Settling into Our New Space in Chinatown with Great Discs from:

Burnt Sugar! Steve Gauci/Nels Cline Qt! Drury, Melford & Krauss! Tomas Ulrich Cargo Cult! Trevor Watts & Peter Knight! Sophia Domancich/William Parker/Hamid Drake! Frederik Nordstrom! Magnus Broo! Marc Copland! Nicolas Thys with Chris Cheek!

Weasel Walter/Paul Flaherty/Greg Kelley/Forbes Graham! Kyle Bruckmann! Morton Feldman! Conlon Nancarrow! Makigami Koichi's Hikashu! Trio Sowari: Durrant/Denzler/Beins!

Historic Discs from Dizzy Reece & John Gilmore, Keith Tippett, Ted Curson, Abbey Lincoln, Roy Harper, Kevin Drumm, Mighty Baby, The Open Mind and even more!

Plus, a Sale on remaining ION label stocks!




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Downtown Music Gallery is now open for business at 13 Monroe Street! Our new store hours are:

Thurs - Saturday - 12 to 8pm
Sunday 12 - 7pm [later sometimes]

If you desire to visit at other times/days, please call or email your request to us at least a day in advance [preferably more] .

What are we doing on those other three days?
We will be concentrating on mail-order to serve more folks from around the world. We will not turn customers away, but we do need to work our way through cataloguing and listing the many CD's and records that we've acquired. There are still more displays to be set up, and reorganizing to be done; please bear with us while finish putting things in their place. SO, come visit us soon, we need your continued support!
- Bruce, MannyLunch, & the funky DMG staff: Chuck, Joe, Brett, and Mike P


PS - (For INSTORE transactions) We are CASH-ONLY business - but have decided to make these EXCEPTIONS:

Debit Cards [used with a pin #] for sales over $50
regular Credit Cards for sales over $100

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HEY!
1st Free In-Store Performance at our New Location:

MONDAY (not Sunday), March 23rd at 7pm:

HERB ROBERSTON & TIM BERNE!
Herb on trumpets & Tim on alto sax!
Two early downtown horn heroes back together after all those years!
WOW!



and JUST ADDED, our 2nd Free Instore show:

Sunday, March 29th at 7pm:

FRANK GRATKOWSKI & THOMAS HEBERER!
Frank on alto sax & clarinets and Thomas on trumpet!
Two European Horn Giants in a rare, intimate, duo setting!
WOW!

Need we say more!?! We expect the place to be packed with You ..and You ..and You!

And you thought we'd given up our old ways!


There is no such thing as 'Live Music' - the phrase is redundant: Music itself is experienced only as a performance art you are present for, and includes the sound AND the bearing witness to beings coming together as one voice, or to be in the moment with the musician.

Recordings are ONLY Postcards of Music, a step removed from the experience, and missing a vital component of what Music is.

We have the performances to remind you of this.

- Emmanuel [Kant] Lunch


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LIMITED ENGAGEMENT FOR THIS FOREMAN-ZORN THEATRICAL EVENT!

Richard Foreman is one of the most important theatre directors in the world, and has been a personal hero of John Zorn's for over 30 years. This theatre/music piece is the historic first-time collaboration for two masters of the bizarre (both MacArthur geniuses) who individually have challenged, enlightened and entertained adventurous audiences for decades.

ASTRONOME: A NIGHT AT THE OPERA is a work dominated by ecstatic groans, grunts and babbling, and explores the initiation of a group of people into a world where ambiguous behavior alone leads to freedom--perhaps under the tutelage of the necessary "false messiah." This is one of those events that can only happen downtown - culminating from a chance meeting in the street - independent of any special grants, funding, institution or administration.

Based on ASTRONOME, the intense second CD of a series featuring Mike Patton, Trevor Dunn and Joey Baron, Richard Foreman's staging of it is absolutely stunning!

Please make a special effort to see this once in a lifetime event, opening FEBRUARY 5th and RUNNING FOR ONLY TWO MONTHS through APRIL 5th at the ONOTOLOGICAL-HYSTERIC THEATRE
@ St Marks Church in the East Village, 131 East 10th St on Second Ave!


to purchase tickets, go to:


https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/633735


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This week's new recordings starts with:


SOPHIA DOMANCICH With WILLIAM PARKER/HAMID DRAKE - Washed Away: Live At The Sunside (Futura/Marge 43; France) Paris les 1er et 2 juillet 2008. Sophia Domancich on piano, William Parker on acoustic bass and Hamid Drake on drums. French pianist, Sophia Domancich has worked a number of my/our favorite musicians: Elton Dean (duo, sextet & Soft Bounds), Hatfield & The North (reunion), Paul Rogers and Paul Dunmall. This is her third trio date and no doubt it is another gem since she has everyone's favorite rhythm team to work with: William Parker and Hamid Drake!
CD $18

and back in stock..

DIZZY REECE QUINTET With JOHN GILMORE - From In To Out (Futura GER 16; France) From 1970 and featuring Dizzy Reece (trumpet), John Gilmore (tenor sax), Siegfried Kessler (piano), Patrice Caratini (contrebasse) and Art Taylor (drums). John Gilmore was Sun Ra's most constant collaborator for some forty years, as well as one of the most influential avant/jazz tenor saxists ever. His appearance as a sideman are few & far between, perhaps a dozen at the most (Art Blakey, Andrew Hill, Paul Bley, Freddie Hubbard & Pete LaRoca). Here is yet another rare Gilmore session with the equally legendary and under-recorded trumpet hero Dizzy Reece! - BLG
CD $18


Last copies found of this Super Gem!

KEITH TIPPETT GROUP With ELTON DEAN/ROBERT WYATT/MARC CHARIG/GARY BOYLE/NICK EVANS/ROY BABBINGTON/JEFF CLYNE/PHIL HOWARD/BRYAN SPRING - Dedicated To You But You Weren't Listening (Repertoire 4449; Germany) Keith Tippett's name is probably familiar to those who are fans of '70s British jazz OR bands like King Crimson, the Soft Machine and Blossom Toes (all whom benefited from Tippett's ivory mastery on some of their greatest albums).This is a legendary all-time classic of '70s Avant-British Jazz, and a long time high-priced rarity on LP! Keith's (and his Group's: Elton Dean, Marc Charig and Nick Evans) 2nd album from 1971 is augmented by Robert Wyatt, Phil Howard (both members at different times in Soft Machine) and Bryan Spring on drums, Roy Babbington and Neville Whitehead on bass, Gary Boyle on guitar, and Tony Uta on percussion - on all tracks! Brilliantly structured and arranged compositions from Tippett [3], Evans[3], Dean [1] and the [mutated by Dean and Charig] Hugh Hopper/Soft Machine title tune allowed for plenty of free expression from the indivdual players and gave birth to a personalized new-jazz style that put Tippett in a class of his own. A tour de force, this energized treasure is one of our (Bruce and Manny's) favorite Euro-jazz recordings of all time and should be owned and known by avant-music freaks around the world!!
CD $23


BURNT SUGAR / THE ARKESTRA CHAMBER - Making Love To The Dark Ages (LiveWired 1002; USA) Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber turns music inside out. Bandleader Greg Tate "plays the band" using a technique called conduction, which gets its name from the field of physics, and which was developed by jazz conductor Butch Morris. In Tate's hands, Burnt Sugar combines sounds together with a funky twist, snagging idiomatic metaphors from film editing techniques and hip hop culture. When the band plays live, they often do so with little more than a concept or melody in mind, drawing upon the moods and energy in the room, ending in a one-time composition that could not have been predicted nor repeated. Their new album, Making Love to the Dark Ages (LiveWired Music, released March 17, 2009), presents the band in its largest format, and draws on their signature group improvisation as well as tapping into studio recording techniques.
The album speaks for itself: a tasty mix of history and contemporary. A spicy blend of jazz, improv, innovation and composition. A cornucopia of sound embedded in the process of creativity: hot, sweet, and a little burnt on the edges.
CD $14



Five New Discs from our Friends Up at Cadence/North Country:

STEPHEN GAUCI QUARTET With NELS CLINE/KEN FILIANO/MIKE PRIDE - Red Feast (Cadence 1216; USA) Featuring Steve Gauci on tenor sax, Nels Cline on guitars, Ken Filiano on double bass and Mike Pride on drums. This looks like a winner, an all-star line-up with heavy hitters. Steve Gauci is one of the best tenor players in NYC right now and Nels Cline is one of hottest guitar players alive!
CD $15

ANDREW DRURY TRIO With MYRA MELFORD/BRIGGAN KRAUSS - My Fingers Will be Your Tears (Cadence 1207; USA) Featuring Andrew Drury on drums, Myra Melford on piano and Briggan Krauss on alto sax. This looks to be another strong line-up. Review next week. I can hardly wait to hear this.
Andrew Drury, as evidenced on this fine recording, is obviously a drummer with both a secure rhythmic sense and the ability to mess with metronomic time (yet still hold the flow of the music). Andrew brings together Myra Melford's directional piano and Briggan Krauss' distinctive sax approach/sound to form a power trio that fearlessly throws itself into edgy compositions and constructions. Together, these three create Jazz with directness and unexpected turns that offer powerful rewards for the listener.
CD $15

TOMAS ULRICH'S CARGO CULT With ROLF STURM/MICHAEL BISIO - If You Should Go (Cadence 1214; USA) Featuring Tomas Ulrich on cello, Rolf Sturm on guitar and Michael Bisio on acoustic bass. Cellist Tomas Ulrich is an incredible musician who can be found on more than forty discs playing with Kevin Norton, Ben Allison, Taylor Ho Bynum, Steve Cohn, Dom Duval, Mark Whitecage. Both he & under-rated but fine guitarist played together in Joe Gallant's Illuminati band. Michael Bisio is also a great bassist and can be heard on dozens of discs on CIMP, Cadence and Drimala. Review soon.
Welcome to the debut of Tomas Ulrich's Cargo Cult. This recording so impressed the folks at CIMP Records that they immediately contracted for three recordings on that label. Hard to describe this group as it comfortably draws from a broad pallet, not just from the Jazz/improvised music genre but from the so-called Classical, Pop, and Rock genres. On this live date you'll get Cargo Cult in the raw on their public debut. Cello, guitar, and bass at their dynamic best.
CD $15

PAULA OWEN & RON ENYARD - Live at Kaldis (Cadence 1191; USA) Paula Owen is simply one of the best (jazz singers?) as her prior Cadence Jazz recordings will attest. This is an interesting pairing and fans of these two distinct stylists will be intrigued by the meshing of their musical personas. This is only Paula Owen's fourth release and once again she is in the presence of Indy Jazz guru/mentor, Ron Enyard. An historical date from 1995, it features the late guitarist, Cal Collins; Ed Felson on bass completes the quartet. Fans of great Jazz singers know Paula and treasure the few recordings she has made. Any new Paula Owen release is an event to be enjoyed. This is an unexpected joy.
CD $15

JOEL PRESS & KYLE AHO - Untying the Standard (Cadence 1204; USA) Counterpoint and harmony are in nice relief on this duo recording. In the past, veteran Joel Press' recordings have garnered serious critical praise. Not one who records frequently, any release by Press is an occasion of note. Here he is joined once again by Kyle Aho's most inventive piano on a program that offers a fresh approach, primarily to standards. Stylistically there are elements from Fats Waller to Lester Young to the progressive Bop of today. The inventive sounds of this duo are a complete joy and will appeal to listeners of many jazz genres.
CD $15


JIMMY HALPERIN & DOMINIC DUVAL - Monk Dreams (NoBusiness CD 02; EEC) Featuring Jimmy Halperin on tenor sax & Dominic Duval on contrabass. This is the second disc that this fine duo has put out on Monk tunes. The other was on CIMP, so no doubt this one is great as well.
CD $17


TREVOR WATTS/PETER KNIGHT - Reunion 'Live in London' July 16, 1999 (HI 4 Head 07; EEC) Featuring Trevor watts on alto & soprano saxes and Peter Knight on violin. 'This was recorded in July 1999 in a room over a pub in Islington with an audience of some 20 souls. That sounds like a very large proportion of the gigs I went to during my years in London. At some of them the group really did outnumber the customers, many of whom usually turned out to be family or friends of the musicians anyway. From the standpoint of financial viability that's all bad, but it does mean that there is a special intimacy about your average Improv gig, a quality which is strongly in evidence here. The two men had known each other and often performed together in the late 70s and through most of the 80s, when Knight was the fiddler with Steeleye Span and Watts was nurturing Moire Music and the Drum Orchestra after stints with such influential bands as The Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Stan Tracey's Tentakles and his own elastic-sized group Amalgam. At this reunion, after a ten year gap, they decided not to rehearse or even discuss the music beforehand - to engage in pure Improv, in fact.
Despite the very different types of music each man was mainly associated with, their playing at this session is astonishingly homogenous, and their command of the entire range of their instruments' technical possibilities is impressive. There are many moments when it is very difficult to determine who is playing what - perhaps not so surprising if you remember that Adolphe Sax developed the saxophone family in order to provide marching bands with a substitute for strings.
Reunion is a single 56 minute performance but, seamless though it is, it passes through several different territories, including fairly standard Improv mutterings, abstract sonic soundscapes, caustic post-bop, episodes of beautiful, elegant, emotionally affecting melodic invention, and almost mystical passages of mesmerising rhythms, which meld echoes of minimalism with African and Asian traditions. In short, master musicians at the height of their powers.' - Barry Witherden, The Wire
CD $20


HIKASHU [MAKIGAMI KOICHI et al] - Ikirukoto (Makigami 04; Japan) Makigami's band Hikashu has been around for more than 25 years and have evolved through different personnel. Hikashu have more than a half dozen releases and each one is worthy of hearing. This version features: Makigami on vocal, theremin & cornet, Mita Freeman on guitar & sampler, Shimizu Kazuto on pianos, organ & bass clarinet, Sakaide Masami on bass and Sato Masaharu on drums & percussion with special downtown guests Ikue Mori on electronics and Okkyung Lee on cello on one track each.
Hikashu switch styles, genres and/or strategies all over the place. The first piece, "Ikirukoto" has some free moments and funky sections with some greasy organ, groovy el. bass, strange/silly vocals and unexpected twists and turns. Ikue's electronic web sets up "Digital Frankenstein" which turns into another funky groove rocker with chicken scratch guitar and 80's new wave vocals via vocoder (?). Makigami does a fine job of switching characters by changing his voice like a crazed cartoon creature. There is something completely infectious and fun with this band. It is as if they have absorbed the best bits of the new wave era: B-52's, Devo, Pere Ubu, etc. And then they mutate into some impressive improv zones. On "Elaborate" Okkyung adds her sinister cello while the rest of the band plays soft, haunting sounds around Makigami's lovely, subdued voice. The enclosed booklet includes some striking, psychedelic black & white illustrations which adds to the charm of this thoroughly enchanting release. What I dig the most about this disc is that you never know which direction it will take, only that you will be smiling as the surprises keep coming. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $20


HIGH RISE [NANJO ASAHITO/MUNEHIRO NARITA/KOJI SHIMURA] - Psychedelic Speed Freaks Live 1986 [DVD] (PSF DV 1002; Japan) "First DVD by the kings of speed garage psychedelia, High Rise! Recorded live in Osaka in 1986, around the time of their second album by the all-time classic line-up of Nanjo (bass, vocals), Narita (guitar) and Ujiie (drums). Suitably grainy and color-saturated visuals capture the group laying down their staggering brand of intense garage-psych with Narita's guitar ripping weird, devastating solo holes in the songs, and Ujiie and Nanjo laying down that exhilarating sense of reckless acceleration. Still some of the most effective rock qua rock ever recorded. Just unbelievable. Six tracks, 25 minutes." -- Alan Cummings. Stereo, 4:3, NTSC region-free DVD.
DVD $24

AI ASO - Aida (PSF 185; Japan) "Document of a live show by the most gorgeously acid folk-esque of Japan's female singer-songwriters. A piece of dazed, limpid dream-beauty, with a tremulous, wavering intensity all its own. Since recording her first demo cassette in 1997, Ai Aso has released two full studio albums. She has connections with the cream of the Tokyo psychedelic underground -- You Ishihara (of White Heaven and The Stars) produced her albums; Michio Kurihara, Wata (of Boris), and Chiyo Kamekawa (of The Stars and Yura Yura Teikoku) have played on them. Includes a guest appearance by Go Hirano on piano. Six tracks, thirty-six minutes. Booklet includes lyrics and liner-notes in English and Japanese." -- Alan Cummings
CD $20

REIKO KUDO & TORI - From Now On (PSF 184; Japan) "Document of a recent (November 2008), intimate live show by Reiko Kudo and her husband Tori (of Maher Shalal Hash Baz fame). Long two of the most original figures in the Japanese underground, Reiko sings of the subtlest of everyday epiphanies, of those instants of momentary joy, pain and delight that flash by like ghosts glimpsed from the corner of the eye. Their simplicity and mystery is entirely disarming and deeply personal. She sings from a position of unforced naturalness, where both melody and vocalization are reduced to the thinnest of transparent, gossamer layers of art draped over reality. Simply astonishing. Tori and Reiko have been pivotal figures in the Tokyo underground since the late 1970s, when they were in a organ-drone and trumpet-blat group called Noise. Over the last dozen years Reiko has released a series of five solo albums under her own name. Seven tracks, forty-seven minutes. Booklet includes lyrics in English and Japanese." -- Alan Cummings
CD $20


MAGNUS BROO QUARTET - Painbody (Moserobie 60; France) Featuring Magnus Broo on trumpet, Torbjorn Gulz on piano, Mattias Welin on bass and Jonus Holgersson on drums. Magnus Broo plays superb trumpet with Atomic, Peter Brotzmann's Chicago Tentet, Four Corners (with Ken Vandermark), Angles and Boots Brown. Each of these previous projects has been great so no doubt we are in for another treasure.
CD $17

FREDRIK NORDSTROM With BOBO STENSON/MATTIAS WELIN/JON FIELD - Blue (Moserobie 58; France) Featuring Fredrik Nordstrom on tenor sax & soprano sax, Bobo Stenson on piano, Mattias Welin on bass and Jon Field on drums.
CD $17


TRIO SOWARI [PHIL DURRANT/BURKHARD BEINS/BERTRAND DENZLER] - Shortcut (Potlatch 208; EEC) Featuring Phil Durrant on software, samples & treatments, Bertrand Denzler on tenor sax and Burkhard Beins on percussion, objects & small electrics. Mr. Durrant used to play violin with Chris Burn Ensemble, as well as electronics with John Butcher and Lunge. Mr. Denzler has worked with Hans Koch & Axel Dorner on labels like Leo Lab, Creative Sources and Ambiances Magnetiques. Mr. Beins is/was a member of Polwechsel and has worked with Keith Rowe, Andrea Neumann and Rhodri Davies. Interesting resumes all around, but what does this post-Erstwhile-like trio sound like? Good question...
Commencing with breath-like whispered sax, eerie yet subtle electronic high end electronic whirring. I find the suspense-filled blend to be most effective. Percussion is used very minimally, with slowly shifting quiet electronic sounds. The spaciousness of this music allows us to slowly observe the changes as they evolve. What's interesting is that the Ertswhile aesthetic or lower case improv has become an entire scene with dozens (hundreds?) of players now involved. The changes of texture breathes and takes its time to change so it takes some patience in order to appreciate the care and craft that went into producing this. There were a few moments when the silence sounded like a most selective pause in the continuum. This is how fresh and fascinating this disc is and why the musicians and folks who run this label should feel proud of the final results: another wonderful and mysterious gem to be savored slowly like expensive wine. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $19


WEASEL WALTER/FORBES GRAHAM/GREG KELLY/PAUL FLAHERTY - End Of The Trail (ugExplode 32; USA) Limited Edition of 100; CD-R. Featuring Paul Flaherty on tenor sax, Greg Kelley & Forbes Graham on trumpets and Weasel Walter on drums. This was recorded at The Church in Boston in September of 2008. No doubt you know New England free/music wizards Paul Flaherty and Greg Kelley from the couple dozen discs that they've done together or separately. Forbes Graham is yet another fine trumpet player from Boston area who put out a solo discs that we reviewed last year. Weasel Walter remains one of the most diverse, creative and ambitious drummers around, touring and recording with as many great free spirits as he possibly can.
Right from the opening blast, Weasel is kicking the quartet into a solid frenzy. Whoa! The energy is at full throttle, the horns screaming and wailing. Someone is literally screaming along as the quartet erupts, Weasel perhaps. His drumming is fierce and powerful and well-matched by the horns. What I dig about this is the way it develops, duos turn into trios or quartets. Both trumpet players have their own unique sound and the different combinations keep changing their approach. Bending and twisting notes, screaming, soaring and combining ideas/sounds as they evolve. This music is an exhilarating assault that only occasionally lets up. When it does the improv still sounds focused and intense. Cosmic music for troubled times. - Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
CD $14


KYLE BRUCKMANN'S WRACK - Intents & Purposes (482 Music 1050; USA) Kyle Bruckmann (oboe, English horn, suona), Tim Daisy (percussion), Anton Hatwich (bass), Jen Clare Paulson (viola) and Jason Stein (bass clarinet) 'Intents & Purposes' documents Bruckmann's first visit to the Chicago scene since leaving for the Bay Area in 2003, as well as Wrack's chamber group meets creative improvisation sound, which bridges the gap between modern classical music and Chicago's experimental jazz scene.
"As an oboist," writes Bruckmann in the liner notes, "I have little choice but to approach jazz tangentially, cautiously sidling up alongside it. Whether or not Wrack 'sounds like' jazz is immaterial; I'm only concerned that it behaves like jazz. The notation often deliberately eludes perfectibility, in an attempt to embrace the 'mistake' and circumvent the paralysis always threatening classical performance practice. The processes employed attempt to drag all the players into the action as engaged creative partners, with equitable distribution of cuing responsibilities and improvising space."
"Kyle Bruckmann's discography paints a picture of a modern day renaissance musician," wrote Dusted's Adam Strohm. For the past decade, the double-reed player/composer has embraced musical endeavors ranging from classical to electronic to experimental rock to free improvisation, performing throughout the U.S. and Europe and appearing on more than 30 recordings.
From 1996-2003, he worked in Chicago as a freelance orchestral musician while also collaborating extensively with members of the city's experimental music scene. Now based in San Francisco, Bruckmann performs regularly with orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the Bay Area while working within a vibrant international community of improvisers and sound artists.'
CD $15


MARC COPLAND With DREW GRESS/BILL STEWART - Night Whispers (Pirouet 3037; Germany) Night Whispers", part three of the much-acclaimed New York Trio Recordings, is a highlight of the subtle art of the piano trio: three sophisticated virtuosos on an exquisite flight of sizzlingly joyful musical discourse. To follow this highly-refined three-way conversation is an experience that can take your breath away.
CD $16

NICOLAS THYS With CHRIS CHEEK et al - Virgo (Pirouet 3038; Germany) Featuring Chris Cheek on tenor sax, Jon Cowherd on piano, Ryan Scott on guitar, Nicolas Thys on bass & compositions and Dan Reiser on drums. A CD full of incredibly sensuous sounds, constantly challenging the intellect. With an enthralling, mesmerizing intensity and a lot of soul, the music bundles together an immense richness of colours and impressions. Lyrical melodic magic that leaves fluorescent traces in the memory - unforgettable, iridescent, beautiful: music from Nicolas Thys.
CD $16


MORTON FELDMAN//STEFFEN SCHLEIERMACHER - The Late Piano Works Vol. 2: For Bunita Marcus (MDG 6131522; Germany) Performed by Steffen Schleiermacher (piano). "With volume two of Feldman's late piano works, the recording is devoted to one piece dedicated to the former student and close colleague Bunita Marcus. Feldman's music never is opulent but spare and sparse with few notes that sometimes are stretched over periods of silence. Pianist Steffen Schleiermacher is a specialist in modern music for piano both as a composer and performer. His MDG recordings have garnered an amazing amount of praise."
CD $18

CONLON NANCARROW//CALEFAX REED QUINTET/IVO JANSSEN - Studies For Player Piano: Mechanical Music Brought To Life By Musicians (MDG 6191548; Germany) Arranged for reed quintet and piano by Raaf Hekkema. Performed by Calefax Reed Quintet- Ivo Janssen (piano). "While Conlon Nancarrow thought that his music for player piano was unplayable by human hands he was not aware of the Calefax Reed Quintet. Calefax has recorded the gamut of music for winds from jazz to Hendrix to Bach. These arrangements were made especially for Calefax by saxophonist Raaf Hekkema."
CD $18


LUCIO CAPECE & MIKA VAINIO - Trahnie (Editions Mego 098; Austria) Editions Mego issues the first album by duo Lucio Capece and Mika Vainio. At first glance, the two seem unlikely partners. Two standard-bearers at opposing poles of extremity, both sonically and geographically. Lucio from Argentina and rooted in the traditions of jazz and improv, while Mika, hailing from Finland, sourced in early '90s electronic and industrial scenes. However, they both share an alarming attention to detail when it comes to their audio compositions, and neither are afraid of pushing boundaries of abstraction to the limit. Recorded over a 2-year period in Berlin (their common chosen home), Trahnie is as startling as it is visceral. Delicate as it is extreme. Huge blasting slabs of concrete sax geometrically oppose sonic taps of electronic sound, which bring about a fascinating sound palette. The opening "Ujellus" is both piercing and soothing; "Juurake" combines pure sweat with cold emotion; tense environmental scrapes flesh out on "Ahuyenta Temores." From the pounding machinist overdrive on "Tolmavuo" to the poignant melancholy of "Manana." It's all here. Lucio Capece: soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, preparations, mixer-sax feedback, sruti box; Mika Vainio: electronics and treatments, electric guitar, cymbal.
CD $16


KEVIN DRUMM - Imperial Distortion [2 CD set] (Hospital 134; USA) Repressed! "What does a person do when faced with a work like Imperial Distortion? There are rare moments in an artist's work where they reveal a greater truth. Kevin Drumm has already made such a statement with his last major solo work, 2002's Sheer Hellish Miasma. Where that record took noise music to a new level of near-impenetrable exactitude, Imperial Distortion is an altogether different beast. Beauty as an aesthetic can be as terrifying as horror, desire unfulfilled, romance that lingers and never goes away, no matter how disappointing. A preoccupation with death can be the only result. On this extended long-form release, Kevin Drumm comes face to face with minimal drone music and confronts the genre by providing one of its absolute pinnacles at the forefront; movement. Drone music at its most concentrated and ably performed has build and depth in its tones. Although there might be the illusion of stasis, the opposite is true. >From the opening 20-minute track 'Guillain-Barre,' the mood of the album is laid clear. The arrangements are shadowy layers of soundtrack-like tones not entirely unlike the work that Popul Vuh provided for Herzog's films. By track two, 'More Blood and Guts,' with its ominous bell tones, it becomes apparent that there is a true nothing that's associated with these sounds, other than the mood-inducing hypnosis and the feeling of drowning, yet having no ability to fight the slow pull. The middle portion of the record is 'Snow,' which was released as a limited cassette last year on Hospital Productions. This material was a teaser for the full album Imperial Distortion. The tracks have an almost ballad-esque sense of elegance, using tone and frequency as melodic portals to nowhere. The sustain in the piece suggests a weight while remaining alarmingly pleasant to the ears. The tension suggests an anxiety that never truly dies. The alarm comes from the juxtaposition of tones and mood. While the tones may sound gorgeous in their purity, the mood implies a profound sense of unease and perhaps an acceptance of the inevitability of existential dilemma. This point is most thoroughly evidenced by the albums closer, 'We All Get It In the End.' While the piece starts out with lullaby ease, a few minutes in, an equally severe dark drone eclipses the light and the night takes over. Here in the enveloped sounds, the clouds pass over the moonlight creating a spectral dark that is unforgettable in its intensity. To answer the initial question of Imperial Distortion, this is a work that commands intellectual and emotional commitment on the levels of the greatest works to come from this genre. Kevin Drumm has accomplished that rare balance to create a masterwork that no one has yet to come close to in this era. Your best bet is to surrender."
"Kevin Drumm is a versatile electronic musician who creates very intense music. With "Imperial Distortion" he presents the listener with focused undulating minimalist synth drones that rests the mind and excites the ear. A beautifully submersive, and dare I say relaxing, compositions which requires an attentive ear for all the subtleties occurring. The Hospital label has been documenting an array of electronic sounds, this one seems to pay hommage to the early minimal electronic pioneers. With the daunting photos of trash in the mud, some non-descript military procession, and presumably Kevin Drumm's bedroom (notice the Deicide poster and the analog synth...contradictions or not?), you may expect different music to be heard on this disc, but this is not a typical noise release! Well, except on disc 2, track 3, 12 mins and 40 seconds into the track, there is a short burst, to bring you back to reality, like a hypnotist snapping their fingers. For newbies, this one that may ease you deeper into his catalog. For fans of Cluster, Eno, Moebius, etc. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!" - Chuck Bettis/DMG
2 CD set for $18


MY CAT IS AN ALIEN/ENORE ZAFFIRI - Through The Magnifying Glass Of Tomorrow [CD + DVD] (Atavistic 189; USA) "Clandestine auteurs the Opalio Brothers (aka My Cat Is An Alien) have deftly sprinkled our solar system with their beautifully fragile, arcane soundscape/tracks via their own Opax label, as well as multimedia collaborations with vanguards such as Sonic Youth, Christian Marclay, Keiji Haino, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Text Of Light, Jim O'Rourke, Mats Gustafsson, Loren Mazzacane Connors, Christina Carter Of Charalambides, Jackie- O Motherfucker & Black Magic Disco --- and even have been commissioned to design a T-shirt for The Wire. Atavistic is most definitely thrilled to have the pleasure of releasing Through The Magnifying Glass Of Tomorrow, a freshly-minted collaboration with one of the pioneers of radical Italian electronic music, Enore Zaffiri. Mr. Zaffiri, composer and founder of the legendary Smet (Studio di Musica Elettronica di Torino) in 1964, is 80 years old and has been a 'reclused' artist for decades. After meeting Maurizio and Roberto, he decided to set up a collaborative project with them. Their recordings from the Western Alps of Bella Italia, Through The Magnifying Glass, a CD+DVD release running over two hours, is the haunting result from the gathering of these fellow musical cosmonauts." DVD contents: Robert Opalio's dual film "Light_Earth_Blue_Silver" (soundtrack by My Cat Is An Alien, 37 minutes, 4:3, color stereo) and Enore Zaffiri's video painting "Trasparenze" (soundtrack by Enore Zaffiri, 48 minutes, 4:3, color, stereo).
CD + DVD for $16


TED CURSON - Jubilant Power (Inner City 1017; USA) Featuring Ted Curson on trumpets& compositions, Chris Woods on alto sax, Nick Brignola on bari sax, Andy Laverne or Jim McNeely on piano, David Friesen on bass and Steve McCall or Bob Merigliano on drums. I recall seeing this sextet play at Carnegie Hall for a Newport/New York Fest and they were amazing! I also bought their album the same year (1976) and was equally knocked out. A true classic date in the Charles Mingus vein.
CD $15

ABBEY LINCOLN With ARCHIE SHEPP et al - Golden Lady (Inner City 1117; USA) Featuring Abbey Lincoln on vocals, Archie Shepp on tenor sax, Roy Burroughs on trumpet, Hilton Ruiz on piano, Jack Gregg on bass and Freddie Waits on drums. Another classic jazz gem from the 1970's!
"Throughout her impressive career, singer Abbey Lincoln has successfully matched her talents with some of the most powerful jazzmen. On this out-of-print Inner City LP, Lincoln is joined by trumpeter Roy Burroughs, pianist Hilton Ruiz, bassist Jack Gregg, drummer Freddie Waits and (most notably) tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp (on one of his better dates of the 1980s). Lincoln interprets three standards (including "Sophisticated Lady") but most impressive are her three originals, particularly "Caged Bird." Her interplay with Shepp gives proof (if it was still needed) that Abbey Lincoln has long been a major jazz singer." - Scott Yanow, AMG
CD $15




Five More Grand Reissues from the Roy Harper Catalogue:
[in stock Monday]

ROY HARPER With JIMMY PAGE et al - Lifemask (Science Friction 05; UK) Original Release Date: 1973. The follow-up to Roy Harper's career-defining song cycle Stormcock, 1973's Lifemask does an excellent job on building on some of the most successful aspects of the previous album without sounding like a mere retread. Wisely, Harper doesn't attempt to repeat the unusual four-lengthy-songs structure of Stormcock, instead favoring shorter songs and mood pieces which cohere into a satisfying whole. Jimmy Page, used sparingly and to great effect on Stormcock, plays on nearly every track here, his instantly recognizable lead guitar contrasting nicely with Harper's typically fluid acoustic work. The songs are a fiercely political lot, with an irony-dripping version of 'The Lord's Prayer' worked into a sneering catalogue of injustices and incidents of destruction being the centerpiece. Next to it, the calmer but still mighty angry 'South Africa' sounds almost gentle, and its melody is actually about the prettiest on the album.
"'Lifemask' was made at the height of the 'flower power' expression/boom. I never considered myself a part of all that. I'd been an impressionable little 'beatnik' in the early sixties and by the seventies I tended to ignore the more outrageous vagaries of fashion, even though I was a very young person with an eye for fashion. However, I think that I'd become jaded by media fashion manipulation by the seventies. I rarely wore flares. I always thought that you had to be over six feet to get away with that, and I was a vane boy. Still am. Considerably more central to my existence though, was my poetry, and how I was relating to the world with it. How I could make the world relate to me with it.
I had always regarded Tim Leary as half a charlatan, Allen Ginsberg as a quarter, and Byron as a smidgin or two. My heros were Shelley, Kerouac, Miles Davis and Keats. Latterly I see reflections of Hunter Thomson and Blake in the disturbed mirror.
In the light of these admissions, it may not be too difficult to see where the major work on Lifemask, 'The Lords Prayer' is coming from. All that would be needed perhaps would be to be given the appropriate stimuli at the appropriate time of day.
The song catalogues spontaneous interpretations of how we are inter-acting with the planet. It was never aimed at mass market and is just a poem for friends and kindred spirits. The poem was inspired by a collage of Geronimo in an eighteenth century English landscape drawing given to me by my friend, artist James Edgar, whilst I was in the mind altering substances period of my life. Jimmy Page plays throughout. Overkill on the gaffer tape, surrounded by mikes. 1975.
The rest of the album is more conventional in structure, with two songs that are still regularly featured in my live set list. As a live song Highway Blues is a different song now than the song David Bowie once tried to record. And 'South Africa' is a dream come true. A love song to calm the fears and wash away the horror and stain of apartheid.
Some of the songs comprised the soundtrack for the movie 'Made' which was on general release at the time. I co-starred with Carol White. There was a bath scene in which everyone got to see my bum. Unfortunately the film is no longer available, but I'm sure that there are some long memories out there able to recall other bum excursions." - RH
CD $19

ROY HARPER With JIMMY PAGE/KEITH MOON et al - Valentine (Science Friction 15; UK) Includes 3 bonus cuts, which were originally on the Flashes From The Archives Of Oblivion double-LP set, but were left off that CD edition
Original Release Date: 1974. Valentine, released on that day in 1974, is a collection of tracks that Roy Harper recorded during the '70s, but did not include on either Stormcock or Lifemask. The fact that this album somehow gels is testimony to just how talented Harper was at this point in his career. All Harper albums have stellar cameos, and this one is no different. Jimmy Page adds devastating lead guitar to 'Male Chauvinist Pig Blues.' In addition, David Bedford continues his streak of outstanding string arrangements on Harper albums with particularly winning versions for 'I'll See You Again' and Commune.' The instrumental 'Che' is a reminder of Harper's astounding and influential acoustic guitar technique, while 'Twelve Hours Of Sunset' rivals 'Waterloo Sunset' as one of the most beautiful songs in the English language "'Valentine' is a collection of the smaller works that were written during the 'Stormcock' - 'Lifemask' era. It is a balanced record with contributions from Jimmy Page, Keith Moon, Pete Sears and Max Middleton, with orchestral arrangements by David Bedford. The record has a pastoral feel in parts and I am still to be found singing many of the songs in my current live performances. David Bedford turned 'Twelve Hours of Sunset' into an instrumental with choir, that he arranged for the 'Proms', at the Royal Albert Hall. I never seemed to get the sleeve right. So far, I think that the original is best." - RH
CD $19

ROY HARPER - Folkjokeopus (Science Friction 09; UK) Original Release Date: 1969. "Folkjokeopus is a fresh, quirky, impromptu, folky sounding album with one outstanding and unforgettable track -- 'McGoohan's Blues.' This epic takes up most of one side of the original vinyl, and has a timeless, dreamlike feel to it. This one track makes the whole album worth while -- an amazingly under-rated, classic folk rock 'journey' song. "I have it on confirmed rumor that a record shop in Minneapolis was named after my third record, 'Folkjokeopus'. The record features the epic 'McGoohans Blues', inspired by actor Patrick McGoohan's depiction of the establishment rebel in his TV series, 'The Prisoner'. I am currently engaged with Opher Godwin in compounding the compleat Roy Harper, which at the time of writing has run to four volumes. The first of these will be released some time this century.
Also included on the record are 'Exercising Some Control' and 'Manana', two irreverent pieces of comedy, the lung busting 'She's The One', and 'One For All', dedicated to tenor saxist Albert Ayler, who I knew and loved during my time in Copenhagen. Sadly he was later found washed up on the bank of the Hudson in New York. He would have been one of the leading jazzmen of the age. Finally the record is rounded off with two pieces of mystery and the opening 'Sgt. Sunshine', on which I was ably accompanied by the beautiful Jane Scrivener." -RH
CD $19

ROY HARPER - The Green Man (Science Friction 33; UK) Roy Harper, the astounding British singer/songwriter delivers his best album since 1974's Stormcock and gets his muse back on track. Always an extraordinary guitarist, his songs are still developed out of the folk techniques of his early albums and his lyrics are still as sublimely poetic and soaring. His beautiful voice hasn't sounded so impassioned since his great trilogy of albums: Flat Baroque And Berzerk, Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith, and the aforementioned masterpiece Stormcock. For this sessions, Harper went into the studio alone and wrote, engineered, and mixed the entire collection himself. It's evident that the isolation brought his more introspective, deeply personal elements out in the songs. Yet another utterly inexhaustible album in the legacy of one of the UK's most admired songwriters.
CD $19

ROY HARPER - Death Or Glory (Science Friction 12; UK) Original Release Date: 1992 Personnel: Roy Harper (vocals, guitar); Ray Barron (bouzouki); Tony Franklin (keyboards, bass); Colm O'Sullivan (keyboards, bodhran); Michael Anthony (keyboards); Gerry Fehiley, Steve Barnard (drums); Cara Mastrey (background vocals); Nick Harper. Includes liner notes by Roy Harper.
"I used to think that Death or Glory was the motto of the Gloucester Regiment in the British Army. I have since been corrected by various ex-members of various other regiments and concerned folks, and it would appear that my memory is playing tricks with me. About which I am completely horrified. As per usual. When I was 11 years old, or thereabouts, I think.... that I heard about a private soldier by the name of Shephard who was awarded the VC for single-handedly holding off a Chinese offensive in the middle of the night with a gun and a box of hand grenades.
The fact that he was drunk at the time and was obviously out on a lone spree to cause some noise at the top of the hill when he surprised the Chinese army, and himself, made him a pretty big news item for a week or two. The sound of hostilities woke the British army, who got out of bed and joined the battle... or so I seem to remember the story went. This all occurred during the Korean War in about 1952. There was also another story to the effect that this particular soldier was promoted to sergeant and then bust back down to private again. The remaining fragment of 'memory' is that he was perhaps a member of the Gloucester Regiment. The only other fact worth bringing up at this point is that I used to drink in a pub called The Glorious Gloucesters, which is perhaps the most telling piece of memorablia.
It would seem by consensus that the motto and skull and crossbones belongs to the Queens Royal Lancers, The Tank Regiment. Or the 17th/21st Lancers. There was also some talk of a Lancashire regiment with some similar motto. Then someone handed me the 'black spot' on a folded page of the bible... Very soon after that Long John Silver appeared and I woke up quickly.
I will probably be corrected on all of this in the fullness of time, and I'll suddenly remember more... or less.. and feel some contrition... and be unable to alter it again until the site is updated again, when I remember again... in 2111.
However, I used this motto as the title to this album because it is the way that I felt at the time. I had had a relationship of ten years with a lady whom I really loved more than my own life. When I lost her in 1992, it did seem for a long time that I had lost my life along with her.
As we are all aware, this kind of thing affects some people more than others, but I hadn't got a clue as to the real depth and longevity of sorrow that I was about to experience. It didn't seem to matter what I did, or how hard I tried to forget, it was still with me every day.
It was there because of me, it was there in spite of me, it was there alongside me, it was there in the mirror, it was there in my sleep. There was nowhere for me to hide. Eventually I had to seek professional advice and eight+ years later, I am very pleased to be able to say that I have been able to do some real healing and re-thinking. Deja vu!
The record that I made at the beginning of this period is a great record; in disguise. It has been re-mastered, and is perhaps the better for it. The Fourth World has been re-mixed with better drums by Steve Barnard.
The love songs, although on the sad side, will be difficult to better. It is a different record than it used to be. The subtraction of the more self-indulgent sadder tracks has made it perhaps a friendlier record and the addition of 'The Methane Zone' has debunked it somewhat. I don't know that I wanted exactly that, but I didn't want to be down any more, or leave it hanging around on the pavement like it was still steaming." - RH CD $19

also available..

ROY HARPER - Bullinamingvase [aka One Of Those Days In England] (Science Friction 21; UK) [1977] The major event on the record, One of 'Those Days In England', is a collection of reminiscences. The legend of Excalibur in the first line. The last of the willow leaves at the top of the tree hanging on into January. 'Alfred had me made', the words written in anglo-saxon around the Alfred Jewel. More precisely 'Alfred mec heht gewyrcan' Alfred ordered me to be made. The Alfred Jewel is housed in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford (England) and I visit it regularly when I can for sustenance.
In the light of the events of his lifetime, Alfred must not only be considered as the founder of the British Navy, but more importantly as the founder of the English language. Had it not been for Alfred's victory over the Danes in the late ninth century, it would perhaps be conceivable that one fifth of the world's population would now be speaking some kind of Danish dialect
CD $19

ROY HARPER - Counter Culture [2 CD set] (Science Friction 39; UK) Spanning 35 years of song writing, this double cd collection of 25 classic songs, cherry-picked according to Roy's mood in April 2005, is intended as an introduction for anyone who's not sure where to start. An enjoyable compilation for everyone of this 'songwriter's songwriter', a folkster who's recordings have enjoyed the continuous support of the British musical hierarchy, including members of Led Zeppelin [Hats Off To Roy Harper], The Who, and Pink Floyd [Have A Cigar].
2 CD set for $22

ROY HARPER - Flat, Baroque And Beserk (Science Friction 28; UK) Original Release Date: 1970 'Flat Baroque and Berserk' was the first record of mine to go into the charts. For the first time in my recording career, proper care and attention was paid to the presentation of the song. Peter Jenner was assigned by EMI Records to produce the recording. Peter and I got on really well and he was a better overseer of my work than anyone I have been involved with before or since. I had also had a Studio upgrade. EMI Studios, Abbey Road was at that time the most advanced studio in Europe, and over the next ten years I was to record in near-perfect conditions.
Over those years, the studio buzzed with four separate Beatles, some Stones, The Pink Floyd, Cliff and the Shadows, Gracie Fields, three of four musical knights, Kate Bush, Olivier Newton-John, The Hollies, Yehudi Menuin, Stefan Grapelli, The Plastic Ono Band, Eric Clapton; you name them, they were all there. Jimmy Page and I were in there three or four times together.
It was a creative hotbed where the technical staff, headed by Ken Townsend, were second to none. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I was very pleased with my first record made in such elevated surroundings. The song that I was best known for in those days, 'I Hate the White Man,' was recorded live for this album, and still stands as a testament to my lifelong devotion to espousing equal rights for all humans. I have long since wondered about the wisdom of stating that you have more than the capacity to hate your own race for it's misdemeanors, but as a polemic it has been both an effective tool and somewhere of a place to stand. Much of the rect of the record is on a gentler level, although 'Hells Angels,' recorded with 'The Nice,' is just as raw and was very eventful.
'Another Day' is one of the best love songs I ever wrote and the overall balance of the record is very good.
CD $19

ROY HARPER - The Unknown Soldier (Science Friction 31; UK) "While duets are not commonplace on Roy Harper albums, Kate Bush accompanies Harper on the song 'You (The Game Part II)' to great effect. The song 'Short And Sweet' features Pink Floyd's David Gilmour on guitar. (The song is also found on Gilmour's first solo album). Originally released in 1980, The Unknown Soldier had Harper providing the lyrics and Gilmour the music and co-writing five of the album ten songs." Includes a 16-page booklet.
CD $19

ROY HARPER & JIMMY PAGE - Jugula (Science Friction 32; UK) "Jugula was the fifth project that Jimmy Page and I had worked on, but the first record that we made together in its entirety. It was a very enjoyable experience. I went down to Jimmy's place a few times with an eight track Teac borrowed from Pete Townsend, and we worked on it there for a while. Then he came up to Lytham, where I had helped to set up a studio with my old school friend Tony Beck, who sadly had a tragic accident and is no longer with us. Tony Franklin, later of The Firm, Nik Green, later of Whitesnake and Preston Heyman, later of Terence Trent D'Arby and Steve Broughton were the nucleus of the backing band. Nik Green also engineered the record.
We had a wonderful time. One possible reason would have been that I had just fallen in love for the fourth time in my life, and that it would be forever. Etc.
I think that the whole record is great with the exception of 'Advertisement', which is maybe on the wrong record. My taste varies from year to year as to which is my favorite track."
CD $19

ROY HARPER With CHRIS SPEDDING/BILL BRUFORD et al - HQ [aka When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease] (Science Friction 19; UK) [1975] HQ is to date my most integral 'rock' record. There are less acoustically oriented tracks on this record than on any of my other records. However this is not to say that any of the songs couldn't have been recorded playing just an acoustic guitar. The combination of Chris Spedding, Bill Bruford, Dave Cochrane and myself was a band I should have kept together, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. Dave Gilmour, John Paul Jones and Steve Broughton were the band that played together at a Hyde Park Free Concert and then recorded the backing track for 'The Game'.
CD $19

ROY HARPER With IAN ANDERSON et al - The Dream Society (Science Friction 30; UK) Personnel: Roy Harper, Ian Anderson, Rick Sanders, Steve Bernard, Noel Barrett, John Fitzgerald, Felix Howard, Misumi Kosaka, Colm O`Sullivan, Bonnie Shaljean, Jeff Ward. The limited edition first pressing includes a bonus interview CD and a 52 page booklet. Thirty years and probably about as many albums since Roy Harper`s debut, 1997`s THE DREAM SOCIETY is a thoughtful, irreverent blast of folk-rock from one of the most idiosyncratic artists of his generation. Wisely avoiding any attempt to update the basic aspects of Harper`s sound--12-string acoustic guitar, raspy voice, folk-rock arrangements with hints of jazz and blues--THE DREAM SOCIETY has all of the power and directness of `70s classics like STORMCOCK and HQ. Sarcastic lyrics like `Drugs for Everybody` and `Come the Revolution` show that age has not mellowed Harper, but the tender `I Want to Be in Love` and `These Fifty Years` view life from a decidedly more mature and reflective standpoint. Fine, substantial stuff.
CD $19

ROY HARPER With JIMMY PAGE et al - Stormcock: Deluxe Edition (Science Friction 47; UK) Deluxe edition packaged in a 20 page hard-covered booklet with new pictures, prose and poetry.
Widely considered Roy Harper`s masterpiece, 1971`s STORMCOCK downplays the mercurial quirkiness of Harper`s earlier records in favor of a mature, sophisticated, but never stuffy or boring orchestrated folk-rock song cycle. Scored by David Bedford, the four lengthy songs mix folk, rock, and jazz elements into a subtle and understated blend not at all unlike an earthier, less spiritually preoccupied Van Morrison. The centerpiece is `The Same Old Rock,` a bitter anti-religion diatribe supported by a blazing extended guitar solo by Jimmy Page. Elsewhere, the swaggering `One Man Rock and Roll Band,` Harper`s signature tune, and the tender, beautifully arranged `Me and My Woman` show the range of emotions Harper was capable of successfully conveying. Somehow, Roy Harper was never an enormous star, but he`s clearly an enormous talent.
CD + Book $22


MIGHTY BABY - A Jug of Love (Sunbeam 5026; UK) This is the first official CD release of UK psych legends Mighty Baby's second and final album. A Jug of Love sank without a trace on its original appearance in late 1971, but has gone on to become one of the best-loved recordings of its time. Produced by Mike Vernon (David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Ten Years After), it showcases their fluid, expressive musicianship and the astonishing guitar playing of Martin Stone to glorious effect. This long-awaited official release has been assembled with the band's full involvement, and comes complete with rare photographs, full liner notes and four ultra-rare and previously unreleased bonus tracks, making it an essential purchase for all fans of acid folk and psychedelia.
CD $17

THE OPEN MIND - The Open Mind (Sunbeam 5019; UK) One of the best-loved British psychedelic albums of all time, The Open Mind is a hard-rocking collection that sold in minute numbers upon its original release on Philips in 1969. The four musicians from Putney, South London would later disband in 1973 to explore more jazz-influenced sounds, but their legacy is held with their now highly-anthologized, thundering drug-anthem "Magic Potion," which did not originally appear on this record, but is now included as a bonus track. This self-titled LP has since become a highly sought-after collectible. Produced with the band's full co-operation, this package comes complete with a full-color booklet incorporating rare photographs and detailed liner notes, as well as featuring both sides of their two ultra-rare non-album 45s, making it the most comprehensive collection of their work ever assembled.
CD $17


STRANGE - Souvenir Album (Shadoks 106; Germany) Previously reissued on vinyl by Shadoks, now released on CD. Originally released in the USA, 1974/1976. The Strange were an underground art-rock band from Olympia, WA, close to the Canadian border. Tom Hackett, Robert Rensel, David Chamberlain, Rick Rackleff plus Mike Pitcher, Don Morris & Carl Dexter recorded the Souvenir Album over a period of several years, and it was finally released in a tiny pressing in 1976 on the Yantis Record label. With a touch of the West Coast sound and lots of Mothers Of Invention influences, this album is just as special as The Spoils Of War and as complex as Time and Think Dog, with Zappa-style wah-wah/flange guitar, great vocals, piano, effects, some horns, and a well-balanced mixture of heavy psych guitar tracks and twisted underground folk tunes.
CD $17

LIVERPOOL - Por Favor, Sucesso (Shadoks 107; Germany) Previously reissued on LP + 7" version, now available on CD. Liverpool is one of Shadoks' favorite bands from Brazil, and their 1969 LP, Por Favor, Sucesso (Please Success) is a flower-power art-rock album that stands out next to other Brazilian psych/Tropicalia albums of the era. Shadoks reissues their sole album, including 6 tracks from their ultra-rare 7" EP Marcelo Zona Sul, the soundtrack to a Brazilian movie from 1970. Liverpool were as good as Modulo 1000, with perhaps even better-composed songs influenced by the British Underground, with Hammond, effects, complex compositions, uplifting, soulful vocals, Allman Brothers-style wailing guitars, wah-wah -- sometimes sweet and mellow, sometimes extra-heavy psychedelic -- all with that unmistakable Brazilian touch. Perhaps one of the best albums from South America. All original tracks, 19 in total (including the 6 EP tracks).
CD $17


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Remaining ION label stocks..

Normally $13-14 each, now $11 !

SOUP [OTOMO YOSHIHIDE/BILL LASWELL/YOSHIGAKI YASUHIRO] - Soup (Ion 2022; USA) OK, fans of Painkiller, Massacre and even Last Exit - this one's for you!
Damn, I've been waiting more than two years for something this hard hitting disc involving bass-supremo Laz, this time in a power trio with Otomo [guitars and occasionally turntables] and, from Otomo's New Jazz Quintet, Yoshigaki Yasuhiro [drums]. Four long pieces: "Mushroom", "Seaweed", "Crab", and of course "Duck" [Soup].
CD $11

SOUP [OTOMO YOSHIHIDE/BILL LASWELL/YOSHIGAKI YASUHIRO] - Soup Live (Ion 2023; USA) [This is an abridged version of the 2 CD edition available only from Japan]
The power trio of Laswell [bass and effects], Otomo [guitars and effects] and, from Otomo's New Jazz Quintet, Yoshigaki Yasuhiro [acoustic and electric drums, trumpet], returns on this 2nd recording, showing that live performances [December 14 & 15, 2003] blow away their arguably fantastic studio recording!
Guests on the live performances include Akira Sakata [alto saxaphone], Yuji Katsui [violin], Naruyoshi Kikuchi [tenor saxaphone and organ].
CD $11

SHINE [SHIN E: SHIN TERAI/BUCKETHEAD/BILL LASWELL/NILS PETTER MOLVAER/BERNIE WORRELL/LILI HAYDEN/KARL BERGER/GIGI/DXT] - Light Years (Ion 2021; USA) Featuring Nil Petter Molvaer on trumpet & electronics, Buckethead on guitar, Bernie Worrell on keyboard, Lili Hayden violin, Bill Laswell on bass & production, Gigi on vocal, Karl Berger - material strings, DXT on turntables, Shin Terai - beat construction and Aman Laswell - voice. Finally, a new studio effort from our main man, bass great & producer, Bill Laswell! Aman Laswell is Bill & Gigi's young son and this disc is dedicated to him. Although this new studio effort does sound familiar, from a variety of projects that Bill has worked on over the past few years, it does sound splendid and is superbly produced. Bill's magical bass and stunning melodies are at the center of this long (64+ minutes) epic and occasionally sublime ten-piece delight. While Shin Terai and Bill create the essential rhythm/groove, everyone else adds their special spice to the tasty brew. Nils Petter Molvaer floats on top with his dreamy Jon Hassell-like electric trumpet clouds. "Solitude" is like a lullaby and features Gigi's exquisite voice in layers with some fine, sly guitar from Buckethead. On "Interwoven", Buckethead plays some righteous bluesy guitar over some Indian-like strings. I dig the way Bill's fat bass sounds both ominous and mesmerizing on "Vertical", while Gigi's voice and Bucket's guitar are bathed in swirling echoes. Best of all is Bill's fabulous production which adds a wonderful glow and depth of sound to everything. - BLG
CD $11

BUCKETHEAD BUCKETHEADLAND With BOOTSY COLLINS/BRAIN et al - Bucketheadland 2 (Ion 2019; USA) Featuring Buckethead on guitars, production & compositions, Bootsy Collins as himself, Brain on drums and Dan Monti, co-producer & co-composer. Our fave west coast guitar hero/demon/wizard returns with another fun-filled nightmare, a/k/a the Slaughter Zone. An awesome, way intense, animated journey, that is long (30 tracks in 50 minutes) and completely connected. There are few different haunted spoken word voices that set the scenes, as the demented story unfolds. Buckethead's astonishing lightning flash speed-metal guitar erupts in between the different characters which describe the rides in the Bucketheadland theme park for the mind. Buckethead's layers of guitars are actually the main characters here, as he stacks and shifts them in a wide variety of ways. There is a grand mix of heavy funk, distorted acoustic guitar, sick death-metal guitar and other brutal elements that might prove too much for the faint-hearted. Yet, at the center of this enchanting journey is the fun-loving spirit of the child in each of us that refuses to grow up.
CD $11

BUCKETHEAD - Funnel Weaver (Ion 2016; USA) Featuring Buckethead on guitars, production & compositions of over 48 short blistering tracks! Basically this is cartoon guitar hero Buckethead providing riffs, licks and loops for those who need to sample such things. Considering that most young Buckethead fans have short attention spans, this should do the trick.
CD $11

BUCKETHEAD - Population Override (Ion 2020; USA) Population Override shows off still another side of the enigmatic virtuoso Buckethead. In the past, he seemed to sway between seriously heavy metal (like Cuckoo Clocks of Hell), more contemplative works (like Electric Tears), and drum'n'bass or electronica-influenced albums (like Day of the Robot and Bermuda Triangle). Featuring Travis Dickerson on keys and Pinchface on drums (and Buckethead on guitars and basses), Population Override is as close to an instrumental early Funkadelic album as almost anyone has gotten (think "Maggot Brain). These are actually tunes, not just riffing showcases, and Buckethead plays with an astonishing sense of depth and feeling; there are very few of his trademark hyperspeed licks. "Unrestrained Growth" uses a riff close to "Cosmic Slop," and "Too Many Humans" evokes the same melancholy that Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing" does. "A Day Will Come" adds a bit more crunch to the guitar, while "Humans Vanish" is a delicate solo guitar piece, and he finishes with a pretty straight blues on "...." All in all, this is Buckethead's most consistent, enjoyable work, with great playing and almost none of the flash he has displayed on previous releases. Excellent. Sean Westergaard, AMG
CD $11

COBRA STRIKE [BUCKETHEAD] - The 13th Scroll (Ion 2009; USA) Buckethead - Call Him Torker 1313 : guitar, bass; Pinchface : drums; Brain : loops, beats; DJ Disk : loops, wedge; Bill Laswell : Invisible Hand, subliminal projections.
When avant-thrash-improv-metal-dub-core-speed-freak guitar god Buckethead signed to Californian post-New Age label Higher Octave a year or two back he was obviously aware that accusations of 'sell out' would fly. Given what a lightweight affair his Higher Octave debut Colma was, those fears were justified. As far as we can tell, Cobra Strike is the contractual obligation-avoiding project he put together to, as it were, keep it real. To be honest, it's a bit shred, a bit guitar school. But it's also a complete gas, with BH spraying his trademark light-speed uber-metal lines across sundry hip hop, thrash and dub grooves. Rhythms come courtesy of dummers Pinchface (one of Laswell's Axiom associates) and Brain (of the Limbomaniacs) and minimalist turntable-abuser DJ Disk. Laswell himself is credited with 'Invisible hand and subliminal projections', which I guess means his usual alchemical production presence. Not a record that's going to change the world, then, but any serious guitar of HM nut will need to hear it.
CD $11

COBRA STRIKE [BUCKETHEAD] - II: Y, Y + B, X + Y <- (Ion 2012; USA)
CD $11

DEATH CUBE K [BUCKETHEAD/BILL LASWELL] - Disembodied (Ion 2004; USA) The second collaborative effort between Bill Laswell and Buckethead under the name Death Cube K (the first being Dreamatorium (1994) is a superb horror film soundtrack without a movie. On the CD's insert card Buckethead is credited as playing guitar, Dr. Phibes organ and stretching rake; Xtrakd as supplying Ambient Nightmare Machete; and, Bill Laswell as playing bass. Cryptic as these credits are, they provide a good clue to the quality of the music featured on this release.Deep, rumbling atmospheres dominate the opening title track, which appropriately transports the listener to an otherworldly place, detached from any corporeality. Over the reverberating drone dances a slow-motion theme that is occasionally joined by brief ghastly rustlings and tinklings. The second track "Embalmed" travels into deeper horror territory. Eerie distorted sounds and strange, vibrating guitar effects support a slow lilting guitar theme. "Terror Tram" conjures up the most paranoid atmosphere of all. The effect is that of being onboard a nightmare tram that does not move, but through which courses a cold draft of disjointed noises. A lurking, ominous bass presence carries on it soughing, gurgling guitar chords that echo and bounce inside the metal cage of this derelict tram. Buckethead whips up a storm of treated guitar acrobatics on the next piece -- "Hanging Gallows." It is a shorter piece, which again features subtle ambient background harmonics to support the deafening wanderings of the guitar. The combination of beauty and tour-de force guitar work plays like a twisted elegy to a hanged man. The extended closing piece -- "Pre Hack" -- is a true lexicon of experimental guitar tricks. As such the track breaks with the moody, evocative qualities of the rest of the CD. However, the crazy, whimsical nature of this Buckethead playground relieves the tension, and brings the CD to a rather joyful close.
CD $11

ELIXIR [DXT/SASSAN/JEAN-PIERRE SLUYS/BILL LASWELL] - Hegalien Zone (Ion 2003; USA) DXT : drums, electronic keyboards, percussion, turntable, voice; Sassan : samples, flute, mystery; Jean-Pierre Sluys : samples; Bill Laswell (1,2,3,4) : bass; Umar Bin Hassan (3) : voice.
CD $11

...and, these Ion Laswell V.A. CDs on our 7 for 6 Sale List:

REANIMATOR [V.A.; BILL LASWELL et al] - Black Market Science (Ion 2005; USA) Conceived and compiled by Bill Laswell and Robert Soares
1/ Amrita Flux - Sacred System (Laswell) 9.35 2/ False Curl Girl - Mad Professor (Fraser) 3.32 3/ Backstage Sonic - SIMM (Bernocchi) 5.40 4/ Maduba - DXT (Showard) 9.56 5/ Science of X - HIM (Scharin) 4.20 6/ Alm Dub - Almamegretta (Almamegretta) 5.22 7/ Ion Dub - Transonic (Musso) 6.09 8/ Bathroom Elephant - SIMM (Bernocchi) 5.48 9/ It's Alright - Umoya (Umoya) 4.56 10/ Re-Dub - Ben Wa (Ben Wa) 6.36 Track 1 created at Greenpoint Studio, Brooklyn, New York from recordings in Bombay, Miami and New York Tracks 3 and 8 recorded at Verba Corrige Studio, Milan, Italy Tracks 4 and 7 recorded at Greenpoint Studio, Brooklyn, New York in the last days... Track 9 recorded at Jump Up Studio, Dusseldorf, Germany Track 10 recorded at Tyrell Studios, Emeryville, California Each track produced by it's respective writer(s), except as noted
CD $10.00 7 for 6 SALE.

TETRAGRAMATON [V.A.; BILL LASWELL et al] - Submerge (Ion 2001; USA) Conceived and constructed by Bill Laswell and Robert Soares
Bill Laswell (1,3) : beats, bass, sounds; Graham Haynes (1) : trumpet; DJ Soul Slinger & David Quinlin (2) : sounds, beats; Byard Lancaster (3) : saxophone; DJ Spooky (4) : bass, beats, scratchy record noises; Tredlite Da Spazecrafta (4) : flute.
1/ Turn the Screw - (Laswell,Haynes) 16.24 Material with Graham Haynes 2/ Carbon 12 - (Soul Slinger,Quinlin) 6.24 DJ Soul Slinger and David Quinlin 3/ Active Code - (Laswell,Lancaster) 19.42 Material with Byard Lancaster 4/ Secondary Inversion - (Miller) 7.57 DJ Spooky 5/ Ephedream (Benwa Mix) - (Full Cone) 7.30 Full Cone
CD $10.00 7 for 6 SALE.

VALIS II [V.A.; BILL LASWELL et al] - Everything Must Go [2 CD set] (Ion 2002; USA) Conceived and compiled by Bill Laswell and Robert Soares
Compiled at Greenpoint Studio, Brooklyn, New York Each track produced and played on by it's respective writer, except as noted Disc one, track 1 produced by Bill Laswell Disc one, track 7, additional production and mix translation by Bill Laswell
Disc one : 1/ 33 - (Laswell,Showard) 4.36 Bill Laswell with DXT 2/ The Angry Lone Nut - (Babu) 3.31 Babu 3/ In There - (Harris) 4.54 Scorn 4/ Cab 111 - (Showard) 4.20 DXT 5/ Black Loop - (Bernocchi) 6.44 SIMM 6/ World of Destruction (Spectre,Israel) 6.42 (Seals of Meggido Mix) Spectre meets Dr. Israel 7/ Trawl, Disappearance (Rimbaud) 4.22 (Wireless Rupture Mix) - Scanner 8/ I Wanna Be Like Ike - (Fullcone) 5.31 Fullcone 9/ Dustbuster - (McGraw) 2.25 The Shining Path 10/ L'Insifne Des Pires - (APC) 4.56 APC 11/ Sepolta - (Fullcone,Buckethead) 4.56 Fullcone with Buckethead 12/ Hip Hop Pooray 19-Poo-96 - (Ohtake,Eye) 8.56 Shinro Ohrtake/Eye
Disc two : 1/ Explicit Sound (We) 6.09 We (Olive, L Loop, Once II) 2/ Beaver Clause - (Disk) 5.14 Disk 3/ Metal Beat II - (Showard) 5.23 DXT 4/ Atoms To Suns (Laswell,Mills) 7.48 (For Russell Mills) - Bill Laswell 5/ Twirling - (HIM) 7.32 HIM 6/ The Perfect Shadow - (Bernocchi) 5.52 SIMM 7/ Advice From God On Getting a Face - (Martine) 2.25 Corporal Blossom 8/ Rockin' It - (Torture) 4.45 Torture 9/ Metatron Dub (Live) - (Praxis) 6.19 Praxis with DJ Disk and Mix Master Mike 10/ Peanut - (Fullcone) 2.43 Fullcone 11/ Phonoprophic - (Electric Soul) 5.01 Electric Soul 12/ The Letter Be... - (Buckethead) 4.07 Buckethead 13/ Ananvoice - (Junexxon S.) 2.34 Junexxon S. Disc two, track 8 reduced and jinxed by Torture and The ILL St. Disc two, track 12 produced by Steve 'Voltron' Freeman
CD $12.00 7 for 6 SALE.


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