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caethua / shep and me - split - lighten up sounds - lp - 15$

Originally released on cassette in 2008, these fantastic recordings finally get the deluxe vinyl treatment they deserve. These newly remastered tracks reveal a remarkable subtlety, having been previously obscured by poor dubbing techniques and the inherent limitations of the cassette format.
All has been clarified.

Clare Hubbard stays busy with her musical projects Ancestral Diet and Sports, but she might be best known for her folk-based work as Caethua. Her side is entitled "Wrecks and Rescues", and is an epic and dusty side-long track of beautiful creaking folk-craft. In the winter of 2008, Clare recorded herself at home in Bloomington, IN. She delicately layers synth, strings, horns, electronics, percussion and vocals, along with 5 years worth of field recordings taken from the St. Lawrence River and her wanderings through swamps, fields and forests. Soft tones and organic rustlings blend beautifully with melancholy string plunk and blown-out electro growl to create a brilliantly shimmering psychedelic-folk masterpiece.

Shep and Me's side entitled "Tube Mind" is more firmly rooted in traditional Americana folk and blues music, yet still manages to keep itself wedged into a pretty strange corner. All five tracks feature Matthew Himes collaborating with H. Caleb Gamble. Both sing and play nylon and steel stringed guitars in addition to using tape loops, french horn, lap steel, live percussion, drum machines, electronics and waveform oscillators to present a uniquely twisted vision of contemporary folk music. Masterfully recorded to 1/2" 8 track tape by Ryan Fontaine in Minneapolis MN, May of 2008. Plaintive and stark gutter-country songs about seasonal shifts and the horrors of these modern times.

Heavyweight 180 gram black vinyl pressed in a limited edition of 500 copies. Comes beautifully packaged in an anti-static audiophile inner sleeve with a hand numbered double-sided insert and two color glossy cardstock outer, hand stamped and screen-printed front and back by M. H. Protected in a thick 5mil plastic outer sleeve w/ 2" sticker. Birds chirping, dogs barking, melancholy caterwaul and shimmering keys. Downright lovely.

justin rhody & matthew himes - romantic love - lighten up sounds - cass - 5$

Of the darkest depths of Mid-coast winter. J. Rhody ((D)(B)(H), Hepatitis B Youth, Smut) and M. Himes (Shep and Me, Free Boys, Hackles) join forces here to create these minimal, tortured soundscapes sans macho posturing. These frightening duo improvisations are culled from the same murky sessions as the nauseating cassingle released by the "Green Tape" label earlier this year. The boys manipulate throbbing feedback, violin, voice, electronics, tapes, microphones and strings to create these hypnotizing electro-acoustic compositions. Black shell w/ black lacquer-sealed labels comes packaged with a full color fold out J-card in a black Norelco case.
This is ugly stuff.

ama - pearl / grey - lighten up sounds - cass - 5$

Two lovely and raw smoky-folk droners presented here in the "cassingle" format for your frequent flipping pleasure. This drafty pair of guitar / electronics / vocal arrangements provide an excellent aural backdrop for your deep winter hibernation tactics. Sweeping horns, faded finger-picking and pastural feedback drones combine with low frequency rumbles, eerie reverb tank wailing and low volume washes of fuzz to form brief but deeply atmospheric and meditative environments perfect for some of those late February "no-talking" times. Put this tape on and sweep the floor. Real time duplicated purple translucent shell cassette w/ lacquer sealed full color floral pattern labels comes packaged with a matching full color fold out double sided card stock J-card in a clear Norelco case.
Beautiful, psychedelic, simple and real.

the alters - blue hole - lighten up sounds - cass - 5$

Cosmonaut snake charmer reed/synth/electronics freak-ness from KC.
Not entirely unlike MRP on PCP w/ a zurna firmly clenched in jaws. Strangeness projects into the stratosphere, and everyone dreams about their teeth falling out. On their previous cassette "Apples of Gold", The Alters brought to mind a massively psychedelic early organic Residents vibe, reciting disturbing excerpts of Grimm's Fairy Tales as interpreted by damaged space cadets. Helmets intact, on these jams they strap in and strip down to the essential duo form and deliver aquatic wake-and-bake groovers. Clarinet / synth workouts for underwater hibernation rituals. Real time duplicated clear cassette with full color lacquer sealed labels comes packaged with matching full color double sided fold out cardstock J-card in a clear Norelco case.
The porthole is fogging up kiddies, and the sonar is on the fritz.

Untitled mp3:

neon sea - fading light - lighten up sounds - cass - 5$

Swimming through the miasma.
"Fading Light" offers a bleak soundtrack to these steadily darkening skies.
Mutilated accordion drones, buzzing tape manipulations and crashing electronics
rumble over industrial tape-hiss, ambient gamma-ray throb and dark electro-growl.
Simultaneously soothes and seethes. Electric-pink and white screen-printed labels on opaque sky-blue shellcomes packaged w/ full color double sided fold out J-card in a clear Norelco case.
First 30 copies come in a matching full color glossy dust sleeve.
Brings to mind a brisk jaunt through the barren tundra.

john zuma st. pelvyn - ampex,stolaroff, dogwood, rain - lighten up sounds - cass - 7$

Third eye guitar/theremin/feedback transcendentalism.
A delicate balance of lovely and bizarre finger-picking mixed with theremin whine, whammy bar wobble, dense swirling feedback drones and belching electronics. Three amazing tracks of solo bliss sessions for six string and electronics. Visionary and truly beautiful work from this awesome contemporary player. Stunningly emotional and visceral playing that evokes serene pastural landscapes as filtered through lens-flares and blinding white light. Masterfully recorded in Oakland, CA 2010-2011 by friend and collaborator Peter Conheim (of Negativland and Neung Phak). Real time duplicated clear shell cassette with printed and stenciled labels comes beautifully packaged in a deluxe oversized clear vinyl album with double sided full color artwork, and a 4"x 6"sealed plastic bag containing a small handful of wood shavings and a hand numbered vellum insert. This is essential listening for the upcoming seasonal emergence from our bleak winter hibernation chambers.

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