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Updated 20th August 2010

NEW ADDRESS

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

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.

Dead Wood - Slow Threat cdr (Striate Cortex) 5.50

Yet another lovely handmade package from Striate Cortex, this one being an eco-pak digipak with a little wood insert. Dead Wood is Adem Baker and there are 6 tracks on here of manipulated field recordings: fast flicker electro, horizontal drones, meditative pulsations that sound like gongs.

Dean & Britta - I'll Keep It With Mine / It Don't Rain in Beverly Hills 7" (Great Pop Supplement) 5

Dean Wareham (ex-Galaxie 500 / Luna) and Britta Phillips (Luna) were asked to soundtrack 13 films of Warhol's legendary screentest at the behest of the Warhol Museum last year and these are 2 of the tracks they chose: Dylan's "I'll Keep It With Mine" (as covered by Nico) to soundtrack Nico of course. This side is a beautifully orchestrated version that owes more to Andrew Loog Oldham's Nico productions than John Cale. On the other side is "It Don't Rain in Beverly Hills" which soundtracked Edie Sedgewick. 

Deas & Denton - s/t cdr (Blackest Rainbow) 5

Last time I heard Cam Deas he was pulling a remarkable range of sounds out of a 12 string acoustic guitar. This time he's joined Adam Denton for an amped up 32 minute sonic storm of electric guitar improv. Check that any loose items in your room are in secure positions, turn it up to eleven and stand the hell back! (JC)

Drekka - Collected Works Vol 1 (1996) 2cd (Morc) 9

Double disc collection of all Drekka's earliest recordings from 1996. Features Grieve, Windowframe and Hermitage One EPs plus bonus tracks. Fuzzy folk fragments, creepy hissed-out tape collages and lo-fi ambient. Comes with a little booklet.

The Driftwood Manor - Holy Ghost 3" cdr (Rusted Rail) 5

Driftwood Manor are based around the songwriting talents of Eddie Keenan and backed on this release by Neil Fitzgibbon on fiddle, Anne Marie Hynes on additional vocals, Bean Dolan on double bass and Steve Fanagan on accordion and percussion. The influence of Appalachian folk is clear but Eddie's treatment of the form is similar to Alasdair Robert's response to Scottish traditional folk forms. Lovely.

Easy Rider - Eternia Beach cdr (Rural Faune) 5.25

Hyper-active synth figures and tapew-wowing experiments. 

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.

Pete Fosco - Live cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.75

Two improvisations recorded in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. The first is incredible, a righteous howl of shredded notes.The volume is reduced considerably for the second track which smoulders with warm distortion rather than ripping the room apart. Gorgeous.

Fougou - Reversed Dreams of this Nature cdr (Ikuisuus) 5

Excellent new project from Brian Lavelle and Matthew Shaw, named after the mysterious subterranean chambers found in Cornwall. Fittingly field recordings were made at Cerne Abbas, Cairnpapple Hill, Zeist and Stonehenge for this release, and intermingle with analogue synths, guitar, electronics and vocals. Mysterious drones with tons of otherworldly atmosphere.

Fractal Skulls - s/t cdr (Reverb Worship) 6

Rob Funkhauser - Singularity cdr (Blue Sanct / Morc) 3.25

An infinite ocean of gaseous drone with sparse percussion clutter, like a slowly disintegrating ship beneath the waves.

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 Greens, Pinks and Whites - s/t cdr (Fictitious Sighs) 6.50

Duo recording made in Berlin by Jason Honea (Shitty Listener) and Tim Coster. Made using thumb piano, synth, guitar, bells and tapes, this is a quiet and fragmented collection of almost-melodies eg guitar plies a spidery trail through a couple of lines of singing that mysteriously tail off.

Hakisou #1 fanzine 4

Gorgeous little fanzine produced by Anthony Guerra and Mark Sadgrove. Interview with Tetuzi Akiyama, some drawings by Joshua Burkett, some art by Matt Earle (xNoBBQx), plus more art, writing, photos. each copy comes with an A4 lithograph print by Joshua Burkett too. Beautifully presented.

Sam Hamilton - Pala LP (Tumbling Strain) 12.25

An album of many layers which reveals more from successive plays from New Zealand's Sam Hamilton, who has been praised in the past here at the Melodybar... and rightly so! Pala allies the precision of electronic music, with soft-edged glitchiness, and allies it to something free and expressive with a nod to what made the first wave of synth-pop so vibrant before it became all white sock and black slip-on shoe. This is a refreshing album which, in knowing where it's coming from, completely avoids sounding as though it wants to live back there! The album includes a code for a free digital download of what's on the vinyl, plus extra tracks. More of this would be welcome, but the sound on lp is of a notable high standard to go with the music. (JC)

Gareth Hardwick 

• London 220109 cdr (Under the Spire) 5.50

Live set by Gareth Hardwick recorded at Cafe Oto early 2009. Who'd have thought there could be such calm in such the UK capital? This is gorgeous. Gareth is joined on second guitar by Dan Layton - chorales of meditative guitar tone singing into the endless winter night.

• Of the Sea and Shore cd (Low Point) 6

An album inspired by visits to various remote coastal locations around the UK ... the cover and rear photographs look like the North Norfolk coast and the sounds on the album reflect that areas fogged mystery and infinite skies. The guitar tones merge into beautiful warm textured drift and are augmented by ghostly gamelan-like chimes and later, as if I wasn't enjoying the sounds enough, harmonium, which is always guaranteed to win my heart. Highly recommended.

Ian Hawgood - Live Performances Japan 2009 cd (Under the Spire) 6

Two long pieces recorded live in Japan. The first was recorded in Tokyo and features the wheezing tones of the shruti box, processed through laptop into a beautiful piece of horizontal tone-drift of great warmth and depth. The second piece was recorded in Sapporo using wind chimes and laptop, and is a gorgeous glassy meditation. Another gem on Under the Spire.

Headboggle - Banjo Signal Generator as Advertised cassette (Digitalis) 5.25

Christopher Hipgrave - Slow, With Pages of Fluttering Interference cd (Low Point) 6

Following albums on Under the Spire and Home Normal, this is the 3rd album by sound artist Christopher Hipgrave. Gorgeous warm ambient drone - one of the finest examples of its kind.

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.

Hunter Gracchus / Kommissar Hjular und Frau split LP (Blackest Rainbow) 10.25

Two sides of out-there improvisation. Hunter Gracchus' side was recorded live in Argentina and is a mass of clattering percussion and haunting clarinet / vocal squawk. On the other side are Kommissar Hjular und Frau: blurts of guitar and Mama Baer's possessed vocals.

Inner City 

• Visions From Dream State cdr (Rural Faune) 5.25

Part of Rural Faune's Synth Series. Inner City is Hans Den from Antwerp and the 11 tracks on this cdr are all tinged with a vaguely industrial feel from dystopian soundscapes to subterranean dub excursions. 

• 2 cassette (Ikuisuus) 5

Loops, drones and eddying currents of melody flow in, out and through the soundscapes of Innercity. On his website, Antwerp based Hans Dens (Mr Innercity himself) attests that these are the sounds that he "found written in the starry scorpion sky on the night of my 29th birthday". He also says that the plastic of the cassette has been designed to absorb the intellect of the listener. Prepare to be absorbed! (JC)

Isengrind - Modlitewnik LP (Blackest Rainbow) 12.25

Gorgeous vinyl release from Solange Gularti, the female half of Natural Snow Buildings. Thick plumes of Eastern-leaning drone-smoke and ethereal folk. Solange uses sitar and other stringed instruments, flutes and whistles and a plethora of hand percussion, filtered through a ton of reverb to create something utterly otherworldly. Beautiful artwork from Solange too, particularly the inner sleeve.

Ithaca Trio - Tesla Verses the Night cdr (Under the Spire) 5.50

Far from being a trio, Ithaca Trio is just Ollie Thurley, with the assistance on these release of other musuians on drums, accordian, clarinet, flute, electronics, guitar and piano. Lovely pastoral electronica / glitch that reminds me of Fennesz in parts or Fabio Orsi.

Joey Chainsaw / Kema split cassette (Gold Soundz) 5

"The Joey side is solid piece of ultra-crude battered guitar-dirge.. There's a real crunchy and toasted basement-vibe that is quite rare these days, it sounds like it's played on a floor-board guitar and pedals found deep in the mud through speakers made of cotton. Kinda like a punk-ass, weed-out version of Ashtray Navigations...   Kema comes more the the Dead C end of things.. Perhaps not that different from Joey, but there's more stoned-out riffing and that ultra lo-fi guitarbased trash-scapes that we've come to love that NZ vibe for... Excellent stuff for sure, this is pure no-fi so turn up loud and scare away the posers! Purple tapes wrapped in double-sided purple A4 sheet. Edition of 30. " (GS)

P Jorgensen - Palimpset (for Strings) business card cdr (Under the Spire) 4.50

This is one of those dinky business card cdrs, that unfortunately won't play on my hi-fi. It features a track that will be on P Jorgensen's album due out in September, plus another track unavailable elsewhere. This is what I thought of his Low Point album: "Soft-hued tones shift and merge and form dense chordal clouds. Jørgensen has a fondness for a warm, fuzzy ambience which suits listening at sunset on a cold autumnal night."

Kitchen Cynics - The Gleam in the Heron's Eye cdr (self-released) 5

Motion Sickness of Time Travel - Seeping Through the Veil of Unconscious cassette (Digitalis) 5.25

MV / EE & the Golden Road - No Floor Tour 2010 8xcassette box set (Blackest Rainbow) 31

"8 cassettes - features each set from the 'No Floor Tour' with Mick Flower (Vibracathedral Orchestra / Flower-Corsano Duo) and John Moloney (Sunburned) backing the duo. Featuring guest appearances from J Mascis (Dinosaur Jnr) and Doc Dunn."

My Cat Is An Alien / Bjerga / Iversen LP (Ikuisuus / Gold Soundz) 12.25

Excellent collaboration between the Opalio brothers and Jan Iversen / Sindre Bjerga. Subterranean disturbance from the Norwegian duo and infinite echoes / celestial vocals from the Italians.

Nalle

• Wilder Shores of Love LP (Alt Vinyl) 15
• Wilder Shores of Love CD (Alt Vinyl) 12

The third album from Glasgow-based trio Hanna Tuulikki, Aby Vuillamy and Chris Hladowski contains songs and artwork inspired by the Greek myth of doomed lovers Leander and Hero and a title taken from a painting by Cy Twombly. It's an artistic tour-de-force. The album is bookended by spectral ballads that echo the spookier end of the country canon utilizing spidery shimmers of slide guide and a double-tracked "Gene Vincent vocal effect" on Hanna's vocals to suitably eerie effect. Hanna's voice is in fine form throughout, particularly on "Songthrush" where she seems to channel "Starsailor"-era Tim Buckley in a free jazz / folk collision, inspired by the song thrush's melodic couplets. Aby's contribution to this album is immeasurable with her expressive Nico-esque alto winding around Hanna in the hypnotic plainsong "Bring the Traveller to Land" or the epic title track, some wonderfully atmospheric grand piano on "Sunne's Return" and "Wilder Shores" itself - huge crashing chords that sound like the sea consuming the lovers in the song - and of course her exquisite viola. The penultimate track "Lily" is a splendid psychedelic freak-out with Chris rocking out on fuzzed-up electric saz. Guest musicians abound: current musical partner in Two Wings Ben Reynolds, One Ensemble's Peter Nicholson, GIO's Raymond MacDonald and Alex Neilson and the album is recorded beautifully at Glo-Spot by our reviewer John Cavanagh. Of course, no project involving Hanna Tuulikki would be complete without her wonderful illustration and this comes in a gatefold sleeve with an 8 page booklet of lyrics and illustrations. Heavy vinyl.

• Wilder Shores of Love LP - silk-screened sleeve (Alt Vinyl) 30

I have 5 copies of this, a special limited edition version of "Wilder Shores" at a special price (it is normally £35). Only 25 exist. Silk-screened version of Hanna's beautiful artwork.

You can see Hanna's artwork for this album here - there are also 10 extra special art editions of the LP for sale, featuring original pen and ink drawings, and prints / original artwork. Please contact Hanna for details: http://wilder-shores-of-love.blogspot.com/2010/07/art-edition-lps.html

Pascal Nichols - Empty Bell Tower cdr (Rayon) 6

Solo cdr from Part Wild Horse's Mane on Both Sides percussionist Pascal Nichols. See-sawing unease, the rolling shimmer of metal, quiet improvisation. Limited version with A3 poster packaging.

On the Wrong Planet - First Visit cdr (Striate Cortex) 4

Another lovely package from SC and one I think I will struggle to put back together. Textured (papier mache?) card sleeve with spray-painted planets on it and all wrapped up in a folding paper outer-sleeve. This is Henrik Bagner's solo project (of Small Things on Sundays). This is dark, ambient drone much like STOS, huge clouds of poisoned hiss and hum, sculpted from maltreated vinyl and some guitar. 

Orphan Fairytale - Neverending Waves cassette (Taped Sounds) 5.50

Reissue of a super-limited US tour cdr by Eva Van Deuren. Starts out as gamelan music for casios and ends in blissed out synth bubbles. Lovely.

Ossining - I Will Be Missed LP (Digitalis) 10.25

Collaboration between Brad Rose (North Sea) and Kevin Danchisko (Sovetskaya Gone). Gorgeous modular synth action - one side of synapse-firing light-beams and the other a floating chorale. 

Owl Head, Wooden Man / Night Music - Liftedness cassette (Cabin Floor Esoterica) 6.50

"Creaking basement prayers from a few sides of the Dust Era. Owlhead, Wooden Man, otherwise known as Shon Mahoney (S. Br. Oak, Soft Peace, etc.) slips right into a long buzzing drone piece, full of half-heard layers and imagined howls, the subtle melody of a horn on the radio. A dream in dust, for sure. Then he let's it ride a little easier on a simply folky song blown out and roaring in the most gentle way possible, building into a strange loop of misheard melody. The flip side sees a series of shorter cut works from Night Music's Christopher Kline (Wooden Veil, Soft Peace, etc.) tossing banjos, guitars, jaw harp, old electronics and whatever else he can find into an old trunk, shaking it up, and dumping it out. Sounding like a television made of stones on the fritz during a storm, chopping up flooded gray static and deep woods fortune teller stories. In an edition of 50 painted-label tapes tied with thread to a seed packet designed by the artists and filled with Cosmos flower seeds." (CFE)

Part Wild Horse's Mane on Both Sides with CKDH / Fria Konsellationen split cassette (Rayon) 6

Excellent collaboration on side 1: foreboding drum thunder, florid flute flutter and a heavy, heavy atmosphere. On side 2 Swedes Fria Konsellationen ride a zoned-out wave of crepuscular guitar shimmer. Edition of 50.

Pefkin - Zugunruhe cdr (Sound & Fury) 6

I may as well declare my involvement with this record at the outset. Zugunruhe was made in the room where I sit writing about it now and, in addition to Gayle - aka Pefkin - and I producing it, I also play on a couple of the tracks. If anything, that's likely to make me more critical of it, but on the fifth listen since receiving the finished cd, I'm actually enjoying it more and more. Zugunruhe is, as you may know or guess, a German word. It pertains to anxiety within migratory animals, especially birds. In one sense, the listener could use this as a pointer to perceiving an anxiety in the shifting tonalities of voice, wind instruments and oscillations which open the album. Doing that would overlook the experimental pop side of Zugunruhe, exemplified by the use of a Clavioline (an instrument rarely heard these days and much loved by Joe Meek), which sounds as though it's bubbling up on a shortwave broadcast. Speaking of much loved instruments, the harmonium figures here, as does the Farfisa Compact Duo and the whole thing shimmers like autumn sun on a deserted shore. The disc comes in an attractive purple card case, which Gayle insists is pink. Bag a copy while you can and make up your own mind... pink or purple, have a listen to Gayle's singing on the plaintive closing song Remember the Words and either will do nicely! (JC)

Phantom Dog Beneath the Moon cd (plus bonus cdr) (Rusted Rail) 7.75

Listening to Aaron Hurley and Scott McLaughlin's music reminds me of that wonderful expression from Hank Williams about that high and lonesome sound. It could come across like too much of an attempt at a pun on my part to call Phantom Dog haunting, but it's true, nonetheless. This album is a landscape of very carefully crafted textures, including vibraphone, 'cello, double bass and electronics. Early orders of the main album will get you nearly an extra hour of music too, in the form of the bonus disc Glisten and the Night Sky. This compilation of previously unreleased tracks from the past along with remixes and some live recordings is much more substantial than some throwaway bunch of extras and makes a good listen in itself. (JC)

Planets Around the Sun - Gold cassette (Digitalis) 5.50

Featuring members of Cursillistas / Herbcraft, Tempera, White Light and others in the L'animaux Tryst family. A huge communal drone built initially around a over-loaded organ drone and latterly tribal drums and chants swimming in a flood of reverb.

Posset - Peed-trofm:oc cassette (Gold Soundz) 5

"Newcastle's Posset fleshes out a great collection of miniature collages. The dictaphone king of northeast UK expertly blends noise and non-music components into captivating oddball songs.. however strange this may sound, there's an easyness and an everyday feel to these compositions that make them highly entertaining... Some tracks also has a sort of a rhythmic backbone... Six tracks in 10 minutes gives this a good album feel... Yellow tapes wrapped in double-sided yellow A4 sheet. Edition of 30." (Gold Soundz)

Pro Team - Demo cdr (Fictitious Sighs) 6.50

Trio collaboration between Tim Coster, Oliver of the Sky, Eves (from Piano Queen Rainbow Star Telephone), recorded in Dunedin. Low level acoustic noise / drone, maximal atmosphere, enhanced by the use of a plethora of hand-held recorders positioned around the recording space.

Queen Elephantine - 8 XI 08 Live in Brooklyn cdr (Rural Faune) 5.25

Slow and heavy riffing and crashing drums with tablas lending a psychedelic Eastern feel. Recorded live.

Rope & Duck Company - Waymarkers cdr (Iorram) 5

Excellent trio recording from 3 members of Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra: vocalist Aileen Campbell, double bassist Una MacGlone and flautist Emma Roche. The 5 tracks move with ease from wild freeform abandonment to long breathes of bow and blow with Aileen Campbell's extraordinary vocalizations oscillating like a feline theremin  to malevolent inversions of chamber music ("Rain & Rising Dust"). Again, nice boat-themed handmade packaging from Iorram.

Simon Rose & Pascal Nichols - Ball Tole cdr (Rayon) 6

Nils Rostad - Self-Portrait As a Budeie cdr (Anti-Guru) 6

If you like variety on an album, step this way! Nils Rostad is, apparently, an experimental guitarist. I say "apparently", as after a little acoustic guitar for starters here, we're off into poppy vocal harmony ba-ba-bas, bleepy-sweepy-droney synths and drums. The last track returns to guitar for a long section of acoustic played with different objects then some full-on fuzz electric to finish. (JC)

Rrreverberationsss - s/t cdr (267 Lattajjaa) 5

Recorded live in Austin, Texas, this five piece band play heavy, riffing, jams which sit somewhere between the psych out feel of Bardo Pond and darker rock which is rooted in Black Sabbath. Mainly instrumental, some vocal. It's heavy, maaan! (JC)

Ryonkt - Window to the Room cdr (Under the Spire) 5.50

Beautiful minimal drone from Ryo Nakata. Warm tones that reveal their complexity and subtle melodies at volume. This would fit in with releases on the Low Point label. Super-nice outsize packaging (a Carlos Pak apparently).

Sam Gas Can - Dog Dance cassette (Digitalis) 5.25

The sound of derangement: this drops you without warning into a backwoods party of crazed lunatics, then proceeds to intersperse synth malfunctions with luminous melodic moments. Side 2 is the comedown: hazy chord organ blues and weary vocals. 

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.

Sir Plastic Crimewave - Into the Depths cassette (Sloow) 4

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

Small Things on Sundays - More cdr (Striate Cortex) 4

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

Sparkling Wide Pressure - In A New Mouth cdr (Rural Faune) 5.25

Another gorgeous slab of out-of-focus drift from Frank Baugh. Semi-formed songs with Frank's fuzzed vocals almost disappearing in the organ / delayed guitar / woozy drone gloom.  

Spheruleus - Frozen Quarters cdr (Under the Spire) 5.50

A delightfully atmospheric set of fourteen collage pieces from one Harry Towell, who has collected domestic and environmental sounds and mixed them with instrumental recordings, using the likes of a zither, trumpet or piano. Mr Towell writes of recording inside a giant waste skip and capturing the huge natural reverb of the space and this album has a warmth and melody throughout which would appeal to fans of, say, Colleen or Sylvain Chaveau, without sounding like either of them. The last piece - Colophon - owes a certain something to Rachmaninov, unless my ears deceive me. (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)

Michael James Tapscott - Sunny California OST cassette (Digitalis) 5.50

Sunny California is the soundtrack to a short film of that name about an adolescent boy's road trip, as he looks for the sun-kist dream and hitches a ride to a nightmare. Tapscott songs highlight a lovely soaring voice and they're mixed with mood pieces which shimmer like the Hockney-esque reflections of palm trees in the turquoise mirror walls of the Long Beach Hyatt Regency Hotel... At least that's how I recall it, but maybe I'm indulging in my own California dream? A very fine tape. (JC)

Temple Music / Al Qaeda split cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.75

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.

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.

White Leopards - s/t cassette (Digitalis) 5.50

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)

Wreaths - Like Sparks from Throats Falling cd (Under the Spire) 6

Wreaths is Michael R Donaldson and he prefers to record everything to tape on "decaying equipment". The result is a gorgeous natural warmth that gives the drone-based tracks on here a gently saturated fuzziness. On the more melodic tracks Donaldson plays meandering guitar / banjo, repeated to the point of hypnotic lull. Highly recommended.

Wuolio & Puronaho - Pysyvänä monumenttina cdr (267 Lattajjaa) 5

One long track of hypnotic folk-drone from these 2 Finnish musicians. A meditation on one short phrase on guitar and banjo, with the later addition of organ, synth and drums. 

Zelionople - Hollywood cd (Under the Spire) 6

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.

v/a - Air Rings Volume 2 double cassette (Digitalis) 8

Four way split cassette featuring one long track each from Analog Concept, Cliffsides, Xela & Matt Carlson. First up is Russian astral-bound electronics voyager Analog Concept with neon arpeggios erupting skyhigh. Cliffsides' synthscapes are more crepuscular. On Xela's uncharacteristically gentle track dream-like repetitions fade into layers of synth shimmer. Golden Retriever's Matt Carlson closes the release with deep buzzing synths before heading off into Terry Riley territory.

v/a - Menagerie #2 LP (Blackest Rainbow) 11

Compilation LP / fanzine set. The LP features Akron / Family, Joane RObertson & Matthew Ashworth, WAND, Natural Snow Buildings Married in Berdichev, Noon Duo, The See See and Sea Dog. The zine features artwork by Jake Blanchard, Pete Fowler, Andrew Rae, Will Sweeney, Sarah King, Solange Gularte, James Trimmer / Mirt and Mat Pringle.

v/a - Thoughts From Screeching Lake cd (Singing Knives) 6.25

Another excellent compilation from the excellent Singing Knives label from Sheffield, UK. This features Harappian Night Recordings, Shiggajon, Pekko Kappi, Helhesten, Ross Parfitt, Serfs, Stephanie Hladowski, Ben Nash, A Wake, Dylan Nyoukis and more.