ANLA COURTIS / RICHARD FRANCIS
Aucklantida
(Robert & Leopold - R&L042) Cassette $5.75 (Out-of-stock)
Studied and paced drone, textured without caution using cut-ups, modular electronics and bent instrumentation. This trans-Pacific mind-meld collaboration connects the Argentinean composer’s uncomfortable nest of strange and abstract music with the New Zealand sage’s ambient drone waveforms. C40. Edition of 50
Brokebox Juke
(No-Fi) LP $15.00 (Out-of-stock)
Recorded via correspondence between Buenos Aires and Brooklyn, the sounds of a full, multi-faceted band in a warm room rise from the vinyl as Courtis (Reynols) and Moore (Volcano The Bear) throw down delicious rhythmic textures, mariachi-tinged improv, brooding desert psych and more. In beautiful gatefold jacket with photos by Moore.
Cassetopia
(Ini Itu - 1302) LP $21.00
Pre-dematerialization, pre-Reynols material, based on cassettes, possibly reworked but maybe not. Courtis’s music here transcends time; these balanced and measured exercises in subtle conversion are detailed monoliths, borderline cases of slightly aggressive and noisy surfaces, autumnal goofy primitivism, and detached stoner electroacoustics that bridge the gap between Earthy tape conjuration and cosmic drift and drone.
Culver-Courtis
(Riot Season) Used LP $8.00
2004 reissue of 1997 cassette of hypnotic drones, guitar, field recordings, effects, and processed feedback by one dude from Argentina’s Reynols and Lee Stokoe. Clear vinyl. Edition of 500. Sealed.
Flokka Kur
(Musik Atlach - MA011) CD $15.00
Collaborative “Shamanic music in urban context” and “sounds for non-Euclidean geometry landscapes,” which start with the noisy, mystical drones of the Finnish Uton and continues with the Argentinean Courtis’s manipulations and extra noise. Thematically linked by flowers, mixed with Spanish and Finnish language.
KPPB
(Earbook) CD $8.00 (Out-of-stock)
(Earbook) Used CD $5.75 (Out-of-stock)
Jump-cuts abound on the second postal collaboration by Reynols spokesmodel and one of the charming lads from Volcano The Bear, shifting the album through contrasting moods with cinematic élan. Touches of the anarchic and exotic, such as mbira, hazy Mexican-style trumpet, and Hawaiian guitar on “King Pancreas,” bring to mind Volcano The Bear, while melodic piano cells add a Cluster-like charm. The deeper and darker “Punk Butter,” with its layered, bowed drones that progress to a dissonant swell, concludes with thundering mallet-struck drums, impossible cymbals, and frantic slide work. Edition of 200.
Las Sales Fundentes
(Om Discos - OM25) 2xCD $20.00
Irrepressible spirit and infinite curiosity regarding the properties of sound animates Courtis’s double-CD, which compiles unreleased pieces and tracks previously issued by labels all over the world. Several are drone works that describe a gradual movement along a static horizontal plain, yet are ever changing; Courtis unleashes multiple frequencies which interact through the vertical laminates, revealing a microtonal world full of drama and incident.
ANLA COURTIS / SEIICHI YAMAMOTO / YOSHIMI
Live At Kanadian
(Public Eyesore - PE110) CD $15.00
(Public Eyesore - PE110) Used CD $7.50
A guitar duet by Courtis and Yamamoto with tons of delays and plaintive keyboard tones that grow increasingly harsh, climaxing in a steel mill din. On their silence-punched duet, Yoshimi and Courtis pile shrieks on top of layers of effects, guitars, and synths. The headache-inducing sustained keyboards and guitar banging on Yamamoto and Yoshimi’s track conjures up 1980s hair metal. The twenty-six-minute trio is the boldest and most aggressive thing here: commanding Yoshimi vocals, fuzzed-out guitar grinds, spacious metallic rhythms.
Other Secretive Vehicles
(Ikuisuus) Cassette $8.00
Or maybe you're in the mood for audio excursions that whirl into position like the world's slowest tornado in the middle of a vast plain of highlighter pen hues. Might we suggest allowing Anla Courtis (of Argentinean visionaries Reynols) and S. Glass (ex-Evolution Revolution) to escort your party to a gravity pod? C42
Sunburst Lux
(Quasi Pop - QPOPREC03) split 7-inch $9.00 (Out-of-stock)
Heavily processed field recordings (geyser sounds), weird cassette loops, tape manipulations, oscillations.
Unstringed Guitars & Cymbals
(Blossoming Noise) Used CD $8.00 (Out-of-stock)
“Waterfalls of humming and squealing, carnival organs, windchimes, and blown-glass swan calls [flow out of the Reynols global ambassador’s] tortured axe,” notes Startling Moniker. “Making excellent use of a cymbal … he fashions layers of shimmering washes, a perfect environment for [the] rising and falling guitar clarion to inhabit. Sealed
Yaguá Ovy
(Mie Music - 007) LP $10.00
Based around the Argentinean mythology of the Werewolf, or “the blue dog” that lives on the “land without evil” of Mbya-Guarani, the first collaboration by Menche and Courtis whips up primal and natural noise. Menche draws out the sound and resonances found lying in snow and rocks while Courtis bewitches pizza sauce cans and his guitar, creating this mind flaying homage to the mythical wolf.