Gone Aiwa
(Siltbreeze - SB150) LP $16.00
Together for a short period in 1983, Above Ground was a fleeting yet crucial component in early ’80s Christchurch DIY. Bill Direen (Vacuum, Bilders), Carol Direen, Maryrose Crook (Max Block, Renderers) and Stuart Page (Axemen) combined a detached Velvet Underground vibe, a smattering of early Modern Lovers keyboard angst, and some kind of Sky Saxon / Seeds psychedelic mojo. Originally a made-to-order cassette, Gone Aiwa was no stranger to the shelves at various NZ shops and tables at the occasional gig; other than two tracks ("To Kill A Bat" and "Gray Goose") that saw the light of day on The Bilders' retrospective Max Quitz CD (Flying Nun 1993), it's a near-certainty that everything here in previously unheard by little ol' you. Includes download card.
Three Virgins
(Siltbreeze - SB122-SB123) 2xLP $17.50
Setting up shop in Christchurch's State Trinity Centre over Easter holidays 1985, The Axemen went to work recording every sound and second that could be captured during the legendary lost weekend. Fueled by enhanced adrenalin (Tiger Blood) and super human zeal (Adonis DNA), The Axemen chewed up dozens of reels of tape, assaulting all those who entered the erstwhile ecclesiastical chamber with a barrage of splendiferous blabber 'n' croak. The resultant eighty-eight minutes sound like a mutant hybrid channeling of Trout Mask Replica, Exile On Main Street and Tago Mago. Includes free download card.
Scary! Part III
(Siltbreeze - SB119-SB120) 2xLP $17.50
The second of Siltbreeze's Axemen reissue series, Scary! Part III originally saw light as a cassette-only release in 1989. Unlike the hyper-punk-charged Big Cheap Motel, Scary! operates from a gestalt concept and sensibility. While on the surface the contents might sound fragmented, ruminative, or obfuscatory, dig deeper (or listen better) and you'll see (and hear) the mystifying ooze lactating out of the four sides not as individual, insurmountable constructs of bizarreness, but as a coherent pattern of brilliant phenomena. Novice ears that have made it though this Bunyanesque giant find themselves making comparisons to a mixture of S.Y.P.H., Royal Trux, and Ptose.
Big Cheap Motel
(Siltbreeze - SB115) LP $13.00
The first of Siltbreeze's Axemen reissues is the trio's difficult third album from 1983. Rarely heard outside the Southern Hemisphere, this montage of rough-and-ready live performances and Peterboro Studio recordings teeters on the precipice of chaotic genius alongside such stalwarts as Alternative TV / Hear & Now's What You See Is What You Are and 1/2 Japanese's Loud. With a reproduction of original insert and original cover design. Edition of 500.
Three Christs of Ypsilanti
(Siltbreeze - SB131) LP + 3-inch CDR $15.00
The first post-BUFMS-boxset disgorgement of ramshackle outsider clatter and howl from one of California’s many rural nowheres exposes previously hidden, 25-year-old whack-off (à la Smegma and other bent LAFMS trippers, the UK’s A Band, 5 Starcle Men, Gastric Female Reflex, Id M Theft Able, and the sort of visionaries currently promoted by labels such as Chocolate Monk, Destijl, and Ultra Eczema). The murky “Take It Out And Kill It” whirls around in conflicting directions in a manner one critic long ago described as “schizophrenic muzak.” “Dark Surprise,” a 1986 recording from the crossroads of DIY autism and darkened psychedelia, is previously unreleased (the first playback of the master tape didn’t happen until 2008). In contrast to the group’s usual embrace of any and all kitchen sinks in the immediate vicinity, this recording was made solely with electric guitars, voice and prerecorded audio frottage. Book-ending both sides are excerpts from an after-hours, no-audience, guerrilla action recorded in a multistory, split-level university student union, using hurled cafeteria cutlery, defective boomboxes and answering machines blaring prerecorded tape, the public piano, and a variety of unidentified flailing objects. “[As] secretive as a posse’ve Masons bidding in a goat auction … a weird , befuddlin storm comin’ outta the night … tryin’ to charm you into the muddy arms of the undertow.” –Roland Woodbe, Siltblog NOTE: Copies of this LP purchased here include a 3-inch CDR of previously unreleased bonus tracks.
The C&B
(Siltbreeze - SB132) 7-inch $20.00
The C&B is short for The Cat & Bells Club, a brief 1991 precursor to The Shadow Ring (whose early recordings fuse equal parts Tyrannosaurus Rex’s mystical recitations with Throbbing Gristle’s aural idolatry). The C&B seem divinely born out of the sputtering taps of brown ale that flowed freely down the gullets of various first-generation DIY shufflers, most notably 49 Americans or Door And The Window. And while this is just dumb luck, there's no denying a genus, unintentional as it may be. The templates for the ruminative, droll and original wordsmithing, not to mention the threadbare musical accompaniment, that would soon become the hallmark for The Shadow Ring sound are now available for the first time ever. Four tracks, 300 pressed. Original artwork by Graham Lambkin.
Chicken Shit
(Siltbreeze - SB133) 7-inch $7.00
This debut vinyl from Kyle and Mike (two-thirds of FNU Ronnies, with a drum machine) follows a cassette on Fan Death and a track on Skulls Without Borders 10-inch (Siltbreeze 2009). Prime Euro movers such as early Dieter Meier and Geisterfahrer come to mind as reference points, not to mention the vibe of early Amphetamine Reptile (Halo of Flies' "Insecticide Stomp," in particular). Edition of 400 copies.
Bruise Constellation
(Siltbreeze - SB140) LP $16.00
Royal Trux rocked 'n' cocked it through the '90s, and at the beginning of the 21st Century's second decade, Circle Pit saunter into the boozy sway with a debut seemingly born out of the tar and tobacco of Nellcôte / Exile on Main Street-session blooze. Their torn and frayed sound oozes raw talent possessed of uncanny sensual / sexual osmosis. It's the Summer of '72 all over again (again).
Operation of the Sonne
(Siltbreeze - SB30) LP $30.00
Suites of corrosive feedback and swaying slow-motion rhythm. Beginning with a collage of overdriven synth improvisation and pulsating sine waves, concluding with the interlocked guitars of Messrs Russell and Morley wavering feedback tendrils that float over Mr. Yeats’s rhythm network. Originally released in 1993.
Great Explorers
(Siltbreeze - SB137) LP $16.00 (Out-of-stock)
RELEASE DATE AUGUST 24th. Hailing from Cambridge, England, The Doozer shares a vocal resonance with Syd Barrett, as well as a knack for cobbling together occasional found-tape narration with string-strum and hypnotic percussive plonk not unlike The Shadow Ring. The gin doesn't come much pinker than this. Edition of 500.
Montezuma Baby Duck
(Siltbreeze - SB36) LP $12.00
Backed by Hard Black Thing on one side (Mike Rep on percussion, Stu Sinn on horn – played in the key of X, he says -- and Roger Time on lead guitar), the one-time Woodruff Ave. block captain, now mayor of a small unnamed hamlet near Savannah, Georgia, stumbles across a white-knuckled barrel ride through myriad soundscapes as diverse as Amon Duul, Kalacakra, Portsmouth Sinfonia, Steve Marcus and Door & The Window. The other side has two tracks from Esh's Jack Of Diamonds cassette and excerpts from his unreleased comedy album, comparable to the likes of Tubby Boots channeling Jack Mudurian at a volunteer fire department turkey raffle. A down’n’dirty steel string strum and coarse vocal hum reduces even the most erudite Alan Lomax sycophant to nothing more than a human tear box lost in Porch Swing, USA. Label art by Graham Lambkin.
Fabulous Diamonds II
(Siltbreeze - SB135) LP $16.00
On this continuation of the lush and mesmerizing electro / percussive landscapes explored on their self-titled debut LP (Siltbreeze 2008), Jarrod Zlatic and Nisa Venerosa spark lots of musical embers: dub, trance, house, ambient, minimalist, hints of Suicide and Terry Riley and basically everything from Silver Apples to Silver Apples of the Moon. Includes MP3 download coupon.
Pure & Disinterested
(Siltbreeze - SB149) LP $16.00
In the musty shadows of Philly, Far-Out Fangtooth mixes early Cramps swamp / garage blackout with nascent Bauhaus post-punk / quasi-goth bleakness, while giving periodic uncanny nods to the witchy, ethereal leather glam of first-generation Blue Öyster Cult. Edition of 500. Includes free download card.
Mass
(Siltbreeze - SB136) LP $16.00
Galbraith's Morse LP (Siltbreeze 1993) followed traditional avenues of rugged folk narrative tinged with psychedelic foxing, while Mass is an unchartered, one-way trip through a world of ritual. Broken guitars, percussive loops, backwards tracking, homemade glass harmonium, lullabies, bagpipe thievery and the odd bit of fighting talk are just some of the many bricks laid here, with Galbraith himself as the mortar and Amiel Balester, Michael Kohler and David Kilgour providing assistance here and there. Includes MP3 download coupon. TEDIUM HOUSE BEST 0F 2010
Look Forward to Nothing
(Siltbreeze - SB143) LP $16.00
The adroit cacophony of Kitchen’s Floor recalls the former glory of past Aussie noise / punk gnashers such as Rejex and Feedtime with such élan that one suspects Toohey’s Sheaf courses through their veins. New drummer Joe Alexander (Per Purpose) gives Kitchen’s Floor a more thunderous drive, with the results sounding not unlike a cage match between (the Australian) X and The Gordons. Includes free download card.
Midori Mushi San Connichiwa
(Siltbreeze - sb134) 7-inch $7.00
Five tracks informed by old-school Japanese genre snuffers such as Tako and Gunjogacrayon, combining the jabbering, pan-humanoid out-there-ness of the former with the zoned, riffed, mutant indifference of the latter. Tacked on to this toxic, dripping blotter of sound is an eerie cover snippet stabbing the heart of every campfire singalong and folksy hootenanny through time immemorial. Edition of 286.
Brain Damage In Oklahoma City
(Siltbreeze) CD $12.00
The second installment in the Siltbreeze / Quakebasket series of music by poet / mystic / shaman Angus MacLise. Culled from the archives of Mr. Tony Conrad, this volume (covering the years 1967-'70) highlights MacLise's unique and intricate drumming style. Cembalum, bongos, hand drum, barrel congas -- all are majestically thumped 'n' bumped for maximum orgasmic sensory satisfaction. Comprised of eight tracks, the acme of this collection is a pair of large ensemble pieces, "Dreamweapon Benefit for the Oklahoma City Police Dept. parts 1 & 2," featuring Angus (barrel conga), Hetty MacLise (tampura), the poet Jackson Mac Low (recorders and voice), Henry Flynt (song flute and voice) and Conrad (limp string). These tracks, recorded in May of 1968, are the apex of maximalist loft style psychedelic improvisation. Conrad's illuminating, occasionally hilarious liner notes set up the narrative of this volume and offer a brief glimpse into the mind-scrambling fracas that was NYC, USA, Earth, 1968. Along with more gorgeous, brain-warping Invasion-style sleeve art, included in the CD booklet is a reproduction of the poster for the Dreamweapon Benefit, confirmation in black and white that for four nights in May, 1968, Wooster Street Cinematheque was definitely one witchy place to be.
Mt. Carmel
(Siltbreeze - SB129) LP $16.00
Matthew Reed, Patrick Reed and Kevin Shubak are a straight-up blues rock power trio weened on a diet of Peter Green-era Bluesbreakers, Cream and Ten Years After. This isn't a lark between noise projects -- it's their life. Good, old-fashioned rock 'n' roll, plain and simple.
Heaps of Nothing
(Siltbreeze - SB130) CD $12.00
(Siltbreeze - SB130) LP $16.00
For this second full-length effort, Naked on the Vague eschew their tantalizingly sparse duo attack for a quartet line-up, and the results are as sensational as they are sinister. While the rickety, no-wave splat found on previous efforts had its appeal, the heft of a "proper" rhythm section has only helped Naked on the Vague delve deeper into the landscape of post-punk murk. Bleak, unrepentant, withering and droll, Heaps of Nothing is a 21st century codification of the gallows wit and mesmerizing otherworldliness of Dub Housing-era Pere Ubu, Primitive Calculators and Lemon Kittens. LP includes download card.
In the Army 1981
(Siltbreeze - SB121) LP $16.00
Corroded psych / hardcore scree enlightened by the most unhinged charters of Acid Archives and Killed by Death alumni. In the Army 1981 is its own sadistic brand of plastic surgery, heavy on the anesthetic, short of any bedside manner. Includes download card.
Stupor Hiatus
(Siltbreeze - SB113/SB114) 2xLP $17.50
The complete recorded works of the original Mike Rep and the Quotas, dating back to 1974 and moving forward into the early 1990s (essentially a reworking of the Stupor Hiatus Vol. 2 LP released by Siltbreeze in 1992 plus six additional tracks, four of which have never before been released. This double-LP includes the legendary "Rocket to Nowhere," an instrumental interpretation of the 13th Floor Elevators' "She Lives in a Time of Her Own," a cover of Roky Erickson's "Creature with the Atom Brain," a shout-out to the Strapping Fieldhands ("In the Pineys") and fifteen other immortal tracks fed by a love for B-grade horror flicks, the aforementioned 13 Floor Elevators, Velvet Undergound, Kim Fowley, The Doors and -- typical of the Grove City, Ohio, scene -- codeine, cannabis and Carling. Includes download card.
Sensacao Do Principio
(Siltbreeze - SB112) LP $13.00
Tropa Macaca's previous efforts on Ruby Red and Qbico were magnificent (though hard-to-find) efforts of blotted, aural sci-fi codifications somewhere between Anar Band and Blues Control. This two-track full-length continues their foray into post-psychedelic instrumental morphine, where Moolah's LP and Pink Floyd's "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict" function as templates for the greater good. TEDIUM HOUSE BEST OF 2009
Go Grey
(Siltbreeze - SB126) LP $12.00
The second full-length release by U.S. Girls is a fully realized excursion into a hazy alternate universe where pop vocals and muzzy scree fuse in harmony. Go Grey conjures up ambient aerosols while luminous kaleidoscopes of sound sizzle, peak, and explode. Megan Remy is a chanteuse from (perhaps) the future, guiding all who choose to sail an evocative trip through her unique aural hallucinogenic landscapes. It's a journey of lush vistas, warm currents, and complex beauties.
Vacuum
(Siltbreeze - SB110) 7-inch $8.00 (Out-of-stock)
Vacuum authored the clay tablets from which all great antipodean bands would glean substance to formulate The NZ Sound. The perfected aural symmetry of Bill Direen, Stephen Cogle, Peter Stapleton, Peter Fryer and Alan Meek fuses classic Nuggets, Roxy, Elevators and Velvets moves as a template for the unique plonk that became germane for all who sailed after. These recordings -- culled from '78 and '79 rehearsal tapes -- are available for the fist time ever. "'Kicks" would go on to become an early staple in Direen's Builders discography, but the guitar on this version is particularly and wonderfully unhinged. The beautiful serenity of Cogle's "Shade," masterfully driven by Meek's keyboard, is as crisp out of the gate as the later, more honed version of the Victor Dimisich Band. The real thunderclap of the bunch is "Accident," another take of which can be found on The Builders' Beatin Hearts LP (Flying Nun 1982), where it sounds like the Tia Maria is spiked with peyote, the band psychically disembowels "Heard Her Call My Name" and feeds the guts to Amon Düül. Edition of 300.
Sunshine of Your Love
(Siltbreeze - SB090) LP $12.00
Originally released on the cassette-only label Breakdance The Dawn, Siltbreeze 's vinyl reissue answers the question, what’s left in that studio that’s not broken? (Only their will!) On a break from their duties in Antipan, Matt and Nick plugged into the cassette deck—left channel, guitar; right channel, mic under the floor tom—and played. Apart from minor adjustment of levels, the end result as it was made is all here. XNo BBQX cite Harry Pussy and Mouthus as influences.