yek koo - psychic atonement for land deaths - digitalis recordings - cdr - 5$
metal rouge has emerged as los angeles' best kept secret in 2008, but they're luckily getting some air underneath those silver wings. yek koo is another side of that same coin, though. this solo project from helga fassonaki, who is half of metal rouge, shimmers under the weight of leaded gold. "psychic atonement for land deaths" is an excursion through the shadowhills, built on a foundation of lapsteel and head-swirling vocals. it is boundless.
on this album, fassonaki pushes new boundaries. with hints of the trails traveled by the likes of heather leigh-murray and fursaxa creeping in from the peripheral, yek koo deconstructs these flowing drones into flecks of silver and gold. these are serious times and this is serious stuff for all that ails you. limited to 81 copies.
-digitalis
uton - we're only in it for the spirit - digitalis recordings - special edition cd + cdr -14$ For the past five plus years, Uton has been one of the most consistent projects to come out of the snowy confines of his native Finland. His output has been constant, but the quality is always great. His drones have always been underscored with a sense of melody and a keen utilization of the space where the music was created. These songs are not icy or glacial, though, like one might think. Uton’s uncanny ability to inject an inviting sense of warmth and spirit. "We’re Only in it for the Spirit" is ghost music; barely there and out-of-sight in the blink of an eye.
The man responsible for these masked-spirit journeys is Tampere native, Jani Hirvonen. He's collaborated with the likes of Jan Anderzén (Kemialliset Ystävät, etc), Bridget Hayden (Vibracathedral Orchestra), & Anla Courtis (Reynols) among others. When it comes to enchanted, sprawling drones, Hirvonent is a true Rennaissance man. He is joined by Vapaa's J.P. Koho on all tracks, who complements Hirvonen's delicacy with subtle hints of chaos.
"We're Only in it for the Spirit" continues to trek through new worlds of sound, polishing off the once-rough edges of Uton's sound into something that acts as a beacon in the void. Dark, brooding drones for guitar and electronics flicker and fade like a distant, stellar horizon. Hirvonen is a master craftsman, and Koho is his perfect foil. The two play off each other's every move and produce an end result that rivals anything Uton has released previously. "We're Only in it for the Spirit" is a magickal piece of work.
Limited to 500 copies with artwork designed by James Livingston of Black Horizons.
Special edition limited to 75 handnumbered copies
-digitalis
ensemble economique - at the foot of nameless roads - digitalis recordings - special edition cd + cdr -12$ By now, just about everyone is familiar with the mighty Starving Weirdos and their otherworldly junkyard drones. Last year the world was introduced to another band of mystics from the Weirdos camp called RV Paintings. One of the constant threads from both of those bands is the inimitable Brian Pyle. Ensemble Economique is Pyle’s debut foray into the solo forest. "At the Foot of Nameless Roads" is a masterpiece of an album, filled to the brim with cacophonous melodies, meditative auditory chants, & hypnotic shambolic rhythms. If you love the Weirdos, you will be all over this.
"At the Foot of Nameless Roads" is one hell of a first statement. Pyle has concocted an absolute gem. This is dense music that begs for deeper inspection. Each space, each note carefully chosen and etched into glass. Ensemble Economqiue is music for the darkest nights, the pinkest mornings, and everything in between. This is vivid, haunting music that leaves a trail of gold in its wake.
Limited to 500 copies. Artwork by Tarentel's Jefre Cantu-Ledesma.
Special edition limited to 100 copies
-digitalis
valerio cosi - heavy electronic pacific rock - digitalis recordings - special edition cd + cdr -14$ Valerio Cosi may be young at only 22, but his talent is undeniable. He may be mostly known for his exquisite saxophone playing, but this Italian wunderkind doesn’t stop there. Cosi composes strings of magic using all sorts of instrumentation and production tricks. "Heavy Electronic Pacific Rock" marks the first CD release in Cosi’s ever-expanding discography, and he saved the best for this, his most widely-available release to date.
"Heavy Electronic Pacific Rock" is a monster. Clocking in at nearly an hour in length, this kraut-infused ride takes Cosi's modus operandi of juxtaposing multitudes of ideas that generally seem at odds and pushes it to its outer limits. Using techniques and ideas often found in contemporary free-jazz, but blurring them and whitewashing them with buckets of noise and Eastern-inspired rhythms, it is clear Valerio is on a mission. His music is the spaced-out reincarnations of the ghosts of giants. It is an arsenal of unique sonic phrasings built to bend your mind.
This is Valerio Cosi at his peak as a performer, young as he is. "Heavy Electronic Pacific Rock" is his finest hour, his opus.
Limited to 500 copies.
Special edition limited to 100 copies
-digitalis
jeremy kelly - s/t - digitalis recordings - special edition cd + cdr - 12$
I first met Jeremy Kelly at Bottled Smoke back in May and subsequently got to know him via email over the summer. Simply put, he's an incredible artist and musician. There's a few things you should know... first, he's an effects-building wizard. He makes a lot of his own stuff, giving his music unique sounds and textures. Also, he's one hell of a guitar player with one hell of a nice guitar. Third, his circuit-bending wizardry also lends its hand to his mighty Doepfer modular synth, which has its tendrils weaved all throughout his debut CD. So keeping all these things in mind, we're extremely excited to be offering up Jeremy's first proper CD release.This self-titled effort is a cohesive conglomeration of a dizzying array of styles, recorded beautifully by Ged Gengras (Antique Brothers) with help from Grant Capes ((VxPxC)) out in Los Angeles. Gengras even joins in on saz at one point, concocting a hypnotic Middle-Eastern jam that feels baked in the scorching desert sand. Add in some blues-infused acoustic ragas that throw a nod to Ben Chasny's Six Organs of Admittance and glazed walls of analog noise, and you're somewhere in the ballpark of this album. It's all over the place, but never too far from the path Kelly has laid down for himself. This is some serious magic.
Special edition limited to 75 handnumbered copies
-digitalis
mudboy - hungry ghosts! these songs are doors - digitalis recordings - enhanced cd - 10$ Mudboy dares you to find a suitable label for his warped sonic missives. But find one way to trap him and he changes direction and weasels out under the cracks in the wall. This is music for those who like to skit the line between light and dark, because believe Mudboy himself when he says that this record is all about the dark arts. His spells and incantations are the perfect guide through this analog labyrinth. "Hungry Ghosts" is at times hypnotic, dabbling in psychedelia, but is also disorientating like a house of mirrors. The circuit bent organ and arsenal of pedals does Mudboy well and will keep you guessing for as long as you're willing to give it a go. This album is a grower, but after a few listens you'll find yourself completely hooked.
On "Hungry Ghosts," the listener is given glimpses into a whole host of new worlds. Each song is like a diorama; intricate, detailed, and totally 3-D. You'll find yourself wandering aimlessly through this mess of devilish sonic missives only to realize that once it ends, not only are you lost, but completely entranced and calm. This is meditative music for the agitated soul. Like poltergeists that haunt belfries and spires, Mudboy is never in one place for too long.
This is the CD version of the recent LP on Not Not Fun. This enhanced CD contains the same music as well as a short video by Mudboy, "Othern Lights." The disc is packaged in lasercut & slightly burned cardstock sleeves with matching insert. It's similar to the LP, only more intricate.
-digitalis
stone baby - used illusions/lost objects - foxglove - cdr -6$
stone baby hail from upstate new york and have seen their broken wares peddled by such fine junk salespeoples as carbon records, house of alchemy, and phantom limb. well this duo has brought their fractured droning blues to foxglove and the results couldn't be better. what's most impressive about stone baby is that even though there's only two people creating all these sounds, these songs are fucken dense. we're talking black holes and white dwarves and shit here. or is red dwarves? pulsars? you'd never know i got an A in astronomy. but stone baby keep throwing new things at you with every listen. it's a wild ride up to rochester, but i hear the food is amazing. 100 copies
-digitalis
john clyde-evans - apetal thunderfall - digitalis - cd -9$
It's been a monumental year for John Clyde-Evans. He recently returned from a year living in the Punjab region of India, and after a slew of releases under his Sikh name of Tirath Singh Nirmala, he's back to the good ol' JCE. That's not all that's changed, though. His latest opus, "apetal thunderfall," spins off into a new web of cacaphony, leaving behind the pastoral anthems of yesteryear and taking aim at a more abrasive ways to leave behind the rust.
"apetal thunderfall" was recorded entirely during JCE's stay in Jalandhar in 2007 using found software and audio sources. The resulting recordings feel almost primitive. Evans uses his uncanny ability to blend and mix multitudes of tones into sprawling thickets of sound. It is hard to call this music drone, but at the same time there is a continous flow to these three pieces that works in a similar way. Over the course of 43 minutes, this music etches itself into your skull, drilling itself in deep without drawing blood. Divided into three tracks, "apetal thunderfall" is more a singular entity than a collection of works.
This album is cathartic, both musically and as a vehicle for JCE himself. But make no mistake, this is not spiritaul music with mystic over/undertones. Simply, it is the new aural vision from one person made while living in India for a year. It is abrasive yet beautiful, and harkens back to a time and place when things were far less complicated.
-digitalis
thousands - overflow'd & gush'd out - foxglove - cdr -7$
when the curtain opens on the lone figure at the head of the stage as he blows his harmonica, hoping to conjure spirits from the layers of dust on the floor. wailing vocals light the balconies and waft their way toward the smoky heavens of the lushly decorated ceiling. thousands is the sister of the mighty (VxPxC), but this extended family vision is a much larger beast. on "overflow'd & gush'd out," thousands are six. disjointed melodies reclaim the horizon from fractured guitar lines and sporadic drum blasts. thousands move like a machine across the landscape, sucking up everything in their path, inviting it all in to join in their revolt. rebelling against what? that's not all that important when it sounds so damn good.
-digitalis
altar of flies - flying over- foxglove - cdr -5$
altar of flies hails from the snowy world of mjölby, sweden. this moniker of mattias gustafsson (not to be confused with the broken face's mats gustafsson, or the saxophonist of the same name), and throughout "trapped under watter," this swede swims in metallic waves of ecstatic drones. gustaffson concocts washes of noise and feedback and bends them into shape, stretching the limits of each stolen note. this music is as thick like syrup, and just as fucken sweet.
vxpxc - porchmass - digitalis - cd -7$
In the past two years, (VxPxC) has grown from a Golden State oddity to a Los Angeles institution. The trio of Grant Capes, Tim Goodwillie, and Justin McInteer have churned out an entire catalog of blissed-out improvisations that range from the organic and melodic to overblown chaos. There's never a dirth of new ideas flowing out of their collective minds, and on "Porchmass," their first proper CD release after a slew of CDRs and cassettes, they push the envelope into a whole new realm.
warmth - leave you wet brain in the hot sun - digitalis - cd -8$
Warmth has undergrone plastic surgery since this album was originally released as a criminally limited CDR on Belgium's best scuzz label, Audiobot. Back then Warmth was known as Roxanne Jean Polise. The name may have changed, but the sounds are still the same dense electronic forest fog that set Michigan-native Steev Thompson's music apart from most of his compatriots. "Leave Your Wet Brain in the Hot Sun" is Warmth's finest hour. It's his hypnotic, marrow-sucking opus.
keijo - flying over- digitalis - cd -8$
The godfather of the Finnish Underground is back with his most complete album to date. Keijo Virtanen's far-reaching hands can be felt throughout the Nordic peninsula from his home in Jyväskylä. While he often performs in numerous groups such as The Free Players and Kheta Hotem, it is in his solo work that he is most accomplished. Virtanen is not just a talented and prolific musician, but also and artist and published author. His inspiration and creativity know no bounds. At 54 years-old, Virtanen still rides his motorcycle all over the country and shows no signs of letting up.
V irtanen finally took his show on the road this past autumn, touring with members of Uton and Vapaa throughout Northern Europe. He also released two CDs on the much heralded Last Visible Dog imprint. "Flying Over" is the culmination of a landmark year for this troubadour. These nine tracks run the gambit of all of Keijo's talents, from the rattling blues transgressions of "On the Edge," to the throatsinging-laced organic drone of "Late Night Here & Far Away," and completed with the harmonium-laced " Virtanen's range is pure magic.
While the bulk of "Flying Over" is entirely Virtanen's creation, he is joined by two of his closest collaborators on two tracks: Sami Virtanen and Jussi Karsikas, two extremely talented Finns in their own right. Whatever the moment calls for, though, Virtanen fills the void and the empty space with exactly what is needed. He is a wizard of sound and a seemingly endless well of magnificent music. It shouldn't be surprising for someone who makes their home at the center of the universe.
-digitalis
tirath singh nirmala - bluster, cragg, & awe -digitalis - cd - 8$
Not too long ago, John Clyde-Evans made a huge splash with his phenomenal solo LP on England's Fisheye imprint. He also performed as an collaborator with the seminal UK group, Hood. After taking a seven year hiatus and committing to the path of Sikhism, he returned as Tirath Singh Nirmala. His continually unfolding backstory is interesting enough, but it's his music where the real magic and mystery stretch their silver wings.Nirmala returned to making music after his close friend and collaborator, Vibracathedral Orchestra's Neil Campbell, gave him some free software and set him on his way. Nirmala responded with nearly a dozen self-released, highly limited CDRs. The releases were filled to the brim with Eastern-influenced, transcendental drones and uplifting spiritual sound explorations. His manipulation of sine waves and use of obscure Asian instruments creates a wholly original and unique sound. As on his solo LP as John Clyde-Evans, Nirmala's ability to concoct sprawling, majestic drones using such simple terms is unmatched.
"Bluster, Cragg, & Awe," Nirmala's first non-CDR release, is the perfect beginning. It collects the best tracks from those now impossible-to-find releases and adds two new songs and one collaborative piece with Scottish guitar guru, Richard Youngs. It is a journey that lasts less than an hour, but contains a lifetime of aural experience, wrapped into one, shimmering golden package. Oh yes, Tirath Singh Nirmala has returned.
-foxglove/digitalis
bjerga/iverson - the sea is near you can taste the salt in the air - foxglove - cdr - 6$
the green blossoms - whiskey leaves - digitalis recordings - cd & 3" cdr - 12$
It was important we get this out in the heart of summer because "Whiskey Leaves" its familiar melodies and breezy instrumentation are the perfect accompaniment to your hot, humid nights. The duo of Aiko Koa and Anthony Guerra first made their presence known on a micro-edition CDR from New Zealand's Pseudoarcana. "Whiskey Leaves," though, is a different beast entirely. While on the surface these compositions feel simple, once you dig a little deeper you realize the care put into each song. This is intimate music.Guerra sets the pace with layers of makeshift percussion and guitar. Koga also plays ukelele, but it's her voice that is the real focal point of the album. Soft and restrained, even when you can't understand her words (some of the lyrics are in Japanese), you are hooked from the get-go. Hours later, you find yourself humming her melodies whilte her ghostly incantations are stuck in the back of your mind. This is fractured pop perfection. "Whiskey Leaves" will be a welcome addition to fans of Tujiko Noriko, Tenniscoats and the like. Beautiful.
Limited to 500 copies.
-digitalis
corsican paintbrush - under bent limbs - digitalis - cd - 8$
Tulsa, Oklahoma is probably one place you would not expect to find a bouzouki or a person who can play one. But thankfully for the spirit of international culture, husband and wife team Brad and Eden Rose live in that very city. They make music under many names (most notably the North Sea but also Wax Ghost, Golden Oaks, and Agilvsga), and with many friends (from Michael Donnelly of Brothers of the Occult Sisterhood to Robert Horton (as Eastern Fox Squirrels)), but Corsican Paintbrush is purely their creation, their musical offspring. Combining lush instrumentation with clattering percussion and ramshackle beats, Corsican Paintbrush creates a new world of sound out of old world technology.
Fresh from a sold-out lathe-cut record split with Italy's prolific space-artists My Cat is An Alien, and following up two beautiful CD-r releases on Foxglove and Musicyourmindwillloveyou, Corsican Paintbrush has focused their considerable talents and energies into a "proper" CD release.
Swerving feverishly between what could easily be chopped up Native American rhythms, sampled Celtic melodies, and space-age funk played on trash heaps, the music of Corsican Paintbrush is actually all of this and none of it. "Aquarian Hymns" is nine tracks of gorgeously recorded acoustic grace; marked with periodic bursts of lysergic freak-outs, from the sharpened slide guitar strings and tired voice of "Break Through These Branches" to the heavy accordion and woodwind drones of the closing track "Aquarius". The true masterpiece of the release is the expansive and slow-developing "Carbon Revival", taking its sweet time (over fifteen minutes) to uncoil its scaly form and sink its dripping fangs into your mind.
Corsican Paintbrush paints an engrossing picture of a folk music never before encountered, and it does so with broad and yet delicate swaths of color and texture. Just don't call this sound New Age or Ethnic Folk, it digs deeper and broader than that, sounding at times like a piece from the richly diverse Sublime Frequencies collection, and at other times like a death march across the desert, carried on the back of the Sunburned Hand of the Man.
apple snails - only on a macadam road - foxglove - cdr -7$
following up releases on crocomodile and an exquisite split cassette w/ the mighty acts of god on DNT, jeffrey mitchell's apple snails take a whole new approach on "only a macadam road," and the results are stunning. it's full of ambient drones that sound like they were born in the northern lights. the road is bathed in darkness, but tiny fragments of light seep through the murk every so often in the form of acoustic melodies and glockenspiel bursts. it's music that transports you far, far away. we've been working on this one for what seems like forever... so long in the making that the inserts actually say foxglove132, but good things certainly come to those who have waited for this apple-eyed gem.
-digitalis
elm - nemcatacoa - digitalis recordings - cd - 14$
For my money, Barn Owl is the best new band to emerge in the last five years. Their trajectory has been meteoric, progressing musically and conceptually in leaps and bounds. I've been thrilled to be there from the beginning, watching and listening in awe as the duo of Jon Porras and Evan Caminiti have carved out an impressive niche of their own. Heavy doses of guitar savagery and tribal essence have them firmly planted at the top of the mountain. So it makes sense to deconstruct the duo and present each as a solo entity, soaring on their own.
Elm is the name of Porras' solo creations. His music retains the megasonics of Barn Owl, but finds his tutelage deep in the heart of the desert. "Nemcatacoa" is a lonesome, epic journey. Named after one of the deities of his Colombian heritage, his latest full-length (and first large-scale solo release) feels huge and endless. Walls of guitars shatter beneath the weight of the booming percussion blasts that find their way from the caves into the light. An acoustic guitar is mournfully plucked, the beginning of a procession of the dead. "Nemcatacoa" is an album begging for somebody, anybody to find and embrace.
Porras is a master artist. The instrumentation at work here is even more impressive when you consider it's played by a lone soul. Guitars, Rhodes, Harmonium, Trumpet and more echo through the caverns of the ancient Earth. Even though this album is dark and at times bleak, it never overpowers. Traversing similar aural planes as Sunn O))) and Earth, Porras is staking a claim all his own. As his voice wails over blankets of guitars, he never loses sight of the golden life ahead. Incredible.
-digitalis
For my money, Barn Owl is the best new band to emerge in the last five years. Their trajectory has been meteoric, progressing musically and conceptually in leaps and bounds. I've been thrilled to be there from the beginning, watching and listening in awe as the duo of Jon Porras and Evan Caminiti have carved out an impressive niche of their own. Heavy doses of guitar savagery and tribal essence have them firmly planted at the top of the mountain. So it makes sense to deconstruct the duo and present each as a solo entity, soaring on their own.
In a perfect world, Evan Caminiti would be a guitar god worshipped by hordes of spike-wearing metalheads. Seriously. Caminiti's newest solo offering (and first large-scale release) is a big, smoldering mass of guitar sacrifices. We're deep down in the hollows now. "Psychic Mud Shrine" is epic in every way. Thick, massive walls of lava-flow guitars bow down at an altar of excess. Caminiti creates jagged drones like no other. Distorted guitars sound simultaneously tortured and energized like it's unsure if this hell on earth brings pleasure or pain. It's just so fucking massive. With titles like "Melting Temple/Plumes of Babylon," you know what direction this is heading and it's a train you don't want to miss.
"Psychic Mud Shrine" is a powerful statement from an artist coming into his own. Over the course of four sprawling masterpieces, you'll be entranced and exalted. This album rings out from the deep valleys carved straight to the fucking core.
-digitalis
turner cody - buds of may - digitalis arts and crafts - cd -12$
‘Buds of May’ was originally self-released on cdr back in 2004 but has now been lovingly re-mastered and re-packaged by Digitalis so those of you who didn’t manage to track down the original issue will finally get to hear this exemplary work. Turner Cody may not yet be a name familiar to many, but thanks to extensive touring of the US and Europe he is causing quite a stir on the underground. Indeed the Herman Dune bassist was spotted by none other than Wooden Wand himself James Toth (who has recently signed to the Nonesuch imprint) who proceeded to bag a full LP for his own Mad Monk imprint. With this buzz around him it comes as perfect timing that Digitalis launch ‘Buds of May’, an album which in many ways is Cody’s most complete and most accessible.
Taking influence from the world of classic singer songwriters, from Bob Dylan to Townes Van Zandt with maybe a little of Will Oldham thrown in for good measure, Cody proceeds over the course of the epic ‘Buds of May’ to vocalize his own views on life. He is firstly a storyteller, and in a world where mainstream lyrical content is more banal than it has ever been, Cody comes as a breath of fresh air. Simply produced with guitar and bass underpinning the tracks, it is Cody’s distinctive singing voice which carries each piece as he creates distinctive melodies that stay with you for some time after the record has reached a close. Right now with artists such as Jose Gonzales haunting the mainstream airwaves it seems almost impossible not to stumble across new singer-songwriters whenever you flick through the racks of a high street store, but what Turner Cody offers is a unique voice in a crowd of copyists. Cody is at once cynical and hopeful and should offer an antidote to a tired, apathetic world. Unforgettable music
-digitalis
For years I've counted Tetuzi Akiyama as one of my absolute favorite guitarists. He's been cranking out great records for ages, honing his style and skill in every possible way. Add in Christian Kiefer, who has also put out a string of magnificent releases, and a talented drummer/percussionist in Kevin Corcoran (who has appeared on releases on Weird Forest and played in Antennas Erupt!) and you've got a recipe for something magical.
"Low Cloud Means Death" is a series of sea-inspired improvisations that are fighting a continual battle with the silence between each note. This is sparse music at its finest. Minimal notes float in the air as Corcoran lays a web of various percussion beneath the organic layer Akiyama and Kiefer weave. The instrumentation is varied - Akiyama sticks to acoustic guitar while Kiefer splits time on accordian, piano, and other vices. What the trio produces ends up coming off like an all-improvised Morton Feldman or something of the like.
This is a journey on salt-encrusted waves, traipsing through empty spaces in search of whatever aural mystery can be found. It goes something like this: Thump. Quiet again. Twang thump. Quiet. Quiet. Still quiet. Distant blap. And let me tell you, it is one fantastic voyage.
Limited to 500 copies. Artwork by Eden Hemming Rose.
Special edition limited to 100 copies includes bonus 3" CDR, "The Old Language," featuring a live performance by the trio. Hand-stamped covers.
-digitalis
pulse emitter - opressive nature - digitalis recordings - cd - 11$
I've been a fan of Daryl Groetsch AKA Pulse Emitter's synthetic concoctions for years now. Hailing from the hotbed of Portland, Oregon, his work is almost unparalleled when it comes to modular synthesizer excursions. "Oppressive Nature" is a 40 minute journey into cities that will soon be lost and overrun to the wilderness. The thematic idea behind the album is nature's inevitable reclamation of the concrete jungles we've constructed and amassed.
Where Groetsch truly succeeds on "Oppressive Nature" is creating such an organic landscape with his synth. His work here is highly focused and dialed-in. Through the static and electronic waves something warm and almost triumphant emerges. Heavy saw waves weave a chaotic mass of urban debris, smoothed over by the sine waves of time. Barriers fade away as they consumed by sonic vines that find their way into all these aural cracks. The result is oddly beautiful in an almost post-apocalyptic way.
Nature always wins.
-digitalis
steven r smith - owl- digitalis recordings - cd - 12$ Steven R. Smith's name has become more commonplace over the last half-decade, and that's a very good thing. From his monumental works as Hala Strana to being a prominent contributor to many Jewelled Antler projects, his sound is distinct.
This is the first brand new solo album from Steven R. Smith since last year's epic "The Anchorite." Few artists can boast the impressive discography Smith does, full of far more hits than misses. And with "Owl," he shows that he's still got new tricks up his sleeve. On here, you'll find some of the things you expect with a new Steven R. Smith record: sprase, angular walls of his trademark guitar playing with embellishments from an array of acoustic instrumention. But there's a new twist here: vocals. Yep, vocals. Smith unleashes his voice on "Owl" and does so in such an impressive fashion that it leaves me asking what took so long?
"Owl" is full of desolate, but hopeful aural landscapes. There's a tinge of regret and longing in his voice when he belts out the words, "This is the world we know..." And in those six words, Smith sums up what "Owl" brings to the table. There is something recognizable about this terrain; the paint is just worn down enough to expose the raw wood underneath. But carefully placed in each corner, in each nook is something new that breathes new life into the familiar.
This is a bold step for someone who has already accomplished a great deal, and leaves us listeners without a clue as to what will happen next. This is magic, indeed.
-digitalis
tarentel - live edits: italy/switzerland - digitalis recordings - cd - 9$
this is the second in a series of ongoing "live" releases from tarentel, though they are, as the band says, "live" in the same spirit that werner herzog makes "documentaries."
-digitalis
Social Junk have blasted through walls, east & west, over the past few years cranking out some serious sparklers along the way. Now after dropping a megaslice of deliciousness on Not Not Fun last year, this duo follow it up with a journey through the mother earth canal. "Born Into It" stretches across the lands with thudding percussion and hypno synth excursions. Waves of swirling vocals from both Heather Young and Noah Anthony. You may have just been born, but stretch those wings baby because it's time to fucking fly.
There's no going back once you take the first plunge on "Born Into It." Immediately, through no fault of your own, you'll be drawn in and tied down. At times it feels like Young & Anthony are scouring the lands, taking in whatever technological progress they can find and chewing it up and spitting it out into a gloriously dissonant pile. This is music for the next wave; music to find your way back to the sun. Social Junk are soaring like never before and "Born Into It" is their latest testament to a new world.
-digitalis
andrew coltrane - synth tapes vol. 5 - digitalis recordings - cass -7$
"synth tapes vol. 5" is exactly what it says it is - the fifth volume in an ongoing exploration of analog sound constructed with only, you guessed it: synths and tapes. the sounds on here are looped and stretched and dragged into pits of black mud. underneath the drowning, though, lives the vaguest and most unexpected hints of melodies and hooks, just enough to fool you and suck you in. next thing you know, you're tarred and feathered and dreaming of your next root canal. fucken genius.
-digitalis
ester poland - hippi,kanuuna ja kiinan torni - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
man, finland... it never stops does it? it really never does. just when you think the terrain has been scoured and every last pore drained til the last drop, something new comes along with such star-searching bombast that you get knocked square on your ass all over again. ester poland are the latest in a long line of impeccable sound sculptors out of finland, but this screeching duo are riding their own astral baby well into the new millenium.
-digitalis
keith fullerton whitman - taking away - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
what an absolute revelation. alphabets is the brainchild of denver savant, colin ward and his first ever tape, "pow sound," is the bedroom dance party of your dreams. total synth overload and excess like somebody stole all the jewels hollywood has to offer and hid them in ward's keyboard. cut & paste pop bliss that is heavy on the heavy beats. seriously, the beats and the hooks are the stars here. you can't help but get sucked in and shake your ass. days later, the songs will be stuck in your head, you'll be humming the shower... from here on out, it's over. don't fight it. give in. enjoy. it's over.
-digitalis
all love to the master, dewmah has arrived. dewey mahood is probably best known these days as being the non-bindeman third of portland's fuzz kings, eternal tapestry. but when he's not burning down houses, he moonlights as the inimitable plankton wat. fractured folk-infused meanderings with warm strings and organic dressing. mahood's vocals are the ideal accompaniment to these bright, understated anthems. minimal percussion and mbira pick up where the vocals leave off, finding a balance with the acoustic haze.
it's been a great year for plankton wat (check his DNT lp!) and eternal tapestry, and "our solar beings" is another vital feather in his discography. edtion of 80, golden red suns.
-digitalis
of - rocks will open / morphological echo - digitalis recordings - cd & cass - 18$
cd only - 8$
Special Edition limited to 100 copies and includes exclusive cassette, "Morphological Echo."
Loren Chasse is responsible for a whole host of vital albums. He was a founding member of the Jewelled Antler label and has sparked so many great moments from the likes of Thuja, The Blithe Sons, Softwar, and of course his main solo guise, Of. For years this project has evolved into something of absolute magical grandeur.
"Rocks Will Open" is the latest opus in Chasse's catalog. The music on this album is as organic as it gets. Each tone, each sound feels like it has been culled directly from the Earth's crust. Gentle drones arc toward the hazy sunlight, flickering like distant birds sailing out over the sea. Between the ghostly echoes rises a cacacphony of plucked strings dancing toward oblivion. Loren Chasse's vision is perfectly expressed on "Rocks Will Open."
-digitalis
rambutan - incidences - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
"century plants & burnt hills conspirator, eric hardiman, is no stranger to the realms of burnt-to-a-crisp garbage drones. his solo guise, rambutan, has been on an absolute tear this year with not-to-be-missed offerings on stunned, 905 tapes, house of alchemy, & others. his abstract meanderings grind it out with tortured guitar melodies and raw, spitting electronics. hardiman wields tension like most people drop the ball. each side demands submission as each is an open, festering wound that needs to be cauterized. these pieces ooze like liquid gold. mastery, motherfuckers, take it or leave it."
-Digitalis
- past -
pocahaunted & robedoor - hunted gathering - digitalis - cd -20$sold out
"Hunted Gathering" is both a split release and a collaboration. Each band offers up their own malfeasance while collaborating on the epic final eponymous track. The union of these two groups is a natural combination. Two members are married and run the Not Not Fun label together and they share amps and practice space, for example. But there's also something about both that is visceral and raw. Robedoor's subsonic doom is washed down with a smooth chaser of Pocahaunted's reverberating soul sounds.
Recorded by the inimitable Bobb Bruno at the NNF/Bored Fortress studio space across many moons in 2007 and mastered by Yellow Swans' Pete Swanson, "Hunted Gathering" is an essential feast for fans of doom-infused drones and Stevie Nicks. These hunting & gathering songs from the Eagle Rock air also feature appearances by the aforementioned Bruno as well as Changeling mastermind, Roy Tatum.
Climb the totem pole and let these mutant beasts put you under their psychosis spell. "Hunted Gathering" is full of antiquated sounds soaked in electric mud. Robedoor and Pocahaunted are your brothers and sisters in conjuring and the gatekeepers to a lost universe of sonic enchantment.
-digitalis