Devil Wolf Men
(Pica Disk - PICA010) 7-inch $10.00
A tapestry of location recordings and studio collaborations made during Ambarchi and Marhaug's tour of China in 2005.
Worried Friends b/w Nervous Enemies
(Pica Disk - PICA02) 7-inch $9.00
An inside-the-piano scrape-fest of anti-music. Recorded in Oslo, November 2006. 300 copies.
Gunpowder Temple of Heaven
(Pica Disk - PICA04) CD $14.50
Since the mid-’90s New Zealander Campbell Kneale has been a leading voice within his generation of NZ sound artists. The single 40-minute track here builds and unfolds in a manner that is heavenly for drone-noise enthusiasts. Bruce Russell of The Dead C notes that the “ ‘more is more’ strategy [often] backfires into murky sludge, where the increasing layers merely obscure each other. On the contrary, the more Birchville Cat Motel puts into a piece, the more you hear coming out.”
TONY CONRAD / MICHAEL F. DUCH / C. SPENCER YEH
Musculus Trapezius
(Pica Disk - PICA013) CD $14.00
An epic performance captured pristine, unfurling its massive limbs patiently and cannily over the course of seventy-plus minutes. Conrad mingles among trusted wood-and-steel sidekicks, engaged in both age-old conversations and inspired new inquisitions; Yeh bookends his passive/aggressive behavior on violin with spare piano incantations; Duchs acts as a ghostly anchor, casting formidable binding and deft velocity. Drones flow freely, but these reliable horizons fracture into surprising detours, tearing apart the instruments, the players involved, and the expectations of the music itself. From the abstract of the article "EMG Trapezius Muscle Activity Pattern in String Players:: Part I—Is There Variability in the Playing Technique?" authored by Anncristine Fjellman-Wiklund, Helena Grip, Jan Stefan Karlsson, and Gunnevi Sundelin, first published in the International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics (Volume 33, Issue 4, April 2004): "Work-related neck and shoulder disorders are a great problem for string musicians; a playing technique with more relaxed muscles and a greater variation in the muscle activity pattern, i.e., with shorter sequences at a varied number of amplitude levels... might prevent pain." Oops.
Necro Acoustic
(Pica Disk - PICA017) 5xCD $37.50
Lights Out (new album recorded 2006-2008); Malaise (reissue of limited-edition double-cassette [Hospital Productions, 2009]); Decrepit (previously unreleased material from 1998-1999, plus tracks from split LP with 2673 [Kitty Play, 2005] and the LP on Dilemma, 2008); No Edit (new album of prepared guitar material recorded in 2009); and Organ (first-time release of the 55-minute version of this track [believed for years to have been lost, recently discovered] previously released in edited form on Comedy [Moikai, 2000]). Solid box with gold print, individual CD-wallets and 24-page booklet.
Resolution Of Remembrance 1992-1999
(Pica Disk - PICA012) 4xCD $30.00 (Out-of-stock)
Yasutoshi Yoshida's Government Alpha project started in 1992 and became one of the leading names in the third generation of Japanese noise. Few artists embody the “pure energy” noise fans speak of feeling when listening to noise better than the ferociously intense Government Alpha. This 4xCD box set collects 62 tracks from obscure cassette releases from 1992 to 1999, as well as a number of previously unreleased tracks. Packaged in a solid box with silver foil printing (similar to the Incapacitants box), with a 24-page booklet featuring liner notes by Yoshida and Tommy Carlsson, and graphic collage works by Yoshida.
Spike-s
(Pica Disk - PICA011) 7-inch $10.00
Two intense pieces of drum / guitar / electronics blow-out from Australian sound-wizard.
Polar Nights Live
(Pica Disk - PICA005) CD $14.50
The shredding guitar of bandleader Jojo Hiroshige along with the high-pitched, piercing voice of Junko instantly identify Hijokaidan. A rare appearance outside Japan at the All Ears Festival in Oslo, Norway in 2006, Polar Nights Live documents these historical (they very rarely perform anywhere as a duo) and astonishing performances. Jojo also collaborates here with guitarist Per Gisle Galåen (DEL, The Birds), unleashing thick layers of psychedelic and distorted guitar fog, which fans of Fushitsusha, Les Rallizes Denudes will appreciate. Junko also hooked up with Sten Ove Toft (Ryfylke) for a hellish meltdown of twisted electronics and the most intense voice in music.
Box Is Stupid
(Pica Disk - PICA008) 10xCD $105.00 (Out-of-stock) (Out-of-print)
Contains 90s tape releases: Stupid Is Stupid (one disc each of studio and live materials), Extreme Gospel Nights, Ad Nauseam (one disc Edition Mikawa, one disc Edition Kosakai, one disc live), D.D.D.D., The Tongue, Cosmic Incapacitants, and I, Residuum. Remastered from original master tapes. Includes 40pp book with liner notes by Jim Sauter (Borbetomagus), Otomo Yoshihide, Toshiji Mikawa (Incapacitantrs, Hijo Kaidan), and Fumio Kosakai (Incapacitants).
The Young Person's Guide To Jazkamer
(Pica Disk - PICA027) 4xCD $30.00
The final release in Jazkamer's monthly 2010 series is a 4CD Box-set. CD1: Wind On Wednesday (their first album from 1998, previously unreleased). CD2: sixteen tracks selected from various compilations released between 2000 and 2007. CD3: first-time-on-CD versions of the Turntable Surface Fireball 2 LP (Smalltown Supersound 2001), Knitter seven-inch (Tonschacht 2002), and the Jazkamer sides of split LPs with Opec and Sandbleistift (Reverse Recordings 2005 and Licht-Ung 2007, respectively). CD4: live recordings from 2002 and 2010, and rarities. Includes sixteen-page History of Jazkamer booklet and twenty-page booklet of photos.
Metal Music Machine 2
(Pica Disk - PICA026) CD $14.00
The November edition of Jazkamer's monthly series of CDs and the sequel to their 2006 album, recorded with the same line-up in the same studio, continues the group’s exploration of metal’s deep dark fjords – from ’80s German thrash to ultraslow doom and classic ’70s heavy metal. The original album was something of a surprise hit for the band, live incarnations of which swayed more in the direction of noise meltdown, but Metal Music Machine 2 is more metal than the first with absolutely no noise or electronic elements audible. As a sign of respect for the memory of Ronnie James Dio, Metal Music Machine 2 is completely instrumental.
Peanuts
(Pica Disk - PICA023) CD $14.00 (Out-of-stock)
The September edition of Jazkamer's 2010 monthly CD-series, a carefully constructed mixture of transparent sound-surfaces mixture, location recordings and percussion, can be seen as a continuation of Timex (Rune Grammofon 2000) and Pancakes (Smalltown Supersound 2002). Peanuts is not a noise record, nor is it ambient, but it might work well as very detailed background music. Cover photographs by Valeria Picerno.
Failed State of Mind
(Pica Disk - PICA024) CD $14.00
The October edition of Jazkamer's 2010 monthly CD-series is their 25th studio album. A mellow and easy-on-the-ears recording the likes of which have not been heard since Panic (Bottrop-Boy 2006). Nine tracks, a drifting tapestry of droning guitars, distant location recordings and tasteful percussion, are woven together in a seamless stream of subtlety and abstraction. Melody is hinted at, but never achieved, buried beneath layers of sound. With clarity Jazkamer shifts between different swaths and bandwidths of noise: a pinball machine, a child's electronic toy, a rasping insect, a fax, or simply the abstract whir of sonic information are all caught up in an articulate but pressured streamline. Argentinian sound-wizard Anla Courtis of Reynols contributes guitar to two tracks.
Matthew 28:17
(Pica Disk - PICA022) CD $14.00
The August edition is the first in Jazkamer's 2010 monthly CD series by the core duo of Lasse Marhaug and John Hegre. This reduction does little to lighten the sonic density; their thick haze of dopey fuzz-guitars and droning organ recalls an earlier Jazkamer album The Sound of Music ([OHM] 2002). Here Hegre and Marhaug mingle astronomy and religion, a duality and conflict of science and spirituality they express as Dionysian ecstasy via primitive psychedelic noise. Cover art by Yasutoshi Yoshida (Government Alpha).
We Want Epic Drama
(Pica Disk - PICA020) CD $14.00
The June edition of Jazkamer's 2010 monthly CD-series. Jazkamer performed as a big band from 2006 to 2008, with two drummers (Iver Sandøy and Nils Are Drønen), multiple guitarists (Lasse Marhaug, John Hegre, and Jørgen Træen), and electronics (Jean Phillipe Gross). They were often billed as the metal version of Jazkamer, but precious little metal is audible here (especially compared to their Metal Music Machine album [Smalltown Supernoise 2006]). We Want Epic Drama bears more resemblance to the Mass Projection work of Masayuki Takayanagi than any death metal bands. Two long tracks, recorded live to 24-track tape, no overdubs.
Cover By Hair Stylistics
(Pica Disk - PICA021) CD $14.00
On the July edition of Jazkamer's 2010 monthly CD-series, Iver Sandøy joins Hegre and Marhaug for some improvised noisecore. Fans of short bursts of blastbeat drumming backed by screaming vocals and heavily distorted guitar might recall Jazkamer's Art Breaker album (Smalltown Superjazzz 2008), with fifty-nine songs in mere seventeen minutes; Cover by Hair Stylistics ups the ante with 129 songs in twenty minutes. The artwork is by Japanese actor, author and composer Masaya Nakahara (Hair Stylistics, Suicidal 10CC and Violent Onsen Geisha). That's him on the front cover drawing the artwork used on the inside of the cover.
Chestnut Thornback Tar
(Pica Disk - PIC018) CD $14.00
The May edition of Jazkamer's 2010 monthly CD-series mixes harsh noise, drone, and rock, with assistance from associates Nils Are Drønen and Jean-Philippe Gross. The album begins and ends with two massive tracks, with a slew of short little sketches in between.
Monroe Doctrine
(Pica Disk - PICA016) CD $14.00
The March edition of Jazkamer's 2010 monthly CD series. Free-form funk-noise.
Self Portrait
(Pica Disk - PICA017) CD $14.00
The April edition of Jazkamer's 2010 monthly CD series. The first all-acoustic Jazkamer record.
Solitary Nail
(Pica Disk - PICA014) CD $14.00 (Out-of-stock)
The January edition of Jazkamer's 2010 monthly CD series. A trio recording of Jean-Philippe Gross, John Hegre and Lasse Marhaug. Studio live-electronics recorded to analog tape at Duper Studios in Bergen. Edited and post-produced by Gross. A dense tapestry of perfect electronic happiness. CD in digipak cover.
Musica Non Grata
(Pica Disk - PICA015) CD $14.00
The February edition of Jazkamer's 2010 monthly CD-series, Musica Non Grata is a feedback-fest. Locked inside Duper Studios in Bergen with guitars and analogue synths and an arsenal of amps, Hegre, Gross and Marhaug explore feedback timbres recorded on an analogue 24-track two-inch tape-machine. The three slow-moving tracks are long-form meditations on feedback that are bliss for a select few and hell for most. February is not an easy month.
Bats in the Attic
(Pica Disk - PICA025) CD $14.00
From the swamps came the Nords, and to a swamp of blistering warped noise they now return. Active for years as Rulla, Tommi Keränen raises hell with his solo debut full-length CD. He’s dirtied his hands as an Incapacitants and Pymathon collaborator and as a member of Testicle Hazard, Gentle Evil and Les Manures. His messy sound -- thick, out-of-control electronic chaos -- reaches a boiling point, with source material recorded at the prestigious EMS in Stockholm using vintage analogue synthesizers. TEDIUM HOUSE BEST OF 2011
Pig Magic
(Pica Disk - PICA029) 7-inch + CD $15.00
Norwegian free noise duo with guests Maja Ratkje and Lasse Marhaug.
Tapes 1990-1999
(Pica Disk) 4xCD $27.00
Almost five hours in length, the 47 tracks here were selected from Marhaug’s cassette releases in the 1990s on labels like Mother Savage Noise Productions, TWR, Slaughter Productions, Freak Animal, Xerxes, Pain Art and others; they range from cut-up voice and turntable thrashing to harsh wall-of-sound power noise and scum sounds. Packaged in a handsome custom-made solid box with a 24-page booklet of photos, cover reproductions and liner-notes by Tommy Carlsson (Abisko, Segerhuva) and Tore H. Bøe (Origami Republika, The Nordic Miracle). Limited edition of 500 copies.
LASSE MARHAUG / MAJA S.K. RATKJE
Music for Gardening
(Pica Disk - PICA009) CD $17.00
The fourth entry in Ratkje and Marhaug's "Music For…" collaborative series. After Shopping (2002), Loving (2004) and Faking (2005) comes Gardening, inspired by Ratkje's new life in the countryside. Seven tracks meant to inspire spending time on one’s hand and knees, fidgeting with dirt, taking care of plants.
Noise In My Head
(Pica Disk) hardcover book $42.00
Insightful portrait of a remarkable artist who in 1989 launched the noise / performance art / installation project Sudden Infant in connection with the Schimpfluch-Gruppe collective. One-hundred-sixty pages with photos from installations, performances and actions; drawings, paintings, poetry, manifestos; visual discography; concert posters and flyers; essays by Rudulf Eb.er, Leif Elggren, Daniel Menche, Steve Underwood, Mark Wharton, Drew Daniel, and an interview with the guest of honor himself. Edition of 300 copies. TEDIUM HOUSE BEST OF 2011
Kama
(Pica Disk) CD $25.00
A monumental 41-minute colossus recorded between summer 2006 and February 2007. The single track is mostly sourced from the French horn (not that anyone would have guessed). Layers upon layers of distorted, processed and mangled pieces of sound form a consistent stream of sonic bliss. This massive construction slowly builds to an epic climax. Tafjord is known as part of projects like SPUNK, Fe-Mail (her duo with Maja Ratkje), Agrare (Fe-Mail with dancer Lotta Melin), Trinacria (Fe-Mail with black metallers Enslaved) and collaborations with Birchville Cat Motel, Wolf Eyes, Matmos, Ikue Mori, Otomo Yoshihide, Carlos Giffoni, Zeena Parkins, Fred Frith and countless others.