The long slow death of cassette players

Hope everyone has had a nice couple of weeks this Easter. I'll get around to answering any comments and a proper post on the weekend - assuming everything goes as planned. A lot of updates are cheekily taken from people kindly posting them in the Promotion section of Fangs & Arrows so check there if you want to get ahead (and join anyway).

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The long slow death of cassette players

Cassette player 1:

This was (technically still is) my parents cassette player. It's part of a small stack system bought in the late 70s / early 80s that has a turntable on top and a CD player below. I sequestered it around 2003/4 and have had it in my room since 2005/6. The turntable, CD player and radio still work perfectly - only the drive belt for the turntable has needed replacing (this year) - but the cassette player died a couple of years ago and emits a constant sharp tone from one of the speakers.


Cassette player 2:

An old birthday present of mine. Probably from 1992/3 - I still have copies of 'History' by Michael Jackson, 'Things can only get better' by D:ream and 'Come on you reds' by Man Utd - and had been working perfectly until a month ago. Now it has started to regularly chew tapes. It often needed a bit of a warm up, by pressing play for 5 seconds with no tape in, but that no longer works and it has been going mid-tape. This is the player used for most tape rips on this blog.


Cassette player 3:

Best looking tape player I own but God knows when this was retired. It used to belong to my Grandad and was only recently uncovered. It has a record function and a pretty decent radio - now set to Radio 5 live for the football. Sadly, it will reach its end in 2012 when this country (for invalid reasons, in my opinion) will scrap analogue radio for digital. The rewind function no longer works with a tape in - although a flip and a fast forward does the same job - and the play warbles.


Cassette player 4:

A.k.a. 'The last hope'. Not sure how old this is. I'd guess it was bought for long car journeys to the south of France and Italy we developed a yearly habit of making in the mid-late 90s. It would be fair to say it was superseded by a discman after a couple of years whatever the case. It's the only one I own that still works perfectly on a regular basis.


You're probably now thinking to yourself, 'who cares?', or, 'so?', and you're probably quite right to do so. I guess I'm just wondering about the future of formats in general because once the last of these tape players goes I'm unlikely to buy a new one. Maybe I'll cave eventually but I don't think I love the format enough to bother. It's a shame because I love the music contained on a lot of them.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the future of cassettes?
Do you also just buy them for the music or would you pick it over other formats?

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Hoping to have the next post up on Saturday with all the usual updates.

Voice of the Seven Woods feast (pt. 2)

The first part was back in December last year (if you missed it). I had intended to follow it up within a month but here we are, four months later and only just getting around to it.
There are four 7" singles here (The Firefly Dusk, Hush Arbors split, Kafamdaki Yangin and The Burning Mountain), one 3" CD (Withering of the Boughs) and a CDr (VVIIW). All are long sold out but I'm sure you could still track most of them down on Ebay or Discogs if you want copies.
A couple of these have been released under alternate names. Yedi Ormanin Sesi was a Turkish alias involving Rick alongside Chris Walmsley and Pete Headley. Voice of the Seven Thunders is again Rick and Chris but with Rory Gibson on bass and is the current project.

As usual, newly ripped at 320kbps mp3. I've checked before uploading this time that they all unzip so fingers crossed there are no problems there.
I'd recommend the first two ('Withering...' and 'Firefly...') - 'Winter's Temper' is especially good. If you're in the mood for something a bit heavier, a psych-rock flavour, then you should definitely check out the Yedi Ormanin Sesi 7" and 'The Burning Mountain'.

Be sure to check out Rick's latest album under the Voice of the Seven Thunders name. CD and vinyl editions were both self released on his Tchantinler Recordings label and are available direct through the site or via shops like Norman Records and Boomkat.

The Withering of the Boughs

1. The Withering of the Boughs

Download

The Firefly Dusk

A. The Firefly Dusk
B. Winter's Temper

Download
Hush Arbors split

A. Voice of the Seven Woods - Mist & Snow
AA. Hush Arbors - Gone on the Way to Know

Download
Kafamdaki Yangin

A. Yedi Ormanin Sesi - Kafamdaki Yangin
B. Yedi Ormanin Sesi - Karanlik Nehir

Download / Buy
VVIIW

1. Quicksand and Wildfire
2. A Meditation Upon Death
3. The Firefly Dusk
4. Isolation

Download
The Burning Mountain

A. The Burning Mountain
B. Dry Leaves (Alt version)

Download / Buy

I'll get around to ripping 'Black Morning' at some point but I don't have copies of 'An Hour Before Dawn' or 'Mareotic Lake' and 'The Journey', 'The Holy Harbour' and the self titled albums are still available from some of the usual shops so won't be posting those.

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News / Releases

Huge list has gathered this time.

Kning Disk are having a small spring sale - Peter Broderick down to €5, James Blackshaw for €7, Voice of the Seven Woods €8, etc.

As mentioned by Anonymous in the comments, Ikuisuus are also having a sale (until April 15th) - includes a deal for Taco Bells (LP), Monks Of Malaspina (LP), Keijo (CD) + worldwide postage for €30.

Someone over at Fangs and Arrows kindly directed me to Spirit of Orr to buy the latest MV & EE CD ('Liberty Rose').

Low Point: Gareth Hardwick - Of the sea and shore (pre-order)

Under the Spire: Gareth Hardwick - London 22/01/09

Digitalis Ltd: Jouurney - Dancers in the time flux
Sorc'henn - Shadow is ov silver, phantom is ov gold
Indian Weapons - Perousia

Anathema Sound: Black Eagle Child / Thoughts on Air - Split
Sean McCann & Greg Manata - Ornaments
Sovetskaya Gone - Sashweights & Bags of Birdshot

Motljud has copies of 'Orosvisor', the second album by Sveriges Kommuner & Landsting. An art edition will be made in May but the prices will obviously be higher. It's meant to have quite a few of the same songs - some re-recorded - as the first album but I'm not sure of the track listing to be able to give further details.

Davy Graham's favourite guitar was sold this week on ebay for £5,600.

Singing Knives: Pekko Kappi - Vuonna '86

Joy de Vivre: Being - Immaculate steel casket (not listed on the website, send them an email because it is available)

Ark Tarp: Shiggajon
Jørgen Teller & The Empty Stairs w/ PEWTR - Burn Sugar
Inhibitionists - Trapezoid Man
Donato Epiro - Three Different Kinds Of Poison

Synth Series (RuralFaune): Innercity - Visions from dream state
Magina - Nazca Lines
Mark Bradley - Godspeed
Easy Rider - Eternia beach
Marc-Henri Arfeux - Blossom

RuralFaune: The Driftwood Manor - The Same Figure, leaving
Sparkling Wide Pressure - In a new Mouth
Dylan Ettinger - Cutters (LP co-released with Digitalis)

Three Lobed Recordings: Heavy Winged — Fields Within Fields

Stunned Records: Torture Corpse - Stop the Mind
Talisman - Initiate Into the Mysteries
Sparkling Wide Pressure - Facing the Nothing World
Lunar Miasma - Three Legged Elephant
Mortuus Auris & The Black Hand - Freiheit ist immer Freiheit der Andersdenkenden
Husere Grav
Slam Fucking Dunk (Stunned bonus)

Dream Root Recordings (email): Moth Cock - Ronnie James Geode
Derek Rogers & Interstates (etc.) - collaboration
Gammaciphers - Near Distance

Bum Tapes: Lee Noble - Loaded Image
Dream Colour / Lasers from Atlantis - Split
Al Qaeda - Hundreds of wives, only a few are dead

For Noise's Sake: Plonk Moist - Plonk Moist
Shalocins - Trains going by
Teeth Collection
Wicked Rot - The Rotten Flute

Abandon Ship Records: Blue Sabbath Black Fiji - Night Hawk (CD)
Mea'l (CD)
Flesh Coffin - Veil of snakes (CD)
Excepter - Steps: La Sala Rossa (CD)
Nervous Sex / Drums Like Machine Guns (cassette)
Christian Science Minotaur - Maps 4 (cassette)
Moutus - Eskimo King / Afternoon Penis (vinyl)

Tape Drift: Jeremy Kelly - Facing Space
Lee Noble - Infinity Bore
Family Treasures - Altars of Ashes
Cruudeuces - Exile Digs
Book of Shadows - Twelve Degree Chandelier

Astral Social Club - Happy Horse (available from Japan - here - and should be in distros soon)

Two new (I think) Mississippi Records re-issues: The Ex & Tom Cora - Scrabbling At The Lock
Uke of Phillips - Peppermint Birdhouse Tea Shanty Shack

Jugular Forest: 1958-2009 - Live
Human Hands - Palus Nectaris
Earn - In a year
Yellow Crystal Star - Rainbow bridge to dream mirror orb
Pale Blue Sky - Souvenir
Caged Soprano - The newspaper

Editions Mego: Cindytalk / Robert Hampson - Five Mountains Of Fire / Antarctica Ends Here
Emeralds - Does It Look Like I'm Here? (CD & 2LP pre-order)

Blossoming Noise: Merzbow - Collection 4
Merzbow - Collection 5
Merzbow - Normal Music
Merzbow - Flesh Metal Orgasm

Existential Cloth: Lee Noble - Twin Language
Siddhi - Cuttlefish Bone
Aghori / Kedamaian - Split

I Just Live Here: V/A - Fake Sound Routine

Sacred Phrases: Dry Valleys / Mohave Triangles - Split

Reverb Worship: Lady Space - Long Lost In A Twilight Head
Yoshino - Sun, Moon

Moving Furniture: A Vibrant Struggle – Between The Woods And Frozen Lake

Tapeworm: Fennesz - Szampler
Leslie Winer - & That Dead Horse

Jooklo Duo - Free Serpents

Next month Jooklo will be paying a visit to the USA - see here for details - and a man named Chris has set up a blog following it from April 12th. It's going to have audio ('Live in Itri' is already available), videos and art from the tour so be sure to keep check of it - Trogloblog.

Jooklo Duo - Free Serpents

This is not my rip. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, I just wish I had a copy to rip.
Sad face. Moving on...

Ten tracks of free jazz. The Duo formation of Jooklo (Virginia Genta (sax) and David Vanzan (drums)) is probably the wildest - the Finnish Quartet 'Birthday Session' probably being the closest of the other Jooklo projects that I've managed to hear.

This was recorded back in December 2006 and issued almost ten months later on Qbico, alongside 'Infinity' (Neokarma Jooklo Octet featuring Kawabata Makoto) and 'Meditative' (Neokarma Jooklo Trio) - lots of variation across those records.

Download
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News:

Dead Slack String: Richard Moult - Ethe
Plinth - Albatross
Magikal Folk of the Faraway Tree - The Soup and the Shilling

Plus Tapes: Perseus Noble – Perseus Noble
Radar Eyes – Radar Eyes

All of the Peasant Magik releases are definitely arriving. I received the lathes at the end of last week and I think my box set is currently at the post office. Tomentosa also has copies of the box set is you missed out - check here.

Also got the new Voice of the Seven Thunders vinyl through this morning from Tchantinler (if anyone was wondering about the delay with that).

Noticed a few things moseying through Norman Records' pre-order section. First was a sleeve paying tribute to Roxy Music's 'Country Life' cover from a new J. Mascis project, Sweet Apple, titled 'Love and Desperation'.
Second was a compilation on Dust to Digital put together by the Excavated Shellac blogger / WFMU free music archive uploader - 'Excavated Shellac: Strings'. The description doesn't make much sense though, how can the songs be, "recorded and released" yet, "All previously unreleased"? Ah. Who cares... Definitely check out the blog if you've not already.
Last record I spotted was a re-issue on Arbor of Oneohtrix Point Never's 'Zones Without People'. Only another 500 copies of it but at least that means people won't have to spend more than necessary to buy used copies off ebay.

They have also just listed that PWHMOBS 'All Cows Are Sacred' CDr on House of Alchemy here. There's meant to be a second pressing due.

Low Point: Kogumaza - Sevens b/w Mara

Thanks to sno in the cbox for these two: There's another new Zelienople piece on their website. Only 65mb this time.

Vulpiano Records have re-uploaded the Natural Snow Buildings album with the skip removed. There's also a Flac version available and a new release from Year of the Tiger.


'Honest Strings: A Tribute To The Life And Work Of Jack Rose' is meant to be downloadable now ($15) but it looks as though there has been an error with the dates - Three Lobed were expecting 19th March but it looks like someone at Fina has put it back a month.

Important Records: Robedoor - Burners
Jon Mueller & Z'ev - Hydration
Mugstar - ... Sun, Broken...
Kid 606 - Songs About Fucking Steve Albini
Merzbow - Ecobag / 13 Birds In A Bag +1 (14CD)

Olde English Spelling Bee: Forest Swords - Dagger Paths
Rangers - Suburban Tours
James Ferraro - Last American Hero


As always, I'm sure I've missed something. This time it feels like more than usual...

Natural Snow Buildings - The Centauri Agent

The new Natural Snow Buildings album is available over at Vulpiano Records, run by A Future In Noise's Marilyn Roxie. It's a free download only release and as a result should probably be considered the most available release from the duo - we can't go on about not getting a copy this time.


VULP-0013 is Natural Snow Buildings’ first release of 2010, the free-for-download double LP The Centauri Agent! On part one, the 41 minute “Our man from Centauri” sets the stage, a cosmic, sprawling opener with themes that continue on into “The accidental remote viewer”, before fizzling out into static. Part two is comprised of nine beautiful and intense tracks (particular stand-outs including “The Psychic Circle/Uchronia”, “The storm of resurrection”, and “Solar flares”). Lovely and intricately woven as ever, while frequently heading off into new and challenging sonic territory, Mehdi and Solange have created yet another very special work of musical art with The Centauri Agent!

Part One:
1-Our man from Centauri
2-The accidental remote viewer

Part Two:
1-The Psychic Circle/Uchronia
2-Black holes
3-The storm of resurrection
4-Moscow signal
5-Phantom twin
6-Stuttering probe
7-Solar flares
8-Emergency network farewell broadcast
9-Memories found in a bill from a small animal vet


Vulpiano Records


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Updates:

Blackest Rainbow: Enfer Boreal - Break The Illusion
Socrum - s/t
Cam Deas - Blind Chance (pre-order)
Aritomo - Fearful Sunshine Filtering Through Foliages (re-release pre-order)

Peasant Magik: Helm - To an end (Alter for European orders)

Under the Spire: Spheruleus - Frozen Quarters

Sloow Tapes: Stranger Son Of WB – Other Songs From Lakes
Wally Shoup and Dave Abramson – Good Curse
Embryo – Aalst 2010
Kosmische Keuterboeren - Harvest

Reverb Worship: The Big Drum In The Sky Religion / Noz Diloar / Mark Bradley - Chronological
Kwannon - The Twisted Book

Kimberly Dawn: ttotals - annimal skkulls
Archers by the Sea - They All Dreamt They Were Bears
Interstates (etc.) - Sanctuary of Memories

Trashcan Man - Live / Death Wish 2 Tribute (free download)

Pony Boy Cassettes: John-A-Dreams
Trash Can Man - First Trash

Calypso Hum: Pine Smoke Lodge / Gitche-Anahmi-Bezheu - Split
Kedamaian - Unjuran Alam

NNA Tapes: Nautilus - Blaster Vision
Xiphiidae - Maps In Exodus
Harmonizer - s/t

Rotten Topics - Bukowski (free download)

Apollolaan Recordings: Spaceship - Out Of Time's Abyss (sold out - I'd recommend getting on their mailing list if you're interested in their releases, all have been selling out very quickly over the last six months or so)

Zelienople / Donato Epiro / Entertainment for the Braindead / Endless Endless Endless

Four albums. A couple of these were sent to me - I am slowly getting around to listening to emailed albums - and the other two were stumbled upon. The titles are the links to download pages for a change.
There will be a couple more of these style posts in the near future.
No updates this weekend as there haven't been any (as of yet) to pass on. I've added in a small text box below the title picture for any mid-post edits, the blog posts and Cbox will be used as normal. If you downloaded the Sveriges Kommuner & Landsting album and couldn't extract the third track, it's downloadable here.


Zelienople - Old City
Got a fast internet connection or a deep love of Zelienople? Then head over to their site. They have a half hour long track, 'Old City', up for your enjoyment. Be warned, especially if you were planning to just stream the song, the song is in wav format and is 288mb!
Worth checking out if you can. I would convert it down and upload it but I don't want to tread on their toes. It does sound beautiful.


Donato Epiro - Sounding the Sun


This came out on Stunned Records in October last year (#52). The artwork from the label always reminds me that I haven't got anywhere near enough of their releases - definitely needs to be regular UK distro stock - and this album from Donato Epiro just adds more weight to that argument.
A real smorgasbord of sounds going on in this one. Cursillistas and PWHMOBS both come to mind. Add in some sections of Maurizio Abate-esq percussion and field recordings and you'll be close. Actually, scrap that, it's still not covered. Here's what Stunned said:

"Italian psych magician Donato Epiro aims his wand in all directions of the acoustical field, doing his best chameleon’s dance with drums, flute, chanting, and strings. An impressive dynamism is in play when Donato takes his bonfire percussion & fluttering raga loops, then swiftly braids them down to stilled passages of minimalist vibration"
Just spotted copies available at Tomentosa.



Entertainment for the Braindead - Roadkill

Discovered this artist whilst on the French blog, Unsung (a blog well worth checking - I don't speak much French either).
A girl from Germany playing folk tunes. If, like me, you're a folk fan at heart then I'd definitely recommend taking a listen. She has released the album on Aaahh Records as a stream or free download (mp3 or ogg) with the option to donate an amount of your choosing or buy a CD.


Endless Endless Endless - Things I Saw

This was out on Kimberly Dawn just a couple of months ago. The guys, Brett and James, sent over their 'Black Talisman' disc last year (here) and have kindly followed it up with this one.
'Black Talisman' surprised me a little, with the description including the word 'Nintendo'. I still detest that 8-bit stuff that was doing the rounds a couple of years back but Endless (x3) have relaxed my fears of possible future promos including those words/phrases.

Endless Endless Endless rip through your fragile psyche to reveal a multifaceted world of pure color and tone. This east coast duo wields guitars, gameboy, and vocals to create their own unique drifting dream world of pure discovery.
This, for me, is a step up from 'Black Talisman'. I just wonder what happened to 'East'...



Thanks to the videos currently on Message To Our Folks I've had, and still have, Beefheart stuck in my head. This, taken from his 'Clear Spot' record, plays out the 9 minute 'Vinyl Lovers' video. A near flawless song.

"I've got too much time to be without love"

Updates

Forgot to click 'post' with this. I've added in a couple more that have come since the weekend and there are a few of the Record Store Day releases down the bottom that may be of some interest - I figured The Cribs and Bullet For My Valentine wouldn't interest many so it's an edited down list.


La Société Expéditionnaire: Jusdson Claiborne - Time And Temperature

Time Lag Records: Stephen David Heitkotter - Heitkotter

Weird Forest: Buk Buk Bigups - s/t
Grouper - Wide (re-release pre-order)

8mm Records: Bill Nace - Too Dead for Dreaming

Ikuisuus: Monks of Malaspina - Volume One
Color Rabbit / Tretetam - Split
Claypipe / Pony Payroll Bones / Balder - Split
Renato Ciufrini & Bob Marsh - Rosa
Book of Shadows - Prayer Wheel

Tired Trails: Stone Baby - Leap into the Void and Drift
Sunken Landscapes - Transparent Sea

Digitalis: Acre - Sacrifice
J. Hanson - Boolean Blues

Housecraft: Samsara Vista - Miner in a Pit of Fire

Wah Wah Records has re-issued records by Between, Embryo, Jarka, Om and Ia Batiste in the last couple of weeks. Saw some of these arrive at Norman Records and Guerssen, no doubt others have also been stocking them.

Reverb Worship: The Big Drum In The Sky Religion / Noz Diloar / Mark Bradley - Chronological
Hayaken - Jugti
Lunar Miasma - Mirror Squares

Not Not Fun: Dylan Ettinger - New Age Outlaws
Pocahaunted - Make It Real
Edibles - Super Space / Mind Peace
Gnod - Science & Industry
Also a Pocahaunted t-shirt, an LA Vampires cassette single and Topping Bottoms - P.A.R.T.S. over in the Random Section of the site.

Blackest Rainbow: Cam Deas - Blind Chance
Aritomo - Fearful Sunshine Filtering Through Foliages (re-issue)

Keep an eye on Vulpiano Records over the next couple of weeks as they will be releasing - looks to be a free digital release - a new Natural Snow Buildings album titled 'The Centauri Agent'. Will no doubt update on this one.

Moondial: Deep Magic - Levitation

Audio.MER: Frederik Croene - Le Piano Démécanisé

Hundebiss: Mudboy - Impossible Duets
Francesco Cavaliere - Neverending Somersault
Aaron Dilloway - Lip Syncing To Verme

Smeraldina Rima: Panicsville - A Dragonfly For Each Corpse
Nate Wooley - Trumpet / Amplifier
Peeesseye + Talibam! (CD edition available from Invada Records)

Boondock Pissoir: Second Family Band - Nandi
Second Family Band - Naked Ladies & Dragons
Second Family Band - Jerusalem
Vosellglaas - 3 Lieder von Space
Ye Uphall Knyte Fryars - Psychedelic Underground Vol. 1
Meen Mistreeter - Side 3 (for T.K.)
Meen Mistreeter - Now that the roast beef's gone


I've tried picking out a few of the Record Store Day releases that may interest some readers of this blog (format and edition in parenthesis):
Flaming Lips – Dark Side Of The Moon (LP, /500)
Neu! – Crazy / Euphoria (12" single, /500)
The Album Leaf - There Is A Wind (12" single, remixes)
Dum Dum Girls / Male Bonding - Split (7")
The Fall – ‘ury / Cowboy Gregorie (/750)
Wooden Shjips – What it is / Buddy (7", /300)
V/A - 4AD compilation (12")

The list this information was stolen from can be found on the Drowned in Sound board. Not sure if these are just UK promos or for the whole world.

Lily - Dulcimer (Japan, 1973)

Another Lily bargain. At $5 this record wasn't quite as cheap as 'Onion', but how many people would turn their nose up at $5 records?

After a bit of a search for information, and really not coming up with much, I stumbled upon this blog that has copied out a list of Ongaku no tomo sha's 'Japanese Rock/Folk 1968-1978 Complete Album Guide' top 100 albums and 'Dulcimer' appears at 95 - although you'll have to read it to understand the ordering as it is alphabetically ordered in Japanese.

Lily - Dulcimer





My preference falls slightly towards 'Onion' but if you liked that record I can't imagine you'll dislike this. Not all the songs are fantastic - 'My dear Mr Romance' and 'As I can't sleep' don't do much for me - but a good standard for the most part with a similar mix of folk and hard/psych-rock.
Apparently, again, the electric guitar is the work of Kimio Mizutani (Out Cast, Love Live Life) and Takasuke Kida (Jacks) is on the drums. It's all in Japanese so I can't give as much information as before but I'd suggest the line-up hasn't changed much (if you can read Japanese, the 5th picture has the info).

Be warned: there is a quiet intro (lasts about 55 seconds) until an electric guitar kicks in loudly.

A1. Good By of Stranger
A2. I Left My Blues
A3. My Dear Mr. Romance
A4. Jun
A5. Pipe Love
A6. Nothing By Mouth

B1. Spring Has Come
B2. Day Break
B3. Don't Eat the Apple
B4. As I Can't Sleep (II)
B5. Why

I've been incredibly stupid with the ending of this rip. Twice I have recorded the b-side to my laptop and twice I pressed stop before the end. There are little solo intro / outro pieces on the LP and the outro section has been ripped as a separate track because of my errors.
Three tracks - A / B / outro - for two sides, each at 320kbps mp3.

Download
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Updates either later this afternoon or on the weekend.
Ideally I'd like to change the layout so I can have updates on one side and uploads on the other but I'm not sure if that's possible.

Scott Wells - Day Songs

The brief lull has ended. My net providers apparently upgraded the line and were having small problems causing connection to be lost after short periods of time. It has meant though that I have been able to line a couple of things up for future posts. Certainly not going to go overboard but there should be things like a follow up to the Lily album and that vague promise of a part two of Voice of the Seven Woods rarities fulfilled.

This is going to be a long one...

Scott Wells - Day Songs


"A really lovely suite of electric guitar from the floating world. No idea what's happening here, but Well's delicate touch of the strings generates a soft focus sound that's brimming with shiny harmonics and flecks of metallic gold. The only let down here is that at 20 minutes running time, this disc feels like it's just getting going when it comes to an end. Looking forward to hearing more from this one"
This EP goes best with a bit of concentration. If you get distracted it will flitter away. It also deserves a good amount of volume to capture the gentle string grinding and the brief taps of percussion, to accentuate everything above the underlying buzz and to fully appreciate Wells' swells.

Like the Golden Retriever release out on Root Strata at the same time - another well worth tracking down - this was limited to 100 copies and sold out in about a day.
I stupidly ripped the tracks as untitled - titles iTunes generated - and forgot to change them so replace them with the RS titles if you want:

1. Day Song 1
2. Day Song 2
3. Day Song 3
4. Day Song 4

As always, 320kbps mp3.

*Removed by request

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News:

I apologise if you find some of these have sold out in the passed week.

A couple of youtube videos to start things off:
The first is now one earthquake behind but still a more than worthy cause to support. It's a cover of 'I put a spell on you' put together by Shane MacGowan (The Pogues) and is a charity single for Haiti featuring Nick Cave, Chrissie Hynde, Bobby Gillespie, Paloma Faith - who actually sounds pretty good in this mix - and Johnny Depp (on guitar) as well as a few others.


Second is a trailer for a documentary about Travis Bean guitars. Not sure when, or if, this is going to get completed but guitar fans should take a look.



I know I won't be the only one excited by this: Caleb & Colleen, aka Dontrustheruin / Big Blood, have opened a store on Etsy (here) where you can buy all of their releases. All just $8 as well! Be sure to check it out. They also have LPs due out on Time-Lag, Digitalis and Dull Knife at some point and on their blog they mention tapes are due in the near future.

Earjerk: The Big Drum in the Sky Religion - Sha^ri Va'ri
Guzzo Pinc - The Sea
Second Family Band - Get Me By
Tricorn & Queue - Straits of Maize
Annapurna Illusion - Heat of the Fire, Heat of the Sun

Under the Spire: Jasper TX - A Voice From Dead Radio

Dull Knife: Balaclavas - Roman Holiday
Lamps - Niels Bohr

If you're a writer, Chunklet are looking for people to contribute to their next book. I do hope they create some more editions of the magazine in the future.

Whilst on the subject of publications, there is a three page piece on Pitchfork about cassettes (here) and a good article titled 'Articulate Silences, Ambient Sounds #1' at Drowned in Sound that is very much based around Type Records (here).

Tchantinler: Voice of the Seven Thunders - s/t (vinyl edition)

Goaty Tapes: Russian Tsarlag - Unleash the Chain
El Jesus De Magico - Ragtime Hors
La Danse Du Sperme (Hellvete, Edgar Wappenhalter, Bart Sloow, Silvester Anfang)
Street Drinkers - Circles
Uke of Spaces Corners - Albumen / Ovum (re-issue)
Banana Head Diary: BJ Vacuum Wax (book)

Milieu Music: Coppice Halifax - Halifaxian
Milieu - Reverb Microcoma
Brian Grainger - Entasis

Three Lobed Recordings has an astounding line-up planned for a digital Jack Rose tribute. It should be out in the next couple of weeks and will contain 6 and a half hours of music for $15 with all money going to his estate.

Digitalis Limited (check distros): Blue Sabbath Black Fiji - Wankers
Sacred Basil - Tuvan Annex
Celer - Rags of Contentment
Altar Eagle - Vintage Cats
S.R. Hess - Demise
Pine Smoke Lodge - Twelve Faces of the Smoke Mask
Dylan Ettinger - Interstellar Pleasures
Holy Family - Anoint

Caff/Flick: Peter's House Music

Apollolaan Recordings: Gish / Perry - I'm Afraid I Ate Too Much Butter As A Youth

Arbor: Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Bloodstream Sermon
Brett Naucke - Southern California
Copper Glove - Surviving the Garden of Hate
Pale Blue Sky - Shades of Gray
Ryan Garbes - Real Sugar

2:00AM Tapes: Flesh Coffin - In The Woods
Abortion Focus Group - MW
CDRX + TAKLAMAKAN - Sulphuric Lake / Ispod Zemljine Kore
Ophibre - Untitled Drones for Iron Oxide
A Vibrant Struggle - Soft Illusions

905 Tapes: Steve Kenney - Outside the Circles of Time
Teeth Collection - 905.101
2673 - When the sinew is cut, the limbs soon relax
Andrew Coltrane / Wether - Split

Release the Bats: Altar of Flies - Förruttnelsen
Blessure Grave / Lust for Youth - split

Free Women in Tragedy downloads here

Night People: Broken Water - Whet (LP)

Reverb Worship: Lunar Miasma - Mirror Squares

Assophon Records (email): Eddy Detroit - Immortal God's

House of Alchemy: A Vibrant Struggle - Black Hole Meditations
Part Wild Horses Mane On Both Sides - All Cows Are Sacred
Nick Hoffman - Silent Island
Wasteland Jazz Unit - Shivering Reflections

New Peasant Magik lathes / tapes / LP

I'm having a few computer / internet problems at the moment, intermittent to say the least. It seems to allow an average of five minutes online before dying so I'm trying to work out whether it's my computer, router or phoneline. Will be back to normal soon.

Whilst this is going on I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and also quickly post this Peasant Magik update. It also includes details of the box set posting as well at the bottom.

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Peasant Magik

Three lathes limited to 50 copies each:

God Willing - Forced to Function


Caboladies - Kind Glaze


Concern - Spatium

$15-20 each or all three for $38-45 depending on where you are.


The following tapes will be available from Tuesday:
David Lackner - The Repeaters
Plante
Willful - Speaking in Tongues
Stabab - Mesmerizing Leaves To Flee
Golden Cup - Il Cielo (+ deluxe edition of 12)


These two LPs should be available by the end of the month:
Helm - To An End
One Master - The Quiet Eye of Eternity


Box set: All artist, distro, and pretty much all of the domestic orders have shipped. Rest of the world will ship this weekend. Sorry for the slow shipping, but Philly has been under a layer of ice for the last two weeks, with most public transportation just up and running in the last few days.

Brief update (not much at all)

All is a little quiet at the moment. I've been having some late nights again now the Winter Olympics have started and it appears labels have been doing the same.

Were the Canadians were hoping for a repeat of the Beijing opening ceremony? Bryan Adams miming to the opening song; Chinese competitors in the stands given lunchbox sized drums.
The graphics were extremely well done, especially the whales, but what were the totem-phalluses all about? From the distant camera shot it looked wrong.

Not been very excited by any of the sport so far. Watching the Korean take out the other Korean in the speed skating final will become a classic moment in the same way the American boarder-cross woman falling on the last jump in 2006 did, but other than that... not exciting so far.
But as a result I have been distracted and away from the computer quite a bit (which is lovely). There aren't many updates this week so I've shoved in a bit of music news to pad the post out. Next update will be more exciting.

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Apparently there's a full page piece on Natural Snow Buildings in this months Uncut magazine. If anyone has a copy, please feel free to scan in the page and send it across.

Thrill Jockey: Jack Rose - Luck in the Valley

Abbey Road is to be sold by EMI. Will Paul McCartney use his millions to buy it? There's no rumour of that happening but you never know. No doubt it will be sold to housing developers, split into lots of million pound flats and sold to rich Beatles fans.

La Société Expéditionnaire: Mako Sica - Dual Horizon

Woodsist: Moon Duo - Escape
Art Museums - Rough Frame
Woods - I Was Gone

Leyland Kirby has put out a 6LP package of his 'Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was' album(s).

This would slightly annoy me if I were a big Merzbow fan (that has bought most of the Important Records Bird series already). Important Records are apparently releasing another edition of the Bird Series box set (in a bird seed bag) in March, this time thought to be costing around $150 and containing all 13 CDs from the series plus a bonus CDR.

905 Tapes has opened up a lovely blog shop for releases & distro.

Thurston Moore - needs no introduction - has set up a blog, 'Flowers & Cream', that can be found here.

Ah ha. I think this is proof that the Vatican looked up the definition of 'down on the boys' when they were really intending to understand 'down with the boys'. They have issued (through 'L'Osservatore Romano - The Holy See's newspaper) their list of 'the top 10 pop and rock albums of all time':

1. The Beatles - Revolver
2. David Crosby - If I could only remember my name
3. Pink Floyd - The dark side of the moon
4. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
5. Donald Fagen - The nightfly
6. Michael Jackson - Thriller
7. Paul Simon - Graceland
8. U2 - Achtung Baby
9. Oasis - (What's the story) Morning glory
10. Carlos Santana - Supernatural

Actually not that bad.




Google takes down music blogs - like this is new news?! Personally I think Google are getting a bit too big for their boots at the moment but that is based on unrelated news to this. I'm surprised it isn't more frequent.