Dissonant Plane

David C. Nuss comes from Corpus Christi, Texas where he started his musical career with thrash metal band Angkot Wat, and has since come to greater fame as a member of New York City’s No-Neck Blues Band.  A highly creative and enthusiastic musician, he has also played in the groups Tenor Rising Drums Expanding (with free jazz players Sabir Mateen and Daniel Carter), Angelblood, Eastenburia (with members of Boredoms), Christian Family Underground (with Family Underground), Amolvacy (with Aaron Moore of Volcano The Bear), Gazheart, Under Satan’s Sun and Way of the Cross (with members of Kemialliset Ystavat, Kuupuu, Embryo, Uton, Keijo, and Skaters), and The Boredoms’ 77 Boa Drum, plus help orchestrate the come back of Yahowa 13.  On September 29, 2006 he played solo - a man in a gymnasium with only a drum kit.  Dedicated to Keiji Haino, Mick Barr and Frost, the performance is as much a test of endurance as it is a display of creative playing.  In this video, the camera constantly circles him on a track for the full hour of the performance - constantly changing the perspective while remaining focused on the lone musician.

We got a small shipment from Southern Lord today, filling in our selection of black and doom metal.   Titles by Burning Witch, Haemoth, Thrones, Urgehal, and Wolves in the Throne Room.  Mostly CDs, but we got the double vinyl of Wolves’ “Two Hunters” on gold vinyl with material not on the CD version.

Goods from Elevator Bath have landed.  The label was founded in Texas by Colin Andrew Sheffield, and now based in Woodinville.  In 2008, the label celebrated its 10th anniversary with a concert at The Chapel and simultaneously released the compilation CD “A Cleansing Ascension” featuring Matt Shoemaker, Adam Pacione, Jim Haynes, Keith Berry, Rick Reed, Dale Lloyd, Colin Andrew Sheffield, Francisco López, James Eck Rippie, and Tom Recchion.  Previous to this, the label has done almost 30 releases on compact disc and vinyl by Andrew Deutsch & Tony Conrad, Michèle Bokanowski, Frequency Curtain, Francisco López, Ilya Monosov, Rick Reed, and Colin Andrew Sheffield himself.  The majority of the releases are in the ambient / drone territory, while a few stray in more experimental realms while staying subdued.  Two particularly striking recent recent releases as the picture disc LPs by Jim Haynes and Rick Reed.  Both are released in tiny editions of 260 copies and include dense fields of slow moving textural sound.  Also particularly noteworthy are Colin Andrew Sheffield’s recent CD releases “First Thus” and the brand new “Signatures”.  Both take prerecorded materials and transform them into soft flowing atmospheres.  ”Signatures” is on the new label Invisible Birds out of San Francisco, but Colin was kind enough to leave us with some of this beauty as well.

At home recently, I have been playing the Eastenburia 12″ from 2000.   I thought it worth commenting on because we recently got it in stock at the shop.  A one-off release from the Japan Overseas label, this group combines the talents of Yoshimi P-we (Boredoms, Free Kitten, OOIOO, UFO or Die),  Atari (Boredoms), Yoshidadaikiti (Sitaar-Tah!), David Nuss (Angkor Wat, No-Neck Blues Band, Angelblood, Almovacy, Under Satan’s Sun), Rita Ackermann (Angelblood, GazHeart, Diadal), Japan Overseas’ own Shoji and recording engineer Ohji Hayashi.  Using a lot of percussion including grantang (a bamboo marimba usually found in gamelans) mixed with the voices of the two ladies, a sitar, Casio Tone and some effects, they come with a really groovy tribal sound that is loose yet catchy.  Only about 10 minutes per side, the record seems to go by fast, but at the same time keeps the record feeling really tight.  Pressed as a picture disc, the A side is decorated by Rita while the B side was drawn by Yoshimi - both giving up riotously full color artwork.  It is free form and spontaneous, but holds together with a musical base, and makes for a fun list. - Eric

The fourth album by KTL is now in stock.  A collaboration between Stephen O’Malley (Sunn, Khanate, etc.) and Peter Rehberg (a.k.a. Pita), the music is as heavy as you would expect.  Here is what the label has to say about it:

Developed and composed over the spring and summer of 2008, KTL brought the material to Tokyo the following September and worked with Jim O’Rourke at the desk and controls. IV is a stunning new direction and a great addition to both artists’ already impressive canon. The opening and shortest track, “Paraug” is a dark shadow of previous KTL sounds, with its blowtorch riffs and sub-bass rumbles. This leads the way for the album’s monster “Paratrooper.” Over 21-minutes of driving bass pulse interwoven with razor sharp guitar from O’Malley and synth and organ blasts from Rehberg. Atsuo, from Japanese top-rockers Boris, glues it together with his arrhythmic and punishing drumming. “Wicked Way” is a breezy, upbeat number, which, if the band were that way inclined, would be the album’s single. “Benbbet,” on the other hand, is a whole different ball game: a distant guitar loop is joined by slamming, no step beats, making way for a guitar riff to straddle all valleys and computer bass rattles. Possibly KTL’s most detailed recording. “Eternal Winter” is an exercise in black, frozen, resonant harmonics, whereas “Natural Trouble” is a slowly-evolving twister of a track which is both spontaneous and focused.

The artwork on this album was done by Demian Johnston whose tape we have in stock as well and would probably appeal to some of the same people…. 

There really are too many this week to mention in detail, but a few high lights:

•  Chemical Imbalance 7″ with Faust live and Sun City Girls
• Wolf Eyes “Back to Attack” double CDR with poster and C100 in a box, limited to 26 copies!
• Comets on Fire promo only live DVD released by Sub Pop and shot by John of Sunburned
• a tour only Sunburned Hand of the Man CDR called “Knifelife”
• CD reissue of the debut Os Mutantes album
• lots of books include Joe Carducci’s  ”Rock and the Pop Narcotic”, and titles on Nick Cave, Johnny Rotten, Joe Meek, space rock, Chris Connelly, bootlegs and more
• a ton of metal CDs including some very cheap promo versions of titles

The second Sound @ One box is here, and I would say we have the biggest selection of No-Neck Blues Band and related projects for a good way around.  For starters, we got copies of the otherwise sold out NNCK European tour CDRs “Angelo Mai” and “Roodemas”.  Plus the CDR demo of black metal band Under Satan’s Sun, which is likewise sold out.  From Sound @ One side label Phoenix Records we got the new Yahowa 13 live LP (their first new recordings in 33 years) and debut LP by Way of the Cross which features Dave Nuss (NNCK), Stellar OM Source, The Skaters, Jan Anderzen (Kemialliset Ystavat), Kuupuu, Mik Quantius (Embryo), and Tiitus Petajaniemi and Jari Koho (Uton, Keijo).  Also on LP is wonderful acoustic guitar solo album by Carter Thornton, which seems to be the first release under his own name as we also got previous releases by him under the name Zashki Warashi with various guests, including a limited edition cassette with camouflage cloth cover.  Also in this batch are an LP by NNCK friend Tom Thayer, the John Fahey tribute compilation CD on Table of the Elements (which in addition to a great NNCK track features Sir Richard Bishop, Lichens, Pumice, Jack Rose, Michael Hurley, and Badgerlore) and the Wandering Archive book with contributions from free jazz musician Daniel Carter, John Godbert, Graham Lamkin of Shadow Ring, and various NNCK members.

New releases by Polish label Monotype Records are here. They are:

1. Eric La Casa & Jean-Luc Guionnet “Inscape. Lille-Flandres” - surveillance oriented field recordings from France
2. Lionel Marchetti / Jean Baptiste Favory “100 000 Années” - double CD with one disc each by these two French artist working in electroacoustic soundscapes
3. T. Gadomski / T. Mirt “Si, Si” - experimental duo from Poland

We received a single copy of the new Reiko and Tori Kudo LP “Light”.  Released by the wonderful Siwa label, this LP comes packaged in a stunning wooden box with screened printed sleeve.  Sliding the sleeve out of the box reveals nine chambers with attached card inserts.  A very unique and impressive package!  The music is acoustic and quite impressive as well.  Probably best known for their group Maher Shalal Hash Baz, the husband and wife team have been involved a large number of projects over the last three decades, including the legendary duo Noise. This special LP is limited to 200 copies and because of the edition size we were only allowed to buy a single copy. So if you are interested in this duo, don’t delay!

A few items that we sold out of quickly are back in stock.  First the ”Myths Of Origin - Sonic Ephemera From East Asia” CD by Isobel Clouter & Rob Mullender featuring field recordings from Japan and China including singing and booming sands. Second, the new 7″s by Astral Social Club, Our Love Will Destroy the World and Peter Wright on Dirty Knobby are here again, though selling quickly still.