rambutan - silver pharmacy - anathema sound - cass - 6$
A pillar of the experimental music scene in upstate New York, Eric Hardiman lends his talent to the scorching psych bands Century Plants and Burnt Hills. But under his solo guise, Rambutan, he's built up an absolutely brilliant and diverse discography with essential releases on his own Tape Drift label and many others. Remarkably, Silver Pharmacy is another leap forward and another offering that sounds like no other, yet still fits perfectly within the project's unique aesthetic. Density is the name of the game here, with Hardiman leaving the guitar on the shelf to put forth three heavy pieces that revolve around the synthesizer. Monumental waves of sound build and ultimately refract into beautiful, prismatic sequences. Delicate, warped melodies are buried and protected beneath sheets of distortion and white noise. It's an empowering soundtrack fit for all members of the food chain. All artwork by M.Y
flea apparitions - transparent black- anathema sound - cass - 6$
Lorne Zeman is back with his lengthiest and most complex work to date. Transparent Black features eight separate pieces that showcase different approaches to what Zeman does best: warp your mind and distort your senses with sound. Voices whisper unintelligible phrases in your ear, creeping synths and guitars tell the tales of specters and lost in the night, tapes spew forth the sounds of the damned, and unholy feedback rears its ugly head to destroy any and all nuances in the mix. It all amounts to a twisted, post-apocalyptic fever dream that could only come out of a Rust Belt city like Pittsburgh. Features a full color artwork collaboration by Zeman and Matt Yacoub.
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pummeler - jungle olympics- anathema sound - cass - 6$
After a string of releases on Small Doses, Digitalis Ltd., and Stunned, Denmark’s Mikkel Valentin Dunkerley adds another dead soldier to his arsenal of scorchers. Dunkerley considers Jungle Olympics to be his harshest work to date and he’s not kidding. Layer upon layer of heavily distorted guitar, electronics, field recordings, and effected vocals collide, compete, and ultimately envelop one another in a wild, frenzied fashion perfectly befitting the release title. Yet, through all the racket and clamor, a subtle, droning melody permeates and anchors each piece—leaving you hypnotized and begging for more. With full color artwork, inserts, and labels by Matt Yacoub.
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age of wire and string - música de ir ao o cu - anathema sound - cass - 6$
Headquartered in Newcastle, England, this worldly trio is the meeting of three tremendously-accomplished musical minds. Featuring Peter Nicholson on cello, Neil Davidson on guitar, and Jamie Allen (whose circuitMusic we released in 2008) on electronics, Música de ir ao o cu puts forth two masterful slabs of improvisation. Subtlety is the name of the game, with each piece constantly teetering on edge. Still, each player finds perfect moments to go shine through as hacksawed strings, motorik rhythms, and cyborg voices erupt into expertly calculated chaos. The end result is a work that’s utterly freeing, soulful, and downright exhilarating to behold. With full color artwork, inserts, and labels by Matt Yacoub.
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sovetskaya gone - sashweights & bags of birdshot - anathema sound - cass - 6$
L.A.’s Kevin Danchisko certainly had an excellent 2009, carving out his own unique space in the world of synth music with several outstanding tapes on Digitalis Ltd. and Dial Square Tapes. OnSashweights & Bags of Birdshot, he proves that there’s plenty more in store for 2010 and beyond. Inspired by Kurt Vonnegut’s classic dystopian short story Harrison Bergeron, Danchisko presents three tracks that take the form of unhinged bliss, subtle melodic beauty, and textural creepiness. Blazing arpeggios lift off toward the sun as steam pipe filters hiss below the surface. It’s all swaddled in distinctly warm Sovetskaya production and should remind you to kiss the ceiling while there’s still time. With full color artwork, inserts, and labels by M.Y.
husere grav / meditations - anathema sound - cass - 6$
Two dark passengers run parallel through the night. Husere Grav kicks things off in short, episodic fashion with five entirely unique reflections on dread and anguish. Crumbling walls of distortion, heartbreaking funeral dirges, and voyeuristic acoustic passages all tell a twisted but remarkably consistent story. Meditations follows with one side-long track that relies heavily upon synth, homemade electronics, tape, and vocals. A storm of tones, drones, and screeches build into a frenzy and eventually coast into a mournful, tense, and unexpectedly melodic finale. With full color heart-and-lung art, inserts, and labels by Matt Yacoub.
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chapels - in aspic - anathema sound - cass - 6$
This new project sees Buffalo ’s Adam Richards (of The Circle and the Point and the House of Alchemy label) playing the role of lo-fi exorcist. In Aspic is a fascinating, addictive listen that extols both warm melodies and eerie vibes in heavy doses at once. Richards juggles guitars, synths, and hand percussion to lift spirits from the tape hiss and cause all the floorboards in the house to creak at once. It’s densely-layered and swirling at one moment, sparsely whispering the next, yet always beautiful and engrossing in its own haunting way. With full color art, inserts, and labels by Matt Yacoub.
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flea apparations - severed hands - anathema sound - cass - 6$
Pittsburgh's Lorne Zeman contorts and electrifies his noise like no other. Utilizing a wide array of gear and tapes that sound mangled to perfection, Severed Hands is a bizarre and enthralling foray into an alternate dimension. Percussive walls of feedback, obscured vocals, and lo-fi synth blasts are your guide through a land of mass-dismemberment, primitive rituals, and more creepy crawlies than you can handle. With full color art, inserts, and labels by
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meditations - II - anathema sound - cass - 6$
The brooding calm after the ugly descent into entropy that was I, II offers a different glimpse into the world of Meditations with a release of utterly bleak, lo-fi ambience. Created using very little, both sides use heavy doses of restraint and cold melody to create a tense, yet staid atmosphere. This is late night music for watching the world smolder. Full color artwork, inserts, and labels by Matt Yacoub
Edition of 33 .
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jamie allen - circuitMusic - anathema sound - cass - 6$
Jamie Allen is a Canadian artist currently residing in the UK. With circuitMusic, he uses raw op amp components with minimal effects to experiment and revel in the sound of pure, electric signals. Allen’s compositions are streamlined, yet remarkably varied with harsh walls of static, dense drones, and playful rhythms all vying for the listener’s headspace. This piece has been performed at venues throughout North America including Tonic (NYC), Galapagos (NYC), Eyebeam (NYC), SAT (MTL), and the S.S. Marie Antoinette (WA). Be prepared to turn this one up extra loud and get lost in it. Full color artwork, inserts, and labels by Matt Yacoub.
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