A collaboration featuring Nicholas Barker (Tempera), Matt Lajoie (Cursillistas) and Jordan Spencer (Gorman). A charged welding of guitar drone and electronic woosh.

3 way improv set that voyages into some very weird territory - obsessive metal clanking, throbbing oscillations, searing string vibrations, unsettling music box chimes mixed up with hazy electricity. 

casio pop from Norway in the Micromars vein that delves into the dinky soundtrack cheesiness of Plone and the Shibuya-esque kitsch chic aesthetic

The last record by Jukka Raisanen, aka Sala Arhimo, soon became one of my favourites of 2006 so I had high hopes for this new one - and they're entirely fulfilled. There's a lot of saxophone here and it has a jazzy looseness with something of a chamber music feel too. There's a real sense of delight in this music and the keyboard (possibly chord organ) has moments of fairground feel. If you're looking for a point of reference for Jukka and you happen to have a copy of Gong's Magick Mother Invocation to hand (and I'll bet some readers do!), try playing it back to back with track 7 of this album… very interesting, packaged by Time Lag (which tells you all you need to know) and highly recommended. (JC)

Jannick Schou - Night cdr (Under the Spire) 5.50

Crepuscular ambient drone with a grainy texture and mysterious pull, constructed from processed guitar and piano. One of the best recent releases of its kind.

Super tuneful synth bliss, reverbed to the max and swirling like a giddy carousel. More than a few nods to dub too.

The See See 7" (Great Pop Supplement) 2

Featuring ex-members of the Eighteenth Day of May, Soledad Brothers and Pete Greenwood, the See See turn in two lovely slices of sun-kissed guitar pop in the vein of Teenage Fanclub.

Selvapyy & Pyy Pivossa 3" cdr (267 Lattajjaa) 0.50

This is pretty wild: mushroom-damaged pop that sounds completely all over the place. Surf riffs, ghostly improvised piano, garbled goblin vocals, dub echo melodica, swells of distortion. 

The Shitty Listener is Jason Honea of the Franciscan Hobbies and the Child Readers. The 9 tracks on here are a mix of '90s US lo-fi aesthetic and the rural psych of the Jewelled Antler collective. Honea's songs are unstructured to the point of almost falling apart: he will sing one line, you wait for the next one and instead organ drone and feedback fill the void, amidst a background of field recordings and coughing.

• Constant Stranger cassette (Digitalis) 2.50

A collection of stuff previously found on super-limited cassettes. Semi-structured lo-fi guitar / vocals songs with some field recording / lots of background hum from Jason Honea, of Franciscan Hobbies / Child Readers.  

Helsinki's Shogun Kunitoki are, according to their website, "a band with a mission to help electronic music regress back to a more human state, the time of the tube organ and the ring modulator, the spring reverb and the test oscillator". If you enjoy the sonorities of the Circle or Stereolab, this is bound to appeal. Less motorik, but still infused with memorable motifs, their "regression" sounds joyously fresh to me! Recommended. (JC)

Shores of Darkness - In the Shadow of Distant Nights cdr (Reverb Worship) 2.50

Excellent release by Dublin-based electronic artist Cronin Drumlish. This is a real voyage into the abyss - deep bass drones, lots of delay and feedback, nauseous throb; electronics with a black heart. The sleeve is inspired by the diamond ring effect during an eclipse - gold glitter on black card. Very nice.

Wally Shoup, Chris Corsano & Paul Flaherty - Bounced Check LP (Records) 5

"Wally Shoup, Chris Corsano, and Paul Flaherty make up this Screamin' free punk-jazz-liquid-solid-noize trio captured LIVE in your face-style in Seattle, WA. Totally improvised double sax and drum explosions that break down into duos and solos and re-ignite as trio howlin' paint splattered maddness gone butt-naked wilder. Recorded at an art gallery with Artwork melting off the walls and frightened fans nervously mopping their furrowed blood-stained brows (they were especially afraid one or both of the sax players would expire...... it did feel like attempted sax suicide), this limited LP, which will be the final volume in the RECORDS label plan, represents one half of the concert that emerged on that unsuspecting evening. The other half is being released at the same time (relatively) on the Tyfus label in Finland as BLANK CHECK. Thus creating another pair of sister releases much like the LAST EYES (RECORDS #8) & STEEL SLEET (TYFUS) LP pair released in 2005. The 'CHECK' pair will serve as the document of the only event this trio has played to date, and it presents another blistering historical document of an underground movement that continues to go un-recognized and even un-noticed in most of the so-called civilized baby starvin' world." (Spirit of Orr)

Silent Land Time Machine -

• & Hope Still cd (Time Lag / Indian Queen) 6
• & Hope Still LP (Time Lag / Indian Queen) 9

Silent Land Time Machine is a one man project from Texas (Indian Queen being his label).  Gently lysergic pastoral chamber psych sculpted from sweet strings, acoustic guitar, unobtrusive electronics, percussion and buried vocals. The sound merges into a gorgeous haze that evokes late summer evenings. Heavy vinyl (for the LP) with a fold out cover and insert.

New incarnation of the Belgian Funeral Folk occult-obsessed collective. Black psych jams that work themselves into a sombre groove and sometimes recall Amon Duul. Technicolour sleeve depicting practitioners of the black arts! 2nd pressing.

Solo recordings from Steve Krakow. Wah-wah heavy psychedelic raga guitar.

Danish duo: Claus Poulsen and Henrik Bagner. They construct dark ambient drones from destroyed guitars, old vinyl samples, laptop, turntables etc. Very atmospheric.

I was about to write that "Spitrobot Goes Shopping" is the electrifying scream of indignation an oscillator might make if it was immersed in a tank of water but I've just read the insert which tells me I've just been blasted with a scouring wall of guitar feedback. The B side features more tortured guitar but is the disorientating sound of malfunctioning Commodore computers taking over the world. 

"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.

Soon Clyde - Solace cdr (Cook an Egg) 2.50

Yet another winner from Cook An Egg. Soon Clyde is Baltimore based artist Greg Pardew (with some violin from Jenn Hutt on this record) and he plays some lovely acoustic guitar, has a line in elegaic songs which make me think of "More" era Pink Floyd and extends his themes with some fine twists of strangeness. (JC)

Ben Spiers runs the Transient label, is in Empty Mirror and Seen Through and recorded a collaborative cdr for CPP with 1/3 Octave Band's Bill Wood. This cdr is a collection of guitar and violin improv, ranging from nocturnal meanderings to flurries of obliterated notes.

• Artwork Temporarily Removed 3" cdr (Transient) 4.50

  Degraded guitar buzz and wail from New Zealander Ben Spiers. Breathes of feedback harmonise mournfully like the death gasps of a mangled guitar & amp. Individually block-printed manila sleeves.

   

• Spin You cdr (Transient) 6.25

  more late night string caressing from Mr Spiers: title track "Spin You" is gorgeous - solitary notes dropped into a gloom of taut scraping and "Trinh Has Gone" sombre violin drone disintegrating into atonal screech. 

• And Then cdr (Transient) 6.75

Empty Mirror / Seen Through / Glory Fckn Sun member Ben Spiers turns in an impressive full-length of degraded guitar / amp meditations. There's a warm buzz to the sound at odds with the emptiness and ill-ease of the sounds which have an "end of the universe" feel to them, mournful feedback tones and burrowing oscillations and intensely focussed meditations on single notes.

• Smokers Please 7" (Yoko Ono Tribute Weekend) 4.50

The latest from New Zealander Ben Spiers on his new label. Ben has recently moved to England and has altered his approach to recording, now using a 4 track and overdubbing. Side A finds him on familiar territory with guitar, amp fuzz and hum and viola layered into a monolithic distorted drone. On the flip there's more distortion with guitar strumming a 2 chord dirge and the nasal whine of stylophone. 

This is a fascinating collaboration between clarsach player (Scottish harp) Catriona McKay (currently a member of the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra) and electro-acoustic composer Alistair MacDonald. I saw this pair play a magical live set last week for the first time.  Catriona uses her harp more as an instrument of percussion than the sweet notes you would expect and Alistair manipulates the sounds live using laptop.The result is a haunting ambience with huge sweeps of silvery electric sighs, percussive flurries of notes, notes bent out of shape and scraped metal. It's a sound that would fit nicely on the CLaudia label. Nice fold-out card artwork.

• Cheap Blood cdr (Blueberry Honey / Manhand) cdr 2
• Tailwind cdr (Blueberry Honey / Manhand) cdr 2

A couple of cdrs capturing sounds from recent SHOTM tours.

A collection of ten songs, some in Spanish, set within fairly minimal arrangements. There's a splash of harmonium, banjo and piano, but nothing detracts from Sutherland's voice. This founder member of Cerecrus Shoal delivers powerful and heartfelt music, ranging from personal reflection to what I can only call protest songs. In these, Sutherland's voice has a snarl which is in parts P.F. Sloan and Steve Earle. Quality material throughout. (JC)

Synthesisia - I Dreamed a World of Darkness & You The White Light Shining cd (Blue Sanct) 6

This is essentially a solo album by Isaac Edwards, although Michael Tapscott, his bandmate in Californian outfit Odawas, pops up playing acoustic guitar along the way. Edwards, meanwhile, generates a range of sounds quite sumptuous as melodies on piano, synths flute and who can guess what else weave in and out of drones, undulating in a glorious sonic haze. It gets quite symphonic at times and it is very lovely. (JC)

Tabata Mitsuru - Mankind Street cd (Fourth Dimension) 7

This album gets off to a flying start as a haunting deep piano/synth loop underpins rising oscillations and soaring psych guitar. Hiroshi Higashi, who has played alongside Tabata in Acid Mothers Temple, guests on this one. Elsewhere, there's a rather elegiac folk-like piece, some rather more extreme noisy fayre and even one track with a hurdy gurdy on it - always a welcome thing. This is a guitarist's solo album, make no mistake, but it's certainly not short on variety or fine invention. You might expect this from a founder member of the Boredoms and you wouldn't be disappointed. (JC)

Taiga Remains - Wax Canopy cd and 3" cdr (Digitalis) 5

Special edition of the latest album from Alex Cobb which comes with a 3" of exclusive material. This is Taiga Remains at his finest, orchestrating hum, electricity, feedback and shifting tones into expansive droneworks. Excellent stuff.

A half hour, divided into two untitled pieces, of heavy duty, drone filled, overdriven, bone crunchin' noise music from Dayton, Ohio. The first piece has the feel of heavy industry, the second more like the sound of some sort of sub-aquatic installation piece. (JC)

Temple Music are a British duo of Alan Trench and Stephen Robinson. Using guitar, bass and synths they create a super-spaced-out soundscape, full of gliding guitar and echo. Al Qaeda are a 5 piece from the States and their track is one long stream of messed-up glitchery and firestorm distortion.

Murk indeed. Temples is Kevin Richards from Denver who records guitar and layers and overlayers the resultant sounds on tape to create a swirl of disorientating murk at times. The final track (and title track) finds the guitar a distant rumble, minimal and melancholic. 

Denver's Kevin Richards has already had one cdr out on Pseudoarcana, the appropriately titled "Murk". The source sounds on this release continue to dwell in the shadows and the background sounds become the almost oppressive foreground through which the source can seem like a distant light in a thick fog. An absorbing listen.

Textured Bird Transmission / Nackt Insecten split LP (Thee Intergalaktik Beard) 14.50

Lovely split featuring a couple of tracks from Textured Bird Transmission of synth float, bird song and airy oms - along the same lines as Dolphins Into the Future. On the other side more over-saturated analogue synth oblivion from Glasgow's wonderful Nackt Insecten. All black sleeve and insert with black type so you'll never know those track titles! Also an inner sleeve with artwork by Justin Wright of Expo 70.

These Are Powers - Silver Lung 7" (Elsie and Jack) 3.50

"These ex-members of LIARS, KNIFE SKILLS & NO THINGS express their abrasive avant noise rock w/vigour over this 3 track 7". This is their 1st vinyl after several well received tapes & cdr's. Anna's primal screams & ghostly whispers, Pat's nursery rhyme chanting w/surging bass & Ted's near motorik beats run riot like a crazed Plastic Ono Band filtered through that Brooklyn/NYC haze. This is E&J's first foray into the lair of lacquer, pressed on heavyweight white vinyl presented in a beautifully printed & laser etched black card sleeve w/additional colour transluscent vellum insert."

These Wonderful Evils 

• Regine Flory cd (Sparrows & Wires) 5
• Regine Flory LP (Sparrows & Wires) 8 

These Wonderful Evils is Zak Boerger and this is a wonderful album of loner psych. The opening track reminds me of Alistair Galbraith: Zak's weary vocals waver in the midst of an incredible ragged guitar and sparse percussion. Other tracks have more of a folk / pastoral feel with heavily reverbed acoustic guitar and vocals, reminiscent of Flying Saucer Attack's less feedback consumed moments. Highly recommended. 

• Parade Room LP (Sparrows & Wires) 6

Stunning follow-up to These Wonderful Evil's amazing debut "Regine Flory". Solo project of Zak Boerger, the sound recalls Alastair Galbraith / Peter Jefferies with extended ragged ballads, a psychedelic feel and oodles of fuzz. Add to that some Flying Saucer Attack moments with folky acoustic guitar awash with swirls of feedback. Add to that a real outsider / loner feel and you have another great album.

Sounds and found objects manipulations recorded on a beach on Re island in France.  Nocturnal music concrete: scratchings in the undergrowth and some occasional blasts of pure noise.

a hopped-up 4 tracker that could be the end of year coursework from a bunch of snarling and grinning students from the Kill Rock Stars academy of punk pop - think Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bangs, Bis, Sonic Youth, Huggy Bear with a bit of late 70s Rough Trade 

Reissue of the long out-of-print Ultra Eczema LP. Jan Anderzen (Avarus / Kemialliset Ystavat) with some particularly demented electronics: from the psychedelic Dennis Tyfus / Anderzen sleeve to the equally weird and wonderful cut-ups inside everything about this LP is so vibrant it makes my head hurt - a strobing collage of tormented analogue synths, either squalling and duelling or swarming in a seething mass. Great stuff.

Tonal Wasteland - Desolate cassette (Digitalis) 2.50

More blasted synth wastelands from Digitalis, this time from Australian Ben Lynch. This opens with an infernal onslaught, a wind tunnel of modular synth fizz and doom that sucks everything up into its bleak centre. There are some haunting fragments of melody snuggled alongside the maelstrom so we can conclude that Ben's heart is not entirely black.

• II cdr (Reverb Worship) 2.50

This disc is a rather lovely way to spend half an hour! Japan's Tranko mix the sounds of traditional Ainu instruments from Hokkai with sitar, tabla, some rather trancey beats and voices, ethereal in places and a chant-like song to close. (JC)

3rd release on Reverb Worship from Japanese band Tranko. 8 musicians contribute to this one, playing guitar, sitar, tabla, drums, harmonium, electronics and bass. The result is a mellowed out Far Eastern take on lounge psych. 

Trimdon Grange Explosion 7" (Great Pop Supplement) 5

During the folk song revival of the early 20th century, someone remarked�caustically�that the only thing you can do with a folk song is play it again, only louder. There were several other possibilities which this short-sighted critic had not taken into account. Adding twangy electric guitars was one of them, but that lay in the future, and writing "Trad. Arr." and adding your own name onto the title opened up the avenue of making a stack of money from having a folk song hit. Alan Price was particularly adept at this and is still making a killing from House of the Rising Sun. He tried the same trick again with a particularly heinous version of the 1882 number about a colliery tragedy at Trimdon Grange, near Durham. Now this London based band, calling themselves after that very tune, have found another thing you can do with a folk song: counteract the evil works of Alan Price by recording a good version of said song! This side of the 45 features female vocals, there's a male lead on the twang-fest that is the flipside, Raider, the whole thing is easy to recommend and comes in the GPS label's usual high standard of packaging. Folk-rock lives again! (JC)

Turner Cody - Buds of May cd (Digitalis) 1.50

Buds of May had a small run cdr outing in 2004, so this Digitalis issue will hopefully bring these songs to a wider audience than they've had so far: they certainly deserve to be heard. Cody, also known as a member of Herman Dune, has a bittersweet quality to his voice which would appeal to fans of, say, Vic Cestnutt. Before I found that he grew up in Boston, the title track was making me think of Jonathan Richman too. A good, concise album of songs with many memorable lyric lines. (JC)

Alexander Turnquist - As the Twilight Crane Dreams in Color cd (VHF) 5

The follow-up to 2007's "Faint at the Loudest Hour". 3 tracks of 12 string guitar hypnosis. The guitar provides a shimmering texture while piano, glockenspiel and vibraphone carry the melodic line. Heavy use of reverb gives it a rich, full sound. Gorgeous.

• Then Fell the Ashes LP (Blackest Rainbow) 10.25

Solo project of Mehdi Ameziane of Natural Snow Buildings. The main part of the album comprises gorgeous textured acid-folk drones, layering sitar, harmonium, vocals, synth and guitar; magical sounds that reverberate around the house like early morning sunlight. Peppered between these are beautiful gossamer-fragile ballads. 

Reissue of an earlier UBS release. 'Airs' is a return to free pastoral folk - recorded live in a church in Limerick using harp, guitars and percussion and it's utterly gorgeous. 

• The Jonah cd (Camera Obscura) 7.50

Excellent new album from Dublin-based collective United Bible Studies who were inspired by Richard Youngs' Ilk recordings to make a prog album. Certainly the album starts off very prog-like with sweeping synth and spoken vocals courtesy of Current 93's Richard Moult. It continues into the incredible 16 minute centrepiece of this album "The Jonah" which morphs from Peter Gabriel-era Genesis to demonic metal posturings to melancholic English folk (Genesis meets Burzum?!!). The rest of the album is full of pastoral loveliness and the Colohan-sung tracks remind me of Roy Harper which is always welcome. Sharron Kraus lends her vocals on a duet for the traditional "The Lowlands of Holland". Highly recommended.

last in the LE 'wage slave' series and appropriately packaged in a wage packet: recorded live in Glasgow 2003, nigh inaudible improv jam featuring laptop, disabled percussion, dismantled trumpet, stringless guitar and a whole lot of hum - turn up for maximum effect

• Shiva Blues cdr (Om Ha Sva Ha Ksha Ma La Va Ra Yam) 2.50

Another great Uton recording on Jani's own label, this time recorded back in Finland. Heavy minimalism on guitar with harsh bowed strings floating amidst overtones of feedback. The first track reminds me of the hillbilly mantras of Henry Flynt with its frenetic concentration. Handmade sleeve.

• Shiva Blues cdr (Reverb Worship) 3.50

Heavy minimalism on guitar with harsh bowed strings floating amidst overtones of feedback. The first track reminds me of the hillbilly mantras of Henry Flynt with its frenetic concentration. This is the second edition which is limited to 50 copies with a slightly different napkin (it protects the cd) and insert from the first edition on Om Ha Sva Ha Ksha Ma La Ka La Yam.

• Mental Connections cdr (Housecraft) 3

Recorded in Finland in March 2008, this is another fine disc from Uton. Alchemical bubblings, ethereal oscillations, subaquatic undertow.

Features two slabs of solo MV action - one from around the time of "Space Shanties" and sounding like it would have fitted nicely on that album. The other side is and sounds more recent - echo-heavy cosmic folk meditations. Offset printed two-tone heavy card sleeve.

Music made to accompany one of Van Hoorebeke's batik works at the Croxhapox gallery in Ghent , Belgium . Looped found sounds that makes me think I'm listening to a Moondog instrumental underwater.

Beautiful new album from lute-player Jozef Van Wissem, sometime co-member of Brethren of the the Free Spirit with James Blackshaw. Like Blackshaw, Van Wissem's compositions are elegant and circular although his style is somewhat more minimalist. The result is endlessly hypnotic. 

Annerledes Enn is the title of a book of poetry by Norway's Arild Vange. It means "Otherwise Than" in English and, were you to buy a copy of it, you would find this album inside. As the book is in Norwegian, a limited number of cds are being made available separate from this volume. After all, what may be beyond our comprehension in print may sound most interesting in an abstract way in purely sonic form. Vange switches between English and Norwegian, throws in a line from Leonard Cohen along the way and develops a rhythm and form which works as sound poetry, even if you don't understand all of the words. Neil Davidson's subtle and understated accompaniments provide a very sympatico space for the poet's voice to flow and a context for meaningful sound beyond the literal meaning of words. (JC)

Reissue of a self-released cdr on heavy vinyl, from Vanishing Voice without Wooden Wand and Satya Sai: one side is a long and loose tranced jam. The other side features three tracks: one a possessed piece of hazy campfire finger-picking, another an almost dub-esque array of sounds orbiting the central chanting and pounding and the last lifts cosmos-bound with strobing trumpet, over-saturated effects and quavering high-pitched vocals. Great stuff.

Vega Stereo - Festival 3000 cassette (Digitalis) 2

"vega stereo is another side to the story that is alexey AKA analog concept.  once again, this comes straight from russia with a bullet.  vega stereo is a duo with his wife, nastya.  this one is just as synthed-out as the analog concept double, but you're in for a whole different ride.  laced with minimalist beats and vague, nu-age stylings like a bed of golden feathers, vega stereo is going to whisk you away.  it's obvious these cats grew up on detroit techno and hypnotic ambient waves.  beautiful stuff from the rough & tumble. " (Digitalis)

Velvet Hour - Demo cdr (Fictitious Sighs) 6.50

One of 3 releases on Tim Coster's new label. Duo comprising Tim with Shannon O'Brien, recorded live in Christchurch, February 2009. Guitar pounds out a monotonous percussive growl and casio, melodica and percussion loosely hang around its dirge-like drone. 

Venereum Arvum - A Pentacle of Pips cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.50

A band name and album title that surely can only mean prog-folk! Venereum Arvum is a duo featuring Rachel McCarron and Sean Breadin; the latter also records as Sedayne and that serves as a useful reference point to this release. Using instruments like banjo, harmonium, crwth, kenence, citera, goose pipe and shruti box, the pair create a magical and haunting take on English folk. Recommended.

Vibracathedral Orchestra / Infinite Light split 7" (Krayon) 2.50

"Vibracathedral drop straight into a heads down fully tranced narco-dust trail, with guitar-born fireflies leading the way through a never-changing backdrop heat haze of low-lying smoke-mist and earth-veined throb. Fx tweets and rattlesnake percussion shakes as mystic keyboard spirits blow in a weightless drift. The first cut from Infinite Light is a section lifted from a show featuring Barry Dean on guitar, Mick Flower on guitar and organ and Pete Nolan jamming the traps, and its a full, free-rock, psych-out captured through a heavy veil of no-fi smog. By the sounds of this they must have blasted open the trans-dimensional portal to some out-of-time temple rituals. Part two is the opposite, exchanging blasted group workout for a solo piece of harmonic guitar vignettes wrapped around a falsetto vocal cadence fluctuating at the point of saturation. Art by Barry Dean, design by Mick Flower." (Krayon)

Ville A.E. Suopajarven Puiset Heilat 3" cdr (267 Lattajjaa) 1

Delightful folk-psych songs where the expected ingredient (fuzz guitar) is offset by the surprise (whistling!). If you like FSA (particularly very early stuff, Alphane Moon and Dan delion Wine, this will almost certainly spend lots of time in your cd player. The last track is an instrumental cloud of shimmery, warbly analogue keyboard and is just lovely. So are the grainy photos of ponies on the cover. (JC)

Visitations 

• s/t cd (Time Lag) 8

Great new release on Time Lag from this Maine trio. Haunting acid folk with a real quietly apocalyptic feel, like some early 70s private press LP straight out of some besieged commune in the woods. Heavy acoustic strumming leads you into a trance and siren-like female vocals lead you deeper still, while a listless male vocal intones "I can hear the horsemen coming". Music with a really timeless intimacy and spellbinding atmosphere. Great intricate artwork from the band. Highly recommended. 

• s/t 2LP (Red Records) 28.50

Time Lag's sister label Red Records present a double coloured vinyl issue of the first private press cdr by Visitations from 5 years ago. It captures their backwoods acid-folk in an early lo-fi and loose form and clearly tips a nod to Tower Recordings with heavy occult leanings. pressed on two slabs of 180gm bright red vinyl & packaged in an ultra-minimal heavy art paper gatefold cover with raised plastic ink screen printed cover text, paste-on interior polaroid photo sticker, stamped & hand numbered spine. printed & hand stamped labels. plus each copy is enclosed in a two-tone stitched synthetic felt (made from 100% recycled plastic bottles) envelope pouch in various colour combinations.

Volcano the Bear 

• Egg and Two Books cd (Vivo) 10.50

After a quiet time, the mid 2000s have found VTB most definitely back with a bang, There's a hymnal quality to a lot of this that's a bit like a crossroads between a Gaelic service in Scotland's Western Isles, temple sounds from the far East and a free music freakout, with the emphasis on "out", as in "far…". Those who get it will leave with a big smile, those who don't with an expression of utter bafflement. Thing about Volcano is they have no quarter for the middle distance - and they're all the better for that! (JC)

• The Mountains Among Us cd (Beta Lactum) 11

A beautifully packaged re-issue of an album which first appeared in 2002. Although it came out in 3 different editions then, the total number of copies was still only something like 190, so this music will come to many listeners (me included) fresh and previously unheard. The two pieces, Supreme and Sublime & Dragon or Emperor, have clearly been devised with lp sides in mind, as shorter episodes flow together into each longer track - and what fine long works they are: soundtracks to unseen movies of glacial labyrinths, exotic dancers replete with snakes, the electronic and (mainly) acoustic sounds conjuring many images and colours. Although we are not treated to a free plastic insect, as with one of the original lp runs, the hard bound cd case is quite a piece of art in itself. Recommended. (JC)

Vollmar - Okay cd (Blue Sanct) 4

"Vollmar's third full length is a collection of bus songs, sorry sue songs, mountain songs and more. Full band and intuitive production and it's really good." (BS)

Justin Vollmar - Every Place is Home cd (Blue Sanct) 4

"Dark strummed dreaminess in a contemporary bedroom sort of way. Biography as base for poetics, in the tradition of Belle & Sebastian and The Microphones" (BS)

Julia Vorontsova - Our Garden Circle cdr and dvdr (Foxglove) 5

Russian bard singer Julia Vorontsova (with previous releases on Abaton) skeletally accompanied on guitar: the Russian sung songs are haunting, melancholic and atmmospheric. There is also a dvd-r featuring live performance, a photo slideshow and sketchbook work. Long sold-out at source.

• Long Lost Tapes 1970 cd (Tompkins Square) 7

"Peter Walker came up in the Cambridge MA and Greenwich Village folk scenes of the Sixties. He recorded two albums for the Vanguard label in the late Sixties in a style best described as American folk-raga. He studied with Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan, and was Dr. Timothy Leary's musical director, organizing music for the LSD advocate’s “celebrations.”" These tapes were recorded in Woodstock in 1970 but languished unheard for nearly 40 years. Intoxicatingly free electrified ragas with a band comprising flute, alto sax, clarinet, bass and percussion.

blistering static noise bursts from this Maine duo

Warmer Milks - The Figure 3" cdr (Rural Faune) 1

5 fragmentary tracks of looping circuitry, incantations, bells and deranged vocal loops.

Wax Ghost 

• The Halo of Mt. St. Helens cdr (Foxglove) 4.50

Delicate beat-less electronic melodies that have all the wide-eyed simplicity of Raymond Scott's 'Soothing Sounds For Babies' - gorgeous sounds from Eden Rose (also of Corsican Paintbrush / Sunmilk).

• Adze cdr (Cook an Egg) 6.50

It's been too long since the last release from Eden Hemming Rose (also of Sunmilk and Corsica Paintbrush). This is beautiful and surpasses her last 2 cdrs - with a rolecall of instruments that reads like a list of my favourites - piano, autoharp, thumb piano, hand percussion, violin, glockenspiel, melodica, chord organ - Eden creates fragmentary lullabies that it sounds almost obtrusive to overhear. 

Weyes Blund - Liquor Castle 7" (Memoirs of an Aesthete / Smokers Gifts) 2

Jagged distortion-riddled ballads from Natalie Mering. Lo-fi (apparently the master arrived on cassette!) and disjointed but with a warped pop heart.

White Crime - Ruining America cassette (Teosinte) 3.50

New duo featuring Brad Rose (North Sea) and Eden Hemming Rose (Wax Ghost). Some of this sounds like a really primitive take on Joy Division and other parts like a black metal worshipping, barbiturate-dosed Jesus & Mary Chain. Unexpected and most welcome.

White Leopards - s/t cassette (Digitalis) 3.50

One for the analogue synth fans, or "analog", if you're into American spellings, as the insert says "all tracks were recorded using analog electronic machines". Win Chavez is the Los Angeles based sound artist behind White Leopards and the synth-fest on offer here is of the sort that just wants turned up nice and loud so you can really get into the sumptuousness of those sounds. 75 copies only, so if you like the idea, don't hang around! (JC)

The Whole Voyald - Live at the Heeley Institute cdr (Singing Knives) 5

Excellent live improvisation between the Serfs, Pascal of Stuckometer and trumpeter Stuart from Smear Campaign. Expansive drones and ecstatic clatter.

Adam Willetts - Live cdr (Fictitious Sighs) 6.50

Recorded live at the Lines of Flight festival in Dunedin, 2009 and sounding like a one-man Kraftwerk. Melodic synth magic that should soundtrack sunrise.

Fine, stomping American folk from the man who says he took up banjo because he liked Earl Scruggs' closing music from Bonnie & Clyde. There's banjo here, alongside various homemade instruments including the enticingly named TurboDiddly & Voodoo Box. Take your partners - do-se-do! (JC)

Saturated guitar noise bleeding from the speakers - hand-painted sleeve and just about out of stock at source.

A Wooden Door - s/t cdr (Reverb Worship) 2.50

22 instrumental tracks by guitarist David Kellett, recorded at home with a nice lo-fi fuzz. Finger-picked nylon strings, fuzzed-up improv and pastoral strums, sometimes accompanied by recorder.

Wounded Knee 

• Star Wars Minus the Shite 3" cdr (Lapsed Electronics) 1.50

frenetic machine chatter and blasts of noise 

• Creatures of Habit cdr (self-released) 2

This new self-released cdr continues in the folk / drone vein explored on "New Flesh": doleful a cappella rounds with Drew's deep tones looped and echoing off into the horizon and the frenetic looped throb of wooden percussion (xylophone) that reminds me of some of Robert Horton's Far Eastern meditations. The sci-fi analogue electronic hum of "Prizzi's Honour" reminds me of Mount Vernon Arts Lab. Best of all is "How Soon is Your Face": an undulating massed drone like a blanket of fog and a blatant Smiths' steal used to haunting effect. 

• The Illicit Still cdr (Pjorn) 2

A set of titles inspired by distillation ("oh such heady vapours"… yes, quite); a set of tracks drawing on the hymnal quality of Scottish music, with a bit of the Sanctus used in Lindsay Anderson's If and Pink Floyd's Pow R Toc H thrown in or good measure! There's one piece here which has a central vocal line, but akin to the other tracks, it evolves on the hypnotic feel of a repeated phrase. All rather fine, I must say. (JC)

• Mycology Is Better Than Yours cdr (self-released) 2.50

Another release from the ever fascinating Wounded Knee and where better to go after a cd extolling the virtues of whisky than onto "magical spores". This comes in a hand-made sleeve with a suitably psychedelic illustration. There are 4 tracks of hypnotically looped layers of vocals / harmonica / jews harp (and do I hear the thin whine of toy bagpipes? A lovely sound - reminds me of the "Hamish" episode of Bagpuss) which, along with the yelps and handclaps, create a deeply joyous tranced folk. Anyone for some round-singing on acid?! 

• Future Primitive cdr (self-released) 2.50

Hot on the heels of the great "Mycology" cdr comes this new one from Edinburgh's Wounded Knee. Drew Wright builds layer upon layer of primitive percussion (handclaps, tin cans, paper & comb, shakers by the sounds of it), then further layers of buzzing harmonica or jew's harp and vocals. The songs remind me of the those sung by chain gangs or sea shanties but they pulse along with a modern industriousness; in fact the army of percussive noises sounds like the hectic pace of the city. Fascinating.

• Die Berliner Luft cdr (Shazzblat) 2.50

New cdr from Edinburgh's Drew Wright on his new label, recorded in Berlin. As distinctive and fascinating as ever this is minimally recorded using one mic, a radio and looping pedals, much like his live sets. The vocal tracks range from the suitably soporific thrum and almost Aboriginal drone of "The Big Sleep" to the protest round-singing of "Iran" to the a cappella renditions of "I See a Darkness" and the traditional "When the Whale Gets Strike". Add to this some wonderfully fuzzed-up drones, kazoo crooned melancholy and shortwave hauntings, and you have a mighty fine disc.

• Mystic Mixtape cdr (Shazzblat) 2.50

Another helping of loop-magic from Drew Wright. This is one long (38 minute) track which builds a chorus of murmurs into a blurry drone cloud. Drew recorded this late at night and it has the sound of being for his ears alone; his vocals are soft and weary, layered into a crepuscular hymnal. Deep in those layers magic lies and this is a most peaceful listen. 

• Edina Home Brew cdr (Shazzblat) 3

Great new release from Drew Wright's Wounded Knee. Tow long pieces of looped a cappella singing that sound like dream fragments of ancient folk songs. The rhythmic parts of this sound aboriginal, on other parts we can hear sea shanties accompanied by whirring feedback and a ramshackle rewrite of "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes". 

Yoshino - Sun, Moon cdr (Reverb Worship) 3

Solo release from Yoshino of Tranko / Mizuumi. Mystical Eastern-influenced psych-ballads featuring electric saz and esraj. Gorgeous hand-made pink lace cover.

Young Boys / F.M. Face split cassette (Digitalis) 2.50

The tape with its black and white cut & paste style comes straight out of punk fanzines. Young Boys are a dead-ringer for early Jesus & Mary Chain. On the other side F.M. Face's fuzz guitar, drum machine and distorted holler sound like a crazed cross between Bauhaus and Dr Mix & the Remix.

Yuko x Chino - Sensory Deprivation Techniques cdr (Rural Faune) 2.50

Monolithic distorted guitar from Danny Sasqrotch - it howls and squeals and is mightily black.

Carter Thornton is the person behind Zashiki Warashi and before I even listen, the cd has caught my attention because it comes in a sack cloth bag. There's a feel of European chamber music (Schnittke might be a reference point) in a piano and 'cello piece here. Another track has a guitar phrase repeated at different pitches with much space between, there's fuzzed electronics too and a loop of field recording which I can't quite pin down. Actually, the whole thing is hard to pin down! Diverse, intriguing and limited to 80 copies. (JC)

The zorna is a traditional Kurdish instrument that looks like a chanter with an open end and sounds also not unlike a chanter. The music is breathless and hypnotic; I'm sure Zecharia must be using circular breathing! He is accompanied by a relentless drum keeping the beat. This really is incredible music that will transport you to other places and other mind states. 

Reissue of a double 3" that was one of the earliest Under the Spire releases. It's a bewilderingly dense sound, part cinematic jazz, part-Tangerine Dream dreamscapes and finally subaquatic ambience. Highly recommended.

a whirlwind of white noise and piston-pulses that won't let up from Phil Todd (Ashtray Navigations) and Lasse Marhaug