INST001OURSON - ETH1.
Eth2. Orph3. Gate4.
Basement Window5. Ethre6.
Osm7. Collapser8.
Daughter Of Sun
Limited to 300 Glossy Digipaks.
Reviews:
Norman Records:
"Summer seems to be popping
it's fat shiny head in through my windows, even at night
it's gently warm & balmy. I feel in no mood for indie guitars,
I want ambient soundscapes and cleansing washes of sound.
Even dark, shuddering sound like Ourson (Mr. Luke Hazard)
produces on his CD 'Eth'. I like listening to this at night
as there's no beats to piss off the neighbors, just morphing
waves of processed noise caressing my flappy lugs like an
angry digital breeze. There's some proper phasing fun happening
here, bringing a new meaning to the phrase "channel hopping"
That track was 'Orph' by the way. Further on you get some
grumbling cyber ambience, like the drifting mists of a dark
field in Hades where spectral shadows torment your every
move & you dare not stop to chat or ask for a light. Not
that you'd need a sodding light in Hades, like! Moving on
into lighter territory, treated, atmospheric guitar strumming
involving some intertwining minor chords over the soothing
sound of falling rain in the yard. Then the sinister drifting
arrives to recommence its relentless torment of your lost
soul! HAHAHA! Then there's much more apocalyptic digital
rumbling like what those Fuck Buttons dudes do so well.
A lot of that rumbling on this CD may have escaped from
'Street Horrrsing' because there's only so much ominous
racket a CD can hold, surely? Remember, a CD is half a computer.
Ask Phil. Yes, this is a great disc of sombre textures,
fuzzy doom-tones & introverted noise and just suits this
man's mood perfectly! Cup of tea anyone? Digipak CD (edn
of 300) on Install, a cool label run by David Tagg & Brian
Grainger (the most prolific man in electronica?)"
^
INST002
THE CARETAKER - PERSISTENT REPETITION
OF PHRASES
1. Lacunar Amnesia
2. Persistent Repetition of
Phrases 3. Rosy Retrospection
4. Long Term (remote)
5. Poor Enunciation
6. Past Life Regression
7. False Memory Syndrome
8.
Von Restorff Effect
9.
Unmasking Alzhiemer's
Limited to 500 Matte Finish
Digipaks.
Reviews:
THE WIRE:
#10 in WIRE's BEST OF 2008 ISSUE
NORMAN RECORDS:
"The Caretaker is the alter
ego of that lovely James V/Vm fella. As V/Vm he makes a
right old (textured) racket as a rule.... but as The Caretaker
it's a much more sedate affair. To sum the music up easily
you have to go no further than the title of his first album'
Selected Memories From The Haunted Ballroom'. That's exactly
what the music sounds like.... old ballroom music with crackles
and whizzles, all lopped up in the most eerie way imaginable.
It's like the ghosts of yesteryear have taken over the stereo
and what you can hear are a load of old folks memories.
The only things missing are the bingo wings (or nan flaps...)and
the voices. Hey you'll be old soon so don't diss the old
folks...... life shoots by and before you know it you'll
be zooming your way info your grave like there's no tomorrow.
'Persistent Repetition of Phrases' is the strongest work
I've heard so far by The Caretaker. Both haunting and beautiful...
I like this lots. 500 only on Install Records."
BOOMKAT:
"*AMAZING NEW ALBUM FROM V/VM'S
'THE CARETAKER' PROJECT - IF YOU'RE INTO THE WHOLE HAUNTOLOGY
THING, THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST* James Kirby's work as The
Caretaker has always dealt with the suggestion of haunted
memory and the obscuring of temporal motion, and this latest
album makes that more explicit than ever, with titles that
reference amnesia, Alzheimer's, past life regression and
other such memory misfires and short circuits. Musically,
this album might be compared to Philip Jeck's manipulated
vinyl tracts, featuring similarly oceanic swells of crackle
and dust, with faded pianos or big band sounds wafting wraith-like
across the mix. After conjuring the sinister atmospherics
of The Shining with his debut album Selected Memories From
The Haunted Ballroom, The Caretaker has been chasing this
idea of sound leaving its indelible mark on a space and
time, so consequently these creepy, semi-dissolved musical
passages sound no more tangible than shadows, and the album
for the most part comes across as some sort of séance held
via wax cylinder. Arguably the most accomplished and rewarding
Caretaker album to date, Persistent Repetition Of Phrases
is an album you'll want to snap up fast - there's only 500
of these in circulation...Highly Recommended."
THE WIRE:
REVIEWED IN THE MARCH 2009 ISSUE
NORMAN RECORDS:
A total surprise to have VCV
album 'Round The Bend' drop this week. An album of Jandek
adaptations created by Brian Grainger and David Tagg. These
tasteful versions pay tribute to to the originals with the
artists adding their own dimension. If you're feeling miserable
this Christmas then this will liven up the party (not).
although I do get an uplifting feeling from their version
of 'Alehouse Blues' which is probably the best title of
a track ever. Authentic looking artwork too all approved
by Corwood Industries on Install. This is really fantastic
and worthy of your attention.
"Peter Wright is a bit of a top
geezer when it comes to arresting sounds and his whopping 'Snowblind'
double CD on Install is somewhat of an essential beast. Hot
on the heels of The Caretaker's ' Persistent Repetition Of Phrases'
CD that was critically acclaimed (and we couldn't get enough
of as every batch of discs to arrive would sell out super fast).
This is another gem in the Install label's catalogue. For those
not familiar with the New Zealand native's work then it's worth
mentioning that he's gracefully been dropping underground bombs
on Last Visible Dog, Blackest Rainbow, Digitalis, PseudoArcana,
Apoplexy, Students Of Decay, aRCHIVE etc. so he's built a tidy
array of quality releases. His sound probably falls into the
drone category but he sprinkles the genre with his own magic
and manages to take things way deep. Imagine if Stars Of The
Lid had turned to the dark side of the force. His sounds resonate
around your skull in a weird deja vu kind of way and take you
to a place which is simultaneously familiar yet refreshingly
new. It reminds me of a state of sleep deprivation where every
object seems to vibrate with its own unique tone. All the frequencies
that Wright hits are just perfect.. The bottom end is full and
slightly menacing then the higher frequencies evolve in unexpected
and gloriously lush ways. There's a distinct contrast of bleakness
and impending euphoria. Comparisons to Godspeed and Windy &
Carl are being spat around the office during what is a captivating
and dramatic listening experience. Your ears need this."
Aquarius Records:
"We haven't heard from New Zealand
dronescaper Peter Wright in about a year. Well, it's been at
least that long since we've reviewed one of his discs. Somehow
two other Wright discs slipped through the cracks in that time
though, which is a shame, since pretty much everything we've
heard from Wright is fantastic. This latest double disc is no
different Nine looooooong tracks spread out over two discs,
most in the 15-20 minute range, which is ideal for Wright's
slow building, slow burning drone-epics, allowing for plenty
of time to drift and shimmer and buzz and whir and rumble. The
first disc opens as disembodied voices float above and within
thick swells of grinding melodic buzz, smoothed out into undulating
sonic sheets, feedback is dulled and blunted and transformed
into warm ambience, the raga-like buzz sprawls out seemingly
endlessly, this is Wright at his heaviest and most aggressive,
the tones taking on a timbre not that far removed from Nadja's
doomic crush, but Wright approaches that sound from another
direction entirely. The rest of disc one is much more serene,
minimal and hushed, a slow swirling ambient shimmer, delicate
and crystalline, which over the course of two tracks and nearly
40 minutes manages to slip from hushed whisper to smoldering
whir, glowing hotter and hotter but never letting loose, until
the 6 minute closer gets all riffy, the guitars blindingly distorted,
but remaining soft and warm and hauntingly melancholic. The
second disc is the perfect second movement, shifting from warm
effects drenched drifts to deep subterranean rumbles, from sun
dappled cinematic ambience to reverbed minimal mood music and
finally to full on crumbling corrosive blown out crunch, with
weirdly decaying distortion, strange strangled guitars, thick
swaths of blurred buzz, and gorgeous chiming tones ringing out
in the background. Yet another collection of divine drones and
sublime minimal soundscaping from the inimitable Peter Wright.
Needless to say, absolutely gorgeous, and for the droneminded
among you, most likely essential."
mapsadaisical:
"Sometimes a record comes along
that is just so vast in terms of its scope and ambition that
it jars up my cogs and completely prevents me from listening
to anything else for weeks. Such a record is Peter Wright’s
Snowblind. I’ve been a fan of Wright for some time now; both
live and on record, but nothing could have prepared me for this,
not even someone holding a big sign aloft which read “Peter
Wright is about to release a record so vast in scope and ambition
that it will jar up your cogs”. Well, maybe that would have
helped. But no-one did it, did they?
Peter Wright has been threatening to release Snowblind for such
a long time that it was beginning to acquire some sort of mythical
status in his discography. This double CD, recorded in 2007
when New Zealander Wright was sojourning in London, seems to
have taken its time to find a home: which is utterly bizarre
given its absurdly high quality. Thankfully Install have now
picked it up, although quantities are distressingly limited.
In fact, I wouldn’t waste time reading the rest of the review.
It’ll be a long one. Trust me; go there, buy one now, and then
come back and finish this later. I’ll wait for you, honest.
Got one? Excellent, I’ll press on with disc one. It all begins
with a most familiar sound to us Londoners: a drunk ranting
while police sirens wail all around. From there, Wright combines
abrasive Kevin Drumm drone, spooked Miasmah atmospherics, hazy
shoegaze, dense Richard Skelton style composition, and even
bursts of Godspeed guitar grandiosity to complete his masterpiece.
Most of my favourite elements, then. “The Drunken Master In
His Crumbling Citadel” clears the drunk off the streets with
some increasingly harsh and heavy feedback which falls like
torrential rain by the end. Reverberating metallic rhythms,
like distorted steel drums, lead into the long ambient organ
drone of “Apakura“, whose still surface occasionally dapples,
briefly breaking up into luminous patterns. “Truth Serum” is
constructed entirely from scrapes of whining guitar, and is
dense, muffled and emotionally fraught. Following that, the
building guitar strum of “Follow The Leader” couldn’t do more
to signify an imminent eruption into huge white noise if it
held aloft a big sign which read…um I’ve done this one already
haven’t I? But when it finally comes, the ear-pummelling which
follows is particularly intense, the sound is ravaged beyond
all recognisability. Utterly excoriating.
The second disc begins with pulsating Spacemen 3 type ambience,
before the oppressive, rainy, hissy atmospheres of “The Distopian
National Anthem” descend; since hearing this, I’ve cancelled
my forthcoming trip to Distopia, and am even considering suspending
all diplomatic relations. “Cruise Missiles” gently reprises
“Akapura” drone, being a mere calm before the torrential electric
storm entitled (somewhat bizarrely, if no doubt truthfully)
“With Teeth Like That You Can’t Help But Succeed“. Brutally
serrated fragments of guitar distortion crackle from the speakers,
forming billowing clouds of skin-shredding metal. The album
descends gently to a close with the reatrained chord sequences
of the title track, leaving you to reflect on the huge sonic
experience that was Snowblind the album, let your ears rest
a little, then skip right back to the start of the first disc.
Before you know it, you’ll have lost weeks of your life to this
album. Don’t say no-one warned you."
TOUCHING EXTREMES:
"The luminiferous flock of Peter
Wright’s guitars has come again to rescue this poor listener,
forced to the ropes by the attack of dwarf clones whose inconsistency
is directly proportional to the consideration they receive.
Snow Blind, for good measure, is a double CD (hooray!) that
sends the magnitude of the quivering signals pretty high in
the scale: nearly two hours of blissfully deafening roars, succulently
plangent drones and disturbed ringing tones. Depurative, febrifugal,
unreasonably suggestive stuff designed for your personalities
to develop as angelic children in dissolute adult bodies. And
that’s not all, folks.
Ever since the initial and splendidly titled “The Drunken Master
In His Crumbling Citadel”, Wright incites the listener to the
contemplation of a murky ecstasy through a self-explanatory
urban commentary: a field recording of a bona fide drunkard,
muttering his own truth (incomprehensibly for this scrutinizer)
amidst metropolitan echoes and gradually swallowing walls of
wailing axes depicting an idyllic harmonic tissue. A stark contrast,
nonetheless suggesting something that sounds, for lack of a
better adjective, divine. The discriminating acumen shown by
the New Zealander in the assemblage of superimposed distortions
(frequently sounding particularly consonant) is in this case
counterbalanced by various recourses to extremely rudimentary,
yet devastating melodies (check the first disc’s final episode
“Follow The Leader”, the very title hinting to a concept that
makes me recoil in horror) which should ideally encourage a
brighter vision of a decaying materialism but in the end elicits
a peculiar type of quiet desperation, to say the least.
As always, the guitarist looks especially interested in changing
the gradation of timbres via altered varieties of equalization,
a knowledgeable processing that literally disintegrates chords
and lines into sparkling smidgens of gritty idiosyncrasy. And
those drones: the best on the market for over a decade now.
Amplifiers at 11 are not enough to emulate what this man manages
to achieve with a simple arpeggio surrounded by thousands of
mashed-snail reverberations. Let me tell you once and for all:
people like Wright and, on a different playground, Aidan Baker
are the initiators of this kind of modern-day six-string painting.
The rest are for the large part cheap imitators that occasionally
strike a mere ounce of gold with an appropriate choice of colours,
nothing more.
Therefore save your money - thus preventing some pathetically
incompetent, tinnitus-inducing retrograde from impersonating
the god of hermitic thaumaturgy in a valve-amped Walhalla -
and support those who have been walking the walk after talking
the talk for decades, barely noticed, utterly enlightened. The
grief-stricken broken illusions portrayed in this gorgeous release
might fight a bit with the witty cleverness of their creator’s
real-life attitude (perceivable even in his website and email
updates); still, they’re undoubtedly the nearest thing to a
representation of guitar-based endlessness that I can think
of. A bulletin like this is a good reason to be grateful."
"Another week, another fine drone/ambient
release, this one is from Jason and Shinobu through the mercurial
Install. Slow waves of evocative drifting textures are randomly
assaulted by sinister outbursts of grizzled fuzz, creeping up
the sides of the stately walls like curious splashes of acid
whilst someone in the distance metrononically taps a length
of piping in an echo chamber. Further investigation reveals
a CD that is quite bleak & industrial, kinda post apocalyptic.
The sounds on 'Headless', for instance, seem corroded, decaying,
creaking, rusting yet incredibly thought provoking, later I
hear skeletal feedbacking tones and the disembodied fuzz of
some malfunctioning transmitter, that electroid chirruping I
love so much with plenty of cool industrial clanking & scraping
from a way away - all this I find both strangely comforting
& peacful! I think the appeal of this release is the sound displacement,
noise & sound detritus seemingly coming from various distances,
through walls and floors, other dimensions. A really absorbing
release from a top quality stable, 'Dispel Space Time Lust'
is CD only, 100 pressed!"
Aidan Baker has easily become
one of my personal favorites. Each release he puts out hits
it out of the ballpark every time. I believe he has also established
himself in the hearts of many others who spend their hours getting
lost in fluid drones too. But, after getting used to the feel
of his other albums and EPs, I was skeptical when I first got
this one. Sure, I thought it couldn’t be that bad. After all,
Aidan Baker is a genius. However, I wasn’t confident that I
would award it the high rating that I did. You see, the album
was stamped with the title “Dry” based upon the new approach
to art-making that Baker took for this one. It refers to a more
stripped-back formula for creation. He is definitely one helluva
guitarist and that really shines with “Dry.” Baker shelved all
the effects and stuck with the simplicity of his guitar. Yes
it is plugged in, but this one is all about the strings. He
constructs a swirling twister of mood with the gentle tones
of each string, whether singly or synergistically. He continues
his beloved style of drone only with a different blueprint.
And so, after popping this one in, hearing became believing.
This is just as good as any of his other stuff…just different.
But, this is mandatory listening for anyone who is already a
fan. Some have said that if you listen to any of Baker’s 2009
releases it should be this one, and despite my love for “Gathering
Blue” and “Blue Figures,” I have to agree. This is his best
of the year. I hope he continues to explore with this musical
template in future releases. This has more of an autumnal feel
to it, as though he has captured the essence of browning leaves
that are shriveling up and dropping, along with the soul of
chilly rains that promise a snowy transition. He recorded this
near the end of the Summer of 2009, so while this review is
a bit belated, it definitely finds a welcomed spot, as it is
a more positive listen during this month’s freeze. Comes in
a nifty eco-wallet, complete with appropriate and aesthetically-pleasing
graphics throughout the package and disc. 9/10 -- Dave Miller"
NORMAN RECORDS:
"Is MTV unplugged still going?
I haven’t watched MTV in about 15 years... Anyway Aidan Baker
has a CD out on Install called ‘Dry’ and the name is a clue
to what’s happening on the recording. Basically the man is playing
his electric guitar ‘“Dry” i.e zero effects. Okay so his guitar
is plugged in but this is kinda like his Unplugged session.
What a session it is too as his sound is stripped right back
to its basic elements. What this really reveals is his genius
guitar playing which can sometimes get a little lost amongst
all the effects. Mr. Baker really gets some emotions swirling
through the strings and I begin to realize just how nimble his
fingers are as he improvises but never noodles, the mood feels
free yet controlled by his vision/ emotions. I really dig the
spacious sometimes minimal feel. At a couple of points I was
reminded of Oren Ambarchi’s classic ambient guitar record ‘Grapes
From The Estate’ I’ve yet to hear a release on this label that
I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed (That Peter Wright 2CD is still
doing it for me). I’m inclined to agree with the label here
when they say “If you only hear one Baker release in 2009, make
it this one”. High quality stuff, limited to 500 copies in eco-wallet."
DEAD BRAIN ETERNITY:
What can a sonic crafter who
became famous for the use of looped guitars do, if dispossessed
of effects and delays? The answer lies in the 47 minutes of
Dry, which was entirely played on an unprocessed electric guitar,
nine tracks linked together as in a single piece.
Difficult, for the non-owners of an instinctive musicality,
to even think of appearing completely exposed and unaided, attempting
to produce appealing music without resorting to tricks. It is
there that the separation between contenders and pretenders
takes place. Baker is well acquainted with the core essence
of the instrument: the fact that this record sounds related,
in a unique way, to one of the countless lucid dreams he gifted
us with in the past is testimony to his immutable sense of personal
synchronization, which transits across many lands – static recollection,
tranquil arpeggio, unanticipated crackle. Rather stunning, especially
considering the bareness of the utilized means.
The Canadian’s ability is also established by the customary
richness of those layers, reiterative figurations and chiming
chords that, once superimposed, cause sympathetic resonance
in large quantity. Not that there’s only cuteness: on the contrary,
noisy particles of unclear activity, thumping hits and semi-strums
– and, just maybe, some manual preparation - characterize the
most surprising parts of the disc. But when Baker brings the
whole to a conclusion by utilizing a mechanism of heartrending
pseudo-vocal glissandos – ending the trip with the highest percentage
of evocation – we’re finally able to release our breath, the
deep sigh that typically follows an intense listening experience.
“Yes, it’s still him” is the thought that comes to mind during
the silent instants following the closing stages.
A touch of class that resounds magically, a highly recommended
work – again – by a true poet of reminiscent reverberation.
1. A Body Of Evidence
2. This Is Our Richness
3. Tapping Glass Room
4. Towhee (Deadfolk REMIX)
5.
Temple Dust/In The Light
6. Land Of Lonesome Limbo II
7. Stone Circle
8.
Spirit Bridge
9.
Kicking Stone
10. Rippling Through Time
11. Return To Lost Cottage
12. Revolving Around Inside
13. Emergency Evacuation
14. In Between Mountains
15. Breathing Room
16.
Transcending Treasure
17.
Tranquil Chariot
18. Told By Tomahawk (For: Brian Grainger)
19. Wounded Warrior
20. Fall In Soft Light
John 14:27
Limited to 100 FUll-color MINI
LP STYLE SLEEVES WITH INSERT.
REPRESSED to Another 100 copies
feb. 2010.
REVIEWS:
FOXY DIGITALIS:
"10/10
Wood-Land, if you read this,
I don’t know if I should thank you or congratulate you. I want
to thank you because this is a phenomenal album, absolutely
exceptional in every regard, gifting everyone privileged enough
to hear it with some of the best tracks available. I want to
congratulate you because you have won my award for best psych
album of the year! Maybe even best psych album ever?! “Stone
Circle” deserves much more than a measly ten stars! I wish we
had more because in the school of experimental music this one
has graduated with honors!
Wood-Land is a group of friends that call themselves The Vessels
of the House of the Forest. This moniker alone says it all.
This is an autumnal album that has crawled its way out of the
Pennsylvania woods. It’s packed with twenty tracks loaded with
everything that any good psych album should have: entrancing
loops, echoing drones, warped vocals, blissful guitar, earthy
low-fi, and crispy fuzz. Lots of variety to keep things interesting,
which can make it feel like a compilation at times…BUT, it’s
the best of everything! Every angle that they could come from
just nails it so well. Extremely magical.
Oooo, I just wish everyone could hear this! It’s too bad it’s
only released in a scanty count of 100 copies. Invite the forest
spirits into your stereo. - DAVE MILLER"
NORMAN RECORDS:
"Wood-land have released a few
bits and bobs on the Install label but i'm totally unfamiliar
with their work. 'Stone circle' is the duo's first full length
release, limited to a super small run of 100 copies. On first
listen i reckon it's total winner. Twenty tracks of brooding
lo-fi instrumentation that sounds like it was recorded using
the very first microphone and tape machine ever made, 'Stone
circle' is packed with twisted spaced out jams and ambient post-everything
sound collage's. Hauntingly atmospheric whilst maintaining a
autumnal charm this is the aural equivalent of finding a bustling
community of tiny talking animals (the ones that wear glasses
and sit around drinking tea around tiny table, you know the
ones) in a damp abandoned forest in the middle of the night.
They've got their own mini lanterns and fitted clothes and everything.....the
cute little things. Magical, enchanting loops and drones that
sounds utterly perfect this time of year. Deserves a bigger
print run i say, good stuff."
SIMON WHETHAM & MISE_EN_SCENE: EINEANDEREWELTSTRASSE
1.
EINEANDEREWELTSTRASSE
Limited to 100 FUll-color MINI LP
STYLE SLEEVES.
REVIEWS:
NORMAN RECORDS:
Please permit me to begin with
a sound art one tracker. Simon Whetham and mise_en_scene have
crafted a forty minute collage out of field recordings from
the Berlin night with lonesome squeeks and electrical hums offering
the 'melodies' while pattering raindrops and the ever-morphing
urban static graft away in the engine room. I guess there's
a thematic comparison to be drawn with the trilogy of LPs from
Berlin-dwelling Leyland Kirby and like those records this is
a bit of a downer in terms of mood, but the desolate sounds
heard here will easily soundtrack downtrodden mind movies for
those willing to be sucked in and taken along for the ride.
Fine quality from Install as always.
1. PENTECOST 1
2. PENTECOST 2
3. PENTECOST 3
4. PENTECOST 4
5. PENTECOST 5
6. PENTECOST 6
Limited to 300 DIGIPAKS.
REVIEWS:
ANTI-GRAVITY BUNNY:
David Tagg is a dude who's been
around, dozens of releases on a handful of different labels,
doing a lot of stuff with guitar (or so I hear). Not sure
what took me so long to discover Tagg, but I assure you
now that I have him in my sights, I'm never losing track.
Pentecost is the epitome of beauty. It's like Kowalsky and
Basinski tag teaming the shit out of organs. Rare is the
record that lives up to my snap judgments of its curt description,
but this one not only meets my expectations, it sets the
expectation-bypassing record.
There's almost an hour of untitled drones that are some
of the most lush and mind altering drones on the planet.
The richness seeps into your bones, sometimes weighing you
down with a melancholic heart or lifting you up into the
heavens. A warm pink haze envelopes your essence, you dream
of distant fields teeming with silent hummingbirds, and
dusty brooks weave their way through crackling burrows.
Minimal looped texture to the nth degree. Life is perfect.
Organ drone is one thing (the best thing) but add that cloudy
tape sound to it and I'm just done for. That's not to say
I'm biased in reviewing Pentecost. Because I'm not. At all.
This is a heavy handed ace drone record through and through,
regardless of my infatuation with organs & tapes. So if
you have any sense in you, you'll grab one of only 300 copies
over at Install. -JUSTIN SNOW
NORMAN RECORDS:
The first of two releases this
week on David Tagg and Brian Grainger's Install label comes
from Mr. Tagg himself and it's totally blissed out. He's
created a very immersive and evocative sound, amongst his
recording techniques are the use of reel to reel tapes of
his grandfather playing organ as a sound source. I find
this kind of recycling of sound from family history by the
next generation to be particularly inspiring and incredibly
touching. As you may expect, this kind of degraded and later
treated tape stuff brings the work of William Basinski to
mind and acts as a sort of trigger to induce hidden lost
memories and nostalgia, again much in the spirit of The
Caretaker album (which was originally released on this label).
However David really brings his own set of skills, personality
and warmth and spirit into the mix. As the album progresses
I'm more and more less inclined to be typing words, rather
I'd much prefer to sink into the carpet and revisit a past
life. This really does tick every box in terms of great
sound and something soul stirring. Outstandingly beautiful
ambient music and certainly for me this is my favourite
Tagg production to date. Super highly recommended. As I
was drifting away I was really getting goosebumps which
is always the sign of something very special.
1.
regarding wave (part 1)
2.
rainbow body
3.
regarding wave (part 2)
Limited to 1000 FUll-color ECO-Wallet.REVIEWS:
ANTI-GRAVITY BUNNY:Another blanket of tenderness
from Install, this time from the if-you-don't-know-him-already-you-better-got-on-that-shit
dronester Greg Davis. Regarding Wave is his latest journey
into the euphoric bliss drone waters, a place Davis reigns
admiral among admirals.
I understand that this sort of thing might be old hat to
some of you, but what Greg Davis does with the shimmer is
totally his own. Plus, he's opening for Tortoise so that
should tell you something. Clearly enough people think he's
got the chops to please many many audiences. And they're
right. Davis is the motherfucking man.
The centerpiece of Regarding Wave, "Rainbow Body" clocking
in at over 20 minutes, is absolute heaven. Suuuper minimal
drone, some low end didgeridoo-like thrum coupled with revolving
wine glass sounding tones weaving through the cerebral cortex,
massaging the consciousness in to other dimensions, until
all of the previously syncopated waves slide into perfect
time with each other, eliciting an incredibly beautiful
harmonic joy. Wake up. This is as good as it gets.
"Rainbow Body" is book-ended by two shorter songs, parts
1 & 2 of the title track. Both are as equally transcendent
as "Body," fleshing out the album from what could have been
just a really solid 22 minute EP to a 40+ minute stunning
piece of glory drone. Do not wait on this. There's 1000
copies of Regarding Wave and all signs are pointing to "YOU
NEED THIS." - JUSTIN SNOW
NORMAN RECORDS:
You know I'm really just gonna
totally recommend both CD's out on Install this week. I
love them both and like kids I cant say I love one more
than the other... What I love about this Greg Davis disc
is how it's subtlety psychedelic. Greg really makes the
harmonic drones sing here with infinite shimmering chimes
mapping out a vivid and gorgeous soundworld to float around
within. The album is comprised of three tracks and each
is a journey within itself and over the course of the albums
duration it's a pleasurable trip to say the least. I loved
this a great deal on first listen and on the second I can
say I truly adore it. It feels bright, magical and uplifting.
Regarding Wave parts one and two are the perfect soundtrack
looking out of my window watching the colours of spring
while 'Rainbow Body' begins in a more glacial mode and slowly
builds into harmonic heaven.
1. A Yearlong Thought
2. Desolation That is Inexorable
3. Mats of Dead Grass
4. Seijaku na Mari no Naka e (into the silent woods)
5. Fading Recognition
Limited to 300 FUll-color matte
finish MINI LP STYLE SLEEVES.
SOLD OUT
1 QUEEN GOAT
Written by BRIAN GRAINGER and DAVID TAGG.
DAVID TAGG plays additional lead guitar.
2 BLACK RUST CARESS
Written by BRIAN GRAINGER and PETER WRIGHT.
PETER WRIGHT plays additional guitars and percussion.
3 VESICANT EYEWASH
Written by BRIAN GRAINGER and ACREIL.
ACREIL plays tape machines and spring reverb box.
4 BURNT SLAB LIBATIONS
Written by BRIAN GRAINGER and JASON ADAMS.
JASON ADAMS plays additional guitar and feedback.
5 ONE BLEAK TRY
Written by BRIAN GRAINGER and SHINOBU NEMOTO.
SHINOBU NEMOTO plays additional lead guitar.
6 WASTE THIS FUCK
Written by BRIAN GRAINGER and MILLIPEDE.
MILLIPEDE plays additional lead guitar.
Limited to 100 FUll-color GLOSS
finish MINI LP STYLE SLEEVES WITH INSERT
1. By Twirling the Licking Reptile
2. By Twirling the Quicksphere
3. By Twirling the Fundamental Plea
4. By Slashing the Portraits of the Founding Fathers
5. By Twirling the One-Hundred Fields
6. By Twirling the Strong History
Limited to 100 FUll-color GLOSS
finish MINI LP STYLE SLEEVES WITH INSERT
^
1. Glacial time
2. the leaves of an infinite book
3. beckoning
4. peel back the sky
5. like breathing out
Limited to 100 FUll-color GLOSS
finish MINI LP STYLE SLEEVEs
1. COVER THE GROUND
2. DAY LILY SOCIETY
3. THE GHOSTS OF JULY
4. GROWN EMERALDS
5. THE SMELL OF MOTHS
6. A VISION OF LAND
Limited to 150 REPLICATED
cdS IN CANVAS MIINI lp STYLE SLEEVES WITH FINE ART
GLICEE PRINT.
PART 1: ORIGIN ONE (DRONE)
PART 2: EVOLUTION ONE (PERCUSSIVE)
PART 3: EVOLUTION TWO (CHIME DRONE)
PART 4 : ORIGIN TWO (MELODY)
Limited to 300 REPLICATED
CDs in FULL COLOR ECO WALLET
INSTLP01
MILIEU - PHOSPHENE WEATHER
SIDE A:
in blue fields
phosphene weather
side b:
aboir
Limited to 150 MULTICOLOR lPS
IN SILK SCREENED JACKETS.
REPRESSED TO ANOTHER 150 Jan.
2010.]
purchase here
REVIEWS:NORMAN RECORDS:Milieu (AKA Brian Grainger,
Coppice Halifax, Parallax etc.) has put out a whole ton
of music but incredibly none on vinyl… until now, where
he has a gorgeous (both visually and sonically) LP out on
Install Sound. The silk-screened sleeve design by David
Tagg is total eye candy. It's clear to see why they've really
pushed the boat out for 'Phosphene Weather' as the man himself
feels that this may well be his most accomplished work to
date, and I'm inclined to agree. Recorded spring/ summer
2009 these three tracks are enough to melt even the coldest
of hearts. Ultra warm and submersive, brittle and sparkling
ambient tones are being poured into my ears like the sweetest
sonic syrup imaginable. There's a lovely spacious and gentle
feel throughout. This is totally lush, sublime ambient bliss…
I'm running out of adjectives here and probably preaching
to the converted if you're still reading. So I'd recommend
acting fast on this one as they've only pressed up 150 hand
numbered copies. Oh it's on coloured vinyl too! foxy digitalis:Okay, okay, I’ll wake from
my meditative state to tell you about this gem. Install
swings the doors of opportunity wide open with its first
vinyl release to date. And what would be a better way to
inaugurate such possibilities than to invite Milieu, Brian
Grainger, to press some aural ambience into wax? “Phosphene
Weather” is a sumptuous soaring into the land of euphoria.
It is a stepping into a blissful dimension. Light as a feather.
Soft as a cloud. Peaceful as an open sky. This is a collection
of three dreamy drone mantras that carry you into a restful
state of effortless elation. Another solid release from
the always-active Milieu, who has offered us many, many
releases within the last five years. I love the marbled
colored vinyl that has captured these tracks. It is as swirly
as this music is luxuriantly moving. Super limited to only
150 copies, so don’t miss out! 8/10 -- Dave Miller
^
INSTLP02
VCV & SHINOBU NEMOTO - JOVIAN
CLOUDS
SIDE A:
CLOUD ONE
CLOUD TWO
CLOUD THREE
side b:
CLOUD FOUR
CLOUD FIVE
CLOUD SIX
Limited to 100 SILK SCREENED
JACKETS.
Reviews:
AQUARIUS RECords:
"The last we heard from Gareth
Hardwick, and actually also the first we heard, was on a
collaborative lp with long time aQ fave Machinefabriek (we
have a few copies left, see elsewhere on the aQ site), the
two made for a good combination, each offering up their
own take on modern minimalism and abstract dronemusic. But
in that context, with two sonically like minded composers,
it was difficult to figure out who was bringing what to
the sound of that record. So this is the first glimpse we've
gotten of Hardwick solo and we're quite smitten. Two loooong
tracks, both recorded live in 2007, both quite beautiful
and sublime. The first is a pure, barely shifting drone,
at least initially, very Niblock like, but focusing more
on the purity of the tones instead of how they interact.
Deep slow motion swells, the tones warm and glowing, rich
and lush, but simple and streamlined. The track shifts here
and there, the tones shifting subtly, some stretches sounding
almost chordal, others so simple and quiet, the tones seem
to be drifting through a vacuum. Near the end, streks of
high end are draped over the warm languid swells, offering
up a brief subtle counterpoint, adding a bit of soft tension.
The second track is similarly structured, but the tones
sound more like notes coaxed from a guitar and allowed to
drift lazily, ring out almost endlessly, stretched and smeared
into deep soft blurs, again toward the end, the various
tones seem to come together into chords and the sound becomes
gently lush and sun dappled, dreamy and soft focus before
fading out completely.So so lovely. Fans of muted, minimal
drone music, Coleclough, Chalk, Murray and the like, should
definitely explore the sounds of Gareth Hardwick, and folks
into the hazy drift of Pop Ambient style shimmer, might
just dig this more minimal take on that sound as well. Fantastic
packaging too. A printed full color cd-r, housed in a plain
black sleeve, with a full color textured plastic transparent
insert, slightly longer than the sleeve so the transparent
top edge sticks out. LIMITED TO 100 COPIES!!"
NORMAN RECORDS:
"Gareth Hardwick now. We've
had a few of his releases over the last year and here's
another limited one. This one is also part of the installation
series (see Brian Grainger review) and is also limited to
100 copies. Here are 2 sets of him playing live. The one
is very much like you'd expect if you've heard any of his
previous work. Beautiful textured drones which meld into
your consciousness in no time. His guitar just lulls you
into it.... The 2nd set (recorded in Spain) is a much more
lo-fi affair as it was recorded onto a dictaphone. Still
very droney but there's more to get in the way of the lovelyness...
so it ends up sounding quite full and hazy sounding. Well
lovely!! 'Waiting For The Penny To Drop' is CD only...."
NORMAN RECORDS:
"Tanner Menard is the 6th artist
to grace Install's 'Installation' series. Install, if you
didn't know, are responsible for the recent Caretaker CD
that's shook the ambient/hauntological scene up a tad recently.
'Canopy of Sky on Black' starts with the sound of someone
possibly scoffing a bag of monster munch by a microphone
before the waves of drone crank up and start removing parts
of your conscience and displacing them in small bubbles
throughout the solar system. Im never sure how to review
this kind of music as its like trying to pass comment on
the hum of an electrical generator heard through elaborate
earpieces made out of tiny seashells & minute prisms, each
slight turn you make refracts the audio sensation, like
a sonic hall of mirrors (thanks Ant!) Its fucking good anyway,
very transcendental & uplifting with tons of atmosphere,
a dense, riveting tapestry of heavenly sound."
^
NORMAN RECORDS:
"This baby is more used to hanging
around fields with a tape recorder getting it on with blades
of grass & nature man. Then Jack goes into town to buy a
book on different types of grass & forgets he's left his
tape player on so ends up recording the muffled sounds of
the streets he's gently pacing. He hears this on playback
and so delighted with his found sound recordings he laces
the concoction with a slightly wavering one note keyboard
line. Further on you get morphing, alien dissonance, Arabic
chanting & various fascinating ambient tones, all forming
their own little segments of pure sound to create a very
satisfying journey If this doesn't sound very interesting
then you'd be mistaken for this is the best form of sound
collage, very organic, lightly intoxicating and satisfyingly
minimal. Nice!"
^
FOREST GOSPEL:
"Though part of a marginally
larger edition than his Hyrule cassette (30 copies), Death
Mountain is still a criminally limited edition at only 50
copies. The concept for Millipede this time around is the
same: Zelda + My Bloody Valentine = monolithic cathedrals
of towering guitar feedback that somehow instills a depressing
beauty amidst the swirling chaos. Think Fennesz, if he was
performing an exorcism gone horribly wrong (but at the same
time - horribly right!). I don’t know why the labels that
are putting this stuff out (and they’re great labels to
be putting it out at all, that’s for sure) aren’t placing
more stock into it because Millipede’s brand of melodic
guitar feedback is devastatingly good. Let me be the first
to request that someone put this stuff on wax at an edition
of 500 or something because once someone notable finds out
about this stuff, it’ll be gone in no time. But then again,
I’m just a lowly music blogger, the scum of the music world,
what do I know? Well, if nothing else, I know that Death
Mountain is noise done right. This is the kind of stuff
that us odd, experimental leaning folk devour after wading
through pools of the BS noise releases that everyone else
and their little sisters have cranked out on CDR. This is
one of those holy grail type records that make wading through
the crap a bearable means to an end. And let me just say
this so that I can be the first (why else blog about music?):
If Millipede keeps this up, there will be a day when his
moniker will be uttered in company with noise stalwarts
like Yellow Swans, Axolotl, Earth and Sunn O))). His stuff
is that good. Don’t sleep on Death Mountain on the basis
of its limited edition status or its peculiar Nintendo associations
– this ain’t no lame, glitched out NES cover band. Death
Mountain is transcendent, apocalyptic, magnificent and searingly
beautiful; a true work of art. As you could imagine, I could
probably go on all day. However, I’d rather give my full
attention back to Millipede and Death Mountain. Sample below
for the unbelievers…"-Mr. Thistle
^
1. Reflections I
2. Reflections II
3.
Reflections III
4. Circles I
5. Circles II
6. Circles III
7. Circles IV
8.
Reflections IV
9. Reflections V
10. Shoreline I
11. Shoreline II
12. Shoreline III
13. Shoreline IV
14. Shoreline V
15. Shoreline VI
16.
Shoreline VII
17. Shoreline VIII
18. Perception I
19.
Perception II
20. Perception III
21. Perception IV
