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6majik9  

50 hertz - Hemligheten ar att lagga beslag pa rubbet cdr (Popkonst) 0.50

a

A Way / Jazzfinger split cdr (Mallard Lake) 2

earthy disintegrating drones and silences crackling with electricity from Finland's A Way. Newcastle's Jazzfinger contribute a more electrifying fuzzing and spitting noisedrone

Aan 

• Elaman Kevät cdr (Foxglove) 4

Mysterious drones from Uton and Kulkija - bowed strings swarm and hover like a hallucinating cloud of bees. Occasionally you can pick out a piping wooden flute and an undercurrent of electronics and circuitry, but the Aan sound is one of indeterminate psychedelic drone as dense and impenetrable as the smoke in an opium den.

• Salamaa cdr (Ikuisuus) 5.50

Recordings made in Helsinki and Tampere in late 2004 by Uton and Kulkija: muffled string pluckings like the echoes of water dripping in a cave and evocative drones like mystical rumblings from the forest floor.

Acid House Kings - Sing Along With lp (Labrador) 3

warm, feather light, effortless pop from the elder statesmen and women of the Swedish pop scene  - some of the prettiest, singalong pop around at the moment that'll have you smiling and shuffling your feet - 'Sing Along' comes with bonus karaoke/video DVD. Julia has one of the prettiest voices since Annemarie of The Field Mice. The vinyl features 3 bonus tracks.

also: Airliner, Kingsize 2 comp

Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso UFO - The Day Before the Sky Fell In cd (Eclipse / Galactic Zoo) 6

Great live album recorded 10th September 2001 in Chicago and featuring versions of "In E", "Speed Guru", "La Novia" and "Space Age Ballad". Cover art by Plastic Crimewave in the style of Amon Duul's "Yeti".

also: Kawabata Makoto, Splendor Mystic Solis, Up-tight & Makoto Kawabata, Hand/Eye comp

Acid Mothers Guru Guru - Psychedelic Navigator cd (Important) 7

A real psych-rock blow-out with Acid Mothers Temple's Kawabata Makoto and Atsushi Tsuyama joined by Mani Neumeier from German Krautrock band Guru Guru.

Acolytes Action Squad - Winkle Time cd (Early Winter) 8

A quick look at the AAS lp I have reminds me that it's from 1998 and I know this new cd is their first outing in several years. While there's still the odd looped beat here, Winkle Time seems much freer than that earlier record, with moments evoking the primal hoedown of Dr John's Danse Kalinda Ba Doom, multi layered vocal tracks with post-punk edginess about them and a piece that suggested distant trains passing in a desert night. Acolytes Action Squad's return sounds fresh and distinctive, for which they deserve our salute. (JC)

Aethenor - Deep in the Ocean Sunk the lamp of Light LP (VHF) 9

Debut release from Stephen O’Malley (Sunn0))))), Daniel O’Sullivan (Guapo), and Vincent de Roguin (Shora). Subaquatic drone of distant sonic rumbles, trembling pools of tone-drone and acres of vast atmospheric Tangerine Dream-esque organ drift. Sleeves by Alan Sherry / SIWA.

Aethr Myth'd - The Eight cdr (Spirit of Orr) 8

A bunch of sprawling psych improv moves from members of Sunburned / Feathers. Things get darker and ore mysterious as the disc progresses - slashes of slide guitar, psych squall and percussive string assault echoing up a cavernous tunnel. Handmade packaging.

Agitated Radio Pilot / Nether Dawn split cd (Pseudoarcana) 7

Cd issue of the lathe cut LP. A well-matched split between two creators of fragile sounds. Antony Milton's Nether Dawn specializes in post-midnight bleary-eyed drone-lullabies, fuzzed around the edges wails of lonesome frazzled sound. James Kirk of Sandoz Lab Technicians guests on one track. Agitated Radio Pilot contributes creaky nocturnal drones and melancholic lullabies on the flip. 

This double album is something of a magnum opus for Dave Colohan, who has been working on collaborations for it over a two and a half year period. This extensive list of guests includes Sharron Kraus, Annemarie deacy & Aaron Coyne (Mirakil Whip), Gavin Pryor (United Bible Studies), Autumn Grieve and - I should own mention this, like a politician declaring personal interest - me, singing on a Roy Harper cover which is endorsed by the man himself, no less! If you've enjoyed any of Mr Colohan's delicious melancholia in the past, this is music to treasure and if you're new to his work, don't be afraid to dive in with a double helping. Even the booklet of photos is a treat. Highly recommended. (JC)

Recent 9 track cd from Shoeb Ahmed of shimmering guitar and piano textures with a few more song-like structures and remixes from the likes of Prettyboy Crossover, Snowstorm, Part Timer, Jasmine Loop Control and M Rosner. Comes in a neat cloth cover, limited to 50 copies.

• Sonar Love Songs cdr (Cook an Egg) 6.50

Another lovely release from Shoeb Ahmad - guitar textures delayed / reverbed to the nth degree drifting towards the horizon, sometimes sounding like a guitar, with elongated notes extending ever outwards and sometimes like a ghostly shadow of the sound. Gorgeous.

• / Mankilled cdr 6.75

6 tracks from Canberra's Mankilled - slow bass heavy brutal grind, a direct contrast to Ahmad's ethereal drift. There are some tracks of time-suspending reverbed guitar wash similar to the Cook an Egg release and also a couple of moon orbitting songs with vocals courtesy of Wendi Graham. Again, gorgeous stuff.

also: Pieno

First and much-anticipated album proper from Ilyas Ahmed and it's an absolute gem, a real way-out-in-the-cosmos psychedelic journey. This opens in astonishing style with near-Eastern reeds weaving like duelling king cobras amidst a rumbling roll of percussion, sawed string drone and the ominous roar of gongs. From there it's straight into a fast acoustic ragas with Ahmed's lonesome wail hovering above the dervish-paced guitar and percussion - it falls somewhere between the Family Elan and Six Organs of Admittance. Ahmed's more structured songs evoke a similar feeling as other cosmic travellers such as Skip Spence. He pairs his guitar with the lush dense throb of harmonium on "Unveiled Nightmare" and creates a sound of pure narcotic bliss. This is gorgeous, the kind of release no amount of wordage can do justice too. heavy vinyl, heavy gatefold sleeve - fantastic packaging yet again from Time Lag.

freeform tumbling-down-a-staircase splurges of guitar and drums 

Jason Ajemian - Love Songs Invade Your Mind Too cdr (Foxglove) 2

one half of Born Heller (with Josephine Foster) and member of various Chicago jazz ensembles: this is just Ajemian's vocals sparingly accompanied by double bass

also: Who Cares How Long You Sink, Relay Signals

Ajilsvga 

• Behind the Masked Spirit cassette (JK Tapes) 4

Duo featuring Brad Rose (North Sea etc) and Nathan Young: death-drone, low-down rumbles and ominous bass ocsillations.

• Blood Nocturnes cdr (Deep Water) 5

New cdr from Brad Rose and Nathan Young, following up their Musicyourmindwillloveyou debut: monolithic blasts of fuzz guitar share the same disc-space as some great teeth-rattling string bowing and bouzouki wandering through heavily percussive terrains. Highly recommended.

Akhet - Tehka cdr (MYMWLY) 6.50

Recorded during Michael Donnelly's (Terracid, Brothers of the Occult Sisterhood) US tour, with Brad (North Sea) and Eden Hemming Rose (Wax Ghost). Primitive flailing strings, whistles and percussion strewn outsider folk. Lovely.

Akisa 

• Passover cdr (Foxglove) 4

The tenor playing on this has that crunchy, funky, in yer face sound - a bit like the tone of Gato Barbieri, but dear old Gato never had the strange swamp of manipulated voices growling and screaming behind his bassline. The combined forces of Juntunen, Kinnunen and Saarti manage to keep quite a strong soulful structure to their pieces, whilst still displaying a more extreme free element. The combination of feel and style delivers a very enjoyable set and the rough-ish live sound suits the music well. (JC)

Alasehir - Sharing the Sacred cd (Important) 5

One of two simultaneously released Bardo Pond offshoot projects, this features John and Michael Gibbons and drummer Michael Zangha. Heavy lumbering guitar-driven psych rock and a beautifully meditative tamboura / sitar piece.

Alejandra and Aeron - Lost Cat mini cd (Lucky Kitchen) 3 

fascinating field recordings and storytelling from sound artists Alejandra & Aeron: 'Lost Cat' is the story of the lost cat is acted out amidst field recordings and beautiful minimal organ. 

10 tracks of spirited improv featuring trumpet, electronics, voice, guitar and percussion. This opens with a demented cacophony of twisted vocalizations amidst an onslaught of drum clatter and the mayhem never lets up from there.

Collaboration between Michael Donnelly (Brothers of Occult Sisterhood / Terracid) and Brad Rose (Golden Oaks / North Sea etc). Where previous cdrs have been postal collaborations, this was recorded during Michael's tour of the US in 2006. It's great: bouzouki / guitar, bone-shaking percussion, scraping and scratching, flutes and growled vocals scraping the surface. Freeform rural psychedelia at its best. Inner sleeve design by Keith Wood (Hush Arbors).

If you find many recordings a bit too clean for your taste these days and long for the sound of ye olde portastudio - or dictaphone, for that matter - this lp will surely appeal. The gentle ocean whoosh of background noise permeates Christopher Francis Hearn's songs of loss, alienation and longing to escape, as he plays organ (we're in Bontempi/Casio territory here) and percussion. Sonically it's as though Pumice forsook guitar for keyboard and it has a lot of charm. It also has an insert with lyrics and is limited to 300 copies. (JC)

One of two simultaneously released Bardo Pond offshoot projects, this features John and Michael Gibbons with Michael Zangha and Aaron Igler on percussion. Less overtly rock than the Alasehir disc this is dense drone that starts out with devotional Eastern bowings and finishes as an almost impenetrable morass of guitar and electronics.

Described on the label website as a "psychedelic collage", this piece melds vintage keyboards, guitars (going forwards and backwards), field recordings, percussion, gliding whistles and more into a verdant swamp of sound. (JC)

Amygdola cdr (Deserted Village) 1

This is a kind of crossroads where free folk/psych types meet, consider the ways ahead and plump for the path signposted jazzy free improv. The said roup of people, being part of the Deserted Village collective, carry on their journey in a fine and soulful way and - joy of joys - there's a bass clarinet prominent throughout. (JC)

Theo Angell - Auraplinth cd (Digitalis) 7

This is one of the most description-defying albums I've heard in quite some time, but here goes... Angell's eerie yet soulful voice straddles the words of mountain music and hippie communes. His previous credits include work with Samara Lubelski and Jackie-O Motherfucker, but if this sounds like anything, to my ears it's more connected to the Holy Modal Rounders than either of those artists, but it doesn't sound much like the Rounders either.... hmmm.... a perplexing record to write about, but one that's very good to hear. The elaborately decorated gatefold sleeve is fronted by "a Victorian deathmask of Theo himself" (according to the Digitalis website). I had no idea he'd been around so long - remarkable! (JC)

ANP - Metacompound cd (Important) 4

Reformed duo of KK Null and Seijiro Murayama, who initially recorded together 20 years ago. A messed up amalgam of jackhammer glitch, free jazz and improv. 

Anvil Salute 

• All The Animals of the Forest cdr (Lofi Shit) 3

Brand new album from Anvil Salute. Parts of this are wonderfully serene instrumentals of pastoral guitar weavings with some lovely clarinet playing. Other parts have a more primal acid folk feel with lots of percussion clatter.

• s/t cassette (Nerd Party) 2

Tones and drones develop into something which conjures up images of opulent gatherings in large tents and exotic dancers performing with snakes. The prominence of the saxophone steers this music into a looser, jazzier place too. My brother, who happened to be around when side 2 was playing, said parts of it reminded him of the sort of thing which he used to hear on shortwave from All India Radio. Further recommendation: there's a generous amount of music on this cassette. (JC)

• This is the Voice of Doom Calling cdr (Deep Water) 5

One of Anvil Salute's loveliest releases that opens with 7 tracks of gazing-at-the-skies pastoral guitar, bass, glockenspiel, melodica and drums weavings. Things get more communal later on when a real free campfire vibe gets going.

also: Gold Leaf Branches comp, Pink Gold comp tape, Wailing Bones Volume 8 comp

Apothecary Hymns - Trowel & Era LP (Locust) 3

A.P.A.T.T. - s/t cd (Pickled Egg) 10

The ghost of Vivian Stanshall looms large here (any ghost of Vivian's could hardly loom small, it has to be said!), along with a few other reference points across an adroitly assembled 28 track collage of music and fun. Whereas the humour element can wear thin after a few plays if there isn't much substance otherwise, with a.P.A.t.T. there's so much detail that it needs several listens to begin to take it all in. The other reference points, to my ears, include the Tubes, Frank Zappa, possibly even Gong. At one point I had to go off and dig out my copy of the Who's Sell Out just to check if one song used the same brass line as Heinz Baked Beans! It doesn't and the whole thing makes a very distinctive new album. (JC)

Arbol - Dreams Made of Paper cd (Lejos Discos) 3

Arbol make sparse, filmic electroacoustic music that combines unintrusive, brittle metallic beats and Basic Channel-like loops of warm static with violin, organ, guitar and sombre female vocals that results in a classy, engaging listen - the superb packaging is a bonus but the music is worthy of wonder in its own right

A sound to slowly immerse yourself in. Eric Carlson creates molten soundscapes from looped guitar gloop and tremulous delay shiver.

• Sea of Rains cd (self-released) 7

"In April of 2008, AREA C was commissioned by the NASA RI Space Grant Consortium and the Museum of Natural History in Providence, RI to compose an original score for their "Mission Moon: past, present, future" exhibit at the Museum of Natural History." Gorgeous Eno-esque elongated tones and languid drones with some samples from Apollo missions 11 & 14.

This is group improv, but with an unusual warmth to it. Arkhangelesk is a trio: David Colohon, Sean Og and Gavin Prior, names familiar to Deseted Village fans, sounding quite distinct from their other projects. There are slightly creepy wavering drones, Og's gentle and melodic saxophone (a bit like Steve Lacy in places - never a bad thing!), the spoken word passages along with abstract sound recalls Frank Zappa's Lumpy Gravy or suggests Timothy Leary (an Irish Tim Leary?... there's a thought!) and there's something in use here called a "Temporal vox accelorater". Whether this is the thing that sounds like an ondes martenot or purely three words which looked good when written on the sleeve I don't know, but there are fine sounds here, they sing together well and nothing outstays its welcome. (JC)

also: United Bible Studies

Teenage DIY punk from Finland with beatboxes, 

Armpit - Frenzy cdr (Seedy R) 2

freeform guitar / distortion improv, like noisier, less refined Dead C releases. 'Frenzy' is mixed by hip hop DJ Frenzy: one miniscule moment of Armpit's amp-hum madness is cut loose from its origins and repeated to obsessive brain-frying degree.

also: CJA, Futurians, Ideal Gus

Ash Castles on the Ghost Coast - s/t cd (Wholly Other / Fleece) 4

Texan duo of Shawn McMillen and Heather Murray (one half of Scorces / Taurpis Tula) create a fuzzy yet beautiful experimental mass using what sounds like mostly string instruments

also: Charalambides, Friday Group

Ashtray Navigations 

• Electric Cointelpro 3" cdr (First Person) 2.50

warm cocoon of drone and fuzz and then shatters it with some superbly fucked electric guitar shards.

• Aurora Grease Sweetrocket 3" cdr (Memoirs of an Aesthete) 4

mixes the grimy (scorching distorto-guitar) with the pretty (rhythmic glissandos that sound like the plinking of a glass xylophone, deep-toned chimes) to hypnotic effect

• Four More Raga Moods cd (Ikuisuus) 9

Mmmm my mouth is watering at the prospect of listening to this with one look at the various underground luminaries involved: Ben Reynolds, Pete Nolan, Andy Jarvis, Alex Neilson, Chris Hladowski (Nalle / Scatter), Mel Delaney and of course Phil Todd. Do I really need to write anymore?! The album opens with its only raga, an acoustic duet from Reynolds and Jarvis, heavily warped by analogue delay. "Hey Sunflower Motherfucker" has Todd's sun-seeking guitar working its way through thick waves of wow. "The Pete Nolan Effect" is a deep pool of drone (once the microphone returns from its wind-blasted trip outside!) as is the immensely atmospheric final track which sounds like the inners of a dank, dark cave.

• Sweet Iron Feet cdr (Chocolate Monk) 4.50

Another Ash Nav cdr, another piece of warped beauty ... 4 tracks of spectral ragas and gorgeous psych-drones.

• Red Culture cdr (Memoirs of an Aesthete) 6

Another blast of over-loaded psych raga from the trio line-up of Phil Todd, Melanie Delaney and Phil Legard (Xenis Emputae Travelling Band). Packaged in a plastic shell-like spray-painted case.

• Skewered By Clouds cdr (Memoirs of an Aesthete) 6.25

Another month, another cdr from Ashtray Navigations, in a lovely blue shell cd case. Line-up is Phil Todd, Melanie Delaney and Arttu Partinen (Avarus). This starts out with a shimmering wave of zen-tone but as always with Ashtray Navigations you know it's not going to laze blissfully for long, especially when Arttu's thunderous drumming gets rolling. A real Kosmiche expansion of spacey atmospheres and wailing electronics. Highly recommended.

• Corbridge Red Church and other Splendours cdr (Memoirs of an Aesthete) 6.25

reissue of a Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers release from 1998: 3 tracks of which two are fairly lenghty: "Cracking" - mysterious background rumblings, like machinery cranking into action, and repeated whistling, like ghostly pistons. The epic 51 minute closer opens with distant haunting ringing melodies, then screams into one long psych / noise drone, encompassing burbling electronics and blistering guitar.

• / ROT / Sandoz Lab Technicians split cd (Veglia) 4

Repackaged (in recycled collage-style packaging) release from a few years ago featuring 3 tracks from Ashtray Navigations, 2 from Sandoz Lab Technicians and 4 from ROT

• Tapwater Locomotive Deluxe cassette (Smokers Gifts) 7

Reissue of an insanely-limited tape from last year on Melanie Delaney's Smokers Gifts label. One side of solo guitar eruptions and hiss-engulfed drone from Phil Todd. Side 2 finds him joined by Melanie Delaney and Phil Legard in a dark and dense noise pummelling. Nice corrugated card packaging.

• Beast Secrets / Ssssnares cdr (Memoirs of an Aesthete) 4.25

2-for-1 reissue of two long sold-out cdrs. Beast Secrets recalls the distant whir of trains along a subway tunnel, full of ominous echoes. The 6 tracks of "Ssssnares" a collection of home-fi guitar detritus.

• Flute Falling (Vertically) cdr (Spirit of Orr) 6.50

I'm not sure which AN line-up features on these 4 tracks but what I am sure of is that they are AN at their very finest. Deep dense drones and that wonderful stratospheric psych guitar splurge. Gold-sprayed card with paste-on art.

• Those Are Pearls That Were His Eyes cdr (Revival) 6

3rd edition - originally issued on Solipsism in 1998, then Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers in 2000. Cymbal bowings and birdsong find themselves buried beneath layers of guitar fire and a ghostly synth carousel. I have to admit I missed these earlier Ash Nav recordings first time round so it's great to see them getting reissued. More please!

• Four Raga Moods cdr (Revival) 6

Another reissue from Phil Todd's Revival label. This was the first Ash Nav cd, originally issued in 1997 on Betley Welcomes Careful Drivers. This has the disorientating feeling of turning the dial repeatedly on a shortwave radio complete with acres of hiss. There are ear-cleansing blasts of fogged noise, haunting drones echoing down rain-soaked streets and collaged field recordings and primitive electronic whistles.

• Running on Autokinetic cdr (self-released) 6

Recent tour cdr, packaged in a green plastic shell case. 4 tracks in total -  a couple of harsh electric fizz and a couple of truly dream-like blissfulness, particularly the closer, a gloriously psych-ey array of synth textures and great fuzz guitar spirals.

• / Ocelocelot - Clacton Pier Death EP cdr (Smokers Gifts) 5.75

Superb split featuring one track from Mel Delaney as Ocelocelot: damaged depth charge blitz against delicate glassy tinkles. The Ashtray Navigations track is typically high-octane with a wall of fuzz guitar peppered with luminous electronic bubbles. Great stuff. Comes in a day-glo corrugated cardboard handmade sleeve.

• & Sarah's Charity - Chocolate Concrete 3" cdr (self-released) 4.25  

  Ashtray Navigations in collaboration with Sarah's Charity recorded live in Leeds in 2007. Brutal meditation featuring an electric tamboura and the obliterating roar of oscillators spiralling out of control. Great stuff.

• Idiot Music Lavatory Floor 2 cdr (self-released) 8

New double set featuring the Phil Todd / Melanie Crowley / Phil Legard line up. Not the fuzzed-out whiteout you may be expecting but bubbling wells of mystery and alchemy with mournful tunes disappearing into the fog as soon as you find them. Excellent.

• Surpls Provncl Hrbs cdr (self-released) 5.50

New release from Ashtray Navigations. Solo Phil Todd recordings this time around of mellow synth / acoustic guitar float, sky-piercing psych guitar towers and haunting near-Eastern drones.

• Hands Under Water Reaching For Nothing 1995 - 1997 cdr (Revival) 5.50

Vintage Ashtray Navigations sounds from the mid-'90s. These tracks were intended for the first (unissued) Ash Nav LP and one for "Four More Raga Moods" (which never made the final cut). 

• Snakestrings / Hollywood Taught You to Kiss 2 cdr (self-released) 7

Double cdr from Ashtray Navigations. "Snakestrings" revels in a cosmic languidity with decaying metal clangs ringing into oblivion opening the disc. Phil Todd plays esraj, kemence, electric sitar and guitars on this, and the long piece ends on pulsing synth drones and electronic hover & hum. "Hollywood" features the trio line-up of Phil Todd, Melanie Delaney & Phil Legard. Still pretty cosmic but of a more malevolent hue with fuzzed psych guitar and electronics whirring and bubbling manically. 

• In Liquid Bravado cdr (Self-released) 5.50

Two tracks from Ashtray Navigations - the first one is "a rendition of a very obscure Spanish folk tune to start things off (so obscure nobody else in history has ever heard it!)". The second is a live set recorded at London's Second Layer records and is murky  slow-seeping nausea with guitar and gaseous electronics fizzling away.

• Brittle Licks 666 3" cdr (First Person) 2.25

Last release on First Person comes in the form of this 3"  from Phil Todd. Already sold out on its first run, this is the second edition. "Fuzz Socket" is a fuzzed-up static-buried psych blissout and  "Wrong Microphone Love" a helium fix of fuzzed riffing and spiralling guitar. Highly recommended.

also: Invisible Pyramid, Helvetica is the Perfume of the City, Directing Hand, Xenis Emputae Travelling Band, The Mystery Water Saloon Boys, Zen Nuns, Czech Nymphs, El-G, Moral Holiday

August Stars - Music for Twilight cdr (Make Mine Music) 2

"Beginning life as an idea on a summers evening in rural Staffordshire, August Stars became the moniker given to the recording project of Sébastien Wright in 2002. August Stars produces minimalist drones and soundscapes inspired by the passing of the seasons, landscapes, the ghost stories of Le Fanu and Chamber Music by James Joyce amongst others. Whereas some electronic music can often be rather cold and lacking in emotion, August Stars’ sound is full of nostalgia, sadness and longing. It is highly evocative music. Listening to August Stars is akin to becoming lost in thought. Rather than being merely a background, this is music in which to immerse."

Auto da Fe - The Spectre cd (Secret Eye) 5

a fascinating album from Tara Tavi and Martin Kvisvic of Amps for Christ recorded using a stack of wonderful sounding Oriental instruments like guzheng and yang qin and the more (relatively!) familiar bouzouki, tambur, balalaika, recorder, Chinese banjo and marimba. This opens with a baroque-styled song that would sound more at home in some royal court in centuries gone by and continues with a treasure trove of unusual and exotic settings and sounds for Tara's vocals and dark songs.

Automat 

• Happy Trials cdep (Ravenna) 1.50

• Just Imagine Drive cdr (Ravenna) 1.50

Automat is Mike Appelstein, formerly of the Poconos and the wonderful and sadly missed Caught in Flux fanzine: strummy bedroom pop with understated percussion (tambourine / maracas) that is charming in the same way as By Coastal Cafe 

Avarus  

• Vesikansi cd (Secret Eye) 6

4 tracks of sprawling psych freak-out from one of the lynch-pin bands of the Finnish underground (including members of Kemialliset Ystavat, Lau Nau, Islaja, Kuupuu, Kiila, Es, Anaksimandros). Free form folk / noise that alternates between tranced and crazed, with growling vocals that sound as if they're emitted from the bowels of the earth. Fursaxa joins them on 2 tracks, recorded live in Dublin. 

• Rasvaaja LP (Secret Eye) 9.75

Super-limited and now sold out at source LP in an eye-damaging day-glo sleeve. One side of the full-on Avarus psych-kraut-jam experience and one side of mysterious quiet - guitar strings and percussion jangling and rumbling as if moved by ghostly forest breezes.

• Kirppuren saari LP (Arbor) 9.50

"Long touted as the forefathers of Finnish freeform psychedlic music, Avarus, a collective bearing members from The Anaksimadros, Kemialliset Ystävät, Maniacs Dream, and more, document their first tour of the United States on "Kirppujen Saari".  The sounds contained show a departure and growth from typical Avarus recordings.  The A side long track begins with a psychrock romper complete with full “band” instrumentation, slowly it deconstructs itself into the abstract electric/acoustic stylings and sonic spattering familiar to their previous work.  Slowness builds into full on clatter filled walls of vocals, toy keyboards, horns, strums, and other acoustic junk, creating a unique and massive drone.  The opposing side is pure acoustic drones composed of vocals, horns, and tribal beats.  Room filling ambiance, corner clatter, and morphing silence also find a way to unobtrusively build themselves into the piece.  In an edition of 350 LPs on coke bottle clear vinyl with printed labels by Bart of Sloow Tapes and proprinted full color foldover art by the band." (Arbor)

also: Kemialliset Ystavat, Kuupuu, Last Night on Earth,  Nuslux 

b

Jean Bach - Sans le Playback 7" (555) 0.50

crazy fun-time electronica with plenty of melody, twists and turns and a delight in pummelling europop to pieces

Aidan Baker - The Sea Swells a Bit ... cd ( A Silent Place ) 9

Three epic length tracks from the Toronto based musician and writer. The opener - and title track - has layers of melody developing through a haze. Rothko, Mazzacane Connors and Gavin Bryars' Titanic came to mind here, with the additional feel of drum sounds very low in the mix. The drum machine rises progressively throughout the album and with it the mood and feel veers towards expansive post-rock. Baker's cover drawing looks well on the textured gatefold card sleeve. (JC)

Bardo Pond 

• Cypher Documents 1 cd (Three Lobed) 7.50

fuzz-guitar driven out-there psych rock: this collects recordings that were available briefly online between the recording of 'Set and Setting' and 'Dilate'

• Sublimation cd (3Lobed) 10

Nearly 58 minutes of music put together to mark Terrastock 6. Bardo Pond's group contribution here is the rather sublime Dual States (for HST), which opens with Hunter S. Thompson's voice. There's also a lengthy Michael Gibbons solo adventure as 500mg, Dechemia - John Gibbons with 'cellist Isobel Sollenberger - and guitar of searing, nay seismic, proportions from Clint Takeda. The standard of music making from BP is always of a high order and the 500 copies of this album won't stay around for long. (JC)

• Batholith LP and cd (with bonus cd) (3 Lobed) 13.75

"batholith is a collection of six tracks that are near and dear to bardo pond but, for some reason or another, have never previously been released. that one-sentence description might lead one to think that these tracks are "outtakes" or cutting-room floor type material - neither conclusion could be further from the truth. the tracks included on batholith range from previous live staples ("a tune," one made 'famous' by opening bardo's set at terrastock II in san francisco as joined by roy montgomery [and a recording of which was featured on the KFJC compilation live from the devil's triangle, volume 2]) to tracks the band recorded in john peel sessions collected as a whole, these tracks form a fluid and cohesive album. batholith is not just an exciting moment for long time bardo pond fans, but a great jumping on point for folks who are relatively new to their craft." (3Lobed website) Heavy vinyl with cd version of the LP, all my copies include a bonus cd of unreleased Bardo Pond stuff.

also: Invisible Pyramid, For the Dead in Space II & III comp

Bark Haze - Total Joke Era cd (Important) 5

Bark Haze are a duo featuring Andrew McGregor (Gown) and Thurston Moore, two guitars and a bunch of effects pedals. There are 2 tracks: one short-ish and one long. Both employ an unsettling mix of sustained tones / feedback,  the insect scuttle of fingered pick-ups, warped chords suspended in mid air and strung across all this delicate webs of almost melodies. 

Barlow / Pedersen / Wivinus - Transparent World cd (Hand / Eye) 5

An album of instrumental pieces by the Minneapolis based trio of artist and experimental theatre champion Rich Barlow, Viaticum member Jesse Peterson and Erik Wivinus of Salamander and, sometimes, Stone Breath. This is acoustic music using guitar, dulcimer, mandolin and various other rather unusual instruments (train whistle, for example) which is at turns both mellow and quite dark. Although the tracks are essentially improvised pieces, they have a strong melodic feel and a style which will appeal to fans of Charalambides & Six Organs. At times I also hear flashes of More/Ummagumma era Pink Floyd, which is no bad thing (JC)

Barn Owl - Smoke Loom Ceremony cassette (Blackest Rainbow) 4.50

San Franciscan duo of Evan Caminiti and Jon Porras. A heavier, more psychedelic release than their Foxglove debut with two long tracks. The first finds banjo and guitar being subsumed under a heavy cloud of harmonium, rolling cymbal and drums and high vocal float. The second piece is heavier still with fuzz guitar and and black gloom forming huge smoke clouds. Excellent stuff.

Basalt Fingers - s/t LP & cd (3 Lobed) 11.75

Guitar wielding trio featuring Elisa Ambrogio (Magik Markers), Ben Chasny (Six Organs Of Admittance) and Brian Sullivan (Mouthus). Detuned doom-riffing and murky guitars that worm menacingly through a thick black fog. Artwork and silk-screening by Alan Sherry of SIWA. This comes with the free cd featuring the same material as on the LP.

Steffan Basho-Junghens - Last Day of the Dragons cd (Locust) 8

Exquisite. More words? They feel unnecessary, but here are a few. I've always loved that chiming sound a guitar gives off when the strings produce harmonics half way between the neck and the bridge (at least I think that's where this happens!) and I'm sold on this album for the piece constructed around these tones alone. Elsewhere there are the spiritual mysteries of long, but never too dense, pieces and some slide blues too. I say it again: exquisite. (JC)

Martyn Bates 

• Imagination Feels Like Poison cd (Hand/Eye) 5

Originally released in 1997, this album finds the Eyeless In Gaza co-founder using banjo and autoharp to create sparse spiderwebs of glistering sound. The banjo - often an unjustly maligned instrument - really shines here and there are bursts of pump organ and, literally, bells and whistles to add contrast and texture. Bates sings in a style which is at once raw, vulnerable, theatrical and glacial. This is a high and lonesome sound - like ghostly mists and winds across the moorland. (JC)

• Mystery Seas (Letters Written #2) cd (Hand/Eye) 5

All the songs here are Martyn Bates solo works, but it is credited as being produced by Eyeless In Gaza and Peter Becker, his cohort in the band, plays some drums and recorded/engineered the disc. The main instruments here are vintage electric organ and what sounds like a fine old harmonium - there's something about this music that would suit a Victorian one with bevelled mirrors adorning the overmantle! Bates voice veers more towards Marc Almond torch song territory here than I've noticed on other albums. This includes a 16 page booklet with what looks like old movie stills used therein. I'm sure that's Louise Brooks on page 10… (JC)

The Bats - At the National Grid cd (Egg / Little Teddy) 4

After a 10 year hiatus comes this 13 song album from Flying Nun recording artists the Bats. It's been well worth the wait with a diverse album of sublime New Zealand guitar pop. Pastoral jangle pop with some gorgeous slow-burning numbers, some lovely harmonies between the male and female vocals and violin from Alastair Galbraith.

Bobby Beausoleil - Mantra pic disc LP (Qbico) 11

This is very different to BB's soundtrack to Kenneth Anger's Lucifer Rising and, I suspect, of much more recent vintage. Mantra was written as a piece to aid meditation, relaxation and contemplation at the request of Beausoleil's fellow prisoners - in case you need a resume, Bobby is serving a life term and if you want more information on this, try searching his name alongside Charles Manson and you'll find all ye seek... and probably more! Anyway, the music: this is a big sweeping, soothing drone piece, where the initial statement is repeated with subtle developments. A good reference point to the sound might be Gavin Bryars. A wind-cloud of sound you can readily lose yourself in and a highly attractive Qbico picture disc too. (JC)

Beat Poets / Interceptors - The Superior Surf Sounds of ... 7" (Boa) 1.50

super surf instros featuring theremin on the Slampt-affiliated Interceptors’ side & a cover (featuring full horn section) of the "Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)" theme from former 53^rd & 3^rd recording artists

Gianluca Becuzzi / Fabio Orsi - Muddy Speaking Ghosts Through My Machines cd (A Silent Place) 8.50

Everything I've so far heard involving Fabio Orsi has been nothing less than excellent and this collaboration with electro-acoustic Italian sound-artist Gianluca Becuzzi. Orsi creates a nostalgic and otherworldly ambience round the samples of Alan Lomax recordings he uses, and Becuzzi's subtle drones underscore his pastoral guitar soundscapes with a sense of unease. Lovely.

Believers 

• Brontoursaurus cdr (Apostasy) 5

raw primeval rock with lurching riffs, pounding drums and fantastic female vocals. Comes in an over-sized stamped card sleeve.

• Forgotten Tracks cdr (Blueberry Honey) 4

If you can imagine a voice like Pat from Melody Dog or Anne Bacheley (well, a voice like those, but with an American accent - not Scots or French) being backed by a fairly full-on guitar band for three songs which turn into extended freaky garage jams, you're getting some idea of what's going on here. "Looks like we had a good time", she sings, and I suspect they probably did. (JC)

Bellini - Small Stones lp (Temporary Residence) 5

second album from Bellini (their debut was on Monitor), featuring former members of Uzeda and Girls Against Boys: a muscular rhythm section, a dark rock & roll heart and the sheer intensity of vocalist Giovanna Cacciola

Ben Haschish - An Abstract of the Anti Anti Folk Manifesto 7" (Intercontinenta) 0.50

one of the members of Herman Dune picks up guitar and records some protest folkie style songs in New York

Gustavo Benavides - Songs on Irish Poetry cdr (Deserted Village) 2.50

Dublin's Deserted Village label releases an album of song settings of Irish poetry by the likes of Yeats, Padraic Pearse etc. No great surprise? well, the twist here is that they've been set by an Argentinian singer and guitarist. There's a beatnik coffee bar feel to this music, Benavides sings with sincerity and his South American voice ensures that it sure ain't like any Irish poetry settings I've heard before! (JC)

Maurizio Bianchi - A. M. B. Iehn Tale cd (Small Voices) 8.50

Eight beautiful tracks of deconstructed and treated piano from Italian experimental sound-maker. This opens with a muffled spirals of piano heard at the opposite end of an enormous reverberant hall, shimmering and dreamlike. Other tracks have a glacial majesty - slabs of cavernous drift. 

Big Eyes - I See Creatures 7" (Pickled Egg) 1.50

lush acoustic instrumentals on accordian, guitar and strings with occasional murmurred vocals

also: James Green, The Broken Blackbird Ensemble

Big Eyes Family Players 

• Do The Musiking cd (Pickled Egg) 6

Not quite a new Big Eyes album but James Green and David Jaycock with a host of collaborators they admire including Jeremy Barnes (A Hawk and a Hacksaw), James Yorkston, Rachel Grimes (Rachel's), Suzy Mangion (George), James William Hindle and others. Plenty of the old Big Eyes' melancholic magic is present along with the usual gorgeous classical arrangements (guitar, violin, viola, clarinet, accordian, cello, harmonium, piano, vocals) alongside music box lullabies and weary folk songs.

• Donkeysongs cd (Rusted Rail) 7.50

Another gorgeous collection of intimate chamber-folk instrumentals from Big Eyes Family Players (formerly Big Eyes), this time comprising of James Green, david Jaycock and Chris Boyd. Instruments used include harp, violin, guitar, harmonium, percussion, banjo, piano, organ, harmonica, drums and occasional loops. Packaged in a handmade sleeve with lino cut by James Green.

The Big Huge 

• Crown Your Head With Flowers, Crown Your Heart With Joy cd (Secret Eye) 3
• A Woven Page of Silver Light cd (Secret Eye) 3

Drew Nelson of Sonna abandons their instrumental post-rock for a delve into tradtional folk music complete with banjo and ukelele pluckings, accordion and dulcimer 

also: Sonna

Birchville Cat Motel 

• Bird Sister Blasphemy cd (Battlecruiser) 6

"Birds Call Home Their Dead"'s dark twin. Squealing guitars and eviscerating metal noise - like thrash metal imploding.

• Seventh Ruined Hex cd (Important) 7

Another fantastic album from Campbell Kneale, this time in collaboration with Matthew Bower (Skullflower / Sunroof!). Layers of super-fuzzy drone with Bower's endless spirals of guitar as luminous as thousands of beams of light. Less metal-orientated than recent BCM releases and more of a heavy fuzz drone bliss-krieg thrill. 

• Curved Surface Destroyer 3cd (Last Visible Dog) 11

Mammoth 3 cd set compiling live BCM from 1998 - 2006. Includes the awe-inspiring set from Instal: shimmering drones and the distant sound of strangulated pipes and gradually brutally blotted out by monolithic sampled Iron Maiden riffing. Recommended

• cd (Insample) 5

Campbell Kneale's debut from 1997. With the exception of "Allandale Triple Culvert" - a slowly unfolding piece of feedback tone - this cd sounds like the snow you used to get on TV screens after shutdown - whirring noise and feedback scree that gets pretty hypnotic. Packaged in a 7" size sleeve.

also: Kneale, With Throats as Fine as Needles, Ming, Black Boned Angel, Organ Organ Organ Organ

Birchville Cat Motel & Yellow Swans - s/t cd (Important) 7.50

Batten down the hatches! There's a serious noise squall ahead ... Recorded during the Yellow Swans tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2005, these two tracks are blasts of heavy sonic overload, particularly the live "Marble Carcass" (which makes me insanely jealous of the audience). The first track "Terminal Saints" was recorded at Celebrate Psi Phenomenon HQ and is pretty noise heavy too, thunderous layers of electronic drone and a delicate guitar melody buried within. 

John Olson & Mike Connelly of Wolf Eyes plus Belgian Cassis Cornuta. Malevolent electronics and warped circuitry. Fold-out Dennis Tyfus art and an etching on the B side.

Ragged improv and electronics from France which opens with saxophone hypnotically weaving its way round stabs of jagged guitar. Another track features lurching bowed strings and queasy sawings. The two electronics-based tracks were recorded live: one of flickering noise and the other a low-level wheeze. And a dried leaf.

I'm more familiar with Sindre's work as part of a duo with Jan Iversen but if this cdr is anything to go by, I'll be investigating his solo work further. Fogged drones played on a organ set on fuzz factor 11, so dense there's no room to come up for air.

• There's Always a Little Light that Shines: Lighthouse Tapes Vol 2 3" cdr (First Person) 1

a duo featuring the men who run Gold Soundz and Tibprod: beautiful languid exploration in the murky depths of seabound drone: the sawing bowed guitar sounds like the heaving hull of a wrecked ship. 

• Earth Pit cdr (Barl Fire) 2.50

an unsettling mix of noise / drone: woozily bowed strings, twisted machine noise, shortwave chatter and distant electronics floating weirdly in - reminds Carrick of the sound the airplane made in the black & white 'Flash Gordon' film!

• Smoke Filled Mirrors cdr (mymwly) 3

rumbling earthy noise filled with electronic chatter and ear-piercing drones - comes in a lovely hand-painted sleeve

• There's a Ghost in the Dream Machine cdr (Timelag) 4

The sleeve lists Sindre Bjerga (Gold Soundz label) as playing "amplified ghosts" and Jan Iversen (Tibprod) on "electronic dreams" and that gives a good  description on the shape-shifting sounds within. The rheumatic wheeze of an iron lung and ancient machinery whirring back to life and slowly being consumed by an inferno. Paste-on art / hand-stamped sleeves.

• Illuminated By A Thousand Flashing Lights cdr (Whistle Along) 3

Recorded live, deep-space synth tones and fluttering guitar borrowing its way through the gloom. Nice silk-screened outsize sleeves with a photograph and insert.

• The Smallest Roads Are Paved with Bricks of Gold cdr (Celestial Jars) 2.50

Latest release from Sindre Bjerga / Jan Iversen. Hazed drones of strange tones, whirrs and beeps like the inner workings in a submarine. Mysterious electronics.

• / Madame P cdr (Ambolt Hue) 3.75

Live recordings from shows in Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle and Brighton. Lots of intense electronic fizz, low level rumbles and voices in harmony with the above. The audience also make quite a strong appearance here: if you listen closely enough, you can probably follow some threads of conversation in Newcastle. Who knows, maybe you're even on the record! (JC)

• Drawn to the Light Like Moths to a Flame cdr (Phantom Limb) 3.50

A 34 minute melodic drone fest where warm electric purrings meet guitar, organ and acoustic sounds in a flow which never stays in the same place for too long and has plenty of harmony and invention. (JC)

• Empire of Dirt cassette (Abandon Ship) 3

Recorded live in April 2007 in Amsterdam - pulsing electrical currents, rumbling bass drones and plenty of atmospheric hiss and hum.

also: Iversen, Wailing Bones Volume 6 comp

Black Boned Angel & Nadja - Christ Send Light cd (Battlecruiser) 6

"As Satan was chucked outta heaven his horn scraped a gash in the clouds and the resulting torrent of divine cloud/satanic blood is exactly the kinda goo that Nadja and Black Boned Angel wash themselves in on a regular basis. The first bites of a particularly bloody collaboration of soul-befuddling heaviness and sickening vistas viewed through rose tinted gas-mask lenses... Nadjas inherent sense of melodic-crushpop pushed RIGHT to the front and smothered in Black Boned Angels hideous, sugar-free toffee. Pure and unsoiled by the tiniest shred of hope, this is the sound of total defeat. "

Black Forest / Black Sea s/t cd (Music Fellowship) 7

There are two tracks on here, roughly 20 minutes a piece and the energy levels found within burn intensely. Shimmering bowed string fuse with fuzzy overloaded guitar, electronics and voice in a hazy acoustic. The sleeve doesn't say so, but the sound quality suggests these recordings come from live shows. Margot Goldberg & Stefano Pilia guest on an album it's easy to recommend. This is not the same album as their also self-titled debut. (JC)

also: Iditarod

The Black Hands - The Perfect Beauty of Venus 3" cdr (First Person) 3.50

collaborative heavy drone from Alex Neilson (Directing Hand) and Frank Janiurek: insistently pulsing guitar drone, corrosive screech, metallic percussion splurges and weary vocals - highly recommended

also: Directing Hand, Alex Neilson & Richard Youngs

Black Magic Disco - s/t 2LP (A Silent Place) 12.50

Collaboration between Roberto & Maurizio Opalio (My Cat is an Alien), Ramona Ponzini (Painting Petals on Planet Ghost / Praxinoscope) and Tom Greenwood (JoMF) and one of the finest things any of them have been involved in. This is a fantastic piece of cosmic improv with so many elements merging to create something magical: the Opalio's space-bound electronics, percussion and guitar-manipulation, Ramona's Japanese vocal whispers and bells and Tom Greenwood switching between psych guitar and slipping world music samples into the murky sound with dramatic effect. Highly recommended.

Black To Comm 

• Wir Konnen Leider Nicht Etwas Mehr Zu Tun 2LP (Dekorder) 10

Second album from head of Dekorder Marc Richter. Where his debut build layers of shimmering drone from vinyl / shellac loops, this uses "real" instruments such as old organs, guitars, harmonium and percussion through tape loops and effects pedals. The result is a hypnotic collection of drones: both gentle and undulating, and heavier and darker. Recommended.

Blue Sabbath Black Fiji - Metronopig cassette (Recollections of Knulp) 5

"Blue Sabbath Black Fiji is the Paris based noise project of Charles Lavenac and Janin Benecke. This release sees them throwing everything into their beautifully loved-up mess. Grating noise, Fucked beats & Melodic MIDI Pop. This is some serious beta wave stimulation."

Black Sparrow - Once I'm Under a Person's Skin, I'm Like A Splinter cdr (Gold Soundz) 3.75

Forgot to review this when it originally came in a few weeks ago. Malevolent rumblings, wind tunnel drone and spooked vocal wow.

Black Twigs - Midnight Has Come and Gone cd (vhf) 5

Mike Gangloff's (Pelt) Appalachian folk band - superb banjo & fiddle-led instrumentals sit alongside mostly original songs and some reworked traditional songs

also: Pelt

Gunwales is a 22 minute piece recorded in Wellington, New Zealand, by guitarists Andrew weeks and Ben Spiers. This is an industrial grade onslaught of dueling squall, feedback and no holds barred improv which can probably strip paint from your walls at the right level... no lower than 11. (JC)

Guy Blackman runs Chapter Music and recently spent some time in Japan - while there, he recorded these 8 songs with the help of members of Tenniscoats and Maher Shalal Hash Baz. There is a similar looseness and joyfulness in the recordings that I'd associate with those bands and a charming cover of 'Answer Me, My Love' which I never thought I'd be writing!

also: Maher Shalal Hash Baz

James Blackshaw 

• Waking Into Sleep - Goteborg, 27.05.06 cd (Kning Disk) 6.75

2nd edition of this cd on Swedish label Kning Disk. It features 4 tracks recorded in Gothenburg in May 2006: Sunshrine, Celeste I, Transient Life in Twilight and Spiralling Skeleton Memorial. This is Blackshaw without the harmonium and percussion, just his stunning acoustic 12 string ragas to spirit you into a beautiful sunlit world. Magical.

• Cloud of Unknowing cd (Tompkins Square) 8

A new James Blackshaw album is always a cause for celebration round Boa HQ and as always this is a delight. Blackshaw's 12 string playing is always so intricate and beautifully constructed that it always comes as a shock to find out that yes, he has 10 fingers just like everyone else, especially to someone like me who can barely manage one chord change without a gap of about 20 seconds. This album draws obviously from folk raga but also less obvious influences such as 20th century European classical music and early religious music and creates an awe-inspiring piece of celestial guitar playing.

• Celeste cd (Tompkins Square) 6.50

Originally issued on cdr on CPsiP. The first introduction we had to Blackshaw's elegant way with a 12 string guitar and acoustic ragas.

also: Peter walker, Brethren of the Free Spirit

Blake Bayer - Meniere's Disease cdr (Sound & Fury) 5

Nom de plume of Australian Ben Andrews (also of My Disco) who runs the Numerical Thief label (issued "Psychic Secession" by Yellow Swans). This is a live recording from 2006 with ben playing his guitar and tone generators through a mass of effects. This begins with harsh hissing and machine scribble, adds in some guitar drone undercurrents and shadowy breaths of melody and creates something soporific and haunting by the end. 

Blank Realm - Free Time cdr (MYMWLY) 6

Damaged psychedelic swirls of ominous sound - scratchy earth drones, primal drumming, insect crawling guitar - that eventually builds up to the final track of malevolent space rock. 

Blonde Cobra - The Gold in the Gutter cdr (MYMWLY) 3

Take the angular and slightly brittle sound of. say, Gang of Four's songs as a starting point, then jump off into extended cosmic freakout/improv terrain. That's a rough idea of what you'll find from Brisbane's Blonde Cobra. It's full on and it sounds like it knows exactly where it's going too. Recommended with the proviso that it may shatter glass at high levels! (JC)

Boots / C.C / Snake & Remus 3LP box set (HP Cycle) 30

Intriguingly information-light boxset of 3 LPs previously only available private press in the early part of this century. Housed in a black box in simple stamped white sleeves. On the Boots LP is one side of outsider singer-songwriter stuff with some pretty raw playing and singing; the other side a charged meeting of primitive electronics and percussion rituals. C.C. introspective guitar / vocals and barely-there field recordings. Snake & Remus world weary Leonard Cohen-esque balladry and a few almost catatonic instrumentals.

Boris Morgana - Im Plodovosch cdr (267 Lattajjaa) 4.50

Free psych / improv - weird primal vocals, high-wire drones, free-falling drums, feedback, dense electronics.

Born Heller - s/t LP (Bo'weavil) 12.50

LP issue of a cd released a while ago on Locust. Haunting folk from this duo featuring Josephine Foster singing and playing harp and mandolin and Jason Ajemian on vocals and bass. Josephine Foster sings with the effortless purity of Shirley Collins and the music seems to be rooted in ancient traditions. Highly recommended.

also: Josephine Foster

Boyracer- Absence Makes the Heart Grow Harder cd (Foxyboy) 2

Boyracer are one of the few bands ever to start out good and just keep getting better and better - incendiary pop art noise pop that is up there with the best fuzz pop ever

also: Steward, Tall Boy, Homemade Hits comp, Knowing We Was Right From Da Start comp, No Parachute dvd

Julian Bradley - No Bullet Thru Us cdr (Audiobot) 3

new cdr packaged in a 7" size orange and pink (ouch) sleeve from ex-Vibracathedral orchestra member: hiss-heavy fuzzed electrical surges of drone

also: Vibracathedral Orchestra, The Noise is All In Your Head comp

Braspyreet - Maamme Laulu cd (Digitalis) 3

It all starts with drums and sounds like a train accelerating on a track that ends with a sharp flight into space over a cliff. There are tooting clarinets, fuzzed out guitars and vocal input possessed (and I mean possessed!) with the spirit of the Legendary Stardust Cowboy - oh and the last track has some of the most outre screaming I've heard in quite some time. Free music of light, shade and wild abandon! I should add that they're from Finland. (JC)

also: Gold Leaf Branches comp

Breathe Stone / The Does cdep (Hand/Eye) 3.50

Stone Breath's electric offshoot meets the Does deliciously wayward swampy and dark rock'n'roll

The Broken Blackbird Ensemble - Gadzooks cd (Early Winter) 5

Joshua Burkett - Where's My Hat? cd (Time Lag Records) 8

George Burt - Solo Guitar cdr (Deluge and Guitary) 3.50