svarte greiner - penpals forever (& ever) - digitalis recordings - lp - 18$
Svarte Greiner is the nom de plume of Deaf Center's Erik K. Skodvin. Hailing from Norway, his solo efforts are always stripped bare, white-knuckle sojourns through dark, haunted ambient sonic corridors. "Penpals Forever (and Ever)" is the imaginary tale of a long dead Baroque painter and his telekinetic correspondence with a flightless bird. It feels archaic; experimental death marches circa 1622. Like Guercino's Et in Arcadia Ego, once the end is realized there's nowhere left to go. It's beyond our experience and sometimes you never recover from the shock.
Despite its rather cheery title, "Penpals Forever (and Ever)," is another step toward the abyss. Musically sparse, Svarte Greiner finds new channels connecting desolate landscapes through ethereal nightmares. It is music best served cold. Chattering, looping guitar lines that feel like muscle being separated from bone slowly build into aching piles of aural dissonance. It's painful to a point. Recorded voices speak a language you can't understand underneath ominous, echoing single notes. Distant metal fragments scrape the dirt from detuned strings while a nefarious feathered minstrel bows dying instruments in the background. No hope left, death is just around the corner.
As it ever was, Svarte Greiner is again weaving something deliciously sinister. This is music that is uncomfortably bare. Within its blood-stained confines there is nowhere to hide. Skodvin's tangled, gnarled tale goes back and forth into infinity until it becomes clear that the flightless bird in question lives inside your skull. Drowning slowly into one's own twisted mind, "Penpals" is the soundtrack of loss; the procession of fears gradually becoming so overbearing that you can't escape your own demons.
**The first side (first two tracks) were originally issued on the "Penpals Forever" cassette on Digitalis in 2008, limited to 180 copies. Both tracks have been completely remastered. The remaining pieces are all new and exclusive to this release**
brother raven - VSS-30 - digitalis recordings - lp - 15$
In 2010, the ride never seems to stop so if you want to get off you've just got to jump head first. Brother Raven, the Seattle-based duo of Jason Anderson (Spare Death Icon, Gift Tapes, etc) and Jamie Potter (ex-Bonus, Million Mists, etc) are taking synthesizer-based music into new and unexpected realms. Anderson and Potter are total time travelers, searching out old, forgotten methods and sounds and taking them into a square-wave future. "VSS-30" is rooted in its namesake's primitive synthesis but is forward-thinking enough to take the listener on a tripped-out cosmic space walk.
"VSS-30" picks up where the duo's previous release on Digitalis (2009's cassette, "Nellie") left off. It's a continuation of those ritualistic astral projects but with more polish and unexpected surprises. The opening piece, "Space," acts as a segue into this new, expanded universe. Washed-out drones greet you at the gates, advancing methodically until noisy blasts and sonar-infused rhythms bring the facade crashing down. Once the first beat drops, though, "VSS-30" has arrived. Disco flirtation and blooped-out nowhere hooks rise between the waves. It's almost pop music, but not quite and falls apart just as fast as it arrives.
As with all their music, Brother Raven's sound is 100% improvised and always recorded to tape. That added warmth keeps their space-age intonations from getting distant or cold. The flip-side of the record dials things in and shows just how much focus and restraint the duo possess. More blitzed beats push things along at a reliable pace, underscored by repetitive tones leading into candy-striped, totally sweet synthesizer loops. "VSS-30" seems, on the surface, to be all over the map but it's absolutely cohesive and flows like a perfect pink stream.
There's no doubt that there's been dozens upon dozens of new synth-based bands and artists coming out of the woodwork over the last couple of years, but Brother Raven have shown over and over that they've got a head above most. "VSS-30" is an impressive, fully-realized piece of work that cements their place on the astral plane.
Vinyl only edition of 300 copies housed in silkscreened jackets. Please note that the b-side label of the record is stamped, not the a-side.
-digitalis
motion sickness of time travel - seeping through the veil of unconscious - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
"seeping through the veil of unconscious" came to us out of nowhere as a demo and i think i can say with some certainty that it's the best demo we've ever received. motion sickness of time travel is the solo moniker of lagrange, gerogia's rachel evans. she also plays in the duo, quiet evenings, with her husband and runs the hooker vision label with him as well. and while she's done some really great stuff, this album takes all of it, everything, to incredible new heights.
evans concocts six whirlwind romances all in the space of an hour. beauty, magic and bleeding effervescence come together in perfect harmony. vague electro meanderings hide hints of early grouper as evans' compositions sing with the spheres. while the songs are built around vaguely catchy repetitive synth backbones, she laces an incredible array of instrumental layers between those bones creating music that is as dense and complex as it is continous. yet, the real star here is her voice. sometimes its at the fore, other times its buried underneath the plodding keys but it never gets lost and always shines. stunning music in every way. debut LP coming on digitalis next year. she's that fucking good. edition of 80, pro-dubbed."
ossining - i will be missed - digitalis recordings - lp - 15$
Fresh from the sunny cascades that split the mountains into pieces, the duo of Brad Rose (Altar Eagle, The North Sea, etc) and Kevin Danchisko (Sovetskaya Gone) rip into the bliss that drips from synthetic space nebulae. "I Will Be Missed" is the first vinyl release following up a handful of cassettes. With nods to '60s Americana via laced cocktails and theoretical academic roots, Ossining takes this drag race to the moon.
"I Will Be Missed" collects three synth-driven underwater vision quests. Crystal sequences are force-fed through strings of filters resulting in flourescent, smoldering towers of muddy ambience. The idea is to make something inherently beautiful that sucks the air from your lungs resulting in a wobbly, unclear treatise. With the cracks smoothed over, each sharp jolt takes on a life of its own turning up the temperature and morphing into a pure white heaven. It's all hands-on-deck if you don't want to get dropped into the boiling seas below.
The flipside brings the lightshow to its peak, taking things positively solar. Backed by walls of bloop-infested waters and arpeggiated madness, the duo let the vocals fly. Each run through exudes an underlying tension searching for any hole to escape. As melodies loop and feedback on top of each other, the beginnings are consumed by the ends. Nothing is left to chance and nobody is hoping for perfection. In the end, Ossining deliver two sides of silver-soaked dreams blasted in a holographic glow. Mad men, the lot of them.
Vinyl only edition of 222 copies (we doubled the pressing due to heavier-than-expected interest). Silkscreened covers (by VGK).
-digitalis
ophibre - basil forests - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
ophibre is the main project of benjamin rossignol and "basil forests" is another impressive chapter in an ever-growing collection of killer releases. baseline electronics permeate your skull, ripping open a seam just wide enough for the shimmering guitar drones to sink in. it starts of slow and methodic, but eventually builds into a spiralling mess of sound. this sucker gets pretty fucken heavy even with the high frequencies peeling all that rust off yr brain.thick slabs of molasses will salve your wounds, but rossignol has no interest in letting you off that easy. big, meaty drones bring it all back home and settle you in for a long night of hell. aw yeah.-digitalis
heather woods broderick - from the ground - digitalis recordings - lp - 18$
"From the Ground" is Heather Woods Broderick's debut album and is as good a debut as there's been in recent yours. Built around warm, reverberating atmospheres and familiar yet striking melodies, her songs gently wrap around the listener and find magic in subtlety. Her soft voice matches the delicate neo-classical arrangements that are as light as a feather. Careful attention has been paid to the album's understated production giving the feeling that these are lullabies pulled straight from the still morning air.Broderick's songs make the case that sometimes starting out somewhere simple is often better. At the core is Heather and her guitar and throughout "From the Ground" that combination is its greatest strength. Plucked and strummed chords provide the foundation from which these songs take flight. The record is populated by lyrically engaging songs and impressive instrumentals that take the listener into a world full of indian summers and pink sunset skies.
It's inevitable that anytime "From the Ground" comes up, the fact that Heather Woods Broderick is, indeed, the older sister of everyone's favorite ultra-talented multi-instrumentalist Peter Broderick is mentioned, but his string arrangements and production of the album cannot be overlooked. They add another layer to compositions that are already stunning further making the case that "From the Ground" is an alluring yet subtle force to be reckoned with.
-digitalis
holy family - anoint - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
this one is for the gold, all the way and all the time. holy family is the modular synth duo of lawrence english and john chantler (room40 extraordinaires). and you know what's coming. it opens onto a putrid, rotting corpse hanging from the bedchamber. chantler & english aren't fuckign around. their synths sound like they're dying, every note stretched to the point of breaking oscillating into the ground. this is not child's play.
before you know it your blood stops flowing, turned into a molasses. faint echoes try to scratch their way to the surface, totally buried alive. every so often you think you hear a melody whirring from behind, but everything gets swallowed back down into this deep, dark pit. intense. incredible. edition of 125.
-digitalis
pine smoke lodge - twelve faces of the smoke mask - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
the woods up near portland, maine are getting baked in the sun and resulting in piles of reflective, organic sonics. pine smoke lodge have been hitting it hard lately with killers on stunned, blackest rainbow and their own existential cloth label. it's been one hell of a ride. junkyard tribal percussion bombs out the basement so the wailing drones can sleep in comfort. metallic shards ring out while wind instruments scream at the sun. this all leads into emanations as thick as the winter snow pack. this is heavy. really fucking heavy. they turn things back on themselves on the flipside, pitching their voices through reverb-laden caves and drowning everything under the ice.
-digitalis
eagle alter / bugskull - split - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
finally done, this little split guy has been on the books for a while. EAGLE ALTAR offers up a thanksgeever slice of synthed out space. barely methodic, crawling along linear lines we search for hooks in the frozen undergrowth. hypnotic on some level, but always a good time.
bugskull gives us three dishes from the "communication" sessions that had to be cut from the final album to fit it on vinyl. more glowing electronic reverie that fades into the background, turning it into pure, psyched-up magic. good times again. edition of 100, pro-dubbed.
-digitalis
blue sabbath black fiji - wankers - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
and here the insanity begins. french transplanted duo blue sabbath black fiji have no limits. they don't know when to dial it back, they don't know when to turn it down and because of that, we're all getting fried whether we like it or not. "wankers" has been stewing for a while but finally is getting let out from its cage to wreak havoc on unsuspecting listeners. mindbender baby, let's floor it.
squealing feedback with cut-to-bits beats and trashcan percussion go into some futuristic tribal bounce. on the back end you're left wondering how in the fuck did i get here? unexpected guitar hooks skronk into the foreground, jumping the tracks laid down by minimal electronic beats. sometimes this shit even gets pretty, which really throws you for a loop. it's one fucked-up dream sequence that never wants to end. always searching for the loudest path, blue sabbah black fiji are unlike anyone else and thank your lucky stars for that. edition of 80.
-digitalis
s.r. hess- demise - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
steven r. hess has been around for ages, most notably operating as part of the incredible duo, on, with sylvain chauveau (type records) as well as work in haptic, dropp ensemble and others. hess is a chicago mainstay. thick, dusty drones highlight the bulk of "demise." subtle crackling feels like these are radio transmissions from a distange age. it all breaks down, though, and the almost-pure sine tones echo and weave their way between your muscles, finding a way into the deep tissue. this is a dense, sonic massage. hess is a heavyweight, providing one hell of a soundtrack to your favorite metal ghosts. edition of 85 copies.-digitalis
sacred basil - tuvan annex - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
i've long been a fan of collaborations, tape trading style or otherwise. sacred basil is the trio of nicholas barker (tempera), matt lajoie (cursillistas) and jordan spencer (gorman) and their collective talents are lighting up the skies. "tuvan annex" starts of shimmering and peaceful but it's a total ruse. guitar lines get washed into an oscillating oblivion and everything gets bathed in a heavy dose of noise swash. it's like being stuck in a tornado, desperately searching for a way out. the shimmer returns but with full-on density and triumph. each shift feels in the zone. blissed guitars and electronics join together, siamese twins moving in perfect harmony. contemplative, sparsely used notes flicker like a lightbulb about to give up hoping to make one final impression before crossing the great divide. there's something almost heartbreaking about it all.
but those aren't the only paths being crossed - not at all. rickety, looping acoustic guitars thrum their way forward with barely-audible background beats and electronic backwash. it's like being lost when nobody wants to admit their mistake. it's unsettling but worthwhile as it finally comes together and everything gets sucked to the bottom in a massive, exquisite whirlpool of sound. love those collaborations. edition of 90.
-digitalis
altar eagle - vintage cats - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
chapter two is finally written, leading into the homefront. four new songs, blissed hooks, bigger beats, singing like there's no tomorrow. all the bases covered, there's layers of noise and drone hints as well. with nods to bond and gaga, it's all coming together. time to dance.killer art by phil french. edition of 150 chrome tapes.
-digitalis
indian weapons - parousia - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
the salutations are over and everyone is wide awake. indian weapons is the new duo of yours truly and nathan young. of course there are similarities to ajilvsga, but this is something different, something new. organics are in fully supply. acoustic instrumentation is melded with oscillators and filters and processed into a delicious abyss. it's an attempt to meld the mangled into something less deconstructive and more composed. there's still a lot of crunch, but with melodicas singing and violins floundering on a bed of synthesized chaos, it finds its way behind the mask. and then somehow it became about derrida. edition of 80, pro-dubbed & imprinted.
-digitalis
sorc'henn - shadow is ov silver, phantom is ov gold - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
sorc'henn is the twisted brainchild of laurent boulouard and on "shadow is ov silver, phantom is ov gold" he's determined to invade your dreams and paint them all black. sickly organ drones proliferate every corner in this darkened soundworld. sometimes they're stretched and overrun by diamond-cut guitar riffage other times they're turned into the soundtrack to the worst funhouse imaginable.
there are few artists around who can turn their music into something so completely haunted like boulouard. he takes it to a different place. it's the most sinister church music imaginable. dampened chimes over ghostly voices creep into your psyche until you'd rather be dead than posessed. it's so fucking eerie it gets buried uner your skin. but in the end, "shadow/phantom" reminds me why i love sorc'henn so much: he takes you places you'd never go on your own and in that sense it's almost divine. almost. edition of 72, pro-dubbed & imprinted.
-digitalis
jouurney - dancers in the time-flux - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
synthetic dreams blossom underneath perfect french skies, offering arpeggiated gifts to a sun god that never even existed in the first place. each step is liquid and melodic to a degree, looking for another avenue to paint in electric blue. on this debut our french explorer wants to cruise the high seas on a blast of square waves.
this time-flux is a warm place to be. jouurney's quixotic sounds have you floating in and out of consciousness, submerged beneath nobody drones and pink sunsets. of course, everything gets thrown out of whack for the last two minutes and the blitzed out beats and cacaphonic synth mayhem that ensues. it's an exclamation point for sure. edition of 72, pro-dubbed & imprinted.
-digitalis
andrew coltrane - conflict - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
AC brings his bag of toys back to oklahoma, but this time goes back in time and pulls out a total war bomb from the archives. heavy electronics and thick, bleeding walls of synth skronk are just what you need after a long weekend of drinking with the fam. it feels like there's some serious guitar riffing trying to find its way out of this electronic hell, but half the time there's no fucking telling what's going on here. it's everything all at once. coltrane goes to eleven. i don't even know. sax blasts come in from the deep, sourcing new megacreatures that don't just want your blood, they want your fucken soul.
rusted factories breaking down never sounded so damn good. hell, if this isn't cathartic, i don't know what is. edition of 70, pro-dubbed.
-digitalis
emuul - egeiro - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
emuul's debut, "the ghostwood estates," was a codeine-drenched feast, and on his latest exploit "egeiro," you are wrapped even tighter in your cellophane blanket. minimal synth drones float lazily through the air creating endless sonic vectors. the brainchild of kyle iman, these sprawling pieces show an incredible restraint all the while sucking the listener deep under their collective spell.
both side-long tracks fit together perfectly. crackling tones deviate from the ghost notes underneath adding texture and references points if you're lost in the fog. this builds into an intense meditation that grows and grows until finally being killed by the sun. flip it over and you've got melancholy on phased waves of glass growing darker by the minute. beautiful. each soundscape is carefully constructed, artfully executed and soaked in the best stuff available. edition of 72, pro-dubbed.
-digitalis
knit prism - perception - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
if anyone's asking, i feel like 2010 is going to be a stellar year for mike pouw's fantastic knit prism project (not to mention his awesome, awesome label: house of sun). but let me step back for a minute... "perception" is a quick, magical exercise. missed opportunities are pushed into sonics and wrapped in a layer of murk and hiss that keeps the final answers shrouded in some semblance of mystery. each tone is stretched to its limit, creating spacious, oddly beautiful spectral pieces. it's an easy place to get lost.
once pouw has you totally enveloped in this aural maze, he hits you with a blast of straight-up cold. there's a smattering of bleeps and bloops that act as a focal point to keep your path in line, but they're constantly being washed over in a dark, dreary storm. it's a great contrast and pulled off beautifully. "perception" will lead you in. edition of 65, pro-dubbed.
-digitalis
america reads - towers open fire - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
now this, THIS is a junkyard i want to get lost in. america reads was another killer discovery of 2009 and another one to expect some seriously great damage from. "towers open fire" takes the cake so far. solar explorations taken to their prismatic core like drone diamonds shimmering underneath the constant glare. the side-long tracks slowly unfold, puncturing the crystal divide with their metallic sheen. it's definitely in the hypnotic realm.
at times, america reads plays on the more subtle side using delicate sounds that pulse and fall like feathers floating in the air after an attack. it feels a little uneasy, but it's all the better for it. distorted cracks infiltrate adding a layer of harshness to the mess. it's like hearing the synapses of your brain all going off at once, desperately searching for equilibrium. stunning. once you reach the summit, though, you find there's nothing left but ruins. it's an absolute revelation.edition of 72, pro-dubbed.
-digitalis
m. geddes gengras - triptych of the divine & blackened arts - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
m. geddes gengras aka ged made his bones in the duo he christened with his bro, cyrus, aka antique brothers and in his original solo guise, fantastic ego. but gengras has been throwing knives at the wall in recent years, changing things up. now a full-time member of robedoor, vibes, and the band formerly known as pocahaunted, more importantly he's built himself an epic modular synth setup. on "blackened arts," that baby sings. stone-cold electronics will fry your circuits, teasing you with endless corridors through dark space. gengras bends tones to his will, creating an aural moonscape that stretches to infinity. you're not going to find much better modular synth explorations out there. edition of 80, pro-dubbed red death.
-digitalis
a wake - s/t - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
let's just admit this first off: we all want to fucken rock sometimes. ok, maybe a lot of the time. well, live vicariously my friends through the psychedelic sprawl that is the UK's a wake. rising from the ashes of one of my favorite bands of the last few years, beach fuzz, this trio of barry dean, nick mitchell, & fliss horrocks. dueling guitars blow smoke through heavy wattage while ramshackle drums offer a grenade path to nowhere. these four long pieces just freaking howl. moon shots be damned, this is how us regular folk get high. edition of 70, pro-dubbed purple stars.-digitalis
cursillistas - joint chiefs - digitalis recordings - lp - 15$
Cursillistas has been a longtime Digitalis favorite so we're very, very excited to be offering up their newest creation as a vinyl-only release. "Joint Chiefs" sees originator Matt Lajoie joining spirit and forces with Dawn Russell and burning new ground along the way. This is a new path entirely. Where past Cursillistas efforts have been drenched in sunkissed tones and melodic stirrings, "Joint Chiefs" dredges up muddy waters and dark emanations like a blast from the deep. this is barn owl meets the dust bowl meets peyote music. Loose strings ring out on acoustic guitars while rattling percussion marches toward the river. Lajoie and Russell send their voices out on top as a guide, looking for any light that is seeping through the thick, duststorm clouds. Just when it looks like it's going to clear up a bassed-out blanket of fuzz and synth tones come along to ruin all the progress you've made.
"Joint Chiefs" feels like an epic journey, sordid and sweet. If you find yourself lost in these dark woods, all you can do is adapt, suck in the smoke-filled air and toast the charred heavens. Cursillistas reinvented.
-digitalis
space dive - twenty-first century sport - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
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meditations - precipice - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
with a name like meditations, you'd probably assume something with a spritual bend would be coming up the tubes. but no worries - these sprawlers are looking to take you deep down into the muddy depths. this trio absolutely kills it on "precipice." blown-out, brooding synths pummel your senses left and right while vocals from hell taunt you into taking the fall. this is one dark fucking ride, a cut-up masterful mess. specks of light try to escape in the form of distant, bright melodies but they're quickly destroyed by the impending hellacious mess. awesome. edition of 65, pro-dubbed purple monsters.-digitalis
disguises - aeolian hookers - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
this is clusterfuck city folks and disguises are your tour guides. these jagged excursions will cut your face open and make you want to apologize for bleeding all over the brand new carpet. edition of 80, pro-dubbed with broken golden fairy art and smeared labels.
-digitalis
early tunnels - aerial caves - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
what a swamp this sucker is. throw the body over the side and get the fuck back to shore because there's some serious action about to go down after dusk. early tunnels is the ohio duo of jon lorenz (wasteland jazz unit, etc) and pete fosco (pete fosco, etc) bringing down the blitzkrieg through a mess of electric fences and barbed wire. "aerieal caves" is a gnarly excursion through minefield guitar syndrome, waltzing electronics, and firebrand horns that are guaranteed to peel paint and manufacture all kinds of dissonance with the neighbors. lorenz & fosco don't fuck around. they concoct a steaming cocktail that sounds so foreign you'd swear everything they were playing was from another planet. total kong. edition of 70, pro-dubbed and scrubbed.-digitalis
tonal wasteland - desolate - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
it's not time to do the walk of shame, not yet anyway. tonal wasteland is as apt a description of the sonics on this tape as i can think of. hollowed-out synth excursions blast saws & sines through endless pipes turning the whole thing into a spinning echo chamber. australian jammer, ben lynch, knows what he's doing (and he's an arsenal fan to boot, so can you really go wrong here?). as bleak as these soundscapes are, lynch manages to work in a bit of brightness and warmth just to throw the balance into a tailspin. you don't know if you're coming or going, but if you want to suck on a synth pipe, this is your bag. edition of 40, various color tapes.-digitalis
the shitty listener - constant stranger - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
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vega stereo - festival 3000 - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
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andrew coltrane - dmt shadow - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
-digitalis
katchmare - soft cavern - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
there's a vague, sinister undercurrent that flows through the cavern walls, but it's constantly kept in check by hoffman's able, delicate touch. these drones are entangled in each other, like a sonic spiderweb of bliss. limited to 50 copies
-digitalis
soundpressings - s/t - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
hearing soundpressings is like wandering into a mountain of lost & found tapes from a million different sources, all playing at once. mitchell crafts these collages together in an original and addictive way, finding sweet, ghosted-out drones in the midst of a sheet of noise or a plodding, electronic rhythm. once you enter his domain, you never know where exactly you'll end up. oklahoma's not dead yet
-digitalis
gryn brvs/siblings of plasma - split - digitalis recordings - cass -7$
this one comes from the UK with all sorts of dangling gold and buckets of skronk. fresh off their chocolate monk CDR, gryn brvs continue to be at odds with themselves, creating a cacaphonous sprawl that totally works, even though it seems like it shouldn't. harshly picked acoustic guitars rattle on above waves of ramshackle, junkyard percussion. it's like the percussion is trying to destroy the melody laid down by the guitars. it's fucken great. this sidelong meltdown squirms along for days, lulling you into a state of total abandon.
siblings of plasma share members and membranes with gryn brvs, but their modus is down a different rabbit hole. walls of cello squalor mourning the end of days, wailing like the death knell of god only knows. these tracks are bathed in organic, hypnotic ruin. once s.o.p. gets their claws in, you are done. 75 copies w/ spraypainted wrap around sleeves.
-digitalis
la otracina - gardens of blackness- digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
other times you end up dredging up some serious murk from the bottom of the pool. hints of tape collage come out of nowhere and eventually it mellows out for a pretty even high. it's cohesive and all over the map all at the same time, definitely showcasing their new direction since their last record on holy mountain.
-digitalis
sarah's charity - fear of sound - digitalis limited - cass - 7$
the best way to experience "fear of sound" is head-on. crank the volume up as loud as you can, pour it in and make your ears bleed. eventually you'll be absorbed and drift away on a cloud of burnt dust. good fucken times. limited to 87 copies with full-color sleeves designed by peter friel.
-digitalis
muura - black & gold butterflies - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
so, as my obsession with earle's output grew and grew, i had to bring him over an ocean to the land of digitalis. with that i offer the first of numerous bdtd-related releases, this from his main solo guise, muura. "black & gold butterflies" is the bones of the blues. deconstructed and reassembled with spackle and duct tape. each fractured note hangs on by a thread, clinging to a mirage of junkyard dreams. limited to 50 handnumbered copies on yellow tapes
-digitalis
n.213 - vexation- digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
"vexation" is one of hughes' most impressive outings yet and will etch itself in your brain and crack it from the inside out. sexy. check out the n.213 myspace for some jams. limited to 50 handnumbered copies with painted & silkscreened covers.
-digitalis
bigger insides - hunter gathering - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
minimal beats and insanely catchy casios and synths battling it out in a neon pit of doom. except there's really not any doom, but sun-specked skies and silver streams. as it hops along, you feel as though you're being whisked away on a hot air balloon ride toward the pink horizon. thorne's ability to create songs that are full of pop hooks yet disjointed and feel as though they could fall apart at any second is a gift. bigger insides: ready to throw down. edition of 70, pro-dubbed.
-digitalis
goatfooted / hunting rituals - split - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
goatfooted are drowning underground in reverberating caves. this duo of sarah good and josh st. denis will bring you down. melodic guitar lines are the lantern light at the end of a long, winding passage. coming out of nowhere like a cataclysmic collapse are good's vocals. she's the siren leading you to the rocks. beautiful, lilting and up to no good, you won't resist and will gladly die begging for more.
what works so well about this split is that hunting rituals aka r. hunter aka scott johnson is happy to show you what that demise sounds like. as your insides are ripped by saws of electronic mayhem, your ears explode under the sudden depressurization. it's horrid and gnarly and totally fucking excellent. bring it all home, canda.edition of 35, red-flowered gems.
-digitalis
lakes - monument of nests - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
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drekka - œancestral cave sequence - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
back when i started digitalis in 2003, bluesanct was one of the labels i admired most. michael anderson's catalog had no boundaries, but always traversed in interesting fare. at the top of the mountain is his solo wares as drekka. "ancestral cave sequence" is one of his most cryptic efforts yet.crackling folk textures and bent strings shine out from the reverb-laden soundscape mazes. vocals and violin escape the murk with their melancholic melodies fighting off the static to cement themselves in your mind. electronics get washed in but the strings are never far off. everything here feels so delicate, so fragile. "ancestral cave sequence" is a ghostly orchestra leading you away, serenading you into the gloaming. anderson has really unlocked something stunning. edition of 80, pro-dubbed w/ silver-on-clearblue imprinting.
-digitalis
pink priest - east camden - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
pink priest sheds his summer skin and heads home for another kick at the can. "east camden" is drenched in sepia-toned nostalgia like your favorite childhood blanket, held together by the flimsiest thread. keyboards bathe in rivers of fuzz with buried melodies reaching out from their dirt beds. put the industrial revolution to sleep, folks, and sing the night away.
"east camden" picks up where his previous digitalis effort left off. it's a familiar path trekked with new intentions and hopes. everything here is gasping for one last breath. edition of 80, pro-dubbed. art by danielle nemet.
-digitalis
generals & such - quixote - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
but i won't taunt you... what do you get with a 15 ft painted score? scattershot percussion anchoring acoustic & electric guitars making skronks and waves. werner's acoustic playing at times reminds me of akiyama. rowan offsets this frenetic playing with calm and cool reverb-drenched spirals. it's an awesome contrast. the music progresses and unfolds slowly. kiefer's drumming guides the trio through the valleys and deserts, avoiding pitfalls unless necessary. the whole thing just feels monumental. tape is 73 minutes long, but each side is exactly the same. so it's basically a 1-sided c38, but i hate tapes with a blank side. pro-dubbed to boot. edition of 65.
-digitalis
golden cup - kaleidopea - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
on the flipside, hypnotic synth underpinnings are the perfect canvas for massolin's delay-strewn guitar and sachiko's incredible voice. as the synth repeats over and over it leaves plenty of room for the guitar and voice to interact and suck you under. it's disjointed enough to keep you from totally drifting away, each off-kilter moment snapping you back to reality, but overall the effect is pretty goddamn mesmerising. eventually we all settle down and get lost in the waves. unbelievable.edition of 80, pro-dubbed. gold-on-red silkscreened covers.
-digitalis
laiha - solar warden - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
-digitalis
young boys/ fm face- split - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
fm.face is like the rascally younger brother who is out to show how he can really fuck shit up in a royally awesome way. these songs are punked-out wastelands. angular guitar lines repeat to infinity on top of overblown drum machines while fm.face just absolutely fucking belts it out. look out below. edition of 100, half on black, half on white, pro-dubbed pounds.
-digitalis
fletcher pratt - mind gunk vol. 14 - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
when you've got 13 previous installments of a series under your belt, you obviously know what you're doing. fletcher pratt's "mind gunk" series is definitely no exception. as with previous beasts, vol. 14 is an epic maze of tape collage, synth sprigs, acoustic skronk and general analog chaos. it's all over the map and you're likely to lose your head along the way, but isn't a little fun always worth the risk? limited to 40 copies with random covers.
-digitalis
christopher riggs - live in michigan - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
christopher riggs is 1/2 of the soulcrushing duo, trauma (w/ graveyards' ben hall), but has been cranking out mounds of cryptic debris in his own right for years. "live in michigan" documents one of his rare live performances, recorded in december of 2008. riggs turns his guitar into a sonic chainsaw, dismembering strings and notes with the precision of a blind surgeon. this is not a safe environment and soon you'll feel your bones cracking under the pressure. good stuff. limited to 60 copies, smeared & beered.
-digitalis
the old rig - trembling static sky - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
lost under a blanket of overgrown weeds and fallen branches is the remains of the old rig. this duo of patrack singleton and frank baugh (sparkling wide pressure - lp upcoming on digi) create organic webs of sonic detritus and sew its roots into the fertile, tennessee soil. black as night and sullen under a metric ton of fuzz, "trembling static sky" has washed out all the glitz and glam and taken these stellar drones into their mossy core. utilizing a variety of field recordings, these pieces are like a warm, flowing river of molasses.
epic in scope and persistence, add the old rig to the list of growing concerns in tennessee. baugh & singleton are in it to win it. incredible artwork by bob vore. edition of 65, pro-dubbed and ready to go. pics & audio: http://www.digitalisindustries.com/ltd49.html
-digitalis
north sea / current amnesia - split - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
car commercials' david sutton takes it to the streets on his side of this megawatt splithour. "delusions of the triangle" is a journey through the underbelly, seedy & poignant, like a lost prayer to magic mountain. hypnodrones galore. sutton bends and twists aural shards into glasslike works of art. i want to keep on livin' in his world.
the north sea is shimmering like a sunken stone, drowning in a torrent of silver piss. voices and chimes blown apart in an epic battle to be king of nothing at all. underwritten with a wall of synth dreams and other churns. edition 80, pro-dubbed with the four horsemen of the apocalypse.
-digitalis
ajilvsga / uton - skull bundle - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
ajilvsga / hairmaiden of the totem robe - skull bundle - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
ajilvsga / andrew coltrane - skull bundle - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
The procession was timed so that she would be left alone on the scaffold at the moment the morning star rose. When the morning star appeared, two men came from the east with flaming brands and touched her lightly in the arm pits and groins. Four other men then touched her with war clubs. The man who had captured her then ran forward with the bow from the Skull bundle and a sacred arrow and shot her through the heart while another man struck her on the head with the war club from the Morning Star bundle. The officiating priest then opened her breast with a flint knife and smeared his face with the blood while her captor caught the falling blood on dried meat. All the male members of the tribe then pressed forward and shot arrows into the body. They then circled the scaffold four times and dispersed
-digitalis
ajilvsga / the unholy warlock - skull bundle - digitalis recordings - cass - 7$
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
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
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
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
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
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 - 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