diaphragm + migrations in rust - framed of remission- peasant magik - cdr- 7$
The first time I saw these two play I was sitting, totally sober, in the back of a warehouse in Purchase, NY. Maybe it was the hours of Simpson's arcade game I had just finished, but it was one of the most focused and engaging shows I had seen in ages. Later that night I approached MIR about working together, and 9 month later this finally sees the light of day. Both Diaphragm and Migrations In Rust contribute one slow burner each, with a collaborative track to finish things off. Somewhere between the space of Andrew Chalk, layers of Birchville Cat Motel, and the sinister atmosphere of Abruptum.
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helm - the illuminated factory - peasant magik - cass - 7$
I first got this master while watering plants at a local mall. Every week I would go in at night, strap on a full body harness, lock myself to the railing, jump over the side, and go to work on hundreds of plants, while continuously flipping this tape over and over. The perfect soundtrack to floating three stories up while breathing in harsh chemical fertilizers and watching the leaves fall on the janitors below. The title track is one of the best Helm tracks to date. Forward moving phase shifts buried under blankets of high end pulses, only subsiding to make room for some of the most inviting tones this side of Tangerine Dream. Side B's Hearts Like Broken Motors is a full 19 minutes of new age synth onslaught. Covers designed and printed by James Livingston of Black Horizons. 12 were printed on tan paper, the remaining on black. Black high bias chrome tapes.
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rale - nightside / shadeup - peasant magik - cass - 7$
Dark tunnels of sound and cracked drones hiding under a bed of mircotonal details. Black, green, and gold at a glacial pace. Total focus and totally alone. Photos by Jon Borges. Black, high bias chrome tapes.
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ajilvsga - white path / red path - peasant magik - cass - 7$
Thick clouds of swirling electronics, walls of distortion, phased guitars, tar, and electricity riveted together for one of the heaviest and densest Ajilvsga recordings to date. Melodies briefly stumble to the surface, only to be turned inside out by the chaos. High bias chrome tapes with 4 panel J-card and obi.
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drunjus - enceladus - peasant magik - cdr - 7$
The sound of mud, trees, crickets, and mosquitoes in sloooow motion. Hazed out Dream Porch sessions, field recordings from Cherokee Marsh, and full on drone assaults from Woodman, Endless, and, local analog synth compatriot, Crystal Dragon. Black CDs housed in black cardboard sleeve with full color wrap around art, printed transparencies, and handmade paper. Hand stamped and numbered.
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robe - star form - peasant magik - cdr - 7$
With only guitar and trombone Robe. create haunted, drifting melodies buried under deep, narcotic wells of sound. Dark, horror movie style murk. Sounds as if a victrola is dying downstairs while construction workers are ripping up a street across town in slow motion. Black CDs housed in black cardboard sleeve with full color wrap around art and printed vellum. Hand stamped and numbered.
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v - standing still in the celestial sphere - peasant magik - cdr - 7$
First solo statement from Monks of The Balhill member, Vincent Caylet. Found within are pink guitars, accordion dreams, smoke, and ash. Songs move in an almost airy, whimsical fashion, while occasionally hinting at the black within. 2007 might have been the year of the French Psychedelic Underground, 2008 will be the year of the Monks. Black CDs housed in white cardboard sleeve with full color wrap around art and handmade marble paper. Hand stamped and numbered.
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slow listener – bad coffee day - peasant magik - cass - 5$
The first release from this UK horde sees their sound already fully realized. Armed only with what sound like mangled keyboards, Slow Listener orchestrates over these 40 minutes an audio version of the title. A beautiful sun filled morning slowly overtaken by teeth sweat and sullenness. Covers by James Ulmer. CS edition of 50
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A. jarvis – she is also phasing- peasant magik - cass - 5$
Three tracks of total John Carpenter worship. Sweeping synths, pulsing bass lines, and Kurt Russell. Had he just done something as simple as rework the soundtrack to Escape from New York, this would still be essential. Instead, he takes Carpenter's classic blueprint and somehow manages to incorporate elements from all of his previous work at once: swells of feedback, analog shimmer, and subtle, but damaged, percussion. Like all of his previous work, this is absolutely perfect. High bias chrome tapes, pro-printed covers.
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one master – forsaking a dead world - peasant magik - cass - 5$
"Accompanied by the bleak howl of February winds, Peasant Magik is proud to unleash the Northeastern horde One Master’s Forsaking a Dead World on cassette—six tracks of pummeling blasphemy, buzzing, cacophonous thunder, tortured black majesty and ritual worship at the bloodstained altar of True Black Metal. Unholy fucking grimness not meant for the false." - Vistiek
wether / gallows / pillars of heaven / deerstalker– 4 way split - peasant magik - 2xcass - 10$
One fifteen minute side long track from each, with collabrative effort on 4th side. Released to coincide with a Pillars of Heaven and Heat Conference (Wether + Gallows) weekend outing. Wether pumped the gas, Pillars of Heaven navigated, and Gallows brought the pillows and sleeping bags. Hi-bias chrome tapes with pro-printed covers. Co-released with No Horse Shit.
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century plants – bloodrise - peasant magik - 3" cdr -5$
Howling monolithic massive live set from this explosive duo. Nightmarish fog cutter sonics ebb and throb with a dark sinister undertow... unlike anything else you’ve heard from them. This one documents them opening for Dead Machines in summer 07. Molten lava inspiration was flowing down into the basement that night, and the proof is right here. Total power focus. Echoes of Robedoor, Throbbing Gristle, Birchville Cat Motel, and countless other sonic terrorists can be heard, but Century Plants stir things up into their own unique brand of madness. The 3" cdr is painted black and wrapped in a foldout sleeve held. 3" CDR Edition of 100
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ajilvsga – thorazine to infinity- peasant magik - cass - 5$sold out
When I first recieved the master for 'Thorazine to Infinity' I was reading Richard Dawkins' "The Ancestor's Tale". During one of the first listens I came across a passage on the end of the Cretaceous Period. "The noise of the impact, thundering round the planet at a thousand kilometres per hour, probably deafened every living creature not burned by the blast, suffocated by the wind-shock, drowned by the 150-metre tsumani that raced around the literally boiling sea, or pulverised by an earthquake... Then there was the aftermath - the global forest fires, the smoke and dust and ash which blotted out the sun ... and stopped dead the world's food chain." I imagined this would be a good soundtrack to it's aftermath.
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lanterns - lughnasadh - peasant magik - cdr - 6$sold out
Following up killer releases on First Person and Sloow Tapes, the almighty Lanterns return. Along with them are guitars, bells, hand percussion, strings, vocal chants. While this might conjur images of drug-rugs and rainsticks, all new age nonsense is avoided. Instead, we get dark and formless celestial shimmer. What was lost on the hippies has been found in a basement in Leeds. Artwork by Mel of Ashtray Navigations.
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alistair crosbie –sad faces of the moon - peasant magik - cass -5$sold out
After a steady stream of beautifully presented CDR releases on his own Lefthand Pressings imprint and endless collaborations, the rest of the world seems to be catching up with Alistair Crosbie, whose name appeared in numerous year end reviews. Still, after dubbing 100 of these things, I can’t figure out if this is the soundtrack of being trapped under ice or some of the most inspiring, solitary new age bliss I’ve heard in ages. Either way, it is absolutely stunning. Photograph by Kaitlin Mosley. High-bias chrome tapes.
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josh lay - hater of life - peasant magik - cass - 7$sold out
One half of the sludge duo Cadaver In Drag, Josh Lay steps it up with what might be the harshest, and my personal favorite, Peasant Magik release to date. Underwater cave drones buried beneath blasting percussion and feedback. Overwhelmingly depressive, yet you still walk away with a sense of family.
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