Pyramids & Horseback...

...Out Black Friday... here is from R.Loren's (Pyramids, Sailors With Wax Wings, White Moth, Handmade Birds records) blog:

The long awaited PYRAMIDS / HORSEBACK epic split + collaboration has been finalized for a November release through Hydra Head Records. The original plan was to do a 7” for the split material, and a companion CD for the epic collaboration. That was prior to Aaron Turner adding a final air of magic to the epic, which has pushed it onto an LP, with the split material remaining on a 7”. A cassette with all of the material will also be available.

Look for the LP + 7” PYRAMIDS / HORSEBACK “A THRONE WITHOUT A KING” out on Hydra Head on Black Friday this November.

I can't wait, I have been excited about this since hearing about it.

This is from their Self-Titled album on Hydra Head



This is from their collaboration with Nadja:

NEW TOM WAITS!

Go to hell if you are scratching your head.


Out October 25th this year! So stoked, what great news.

The legendary Tom Waits has released the first single from his forthcoming album, Bad As Me. Due out October 25, 2011, the record is his first collection of original material in seven years. The standard record will feature 13 songs and a deluxe version will include three bonus tracks and a 40 page book of lyrics and photos taken by Waits himself. It will also be available on 180 gram vinyl which will include the LP and CD, plus full-size 12-page book.

Pageninetynine Reunion

Here is the full live set from Best Friends Day in Richmond.

As Friends Rust... Recording?

Speaking of Damien Moyal, apparently his criminally underrated band As Friends Rust apparently has recorded some new songs. My jaw literally dropped when I heard this.

On Bodies...

Talk about a who's who of South Florida hardcore (minus a few other notable individuals), On Bodies is a new band that marks the return of the enigmatic and incredibly prolific Damien Moyal (As Friends Rust, Morning Again, Culture, Bird Of Ill Omen, Shai Hulud, Bridgeburne R, and a ton of others) back to the vocal fore of a hardcore band. The band is rounded out as well by Rich Thurston (Culture, Terror, and another whole batch of bands), Chad Kishick (Know The Score, Shai Hulud) and Julio Marin (Glasseater, Destro, Dance Floor Justice) and Chip Wahlbert (Where Fear And Weapons Meet, Destro, Dance Floor Justice, etc.).

Check out two of the 6 songs from their forthcoming EP below.

Planning For Burial Live Video

Planning For Burial played with Chelsea Wolfe and Cult of Youth this past Wednesday... Here is video from it.

Planning for Burial - Golden from (((unartig))) on Vimeo.

Check Out Sleep In

I was introduced to Sleep In via Enemies List last year, and seriously, this is awesome. Take a listen, and if you are so moved... download the album and throw him some money to keep making music.

Flowers Of St. Francis Volume I...

...is now up for order (the subscriptions to the series are all gone, but EL is offering all 5 individually). The brain child of Tim Macuga (Have A Nice Life), Flowers of ST Francis is another animal entirely apart from his other musical force.

Sprawling, claustrophobic, expansive, distorted, mangled, droning, recorded on an 8-track with an analog synth and a creaking old piano, Macuga has managed to craft a series of moving, intimate compositions that seem to crawl from the speakers.

This is music for music's sake - music made for those who truly appreciate and wish to experience music in its pure form. In other words, it ain't party music - it's the closest thing to classical we've ever released, if you can call stream-of-consciousness dronescapes and crackling, echoey organs, choirs, and disembodied fuzz classical. We can, and do. This shit is an experience like no other. I have literally never heard anything like this, and neither have you.

Part of a Super-limited series of 5 E.Ps. Cassette only. Features original artwork from illustrator Caralai Fitzgibbon. Check out more of her work here.

Order the cassette here

Cremation Lily Reissue

The first two Cremation Lily Cassettes are being reissued in one handy dandy box via Waterpower Electronics. Grab them quick as the other releases have gone super fast.

Reissue of the first two (very limited) Cremation Lily tapes housed
in a 5" reel-to-reel box. Very exploratory PE ranging all over the
spectrum. Mastered by Kris Lapke. Limited to 50 copies.

waterpower is located online here

Barn Owl Marks A Swift Return

...with another album (hot on the heels of Shadowland) entitled Lost In The Glare.

Like Shadowland the album was recorded to tape by Phil Manley in San Francisco's Lucky Cat Studios. Lost in the Glare is made up of material composed over the course of a year and recorded in sessions throughout the winter of 2011. At the heart of the album's sound is the dual guitar interaction between Caminiti and Porras, a spiraling web of interlocking gestures that give way to bone rattling, monolithic progressions and dusty drifts. The mostly finger picked guitars weave in and out of each other in precise movements that recall the hypnotic influence of American minimalists.

The harmonium that was prevalent on previous recordings has been replaced on Lost in the Glare with the undulations of a Farfisa organ. The songs here are deep, cosmic excursions. Rich in dynamics, the record possesses a transcendental tone through both a densely layered combination of electric and acoustic instruments and walls of melting amplifiers and feedback alchemy. The lines between strict structure and ordered chaos blur as third-eye opening e-bowed drones explode like beams of light and corrode into crumbling distortion, baking tones that sizzle like brittle bones left in the desert sun.

Between rhythmic, turning strums that recall Saharan twilight, radiant synth swells and choral clusters that echo the desolation of deep space, the duo's sound has no doubt ascended from it's desert-rock roots into a new, beaming realm. Evocative as they are, the sounds here aren't easy to tie down to particular imagery. A myriad of influences from blues and raga to the guitar style most often associated with the Tuareg people meld into a new universal sound that can only be described as cosmic and sublime.

In addition to guitars and organ, Lost in the Glare features a Juno 60, manipulated cassette tapes, tanpura and gong played by Michael Elrod (The Alps, Date Palms), Steve Dye on bass clarinet (Portraits), and the crucial contribution of drummer Jacob Felix Heule. Heule's playing is paradoxically heavy and commanding, subtle and elegant. Morphing from hypnotic processions to abstract ritualistic clatter and orchestral swells, his addition to Barn Owl takes the sound to new heights...

Pre-Order here

This is a pre-order and will ship to arrive on or before the Sept 13th street date.

The LP version is pressed on 150gram vinyl in a first pressing of 1,500 copies (500 translucent blue, 1,000 black). Included is a free download coupon.

PLEASE NOTE : ALL MAILORDER COPIES WILL SHIP ON BLUE VINYL UNTIL WE RUN OUT. IF FOR SOME REASON YOU PREFER BLACK VINYL, YOU MUST STATE THIS IN YOUR ORDER NOTES.

Grouper AIA Album Represses

These two albums (AIA: Dream Loss and AIA: Alien Observer) from Grouper really set off a frenzy earlier in the year with the original press, and this repress is going awfully quick.

These mellow, spacey records are beautiful listening experiences.

Grab them before they are gone... here (then click on "Distributed Titles" in the Header to find them).

Handmade Birds Round 66.6

...or it certainly seems that way as this prolific label with impeccable taste launched pre-orders for its three newest releases (and a recent one that I shamelessly forgot to mention here).





























First up is the incredibly large 4xCD package from Sun Devoured Earth:

Without a doubt, the bleakest collection of songs ever brought together in a single release. Seven albums on four discs: "Good Memories Are The Hardest To Keep," "I Wish I Would Never Wake Up," "All Things Come And Go But We Won't Break," "Untitled," "The Sunshine Always Fades," "Apathy And Hopelessness," and the brand new "Day After Day, Year After Year, When Will It End". Hours of music, each song capturing the true emotions of this obscure prodigy from Latvia.

Edition: 100 copies, SEVEN OFFICIAL RELEASES on FOUR DISCS. Each disc comes in its own sleeve, then stacked in a 5" reel box and hand numbered.

Intense... order here

Listen here:
































Next up is Crooked Necks... two options with this release.

The first full length, Alright Is Exactly What It Isn't, alone:

Following one of the strongest split releases in recent years- the 2010 CD split on Cocainacopia with like-minded genre smashers Circle Of Ouroborus, and six years after the band's inception, the long awaited first full length album from Crooked Necks is finally here.

Edition: 250 copies (100 deep purple and 150 classic black), with full color insert, art designed by Andy Krupinski, and mastered for vinyl by James Plotkin.

Order here.

Or the awesome package deal:

BONUS PACKAGE INCLUDES:

Crooked Necks "Alright Is Exactly What It Isn't"
Crooked Necks "Something Must Break" limited 12"
Hostage Pageant "Abuse Generator" CS (solo noise project from Shane of CN)

Personal tragedy lead to the band recording the most honest Joy Division covers we have ever heard. Absolutely true to the spirit of the originals while adding the perfect balance of Crooked Necks style, the EP is available on wax in honor of the release of their debut full length, six years in the making (more like, waiting). "Something Must Break" also marks the beginning of our White Label Series, as the EP is presented in a printless white label on black vinyl in a white dust sleeve and solid black single jacket. Songs include the Joy Division classics: Isolation, Day Of The Lords, Something Must Break, New Dawn Fades, The Eternal

Edition: This offer is limited, and is well worth it. All packages include the deep purple version of "Alright..."

Order that here

























The last preorder is the vinyl version of the latest album from The Human Quena Orchestra, A Natural History Of Failure which also has two options:

The record by itself (orderable here)

Originally released on CD by Utech Records in 2010, this is an absolutely essential, definitive moment for an artist that is a true manifestation of the current paradigm shift. Issued on vinyl for the first time by Handmade Birds, featuring new cover photo by Olli Kekäläinen and special packaging design by Keith Utech. Remastered for vinyl by Noah Brodsky.

Edition: 250 copies, LP, two colors available (150 classic black, 100 ox blood)

And the package deal here:

BONUS NOISE PACKAGE:

The Human Quena Orchestra "A Natural History Of Failure" LP
The Human Quena Orchestra "Means Without Ends" CD
The Rita "The Rack" CD
Hostage Pageant "Abuse Generator" CS
Swamp Horse "Winter Ghost" CS

Take advantage of this special offer, collecting some of the richest noise releases in recent years, in honor of the LP issue of The Human Quena Orchestra's landmark album "A Natural History Of Failure"

Edition: THIS PACKAGE IS ULTRA LIMITED, AND COMES WITH THE OXBLOOD RED VINYL OF "ANHOF"

Lastly, we have Eleven Fingers, the latest from Circle Of Ourborus

In a complete reinvention of what is comfortable, CoO produce a landmark album within their already prolific catalogue that ranges from moments of post-punk atonality, to subtle melody countered by calculated agression. ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL.

Edition: 500 copies, Black vinyl, gatefold reverse board jacket, two pockets, 12 panel booklet with silver and gold pantone detail, and hand-inked artwork by artist Alexander Brown, and mastered for vinyl by James Plotkin.

Order that here

Late Twenties Blues...

Planning For Burial is about to release the latest musical output, Late Twenties Blues. Well, here is your chance to hear it and grab the digital version if you do not have a cassette player.

For those who like cassettes, there are still some available here. All proceeds fund the upcoming West Coast tour for Planning For Burial.

Contains a demo version of song that has been played out live since November 2010 and a demo of a newer song that just got added to the live set. Both songs may or may not appear later on the 2nd full length Desideratum as well as two other recordings that were recorded live to cassette.

Life In The Dark Tapes Galore

Hot on the heals of Hushed Bloom, Life In The Dark offer us yet another cassette tape.

recorded 2009/2010. the most personal recording i have ever done. heavy depression keys, recorded during the same session as 'the sunya is rising.'

18 copies.

Order fast

























Also, Zen gives us a black metal Livimorket recording as well.

first livimørket black metal material since 2009. all life in hand. praying for the end.

artwork by rainbath. 20 copies.

Kodiak Unleashes A New...

...Collaboration LP. This time with the Droning N. 2 new songs of big atmospheric instrumental bombast from this criminally underrated outfit. Listen here (and pre-order the collaboration as well as a 2xCD collection of all of the Kodiak material released thus far as well as an unreleased jammy jam) for proof.

Brought to you by the always impressive Denovali:

Heavyweight matte gatefold covers. 150 pieces on 180g white/black vinyl a/b effect, 350 pieces on 180g black vinyl.

Love the heavyweight vinyl.

REMNANTS SUSPENSION Update

Tapes are in production. We should be seeing them soon.

Order here by itself or here for the package deal with the label's previous cassette tape from Gholas

TMA2: REMNANTS- SUSPENSION
C-28 Limited to 100 Hand Numbered Copies


SUSPENSION from REMNANTS is an amazing set of atmospheres that ratchet the tension and despair all while remaining completely hypnotic and spellbinding. REMNANTS has gone above and beyond delivering an impressive droning tour de force.

Four new tracks from this Brooklyn resident grafted onto a C-28 Cassette Tape.

Pre-Orders start immediately, here. Non-US Residents please contact the label directly prior to ordering for an accurate shipping cost.



Check out the Tape below

Aidan Baker Does It Again

The Noise Of Silence limited box set from Aidan Baker (via Essence Music who put out the amazing Nadja limited boxset for Autopergamene) looks awesome. These pictures are just a few that show the detail and effort put into this package.


From the label:

A single, spontaneously composed, yet majestically structured 50 minute opus of swirling processed guitars, tape loops and noise bursts. Fear-inspiring in essence, the album slowly builds up a suffocating and trance inducing atmosphere around fragmented subliminal messages from a suicidal voice. Definitely not your typical dose of gentle and dreamy Baker solo.

Released in 2007 as a very limited edition CDR, Noise Of Silence is one of our top favorite Baker’s lost gems that truly deserved a special treatment.

Fully revised and remastered by James Plotkin. Beautiful 5-color printing on a custom 6-panel packaging.

Stunningly elaborated handmade and entirely hand assembled sturdy boxset housing two long accordion fold out inserts with 10 attached cards. Both the box and cards feature special paintings and collages based on many different techniques for an exquisite tactile experience, making each piece a totally unique work of art.

Besides the standard edition, also included in the set is a full-length bonus CDR entitled Early Works And Demos containing, as the title suggests, unheard tracks and versions from the 1991-95 period, when Aidan was already composing inspiring drone sounds and acoustic, dreamy and somber semi-ballads.

More pictures below. Order the boxset here or the single CD here

Fell Voices 2008 Demo Finally Gets...

...the vinyl treatment. Yes, I am a bit late on posting this and forgot until the Moss Green Vinyl (limited to 133 copies) showed up at my house. This record is damn fine and fully worthy of owning.

From the label:

Originally issued as a cassette tape in 2008, the first run of FELL VOICES' debut demo was restricted to 100 copies and sold out before the band was widely known outside of their local area.

The two epic tracks featured on the demo have never been available in any other form until now. Newly mastered for vinyl, "Theobromo" and "In the Hands of the Blind God" are black metal art at its finest: droning, violent and overpowering. The sound is a vast improvement over the original cassette issue, without losing any of the essentially raw and unyielding character.

All copies come on 180-gram vinyl. 133 copies pressed on clear moss green, 367 pressed on black

Pretty damn nice if I do say. Go get it here.

New Rival Schools Video

BrooklynVegan Presents: Rival Schools: "Eyes Wide Open" from BVBBG on Vimeo.

I still love these guys.

Sutekh Hexen's 1st LP...

...is finally upon us. Luciform comes at us just like their previous releases. Don't miss out because everything from the band has sold out for the most part.

The debut masterpiece...limited to 350 copies , 100 on Purple . If you order multiple copies you will get one on color.

Order here

Also available are the last remaining copies of the Daemons 7" and the Ordo Adversarial 7".

Here a track from Sutekh Hexen's debut LP below.





Also available from Wands is the debut LP from No Funeral. Listen below... order here

Debut release from No Funeral , raw blackened punk. Limited to 350 copies , 100 on Clear Vinyl .

Flowers Of St Francis Subscription Quick Update

The subscriptions for the Flowers Of St. Francis cassette tape series are all sold out. I will post info about the 50 single copies when more info is released.

Flowers Of St. Francis Subscription Cassette Series

Enemies List is doing something pretty damn cool with the Flowers of St. Francis release.



From the label:

Here, in the first-ever ENEMIES LIST subscription series, we present the FLOWERS OF SAINT FRANCIS: the aphasic, four-track rabbit hole confessionals of Tim Macuga (of HAVE A NICE LIFE and Nahvalr).


Sprawling, claustrophobic, expansive, distorted, mangled, droning, recorded on an 8-track with an analog synth and a creaking old piano, Macuga has managed to craft a series of moving, intimate compositions that seem to crawl from the speakers.

This is music for music's sake - music made for those who truly appreciate and wish to experience music in its pure form. In other words, it ain't party music - it's the closest thing to classical we've ever released, if you can call stream-of-consciousness dronescapes and crackling, echoey organs, choirs, and disembodied fuzz classical. We can, and do. This shit is an experience like no other. I have literally never heard anything like this, and neither have you.

Super-limited series of 5 E.Ps. Cassette only. Subscribe to the series, get all 5 as they appear over the course of the next 12 months. Hand-crafted artwork and messages from the artist. Get the entire series for less than buying each individual tape. ELHR Completists, I'm looking at you.

Only 50 spots are available for subscription. 50 copies will then be made available for separate purchase. Grab a spot while they exist.

Sound Awesome? Order here

Less than 25 subscriptions left at this point.