ace014: steve gunn "sundowner" cd $13 / $18 cd+cdr edition Steve Gunn is probably best known as a key component to the mighty GHQ with Marcia Bassett (Double Leopards) and Pete Nolan (Magik Markers), but his solo efforts have been even more impressive. With a couple limited & hard-to-find CDRs under his belt and a few offerings under the moniker Moongang, Gunn is ready to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight with his first proper CD. This music is finely tuned and expertly crafted by Gunn's capable hands, showing his skill not only as a guitarist, but as a songwriter as well.
"Sundowner" may short & sweet, but it has an epic feeling. Gunn reaches deep into the vaults to line the walls with hypnotic acoustic guitar dirges, organic drones, and banjo ditties. And unlike any of his previous work, he also unleashes his voice on three songs, showing that not only can he play with the best of them, he can sing too. When he's not wowing the listener racing around the fretboard, his simple but effective vocal hooks are sinking themselves deep into the confines of your memory.
Limited to 500 copies in 2-color black gatefold jackets.
**NOTE: Special 2-disc edition features bonus CDR with collaborative tracks between Steve Gunn and a) Marcia Bassett & Tom Carter b) Marc Orleans (Sunburned) c) Heidi Diehl (Vanishing Voice). It is strictly limited to 100 handstamped & handnumbered copies**
ltd#18: leo fabriek + mariska baars + rutger zuydervelt + wouter van veldhoven "live edits" c34 $7/$9 most people will probably recognize the main projects that this group of dutch artists are involved in: julie mittens, machinefabriek, & soccer Committee. so it's pretty exciting when they all get together to make music.
"live edits" collects two side-long tracks from two separate sessions, both in march of this year. beautiful drones that flicker like powerflashes in the distance unfold slowly. using an array of instrumentation such as harmonium, guitar, voice, & taperecorders, the group keep things simple. these recordings glow. they are warm and inviting, but never lose sight of the golden sun that beams from the horizon. stunning music. pics & audio: http://www.digitalisindustries.com/ltd18.html
ltd#19: svarte greiner "penpals forever" c31 $7/$9 i've become a huge, huge fan of svarte greiner over the past few years. from his debut album on type, "knive," to his recent vinyl-only offering, "til seters," erik k. skodvin has tapped into something that is simultaneously desolate and dark, but also completely stunning. his music is a stripped bare down to its bleached-white bones.
"penpals forever" has a title that certainly sounds innocent and unasssuming, but don't be fooled: skodvin is weaving something sinister. two side-long sacrifices for guitar, improvised in oslo in the grey pitches of dusk. this is svarte greiner exorcising demons. packaged with exquisite black-on-silver artwork designed by skodvin. limited to 180 copies. pics & audio: http://www.digitalisindustries.com/ltd19.html
ltd#21: goodwillies "greenmachines for all the childrens" c30 $7/$9 tim goodwillie is the man with a plan. as 1/3 of the mighty (VxPxC), he's got something just for you, just in time for summer. this tape unleashes some ass-shakin' synthesized rhythms - full of fluff and overcooked grooves. goodwillie smokes the greenweed for the greenmachines and makes his pro-one purr. distortion laden beats suck all the air out of the room. it just grows and grows and grows.
"greenmachines for all the childrens" is a final document from the streets of los angeles before these sweet pioneers relocate back home and join us in the midwest. as the goodwillies embark toward kansas city, we welcome them with open arms. limited to 50 handnumbered copies with silkscreened handmade paper covers. pics & audio: http://www.digitalisindustries.com/ltd21.html
ltd#23: sea zombies "it died in africa" c41 $8/$10 the first incarnation of sea zombies was entombed at bottled smoke in 2007. that one-off performance featured john xela, jefre cantu-ledesma, gregg kowalsky, jed bindeman, & myself. but the original intent of the project was always as a duo between xela & the north sea, with assorted special guests thrown into the mix in various places. it seemed appropriate, then, that the first ever sea zombies release consisted of stripped-down duo recordings. both tracks were launched into the stratosphere during xela's boozed-out visit to tulsa in march of 2008. much blackness was birthed. much ginger beer was consumed.
"it died in africa" is the first thing we recorded during that fitful week in early spring. accompanied by dudes in africa sermonizing in french, walls of synthesized ruins were blown to bits with oscillating shards of burned-out glass. thick and syrupy and ready for consumption. packaged in oversized black envelopes with gold lettering which house the tape (with black-on-gold cover), insert, and a different african tarot card with each copy. limited to 100 handnumbered copies. more pics: http://www.digitalisindustries.com/ltd23.html
all steve gunn pre-orders are shipped (and many have already arrived - chuzzah!). milton cross pre-orders are the next to go out, followed soonish by valerio cosi & uton. we hope to have the evening fires and duncan bruce + lee noyes CDRs finished in the next week or so. the next tapes will likely be tricorn & queue & andrew coltrane.
also, non-digitalis news... the north sea/xela split LP, "electronic music vol. 1" will be released in the next few weeks on RITE and available through boomkat.com. we'll have a very small number of copies available as well. it's the first in an ongoing series of limited, split LPs between xela and myself. there should be some ajilvsga LPs on RITE in the near future as well. and speaking of ajilvsga, i've got limited copies of two of our recent tapes available for $7 each PPD worldwide - "white path/red path" on peasant magik and "white sky monster" on open range. email me if you want 'em!
We're down to the final two teams, and the last poll (possibly ever, since I just discovered the website I get them from only lets you make two free ones. I knew there had to be a catch):
Six new CDRs are now available: Acre, Treetops, Ajilvsga, David Kirby,Sparkling Wide Pressure, and Caboladies. These are either $7ppd a piece or $38 for all 6. We're especially stoked about this batch: all very solid, diverse releases. Also, for a limited time, if you order the entire batch, I'll throw in a copy of the SOD CD comp "Molten Strings, Train Wrecks and Birdsong." Note that because I'll be out of town until 7/5, all orders will begin shipping on 7/6. To order the entire batch, contact me directly.
I've been getting a lot of questions about the status of "Dance of the Moon and the Sun" 2CD. After some setbacks, we're expecting it to be done next month, at this point we're just waiting on the printers. We are truly sorry for the delay, but we think it will be well worth it! If you have specific questions/concerns, don't hesitate to write me. Due out at the same time as the NSB 2CD are Area C's "Charmed Birds Against Sorcery" and Marble Sky's "The Sad Return", both of which may still be pre-ordered.
There's still a lot of exciting stuff to come this year, with CDs in the pipe by Ashtray Navigations, Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Cloaks, Starving Weirdos, Opitope, Gareth Hardwick, Brendan Murray, Hisato Higuchi and more. We'll be announcing pre-orders for some of these soon.
Make sure to check out the Decay States blog! Also, be on the lookout for a new Students of Decay/Root Strata joint message board coming soon!
Now, the releases: SOD-38 Ajilvsga - "Asleep Amongs the Thick Weeds" CDR (ltd 100) "Asleep Amongst the Thick Weeds" could very well serve as a statement of intent for Brad Rose and Nathan Young's Ajilvsga duo. Here, over the course of one simply MASSIVE 45 minute track, the pair navigate an astounding range of electronic detritus sourced from synthesizers and boutique pedals, offering deep, ringing chorals which collapse into unforgiving torrents of sine waves and hissing analog crunch. SOD-55 ACRE - "Painless" CDR (ltd 100) Acre is the solo endeavor of Portland's Aaron Davis, with prior releases on Yarnlazer and Black Horizons, and a full length LP due out soon on Arbor. "Painless" is a carefully composed, intensly FOCUSED study of HEAVY tone. Clocking in at 79 minutes, it is perhaps the most daunting and awe-inspiring Acre missive to date, with Davis casting looong, cascading drone spells which are as impossibly heavy as they are narcotically hypnotic. Don't miss this one. SOD-72 Treetops - 'In the Everglades" CDR (ltd 100) New recordings by Arbor frontman Mike Pollard. Pollard continues to push his sound in different directions, here he melds bleary drones with smears of FX-hazed voice and keyboard half-melodies, floating this fragile mess overtop throbbing percussive elements with downright disorienting results. Another compelling document from this fresh faced Chicago lad.
SOD-75 Sparkling Wide Pressure - "Touching Pasture" CDR (ltd 100) Following a stellar release on the newly minted Digitalis LTD. imprint, Frank Baugh returns with another collection of crackly bedroom nodout. Baugh's compositional sensibility is rooted in nostalgia, as evidenced by the cover photo (an image of his younger self). Sonically, it's one big fog of garbled radio transmissions, voice and sprawling, Appalachian guitar lines. Wonderful, moving stuff. SOD-76 Caboladies - "Earth Canal" CDR (ltd 100) For the uniniated, Caboladies are a trio of fine gents from central Kentucky who have, heretofore, kept a relatively low profile, releasing just a handful of small run tapes and cdrs on various Kentucky imprints, including their own Smooth Tapes label. The Cabos utilize various synths, keyboards and pedals to generate dense, swirling malestromes of sound rife with microcosmic detail. Not a million miles from recent Astral Social Club flights. Full length Caboladies CD on Students of Decay, late 2008/early 2009. SOD 78 David Kirby - "The Scythe" CDR (ltd 100) David Kirby returns for his second outing on Students of Decay, following 2006's "Inside, it is Ringing." "The Scythe" may well be David's most realized composition to date. A veritable cornucopia of source material hammered and melted into shape, forming a truly vast, humming universe of sound. The drones which drift throughout remind me of something from Christoph Heemann's backcatalog. But far from being so easily pigeonholed, David's use of found sound, samples and other wry "appropriations" renders this piece and sound very much his own. Keep your eyes peeled for a full length proper CD from David here on SOD later this year.
That would make Dragging A Dead Deer Up The Hill album no. 5. (All images from aQuarius Records, btw.) There're other releases too, listed here -- including a split with Xiu Xiu called Creepshow. They're all great albums, too!
Oh man, Turkey is my new third-favorite (behind Sweden and the Netherlands)! I believed that they could score in the very last minute but I never thought they would actually do it, let alone win!
Anyway, I thought we needed a new one of these (though you can still vote in the old one too):
Alex Neilson’s (Jandek, Taurpis Tula, C93, Six Organs etc) newly minted song-based group are out on a brief UK Summer tour. The line-up of this project includes Lavinia Blackwall (Directing Hand), Simon Shaw (Scatter) and Ben Reynolds (Motor Ghost). Dates so far include...
I know Brad and I aren't the only soccer/football fans here so I thought we needed a post devoted to Euro '08.
We've watched the Dutch (Brad's team) run right over a couple of supposedly-scary teams but I'm still holding my breath that my Swedes can somehow make it all the way into the semifinals.
Who are you supporting? How do you think the teams are doing?
Euro 2008 - FinalWe're down to the final two teams, and the last poll (possibly ever, since I just discovered the website I get them from only lets...
blogpost :: by Eden Hemming Rose
Grouper discographyDespite what Cory Card reckons (no hard feelings, mate) about how many albums Liz Harris has put out as Grouper, I reckon I know better...
blogpost :: by Stephen Clover
Euro 2008I know Brad and I aren't the only soccer/football fans here so I thought we needed a post devoted to Euro '08...
blogpost :: by Eden Hemming Rose
The forums are gone.I thought I should let everyone know that we had some issues with the forums recently and decided to just get rid of them rather than...
blogpost :: by Eden Hemming Rose
Dead bees (crosspost)I've (finally!) got a new seht CD out which is the follow-up to The Green Morning. It's out on the PseudoArcana label, and it's called dead bees ((the((quiet)earth))suite).
blogpost :: by Stephen Clover
Le Pot Pourri Questionnaire: Jason Honea The Child Readers. The Shitty Listener. The Knit Separates. Teenage Panzerkorps. Chord Fort. This is but a sampling of Jason Honea's various projects and collaborations. Need I say more?.. feature :: by Bruno Parisse
18 June, 2008
Home Blitz I first met Daniel DiMaggio, the whiz behind Home Blitz, my sophomore year of college when he was playing guitar in the Great Excape with my buddy Jason Sigal... feature :: by Raf Spielman
Salt of Several Seas Jason Honea has been a major contributor to many of the finest projects housed in the Jewelled Antler forest. .. feature :: by Bruno Parisse
