Galax - Never Ending Space Trackin' cd (archiveCD) 7

Galax is Hiroshi Hasagawa of Astral Travelling Unity, here joined by Keichi Miyashita of Mandog on guitar and tape echo and Hiroshi Higashi of Acid Mothers Temple on synth. This is suitably cosmic with intergalactic spirals of ring modulator whoosh expanding onwards and upwards. Usual great packaging from Archive.

Gaping Maw - Two Improvisations cd (Archive) 3

Trio improv featuring Kurt Johnson (Flying Luttenbachers) on bass, Kyle Bruckmann on electronics and Tatsuya Nakatani on drums. First track is an all-out blitz of noise with powerful drumming, masses of low end rumble and squealing electronics. Second one starts menacingly distant like a bombing raid somewhere on the horizon, but soon launches into full-on percussive assault. Great packaging again from Archive.

strangely coloured clouds of percussive ephemera and  handmade electronic drizzle

Ghost Brames 

• Eagle Arpegi s/t cdr (Foxglove) 4

French duo Florian Tositti (also the Reggae) and Jacob Garret with the follow-up to their 267 Lattajjaa disc. One long track of highly charged atmosphere and drones with percussion splashing loosely throughout and a gorgeous weaving chiming guitar shining through the haze like lights in a sea mist. 

• Static Aero cdr (Leaf Trail) 4.75

Ghost Brames are French duo Florian Tositti (also the Reggae) and Jacob Garret. This "goes" well with the new Bonecloud Leaf Trail cdr, being another amorphous haze of sound - high wire drones, splashes of ringing metal and deep vocal oms that build into a ringing cacophony of tones, subtle harmonies and wind-tunnel atmospherics.

• cdr (Housecraft) 4

If you like the sound of really severe compression and limiting, this will sing to your ears! The sound of the space it was recorded in is almost as much a feature of this 35 minute piece as the instruments themselves, with lively percussion group improv widening to include harmonium and strings along the way. Nice numbered packaging too. (JC)

also: Cosmic Mandoliners

• Crystal Healing LP (3 Lobed) 12.75

Great new LP from Marcia Bassett (Double Leopards / Hototogisu / Zaika), Steve Gunn and Pete Nolan (Magik Markers / Virgin Eye Blood Brothers). Heavy acoustic psych ragas and an incredibly zoned atmosphere reeking of Satanic rituals (those backwards tapes and vocals) make this one an essential disc. Lovely gatefold sleeve.

• Heavy Elements cd (3 Lobed) 7

Gift Horse 

• The Snouts and Ears of America cdr (Foxglove) 2

Traditional fiddle music played by Hal Hughes and Jill Kjömpedahl, who've been playing fiddle music together since 1978, recorded by Robert Horton. Two Irish, one Scottish and one Pennsylvanian traditional plus 5 self-penned. haunting and magical.

• Two Lane Fiddles in a Four Lane World cdr (Rural faune) 6

Traditional fiddle music played in a real back-porch style by Hal Hughes and Jill Kjömpedahl, who've been playing fiddle music together since 1978 - mostly traditional dance tunes - hornpipes, polkas, barn dances etc - from a variety of countries (Scotland, America, Ireland, the Balkans) but also some self-composed numbers inspired by traditional music from Eastern Europe and Iran. Excellent stuff. Well packaged as ever from RF - comes with a twig, good liner notes and a page from a French book.

Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra with Barry Guy - Falkirk cd (FMR) 7.50

GIO's collaboration with double bass player and composer Barry Guy took the Orchestra into new territory. The concert recording featured here has an improvised piece then the main work, Witch Gong Game 11/10, inspired by Scottish painter Alan Davie. Guy faced the other musicians, playing and directing by means of conduction, a form of structured improvising developed by Butch Morris. The idea is that a language of symbolic gestures and movements suggest a type of sound or dynamic and individual players offer their own reactions. Since this concert, GIO has continued to work on conduction, with group members Raymond MacDonald and Una MacGlone striking the poses. Anyway, what Barry Guy did here was to guide GIO into a distinctly jazzy territory: some sections of Witch Gong have a rather Mingus-like swing to them, others are full blast freeform and, with vocal and spoken word elements, there are some beautiful calmer passages too. Cogent work indeed and a welcome thing to hear this special night captured on record. (JC)

also: Burt / MacDonald Quartet, Neil Davidson

The Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra with Maggie Nicols - Which Way Did He Go? cd (FMR) 7.50

Maggie Nicols had a series of workshops with GIO which encouraged all the players involved to use (and in some cases this meant discover) their voices. In this way, she established a wonderful rapport and, quite literally, harmony with the Orchestra and that shines through in the five pieces on this album. Maggie is of Scottish/North African parentage (she's the daughter of a Berber princess!) and these elements have helped make her one the most distinctive voices in improv circles since the 1970's. Even though GIO members don't sing on this record, Maggie's subtle direction made for quite a different sound from the Orchestra and the whole process was a pleasure for the players and the audience. (JC)

The Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra with Evan Parker - Munich and Glasgow cd (FMR) 7.50

The Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra has become noted for collaborations with visiting artists and they began these was with legendary free improv saxophonist Evan Parker in 2002. This album was recorded in Glasgow and Munich the following year, when the floating lineup of GIO was 21 strong and included Alex Neilson, Daniel Padden, Peter Nicholson (One Ensemble) Tom Crossley (International Airport) and Raymond MacDonald. I was at the Glasgow concert and my salient memory is of guitarist George Burt playing the chair he was sitting on in addition to his instrument! Having said that, the six pieces here are quite structured, at times recalling the deeply melodic dirge of the Gil Evans Orchestra and, at others, the funkiness of Charles Mingus. A welcome document of a great live experience. (JC)

Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra & London Improvisers Orchestra - Separately & Together 2cd (Emanem) 15

GIO have been proving for several years now that large scale group improvisation can work successfully and their live sound has translated onto record very well too. As the title suggests, this double disc set features music by the Glasgow orchestra, their "opposite numbers" in London and three substantial pieces where forces are joined. There are devised structures, free works and, for the joint ventures, conductions. All in all, a huge tapestry of sound, from low rumbles of bass clarinet and strings to full-on assault of the impressive forces captured at London's Freedom of the City festival in May 2007. I can't help but mention that the lineup of the London orchestra reads a bit like a who's who of my formative listening experiences in this area: Lol Coxhill, John Rangecroft, Evan Parker, Marcio Mattos, Sylvia Hallett, Veryan Weston, Harry Becket.... impressive - and not just for the names! (JC)

Glass Organ - OUR cd (Students of Decay) 4

Duo featuring  Justin Meyers (Devillock/Tone Filth)
and Tom Helgerson, who have had previous releases on Tone Filth and Twonicorn. This matches Helgerson's bursts of speaker-shredding guitar with Meyers unsettling low-key electronic / tape drone. Embossed white card sleeve.

Glory Fckn Sun - Vision Scorched cd / book (Pseudoarcana) 10

This is amazing - the cdr features Antony Milton (Nether Dawn, Mrtyu! etc), Ben Spiers & percussionist Simon O'Rorke engaged in ecstatic sun worship. The opening track is a long piece of cosmic improv - the expansive crash of gongs, the deep rumble of guitar, drawn-out drones. Track 2 is an infernal white noise onslaught. The closing track is a ragged electric raga, almost buried beneath layers of intense drone and percussive splash. This comes with a 72 page booklet of sun-related imagery. Gorgeous.

Glow Kids - Our Trip to Metropolis cdr (Punknotdiet) 2.50

"In 1967 the Who concluded their album “The Who Sell Out” with the song Glow Girl. These were some of the lines to that precise tune: Your out-of-tune piano, sentimental photographs, A million little memories, a million little laughs. In 2003-2004 Jonathan Clancy decided to start a boy’s trip through his moments of sadness and joy. A trip to the core of a naïf metropolis where souls can still be saved. Armed just with a piano, guitar, trumpet and his voice, many small improvised songs came to life, recorded on old cassettes and mini discs. The sounds of the external world entered the small room while the recordings were taking place (ambulances, cars, phones). Jonathan found in Stefano Pilia the perfect match. The second “kid” that could shine light on a decaying metropolis. Both started on a trip together: the Glow Kids. Stefano added his musical wonder touch with lush guitar atmospheres, found-object percussion, double bass, voice-layering and precise mixing. The record was finished in 2005. “Our Trip To Metropolis” is the duo’s first introduction to the world. 10 Songs that mix atmospheric soundscapes and rich vocal harmonies in an unconventional song-writing form that happens in some way to maintain a concise pop structure. Scattered rhythmic structures and beautiful guitars lock in with improvised pianos and child like voices. Call it free folk, avant-pop, electronic suffering or childish noises. It’s the music of Glow Kids." (Glow Kids)

GMC - Detallederepentepaz 3" cdr (MYMWLY) 1

Another nicely handmade cdr from MYMWLY. The cdr is by a member of Argentinian improvisers Vluba. Incessantly repetitive seamless electronic drone with synth tones bubbling up hypnotically.

also: Vluba

Reissue of a long sold-out cdr on Barl Fire with 2 extra tracks. Duo of Brad Rose (North Sea etc) and Keith Woods (Hush Arbors / Wooden Wand & the Sky High Band). Sleep-walking reverb-swimming folk, like early Six Organs of Admittance on a real downer, and Keith Wood's wonderful unanchored vocals. Recommended.

Black mass fug with one fuzzed doom chord repeating into eternity and some ghostly vocal cloud forms from Pocahaunted.

Three substantial free improv pieces using percussion (lots of Tibetan bowls), guitar, high frequencies and space, lots of space. Patrick Farmer and Graham Jones use space to build tension towards the more intense interplay here… and it does get pretty intense. (JC)

Spacious folk drift from Matt Christensen & Mike Weis of Zelionople and Scott Tuma of Souled American / Boxhead Ensemble.  Hugely evocative of lethargic days of pastoral bliss with distant cymbals and bells and the lazy wheeze of harmonica reverberating into the ether, and some beautifully minimal guitar work suspended over the yawning drones. Paste-on art on brown card.

Solo release from Tim Goodwillie, one half of (VxPxC). It has the same air of disorientation to that band - overloaded, echoing, underwater sounds that slow down and speed up like an overworked tape deck sound like a severely bad trip. A hallucinatory fairground ride. Sold out at source.

You're probably familiar with the name Gown (Andrew McGregor) from his recent collaborative cds (and US tour) with Christina Carter. This release features two tracks of spacious minimal blues with a weary post-midnight feel and McGregor's deep resonant wordless vocals hypnotically weaving through the open guitar notes. Highly recommended.

• The March Towards the End Continues Despite Any and All Efforts cdr (Blackest Rainbow) 5.25

New 3 track cdr from Andrew McGregor, member of Bark Haze alongside Thurston Moore, and occasional collaborator with Christina Carter. Nocturnal psychedelic blues with a really heavy atmosphere and Andrew's resonant wayward vocals (particularly fine double tracked on the final track). DVD case with artwork by Andrew.

• For The Maples LP (3 Lobed) 11.75

On this LP Andrew McGregor (Bark Haze / Christina Carter collaborator) is joined by members of Sunburned Hand of the Man. Gown's intense dirges are shorn of some of their usual desolation by the addition of the band, the B side is a full scale blow out. Silk-screened sleeve of Gown artwork by Alan Sherry of SIWA, this edition is the limited one with cd of the album and a further cd of  unreleased Gown material.

also: Christina Carter / Gown

This is described as "the new generation of Finnish electronica" and it's hard to argue with that when you find that the auteur here is, apparently, 11 years old! There's a great spirit of fun about this record - lots of old synth sounds, the sort you'd hear from tele-tennis games and Casios - and short loop vocal samples that have a slightly hypnotic quality about them. (JC)

also: Love Missile F2 comp

Abstract improvisation using laptops, saxophone, cello, turntables and electronics. Mostly at a surprisingly quiet end of the noise scale but with Marhaug present there are a few explosive moments too.

My first impression was of a pastoral, quite orchestral, feel to the sound. Soon I was more aware of something darker, perhaps even brooding, going on. Nick Grey's lyrics are sometimes reflective, at others oblique and, especially on the pieces featuring piano from Jasmine (or "hamsig") Pinkerton, I formed the impression that Mr. Grey might have a few Peter Hammill albums on his shelves. Mysterious songs swathed in autumnal mists… oh - they're rather nicely packaged too! (JC)

5 moody and introspective songs from English singer-songwriter Nick Grey (who also runs the Milk and Moon label) that have a gloomy gothic chamber feel to them, almost like an English take on Nico's "Desertshore". Dense and mysterious arrangements, and rather lovely.

Weird and wired electronics from Finland: buzzing and fuzzing like distant sounds echoing and amplified in a subway tunnel.

• Travel Agent Certification Training Program: Coures I, II and III 3" cdr (267 Lattajjaa) 1

Previous Grey Park releases (that I've heard) have been unsettling drones, like distant electric hums. Just one track on this 3" sounds like that. It opens strangely with a lopsided jaunt into African pop sounds (really!) and ends with an equally odd take on space-rock.

also: Drones Since the Dawn of Time comp, Wailing Bones Volume 10

Hair Police - Blind Kingdom one sided LP (Ultra Eczema) 9

Doom-encrusted guitar lurch and electronics sparking wildly on one side and psychedelic etchings on the other.

Hairmaiden of the Totem Robe - Boomerangs from the Eastern Room of Rebirth cassette (Housecraft) 2.75

"conjured bones and drones ebb and flow in intricate networks of glowing undergrowth and seamless stereo mirage, under continual excavation of guided clatter and strung mystery. mist crawls over stone benches. chants fall from branches. this is dreaming geometry, sunk in soot, bright with leaves." (Housecraft)

Hal ("Eddie") Dinratz - s/t cdr (Foxglove) 2.50

Appalachian fiddle, tabla, tanpura & sitar may sound like a odd mix but this Oakland band work it here beautifully without once crossing the line into gimmickry. There are occasional nods to Appalachian folk tradition, klezmer, raga and poetry inspired by the Beats where the music snakes round the reading like thick incense smoke. (JC)

Half Asleep / SRX split LP (Le Bonheur Medias / Humpty Dumpty records) 9.75

Half Asleep is nom de plume of Belgian Valerie Leclerq (wit the help of her sister Oriane) and this is very fine intimate songwriting with folky undertones that seems to lie halfway between Kitchen Cynics and Empress. Lovely instrumentation - guitar, accordian - and Valerie has a gorgeous weary alto that occasionally goes all multi-layered Linda Perhacs style. SRX is Sandra Reignoux of France and her home-recorded tunes (guitar, whistling, layered vocals) have a wonderful air of naivety similar to recent releases by Finnish artists Anne Kallio or Rokkirhyma but with an air of underlying melancholy. Gorgeous sleeve-art too.

Tom Hall - Cross cdr (Hello Square) 6.75

New release on Shoeb Ahmed's Hello Square recordings. Manipulated and processed sounds (keyboard, wind-up watch, dulcimer, cymbal, guitar, piano, field recordings) that become a warm, amorphous ambient electronica shimmer. 

Sam Hamilton & Chris O'Connor - Tidal Dee's and Harboured Dum's cdr (Pseudoarcana) 4

Originally created as a soundtrack to the film "Anguish" by experimental film-maker Tim Van Dammen and featuring New Zealanders Sam Hamilton and Chris O'Connor. Malevolent squalls of bass, guitar, electronics and drums that seem to inch slowly towards impending doom over the first 3 tracks. Final track "Joy" is an appropriately joyous meshing of sing-song electronics, crashing drums and psych-guitar pyrotechnics.

Bart Jacobs and Sander Wildeboer (what a splendid name!) use percussion and guitar, respectively, to create 3 soundscapes of quite sparse improv. This is music of introspection, where the players realise that an increase in intensity doesn't have to mean playing louder. (JC)

Heavy Eye of the Sun - III cdr (Digitalis) 4

Gorgeous cdr from a Montreal duo - Olivier Borzeix & James Schidlowsky - of totally zoned spaciousness and meditative stillness. Chimes, bowed zithers and wordless vocals map out an extraordinary unearthly terrain - the nearest thing that comes to mind is Painting Petals on Planet Ghost - of contemplative drone and star-gazing dreaminess. Outsize hand-stamped envelopes.

Heavy Winged 

• Blacc Lust cd (3 Lobed) 7

This re-issue of rare material is fast becoming a rarity itself, as it appears to be sold out at source. The trio of tracks originally appeared on Foxglove (the first two pieces) and Students of Decay (the third). Right from the start the music goes full tilt into the red, and will - none too gently - give the Japanese noise set a run for their money! The dynamics shift throughout, but the intensity level doesn't fall and the packaging is very fine too. (JC)

• Alive in my Mouth LP & cd (3 Lobed) 11.75

"comprised of two of the band's dirtiest and, quite simply, heaviest tracks, it is music for tearing down physical walls. in a small departure from some of our recent vinyl titles, there will not be a bonus cd for pre-ordering the record. instead, every copy of the album will come complete with a cd that features both of the album tracks in addition to a "bonus" 17 minute track. everyone wins! alive in my mouth is be from an edition of 647 copies pressed on 180g RTI vinyl. the record is housed within heavy art sleeves bearing new artwork by michael canich" (3Lobed)

also: Wailing Bones Volume 5 comp

Heavy Winged / Taiga Remains split LP (Not Not Fun) 8.50

Coloured vinyl and hand-assembled artwork. Both sides matched for intensity with Taiga Remains favouring a fizzing electrically charged drone and Heavy Winged heavy riffing that sweeps you off in a whirlwind. Great stuff.

John Hegre - Colors Don't Clash cd (Dekorder) 3

Normally found as half of Jazzkammer, John Hegre's solo album for Dekorder has some surprisingly serene moments like the opener with its processed guitar melody sounding like deconstructed Eno and the lazy sauntering guitar in the final track. Other tracks revisit noisier territoy: drones fused with rabid machine scrawl on one and heavy doom-laden bass riffs with an Ash Nav style psych-guitar attack and high squealing tones on another. There's a pretty crazy collage on the cover too.

Helhesten - Only the Sun of Folk Songs Visits Your Grave cdr (Cook an Egg) 6.50

Helhesten are the band formerly known as On Fire who shared a split with Chora (in face Rob Lye of Chora plays on this cdr too). Also guests Pascal Nichols, Kelly Jones (Cooper Jones) and Ben Morris. Cultish jams with stacks of percussive clatter, unhuman vocalizations and clarinet parping.

Jani Hellen & Xenis Emputae Travelling Band cdr (Larkfall) 3.25

• s/t 3" cdr (Foxglove) 3.50

after the ensemble drone of last year's First Person cdr comes another mesmerizing release but this time just involving Andy Jarvis, Ben Reynolds & Phil Todd: it's every bit as richly textured: magical guitar ragas, free percussive stutter and rasping scraped strings. Both pieces are up there with the best either of these 3 has produced (and that's saying something).

also: Ashtray Navigations, Culver>Jarvis, Andy Jarvis, Scultpress, Directing Hand, Ben Reynolds

Hoofbeat, Caw & Thunder - s/t cd (Hand/Eye) 4

My first impression of the opening track prompted thoughts of Timothy Leary's Turn On, Tune In Drop Out: atmospheric spoken work over hazy droning background. However the subject matter here has more to do with biblical subjects - apocalypse, prophecy - than '60s trippy-ness. There are almost nedieval folky songs and full-on fuzz guitar salvos too. Overall, the most obvious way I can describe what this sounds like is to say "Current 93". Very well packaged too. (JC)

also: Timothy, Revelator, Crow Tongue

Horrible cassette (self-released) 2

Mangled synths and garbled noise from Arttu Partinen (Amon Dude, Avarus) and Erwin van Looveren (of Schizoide Shattered Minds). 

• Dirt Speak cd (Digitalis) 5

Another infinitely fascinating collection of drones and loops from Robert Horton. Particular favourites this time around: the trance-inducing frantic spliced picked strings of "Long Period Event", the richly textured and deeply resonant string drones of "Decayed Time" and harmonics wrung from Horton's homemade "Boot" sounding like some crazy crude electronics. Spellbinding as ever.

• Sleep Wake Hope and Then cd (Music Fellowship) 6.50

One piece here has been out before on a 267 Lattajja Christmas cd, but even if you have that already, the other 7 tracks are new and this makes a fine album indeed. Robert Horton has the talent of creating music where you can't pin down exactly what the sound source is. It's a kind of opalescent, sub-aquatic, electroacoustic haze. What's clearly heard is his new harmonium and it sounds just great! R.H. also writes exceedingly good sleeve notes. (JC)

• Boot 2 (The Ugly Music) cdr (Students of Decay) 4

Some blues you get from waking up in the morning and finding your woman gone, your dog dead or... (fill in other suitable blues metaphor) Robert Horton's blues sound as though they're inspired by waking to find someone performing a lumber puncture on him: he sure can wail! His trusty handmade boot guitar shimmers and wails too and the track title "the boot is always shaped like italy" made me smile, even though I was sho'nuff gittin' da blues! Lawdy-lawdy-mercy-mercy!! (JC)

Robert Horton / Michael Shannon - Broken Mask cdr (MYMWLY) 3

Robert Horton / Egghatcher / Constantin Dubois - Salts That Have Lost Water 3" cdr (Nothing Out There) 4.75

This is another fascinating project involving Mr Horton. This is based around field recordings made by Dubois (who runs the label) of a deserted textile factory in the north of France, reworked by Horton (also working under the Egghatcher guise) with input from fiddle-player Hal Hughes. What results is a haunting mixture of source sounds manipulated into hypnotic drones, the melancholic almost-blues of "Forage for Souls" and the ethnic folk of "Standing at the Cross Stones". This comes packaged with an object found at the site and individual photographs of the area. Lovely.

Hotguitars with Santtu Puukka - Hierarkia cd (Karkia Mistika) 2

You're flying, almost weightless, through a spiral tunnel, impelled by a vortex of sound. At the heart of the labyrinth, a maniacal scientist is mutilating effects boxes with glee, producing visceral yet exciting noise, while another rants poems and chants and the third creates at times vicious - and at others beauteous - squall from guitar and mandolin, although you'd never believe a mandolin could make those sounds. A rather thrilling, sometimes scary journey in sound and it's worth mentioning the strong connection to Circle here with Jyrki Laiho & T-mu Korpipää augmented by the voice of Santto Puukka. Set the controls - we have lift off! (JC)

Howlin' Magic is Jesse Rakusin from Santa Cruz, CA. This is raw fuzzed-to-the-max garage psych, complete with primeval drumming and growling bass.

This opens with some severely damaged electronic warfare, then unexpectedly changes tack into some sinister organ doom and onwards into more musique concrete territory. Packaged in a thick card sleeve with handmade collage.

fits right in with that Pehr's favoured moody melancholic music - filmic ballads with male / female vocals and a sparse openness - lovely

There are lots of singer songwriters around whose lineage can fairly quickly be traced back to 70's power pop and, in this case, the more autumnal moods of Badfinger. What sets Hundred Hands apart from the pack is the subtle blend of straighforward acousic/electric songs with warm sounding electronics - there's even an Eno-ish instrumental. A lot of care has been taken over the sound and flow of these elements and it has resulted in an album that brings more rewards with each listen. (JC)

Steven from Birds of Delay on a double-sided C30 full of poisoned electronics / vicious circuit-bleeding bombs. Now sold out at source. 

Free folk improvisations from Jon who runs Singing Knives and played with Sharron Kraus in Feather Gatherers, Ross Parfitt (Tirath Singh Nirmala collaborator) and members of Harrapian Night Recordings. Pipes, recorders, banjo and percussion. Clatter & pipe. It comes packaged in a hand-sewn little pocket.

Hush Arbors 

• s/t cd (Digitalis) 7.50

Hypo & EDH - The Correct Use of Pets cd (Active Suspension) 1.50

Hypo (aka Anthony Keyeux) and Edh (aka Emmanuelle de Hericourt) have made the ideal electropop album for those who get bored quickly: many of the 17 tracks are less than 2 minutes long! They're also very good, with plenty of twists and turns, but not too many, to keep your ears teased throughout. One track (Johnny) made me think of that great, under-rated band the Associates (and that's never a bad thing), but for the most part the feeling is closer to, say, Pop Off Tuesday than anything from the 80s. (JC)

The Idle Suite - Up Two Sticks Road cd (Last Visible Dog) 4

This recording, made in Wellington, New Zealand, is about as direct an approach as you can get: it's made uing just one mic in front of the band. This calls for good natural balance between the guitar/bass/drums lineup and that's achieved here. The music is melodic improv, with initial themes which leave the players space to expand. In some places, this might loosely fall into the spacerock area, whilst the longest piece on the album had the feel of a shadowy chase sequence in a spy movie. (JC)

This is one of those albums that grows more and more fascinating with each listen: home-recorded fragile songs from Bram Devens that have a gently-fuzzed folk-blues guitar and Bram's nasal tones at their heart but can dissipate into cosmic helium-voiced weirdness 

The Ill Wind Ensemble - A Home is a Journey cdr (Spirit of Orr) 4

a reissue of a cassette release from the mid-90s and a release that I'm truly thankful hasn't been lost in the mists of time: a collection of instrumentals recorded using wind instruments and some loose percussion. Reedy drones that have that spooky wind-whistling-thorugh-the-trees sound. Exotic pipe-blowing that sounds like its come straight from a souk. Sometimes playful and sometimes eerie and always fascinating.

Imperfect Masters 

• Strike Out cdr (Foxglove) 2

I listened to the opening track and thought it would make the ideal theme for a film version - as yet unmade - of Edgar Allen Poe's only long-form novel, a graphically scary seafaring tale. The ominous maelstrom of layered reed drones suggested ghost ships appearing through deepest mist. All the titles, on the other hand, have something to do with baseball! Cut to track 2 and we find Sun Ra given an infectious cut'n'paste arrangement by Robert Horton & Dan Plonsey and it really works too… you could dance to this. The light and shade range of this album runs from full on floodlamps to coal cellar blackness and all done with style. An impressive achievement. (JC)

• No One Knows Why cdr (Students of Decay) 2

Yet another great release featuring Robert Horton. You know, I've yet to hear anything he's involved in which has disappointed. Imperfect Masters is his duo with woodwind / brass / fiddle player Dan Plonsey and the pair communicate musically in a particularly tuned in fashion. This is a wonderful and hypnotic mix of mellow wind / string drones and zoned experimental jazz.

Intense Japanese outsider folk completely unshorn of its rough edges: acoustic guitar and voice that can either sound devastatingly fragile or heart-stoppingly intense, each syllable and attack of the guitar strings torn and contorted. Reissue of an earlier release with sleevenotes by Alan Cummings.  

The Iron Kite   

• No Eyebrows cd (Twilight Flight Sound) 3

Texan 3-piece featuring B.C. Smith (Ethereal Planes Indian), Shawn McMillen (Ash Castles on Ghost Coast / Friday Group) and Blake Carlisle (friday Group): one long live workout (recorded at the wonderfully named 'Beerland', Austin) that opens with fevered tribal percussion and yelps before descending into some heavy free-form cosmic psych 

• The Light in the Fog cdr (Twilight Flight Sound) 3

Limited cdr issue of two live recordings from 2000: track one operates in a similar shadowy cosmos of tribal percussion and strummings as Brothers of the Occult Sisterhood, the second starting off in a deep vocal chasm, akin to Can's 'Augm' or some of the sections of the 'Faust Tapes', before traversing a sparse terrain of flickering guitar and percussive rubble - recommended.

also: Friday Group, Ethereal Planes Indian

42 one minute pieces from Jan Iversen who runs the Tibprod label that range from deep primordial drone to electronic high-end noise scribbles

also: Bjerga / Iversen

Jackie O'Motherfucker 

• Candyland LP 11

Part of the same series as the Magik Markers and Sun City Girls LPs from earlier this year, this sees JOMF at their cosmically stoned best, letting drones and Eastern-tinged magic wind their way round loose structures. Features a gorgeous version of West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band's "I Won't Hurt You".

• Valley of Fire cd (Textile) 8.50
• Valley of Fire LP (Textile) 8.50

A wide ranging lp, divided into 3 structured tracks on one side and one long instrumental jam. Inca Ore's Eva Salens guests on a great opener with building Krautrock-infused grooves. Synths bubble under voices and guitar the second song, then a seldom heard Beach Boys track gets a sparse acoustic treatment which made me listen to the words more than I've ever done with the original of A Day In The Life of a Tree. Side 2 highlights the ever inventive improve side of JOMF and this lp is warmly recommended. (JC)

also: Valet

• Tectonique du Corps cdr (Students of Decay) 2.50

New sounds from Andy Jarvis (A Warm Palindrome / Helvetica is the Perfume of the City / Sculptress / First Person label boss). Skin-crawling bass notes creeping amidst lots of hum, some great free distorto-guitar and scattered drum wreckage.

• Aghast / Agape cassette (Beyond Repair) 5

Members of Feathers, Red Favorite and Supreme Dicks. Full moon warblings, folk abstractions and Amon Duul I-esque communal jams.

Finnish free improv duo: one part percussive splurge with frenetic interjections of whistles / vocalising and another more of a rumble of bongos and drums and a more mystical melodic folkiness

Juniper Meadows 

• Jacaranda Twilight cdr (Deserted Village) 5

A welcome return from one of my favourite Brad Rose projects, here as a duo with Chris Skillern. 7 gorgeous instrumentals evoking bucolic bliss, using mainly bowed / picked stringed instruments (bouzouki, oud, banjo, guitar, ukelele, violin) and melodica (always a welcome sound in this house). Juniper Meadows are the sparsest of Brad's different projects, the sound a lazy wandering across open plains under a starry sky. Lovely.

• Grand Sonora 3" (Palustre) 5

Reissue of a 3" that originally came out on Imvated (now Bread and Animals) - hesitant banjo and ukulele pluckings, bowed strings and the soothing wheeze of one of my very favourite instruments the melodica. Sounds like it was improvised late at night under the stars. Gorgeous. Hand-made packaging.

Kageplan - s/t cdr (Foxglove) 1

Katrina McPhie from the MYMWLY collective with some help from Ian McIntyre (Majik, Soarwhole, Ffehro): dark acid-swirls of sound: insistent guitar playing, murky sound and Katrina's layered vocals

Righard Kapp - Traces 2003 - 2004 cdr (One Minute Trolley Dash) 2.50

a nicely packaged cdr on a new label from South Africa that offers some lovely intriguing music: gentle drones and looped clicks cast a mist over delicately picked guitar lines - drone meets found-sound electronics in a beautiful yet unassuming way

also: Skrummasjien

Kark - The Hermit LP (HP Cycle) 6

It took me some time to even figure out the name of the band involved here, as it appears nowhere on the lp sleeve or insert and only on one side of the label, and then against other lettering. Very mysterious! Turns out they are 50 or more in number, hail from Kentucky and include members of the likes of Virgin Eye Blood Brothers, Sapat, Son of Earth, Belgian Waffles etc. The album begins with the ever welcome, yet uncommon, sound of massed twirly tubes, eveolves through collective groove with brass and reeds to the fore - a-la Sun Ra/jazzier end of '70s Zappa, but much looser - to head into full on free blowing on side 2. All good fun too. (JC)

Kawabata Makoto 

• Jellyfish Rising cd (Funfundvierzig) 5

two long pieces of hypnotic burbling repeated guitar minimalism.

• Inui cd (VHF) 7.50

Long-awaited reissue of Kawabata's 1st solo release, originally out on vinyl on SIWA (this edition features beautiful cover art by Kawabata, printed at SIWA and is gorgeous) - layers of string drones (violin, sarangi, oud, sitar, bouzouki, lyra, shou, nei) of mind-blowing intensity and piloting-across-the-universe vocals.

• Hosanna Mantra LP & 7" (A Silent Place) 22
• Hosanna Mantra LP (A Silent Place) 11.50
• Hosanna Mantra  s/t cd (Important) 7.50

Gorgeous new album from the Acid Mothers Temple guitarist. Two side-long tracks: one is silvery elongated beams of e-bow guitar piercing their way through tranced bouzouki pickings. The other a fantastic piece of tone drone - spectral bowings & sitar chime. The limited £24 version comes with a 7" single, poster and postcard. Gatefold sleeve on both editions.

• Inui 3 cd (VHF) 7.50

Another gorgeous instalment in the 'Inui' series of cosmic stringed drone recorded on bouzouki, sarangi, viola and guitar. The final track of high-pitched drone and dreamy arpeggios is particularly fine.

• Inui 4 cd (VHF) 8

4th (obviously) in the Inui series of solo Kawabata releases. This one is as meditational as the others, with long pure tones drifting over the horizon and an undertow of a repeated hypnotic acoustic guitar figure. later backwards guitar and hurdy guitar appear to create a shimmering wall of interstellar drone. Gorgeous.

also: Acid Mothers Temple, Kang Tae Hwan Trio, Splendor Mystic Solis, Up-tight & Makoto Kawabata, For the Dead in Space II & III comp

"Keep Breathing" cdr (Rhizome) 4

I'm not sure who this is but it was originally available on Winter records of Adelaide and contains 3 tracks of harshly recorded harmonica / melodica drone

more mysterious sounds from Keijo Virtanen and his Free Players (Vapaa / Kheta Hotem) with more than an echo of Indian folk music with some magical sarod-playing by Keijo in the midst of that charged atmosphere that the Free Players always manage to conjure up

also: Gold Leaf Branches comp, Wailing Bones Vol 1, Mosaic Antenna, Wailing Bones Volume 6 comp, Free Players

Keijo Virtanen and Tiitus Petäjäniemi - Katovalo Sammuu Kohdollaru cdr (Foxglove) 4.50

another release from Keijo, this time with a member of Vapaa: this release is full of tension - there's a distant whir of noise, like a storm creeping in, broken by minimal percussion, some melodica and whistle and throat singing

Jeremy Kelly cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.50

6 track album of guitar music in a wide range of textures: from manipulated feedback and swoops and swishes like a 'plane taking off to the tremolo twang of the (particularly fine) "Radiate" and a piece which sounds like wild radio tuning sounds. Numbered edition of only 50 copies. (JC)

Kemialliset Ystavat

• Alkuharka cd (Fonal) 9

Lost-in-the-woods folk-psych that has a wonderful childlike naivety to it - plenty of exotic sounding pickings and pluckings and  primitive percussion with a move into frazzled electronics on 'Alkuharka'. 

• Kellari Juniversumi cd (Fonal) 7.50

Reissue of the earlier Fonal cd with a 24 page booket of artwork by Jan Anderzen.