RECOMMENDATION #100 - VERY BON

DESMADRADOS SOLDADOS DE VENTURA - A PINT OF WINE
JON COLLIN - INTERVAL MUSIC
YERBA MANSA - THE OTHER THING
very bon 2016, editions of ?

not sure i've ever done back to back triple recs, this one sky high courtesy VERY BON outta manchester run by EDWIN STEVENS (IRMA VEP, DSDV) - i've been anxiously awaiting these tapes since the popped up on my radar in early feb

A PINT OF WINE emerges from a meditative daze, first the bass and drums congeal into a killer groove, then the guitars -three of em- shake off the haze one at a time, well two of em do, that third stays pretty well messed up for the duration of this 50 min marathon - DSDV blast their freaked out vibe hard n fast but they don't push it over the edge where other free rock heads have staked claim - instead DSDV narrowly navigate their sound beyond a select secluded networked cluster of claustrophobic basements and outer limits venues and devoted fanatics like me, with a trajectory that nearly parallels stoner psych standard bearers like BARDO POND, COMETS ON FIRE and EARTHLESS - if the idea of a coked up road burnin hour long rendition of COMETS' "beneath the ice age" feat SUNBURNED HAND appeals to you as much as it does to me then you absolutely need this

INTERVAL MUSIC finds fringe folk guru and WINEBOX PRESS curator JON COLLIN at his most enlightened, supplemental to his guttural out of body revelation BURNT MONDAY, this is more honed in and deliberate - meticulously manipulating sound beyond my articulation if not my understanding - "UN-EFFECTED E BOW AND ACOUSTIC GUITAR PIECES RECORDED DEAF" - it's therapeutic, if not spiritual, maybe kinda like KRAFTWERK's "harmonika" covered by FAHEY informed and supplied by TIMOTHY LEARY - the j card has a diagram that "ACTS AS A TRACK LISTING AND SIMPLIFIED SCORE FOR THE TAPE" - as much as i revere COLLIN's discography, i think this is his best work yet

THE OTHER THING is YERBA MANSA's debut (i think), a psychotic rock power duo of DSDV members EDWIN STEVENS and ANDREW CHEETHAM - there's some overlap of course, but YM aren't just DSDV lite, they run tangential in some ways, decidedly more psychedelic in some traditional sense, or rather less in the typical free rock fashion via brute force, more directly channeling druggy proto punk with some no wave noise rock thrown in for good measure - the mixture blends and bleeds into SUNBURNED HAND territory and thus the overlap, but this isn't free rock - YM are not focused on "the jam" - this isn't merely freaked out chaotic chug for it's own sake, this is more tonal and textural, more elevated, more in common with folks like TOM CARTER, GOWN and SIX ORGANS - i'm not so sure this isn't the best tape of the bunch







http://verybon.bigcartel.com/products

RECOMMENDATION #99 - WOUNDED KNIFE

MONTE BURROWS - IKKI NI
WANDER - KAT GAT SEA
BRAEYDEN JAE - PERPETUAL CHILD
wounded knife 2016, editions of ?

huge triple recommendation highlighting the latest batch of tapes from WOUNDED KNIFE, all highly recommended - unfortunately KAT GAT SEA sold out before i could hammer out this rec but the other two are still available though not for long i'm sure, get em while you can

IKKI NI hooked me real quick, a brief blackhole timewarped sample of A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME leading into a lush dark ambient noir suite kinda like BASINSKI disintegrating ALIEN soundtrack loops, in the same headspace as PSI LAB favorites SKITTISH ARM and GREG GORLEN - side two is a much more subdued and immersed singular longform ambient drone work that kinda recalls DAY/NIGHT TAPES and D.F. W K.B.D & J.G.'s A CHANCE HAPPENING, not too far from LOST TRAIL at their most hushed and zoned

KAT GAT SEA is a fantastic survey of ambient americana by way of italian (i think) duo WANDER - elegant fingerpicking, inspired improvisation, unabashed experimentation and haunting industrial primitivism - there's a lot here for minimalist fringe folk akin to DE LUCE's parallel project DROWNING IN WOOD (REC #54) with TRANCHESI bringing more ambitious melodic structure, and on the last track a moody electric guitar with a healthy dose of distortion, a propulsive post blues riff winding through a multi-instrumental soundscape like you might expect from TOM CARTER as a bold counterpoint to new weird american drone

PERPETUAL CHILD finds BRAEYDEN JAE indulging in his strong suit, noisy longform ambient drone bliss, offering two twenty minute sides, the longest i've heard from him by more than five minutes, and he makes himself right at home with all the extra time and space with a full on FRIPP & ENO styling rendered through white hot fuzz, emblazoned with heartrending motifs shining like a holy silver lining amid a soul-cleansing downpour - WOUNDED KNIFE says "imagine Fripp and Eno meeting once again to record Swastika Girls; only heavier, more cheerful and much, much more distorted" and that is absolutely right on the money







http://woundedknife.com/

RECOMMENDATION #98 - MATT VALENTINE

MATT VALENTINE - BLAZING GRACE
time-lag 2016, edition of 500

"a new apex has been reached, wrapped in MV's most loving & elaborate 'spectrasound' production to date, a sonic pallet that simply ripples with nuance, tone, and a seemingly bottomless depth of detail. all together, a start-to-finish trip that's instantly memorable & hummable, subtly intimate yet cosmically blasted. restrained yet fully rocking, with that unmistakable burnt ragged edge, packaged in a beautiful full color 60s style heavy tip-on cover, with large insert" - TIME-LAG

TIME-LAG returns after a two year hiatus with "one last epic harvest, the final chapter" - well that is a bit of a downer, but the music is absolute upper crust, and i'm sure the packaging will match - i haven't seen em up close and in person yet but TIME-LAG has never spared any expense - two essential MAXINE FUNKE reissues, LACE and FELT, which are sure to become the quintessential editions given the former was previously only available on cdr and the latter only on vinyl in an instantly unavailable diy edition of 100 now fetching north of $150 -- these reissues alone would be a righteous enough note to go out on, but they merely set the stage for the latest and greatest from MATT VALENTINE entitled BLAZING GRACE, which is just about the awesomest album title ever -- note that the FUNKE reissues are sequential in TIME-LAG's catalog as entries 062 and 063, but BLAZING GRACE is 099 - "better to burn out than to fade away" - a fitting NEIL YOUNG sentiment all around

must be somethin in the air on maximum arousal farm, MV is on an inspired studio rush, this is his fourth proper album (including MV & EE titles) in the past eight months or so, and two of those are massive double lps -- BLAZING GRACE is like a lazy river running downstream from magnum opus MIDDEN MOUND, an even more intimate and immersed backwater bedroom exposition of stoner folk pop and acid spiked lunar blues, again featuring a healthy host of contributors -- all the road regulars including J MASCIS, JEREMY EARL, MICK FLOWER and of course ERIKA ELDER, plus a couple of irregulars in PETE NOLAN (MAGIK MARKERS, ARBITRARY SIGNS) and MEG BAIRD (ESPERS, HERON OBLIVION) -- it gloriously blurs and blends into itself, lending it a laid back listening experience - by my measure it is MV's most accessible work in nearly a decade since GETTIN GONE, straight ahead "NEIL YOUNG in space" vibe meandering through some catchy sky high ballads kinda like "down by the river" and "ambulance blues" drifting through the cosmos laced with ecstatic riffs and fuzz licks salvaged from LIVE/DEAD and WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT, or rather YOU'RE LIVING ALL OVER ME, spiraling through some "environs" esque psych rock before arriving at a perfect cathartic closing track - a fantastic album, as expected

highest possible recommendation



you can sample the rest of the tracks courtesy MIDHEAVEN

https://midheaven.com/item/blazing-grace-by-valentine-matt

there's a "special edition" limited to 50 that has all the standard edition fixins plus "a special heavy paper outer cover wrap, with large format paste-on alternate artwork, plus a 12 page stitched chapbook with lyrics & art, and 'peacemouth' sticker"



http://www.time-lagrecords.com/product/matt-mv-valentine-blazing-grace-special-edition-lp-time-lag-099

http://mvandee.blogspot.com/

UPDATE - PL12 BOOTLEG EDITION & SALE

usually i end up with an extra copy or two from the duplicator, somehow i ended up with ten extra PL12 BURNT HILLS so i did up a "bootleg edition" -- i've got three on bandcamp, the rest went to the band / FLIPPED OUT - a sweet second (last) chance for those who missed the boat

in other bandcamp news, i reduced prices on all remaining PSI LAB cassettes, also i scrounged up one final copy of PL09 HOLY HILLS

a couple new releases are in the research and development stage

stay tuned

RECOMMENDATION #97 - OJERUM

OJERUM - SNE
phinery 2016, edition of 75

part of the huge january batch from PHINERY which i'm still digesting, including REC #87 WEATHERS & CHRISMAN -- those familiar with OJERUM's already lengthy back catalog (about a dozen tapes since 2014) may be surprised that he sings here with appreciably more breath support and melodic substance, to such extent it kinda sounds like what i imagine early LOW bedroom demos might sound like, maybe even recalling ELLIOTT SMITH and SPARKLEHORSE here and there - and when he's not singing, though he stays true to his well established sparse hypnotic repetitive style, there again is more melody apparent as he incorporates SATIE esque keyboard and more elaborate motifs whose mood moves away from the darker mysterious tone of previous works toward a more immediate and introspective melancholic lullaby vibe, with atmospheric accompaniment and ethereal f/x supplanting his use of tape hiss as part of the listening experience -- SNE finds OJERUM carefully testing the outer limits of "folk pop" a la GROUPER's DRAGGING and ILYAS AHMED's I AM ALL YOUR OWN

highly recommended

RECOMMENDATION #96 - STEVEN R. SMITH & DIRK SERRIES

STEVEN R. SMITH & DIRK SERRIES - HYMNAL
cassauna 2016

"familiar as it is different from their individual sonic endaevours. Made with electric guitars, fender rhodes, organs and all various types of bowed instruments, this album is about organic evolution...constructed from the directness of each instrument, meticulously layered against each other, creating the drone. Four long-form mantra's, four harmonic themes that excel in their own beautiful organic progress over time." - CASSAUNA

stunning new tape from IMPORTANT's cassette imprint CASSAUNA - an SRS collaboration is a rare treat - before this there was only a couple lps with GARETH DAVIS from a few years back -- HYMNAL is a collection of four "hymns", semi improvised, dealing in elegant fermatas, lush instrumentation, rising, falling, intertwining - kinda like those minimal ambient interludes on late period TALK TALK albums stretched to the twenty minute mark, maybe landing somewhere between FLYING SAUCER ATTACK's INSTRUMENTALS and STARS OF THE LID's triple lps -- SERRIES brings his MICROPHONICS immersed atmospheric drone, SRS brings his ULAAN PASSERINE stargazing ambient folk -- HYMNAL seems an instant classic, way up there on my shortlist of epic ambient drone collaborations, in the same company as BARDO POND & TOM CARTER's 4/23/03 and TWELLS & CHRISTENSEN's COASTS, dare i even mention FRIPP & ENO, maybe -- i wasn't sure there would be a tape this year that would give FIVE GUITARS a run for it's money, let alone one so soon

highest possible recommendation




http://importantrecords.com/imprec/sauna28

RECOMMENDATION #95 - SLEEP CHRYSALIS

SLEEP CHRYSALIS - SLEEP CHRYSALIS
centipede farm 2016

"Fits right in with Lost Trail’s super spooky Americana soundscapery, naturally, but Mr. Pomeroy gives it a spin. Ghost guitars in a black Cadillac crawling through the agroindustrial wastes at 3 AM." - CENTIPEDE FARM

wow that is one hell of a description -- british dark ambient guitar droner LINDEN POMEROY teams up with new weird american drone guru ZACHARY CORSA of LOST TRAIL, who did a split tape with POMEROY last year -- SLEEP CHRYSALIS is definitely at the mellow end of CORSA's sonic spectrum, his proprietary blend of dynamic noise-blasted euphoric drone-gaze is much less in play, though it does gloriously appear albeit briefly on a couple of tracks - the same goes for his alluring found sounds and curious intimate voice recordings - instead SLEEP CHRYSALIS is more reserved and focused, minimal dark ambient with subtle atmospheric quirks and flirtations of drool worthy tape manipulation -- as the label blurb suggests, if you dig LOST TRAIL then you're sure to dig this, but for a comparative analogy maybe think GREG GORLEN and IAN WILLIAM CRAIG reinterpreting ENO's AMBIENT oeuvre

highly recommended



http://centipedefarm.com/

RECOMMENDATION #94 - BART DE PAEPE

BART DE PAEPE - SOLITARY MOON
vohu manah 2015, edition of 250

i'm a longtime fan of DE PAEPE's imprint SLOOW TAPES, more recently he's been puttin out his own solo recordings (see REC #39, also a member of AMANITA VULVA, see REC #50) -- this is his first foray on vinyl, progressing the stripped down heavy psych guitar jams he proliferated on BLOOD CLOT IN THE BRAIN - there's plenty more of that velvety MO TUCKER percussion, more prominent driving bass lines at times, "lotus petal rain" buds from the same hypnotic propulsion branch as LOWRIDER "texas pt 2" -> EARTH "raiford" -> EXPO 70 "closet full of candles" but with more engrossing primitivism that somehow channels a gritty bygone hill country vibe a la FRED MCDOWELL or DOCK BOGGS as much as it does the bluesy noise rock of LES RALLIZES DENUDES, leading into a dark moody drone rock dirge with drool worthy hits of off-reverberating fuzz guitar -- as much as i really dig his previous tapes, this is DE PAEPE arriving, fully realizing his own singular sound - done with ultimate diy fold over / bound / paste on jackets, best grab one quick before they become scarce

highest possible recommendation



http://vohumanahrecords.co.uk/product/solitary-moon/

SLOOW recently posted some new stuff - a new FURSAXA lp and a zine MELLOW MY MIND "Chronicling the first 10 years of Sloow Tapes...an overview of all the tapes, broadsides, lp’s and booklets published so far...Fully annotated with detailed information about the tapes, promo texts, reviews and a few texts written especially for this publication." - i usually don't go for stuff like that but SLOOW is one of the awesomest labels of all time in my book so why not have a book about it

http://sloowtapes.blogspot.com/