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Updated 24th January 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.

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)

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

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.

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

Spiralling synth communications to outer-space.

Kyle Bobby Dunn - A Young Person's Guide to Kyle Bobby Dunn 2cd (Low Point) 8

"Spread across two cds with a total running time of nearly two hours, ‘A Young Person’s Guide To…’ is a stunning collection of recordings from New York based minimalist composer and sound artist Kyle Bobby Dunn.  Four tracks on the first disc originally appeared as the download only album ‘Fervency’, released by the Moodgadget label in 2009. Impressed by Dunn’s sensitive and world-wise compositions, it was felt that the music deserved to be released on a physical format and expanded upon with a second disc containing an additional 60 minutes of music gathered from the same period as the ‘Fervency’ recordings. Utilising an instrumental palette of guitar, strings and brass, often played by classically trained musicians drafted in on the spur of the moment, the sounds of these sessions were recorded as Dunn dictated and then reworked via computer processing into spine-tingling soundscapes. Dunn's compositions here are fully rich in timbre, painterly, hopelessly romantic and haunting; balanced between a wash of pure sound and an ornate yet subtle dance of classical instrumentation. Occupying a truly cinematic scope, these pieces can transport the listener from the deepest and most forgotten landscapes to the furthest recesses of time." (Low Point)

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)

Elm - Nemcatacoa cd (Digitalis) 7

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

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) 

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)

Expo 70 - Woolgather Visions cassette (Gold Soundz) 5.75

More 70s-inspired analogue synth-scapes from Expo 70. Very kosmische.

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. 

M Geddes Gengras / Cyrus Gengras 2 cdr (Rural Faune) 10

Two disc set featuring M Geddes Gengras who has been involved in Fantastic Ego, Robedoor, Pocahaunted & Antique Brothers and his brother Cyrus. Ged's disc is gorgeous - gaseous space-outs and pulsing modular synth experiments. Cyrus' disc is entirely acoustic with some beautiful languid fingerpicking and songs. Somewhat reminiscent of Cursillistas.

Steve Gunn - Boerum Palace LP & bonus cd (Three Lobed) 16.25

"boerum palace represents steve gunn’s first full-length release on vinyl and second album. the album starts off with a headlong rush into the hypnotic “mr. franklin”. gunn’s fluid playing style, especially as portrayed withing this track, provides ample space for the development of infectious musical themes. the track ends in a dextrous duel between gunn’s guitar and guest marc orleans’ (of d. charles speer & the helix, sunburned hand of the man) vicious pedal steel. the album mixes gunn’s long-form blues / raga / psych explorations alongside briefer cuts that equally display his songcraft. these tracks, such as “variation ii” and “jadin’s dream,” demonstrate that gunn is equally confident with shorter or longer compositions. gunn's voice is joined by an ethereal turn from the vanishing voice’s heidi diehl on the album’s central and haunting “house of knowledge.” the track opens with a building central guitar theme. this theme allows gunn to layer on further guitar explorations. the tone set by these musical themes builds into the duo’s vocal delivery that delivers volumes despite being uttered in gentle tones. other highlights include “cryin’ eyes,” an inspired reworking of j.j. cale’s “crying eyes” featuring backing instrumentation from marc orleans, and the richly textured album finale “mustapha’s exit.” boerum palace is pressed on 180g RTI vinyl and housed within an old-style stoughton sleeve bearing new original artwork from mike pare and some of gunn’s photography. the album will be accompanied by a download coupon for high quality DRM-free MP3s of the album. Accompanied by a glass-mastered CD titled too early for the hammer (tlr-074) presenting new, scarce and previously unheard gunn material that is not available separately." (TL)

Heavy Winged cassette (Blackest Rainbow) 4.75

Heavy riffing galore from the Heavy Winged trio. The black text on black background on the inner sleeve is clearly meant for someone with enhanced vision.

Hobo Duo - Across Great Distances cdr (Ikuisuus) 3.25

On this cdr, dedicated to Harry Partch, the duo of Bruno Duplant and Kevin Cosgrove who use a variety of homemade instruments to create a cosmic improvised blues on lapsteel and percussion. 

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.

Jow-Jow the Death Knell Rung - Uly and the Argonauts cdr (Rural Faune) 6

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

Kawabata Makoto - Farewell Kiss After Rain cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.50

New limited cdr on Reverb Worship by the Acid Mothers Temple guitarist. This features two long hypnotic guitar tracks: the first a gorgeous acoustic mantra - arpeggios as hypnotic as ripples in a pool. The second track is recorded on electric guitar and is a meditative piece of gently pulsating drone. Hand-painted numbered sleeves.

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.

Laiha - Solar Warden cassette (Digitalis) 5

Burning guitar black-outs, solar flares of distortion and throbbing feedback. 

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.

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)

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)

Part Wild Horses Man on Both Sides - Blew in the Face LP (Chironex) 11.25

Flute and percussion explorations that lie somewhere between free jazz improvisations and classical Japanese music with an aura of pagan worship. Highly recommended.

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)

Sovetskaya Gone - Live in the Darkness, Die in the Light double cassette (Digitalis) 8.50

Sumptuous organ and synth drones and loops from Kevin Danchisko, a C20 and a C34 cassette, lovingly packaged, a title homage to Tennessee Williams, already sold out at source.... just a few reasons why you might want to snap this up while you can. I'm buying the copy I've just reviewed, so you can't have this one! (JC)

Space Dive - Twenty First Century Sport cassette (Digitalis) 5

New Brad Rose project that sees his recent North Sea synth-devotion channelled into creating some great fuzzed-up downer pop songs.

Starving Weirdos with Tom Carter and Shawn David McMillen - Live at the Accident LP (Blackest Rainbow) 11

Three way collaboration from 2007. Side one consists of a huge reverberating drone that sounds like the haunted chorus of a junkyard of rusting metal. Side two is even darker and decidedly weird. More coruscating drones, looped applause and bass depth charges. 

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)

These Wonderful Evils - Vermilion Sands cassette (Sloow) 5.50

Latest release from Zak Boerger. Mostly ragged guitar sprawl with some spoken vocals on the final track, it still has the same outsider NZ feel to his last two albums.

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. 

UFO Zion - Si Music Festival at the Living Room cdr (Reverb Worship) 5.50

Buenos Aires, Argentine is the home of UFO Zion, whose arsenal of sound devices includes cow nails, cardboard box and subliminal whispers. Their music veers somewhere between collective improv psych-outs and post-punk angularity. Having said that, a bonus track from a radio session sounds more like a shamanic ritual. Interesting bunch of chaps, there Argentinians! (JC)

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) 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)

Videotrage - Seismology is a Science: A Lecture in 4 Movements 3" cdr (Octane Grammophon) 4

Helsinki's Videotrage rise from the ashes of Tivol. They are Sami Kettunen and Mika Ihanamäki, the latter half of the duo also runs the Octane Grammophon label. Their fondness for '70s synth-prog shines through here in most delightful ways, whilst sounding fresh and alive. There's a Finnish spoken word part, which may well be the lecture of the title. As far as I was concerned, I had no idea what it was all about, but found it a good trigger to the imagination: if you don't understand the original words, write your own story and use this as the soundtrack! A fine and welcome disc, handpainted in red. (JC)

Vodka Soap - Interpretation: "The Initiation" cdr (Pacific City Cassettes) 5

A welcome return from Spencer Clark's Vodka Soap project. This is intended as an aural interpretation of Roberto Matta's painting "The Initiation". Vodka Soap is much more spacious and melodious than Monopoly Child with casio bubbling, flute and bells / handdrums creating a wondrous hypnosis.

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.