20 Guilders - Wrong Songs for Patricia cassette (Sloow) 5

Excellent collaboration between Tabata Mitsuru (Zeni Geva) and Suzuki Junzo (Miminokoto, Astral Travelling Unit). Perhaps surprisingly this is rather gentler than you might suppose - dreamy psych-folk songs with (rather less surprisingly) some great fuzz guitar solos.

prankster pop from Sweden with a touch of Bonzo Dog ... and a bit of Eurotrash ... where's Wally?!

Aan - Vuoren Vuode cdr (Om Ha Sva Ha Ksha Ma La Va Ra Yam) 4.50

Astral synth from Jani Hirvonen (Uton) and Jari Koho (Kulkija, Vapaa) that veer from pure 70s Kraut bliss to more alchemical explorations. 

A double helping of Boa HQ's favourite Irishman Dave Colohan. There's a beautiful picture of a rook on the cover which sets the tone echoing the elemental mystery of the landscape and the autumnal chill Colohan's melancholic music creates. It makes a good companion set to the other double in this week by Xenis Emputae Travelling Band, particularly on the more mood-setting pieces. Colohan's guitar wraps itself around drifting layers of drone like smoke. The songs are gloriously melancholic with shades of David Ackles in Colohan's world-weary tones but in a more folky context.

• From the Muddy Banks of the Arkansas LP (Near Passerine Devotionals) 11

On this vinyl release Brad Rose and Nathan Young use synthesizers instead of the their usual guitars to delve into the Ajilvsga black hole. Bass notes shift like tectonic plates and nauseous synth clouds whirl and woosh round them like poisonous gases. Eden Hemming Rose (Wax Ghost) contributes ghostly almost-not-there vocals to the side-long bleakfest that is side B. Sleeve designed by Evan Caminiti.

Alberorovesciato - Tigers on Acid in the Hell of the Brushwoods cd (Singing Knives) 5.50

Italian duo, now based in Berlin, who play the kind of percussion-based clutter and clatter we've come to know and love from Singing Knives. With some deranged free blowing on clarinet added to the mayhem, this sounds somewhere between Chora dn the crazed japes of Lauhkeat Lampaat. 

A lovely cdr by Joelle Premo of home-recorded traditional folk learnt from Bertrand Bronson's "Traditional Texts and Tunes of the Child Ballads" and John Jacob Niles. Joelle accompanies herself on banjo, fiddle, autoharp, bodhran and Appalachian dulcimer.  The cover depicts a gold-sprayed bird silhouette (jackdaw I think) and is very nice indeed.

Three lengthy pieces of drone-based music by Dan Layton recorded in Nottingham. The first two parts give the title to the album and offer a beautiful ocean of subtle layers, synths and sustained vocal tones. Whether they're produced by voices I cannot say, but they have great warmth anyway. The third track ventures into darker territory, appropriately, it seems, as the title is How Do You like Your Blue Eyed Boy, Mr Death? Recommended music inside a neat card package. (JC)

• Sgt Pepper's Mystery Four Twenty Hex Aurora Toilet cdr (Memoirs of an Aesthete) 5.50

Intended to be " the inverse, the reverse and converse" of the recent "Johnny Fuckoff Minotaur" cdr, this features a wonderful sounding '70s Technics synth, emitting huge sun flare pulses, massively distorted harmonica and strobing shudders of sound. It also has an incredibly silly title which is always a good thing. Excellent as always.

• Sea II cdr (Revival) 5.50

Reissue of a cdr on Ignivomous, which was originally limited to a mere 7 copies. There are some embryonic versions of those Ashtray Navigations guitar feedback downpours you just want to immerse yourself in, weird assemblies of stop / start malfunctioning guitar and tape recorded room noise and primitive radiophonics.

Astral Social Club is of course Vibracathedral Orchestra's Neil Campbell and this compiles a selection of tracks from ASC's sold-out cdr releases, radically reworked by Neil and Tirath Singh Nirmala. Cluster-like electronic harmonies and drones. Recommended, of course.

• #11 cdr (self-released) 5
• #12 cdr (self-released) 5

The latest two blasts of electro-bliss rush / primitive kosmische techno from Neil Campbell. Both recommended.

• Neon Pibroch cd (Important) 7.50

Neon Pibroch is such a good title for this record. The idea of shimmering light allied to those drone-based, semi-improvised long-form works of the Scottish bagpipe... alright, so it sounds nothing like bagpipes, but still... the many exquisite layers fuse together in a sort of melodic overload and the opener has a pounding beat: could Neil Campbell be aiming for a floor-filler? Whatever, he's on top form here. (JC)

• Monster Mittens / Flaming Ramoon 7" (Dirty Knobby) 4

This new 7" from Neil Campbell finds him in collaboration with Karl Bauer of Axolotl in a joyous sensory onslaught where techno meets blissout.

Recorded in October 2007 as a three-piece featuring Stewart Keith (keyboards and toys), John Clyde Evans (laptop) and of course Neil Campbell (guitar). the threesome create the densest textures I've heard on an ASC release. Layer upon layer of ecstatic electro-gloop with some excellent kraut-punk drumming on one track and jungle rhythms on another that give the track a Monopoly child goes techno feel. Hand-printed silk-screened sleeves.

• Octuplex cd (VHF) 10.50

New Neil Campbell release with a collaborative cast list that includes Richard Youngs, Spencer Grady (Rameses III), John Clyde-Evans, Stewart Keith and Spider Stacy of the Pogues! From hi-octane electronic / techno strobe-outs to almost pastoral drone-floats like the reverbed out acoustic guitar / reeds of "Radial Hermaphrodite", this is ASC at its blissed-out finest.

• Psychic Smog LP (Qbico) 16.25

This time around ASC is a duo featuring Neil Campbell and Mel Delaney (of Ashtray Navigations / Ocelocelot). Outer-space electronics and astral techno galore. Coloured vinyl.

• #18 cdr (self-released) 5

Twelve tracks, fifty minutes - and the longest of these is still under seven minutes long, so there are no slow building epics here. Instead, things start with a quick whirl in a techno-turbine and although there are abstract electronics here, there's a real pop feel to some of these pieces... you could dance to this! File under ASC's Greatest Hits and put them on your daytime A-list! (JC)

• #19 cdr (self-released) 5

6 tracks from live recordings in London in 2008 and Leeds, 2009. The former feature a line-up comprising Neil Campbell, Spider Stacy & Stewart Keith and the first couple of tracks lean towards his unique silver spiralling techno assault. In Leeds Neil is joined by Spider Stacy and John Clyde-Evans. The first track treads a fractious line between atonal wails of distortion and bliss-out drone and 2nd is a lean, mean burst of pared-down techno. The final track features a 10 strong chorus of wordless wail.

Another great selection from Neil Campbell: manic electronica infested with computer-generated chirping, like Monopoly Child goes techno, strobbing bliss-out drones and mangled beats.

A fine split 7". ASC take us on a flight through s swirling vortex of sound after which Glockenspiel's side stars in a deceptively subdued way. Their track builds to quite a tumult and both are rather splendid! (JC)

"A completely violent little disc documenting this live 2007 Tokyo performance pitting some really heavyweights in the underground world of "noise" on stage together. (Lasse Marhaug, Hiroshi Hasegawa of CCCC, Masaya Nakahara, Reiko A of Merzbow, and John Hegre). Housed in center opening heavy stock sleeve with circular diecut adorning with graphic work from Mr. Lasse himself. Pressing of 600 copies." (label)

Fourth album from the Finnish Avarus. The first side hits the space rock / krautrock groove just nicely and side B throws some of their characteristic weirdness into the mix with goblin vocals and screwy electronics. Lurid psych cover too.

• Thoughtspan LP (Blackest Rainbow) 10.25

New LP from Aidan Baker, who also plays in Nadja. This is a reissue of a cdr release which is long sold-out and was on the Tosom label. Amorphous drone / post-rock with Baker's loose drum clatter peppering both sides. One side sounds like a submerged brass band (much in the vein of Gavin Bryars' Titanic) and the other veers into breathed vocal meditations towards the end. Excellent.

Bardo Pond 

• Peri LP with free cd (Three Lobed) 17.25

Companion album to the recent "Batholith", compiling a bunch of unreleased material. 5 tracks: some heavy riffing stoner psych with wah-wah guitar a-go-go and some more meditative tracks (relatively speaking!). The LP is on heavy vinyl with a gatefold sleeve featuring new collage work from Michael Gibbons and comes with 2 cds: one a glass-mastered version of the LP, the other previously unreleased Bardo Pond tracks. 

• 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.

Steffen Basho-Junghans - Is LP (Architects of Harmonic Rooms & Records) 14.25

First release in 3 years from the German guitarist and his first ever UK release. To mark the occasion, Architects of Harmonic Rooms have issued this on deluxe heavy vinyl. Beautiful acoustic ragas and zoned intensity on 12- and 6-string guitar.

Basillica 

• Rotting Desert Queen and the Black Isolator Radar Strip cdr (Blackest Rainbow) 5.25

Second solo cdr on Blackest Rainbow from Mike Vest of Bong / Master Slave / Lobster Priest. The muffled sound of psych guitar wah-wahing endlessly - the sound is so heavily reverbed / filtered that it becomes something else entirely - a creepy-crawly underground ambient stoner noise swirl. 

• The Correct Ritual cassette (Bells Hill) 4

More creepy stoner mantras from Mike Vest (Bong / Master Slave). The sound of a guitar wah-wahing endlessly at the bottom of the ocean.

Bastion - s/t cd (Interregnum) 6

Bastion are a duo featuring Valerio Cosi and Jukka Reverberi (Giardino di Miro). Together they create charged pulsing synth drones that sound like the buzzing and humming of a massed choir of pylons. Heavy and bleak.

Tom Baxendale - Her Ghost 7" (Great pop Supplement) 3.25

Two good country-infused songs in lovely packaging. Her Ghost is quite a fast romp, with mandolin and guitar speeding along a tow lane blacktop, whilst I Think About Tomorrow is more reflective. I preferred this side, possibly because the influence of Gene Clark and Mickey Newbury seemed to be casting a shadow and I liked the chiming xylophone or glockenspiel at the end. While you're enjoying the songs, you can take in the inserts, including a very nice drawing of a swan. (JC)

Beach Fuzz 7" (Great Pop Supplement) 3.75

A look at the Beach Fuzz yields the description "psychedelic jam band", which actually pins their sound down rather well. These pieces are sliced from longer performances as guitars wail in wah-wah overload - sometimes voices do too - and drums pound. Packaged in a very neat folded textured card sleeve. (JC)

2 track live disc on a new UK label. This features tracks recorded in Oct 2009 from Sheffield and Hull, and the input of Terje Paulsen's "gas cloud sounds". Gas cloud sounds is a pretty accurate description of what ensues, insidious creeping ambient drone. 

• Amplified Spectral Delay cdr (Reverb Worship) 6

Sindre Bjerga & Jan Iversen recorded live at Sound of mu, Oslo in June 2008. Shape shifting ambient fuzz and drone. Lovely hand-decorated sleeves as usual.

• (Go With The Flow) Like a Twig on the Shoulders of a Mighty Stream cd (Tibrod / Gold Soundz / Phantom Limb / Carbon / Ambolthue) 6.75

A kind of multi-label released "best of" album of Sindre Bjerga and Jan Iversen. 12 tracks in total, taken from releases on First Person, Phantom Limb, Rural Faune, Heilskabaal, Root Don lonie for Cash, Ystebrod Plater, Time Lag, Kabukikore, Nervous Nurse, Utech and one unreleased track. A great introduction to thei shape-shifting ambient fug.

• Amplified Crystal Rust cdr (Striate Cortex) 4.25

Another limited disc on new UK label Striate Cortex, this time from Norwegian duo Bjerga / Iversen, with one long live track recorded in Norway in Jan 2009. Ambient drone that reeks of decaying machinery, cruel undertows and creeping sea fog.

• Intersecting Parallel Lines 2cdr (Striate Cortex) 6

This double disc set has drones which suggest somewhere out in deep space. They're more linear on disc one, with swirling eddies of loops and drones on disc two. Sindre Bjerga mentions Euclidian geometry regarding this title, going on to suggest a way of listening to the set which could result in multiple possibilities of different versions. First, you start disc one, then run disc two a second later. Next time, start disc two after two seconds of disc one have played. You see? Endless adventures in drone from only two cds in an edition of 100 copies. (JC)

Another live disc from Bjerga / Iversen, this time with Terje Paulsen on contact-mics, bowed metal and strings. This was recorded in Kristiansand, Norway in March 2009. Ambient drone with an unsettling undertow. Tones see-sawing like being in the hull of a listing ship.

Postal collaboration between Black Eagle Child and Tim Goodwillies (one half of (VxPxC)). One side is a gorgeous piece of delay-ridden guitar & organ drift that eventually succumbs to a wall of fuzz and echoing ping-pong ball beats. Side 2 sees the fuzzometer in the red again, Black Eagle Child's guitar roused from its lethargy into psych-out solos and malevolent electro-beats.

Black Flowers is another Alex Neilson project, this time featuring regular collaborator in Trembling Bells / Directing Hand Lavinia Blackwell, Alisdair Roberts and Vibracathedral Orchestra's Mick Flower. Like Trembling Bells, the focus is on folk, featuring two takes on traditionals and a cover of Richard & Linda Thompson's "Calvery Cross". The sound however is heavier and more improvised than Trembling Bells. The album opens with the Thompson composition given a rabid grungey working with Lavinia's vocals spitting fire. Traditional "Polly on the Shore" features a duet between Alisdair and Lavinia and a blisteringly ragged guitar break from Mick, which makes me wonder if this is what the song would have sounded like had Jefferson Airplane got their hands on it instead of the Trees. "...And the Words Fell Like Malting Blossom" is an incredible psyched-out chorale. Things mellow out on the last track, a folk ballad sung by Lavinia who also plays harp on this one. A perfect comedown. Highly recommended.

On this disc Miriam and Jeffrey are joined by Margot Goldberg and Joe Grimm (a.k.a. The Wind Up Bird). The first side features their lovely folk improvisations with Miriam's 'cello and voice to the fore. It reminds me of some of the Kitchen Cynics' Alan Davidson's more improvised projects (eg Matricarians) - evoking crepuscular woodland gloom. Side B features 2 tracks that add analogue synth to the sound and are a much darker head trip.

Duo from New Mexico who make me think of rusting submarine hulks in the Arctic and obsolete communication devices, with their huge ebbing and flowing electro-drones, submerged electronic chatter and distant creak of distorted guitar. A bit like Bjerga / Iversen on cacophonous overload. 

The new project from Spencer Clark (Skaters / Monopoly Child / Vodka Soap). Not dissimilar to Monopoly Child, this combines tribal beats and endlessly repeating casio melodies into trance bubbles.

On this release Marc Richter joins forces with Renate Nikolaus and Ulf Schütte to create monolithically dense beds of synth drone, populated with space-age oscillations and Middle Eastern violin, that builds and builds into a huge flickering fuzzout, like Spacemen 3 on steroids.

"4th full length from the Black Twigs finds a slightly reshuffled lineup and a renewed emphasis on kicking out raw, percussive takes on both Appalachian traditional and original material. With Ralph Berrier Jr.’s retirement from the group, Mike Gangloff has added fiddle to his already considerable arsenal, and along with stalwart guitarist Isak Howell, brought in Nathan Bowles (Spiral Joy Band) on percussion and several guests who make substantial contributions to the party. The Twigs work the fine line between the Friday night old-time dance party and the wellspring of grim and evocative tragedy that runs through the tradition, delivering these laments, travelogues, and wild whoops with sawing, rocking joy. This is a sprawling collection, with visceral group takes on “Crossing the James,” “Cherry River Line,” and “Old Joe Clark.” Charlie Parr and Lane Prekker join the crew on “Last Kind Word Blues,” “Train 45” and “Twin Sisters” (first essayed by Pelt way back in 98) with Parr’s amazing, ragged voice leading the charge over Bowles and Prekker’s driving percussion. Along with the full group material, the Twigs throw in other welcome oddities such as Howell’s Fahey-like “At the head of Every Creek,” “P.E.A. Vine Blues,” an arrangement of a tune from Portuguese Africa, and a book ending solo version of “Crossing the James,” with Gangloff on baritone banjo." (VHF)

one of the chaps from Origami Arktika with two excursions into glitch and static buzz: titles are 'opus for flute / harmonika and 12 year old glitch tape'

• Eternal cdr (Blackest Rainbow) 4.25

Another excellent release from Mark Bradley. Chilling spaced-out electronics that sounds like a really minimal take on Tangerine Dream. Electronic starbursts that cut out unexpectedly (but could happily pulsate on for hours), deep bass explorations and long lunar notes. Very '70s and very unsettling, this would be a perfect soundtrack for a bleak outer-space horror film.

• His Masters Voice cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.50

Another fine release from Mark Bradley. This oscillates between Tangerine Dream-esque synth-scapes and more minimal rhythmic pulsations and throbbing deep bass. Hypnotic and beautiful.

2nd album from James Blackshaw on 12 string guitar and Josef van Wissem on 13 course Baroque lute. It's a breathtaking tapestry of string magic: Blackshaw's stately melody line weaves an elegant track round Van Wissem's harmonic plucks.

A truly beautiful album by Richard Skelton who also runs the Sustain-Release label which originally issued this as a boxed edition which featured, among other items, birch twigs collected from the West Pennine Moors. This time it comes packaged in a gatefold sleeve with a 12 page booklet of artwork. Bowed strings, guitar, piano, mandolin and accordian merge into sonorous melancholy that exists somewhere between drone and modern composition. The elegiac strings remind me of Arvo Part. Highly recommended.

This co-release on Finnish label Ikuisuus and Michael Donnelly's own label Pacific Soma finds the Brothers back in fine freeform sprawl mode with oodles of percussion and strangeness oozing from every pore. 

Brotzmann / Wilkinson Quartet - One Night in Burmantofts cd (Boweavil) 7.50

A live recording from Leeds featuring Peter Brotzmann (clarinet, tarogato, tenor sax), Alan Wilkinson (alto & baritone sax), Willi Kellers (drums) and Simon H Fell (double bass). This is freely improvised jazz at its most vibrant which always manages to engage whether whipping up a freefalling storm or in quiet moments  creating a mood of tension  and unease.

Brume 

• Zona Ventille cd (Elsie and Jack) 9.50

Fascinating musique concrete soundscapes like a soundtrack for a Luis Bunuel film - final release from this French chap.

Adam Bugaj - Wave of Tears cdr (Dark Water) 5

This album is a bit like a spinning carousel of sounds in an echo chamber: it flys round and some fragments are thrown off while others leap on to ride the next circuit. Rhythms jump-cut around amidst the echo and tracks end/begin very abruptly, as though we're dipping into something and then the channel switches. Some neat ideas here with percussion (I think there's a marimba or a large xylophone, which sounds very good through all the delay) and guitars. Nothing outstays its welcome either. (JC)

The Bummer Road -   Deep Space Circuit 2cdr (Child of Microtones / Time Lag) 8

Fabulous double cdr set put together for the recent Bummer Road European tour of live recordings (two from Terrastock, the rest from around the US). Line-up is Matt Valentine, Erika Elder, Nemo Bidstrup, Samara Lubelski, Mo' Jiggs, Sparrow Wildchild and Willie Moonflower Lane. Stoned free-folk, cosmic slide blues and a wonderfully charged, out-there atmosphere. Add to that some devastating versions of "Cold Rain" from "Mother of Thousands" and Mississippi John Hurt's "Payday", and the usual lovely packaging from Time Lag and it really is an essential addition to your collection.

also: MV / EE, Fish and Sheep

Reissue of Joshua's first release from back in 1995 and only issued in an edition of 200 on his Feather One's Nest label. Primitive and lo-fi in comparison to the later "Life Less Lost" and "Gold Cosmos", this is a fragmentary glimpse into the weird and wonderful world of Joshua where bedroom folk rubs up against pulses of homemade electronics and blasted goner blues. Certainly not as immediate as his other releases but this is a fascinating document that repays multiple listens. Coloured vinyl, with a booklet with pasted-on art from Joshua and sleevenotes from the likes of John Olson, Chris Corsano, Thurston Moore etc.

Burt / Macdonald - Constant Weave cdr (Iorram) 5

5 pieces of sax & guitar improv which find Messrs Burt & MacDonald firing on all cylinders. George alternates between nylon string acoustic and electric guitar, playing some lovely sustains on the latter, whilst Raymond plays alto and soprano, running from breathy minimalism to a full tone which sounds as though he's playing through some sort of harmonic doubler. He's not: this is all natural sound. (JC)

George Burt / Raymond MacDonald Quartet 

• with Lol Coxhill - Coxhill Street cd (FMR) 7.50

Lol Coxhill's long history of visits to Scotland has grown into something of an annual social event/series of collaborations since he met up with the George Burt/Raymond MacDonald quartet in Glasgow a few years ago. Coxhill Street (yes, there is such a place: just north of Glasgow city centre!) is a series of free pieces, ranging from 1 minute long to over 14 minutes, which show why this partnership keeps making more music. Ranging from solo improvisations to full band pieces, it also confirms that however freely Coxhill plays, he always does it with soul. (JC)

• featuring Lol Coxhill & Future Pilot AKA - Hotel Dilettante cd (Textile) 9

Lol Coxhill's regular visits to Glasgow have yielded a series of albums with George Burt and Raymond MacDonald and, in 2005, their quintet was augmented by Future Pilot AKA Sushil Dade. The resultant album proves once more that each time Lol comes to Scotland, something completely fresh occurs. This is a set of warm playful pieces and might well be a good starting point for those who would like to investigate this essential figure, but feel that full-on improv could be a bit heavy for their tastes. There's some lovely vocal & melodica from Nicola MacDonald, at time a slightly dubby feel, without any direct references to Jamaican music and, overall, a warmth to this record which makes it highly enjoyable. (JC)

• Think About It cd (Textile) 8

You'll find an unusual thing on this recording -an eight piece quartet! Bill Wells appears on piano, Daniel Padden supplies vocals, clarinet & percussion, Fred Longberg-Holm plays 'cello and the result as every bit as varied and interesting as those names might suggest. Fred & Bill duet on one piece, sounding like modern chamber music, Nicola MacDonald's vocals blend with textures of strings and soprano sax on another. Some jazzy elements run into more abstract territory and George Burt & Raymond MacDonald are equally comfortable in either form. These people really don't disappoint! (JC)

The George Burt / Raymond MacDonald Sextet - Boohoo Fever cd (Leo) 8

The second album from this winning combination and one which finds the balance tilted towards the abstract in comparison to 2005's Day For A Reason. Where song and straightforward melody occur, they do so in very lovely ways. Nicola MacDonald's vocal on the slow and sultry The Gallery finds Keith Tippett throwing in a reference to a Bach fugue, but the remarkable thing is that he makes it fit, rather than just being some piece of technical flash. Most of the album, however, is about the freer side of these players, exploring texture and space, catching fire in so many ways. If you've enjoyed anything by these musicians before, this is a surefire winner. If not, this might be a good place to begin. (JC)

Maybe it had something to do with the weather? George Burt's sleevenotes recall a show where a Scottish downpour cascaded through a marquee over the drumkit, not to mention the electrics. Whatever caused it, Tsumani has a mood of its own and distinct from other Lol collaborations with Burt, MacDonald and friends. Yes, there are some salvos of straight ahead free improv, but the overall mood is more reflective, at times almost bluesy. Coxhill excels in this area, his sound unique, but the style a little reminiscent of Steve Lacy on this album. If Scottish rain set the tone for these pieces, maybe we shouldn't complain about it so much! A very satisfying listen. (JC)

The George Burt / Raymond MacDonald Quartet - One Bloke cd (Textile) 8

Originally recorded in tribute to Steve Lacey, recalling a cd Lacey recorded with Lol Coxhill and Evan Parker entitled "3 Blokes", the title took on an extra poignancy after the tragic death of Textile founder Benoit Sonnette earlier this year. The quartet of MacDonald on soprano & alto sax, Burt on guitar, Lol Coxhill on soprano sax and George Lyle on double bass are joined on this release by Bill Wells on piano, Daniel Padden (One Ensemble / Volcano the Bear) on clarinet, vocals and percussion and Nicola MacDonald on vocals and melodica. The album has a reflective melancholic feel with Coxhill's playing throwing some gorgeous melodic shapes and Bill Wells' compositional contribution "Copper in the Can" coming across very Ennio Morricone at his most laid-back which is a very good thing indeed. Excellent stuff.

George Burt / Raymond MacDonald Sextet featuring Keith Tippett - A Day for a Reason cd (Tob Records) 7.50

Isobella and Henrietta Bird were remarkable women who lived on Scotland's west coast Isle of Mull. This album was commissioned to mark the centenary of a clock tower in Tobermory which traveller Isobella paid for as a memorial to her home loving sister. The Burt MacDonald Sextet were joined by Keith Tippett, that legenday British jazz pianist and one time King Crimson player. Rather than dominating proceedings, Tippett sounds really integrated with the band, playing exquisite runs behind Nicola MacDonald's vocals or sparsely beautiful shards of sound on the more abstract end of the set. A delightful album, at times wistful; at others free and even including field recordings of the clock and the man who maintains it. (JC)

George Burt / Raymond MacDonald Septet Featuring Lol Coxhill 

• Popcorn cd (FMR) 7.50

Aileen Campbell turned up to photograph the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra. They discovered her work as a conceptual artist and her interest in harmonising with drones from household appliances. Ideas developed quickly and, next thing you know, she was in the studio with a hairdryer, a popcorn machine… oh, and the Burt/MacDonald Octet plus Lol Coxhill! Once again, these forces deliver an album that isn't just "more of the same" - the addition of Aileen Campbell - a sort of Yma Sumac let loose in the Argos showroom - makes sure of this! (JC)

• Shark Hunt cd (FMR) 7.50

The series of collaborations between Lol Coxhill and Messrs. Burt and MacDonald continued with this 2005 release. This time the septet included Bill Wells and Daniel Padden in four extended pieces which are as much about exploring space as sound: the seven players create a mood where what's between the notes matters as much as the notes themselves and nobody overplays their hand. The album's title - and that of three of the tracks - is a homage to Hunter S. Thompson. The other track, G.O.K, is an improvisation sparked by "hazy fragments" of the Beach Boys God Only Knows and is a lovely thing indeed! (JC)

Cam Deas 

• My Guitar Is Alive and It's Singing cdr (self-released) 6

Cdr reissue of sold-out debut vinyl release from acoustic guitarist Cam Deas. The A side is one long track and is reminiscent of James Blackshaw, albeit in a more aggressive mode. There are 2 tracks on side B: the opening one starts with a quiet but unsettling undercurrent of drone and the tension continues with flurried assaults on the strings. Back to more 12 string mastery on the last track. An excellent release.

• Untitled Blues Part I & II 7" (Great Pop Supplement) 3.50

I seem to have lost my adapter for 7"s so I've been unable to review this. GPS says "Stunning 45 from Sheffield based Cam Deas- a debut 45 on wax. 2 heavy  strummed blues across 2 sides of vinyl- best approached as 1 long  piece. Sure, the names of Fahey, Basho, Blackshaw, Rose etc spring to mind, but this has a raw, slow building presence and an expressive approach all of it’s own. A potent brew- perhaps a departure from recent work on labels like Blackest Rainbow and Dead Pilot, released  as a pressing of 300 numbered, date stamped copies in linen card, fine art sleeves with sticker."

Cam Deas / Spoono split LP (Blackest Rainbow) 10.25

Split LP featuring some excellent acoustic guitar picking from Cam Deas on one side and Spoono (Jack from Towering Breaker) on the other. Now sold out at source.

Camillia - 23'39 cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.50

Japanese 3 piece Camillia start this cdr in fine style sounding very Temporary Residence friendly with a guitar / bass / drums post-rock workout. Next up is a slow-burning ballad, reminiscent of the more song-based end of '90s shoegaze but with more interesting rhythms. Lastly they don capes and go all out prog (which will keep some Boa colleagues very happy!)

Solo release from one half of Barn Owl. Hypnotic solo guitar devotionals - quiet storms, heavy black clouds of distortion, horizontal drones and unsettling space. Gatefold card sleeve. Recommended.

"For me this is the ultimate Can't LP. Its a sound cornucopia of everything Jessica Rylan does so beautifully... amazing scraped and destroyed analog synth-laden vocals, lovely singer/songwriter stylings with acoustic guitar, and Shaggs-style garage gusto! This record features Jessica's own homemade synthesizers including the Little Boy Blue! One of my favorite Weird Forest releases to date! Beautiful color covers by Abide Visuals and a fabulous inner sleeve with artwork by Jessica." ( Weird Forest )

"“Car Commercials’ debut full-length Judy’s Dust marks another album that exists outside of easy classification. Comprised of Home Blitz’s Dom DiMaggio and Friends and Family’s David Sutton, the band breezes through disembodied, hermetic insider visions of mental illness. Their sloppy, noisy instrumentation garners comparisons to a looser Shadow Ring but the overall feel on the album feels more like a male version of Suckdog’s Drugs are Nice. The album follows up the duo’s cassette trilogy with a cleaner but no less odd sound."

I saw Eric Carbonara playing when I had the good fortune to spend some time in Philadelphia's wonderful Fishtown area in 2004. Based on what I already knew of his music, Exodus Bulldornadius came as quite a surprise as it's an album of solo guitar where the influence of the flamenco tradition is a strong component, melded with many other things. These seven pieces make a highly absorbing sequence offering light and shade and one which reveals more with each listen. (JC)

• Trances cdr (Rhizome) 5.50

• Campfire cassette (Sloow) 5.50

Super-limited duo collaboration (40 copies only). Intensely intimate post-midnight guitar / boot meditations.

Cathedrals - Demo cdr (Fictitious Sighs) 6.50

Cathedrals is Tim Coster (who runs the Fictitious Sighs label) and Nigel Wright; an appropriate name for the cavernous sounds contained within. This starts out sounding like listening to a foghorn from the depths of the ocean and finishes with synth drones distantly heard in a disused warehouse.

Tim Catlin & Machinefabriek - Glisten cd (Low Point) 5.75

Collaboration between Melbourne guitarist Tim Catlin and Rutger Zuydervelt / Machinefabriek. Catlin's prepared guitar was sent to Rutger for further treatment / additions, resulting in some gorgeous layered drones. Spine-tingling stillness with a slightly unsettling undertow and barely-there harmonics. "Ghostbox" features the haunting melancholy of a music box.

Celer - Mane Blooms 7" (Low Point) 4

"‘Mane Blooms’ is the very first vinyl release by Celer, the husband and wife duo Will Long and Danielle Baquet-Long. Seen by Celer as an 'outdoor' companion piece to ‘Brittle’, the duo’s album recently released on Low Point, the music on ‘Mane Blooms’ was created by multiple layers of cello and piano, which were then processed and played back at differing speeds. Also contained within the tracks are field recordings taken whilst Dani rode horses along the Californian coastline, a weekly pursuit that acted as a form of self-therapy and enjoyment. With the music composed specifically with the vinyl medium in mind, the two sides of the record act as a mirror image. For the B side, Celer approached the music of the first track in reverse, inverting the structure and musical motifs established within the first piece. Altering the playback speed of the vinyl brings previously hidden textures to the fore, providing each of the tracks with a new identity and a different reflection of memory." (Low Point)

Century Plants / The Coast split cdr (Deep Water) 5.50

Charlatan - Destinations cassette (Digitalis) 5

Oklahoman synth-meister sends beams of arching synth arpeggios into the inky blackness.

Child Readers - Music Heard Far Off cd (Soft Abuse) 4

"The Child Readers tread the implied ground that lies somewhere between a music heard far off and a music finally pulled together. Active since 2000, Loren Chasse and Jason Honea, The Child Readers, present the disparate dualities of metaphysical improvisation and meticulous composition in their otherworldly recordings, an adventurous & dense take on art-pop songwriting unheard since the heyday of Cherry Red and 4AD (imagine Eyeless in Gaza nicking from the Xiu Xiu or Richard Youngs songbook). Rather than solely draw from any musical discourse, The Child Readers found inspiration in the creative adventures of Rockwell Kent, Lawren Harris, Charles Burchfield and Sherwood Anderson in making their fourth & best album, Music Heard Far Off.   Presenting music bathed in the beauty of everyday things, The CRs’ avant-pastiche approach touches upon musique concrète, pastoral pop, new romanticism, fractured folk & minimal techno with equal prejudice.  Sonic prayers to country, wastes of sea, songs, drawings, particular times of day and different furs are all presented here as esoteric sing-a-longs.  Aiding Honea & Chasse’s vision are three short films (the video album ‘Superstition Island,’ contained on the disc), eye-popping album artwork, and contributions from Mark Williams (Mirza), Rob Reger (Thuja) and Christine Boepple (Ov).  Music Heard Far Off was recorded, played back, re-recorded and collaged in various locales, including the California redwoods and coastlines, Estonia, Berlin, Madrid and Portugal.  The true stories contained therein unite listener and creator for a unique musical experience; the duo’s confessional torch songs offer an intimacy that may embarrass the untrue of heart." (Soft Abuse)

Chora 

• Slates LP (Sergent Massacre) 12

The debut vinyl from Chora compiles a bunch of out-of-print cdrs from the last couple of years. Clouds of meditative circuitry drone and some great freaked psych clutter / clatter.

• Baptist Grip cdr (Singing Knives) 5.50

Churinga Canaries - s/t LP (Qbico) 11

Reissue of a cdr that came out a few years ago on Memoirs of an Aesthete and sold out pretty much right away. Leeds-based transcendental noise / drones, with a line-up featuring Alex Neilson, Phil Legard (Xenis Emputae Travelling Band / Neon Death Slitties), Phil Todd and Tirath Singh Nirmala (John Clyde Evans). Tranced modal free-rock carvings, powered by Neilson's chaotic percussive slurges and propelled skywards by Todd's scouring guitar runs. Highly recommended.

• Then the Trembling Set In cdr (Blackest Rainbow) 5

Grant Capes (of (VxPxC)) and Adam Richards (House of Alchemy). This opens with rumbling gloom punctuated by electronic squeals and squiggles and the melancholic thrum of guitar. Second track is a sampled piano, a baby's cries and some other instrumental ephemera creating an unsettling lullaby. Last track sounds like a set of musical bed springs afloat on a sea of dark drone.

• Princetown Air cdr (Rural Faune) 6

Another fascinating recording from Pennsylvania's Clear Spots, recorded as a radio session. A free-floating improvised jam of weaving guitars, percussion flourishes and some occasional synth. Not as riff-heavy or garagey as previous recordings, this finds Clear Spots getting spaced out and mellow. 

Daniel Clough - Stories cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.50

Daniel was formerly known as BricksKILL and is an electroacoustic musician. This deals in echoes of sounds, like hearing distant melancholic tones at the end of a subterranean chamber. Disturbed and mysterious ambience. Stencilled paper sleeves.

Coal Hook

• Subsistance Compulstion cdr (Blueberry Honey) 6

"This is the the second official release by this self-driven mind mash featuring Danish experimentalist / composer / inventor Jorgen Teller and Ron Schneidermann. Originally devised as a long lost collaboration after an impromptu concert at Byens Lys in Copenhagen's Christiana section in 2006. These all new recordings from Tyte Studio  recorded in May of 2009 show that the fuel is still burning. No rules, no plans, simple pure expression & explosion is what is offered. A dance between light & dark, noise & calm, beyond language" (Spirit of Orr)

• Who's Distracted? cdr (Blueberry Honey) 6

"The second set of recordings from this past May, and like the Subsistance Compulsion album this one is also edited by Teller, with artwork by Schneidermann. This disc is perhaps a little more abrasive, though that is of course a matter of personal taste." (Spirit of Orr)

J Collin - John Train's Blues 3" cdr (Colour Ride) 2.25

Stunning sparse solo electric guitar from John Collin of Serfs. Some of this finds sustained notes ringing out into silence, similar to Loren Mazzacane Conors. "The 42nd Parallel", with its fingered flurries of muted notes, is more like abstract jazz improv.Lovely handmade packaging.

Andrew Coltrane 

• Synth tapes 5 cassette (Digitalis) 5.50

Imagine a bank of oscillators sweeping, swooping and droning, playing inside the cone of a volcano about to erupt. That was the image I conjoured up whilst listening to side one of this tape. Side 2 is a less wild, but still evocative: recordings of sun spot activity, perhaps. A nice release, with cassette and case in different shades of blue. (JC)

• DMT Shadow cassette (Digitalis) 5.50

More erupting oscillator magic from Andrew Coltrane, using the Arp Axxe. This starts out with as an interplanetary morse code using different tone frequencies but soon gets into more destructive terrain as he ups the ante on the ring modulators and delay to produce some seriously blasted bass. The other side is seriously hypnotic with undulating fuzz tone mantras.

• Conflict cassette (Digitalis) 5

Synth-generated overload. Coltrane's past releases have certainly gone into the red on occasion but this an all-out blast Seriously distorted, demonic synth mayhem.

Cone - II cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.50

Cone is Hermann Blaupunkt of the Netherlands. The album starts with a psych-dirge which recalls Loop but this is a diversionary tactic it would seem as the rest of the release is constructed from hypnotic acoustic guitar picking, expansive drone and field recordings. "Vaderdag" is particularly fine - a bottomless well of ambient drone echoing with exotic birdsong. Edition of 50 copies with a PVC coated cotton fabric
insert with a grass design.

Peter Cora - Rosicrucian Enlightenment cdr (Om Ha Sva Ha Ksha Ma La Va Ra Yam) 4.50

Medieval mantras on bowed metal, piano, flute and guitar. This has a similar mystical atmosphere to Xenis Emputae Travelling Band.

Lula Cortes

• Rose de Sangue LP (Time Lag) 16
• Rose de Sangue cd (Time Lag)  10

Time-Lag have unearthed a couple of rare albums from Brazil which have been highlights of the past few years. I speak of the Marconi Notario album and Satwa, the latter from 1975 and featuring Lula Cortes. Now the label has come up with another gem by Cortes from five years later. The listener would be hard pressed to guess this year, as Rosa Da Sangue bears no hallmarks of its era. Instead, there's a mix of pop-psych, a rocking riff with the unlikely name Calming Ballad, a female vocal track which sounds like something wafting in from Radio India on shortwave and a couple of numbers which would make for merry stompers in a late night bar session. Well worth your attention and if you haven't heard the Satwa and Notario records, the same goes for them. (JC)

Valerio Cosi / Enzo Franchini - Conference of the Aquarians cd (Last Visible Dog) 5

A couple of years ago I was raving about the original Conference of the Aquarians when all 100 copies issued by the Palustre label disappeared very quickly. I felt, as I have about much of Cosi's work, that it deserved to be heard by many more people. This issue features a remastered version of that original release and the artwork is in homage to Dave Holland's Conference of the Birds. This is the kind of soulful jazz playing which makes a connection with listeners who might not consider themselves jazz fans. Valerio's multi-instrumental talents (sax, double bass, guitar & much more) are augmented by Enzo's fluid drumming and the result is a real treat. I'm lucky enough to have a copy of the original, but I'm still snapping up the new version. I hope that's recommendation enough! (JC)

Psych pop gems galore pour forth from the Cosmic Nanou. This set starts with a guitar instrumental, played whilst Patrick Moore & Chris Lintott are heard on a tv in the background. These songs were, says the cover, "recorded on barbara's tape recorder june - september 2000, mullingar, ireland". The sound quality is a bit like something taped from the radio around - oh - 1971 or that album of Roky Erickson demos (All That May Do My Rhyme). These songs have lain unreleased for a long time and I'm very pleased they're with us now. (JC)

also: United Bible Studies, Children of the Stones, Murmansk, Pirate Tom Gribbins

Another cdr of slowly-uncoiling laptop drone from Tim Coster, this time made with bass guitar, ocarina, accordian, bells, harmonica, mbira, cloves, bottles, bowls, alarm clock, wood, string and field recordings. The sounds have a real winds-whistling-through-pines sense of unease to them.

• Untitled cdr (Transient) 6.75

The final recordings from this duo before Sadgrove headed for Tokyo. Both are also members of Plains. Tim on computer and mixer feedback, Mark on computer and guitar. Slowly unfolding feedback harmonies inducing a state of sun-sizzled stupor.

• untitled cdr (CLaudia 022) 6.50

There's a heartbeat pulse through quite a lot of the music here and, allied to the oscillations which have a soft, slightly distant sound, this suggests what one might hear in a pre-birth state. Recorded in a place called the Wine Cellar in Auckland, New Zealand, you'll hear Mark on guitar and dictaphone, with Tim playing oscillator, keyboard samples, walkman and looping things too. (JC)

Craft Bandits - Love Infinity x 1000 cdr (Black Petal) 5.75

Duo collaboration featuring Matt Earle (Muura) and Melanie Jade (The Cupcake Club). Based around the kind of sparse minimalist blues Earle specialises in, this features bass drum,  low-end guitar played at Mogadon-slow speed and Jade's vocals muffled in the distance. Outsize hand-decorated packaging.

Leighton Craig - 11 Easy Pieces cd (Room 40) 8

I've been a fan of Leighton Craig's since a 3" cd of organ pieces became a record I would often play in the early hours of the morning. This one is a set of short pieces which, in a few cases, could easily pass as lost gems from vintage library music lps. A charming record and packaged so well in a fold-out sleeve. (JC)

Culver - Can You Read My Mind cassette (Bells Hill) 4

Black tape-wow rituals free Lee Stokoe.

Cursillistas 

• Wasp Stings the Last Bitter Flavor cd (Digitalis) 5

Latest cd in the Arts & Crafts series comes from Matt Lejoie (who is Cursillistas) whose previous cd was released by Time Lag. Here's he's joined by Nemo Bidstrup (Drona Parva, Bummer Road) and another MV / EE collaborator Sparrow Wildchild. This has the feel of a incense-wreathed psych-folk campfire jam at times; other parts of the disc sound more ritualesque with hypnotic percussion and vocals, layers of vocal oms and drone. 

• Les Biches cd (Time Lag / L'Animaux Tryst) 10

A reissue of Matt Lejoie's first release on his own L'Animaux Tryst label with 4 extra tracks recorded at the same session that produced the tracks on the original 3". All tracks have been newly mixed and remastered. Loosely structured songs, the feel of a campfire jam deep in the woods, heavy use of reverb and some hypnotic pieces centred on percussion that remind me of Moondog come together to create a very special dream-time psych-folk album. Gorgeous and highly recommended. "Packaged in an offset printed tri-fold art paper cover with vellum insert & woven japanese inner sleeve."

• Joint Chiefs LP & cassette (Digitalis) 12.75

Cursillistas is now a duo: Matt Lajoie has been joined by Dawn Russell. The sound is still pretty psyched but a move away from loosely-structured songs to something looser still. At times it reminds me of the freer side of MV / EE's cosmic folk, at other times slow, reverbed guitars form a heavy fog and the duo's voices waver like distant lights. All my copies come with cassette and badge. Beautiful poster-style silk-screened sleeve too. Highly recommended.

Czech Nymphs - 2 LP (Memoirs of an Aesthete) 12

Phil Todd (Ashtray Navigations), in primitive electronic disguise, achieves blast-off with a series of stratospheric swoops and oscillating soundwave whooshes.

A couple of winters ago AMM's Keith Rowe held a series of workshops and a concert with the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra. Rowe's provocative statements caused some divisions of opinion, to say the least (for example, to a saxophonist: "The saxophone is an instrument in crisis"!). For some GIO members, a meeting with Rowe was ideal and Neil Davidson was certainly one of those. Neil's ideas of sound generation from the guitar challenge perceptions of what that instrument is and what it can do. For a good deal of the time, you'd be hard pressed to identify a guitar as the instrument being played on Grain, yet Davidson pulls off what could descend into an academic exercise in a highly involving, perhaps enveloping, way. Oh - and although his approach shares something with Rowe's, Neil does not sound like a copyist, so that's another plus for this album. (JC)

also: Raymond MacDonald :: Neil Davidson, Tatsuya Nakatani, Neil Davidson, Peter Nicholson, Raymond MacDonald, Nick Fells

"In May of 2008, Amsterdam-based clarinetist Gareth Davis and American guitarist Steven R. Smith convened at Worstward Studios, in Los Angeles to collaborate and create music together, the results of which have been titled Westering. Gareth Davis is a dedicated performer of contemporary music while at the same time works with improvising musicians such as Jon Balke and Terje Rypdal as well as electronic artists including Machinefabriek and Ryan Teague (Type Records) and has recently completed the Rabbit at the Airport series of LPs with Martin Stig Andersen and Robin Rimbaud (aka Scanner). Steven R. Smith has been releasing a steady stream of solo records for over the last decade as well as playing in various improvisational groups including Thuja, Hala Strana, and most recently Ulaan Khol." (Important) A beautiful textured record of melancholic layered clarinet dirges and more abstract pieces of broken guitar feedback and guttural bass clarinet which evokes the winter wind in a forest. Screen-printed sleeve.

Deadnotes - Orange Trumpet LP (Soft Abuse) 12.50

Great LP featuring early recordings from the Deadnotes: Leighton Craig, Stuart Busby and Eugene Carchesio. Fabulously jerky bursts of jagged guitar, drums and trumpet - imagine if Maher Shalal Hash Baz tried to make mariachi music with only half their band members. Other tracks recall Morricone in miniature. Rough and utterly great - actually, post-punk mariachi ain't a bad idea! 

Del - Grim Ace cassette (Gold Soundz) 5.75

Death rock crunch from Lasse Marhaug and crew. Overload, distortion, monolithic riffs and a woman with a big syringe on the cover.

Delia Derbyshire / Electrosonic cd (Glo-Spot) 10

Stunningly presented reissue of an extremely rare Delia Derbyshire release on Melody Bar reviewer John Cavanagh 's new label. This initially came out in 1972 as a KPM Library disc and features Delia, fellow Radiophonic Workshop employee (and creator of the Tardis noise in Doctor Who) Brian Hodgson and Australian mood music composer Don Harper. Electronic music that still sounds as futuristic and strange as it must have on release. The LP has now sold out hence the reissue on cd. Wonderful stuff. Beautiful gatefold digipak sleeve design by Iker Spozio  ... one listen to this and you'll be tickled pink! 

Stunning LP of duo recordings from Alex Neilson's Directing Hand, this time in collaboration with soprano  Lavinia Blackwell, who also contributes harp and harmonium. The LP is split between illuminated interpretations of traditional English folk songs and stratospheric freeform drum / vocal improvisations. Neilson's drumming, as always, drives the sound into other dimensions and Lavinia's vocals are the most perfect counterpart to his playing I've heard yet, skipping effortless from pure soprano melodicism to outrageously out-there free warbling. The sleeve is designed by Blackwell and screen-printed. Highly recommend.

"let the insanity begin!  these beasts from toronto follow-up their mind-melting LP from last year, "post-mortem depression," with absolute avalanche of hell.  jagged guitar swirls get the beat down from a pommel horse of drum bombs.  screams escape from the abyss only to be sucked back under by crawling basslines.  and then the guitars come at you again and again and again.  there's no avoiding this minefield - you're gonna lose a leg.  this is clusterfuck city folks and disguises are your tour guides. these jagged excursions will cut your face open and make you want to apologize for bleeding all over the brand new carpet.  edition of 80, pro-dubbed with broken golden fairy art and smeared labels." (Digitalis)

An ominous choir of layered and treated vocals, woozy and indistinct as if you're listening underwater. 

Dream Safari / Ophibre split cdr (Rural Faune) 6

Black hole layered vocals from Dream Safari. Monolithic synth pulse / buzz from Ophibre.

Drekka - Ancestral Cave Sequence cassette (Digitalis) 5

Great to be reacquainted with Michael Anderson's Drekka. Mysterious drone-scapes that seem to emanate from deep within a pine forest at night. Clanging metal, spectral voices, a distant violin dirge, throbbing electronics and fragments of melancholic folk all add to the haunted ambience.

Drifts - Future Light Cone 3" cdr (Rural Faune) 4

Spiralling synth communications to outer-space.

Droopy Septum - Howling Lands, Whispering Leaves cdr (New American Folk Hero) 1

Ryan Emmett's nom-de-disque here is not the most promising of band names, it has to be said, but if you like big sinuous drones, don't be put off by it. The opener here has a subtle guitar melody within a layered loop which is overdriven to produce pink noise galore. By the end of the album, the distortion has given way to synth sounds and the kind of phasing which envelopes the listener like a melodic fog. (JC)

3 raw solo outings from the guy who also records as Muura. Sparse and repetitive abstract blues with acres of tense space and the tense rattle of loose guitar strings. Gorgeously packaged in thick card tied up with rough thread.

CD issue of LP on Time Lag. 

• Equine Emblem 7" (Great Pop Supplement) 3.50

Post-midnight lonesome country blues from Joe McConnell, aka Elephant Micah. This finds his songs more stripped down than before to just his vocals and guitar (with just occasional piano, brushed drums and 'cello) and even more captivating than usual.  Highly recommended.

Elm - Nemcatacoa cd (Digitalis) 7

Elm is Jon Porras who, along with Evan Caminiti, is Barn Owl. Sombre dronescapes sculpted from trumpet, flute, harmonica, harmonium and fender rhodes that seem to advance on you from distant horizons. Jon's guitar playing sometimes accompanies these expanses and it has a slow-paced, post-midnight melancholy. Silver on black gatefold sleeve. Excellent.

Elwood & Guthrie - s/t cdr (Rural Faune) 3.50

Great release from this duo. Foot stompin' banjo / drums folk tunes that will appeal to Black Twig Pickers' fans. Comes with a twig, a piece of pot pourri and some beautiful bird portraits.

Synth / electronic-based dream-scapes from Kyle Iman. Gorgeous warm tones and hazed out drones that stretch off into the distance. This is a reissue of a self-released double 3".

The End Springs - There Lies the Electric Reasons cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.50

Guitar-based psychedelic reveries - apparently End Springs are usually all acoustic but on this release there's wah-wah and plenty of overdrive so the needle hits the red pretty much all the way throughout. Hand-made covers.

Enfer Boreal 

• Sea of Tranquility / Sea of Darkness cassette (Digitalis) 5

Maxime Primault's finest release to date. Alchemical bubbles echoing from the back of a long dark cavern on "Tranquility"; on "Darkness" the sound is indeed darker with deep bass underpinning the cosmic sparkle.

• adn () dna cdr (Crier dans les Musees) 6

One long evolving piece from Maxime Primault that moves from cosmic electronic oscillations to delayed guitar meanderings which disappears into feedback and shimmering drone.

• / Tuscarora Borealis / the.bricoleur split cdr (Deep Water) 5.50

3 tracks from Enfer Boreal, 2 from TB and one from the.bricoleur. Enfer Boreal's contributions favour the dronier side of his work: huge gas clouds of distantly raging distortion and an undertow of calm synth hymnals. Tuscarora Borealis is a member of Evening Fires who builds repetitions into a magical stream of hypnosis. the.bricoleur has worked with Current 93 and contributes a shadowy soundscape.

Eternal Tapestry - Palace of the Night Skies LP & cd (Three Lobed) 15

Full length LP / cd of trio featuring Dewey Mahood on guitar, Nick Bindeman (JOMF) on guitar and occasional vocals and Jed Bindeman (Heavy Winged) on drums. A fuzzed-up ton of psyched-out sprawl, like a slightly mellower Heavy Winged or similar to the endless psych riffing and wah wah wanderings of Bardo Pond. The cd comes with the LP and features the same tracks.

John Clyde Evans 

• Apetal Thunderfall cd (Digitalis) 5

Recorded during a year spent in India and the first proper cd since the Tirath Singh Nirmala release, also on Digitalis last year. This releases splices found software and audio sources into something rather different for JCE although it is still a sound that is recognisably his. The result is a semi-electronic / semi-organic array of cut-ups and fleeting sounds (pastoral flutes, glockenspiel, Indian horns, scratched strings) merged into a wonderfully intoxicating merging of ethnic drone and abrasive cut-ups.

• Delight in the Streams LP (Amen Absen) 5

Following on to his cd on Digitalis (and one under the name Tirath Singh Nirmala) and a string of self-released cdrs, comes this album, an enthralling and bewildering collage of manipulated sounds recorded in India in 2006. Warm tones of glockenspiel mixed with screeching drones to set your teeth on edge, whacked out vocal manipulations and gentle flute pipings. 

Evening Fires 

• s/t cdr (Deep Water) 5

John W. Fail - The Icewhistle cdr (Sharks & Pfennigs) 1.50

Bowed strings using israj and oak cello from the man who runs Cenotaph Audio (and this label) and is in Lied Music. Quicksilver bursts of bowed sound and rasping string breath.

Family Elan   

• The Stare of Dawn cd (Locust) 8

Possibly the finest album I've heard this year comes via this extraordinary offering from Chris Hladowski of Nalle / Scatter / The One Ensemble. It features lots of those wonderful long-necked stringed instruments Chris has such an incredible talent at playing (bouzouki, gimbri, oud), as well as fiddle, flute (played by Hanna Tuulikki) and an array of percussion (bongos, scrapers, cymbals) and is rooted in the folk music of the Middle East, Eastern Europe and North Africa. The sound is dense and exquisitely textured (recorded by Melody Bar reviewer John Cavanagh no less!). "Monumental" is a spinning folk dervish that it's impossible to listen to without wanting to twist and whirl and clap. Slower songs like "Wide Eyed Fox" and "The Bells of Earthly Wonder" have the air of mystical madrigals. The sleeve art is by fellow Nalle member Hanna Tuulikki and the back depicts a dreaming figure being transported away by winged maidens which I think is a fine depiction of how beautifully hypnotic this album is. Highly recommended.

Field Recordings from India & Nepal cdr (Crier dans les Musees) 6

Recordings made by the label proprietor on travels in Nepal & India. Similar to the Uton release from a while back with street noise, music, religious ceremonies etc.

Field Recordings from Malaysia, Thailand & Cambodia cdr (Crier dans les Musees) 6

Recordings made by the label proprietor on travels in the Far East. Music, insects, street noise, birds and more.

Fish & Sheep - Dead Nuns Rising cassette (Silver Ghosts) 1

Flying Sutra 

• Levitate & Dissolve cdr (Deep Water) 5

Pennsylvanian guitar / drums duo of George Draguns and Bob Cozzolino who merge avant-rock / free jazz stylings - the longer tracks are particularly fine.

• Glowering and Glowing Red cdr (Deep Water) 5.50

Pennsylvania's guitar / drums duo return with 66 minutes of crunching avant-rock that merges angular art-punk with freeform heavy rock.

Foldhead - Drugs Paint Alcohol cdr (Music Mundane) 5

"After many many years in the wilderness (last heard of in the mid-90s), Music Mundane are proud to prise some of the most recent private recordings from the over-protective  hands of Paul "Nonnen" Walsh, original other half of Smell & Quim. Spread over 40 minutes,  these three tracks grow exponentially and repetitively as the disk progresses, smashing raw analogue electronics and digital processing into a huge hallucinatory wall of confusion.   Welcome back!" (Music Mundane)

Fordell Research Experience Presents - An Afternoon of Pianoforte Recitals cdr (Pjorn) 2.50

4 collaborations between Edinburgh's FRU and Culver, Handek, Shareholder and Adverb / John McLean. Drones ranging from soporific Stars Of The Lid-type drift to abrasive burn-outs to fizz-heavy hum.

Forest Creature - Frustrated Analogue cd (Blackest Rainbow) 8.25

"Very pleased to announce the first 'proper' release from this local duo of Ben Moon and Richard Sides, and a very new sound for Blackest Rainbow. Forest Creature has been through many different sounds, starting as a fairly harsh noise experience opening for bands like Wolf Eyes and  Jazzkamer back when we did shows, they later on incorporated live drums and screwed up vocals, and a purely animal live experience.  The duo's  sound has progressed more and more over the last year, with more and more different sounds collating to make Forest Creature reach a point where they have their very own sound. Their previous sound would've fitted nicely into the Load Records roster, and then building to sound more like some kind of blend of Black Dice, early Animal Collective and Fuck Buttons. But now over the last few months I've experienced some of their best live performances yet (performed in near total darkness with flickering TV screen and bulbs) they pummel their audience with thumping beats, raging psychedelic synth, broken glitches and clicks, they seemed to have found a definite place that seems to be right for them. Strangely enough some of this material even reminds me of the supreme days of Sheffield's techno and IDM music boom back in the late 80s and early 90s with legends like Autechre, Black Dog, and the hay day of my favourites on Warp Records. If you're into Black Dice, Warp Records, Animal Collective and aren't afraid of a little beat here and there then I suggest you check out Forest Creature!" (BR)

Pete Fosco 

• Petals to the Sun cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.75

I previously stocked a cassette by Pete on Digitalis Ltd which sold out within a few days. Solo guitar meditations with the distortion turned all the way up on the first 2 tracks. The final one utilizes e-bow to create some gorgeous singing, ringing tones. Hand-sprayed covers.

• Autumn Fire Blues cassette (Digitalis Ltd) 5.50

Solo guitar: warm, fuzzy round the edges tones played slowly so that the notes seem to seep into the silence around them. Early morning melancholy. 

Another fascinating release on the excellent Kindling records: this is Leighton Craig on keyboard, Stuart Busby on effect-laden trumpet. Deep gurgling sound explorations reminiscent of This Heat at times amid sunbursts of gentle repetitive instrumentals.