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.