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Updated 1st March 2010

NEW ADDRESS

20A The Cross, Beith, KA15 1BS, UK

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. 

Ajilvsga - 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.

All in the Merry Month of May - At Home cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.50  

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.

Astral Social Club - #21 cdr (self-released) 5

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.

Astral Social Club / Glockenspiel split 7" (Krayon) 4.75

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)

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.

Sindre Bjerga 

  • Polluted Oceans of Hiss and Muck cdr (Blackest Rainbow) 5

Released to coincide with Sindre's UK tour, this features 2 live tracks from 2009, recorded in the Czech Republic. Industrial quantities of amp hum and searing bursts of electricity mixed up with siren wail and mangled vocals. Very limited.

  • Electrical Centrifuge cdr (Striate Cortex) 4.25

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. 

Sindre Bjerga & Robert Horton - Can't Go Fast Enough to Get There Early cd (Blackest Rainbow) 7.50

Collaboration between Norwegian drone / noise artist Sindre Bjerga and Robert Horton. Mesmerising haunted oscillations, tribal hallucinations that recall Skaters / Vodka Soap, the spectral shimmer and repeated hypnosis from Horton's Boot-guitar, Bjerga's haunted drones reaching into the depths. Other contributors include fiddle player Hal Hughes, Bjerga's usual collaborator Jan Iversen and Lisa Graves on bagpipes.

Bjerga / Iversen - 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)

Bjerga / Iversen / Paulsen - River of Ashes cdr (Striate Cortex) 6

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.

Body Morph - Travel Keys cassette (Digitalis) 5

Body Morph is Dan Dlugosielski and he is another conspirator in the Digitalis plot to obliterate the world with bleak synths and wired electronics. This cassette is at the fried end of wired! The electronics hiss, pop and burble and Dan also contributes some damaged sax playing to the mayhem.

Bong - Hilgamesh Lives cd (Blackest Rainbow) 7

Doom stoner rock from Newcastle with the addition of sitar.

Mark Bradley - 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.

A Broken Consort

  • Crow Autumn cd (Tompkins Square) 8.75
  • Crow Autumn LP (Tompkins Square) 9.75

Brume - The Sun / The Moon 2cd (Elsie and Jack) 18

Super-stylish return from Elsie and Jack with an excellent double from one of their regulars, Brume / Christian Renou. "The Moon" commemorates 40 years since the Apollo Moon Landings and features contributions from James & Phil Rodriguez (Monera). Haunting textural drone that sounds like a radio telescope transmission from unknown galaxies. Thin wire vibrations, deep ominous rumblings and long-lost voices travelling from far far away.  The first cd, "The Sun", is a long-awaited remastered reissue of a cassette that appeared on Old Europa Cafe. An exhilarating Middle Eastern influenced electro-acoustic sun worship ritual featuring bone-horn, tribal percussion, cheap synths and spliced field recordings. Despite being recorded in 1990 / 1991 it sounsd very current. Two individual releases all wrapped up in a beautifully designed package: a card folder which has been offset printed, embossed, laser cut, hand-numbered and assembled by our four hands. Inserts aplenty are to be found alongside the two separately packaged cds.

The George Burt / Raymond MacDonald Quartet - 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 Cairo Gang - Twyxt Wyrd LP (Blackest Rainbow) 9.50

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.

Tom Carter & Robert Horton - Campfire cassette (Sloow) 5.50

Charlatan - Destinations cassette (Digitalis) 5

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

Andrew Coltrane - 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.

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.

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

Black tape-wow rituals free Lee Stokoe.

Cursillistas - 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.

D Charles Speer & the Helix - Distillation LP & bonus cd (Three Lobed) 16.25

D. Charles Speer is, apparently, the countrified monicker of No Neck Blues Band's Dave Shuford. 'Tis country music for sure, reminding me in places of an album by Gene Parson called Kindling which oft tempts its way onto my turntable. Where the lyrics become a little stranger, I reflect on the strange twists that jumped out to catch us unawares in songs like Knoxville Girl from the Louvin Brothers: yes, strangeness was all part of the country tradition too. Mr Shuford's careworn voice sits just right for both the mellower moments and the harder edged stuff on the live cd which is included. Special not must be made of the gatefold paste-on sleeve wherein this is all contained, as artefacts of this standard have seldom been seen this side of about 1970! (JC)

Gareth Davis & Steven R Smith - The Line Across LP (Alt Vinyl) 16.50

Second collaborative album between guitarist Steven R Smith (Mizra, Thuja, Hala Strana etc) and clarinettist Gareth Davis with one long track per side. Crepuscular drones and post-midnight ambient abstractions. On side 1 Smith's guitar burns holes in the dense clarinet smog; later in the piece the distortion gives way to gentle strumming which has a meditative effect with Davis' clarinet key clatter sounding quite alchemical. The mysterious side resurfaces towards the end and I'm particularly keen on the creaking blasts of bass clarinet that sound like eruptions of magma. The second side is much moodier with the guitar / clarinet sounding dulled behind a creeping fog. Heavy vinyl.

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.

The Doozer - Error Engerumong cassette (Sloow) 5.50

This opens with a track that sounds like a loop of a long-lost Hood track and then veers off into exotic percussion hypnosis, inspired by Balinese gamelan music.

Jack Dove & Maquisard Acoustique - Le Ciel Ouvert cdr (Rural Faune) 6

This is a meeting of field recordings with assorted piping, strumming and vocalising. The birds and cicadas which appear here aren't just background sounds: they're at a level which makes them an integral part of the tracks, rather like pulling the focus between different dimensions and perspectives. A pleasantly beguiling mix it is too. (JC)

Dream Safari - Journey to Sky Beach cdr (Gold Soundz) 5.75

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.

Drunjus - Street Trader cdr (Striate Cortex) 5.50

John Edwards & Chris Corsano - Tsktsking LP (Dancing Wayang) 10.75

If you're already familiar with John Edwards and Chris Corsano, you might well be ready to snap up this lp without reading any further. Their melodic invention as a duo on bass and drums really flies throughout four pieces. There are a couple of winning aspects to this album which deserve a mention. First, it's good to hear something with a wide dynamic range, instead of everything being LOUD because - oh, that's the way we use plug-ins these days. Edwards and Corsano start so quietly and build like an approaching storm and the record captures that rising tension well. Another thing missing from most albums these days is a proper sleeve note and here we have one by Evan Parker, no less. (JC)

Enfer Boreal / 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.

Evening Fires 

  • Waves in the Air cdr (Deep Water) 5.50

Synths drone, an eleigaic saxophone wafts through a long piece called "Brother North Wind", crunchy guitars ring out over incisive drums on "From the High Country". The titles themselves suggest the sort of expansive instrumental fayre on offer here and it truly is lovely stuff, with radio samples popping up here and there. (JC) 

  • The Book of Wonders cdr (Deep Water) 5.50

Pennsylvania's Evening Fires sound sublimely mellow on this release. The guitar / bass / drums based tracks are pretty chilled - a kind of pastoral space-rock but the really fine moments on here are the opening track - a rippling pool of amorphous synth and glassy shards of percussion and "Drinking Fire, Wearing Water" with guitars that bubble like molten lava.

Eyeballs - The Invisible Castle cd (Blackest Rainbow) 7

An hour-long piece of gorgeous multi-layered drone, similar to Gareth Hardwick. Drift away to distant horizons.

Eyes Like Saucers - Parmalee, Tribute to a Dog cd (Ikuisuus) 7.50

Love me, love my dog is clearly the axiom of J. Knoch, alias Eyes Like Saucers. The front and back of the album have photos of Parmalee the dog, the latter candlelit and lying underneath a Farfisa Compact Duo organ - a winning image, for sure! Much of the album features the Farfisa, a harmonium and - I think - an old Casio in drones or swirling melodiousness. The last track, For Parmalee, is a reworking of the song which figured as the B-side of Mike Oldfield's festive hit version of In Dulce Jubilo. What started out as On Horseback is now a tribute to a dog. Love the dog; love Eyes Like Saucers... it's quite easy to do! (JC)

Family Elan 

  • Bow Low Bright Glow LP (Alt Vinyl) 16.50

A very very fine follow-up to the wonderful "Stare of Dawn" from Chris Hladowski ( Nalle / Scatter / The One Ensemble). The music is again very much influenced by Eurasian / Eastern European folk music and based around Chris playing bazouki, saz, sitar among other things I've never heard of no doubt. He is joined by fellow Nalle member Hanna Tuulikki on a variety of recorders / flutes and vocals and Patrick Farmer on percussion. The album opens with the stunning "Thousands of Patterns of You" which morphs from traditional folk song to multi-layered string devotional to joyful folk-dance that makes you want to dance. This could sum up the rest of the album which is divided between interpretations of traditional tunes and Chris' own compositions. It's extraordinary: from the quality of musicianship - Chris is truly a god of long-necked lutes and Hanna's flute-playing exquisitely avian. Another fantastic track is "The Black Planets of Her Eyes" which starts out as an Azeri folk tune and then becomes a dark mystical devotional with Chris chanting like a chorus of monks on a mountaintop, like an unholy meeting of A Hawk and A Hacksaw and Vibracathedral Orchestra somewhere in the Urals. As I said, extraordinary stuff. Beautifully recorded by John Cavanagh at Glo-Spot. Gatefold sleeve with Hanna Tuulikki's expressive artwork. Heavy vinyl.

  • Bow Low Bright Glow cd (Alt Vinyl) 10

A very very fine follow-up to the wonderful "Stare of Dawn" from Chris Hladowski (Nalle / Scatter / The One Ensemble). The music is again very much influenced by Eurasian / Eastern European folk music and based around Chris playing bazouki, saz, sitar among other things I've never heard of no doubt. He is joined by fellow Nalle member Hanna Tuulikki on a variety of recorders / flutes and vocals and Patrick Farmer on percussion. The album opens with the stunning "Thousands of Patterns of You" which morphs from traditional folk song to multi-layered string devotional to joyful folk-dance that makes you want to dance. This could sum up the rest of the album which is divided between interpretations of traditional tunes and Chris' own compositions. It's extraordinary: from the quality of musicianship - Chris is truly a god of long-necked lutes and Hanna's flute-playing exquisitely avian. Another fantastic track is "The Black Planets of Her Eyes" which starts out as an Azeri folk tune and then becomes a dark mystical devotional with Chris chanting like a chorus of monks on a mountaintop, like an unholy meeting of A Hawk and A Hacksaw and Vibracathedral Orchestra somewhere in the Urals. As I said, extraordinary stuff. Beautifully recorded by John Cavanagh at Glo-Spot. Gatefold sleeve with Hanna Tuulikki's expressive artwork. 

Flying Sutra - 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.

M Geddes Gengras - Triptych of the Divine and Blackened Arts cassette (Digitalis) 5

Ged has been involved in a whole host of stuff prior to this release including Fantastic Ego, Robedoor, Pocahaunted & Antique Brothers. He has now built a modular synth and it is this he unleashes on this solo release. Brimming with fizz and hiss, this sounds like outer-space melodies picked up on a shortwave radio. 

The Goner - Behold A New Traveler cdr (Deep Water) 5.50

Greenhouse - Learning Curve cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.50  

Debut release from Canadian Curran Faris. This is lovely - ever-evolving soft-edged tones and e-bow drones. Harmonic sunlight.

Guanaco - Sky Burials LP (Blackest Rainbow) 9.50

Hans Chew - New Cypress Grove Boogie 7" (Three Lobed) 5.50

Robert Horton - 30 Years of Tape Music cassette (Gold Soundz) 5.75

A delve into the treasure trove of Robert Horton's recordings from the last 30 years. Imaginative splicings, harmonica breath, android covers of bubblegum pop, space hum ... there's never a dull moment on any of Horton's releases.

Robert Horton / Sindre Bjerga - Broken Wisdom on Its Wild Lone cdr (Striate Cortex) 6

A reconstruction of Sindre Bjerga's solo release "Broken Wisdom" by Sindre and Robert Horton. The result is an endless shimmering subtly evolving dronescape of synth, gong, boot, tapes and effects. It's hard to see where one sound ends and another begins on a journey into infinity. Nice homemade packaging.

Jan M Iversen - Live Klubb Kanin 2 x 3"cdr & dvdr (Striate Cortex) 7

Four live tracks recorded as an accompaniment to short films at Klubb Kabin. All my copies have a dvdr featuring the films. Very limited.

Keijo & Uton - Alun Aania cdr (Om Ha Sva Ha Ksha Ma La Va Ra Yam) 4.50

Two of Finland's prolific forces come together here for an album of mainly instrumentals where strong bass lines underpin developing wildness - some of it very organic; some of it electronic. There's an air of mystery to the only song and sounds of nature fuse with the contemplative harmonica and guitar of the closing track which, in translation, is called awakening from sleep. As it is at the end, I'm developing the notion that the rest of the album might be a soundtrack to a night of colourful dreams! (JC)

Kitchen Cynics - The "Tune-a-Day" Covers cdr (self-released) 5

What a treat! 29 versions of some very fine songs by Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Ivor Cutler, Love, Bridget St John, Kevin Ayers, Fairport Convention, the Pastels, Chris Bell, the Creation T Rex, TVPs, Roy Harper, Slade and more. Alan Davidson has such a distinctive style and it's a pleasure to hear him cover such an array of great songs. 16 come from the "Tune-a-day" cdrs of 2007, others come from cassettes from the 80s and 90s and a couple of tracks at the end from the De-Quincys. Dreamtime bedroom psych-pop - I'm in heaven.

Knit Prism - Perception cassette (Digitalis) 5

Knit Prism is Michael Pouw who also runs the House of Sun label. He creates an electronic storm of malfunctioning analogue synths, Carpenter-esque creepiness and much magical bleepery.  

Samara Lubelski - Spectacular of Passages  / Did You See 7" (Time Lag) 5.50

Dreamy folk-pop from Samara Lubelski (Hall of Fame  / Golden Road / Tower Recordings). 2 tracks that date from 2004. Packaged in silver & black on bright red offset printed art paper covers, with simple hand stamped labels.

Raymond MacDonald / Adife Mannix - Other Voices cd Nu-Jazz) 8

This collaboration between Irish poet Aoife Mannix and Melodybar favourite Raymond MacDonald is rather special. The range of Mannix's work is wide: from beautifully poetic language to genuinely funny pieces about jammed fairground rides and trashed nights out with camp disco references. Raymond's saxophone work is, as ever, crisp and inspired, but here he provides some particularly sympathetic accompaniments on piano too. Something very different and recommended. (JC)

Raymond MacDonald / Satoko Fujii / Neil Davidson / Natsuki Tamura / Tom Bancroft - Cities cd (Nu-Jazz) 8

Magdalena Solis - Lady of the Wild Things cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.50

A Belgian trio with a taste for the dark side. Computer-assembled / manipulated jams / samples that ride a fine line between childlike and sinister. Sometimes recalls Hawkwind and sometimes Comus fed through an electronic mangle. 

Magickal Folk of the Faraway Tree - The Soup and the Shilling 2cd (Deserted Village) 12

Excellent release that compiles previous Magickal Folk recordings "The Cat's Melodeon" and "The Mildew Leaf" along with new recordings (all of the second disc). The band comprises Dave Colohan (Agitated Radio Pilot / United Bible Studies) and Shane Cullinane (Cosmic Nanou / United Bible Studies) along with assistance from Caroline Coffey, Gavin Prior (United Bible Studies), Sean Og and Scott McLaughlin. The songs are all folk songs learnt from Peter Kennedy's "Traditional Songs of Britain and Ireland", sometimes with new melodies written by Colohan / Cullinane. This is the most traditional of all the Deserted Village projects but has a gothic-with-a-small-g feel, a real feeling of magic, a "live" sounds like it was recorded in a mystical inn situated at the very edge of the world and of course the wonderful vocals of Dave Colohan. Highly recommended.

Mallucoch Quartet - Epitaph for an Exploding Star cdr (Striate Cortex) 5.50

The long-running duo of Jan Iversen and Sindre Bjerga are augmented by a saxophonist, Dario Fariello, and Daniele Giannotta on flutes percussion and "junk" of an unspecified nature. The combination of electronics, tape loops, acoustic instruments and voice leads to some intense, yet understated improvising. An undulating, misty landscape of sound. (JC)

Mangled Bohemians - Degeneration cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.50

Creepy atmospheres that recall Bjerga / Iversen, quiet and eerie guitar and mangled electronic alchemy.

Matricarians - Up Down & Sideways cdr (self-released) 5

This new Matricarians cd is replete with the always enticing voice and chiming guitar of Alan Davidson, as ever, but there are twists anew too.... there's a set of electronic pieces with titles like "Gandar-Dower Organises A Cheetah Race In London" which are, I suspect, named in honour of the man who founded Aberdeen Airport. Then there are 3 rather hypnotic long tracks, one running to over 20 minutes. It's difficult to review Matricarians releases without repeating what we've said here before, but it's very easy to praise them warmly! (JC)

Meditations - Precipice cassette (Digitalis) 5

Not the kind of meditations you would use to mellow down easy. Bass that crawls under your skin, black metal vocals, warped synth and a general air of malevolence.

Metal Rouge - Ephemeroptera 5 cdr (Seymour) 8

The latest in the Ephemeroptera series is another gem. The opener is the sound of Metal Rouge revving up - guitar strings warping and distant bass rising slowly like steam. The second and middle track is a righteous 3 minute cacophony of crashing drums, raging distortion and Helga's vocals rattling in the maelstrom. This release ends with a charged meditation of trembling wires with Helga's wordless wails awaking the dead. Excellent.

MV & EE - Live Road LP (Blackest Rainbow) 12.75

"Collection of very recent live excursions with MV & EE, all high quality recordings from shows in November 2009. The A side opens with a MV/EE duo perfromance of  'Mine All Troubled Blues' from Art Damage Lodge, Cinncinnatti, OH on 20/11/09. This heads straight into two interpretations of 'Environments', one from Project Lodge, Madison, WI which again is just raw MV/EE action, but the second features an enhanced line up with Muskox and Doc Dunn. The two versions are  blurred together into one log blazing 11 minute space jam. The flip side opens with the classic blues soaked 'Tea Devil' with Erika's laidback vocals backed with MV's rippling guitar shreds, Rongoose's (Ron Schneidermann of Sunburned/Spirit of Orr/Pewt'r) heavy bass bliss outs, and Chris Corsano's showcasing a slow moving stoned out drumkit. Straight from here we head into a completely trance inducing psychedelic haze of wild jamming with a totally different version of 'Environments'. The whole of the B side was recorded with Chris and Ron at Bank Row, Greenfield, MA. Edition of 400 pressed on heavyweight vinyl with hand stamped labels in black and white pro printed wrap  around jackets with cover art by Jeremy Earl of Woods/Woodsist Records. (BR)

Myrmyr - The Amber Sea cd (Digitalis) 7

Myrmyr are a duo comprising Agnes Szelag and Marielle Jakobsons (Darwinsbitch) and this is a concept album about the story of amber, tracing its origins and folklore. It's a magical and mysterious album, appropriately for such an extraordinary stone. The album opens with a Nico-esque harmonium-based drone-song. The album continues in a beautifully sombre vein with Baltic-tinged chamber folk, comprising 'cello, violin, piano and assorted woodwind / brass, and  electro-acoustic drone-based compositions that remind me of A Broken Consort. 

Steve Noble / John Edwards / Alan Wilkinson  - Newtoons LP (Bo'weavil) 11.50

I reviewed an album by the trio comprising Steve Noble, John Edwards & Alex Ward before for the Melodybar, commenting at the time that their improv work had dimensions which they brought from many different angles:  " Between them, these three players have worked with the likes of Brion Gysin, Charles Hayward and Eugene Chadbourne and such open minded versatility shines through their joyous playing". That thought applies here as it did to the earlier record and, without obvious references, I would think that This Heat & post-punk fans would find a lot of appeal in these new toons, every bit as much as the free jazz afficionados. (JC)

The One Ensemble & Sarah Kenchington - Dummy Jim cd (Unshaped Led) 7

James Duthie was a well traveled man and the music on this album was inspired by a journey he made in the early 1950's, cycling to the Arctic circle. This was commissioned for a film about Duthie called Dummy Jim, who was a deaf mute in the days before political correctness. Sarah Ketchington makes marvelous mechanical, musical sculptures which can, variously, be twanged, tooted, bowed, strummed and, appropriately for a film about a cyclist, pedaled! She and the Ensemble play together on one track here, but mostly take turn about and her unique sound world sits well against the band's off-kilter excellence. Don't switch off too quickly after the last track, as there's a hidden piece later: a good organ solo too. The meeting of the OE & SK is a winner all round. (JC)

The Ophelian - Seasonal - Early Jams & Improvisations cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.50

London-based trio of guitar, drums and bass. Two long tracks of slow-burning menacing riffing.

Our Love Will Destroy the World - Fucking Dracula CLouds LP (Blackest Rainbow) 10.50

"Stunning  new LP from Campbell Knele's post Birchville Cat Motel project.  Continues with the vibes set on his superb LP for Dekorder, total psychedelic filth noise. Two side long heavy pieces of gushing electric destruction, one sound lurches in and tears down another one,  which it rebuilds an even more ferocious version of the original sound. Limited to 400 copies in pro printed wrap around sleeve on  400gsm silk card." (BR)

Daniel Padden  & Sarah Kenchington - The Bellow Switch cd (Shadazz) 7

Who isn't fascinated by the wonderful array of musical instruments in the world? Beyond the horizons of those we usually hear, some intrepid sonic explorers dream up and create their own. I'm thinking about one-off figures like Harry Partch. Now we have Sarah Ketchington, whose projects include turning a disused house into a giant instrument in its own right. Although the house doesn't appear on The Bellow Switch, a collection of her sound-makers, which double as beautiful mechanical sculptures, were recorded and collaged by Daniel Padden to great effect. If you fancy something like you've never heard before, snap this one up! There's an eerie sense of wonder to the myriad twangs and wheezes which is hard to describe in a few words. The insert includes pictures of several instruments, a useful insight in themselves. (JC)

Phosphene & Friends - The Mercy of the Open Sea 3" cdr (Octane Grammophon) 4

The return of the mighty Finnish Octane Grammophon label and a new disc by Phosphene gives us two reasons to be cheerful at Boa HQ. Phosphene, of course, is Boa reviewer John Cavanagh, who also used to be half of Electroscope, wrote a book on "Piper at the Gates of Dawn", makes a mean Christmas dumpling and once featured on page 3 of the Sun next to Corrie's Reg Holdsworth, Pamela Anderson and a Sun Stunna. This excellent 3" features two ocean-inspired tracks: the first a collaboration with Drew Mulholland (Mount Vernon Arts Lab) - a short piece featuring Drew on harmonium, John on long silvery lines of e-bow guitar and sounding like a long lost track from Eno's "Another Green World". The second track is an epic semi-freeform re-imagining of the folk song "The Captain's Apprentice" which features me (on harmonium and vocals) as well as some of Glasgow's finest improvising musicians Aby Vulliamy, George Burt and Raymond MacDonald. Burt and MacDonald's guitar / sax in the latter part of the track ramp up the intensity as the water closes over the boy's head, descending notes and bubbling guitar runs evoking the chilling end he meets. Cavanagh's dramatic vocals have rarely sounded finer.

Brigid Power Ryce - You Are Here EP 3" cdr (Rusted Rail) 5

A truly outstanding release on one of my favourite labels. 2 of these tracks were recorded at ToeRag Studios and the other 3 in Philadelphia by Eric Carbonara and the sound on all 5 is warm and full. Brigid plays 12 string guitar and sings with a languid free-flowing style, reminiscent of Tim Buckley. Highly recommended.

Pulse Emitter - Oppressive Nature cd (Digitalis) 7.75

Modular synth-scapes from Daryl Groetsch of Portland, Oregon. This oscillates between spiralling bubbles which I feel should accompany a '70s school science programme, horizontal meditations and all-out fizzing onslaughts. Nice gatefold card sleeve.

Rambutan - Incidences cassette (Digitalis) 5

Eric Hardimann (Burnt Hills / Century Plants). 2 tracks per side of solo guitar / electronics. Spectral feedback and wowing to the point of nausea.

Restless Dead - Live / Dead cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.50

This is a co-release with Fenland Electricity of music written by the Restless Dead's frequent collaborator C Joynes. It's a live recording with a slightly rough at the edges quality, the (electric) guitar is accompanied by shivering harmonica, shortwave radio and a severely warped slide guitar.

Nils Rostad - Recorded with a Mic Standing on a Table cdr (Striate Cortex) 4.25

Nils is one half of Magnetic North Duo, alongside Sindre Bjerga, and this cdr features 2 live tracks recorded in October 2009 in Sheffield and Hull. These solo recordings feature his improvised acoustic guitar playing - fierce with steel strings rattling loosely. Handmade packaging that comes with a small booklet featuring pasted-on photographs. Limited to 40. 

Rural Faune Collective - I 3" cdr (Rural Faune) 4

Live recording from June 2008 featuring pagan-ritual improv from Xochipilli, Sorc'henn, Monks of the Balhill and BP. 

Saturn Finger - s/t cdr (Crier dans les Musees) 6

Collaboration between Enfer Boréal and Uton, recorded in the winter of 2007 / 2008. Inspired by the travels of both in the East, this finds them creating mystical soundscapes of shamanic mantras & chants, shrouded drones and alchemical electronics.

Seht - Hrry LP & 3" cdr (Digitalis) 13.50

Another fine installment of laptop-generated drone from Stephen Clover. The tracks on the vinyl are shorter than his usual slowly creeping epics but the subtly shifting repetition, dub overtones, distant foghorn drones and disjointed computerized voice build into an ominous presence of slowly asphyxiating unease that lingers long after the disc has finished. Limited to 150 copies, this comes with a black and silver poster fold-out sleeve.

Seven That Spells - You Must Do This on Stage Vol 1 cassette (Sloow) 5.50

Some live recordings from Croatia's heavy prog-psych band. Noodly guitars, crunching riffs, squalling sax, driving rhythms, this is like a proggier Hawkwind!

Fredrik Ness Sevendal - Tindoll cassette (Sloow) 5.50

Home-made psych / experimentalism from this Norwegian chap who has collaborated in the past with Kawabata, Slowburn and Bill Wood. This starts off with some hypnotic guitar-work and then heads off into more unsettling territory -  thick atmospheres of densely layered distorted guitar, sampled voices, milk-bottle percussion.

The Shitty Listener - Constant Stranger cassette (Digitalis) 5

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.  

Shores of Darkness - In the Shadow of Distant Nights cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.50

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.

Sky Dripping Venom - In Krasnozem cdr (Rural Faune) 6

What a fine record this is! The droney opening builds into a magnificent wall of fuzz; the closer sounds like what the Go! Team might do if they dipped into some Metal Urbaine tracks instead of mining the Northern soul vaults and in between there's a hint of sci-fi library music and overloaded riffing a-la Sonic Temple Assassins. All of these things elicit the warmest recommendations from me! (JC)

Stellar Om Source - Heartlands Suite cdr (Rural Faune) 6

There are 9 pieces in around 23 minutes here, so although Christelle Gauldi's synth playing tends towards the sumptuous in style, she never lets her ideas become stretched too far. Indeed, there's one piece here which is less than a minute long. The style of the music suits the name Cosmic OM Source very well and I would suspect the influence of Miquette Giraudy might well prevail, which is a fine thing, as far as I'm concerned. There are but 100 copies of this. (JC)

Tonal Wasteland - Desolate cassette (Digitalis) 5

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.

Tranko - III cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.50

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. 

Alexander Turnquist - AS the Twilight Crane Dreams in Color cd (VHF) 8.50

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

  • Joka Baya LP (VHF) 11
  • The Secret Base LP (VHF) 11
  • Smoke Song LP (VHF) 11

Vibracathedral Orchestra / Infinite Light split 7" (Krayon) 4.75

"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)

W-S Burn - Tislightisoundtisl ightisoundtislig htisoundislighti sound ... cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.50

A welcome return from this duo. Intimately recorded bedroom blues that vaguely recalls early PJ Harvey, played at a funereal pace. Features a cover of REM's "Swan Swan H". Nicely hand-packaged with a fold-out lyric sheet.

Xela - The Divine cassette (Digitalis) 5

On one side church bells looped into a bleak foretelling of doom. The other side is a wall of drone fog, with vocals barely discernible in the thick gloom.

Yuko x Chino - Sensory Deprivation Techniques cdr (Rural Faune) 6

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

v/a - Faux Amis LP (Zero Jardins) 14

Collaborative LP featuring edited highlights from a mammoth five hour jam featuring UK / French improv bands Motherfucking, I’m A Grizzly, Julien Dupont, Francois Virot, Le Geme Faute, Part Wild Horses Mane On Both Sides, Chora, Helhesten and Lanterns.

v/a - Psykick Dancehall Recordings 7 Ince Series #2 4x3" cdrs (Psykick Dancehall) 15

Excellent release from Psykick Dancehall of 4 hand-painted 3" cdrs packaged in a hand-assembled 11 page booklet featuring 8 full-colour artworks including lithographs and silk-screens. Bands featured are Helhesten, The Hunter Gracchus, Jazzfinger, Wounded Knee, Patrick Farmer, Bad Orb, Hobo Sonn, Serfs and Single Helix.