffat's most expansive and varied L. Pierre release to date. So much so that it's easy to get lost in and forget who you're listening to. It's quite unlike anything we've heard from him (either on his previous L.Pierre and Lucky Pierre recordings or his other band Arab Strap's). With considerably more forward motion and development, each of the six tracks certainly seem far less loop-centric than 2005's Touchpool. Super pretty at times quite majestic.
MPEG Stream: "Gullsong"
MPEG Stream: "Drift"

L. STINKBUG The Allure Of Roadside Curios (Starlight Furniture Company) cd 13.98
Nels Cline is the man. He's not only a super-nice guy, but of course also a brilliant avant-garde guitarist, equally at home with ECM jazz as Sonic Youth noiserock. L. Stinkbug is the (odd) name of his band with fellow LA guitar maestro G.E. Stinson, bassist Stuart Liebig, and drummer Scott Amendola. Improv, improv, improv is what they've been doing together since 1997. Loud and noisy, with rock grooves (thanks to Amendola), thence to quiet jazz moments. This disc features four long tracks, flexing and stretching and splattering all over the place. There's ambient sections of noir-ish mystery, plenty of tinkering sounds of things in their strings, and outright intense noise-scorch when they build up to it. These guys are really into preparing their guitars and basses and drums with a variety of unusual objects (Cline, Stinson, Liebig and Amendola are credited, respectively, with the use of implements, applied tools, stuff, and hair. Hair?). Tools, implements, and stuff like chopsticks, springs, Nels' famous egg whisk, an electric drink stirrer, custom-made doodads, etc. And then there's all the effects they run their guitars through on top of that. L. Stinkbug: for all your avantguitarimprov "extended techniques" playin' needs!
Recorded live at Bruno's, just around the corner from us here at Aquarius. Can't imagine the usual yuppie Bruno's crowd would have liked this one bit!
RealAudio clip: "Chopped Up And Laid End To End"
RealAudio clip: "Beacon"

L.A.F.M.S. Unboxed (Cortical Foundation) cd 15.98
Excellent sampler of the limited and prohibitively priced Los Angeles Free Music Society box set. From noise to spoken word rants to sappy jazz to avant garde audio fuckery.

L.O.S.D. 7 Songs 77 Frequencies: The Lower Range (Staalplaat) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Like the antithesis of Ryoji Ikeda, here's a disk to check the power of your subwoofer, for all the sine wave rockers out there. Seven tracks, the first beginning with a 25hz sweep and steadily increasing the pitch over 77 increments of 3hz each. To be sure, there are some high pitch tones and a bit of mid range thrown in to boot to give the rest of your speakers a workout as well as some jittery rhythmmic noise to shake up the mix. For fans of the above mentioned, Coh, Noto, and Byetone.

L.O.S.D. The Man Who Made Radio / Mort Aux Vaches (Staalplaat) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
L.O.S.D.'s contribution to the recently prolific Mort Aux Vaches series (which includes John Duncan, Stillupsteypa, Zoviet France, Maeror Tri, etc...) is more of an aural documentary of neo-historicism which fuses primitive hiss, noise, and static from shortwave radio broadcasts with a running narrative of flowing vocal samples offering a fascinating history of the birth of the radio.

L/R When I Lift I Can Feel My Sunburn Singing (Paha Porvari) cd-r 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're so excited to finally be holding this long in the works release in our grubby little paws. A long term collaboration between Loren Chasse and Ray Guillette, When I Lift I Can Feel My Sunburn Singing was originally intended to be released as a picture disc on tUMULt, but through a series of strange circumstances, the picture disc series was put on hold indefinitely, and the L/R record just sort of languished on a dusty shelf somewhere, which was an absolute shame as this is a beautiful piece of work. Thankfully, the folks at Paha Porvari tracked this record down and decided to give it a proper release. While we sort of wish they had pressed this as a real cd, the cd-r format's transitive nature is perfectly suited to the record's sound and theme.
Culled from a series of field recordings collected at the site of a ruined factory in South San Francisco way back in 1996, When I Lift I Can Feel My Sunburn Singing is the document of several live performances in 1997 and 1998 assembled from those sounds.
L/R explore a world of thick washed out drones, swirling seas of whir, gorgeously shimmery expanses of sun dappled sound, all peppered with crackle and glitch, cavernous windblown soundscapes, haunting metallic chimes and muted percussive events, jagged shards of sound, recontextualized into haunting rhythmic grooves, a constantly shifting soundworld of mystery and magic, alternately jagged and caustic, soothing and dreamlike. Incredible stuff!
Gorgeously packaged in an oversized black on black cardstock sleeve, inside lots of beautiful full color inserts, drawings and etchings and paintings reproduced on super nice paper, as well as two delicate vellum inserts with liner notes and credits.
MPEG Stream: "One"
MPEG Stream: "Two"
MPEG Stream: "Three"

LA BARBARA, JOAN Voice Is The Original Instrument (Lovely) 2cd 26.00
Lovely has done a good thing and reissued some classic Joan La Barbara recordings from the seventies along with some rarities from the eighties to boot. When it comes to extended vocal technique, La Barbara is the queen. Not only can she boast a lengthy career as one of the top vocal performers in the avant garde and a strong resume of academic compositions, but she's even got a film credit as the voice of one of the evil baby aliens in Alien Resurrection. How many performers of her stature in academia can claim to have voiced a slimy little puppet? Not many we'd guess. The set is divided up into an "Explorations" disc and "The Music" disc, and includes her entire 1976 self-released album "Voice Is The Original Instrument". The "Explorations" half is all live, and/or real time, solo voice performances. None of them use any form of processing (digital or otherwise) of the voice and as such are not just intimate, but down right claustrophobic to listen to. Reactions here in the store (from customers and staff alike) range from extreme discomfort to uncontrolled mirth. Andee said that this was the kind of stuff he liked to do as a kid. La Barbara's vocalizations range from slow hooting glissandos like a breathing exercise gone awry to feral animal-esque growls. The second disc, while including much of the same vocal techniques as the first, contains La Barbara's studio works using multi-tracks to over lay multiple overdubbings of growls and such on tape. A definite must for fans of sound poetry.
MPEG Stream: "Circular Song"
MPEG Stream: "Twelvesong"

LA CASA, ERIC Air Ratio (Sirr) cd 15.98

MPEG Stream: "One"
RealAudio clip: "Two"
MPEG Stream: "Three"
MPEG Stream: "Four"

LA CASA, ERIC L'empreinte de L'ivress (Digital Narcis) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Eric La Casa - who has also recorded as Syllyk - presents these elemental recordings from mineral ore, electrical buzz, and aquatic field recordings (from the coasts at both the North and Adriatic Seas) ebb and flow against ascending metal drones from a number of Tibetan bowls and bells. Quite lovely in fact.

LA CASA, ERIC Les Pierres du Seuil 4-7 (Edition ...) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Eric La Casa is a French sound artist primarily interested in curating unprocessed field recordings, which are usually of the most common natural element of minerals, wind, and water. With only the contextualizing resources of the recording level and the narrative position, La Casa masterfully reveals the volatile sonic properities of seemingly inert substances. If you're a fan of Chris Watson's incredible field recordings, you should certainly check this one out.

LA CASA, ERIC The Stones Of The Threshold (Ground Fault) cd 9.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Eric La Casa (who has previously recorded as Syllyk) presents two collages of layered (and not really processed) field recordings that bookend a lengthy composition for wood, breath, and Tibetan bowls. La Casa may not have the Midas touch to field recordings that Chris Watson has been blessed with, but he has a remarkable ear that enables him to collage his textural recordings within an evocative context.

LA COFRADIA DE LA FLOR SOLAR s/t (World Psychedelia Ltd) cd 17.98
Argentinian psych from '71 with some nice fuzz bits!

LA DRIVERS UNION POR POR GROUP, THE Por Por: Honk Horn Music Of Ghana (Smithsonian Folkways) cd 16.98
Ghana must be a really loud place. Even just based on the amount of honking that that goes on there. Vehicles honk often and repeatedly, to shoo pedestrians or cyclists out of the way, to signify annoyance with slow traffic or blocked roadways, to signify a desire to change lanes or pass, to get the attention of other drivers or just because they're so thrilled to be driving. Taxis honk rhythmically to attract fares, buses also honk rhythmically while their drivers sing out the various destinations. But there's more than just honking, sound systems blast music, stalls selling their wares broadcast songs and sounds, prayers are broadcast through large speakers affixed to the outsides of mosques...
Sonic chaos certainly. But at the same time, all of these sounds merge into a strange sort of music, the sounds of a city going through the motions of daily life. Chaotic certainly, but also vibrant. Unique. And so alive. A joyful celebration of everyday activities.
At the root of all of this sound is Por Por, the honk horn music of Ghana. Por Por, pronounced 'paaw paaw', an onomatopoeic description of the local drivers' honking squeeze-bulb horn music, was initially just that, the sounds of a city in motion, but eventually, the drivers who helped keep the city moving, took the sounds of their work day and turned it into music. Horns honking, found percussion, wrenches on tires, pipes on concrete, drums, pumping up tires, singing and shouting, those sounds became ritualized, and became their own music, with particular sounds and rhythms and arrangements, and a specific purpose. This music while a reflection of the city around it, was rarely performed in public, but instead, was almost exclusively performed at union drivers' funerals, those funerals very reminiscent of the New Orleans jazz funeral, replete with processions, music obviously, and coffins modeled on the various buses and trucks carrying the dead to the afterlife. The story of por por, of Ghana and its independence is a long one, far to intricate and complex to get into here, but La, the province from which these drivers and horn honkers hail, was critical to the resistance to colonial rule, refusing to pay taxes, fighting a proposed ban on por por horns, a strong sense of community, were all critical to the region's struggle for independence.
So in honor of this year's golden anniversary of Ghana's independence, for the first time, the La Drivers Union Por Por Group gathered to record the music that had been such a part of their culture and their life. Recorded outdoors, in backyards, the sound of the city, the traffic, all around, the music of por por spills forth, effusive and celebratory, joyous and spiritual, complex and strange and like nothing we have ever heard before.
A gorgeously ramshackle rhythmic workout, metallic percussion dense and spidery, a lush framework of intricate rhythms, beneath amazing vocal arrangements, but it's the por por that make this music so unique, honking rhythmically, strange melodies, sounding a bit like geese, an orchestra of squeeze-bulb horns, locking into looped rhythmic structures, hypnotic and mesmerizing. Like traditional African music being performed during rush hour in the middle of a busy intersection. Like Konono No1 but with horns instead of amplified thumb pianos. Most of the tracks seem to be more focused on the vocals, or the hypnotic rhythms, with the horns acting more as a melodic counterpoint. But some tracks, like the opening track "Por Por Akwaaba / Welcome" are entirely about the honking horns, sounding a bit like Philip Glass or Steve Reich composing for automobile horns, rhythmic and strangely catchy, and that is when Pop Por completely captivates, when the horns lock into strange cyclical melodies, all tangled up with the vocals, complete transporting us to the dusty streets of Ghana, horns in hand, honking joyously, letting the sound and the rhythms carry us away.
The final track is especially stirring, with the Por Por group heading into the city, and setting up outside the union office, enlisting all of the drivers present, as well as enlisting the help of various passing vehicles, for a call and response salute to their Independence, the por por horns honking rhythmically, regular car horns held down, underpinning the proceedings with long keening drones, folks singing long drawn out tones, almost wailing, a dense swirl of droning honking mesmer. So intense. And moving.
As with all Smithsonian Folkways releases, there is a huge booklet, with tons of amazing photos, extensive liner notes, as well as notes on each track.
MPEG Stream: "Otsokobila"
MPEG Stream: "Trotro Tour Of Ghana"
MPEG Stream: ""Trotro Drivers, We Love You So""

LA DRUGS (Twisted Village) lp 8.98

LA DUSSELDORF Individuellos (Water) cd 15.98
Also now reissued by Water, Individuellos is the third and final outing for Klaus Dinger's post-Neu! kraut glammers, La Dusseldorf. Originally released in 1980, it has a slightly more pronounced eighties treatment then Viva or their self-titled debut, but the big keyboard driven rhythms on opening number "Menschen" are unmistakably classic La Dusseldorf. Not every song on here is classic, but the ambient "Sentimental" with its layered tones and backwards recordings showcase a sublime side not as present on their earlier records. Probably not as essential as the reissues of those first two records (which, by the way, we now have on vinyl), but much much better than we had expected!
MPEG Stream: "Menschen"
MPEG Stream: " Sentimental"
MPEG Stream: "Das Yvonnchen"

LA DUSSELDORF s/t (Warner Music Germany) cd 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're very excited about these two remaster/reissues from Germany's La Dusseldorf! La Dusseldorf were THE masters of anthemic open and clean-sounding happy funky krautrock, inspiring the likes of Eno and Bowie (Heroes-era). They crafted repetitive hypnotic percussion with layers of super clean life-affirming melodies that were driven by minimal lyrics. Neu! co-founder Klaus Dinger and drummer Hans Lampe (who joined Neu! for their 3rd album 75) formed La Dusseldorf following the breakup of Neu! They were joined by Klaus' brother, Thomas, on percussion and vocals, Harald Konietzko on bass, and Nicolas van Rhein on keyboards. Any fan of Neu! will immediately recognize that Neu! sound, which is still evident here, but where Neu! was icy and detached, La Dusseldorf is positive and practically bubbling with warmth. Like Harmonia (a product of fellow ex-Kraftwerker, Michael Rother), La Dusseldorf albums have an incredible, ahead-of-their-time production level and truly sound like they could be a current release (we've already witnessed a couple customers' disbelief at the year it was originally released!) This self-titled 4-song cd is absolutely classic Krautrock! "Silver Cloud", with its huge drums and layers of simple, syrupy melody create one of our favorite krautrock songs ever! At the time of this album's release, it was played on German radio a bunch and even became a "funk" hit! "La Dusseldorf" opens with the chanting of a football [soccer] audience and leads into a pulsating anthemic rhythm also joined by the valliant one-word chant of "Dusseldorf". If you've been reading some of our more recent lists, we should distinguish that La Dusseldorf do not fall in the krautrock sub-genre of WWII-effected dark & broodish-type stuff, a la German Oak. La D. better fit into the uber-clean & hypnotic song-kraft family of Neu!, Harmonia, Cluster, Can, Kraftwerk, etc. Both the self-titled and Viva releases are highly recommended as an integral part of any Krautrock kollection!
MPEG Stream: "La Dusseldorf"
MPEG Stream: "Silver Cloud"

LA DUSSELDORF s/t (Water) cd 15.98
We're very excited about these two DOMESTIC (thus, cheaper) remaster/reissues from Germany's La Dusseldorf! La Dusseldorf were THE masters of anthemic open and clean-sounding happy funky krautrock, inspiring the likes of Eno and Bowie (Heroes-era). They crafted repetitive hypnotic percussion with layers of super clean life-affirming melodies that were driven by minimal lyrics. Neu! co-founder Klaus Dinger and drummer Hans Lampe (who joined Neu! for their 3rd album 75) formed La Dusseldorf following the breakup of Neu! They were joined by Klaus' brother, Thomas, on percussion and vocals, Harald Konietzko on bass, and Nicolas van Rhein on keyboards. Any fan of Neu! will immediately recognize that Neu! sound, which is still evident here, but where Neu! was icy and detached, La Dusseldorf is positive and practically bubbling with warmth. You could also picture 'em as Neu!'s clean-cut little brother, with more in the way of vocals too.
Like Harmonia (a product of fellow ex-Kraftwerker, Michael Rother), the La Dusseldorf albums have an incredible, ahead-of-their-time production level and truly sound like they could be current releases (we've already witnessed a couple customers' disbelief at the date there were originally released!). This self-titled, four track debut from 1976 is absolutely classic Krautrock. "Silver Cloud", with its huge drums and layers of simple, syrupy melody create one of our favorite krautrock songs ever. It's epic and unforgettable and alone makes this album worth picking up. At the time of this album's release, it was played on German radio a bunch and even became a "funk" hit! Another highlight, "La Dusseldorf", opens with the chanting of a football [soccer] audience and leads into a pulsating anthemic rhythm also joined by the valliant one-word chant of "Dusseldorf".
Both the self-titled and Viva records are highly recommended as an integral part of any Krautrock kollection. Thanks to the fine people at Water Records, who also made sure these are properly packaged with liner notes and lyrics, they are finally available again. Psych, prog, proto-punk and all kinds of other music fans, this is what you need!
MPEG Stream: "La Dusseldorf"
MPEG Stream: "Silver Cloud"

LA DUSSELDORF s/t (4 Men With Beards) lp 17.98
ALSO NOW REISSUED ON VINYL!
We're very excited about these two DOMESTIC (thus, cheaper) remaster/reissues from Germany's La Dusseldorf! La Dusseldorf were THE masters of anthemic open and clean-sounding happy funky krautrock, inspiring the likes of Eno and Bowie (Heroes-era). They crafted repetitive hypnotic percussion with layers of super clean life-affirming melodies that were driven by minimal lyrics. Neu! co-founder Klaus Dinger and drummer Hans Lampe (who joined Neu! for their 3rd album 75) formed La Dusseldorf following the breakup of Neu! They were joined by Klaus' brother, Thomas, on percussion and vocals, Harald Konietzko on bass, and Nicolas van Rhein on keyboards. Any fan of Neu! will immediately recognize that Neu! sound, which is still evident here, but where Neu! was icy and detached, La Dusseldorf is positive and practically bubbling with warmth. You could also picture 'em as Neu!'s clean-cut little brother, with more in the way of vocals too.
Like Harmonia (a product of fellow ex-Kraftwerker, Michael Rother), the La Dusseldorf albums have an incredible, ahead-of-their-time production level and truly sound like they could be current releases (we've already witnessed a couple customers' disbelief at the date there were originally released!). This self-titled, four track debut from 1976 is absolutely classic Krautrock. "Silver Cloud", with its huge drums and layers of simple, syrupy melody create one of our favorite krautrock songs ever. It's epic and unforgettable and alone makes this album worth picking up. At the time of this album's release, it was played on German radio a bunch and even became a "funk" hit! Another highlight, "La Dusseldorf", opens with the chanting of a football [soccer] audience and leads into a pulsating anthemic rhythm also joined by the valliant one-word chant of "Dusseldorf".
Both the self-titled and Viva records are highly recommended as an integral part of any Krautrock kollection. Psych, prog, proto-punk and all kinds of other music fans, this is what you need!
MPEG Stream: "La Dusseldorf"
MPEG Stream: "Silver Cloud"

LA DUSSELDORF Viva (Warner Music Germany) cd 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're very excited about these two remaster/reissues from Germany's La Dusseldorf! La Dusseldorf were THE masters of anthemic open and clean-sounding happy funky krautrock, inspiring the likes of Eno and Bowie (Heroes-era). They crafted repetitive hypnotic percussion with layers of super clean life-affirming melodies that were driven by minimal lyrics. Neu! co-founder Klaus Dinger and drummer Hans Lampe (who joined Neu! for their 3rd album 75) formed La Dusseldorf following the breakup of Neu! They were joined by Klaus' brother, Thomas, on percussion and vocals, Harald Konietzko on bass, and Nicolas van Rhein on keyboards. Any fan of Neu! will immediately recognize that Neu! sound, which is still evident here, but where Neu! was icy and detached, La Dusseldorf is positive and practically bubbling with warmth. Like Harmonia (a product of fellow ex-Kraftwerker, Michael Rother), La Dusseldorf albums have an incredible, ahead-of-their-time production level and truly sound like they could be a current release (we've already witnessed a couple customers' disbelief at the year it was originally released!) Viva, their second record, is filled with Krautrock anthems, culminating in the 20 minute long Cha Cha 2000 - an epic of krauty proportions. If you've been reading some of our more recent lists, we should distinguish that La Dusseldorf do not fall in the krautrock sub-genre of WWII-effected dark & broodish-type stuff, a la German Oak. La D. better fit into the uber-clean & hypnotic song-kraft family of Neu!, Harmonia, Cluster, Can, Kraftwerk, etc. Both the self-titled and Viva releases are highly recommended as an integral part of any Krautrock kollection!
MPEG Stream: "Viva"
MPEG Stream: "Cha Cha 2000"

LA DUSSELDORF Viva (Water) cd 15.98
We're very excited about these two DOMESTIC (thus, cheaper) remaster/reissues from Germany's La Dusseldorf! La Dusseldorf were THE masters of anthemic open and clean-sounding happy funky krautrock, inspiring the likes of Eno and Bowie (Heroes-era). They crafted repetitive hypnotic percussion with layers of super clean life-affirming melodies that were driven by minimal lyrics. Neu! co-founder Klaus Dinger and drummer Hans Lampe (who joined Neu! for their 3rd album 75) formed La Dusseldorf following the breakup of Neu! They were joined by Klaus' brother, Thomas, on percussion and vocals, Harald Konietzko on bass, and Nicolas van Rhein on keyboards. Any fan of Neu! will immediately recognize that Neu! sound, which is still evident here, but where Neu! was icy and detached, La Dusseldorf is positive and practically bubbling with warmth. You could also picture 'em as Neu!'s clean-cut little brother, with more in the way of vocals too.
Like Harmonia (a product of fellow ex-Kraftwerker, Michael Rother), the La Dusseldorf albums have an incredible, ahead-of-their-time production level and truly sound like they could be current releases (we've already witnessed a couple customers' disbelief at the date there were originally released!). Viva, their second record, from 1977, is filled with Krautrock anthems, culminating in 20 minute long album closer "Cha Cha 2000" - an epic of krauty proportions. And the instrumental number "Rheinita" managed to chart in Germany!
Both the self-titled and Viva records are highly recommended as an integral part of any Krautrock kollection. Thanks to the fine people at Water Records, who also made sure these are properly packaged with liner notes and lyrics, they are finally available again. Psych, prog, proto-punk and all kinds of other music fans, this is what you need!
MPEG Stream: "Viva"
MPEG Stream: "Cha Cha 2000"

LA DUSSELDORF Viva (4 Men With Beards) lp 17.98
ALSO NOW REISSUED ON VINYL!
We're very excited about these two DOMESTIC (thus, cheaper) remaster/reissues from Germany's La Dusseldorf! La Dusseldorf were THE masters of anthemic open and clean-sounding happy funky krautrock, inspiring the likes of Eno and Bowie (Heroes-era). They crafted repetitive hypnotic percussion with layers of super clean life-affirming melodies that were driven by minimal lyrics. Neu! co-founder Klaus Dinger and drummer Hans Lampe (who joined Neu! for their 3rd album 75) formed La Dusseldorf following the breakup of Neu! They were joined by Klaus' brother, Thomas, on percussion and vocals, Harald Konietzko on bass, and Nicolas van Rhein on keyboards. Any fan of Neu! will immediately recognize that Neu! sound, which is still evident here, but where Neu! was icy and detached, La Dusseldorf is positive and practically bubbling with warmth. You could also picture 'em as Neu!'s clean-cut little brother, with more in the way of vocals too.
Like Harmonia (a product of fellow ex-Kraftwerker, Michael Rother), the La Dusseldorf albums have an incredible, ahead-of-their-time production level and truly sound like they could be current releases (we've already witnessed a couple customers' disbelief at the date there were originally released!). Viva, their second record, from 1977, is filled with Krautrock anthems, culminating in 20 minute long album closer "Cha Cha 2000" - an epic of krauty proportions. And the instrumental number "Rheinita" managed to chart in Germany!
Both the self-titled and Viva records are highly recommended as an integral part of any Krautrock kollection. Thanks to the fine people at Water Records, who also made sure these are properly packaged with liner notes and lyrics, they are finally available again. Psych, prog, proto-punk and all kinds of other music fans, this is what you need!
MPEG Stream: "Viva"
MPEG Stream: "Cha Cha 2000"

LA IRA DE DIOS Cosmos Kaos Destruccion (World In Sound) cd 23.00
In our recent highlight review of No More Invention by the frantic French acid guitar punk band Gunslingers, we kinda bagged on all other modern day signings by the World In Sound label (as opposed to their rather better selection of reissues, of which we generally enthusiastically approve). Then we realized, that wasn't quite fair, 'cause besides the excellent Gunslingers, WIS has also put out good stuff by at least a couple other contemporary bands, both of 'em from South America, Peru to be precise. There's El Cuy (which we'll review when we can get more in, our supplier was out) and this one, La Ira De Dios.
We've actually stocked several earlier discs by this Peruvian power trio (sans reviews, sorry), so we knew we liked 'em. They rock it and roll it in a fat, fuzzed out "desert rock" style not unlike an Andean version of Kyuss, or Monster Magnet... Each track swirls dizzily with spaced out Hawkwindy electronic FX, while the band keeps on keepin' on, riffin' hard, hair and sweat a-flyin'. With their gravelly Spanish language vocals and command of psychedelic/Satanic drug things we also wouldn't understand, they also of course remind us of AQ faves Los Natas from Argentina. But while Los Natas sometimes get all gentle and proggy, these guys stick with the blown out, balls out rockin'. Pretty badass! The final track, a 13 minute trip called "Jamas Morire", is a category 5 stoner rock storm that definitely demonstrates that this album was not mis-titled.
MPEG Stream: "Velocidad"
MPEG Stream: "El Pacto"

LA LENGUA ASESINA Hotel Opera (Smells Like) cd 12.98
Tim Foljahn's unique take on "experimental country"--as if the Shadow Ring were to play with Cat Power? For fans of Loftus, too.

LA OTRACINA Tonal Ellipse Of The One (Holy Mountain) cd 13.98
There's a lot of bands doing the '70s inspired instrumental jammy psych thing today... but this Brooklyn outfit, armed with guitars, bass, drums, synth, vibes, and upright bass, for sure does it RIGHT. Maybe no surprise, since La Otracina shares members with one of our instrumental psych/prog faves, space rockers Titan! If you like them, chances are you'll dig this... we'd also recommend La Otracina to fans of Earthless, Expo '70, Dead Meadow, Acid Mothers Temple, labelmates Om and Mammatus, etc.
Think post rock + pot and you'll have some suitably hazy idea of what this is all about. There's winding, wandering stuff here, exploratory, relaxed... as well as tracks that are rather more energetic and prog-tight. For instance, the 11-minute "Beyond The Dusty Hills (Cowboy In The Desert Part Two)" is one of the super stoned, drifting cuts, while the comparatively brief 6-minute "Nine Times The Color Red Explodes Like Heated Blood" is more propulsively muscular and Titan-esque, progressively riffed more rigidly than some of the other offerings here. Roiling and heavy, shimmering and lovely...the five tracks on Tonal Ellipse Of The One allow all those descriptors to apply, eventually.
Seems like we're always saying nice things about stuff on the Holy Mountain label, well, it's true -- Lesbian, Mammatus, Blues Control, those are just a few of the recent releases from up high on the Holy Mountain that we've been diggin' lately. Add La Otracina to that list! Let's hope HM can keep their excellent batting average up, we look forward to what's next...
MPEG Stream: "Yellow Mellow Magic"
MPEG Stream: "Nine Times The Color Red Explodes Like Heated Blood"

LA PLANETE SAUVAGE (OST) (DC / Intoxica) cd 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Long out of print and heavily sought after sound track to Rene Laloux's 1973 Cannes Grand Prix winning animated feature "La Planete Sauvage." Until now, securing yourself a copy of this soundtrack on lp would set you back a couple of Franklins. If the film itself is a hallucinatory masterpiece, the soundtrack -- composed by Alain Goraguer (long time arranger for Serge Gainsbourg) -- is as fitting as it is brilliant. Like an LSD dosed Isaac Hayes score, the music herein is at the same time both reminiscent of classic early seventies drama soundtracks and completely surreal and strange. Lots of recurring leit motifs recast in ever building and changing arrangements, including marimba, theremin and bird whistles as well as the standard orchestral elements, guitars and funky organs. For you vinyl lovers, the lp version of this is quite handsomely packaged in a beautiful, matte finish gatefold cover with full color stills from the film and lots of liner notes, including an extra foldout black and white insert with more info.
RealAudio clip: "Deshominisation"
RealAudio clip: "Le Bracelet"
RealAudio clip: "Ten Et Tiwa"

LA PLANETE SAUVAGE (OST) (DC / Intoxica) lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Long out of print and heavily sought after sound track to Rene Laloux's 1973 Cannes Grand Prix winning animated feature "La Planete Sauvage." Until now, securing yourself a copy of this soundtrack on lp would set you back a couple of Franklins. If the film itself is a hallucinatory masterpiece, the soundtrack -- composed by Alain Goraguer (long time arranger for Serge Gainsbourg) -- is as fitting as it is brilliant. Like an LSD dosed Isaac Hayes score, the music herein is at the same time both reminiscent of classic early seventies drama soundtracks and completely surreal and strange. Lots of recurring leit motifs recast in ever building and changing arrangements, including marimba, theremin and bird whistles as well as the standard orchestral elements, guitars and funky organs. For you vinyl lovers, the lp version of this is quite handsomely packaged in a beautiful, matte finish gatefold cover with full color stills from the film and lots of liner notes, including an extra foldout black and white insert with more info.
RealAudio clip: "Deshominisation"
RealAudio clip: "Le Bracelet"
RealAudio clip: "Ten Et Tiwa"

LA PLANETE SAUVAGE (OST) (Fanclub) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Repressed and BACK IN STOCK (for now...).
Super limited, lovingly presented fan club edition of this legendary record. Long out of print (minus the briefly available reissue on DC / Intoxica, now also out of print) and heavily sought after soundtrack to Rene Laloux's 1973 Cannes Grand Prix winning animated feature "La Planete Sauvage." If the film itself is a hallucinatory masterpiece, the soundtrack -- composed by Alain Goraguer (long time arranger for Serge Gainsbourg) -- is as fitting as it is brilliant. Like an LSD dosed Isaac Hayes score, the music herein is at the same time both reminiscent of classic early seventies drama soundtracks and completely surreal and strange. Lots of recurring leit motifs recast in ever building and changing arrangements, including marimba, Theremin and bird whistles as well as the standard orchestral elements, guitars and funky organs. So great!

LA REPRODUCTION INTERDITE D'UNE PEINTURE DE CRISE s/t (Kids Eat Free) cd 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A dark, spartan work of sonic disintegrations and accumulations. At times, very much akin to Village of Savoonga or Godspeed. Metallic abrasions, clouds of hiss and static, field recordings (of birds and airplanes), and short purring loops surface, mingle and dissipate. The two lengthy tracks are punctuated by the occasional appearance of frail A haunting and lovely 24 minutes from the duo of Dorothy Geller and Douglas Wolf, recorded in 1999.
RealAudio clip: "Excerpt 1"

LA REVOLUCION DE EMILIANO ZAPATA s/t (Dynamic) cd 21.00
Here's a nice digipak reissue of something that's reputed to be one of the best ever psych albums from south of the border, right up there with Los Dug Dugs (who'd be our personal pick). And oh yeah, it's from 1971! If you've got the "Love, Peace and Poetry: Mexican Psychedelic Music" comp then you've already heard some La Revolucion De Emiliano Zapata, though their track on that comes from their second album, Hoy, not this their debut.
First off, there's plenty of stinging acid rock guitar awesomeness here, big time FUZZ action. But there's also mellower, more melodic side to them as well. Basically they cover all the bases of badass rockin' and rollin' California sixties psych influenced garage freakdom here. And they sing in English, whereas on Hoy they switched, mainly, to Spanish, which was a radical move as the conservative Mexican government/society of the '70s apparently would tolerate a lot of things sung in English but not in Spanish. Considering that two of the song titles here are "Nasty Sex" and "Shit City" maybe that's understandable...
Hopefully Dynamic will be reissuing Hoy as well someday, it's also a good one!
MPEG Stream: "Si Tu Lo Quieres"
MPEG Stream: "Todavia Nada (Still Don't - Not Yet)"

LA SOCIETE DES TIMIDES A LA PARADE DES OISEAUX Le Combat Occulte (Beta-Lactam Ring) cd 13.98

LABELLE, BRANDON Automatic Radio (Fringes) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"Automatic Radio" is collection of three performances from LA sound artist Brandon LaBelle, which (as always) includes complete notes on the work at hand. The first piece is a series of closely mic-ed human utterances mimicking animal speech, with the intention of locating the tension inherent in "speaking as a body (sensuality)" and "speaking as an individual (social behavior)." The second piece starts out with a noisy recording of LaBelle walking through the streets of Vienna with contact microphones on the soles of his shoes, capturing a specific element of the social space and collaging it with the sounds found 5 to 6 feet higher, the crowd noise of those public spaces. The final track is the most interesting as it embraces two external aesthestics that LaBelle cannot control but tries to force into a specific conceptual context. This piece was recorded with his long standing collaborator Loren Chasse at 7hz in San Francisco while John Hudak was performing in the same room. With Chasse quietly rubbing contact microphones on the glass of the second floor mezzanine of 7hz's cavernous space, and with LaBelle literally sticking a metal funnel in his mouth to resonate Hudak's performance, the duo captured two parallel "translations" of the tonal drones that Hudak created below. Really nice.

LABELLE, BRANDON Music On A Short Thin Wire (Ground Fault) cd 8.98
"Music On A Short Thin Wire" is another conceptual excercise from LA experimentalist Brandon LaBelle, who seems to have recently run into the problem of favoring intent over content. On this album, LaBelle has amplified the first eight releases on the experimental sound art label Ground Fault through a simple system of speaker cones, contact microphones, and thin copper wires, to create a "sympathetic translation" of the original's in the vibrations of the copper wire. As Ground Fault has an unfortunate custom of label each release based upon its intensity (this one finds itself in the 'quiet' catagory), Brandon's album is a well needed critique of Ground Fault's taxonomic bracketing. In running these records (some gentle like Eric LaCasa, some brutally noisy like Government Alpha) through a process which completely disguises the original, LaBelle dissolves the unneccesary categories imposed upon the original music. However, the album doesn't really explore much further. LaBelle's work does have a fantastic array of tonalities and textural details, from muffled oscillating drones to nervous metal striations, but LaBelle's leash on "Thin Wire" is far too short to allow for alternate readings or deeper investigations into this music.

LABELLE, BRANDON Shadow Of A Shadow (Selektion) cd 15.98
In the extended essay that accompanies his second album for Selektion, Brandon LaBelle offers a semantic argument about his work being located at the border between private and public, the real and the cultural modes of production, field recordings and composed music, the natural and the artificial. Even the title itself seems to imply the allegory of the real and the non-real as found in Plato's cave, but with the body (both as an objective and a subjective agent) as the site where the real and the non-real cross each other. The sounds found within "Shadow Of A Shadow" rumble through the crackling of textual grit alongside unwavering electric buzzes and quiet bell tones with distant metallic strikes, sounding much like a more static version of LaBelle's occasional work with Loren Chasse as Id Battery. It almost always seems to be that LaBelle is intentionally limiting his palette to only two sounds per composition, to force the issue of his border theory within "the slippery fold of meaning." Whew!
RealAudio clip: "The Body Is An Instrument"
RealAudio clip: "Buildings Are Bodies"

LABELLE, BRANDON / CHRISTOF MIGONE Writing Aloud: The Sonics of Language (Errant Bodies) book+cd 20.00
"Writing Aloud" is the second massive publication from experimental musician Brandon LaBelle's Errant Bodies Press, and is a collection of writings about the semiotic slippages between sound and language. His introduction states: "in speaking about language, grammatical codes undermine syntactical rules, vocalizing speaks through the sonicity of utterance, all extending and contracting against individual desire, memory and the urgencies of speaking, writing and hearing. Yet it is precisely this circling, this reflexivity that 'Writing Aloud' aims to enter, not with the intention of repeating indefinitely, but rather to locate the tension and volition inherent to language. 'Writing Aloud' as a project aims to 'enact' language -- and by extention the form of the book -- by scratching away at its surface, reflecting on histories of its usage, and by turning up the linguistic volume." Contributors for the written portion include Achim Wollscheid, Vito Acconci, Robert Ashley, Alvin Lucier, David Dunn, Gregory Whitehead, Jocelyn Robert, and many others. The CD features some great work from Michel Chion, John Duncan, and Randy Yau, as well as contributions from Yasunao Tone, Gregory Whitehead, Achim Wollscheid, and many more. This is required reading for those who understand (or pretend to understand) why Semiotext(e) has a parenthetical clause within its name! In other words, not light reading, but if you're interested in the experimental musics and philosophies of any of the abovementioned contributors, you'll relish wrapping your brain around this.

LABELLE, BRANDON/STEVE RODEN The Opening Of The Field (Digital Narcis) cd 17.98
The latest from LA sound artists Labelle (of id battery) and Steve Roden (aka in.betweeen.noise), sees them collaborating with the care and intellect that they are both known for in their work. "'The Opening Of The Field' presents a series of live studio improvisations that move quietly through the intimate surfaces of objects to the fragmented landscapes of field recordings. In this movement, from textured scrapings to electronic manipulations, the distinctness of objects and the processes of recordings clouds over to create a highly detailed sonic flow. The spaces of sounds and their origin are transposed onto an imaginary space where listening leads to many openings." -- from the liner notes. Need we say more? No? Good.

LABRADFORD A Stable Reference (Kranky) cd 13.98
Upon a single listen, this second record sounds noisier, more dark and less new age than Labradford's debut.

LABRADFORD A Stable Reference (Kranky) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Upon a single listen, this second record sounds noisier, more dark and less new age than Labradford's debut.

LABRADFORD E Luxo So (Kranky) cd 13.98
The fifth studio album from Labradford finds the band incorporating instrumentations of dulcimer, string section, and tape loops alongside their atmospherics for guitar, bass, and piano. Labradford may have beaten Andee (in his first solo project after A Minor Forest, Pee, and Tic War) to the punch with a blatant appropriation of George Winston / Shadowfax / Windham Hill onto a record for Kranky.
Beautiful, none the less.

LABRADFORD E Luxo So (Kranky) lp 10.98
The fifth studio album from Labradford finds the band incorporating instrumentations of dulcimer, string section, and tape loops alongside their atmospherics for guitar, bass, and piano. Labradford may have beaten Andee (in his first solo project after A Minor Forest, Pee, and Tic War) to the punch with a blatant appropriation of George Winston / Shadowfax / Windham Hill onto a record for Kranky.
Beautiful, none the less.

LABRADFORD Fixed :: Context (Kranky) cd 14.98
Brand new album of laid back, minimal, Bernardo Bertolucci-esque instrumentals from Labradford, including a slightly disturbing number that sounds a little too much like the Modern English's "Melt With You". There's really nothing new or different here from them on this one except that there's absolutely no singing on this album, not even mumbling buried in the mix -- which is a good thing. The bad part is that this album, though priced as a full length, clocks in a little short of one at 38 minutes.
RealAudio clip: "David"

LABRADFORD Mi Media Naranja (Kranky) cd 13.98
Their fourth record is way melodic, very nice.

LABRADFORD Mi Media Naranja (Kranky) lp 8.98
Their fourth record is way melodic, very nice.