(image: Hasegawa Tohaku - Shōrin-Zu Byōbu)

Disconcerted Sounds Last.fm Group - here. A curiosity if nothing more...

Thursday 7 May 2009

Isengrind - Isengrind (cassette)

Apparently last night Time-Lag Records had an update listing a new Isengrind cassette. Didn't manage to get one myself and if you weren't online at the time I doubt you managed to either.
Here is the description:

ISENGRIND ~ S/T ~ cassette (self released, france)
quite stunning new private press from solange of natural snow buildings. no need to hype the music here, all you reading this now the deal... lovely fluttering occult drone folk psych beauty... but the packaging here alone is enough to make this one essential : hand constructed full color hard board box cover containing a beautiful hard cover tiny art booklet, a unique hand painted, numbered, thick art card, and a colored cassette hand titled in raised ink... all wrapped up in ribbon with a tiny bell... edition of only 24 copies. yowzer, gonna be another elusive one!

Bit gutted I have to say, but you win some, you lose some. With just 24 copies it was far more likely the latter would be the case. Oh well. Just thought everyone else would like to know what they're missing out on too. Apparently they cost $26 so maybe it's not such a bad thing.
I will endeavour to find someone with a copy that would be kind enough to upload and share. If anyone reading this gets one, do feel free to brag.

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Matt, Oliver & Cricket (cbox comment) - Little Brown Jug
Thanks a lot for leaving your link dharma bum, I've just downloaded it and will give it a listen later on. Love singing bowls so hoping for good things - everywhere I've seen them used people have always struck them but apparently you're supposed to roll the stick part around the inside of it; not entirely sure if that's true so it'll be interesting hearing what you've done.

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'guest': Sorry, I don't own any of those four Second Family Band cassettes to upload. I have 'our way is the right way', the Sloow Tapes cassette and a digital copy of this but that is all.

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Thor's Rubber Hammer
I Heart Lung / DWMTG - Ecstatic Jazz Duos
Bright Duplex - Strawberry Trust
The Pistil Cosmos - A Long Figure in a Dreamlike Place

Not Not Fun
Ducktails (CD/LP)
Dolphins Into The Future - ...On A Seafaring Isolation
High Wolf - Animal Totem
NASA - Diamonds & Woods
Teeth Mountain - Live On

Digitalis Ltd
Keith Fullerton Whitman - Taking Away
Diamondhead - Corrective Action
Altar Eagle - Judo Songs

Siren Wire
Susan Matthews & Alistair Crosbie - Summer's Joy Rekindled

Soundholes
Budweiser Sprite - Dandruff Massage
Dream Safari - Sweat Lodge Vision Quest
Persimmons Pomegranate - Godless

Also look out for a new Jooklo cassette on Utmarken in about 10 days time.

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I'll try and get something new uploaded by the weekend but in the meantime there's the new Big Blood discs to check out on the Free Music Archive and Raven Sings the Blues has a free compilation up.

25 comments:

paintsmarts said...

Fuck. this is just mean now. i (and you, i suspect) check these labels 4 billion times a week, and of course when something (i'll say it) momentous occurs, i'm looking the other way. for anyone who has it, i'll pay big bux, so hit me up on discogs (same name). oh, and hey disconcerted. hope you're well.

Anonymous said...

Ridiculous. Losing patience fast with the whole NSB thing.

mj said...

Yeah I'm annoyed. Son of a bitch!!!

In other news, that Altar Eagle tape is absolutely wonderful stuff, so everyone check it out.

disconcerted said...

Maybe more will follow at some point, you never know. I just think it's a bit of a shame that no Isengrind release (other than on the Students of Decay two CD set) has had more than 32 copies.
Hopefully proof of it's existence will come.

All is well thanks, Jose. Good to see you're still hunting down their stuff and good luck finding one.

Mike, I wish I could afford the new Digi Ltd releases at the moment but his upcoming plans sound amazing - Hanging Thief and Ajilvsga/Zelienople!!
Would highly recommend the two disc Zelienople set on Under the Spire. Have it on at the moment. So good. They also have a free album on their site at the moment - here - for people that have not heard them before.

paintsmarts said...

also got the altar eagle tape. haven't received it yet, but i'm psyched for it.

back to isengrind: what is really the end-all tragedy for me is that 'golestan' is my single favorite disc to come out of the duo and one of my all-time favorites. i understand any arguments 'dance of the moon and the sun' (popular favorite) or 'the winter ray' (dark horse?), but 'golestan' just kills me.

and to finally have the real follow-up be unavailable to me (FOR THE TIME BEING), oh it's painful. i will get one dammit. new life mission.

dharma b said...

thanks for putting us up on a post. hope you enjoy the listen, it's a bit scattered in the beginning but the rhythm forms a bit more towards the middle when we gather some momentum and i wild'out with my bottleneck slide, haha

the singing bowls are real fun, i like the tone it adds between my outbursts. the way i was shown is rolling the mallet around the outside of metal bowl, trying not to apply too much pressure, otherwise it skipps all around and you get these ringing humps.

me and olivia switched instruments a bit throughout, but i'm mainly on banjo and harmonica and she's got all the percussion racket. let us know whatcha think though! it's fun actually putting stuff down

-matt b

oh i also just got in the Second Famliy tape from Cabin Floor, it's a pretty good one, i could get that on my computer eventually for ya.. really lookin forward to the new Teeth Mountain LP on nnf, did you ever check out their first LP? it's real nice.. also got in Willie Lane's new private press and it's nothing short of amazing.. you should really check it out

mj said...

on the SFB tip--just got the Jerkwave Summer of Psychedelics package and the tape "The Heathens Return" was in it...could eventually get it ripped and upped, if folks would be interested.

Anonymous said...

ISENGRIND ~ S/T ~ cassette (self released, france) $26.00

$26.00? !!!

:D :D :D :D :D

The price and the very limited (again) is a shame

f**k you NSB!!!

mj said...

so apparently Blackest Rainbow also has copies, but I emailed Joe and they were already all spoken for! :-(

any of you guys lock down a copy?

disconcerted said...

Dharma: Did really enjoy the track. It felt a little unsure at points - the transitions mainly - but the sounds were wonderful. It almost sounded as though you recorded it in a cave, or at least an old, empty, brick barnhouse.
Does your wooden frog look like this? It sounds the same as same as something my parents brought back from South Africa a few years back.
Really made me want a singing bowl now!

If anyone does fancy uploading some SFB please feel free (unless they say otherwise), I'd be more than happy to hear some more from them.


Mike: No idea at the moment. Fingers crossed. Possibly a few more available in the future though.
Although I can understand people's frustration at the small numbers now that there are hundreds of fans, you have to remember that they have been hand making these so to make 24 (or 30 or whatever) will take a long time. 200 copies would probably take a year.

Just spent £30 on a couple of tickets to see them at that November show (available here if anyone's interested).

Dorker Vibes said...

Ditto, after emailing the band directly, I got a stock response saying Blackest Rainbow would get some copies in a few days. I was even reading my emails when that came in so I fired off one to Joe immediately. Already 'they were all spoken for'. The band mentioned a possibility of a second run of 10 copies!! Seriously man, this is crazy. As somebody who has followed and bought every single one of their releases since the beginning, I'm obviously pretty riled up. Unimpressed.

Unknown said...

after reading comments here &
on other forums i think it's obvious the band is irritating the heck out of people with the limited runs & costly presentation.the sad thing is it diminishes the most important part of the process the music.
I just bought my first couple NSB related albums yet i've been listening to them forever & have all their releases in high quality rips.
I enjoy having the actual releases but the truth is i'd rather have a high quality digital file than pay $30 for a cassette that i'll just burn onto cd anyway.
So in response to something you posted elsewhere yes you should let people know about all their limited in the know runs because that way people who aren't able to nab one can look for the inevitable upload & hear the music which i assume is what this is about.I mean surely people aren't getting into the entire coolness aspect of the presentation & want it for that?Just make the music available & i'm happy as i'm sure non collectors will be also
Of course the way they & other bands release stuff right now is silly as they attempt to create something of physical value but in the end it's what comes out of the speakers that should dictate it's value.That's why blogs like yours are invaluable as they connect a community of folks who make sure no obscure release goes unheard.
Anyway that's my take.Keep us in the know sir & as long as i can hear the tunes i think i can find more important things to expend anger on than not being afforded the opportunity to spend obscene amounts of money on a pretty package
By the way i'm just about ready to resume posting.pretty much got the Mac figured out

Anonymous said...

Expensive, pretty little packages which, recently anyway imo, have concealed some fairly uninspired and unengaging improvised blandness.

dharma b said...

i may have the bias of being a design student, but i absolutely love the tactile quality of many of these hand-made releases, whether it be cassette, cd/r, or a record. the conscious effort to create a crafted visual accompaniment to the sounds is truly a wonderful thing in my eyes, and it's nice to see heartfelt effort gravitate towards this thought process. after almost two decades of jewel cases being the get-go, i am real inspired by what some groups are tapping into in terms of a uniquely crafted design system for their out puts.

but in that matter, i defiantly see a difference between caring about a sound and quality made package and just being plain excessive. this comparison, along with the idea of have the nice package "make-up" for the average sounds contained within it, is not something i can get on. though, in my eyes, i truly don't see many artists seeing things this way. what constitutes as an "uninspired" recording is all from the viewer's mind, and could be something totally different than the actual maker of such item/sound. but i feel that phrase "it's in the eyes of the beholder" is pretty much a given when talking about these things.

goin on that same note groovy's on, i absolutely am also all for places like this, and see their existence to be absolutely essential when situations such as this happen, where the demand exceeds the supply. so on that thought, i spend wayy too much time grazing over my big hunk of booked marked music blogs everyday.. but deep down, it's real fun, and i'm glad you guys are here.

disconcerted-
thanks for the feedback, that's the first thing i've heard back about it, so thanks for that, helped a bunch. and that picture is the EXACT same frog we've got, hah, he's a cool guy and makes a great sound. and you should defiantly seek out a bowl, i got mine from ebay for around $18 i think.

mj said...

yes i have to agree there--i love the physical media when it is well-crafted. it is a bit disappointing when the music accompanying it (ha, that makes it sound like the music is secondary to the media! hmmm...) is sub-par. in any case, yeah a rip will probably have to suffice in this case. i don't hope that this Isengrind cassette is 'bad music', but i do hope that if it really is quality stuff, NSB and some patient label will eventually release it properly.

As for most of NSB's back-catalog of super-limited releases, i think the scarcity suits the music. those long drone pieces will likely never see the kind of production that something like The Dance of the Moon and the Sun saw, and that's OK with me.

it is a bit surprising that Solange, after all this time, has only released 2 solo recordings. and both recordings limited to fewer than 50 copies?! too bad things fell apart between the duo and Digitalis--we'd all have had Golestan on CD back in Spring 2008.

Unknown said...

hey i got one of those frogs at a Xmas market in Strasbourg France in december.The 8 year old i gave it to will think this is cool

mj said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
disconcerted said...

Thanks a lot Mike for the SFB rip, will try and do a post tomorrow and make a note of it.

As for the Isengrind, I have my fingers crossed for a rip in the next few weeks but it may be quite a bit further off. No doubt someone out there will get a copy and be kind enough.

The thing about the packaging is that some of it is well worth the money. If you got that TSM LP recently I'm sure you would agree it was definitely worth the money in terms of both audio and visual. We don't hear much from Isengrind so even if it does cost $26 (postage paid) it's probably worth it. Hopefully we'll find out soon.
It would be great if they did something similar to the re-issue of 'The dance...' more regularly where there were some special editions but also enough standard copies for most to buy a copy. Can understand that it isn't cheap to do so but I'm sure there are labels out there.

mj said...

hey that initial link i posted for the SFB tape apparently had a corrupted file in it, so here's an updated link (works 100%):

http://www.mediafire.com/?fomgm3mnz22

Anonymous said...

i have simply decided to boycott this band and any future releases limited or not limited. in dealing with them directly and indirectly i find them to be a couple of schmucks. i know that digitalis ending up canceling a release with them because he couldn't work with them anymore. i would like to know the story behind that.

Anonymous said...

Curious...is that jooklo tape ever going to show up on the utmarken site?

disconcerted said...

Just asked them about it. It's coming on the 5th May - which, as that has already been and gone, I assume means the 5th June. They're all dubbed and nearly ready by the sounds of it.

Anonymous said...

cool, thanks!

disconcerted said...

Anonymous, the Jooklo tape is available now!

Anonymous said...

omg, thanks for telling me, i wasn't gonna look til the 5th!