apollolaan recordings

Akke Phallus Duo - Terroir/Pissoir

2012-01-27T11:23:00.000-08:00

Akke Phallus Duo is the one-year-old configuration of Jon marshall (The Hunter Gracchus, Le Drapeau Noir, Singing Knives Records, Vampire Blues) and Ben Morris (Chora, Le Drapeau Noir). Since meeting in 2005, their sonic paths have crossed most notably in the octet Le Drapeau Noir. Apart from guesting in each other’s mainstay projects they had yet to play as a duo.
AP Started as a process of exchange and abandonment of authorship, they swapped recordings, the only rule being the recipient can do whatever the sound inspires in them to do. The gathering of material has taken them through many solo improvisations with broken instruments (subsequently deconstructed and reconstructed), on acousmatic poaching trips to Italy and Croatia, vocal/running/recording endurances through Peckham at night, and absurdly basking in the heat/sonic waves of an upturned US military tank in static motion…
They have since communally honed a series of recorded compositions. Terroir pissoir is their first release...the first Phase.

Terroir pissoir is released in an edition of 100 copies on pro printed and produced cdr
To order please email matt (at) texlahoma (dot) com
£6.00 UK
£7.50 Rest of world

"Great new all-improvised junk ritual and ethno-blurt from the winning duo of Jon Marshall (Hunter Gracchus/La Drapeau et al) and Ben Morris (Chora/Le Drapeau Noir et al). A little more over-loaded than any of the players’ previous outings, this has almost a Futura/Red Records ‘feel’, with the kind of odd percussive miniatures, contorted almost-jazz and convulsive vocalese that would situate it somewhere downwind of Jac Berrocal w/aspects of the more ferocious passages of Richard Youngs’ Festival or even Flower/Corsano factored in. There’s a tactile, hands-on quality to the jams that is well beyond the usual improv furniture-polishers and if the sound of swallowing your own tongue makes you a sound-poet then these guys are friggin Lettrists. A great set that mixes psych, bandstand rocking freedom and hands-on DIY ritual to maximal psychoactive effect. Edition of 100 copies."
David Keenan (Volcanic Tongue)

"These saucy guys are Jon Marshall who also stars in The Hunter Gracchus, Le Drapeau Noir, Singing Knives Records, Vampire Blues etc and Ben Morris from Chora and Le Drapeau Noir. Here the two experimentalists’ swapped recordings with each other and the remit was they could do what they like to each others recordings. Sounds like some fun could have been had! Essentially there’s some strange squealing vocals, ethnic sounding instruments, some distorted business and a whole load of clattering. A lot of clattering in fact!! It’s a cathartic listen and one which I suspect a lot of people would struggle with. But there’s plenty of people out there who love things a bit mental and freeform and those people should check out this crazy bunch of random noises instead of watching something shit on telly which is probably all you’d end up doing. Widen your periscope people and stop being so lazy!"
Phil, Norman Records

Matthew Shaw - Lanreath

2011-10-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

Available now!

"Lanreath" is a brand new full length piece by Matthew Shaw. Released in an edition of 100 copies of pro manufactured cdr in a digipak cover.
"Lanreath" was recorded this summer in the small village of Lannreath in Cornwall. The cd is Matthews audio take on Lanreath, making music and using sound from the village itself. This release follows the likes of "Metherell" on Sonic Oyster Records, and also "The Four Zoas" on Siren Wire editions. Almost 50 minutes of music, a continuing exploration and meditation by Matthew on the sounds of a single place. Most of the sounds here we're created with guitar and also using processed and unprocessed field recordings. The photos that make up the packaging we're all taken on the days of the recordings.
"Lanreath is a small village containing some beautiful old buildings, a pub and small community shop. It formed the perfect bass to disappear into sound, to meditate on the spirit of place with excursions to the nearby Duloe stone circle for inspiration (and whatever else unknown and unseen) that may have influenced of affected the sounds and recording process"

To order please email matt (at) texlahoma (dot) com
£6.00 UK
£7.50 Rest of world

Matthew Shaw "Lanreath" Excerpt by apollolaan

Review from Fluid Radio

"It could reasonably be argued that to truly distill the essence of a physical location into sound is perhaps one of the key challenges for a great musician to adopt, doubly so when the artist in question does not make use of lyrics to convey the location or evoke striking imagery, but rather instead opts to make use of a palette of experimental guitar sounds and field recordings.

This task Matthew Shaw undertakes with Lanreath, an album based on the experiences, sounds and the atmosphere he felt while visiting a small village in South East Cornwall from which the work derives its name. Though not personally acquainted with the village in question, it was very easy for this listener to listen and immediately get lost in the romantic lure of that ancient area of the British Isles.

The Dorset based Shaw opens the roughly 45 minute long piece with field recordings and these remain the focus of the remainder of the release, interspersed with long droning strings and haunting harmonies. The work is very well mixed and smaller details of the captured sounds seem to come to the fore at the most opportune moment. Indeed, something of the way in which Shaw commands the atmosphere he captures brings to mind the talented Richard Moult, though the two artists are quite far apart from each other in method and it should be noted that Shaw moves in firmly his own direction.

Lanreath then, is a work which serves both as a fitting homage to the village of that name and a fine testament to the artists’ own sensitivity and skill at making a heretofore unfamiliar village seem so very alluring."

Adam Williams for Fluid Radio

Review from David Keenan (Volcanic Tongue)

"Beautiful nocturnal drone scored for guitar, field recordings and ‘phonography’ by Matthew Shaw, a collaborator with Brian Lavelle and Andrew Paine and head of Apollolaan Recordings. The guitar is extremely delicate, no more than a distant hovering drone that gives off clouds of subtly shifting microtones that sound like the sun coming up in slow motion while field recordings of birds and spatial resonances add to the feel of night into dawn. The album was recorded in the town of Lanreath in Cornwall and is intended as an attempt to capture the area’s specific sonorities. A great occult drone working that should appeal to fans of Andrew Chalk, Coil, Darren Tate et al. "

Review from Norman records...

...according to our Phil on 20 October 2011.

We’ve had a few CD’s in lately by Matthew Shaw on labels such as Sirenwire and Sonic Oyster. Here’s one on his own label Apollolaan. Why have a label if you can’t release your own music eh? This is his ‘audio’ take on Lanreath which is a small Cornish village (population 514 in 2001) so don’t expect massive boom raves and that if you’re off there! This is a blissful sounding 47 minute drone piece which will evoke feelings of the countryside and the like as it’s got a pastoral vibe running through it... But that could be all the birds twattering on in the background which totally took me by surprise (I thought they were in the room....). It’s warm evocative drone music which is extremely well done. Having never been to Lanreath I can’t say if it would remind me of it but listening to this I’d be more than happy to pop down and mince about for a bit.

Hakobune - I discover I'm missing

2011-09-09T14:18:00.000-07:00

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Available now as a pre order is the new full length from Hakobune. This latest album by Takahiro Yorifuji is a real gem, a perfect set of slow drone classics, you will not be disappointed. Plus this one comes in a beautiful digipak designed by Brian Lavelle with photos by Matthew Shaw. Limited to 100 copies.
Hakobune "Between Equinox" by apollolaan

From Norman Records

...according to our Phil on 14 September 2011.

Ah...something a bit more soothing now. Thank fuck. Anyhoo Hakobune has had releases out on loads of cool labels like U Cover, Symbolic Interaction, Install, Hibernate, etc., so unless you've been hiding underneath an ambient drone tree then you've more than likely heard of the young Takahiro Yorifuji. Here is a limited digipack on the Apollolaan label which comes in a nice digipack with the obligatory tree on the cover (fields or flowers will also do). Musically it's pleasing...very pleasing...drifty ambient drone. It has a more sombre feel to it, so it's not a happy listen but it's got that droney warmth which is a requisite. I'm enjoying the distant sounding piano (or whatever it is) and that transforms it from being an average drone record into a decent one. 100 only in said tree-splattered digipack.

"New set of deep-field Japanese drone work from Takahiro Yorifuji aka Hakobune who uses treated instruments to the point of dissolve to generate slow-motion reveries that combine stately orchestral arcs of almost string-tone with the kind of melancholy feel for haunted landscape of Andrew Chalk. Edition of 100 copies."
David Keenan via Volcanic Tongue

Hakobune – I Discover I’m Missing
Posted On: October 17, 2011
Posted In: Apollolaan, Brendan Moore, Hakobune, Hakobune – I Discover I’m Missing, I Discover I’m Missing, Takahiro Yorifuji
Comments: No Responses

Hakobune is the moniker of musician Takahiro Yorifuji, whose work relies on heavily processed guitars and subtle electronic touches. Having more than a handful of soild releases to his credit by now, Hakobune has been established as a name to watch for fans of a certain bent of drone music. Yorifuji’s work is nuanced, meditative, explorative, and, yet, manages to be openly inviting as well. His latest work “I Discover I’m Missing” for the Apollolaan label is one of the more endearing drone albums to come out in 2011 and adds to an ever-expanding catalogue of strong releases by Yorifuji.

‘I Discover I’m missing’ opens with “Disappearing in the Purple Shades” and wastes no time in immersing the listener in dense dronescapes, both inviting and threatening. And that song title, which seems defined by a sense of mystery and absence, much as the album’s title does, seems to represent the effect Takahiro seeks to give the listener. Across all six of the disc’s compositions, the album seems to work as a larger document devoted to this single avenue of exploration: the juxtapositon of warmth and alienation. If we investigate the words ‘I Discover I’m Missing’, the title seems to suggest a slow realization that the ‘I’ in question is a ghostly apparition, somehow removed from the story it deems its own. It’s an unsettling title and idea but also seems to invite a sort of catharsis through the music that insists the listener slow down and read between the static of everyday life. Taken in this regard Takahrio’s music is almost a metaphor for itself, in other words this is drone music about drone music. While most musicians are interested in producing great combinations of guitar chords, Takahiro’s music is about those sounds that get lost between the transition from one chord to the next on a guitar. His work seems singular in its devotion to slowing things down to at once calm the listener, but also to reveal a deeper sense of mystery to the proceedings of how music is experienced. Not only that though, his work seems an invitation to do that with everyday life, to slow things down and read between the static and monotony. Drone music, particularly the kind built out of processed guitars, is often about finding those hidden avenues of the instrument; taking a single note and layering it until it becomes a symphony or processing a strum to the point that six individually played strings become one. But something about Hakobune’s work insists that this thought process, an awareness of this exploration, informs everything he does.

It’s hard to pick out individual highlights since the album really does function as a whole but “Between Equinox” does serve a nice encapsulation of the album, both in music and title. Think of the words, ‘Between Equinox’, and there’s that idea of being both present but elsewhere, however the idea of being between equinoxes is odd in that the amount of time between equinoxes is actually quite far apart. But, again, Yorifuji is drawing attention to the idea of time – particularly the lapses between moments in time. The song sounds like it is built around a distant piano melody (which it may or may not in fact be) that has this ghostly quality, almost as if we hear the reverb of the notes playing before we hear the notes themselves. Again, he’s playing with constructs of time; the echo seems to come before the source sound. None of the source sounds are clearly audible though, everything sounds as though we are hearing it filtered though a neighbouring wall or something. Again, it’s that balance between something warm and inviting yet strange and alien. It’s a balance Takahiro strikes throughout “I Discover I’m Missing”, and his ability to create such a minimal album that also has such big ideas and even bigger emotions is what makes this work so special.

Takahiro Yorifuji’s work as Hakobune continues to surprise and delight. Personally, this guy is on my short list of artists whose work I’m always interested in. There’s something about what he does that is just kind of magical. Frankly, his ability to create works that are both challenging and yet warmly accessible is nothing short of remarkable. And his ability to create works that are moving without ever relying on sentimentalism is also of note: it’s always a ‘the whole is greater the sum of its parts’ with his albums, they always slowly work away on the listener to pay off in big rewards, rather than pandering by giving away the mysteries of his work in small doses. As always with a Hakobune work “I Discover I’m Missing” is an album that demands you listen to it from start to finish, but when you walk away it’ll almost surely be the best thing you hear all day.
Brendan Moore for Fluid - Radio

Ashtray Navigations - ELECTRONICALLY RECHANNELLED BAND AND STREET CHOIR

2011-09-09T14:14:00.000-07:00

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Ashtray Navigations. One of our favourite bands here at Apollolaan, for years we have marveled at the genius that is Phil Todd, and this latest disk is pure brilliance!
It's taken a while to get this release together, all artwork is by Phil himself, pro printed artwork and pro pressed disks on cdr, on top of this there is an acetate front piece, each one done by Phil himself, making a very, very cool 3d image. It was worth the wait, here's what Ashtray Navigations have to say about it...

"we are expecting a new CDR entitled ELECTRONICALLY RECHANNELLED BAND AND STREET CHOIR from Apollolaan Recordings to arrive any day soon. This is sort of a live album, except there are tons of overdubs and half of it is from the rehearsal rather than the gig. All good rocking stuff though – want to hear us play our version of “Disco Duck” live at Dewsbury Socialist Club? You will, soon."
Ashtray Navigations "Outside Toilet Blues" by apollolaan

"Fantastic new set from Phil Todd and co, already sold out at source. This one consists of reconstructed live jams w/a ton of disorientating post-production, giving the sonics the equivalent of the cool mylar 3-D effect sleeve. The first track, a rehearsal version of a track premiered at the 2010 British Wildlife Festival, features some classic west coast snake charming lead guitar from Todd over celestial F/X but it’s the second monster three-parter that really defines the set, with a cool zoned Canterbury style keyboard bliss-out making way for a totally raging a-formal splurge of raunch rock with staggering rhythms, squelching electro beats and fast almost Cale-style electric bass runs that dissolves into itself again and again. Recommended, as is everything Phil has released recently, what a roll!"
David Keenan via Volcanic Tongue

"Vibrating with energy and manic intensity, “Electronically Rechanneled Band and Street Choir” collects together two live pieces, with added overdubs, from Astral Navigations. First up “Outside Toilet Blues”, a rehearsal for the 2010 British Wildlife Festival, is a shimmering fifteen minute piece with writhing guitar and a repetitive metallic sequence, that is hypnotic and intense. Up next is a trilogy “Machine Talk-Heads” / “At Last... The Duck” / “Machine Talk-Tails”, with the first part leading us in with a drifting haze of electronics and sweet notes that blend together beautifully. Part two (recorded at the Dewsbury Social Club), then kicks in with bass, drums and sleazy guitar, creating a throbbing beast of a track that needs plenty of volume for maximum effect, sounding like the perfect “Ladbroke Grove” band, down and dirty. Finally, part three slows thing down again, returning to the cool psychedelia of the part one, a hint of Pink Floyd and a wide grin, brilliant stuff indeed."
Terrascope

Carol Anne McGowan - Songs from the Cellar (2nd edition)

2011-02-04T00:51:00.000-08:00

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"Songs from the Cellar" was originally released last year in a hand made edition of 50 copies. Due to overwhelming demand we now bring you a second edition of 150 copies. The music on this 2nd edition is identical but the packaging is completely different. This edition contains a pro printed full colour four page cover and disk, hand assembled in a plastic wallet. The cover features a photograph by Matthew Shaw.

Carol Anne McGowan is a singer-songwriter from Co.Donegal, Ireland, "Songs from the Cellar" is her debut release.
Recorded in a 400-year-old wine cellar in the small German town of Oestrich-Winkel, on the Rhine. These recordings were made during the months of May and October 2010.

The track listing is;
1. Of Love
2. So to the Sea
3. The Handmaidens Voyage
4. Old Time Radio Song
5. Carrigeen
6. I’ll Find You Again
7. Thé Dansant
Carol Anne McGowan "Carrigeen" by apollolaan

These seven songs form a beautiful introduction to the musical and lyrical vision of Carol Anne McGowan and we hope to hear much more from her soon.
"Songs from the Cellar" is released as an edition of 50 hand printed and numbered cdrs.
Carol Anne McGowan "So to the Sea" by apollolaan

A Norman Records recommendation (4th February 2011)

...according to our Brian on 04 February 2011.

This is a special CD indeed. Carol has a beautiful smoky, rich & lilting voice that she deploys in a sensual bluesey manner. Recorded in a small German town, deep down in the depths of a 500 year old wine cellar, the intimacy & subtle detail is magnified on this seven track debut. She has that captivating burnished style of vocal like Beth Gibbons, Nina Nastasia, Hope Sandoval or Karen Dalton. Her songs are sad acoustic lullabies that will live in your head days after. I can't believe this is her debut! If she's not a star player on the folk circuit in the next couple of years I'll be genuinely surprised. The first press of this sold out in hours. Don't be a fool, billys, and sleep on this one. Pure sad-eyed magic.

Richard Youngs "Atlas of Hearts"

2010-12-19T05:33:00.001-08:00

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Today brings us the Winter Solstice and a Lunar eclipse visible from this snow covered piece of Dorset, to celebrate we bring you the debut vinyl release on apollolaan "Atlas of Hearts" by Richard Youngs.

The track listing is

Side a
Haze I 3'48"
The Glade and Clean Shade 5'41"
What Day is this Day 5'32"

side b
Heart in Open Space 6'55"
Joy Ride 5'02"
Sussex Pond 1'37"
Haze II 3'36"

"Atlas of Hearts" is released on 180g vinyl in full colour thick card sleeve. It is limited to 250 copies
The cover artwork is a painting by Matthew Shaw mirroring the recording process of the songs. The artwork design was done by Brian Lavelle.

From Uncut Magazine April 2011 Issue
Richard Youngs "Haze I" by apollolaan

David Keenan's review from Volcanic Tongue

"Massive new album from Richard Youngs, this time out on acoustic guitar, vocals and string drones. Taking a tangent from his singer-songwriter sides for Jagjaguwar, Atlas Of Hearts reflects more on the form of his earlier New Angloid Sound recording, with a complex, dizzy finger-picking style that is somewhere between Nic Jones, John Martyn and a more UK-centric Matthew Valentine. Indeed, in many ways this is Richard’s deepest pass through UK folk traditions, without ever sounding like a simple revivalist. Rather, he skews the melodies and instrumentalism to better reflect his own take on Angloid form, making beautiful expressive use of overlapping multi-tracked vocals that echo and bolster phantom melodies over tumbling acoustic guitars and even some restrained bursts of fat, almost Takayanagi-style fuzz guitar. No one has furthered British folk traditions in such a personal way as Richard and this is such a magical recording that it sits easily alongside his initial No Fans vinyl run. Beautifully presented by Apollolaan in an edition of only 250 copies with heavy 180g vinyl, insert and hard card sleeves. Highly recommended but better make it fast, this one won’t hang around for long."

Norman Records Review

Our album of the week (7th January 2011)

Based on 1 review(s).

Youngseh. I love Youngseh, me. I've been especially loving that Beyond the Valley of Ultrahits since Jagjaguwar did the world a favour and reissued it for those who missed out first time.. 'Radio Innocents', like - blinding! As far as the super broad scope of his various works go I reckon I'd describe this new one as mostly being somewhere between the near-conventional pop songwriting of that record and the experimental guitar-based folk of Sapphie but making heavy use of the multitracked vocals heard very prominently on the likes of Autumn Response. The result is completely hypnotic, beguiling and entrancing to my ears but, being very song-based, this isn't gonna be for anyone who's ever had issues with his vocal delivery which is definitely possessing of a peculiar quality, on the one hand there's definitely a sort of 'non-voice' thing to it but at the same time there are plenty of moments where to me he could almost pass for a classic folk singer, albeit an idiosyncratic one. Hopefully some of those doubters will see fit to give him another go with this one as they'll be missing out on a bit of a beauty otherwise..

Dead Wood / Matthew Shaw - Shottsford Forum

2010-12-11T09:34:00.000-08:00

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"Shottsford Forum" is the debut album by Deadwood (Adam Baker / Dirty Demos) and Matthew Shaw. These original recordings and treatments were made in Blandford Forum during the summer of 2010. "Shottsford Forum" is released in an edition of 50 hand painted and numbered copies on cdr. This will be the last hand made cdr edition in 2010

Dead Wood is the solo project of composer, improviser, and label-owner Adam Baker, born in Dunfermline, Scotland, and currently based in Wareham, Dorset. Since 2002, across a series of releases and collaborations on a number of international labels (At War With False Noise, X Died En Route Y, Striate Cortex, Dead Pilot), he has foraged through field recording, digital and analogue drone, sampling, circuit-bending and small-instrument improvisation, crossing categories in pursuit of resonant and mesmerising sounds. He also runs the Dirty Demos label, releasing limited editions of work from the international experimental underground.

Matthew Shaw is based in Dorset and has recorded for the last decade under the name Tex La Homa. Matthew creates a wide range of music both solo and with collaborators including Brian Lavelle, Andrew Paine, Michael Tanner and Mark Fry. Matthew has recorded for a variety of labels including Talitres, Acuarela, All Is Number, Sonic Oyster, Blackest Rainbow, Ikuisuus, Siren Wire Editions, Moonpalace, Grey Sparkle, Melodic and more.
Deadwood / Matthew Shaw "Loaf" by apollolaan

What on earth is going on here? Something seriously fuckin weird is what. Like the sound of distant ghouls having a conversation. This is totally bizarre sounding with ghostly sounds sweeping across, probably some kind of location/ field recordings, some wee drones here and there. Lord knows what these guys have been up to and what there're using to make the sounds. Generally things work pretty subtly on the surface but when you focus in there's all sorts of interesting stuff and garbled voices and what not. Edition of 50 copies.

Norman Records

Space Weather - The Weather's Maiden

2010-11-25T01:38:00.000-08:00

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As we approach the Solstice, and are faced with frosts and snow, a wonderful display of the bright moon and stars lighting up the night sky we give you Space Weather as your soundtrack.
"The Weather's Maiden" comes in the format of a 3"cdr with original hand painted covers on all 60 hand numbered and assembled copies.

Space Weather are;

Alistair Crosbie - electric guitar
Brian Lavelle - synthesizer
Andrew Paine - electric bass guitar

Scott McKeating has previously described the Space weather sound...
"With Space Weather’s music you can either choose to descend into the gentle flicker patterns of Lakia’s cabin or float above the nightscapes of Scotland’s glittering and smoky towns."

"Keep watching the skies...." x

Carol Anne McGowan - Songs from the Cellar

2010-11-17T01:32:00.000-08:00

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Carol Anne McGowan is a singer-songwriter from Co.Donegal, Ireland, "Songs from the Cellar" is her debut release.
Recorded in a 400-year-old wine cellar in the small German town of Oestrich-Winkel, on the Rhine. These recordings were made during the months of May and October 2010.
The track listing is;
1. Of Love
2. So to the Sea
3. The Handmaidens Voyage
4. Old Time Radio Song
5. Carrigeen
6. I’ll Find You Again
7. Thé Dansant

These seven songs form a beautiful introduction to the musical and lyrical vision of Carol Anne McGowan and we hope to hear much more from her soon.
"Songs from the Cellar" is released as an edition of 50 hand printed and numbered cdrs.
Carol Anne McGowan "Of Love" by apollolaan

United Bible Studies - The Gascoigne Observatory

2010-11-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

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To celebrate Samhain this year we are very happy to have United Bible Studies continue their Observatory series and bring us The Gascoigne Observatory.

Improvised live in Wicklow, July 2010 the students involved in this performance are

David Colohan - Banjo, Bowing
Brian Conniffe - Loops, Voice
Richard Moult - Keys
Gavin Prior - Banjo, Electronics
Michael Tanner - Bowed loops, Temple Bells, Gong
Suzanne Walsh - Voice

The album was mixed by Michael Tanner at Greenwitch, Dorset.

The Gascoigne Obseravory is released as a numbered edition of 50 copies on cdr with hand printed covers, insert and wrap around outer cover.

Originally formed as a duo with an unhealthy desire to emulate the incredible string band, UBS quickly evolved into a collective and laid the groundwork for the deserted village label and events. Since their formation in winter 2001 they have played and recorded sporadically-never settling on one recording method, never settling on one line-up.

"The Shore that Fears the Sea" album shows a love of the unadorned beauty of Shirley Collins, Anne Briggs and Vashti Bunyan as well as the work of Current 93, Coil and Sol Invictus. Sparse folk sidles up to a more melodic take on free improv and tales of loss and pagan longing abound. If they could exist anywhere, they would be playing in the green man when Sergeant Howie arrives.
Since their sun worship ritual at The Mór Festival in 2003, the students have increased their activities. The set, which included radical reworkings of of some of their quiet new folk songs has been edging towards a more Pharoah Sanders/ Emperor/ Can hybrid thanks to the new drums and horns helping them to blaze brighter in the northern skye.

Live shows throughout Ireland and Britain and most recently the USA (Including Terrastock '08) have seen them wildly improvise with up to twelve members or play straight trad as a trio. Their philosophy is that all paths are equal, all approaches relevant. Members have sometimes met on stage for the first time.
United Bible Studies - The Gascoigne Observatory (Excerpt) by cloisters

G L E A M I N G - Orgonon

2010-10-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

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Out of the ashes of DRMWPN rises G L E A M I N G. Apollolaan are very proud to make available the debut release by this amazing band. Orgonon creeps up on you before sucking you right into an Orgonic state of musical ecstasy. Released as an edition of 50 cdrs. Each copy somes with a hand painted cover with insert and wraparound cover. All artwork by Matthew Shaw

Here are the details...

Recorded live at the Empty Bottle, 052410, Chicago, IL

Ken Camden: guitar
Jim Dorling: saxophone
Mahjabeen Kareem: viola
Adam Krakow: sitar
Steve Krakow: banjo
Dan Mohr: voice, Nord Electro II
Liz Payne: zither
Dan Schneider: guitar
Charlie Universe: marimba
Adam Vida: drums
Sam Wagster: bass

http://gleaming.bandcamp.com/

Based on 1 review(s).

...according to our Phil on 14 October 2010.

Here's one of those limited Apollolaan CDR jobs in a foldy paper sleeve in their regular limited editions of 50. This one features varies famous types from Chicago including Ken Camden (Kranky) and some members of Thrill Jockey's Town & Country. Yikes! It starts off pretty mellow before a sitar appears and some mellow drums come in and before you know it you got a full on chilled cosmic jam right in your face. Given the folks on it you'd expect it to be of reasonably quality and it is. It's well psyched-out. Proper floating in space music, while you get smashed out of your face on happy pipes. Oh, there's a saxophone and it's building up a bit more, ooo now it's calmed down a bit. It's gonna build back up any minute,... yes! There it goes. It's a huge 30 minute free jam of massive psyche proportions. Decent quality though I will say.

Norman Records

Alistair Crosbie - The Sleeping Grass

2010-09-12T02:16:00.001-07:00

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Alistair Crosbie is a Scottish musician and sound artist, born in 1973 and based in Glasgow. As well as recording music both alone and with various collaborators he also runs the Lefthand Pressings label.
The Sleeping Grass is a new Piano album by Alistair Crosbie, it is released on cdr in an edition of 50 hand painted and numbered covers.

"The Mitchell Library in Glasgow has an unexpected feature; a number of small music carrells, some of which house a piano. One would think this against the principles of maintaining silence but there they are, housed down the lefthand side of a locked corridor. For the princely sum of £2.30, one can hire the use of one of these for an hour or so. "The Sleeping Grass" was recorded across three such sessions.

At a time when our libraries - and other public services - are under threat, I think it important to acknowledge that without this far-sighted, all inclusive service, not only would this album not exist but "Treenails" - which I recorded with Andrew Paine - would not exist and several other albums from my catalogue would have been incomplete and, therefore, never heard. I will take to the streets to save our libraries should it become necessary." Alistair Crosbie

The photo below was taken by Alistair and features the inside of one of the piano rooms in The Mitchell Library; some of the album was recorded on that very piano.

Alistair Crosbie "A Pilgrimage" by apollolaan

Stormhat - Kabine

2010-08-28T11:11:00.000-07:00

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Today is a good day, It's the day we get to bring you the second release on apollolaan by Stormhat. Following on from "From the Moat" earlier this year we now bring you a new full length album from Denmarks Peter Bach Nicolaisen called Kabine

Peter is a Danish visual artist and composer of sound-/noisepieces. He teaches full time at Krabbesholm College for Art, Architecture and Design and part time at the electronic department of the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus.

"Kabine" is an hour long album made up of six tracks.

The tracks are:

Paa tynd is
Fear of going down
Sound Mirrors
Hidden
Lysning
Sammenfiltret

This edition is a cdr release of 50 hand painted and numbered copies, with wrap around cover and insert.
Previous Stormhat releases have appeared on Diophantine Discs, Cohort and Austrian netlabel Bleak.

paa tynd is by apollolaan

Book of Shadows - Chichen Itza

2010-08-21T01:40:00.001-07:00

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We are very happy to welcome back Book Of Shadows to Apollolaan Recordings with their brand new album "Chichen Itza".
This album is a cdr edition of 50 hand numbered and printed copies, made up of seven tracks and is just over 76 minutes in length. Book of shadows is an experimental band in austin tx, the members who currently play are carlton crutcher (founding st37 member) sharon crutcher, aaron bennack, jonathan horne, and brett humphrey. our music is usually always improvised and is best described as moving and powerfully magical in its unique way of taking the listener to beautiful and strange otherworldly dimensions.
The details for "Chichen Itza" are

1) Partial 2 Oddity:
Sharon Crutcher vocals
Carlton Crutcher keys
Aaron Bennack guitar
Brett Humphrey guitar, electronics
Joel Crutcher guitar
Michelle Waterman bass

2) A Chaindrive Section:
Sharon Crutcher vocals
Carlton Crutcher keys
Jonathan Horne guitar, electronics
Brett Humphrey guitar, electronics
Joel Crutcher guitar
Michelle Waterman bass

3) One Sonny Disc:
Sharon Crutcher vocals
Carlton Crutcher keys
Aaron Bennack guitar
Brett Humphrey guitar, electronics
Sonny White bass
Joel Crutcher guitar

4) The Song That Played Forever:
Aaron Bennack guitar, percussion, electronics
Sharon Crutcher vocals
Carlton Crutcher keys

5) Ruta Maya:
Sharon Crutcher vocals
Carlton Crutcher keys
Aaron Bennack guitar
Brett Humphrey guitar, electronics
Joel Crutcher guitar
Michelle Waterman bass

6) B Chaindrive Section:
Sharon Crutcher vocals
Carlton Crutcher keys
Jonathan Horne guitar, electronics
Brett Humphrey guitar, electronics
Joel Crutcher guitar
Michelle Waterman bass

7) Boysenberry:
Sharon Crutcher vocals
Carlton Crutcher keys
Aaron Bennack guitar
Jonathan Horne guitar, electronics
Brett Humphrey guitar, electronics
Sonny White bass
Joel Crutcher guitar
all songs improvised by Book of Shadows except
The Song That Played Forever written by Aaon Bennack.

Book Of Shadows "Chaindrive Section" by apollolaan

Andreas Brandal - Sunken Gardens

2010-08-06T11:43:00.000-07:00

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Andreas Brandal is from Bergen, Norway. He has been making music with various bands and projects since the late 80′s. In 1994 he released his first recording as a solo artist, a cassette-single titled “Tape 1″, followed in 1995 by 2 more cassettes. In 1996 he released his first vinyl single “Better Than Casters” on his own label.

In 1997 the label Smalltown Supersound released a split vinyl single with Andreas Brandal and Bruce Russell (The Dead C / A Handful Of Dust). In 1998 Andreas and fellow musician Jarle Nordvik formed the improv duo Larmoyant. This project released one LP, participated on “Le Jazz Non – A Compilation of Norwegian Noise”, and and played several concerts.

Besides Larmoyant and his solo-work, Andreas is involved in various other bands and duo-projects, including: Monofilament (with Espen Sommer Eide), Generatör (with Continental Fruit), KRAFFT (with Janne Berset), Lupus Golem (with Hans Kristian Senneseth and Bjørn Kåre Berentsen), Drevne Bolesti (with Neven Smrznik) and Museums Of Sleep (with Cole Peters). The more harsh side of Andreas Brandal’s sounds can be found in the projects Flesh Coffin, Hour Of the Wolf and Avmakt.

In 2007 he started a small CD-R / Mp3-label together with Hans Kristian Senneseth and Jarle Nordvik, called Twilight Luggage. He is also a part of the Bosnian noise-label Zvukovina.

Andreas Brandal is also known as an active live performer, as well as playing solo he also plays various live collaborations with artists such as Masami Akita (Merzbow), Jon Hegre (Jazzkammer), Maja Ratkje (Spunk, Fe Mail), Zbigniew Karkowski and others.

"Sunken Gardens" is a cdr edition of 50 hand numbered copies. Each copy has been printed and assembled by hand by Matthew Shaw.
The track listing for Sunken Gardens is...
01. Slow Motion
02. Declining Light
03. On the Surface
04. Dead-End
05. Creeps
06. Underwater Scene
07. Theme From Sunken Gardens
Andreas Brandal "Declining Light" by apollolaan

The Driftood Manor - Found Photographs of Ancestors

2010-08-01T05:54:00.000-07:00

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Formed in 2007, The Driftwood Manor are a loose collective of Irish musicians formed around the songs of main-man, Eddie Keenan. For this release, Keenan worked with regular collaborator David Colohan (Agitated Radio Pilot, United Bible Studies) in creating the second installment of what is a planned tryptich. The first, 'Every Light Goes Out Eventually', was released on Slow Loris Records last year.
The idea of the project was to marry Irish traditional folk and Eastern influences incorporating a significant amount of minimalist guitar and bouzouki as well as synths and layered bowed instruments of all kinds throughout.
The concept of the recording was inspired by, quite literally, an old photograph of Keenan's grandparents and the idea of whether we’re constantly doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.

"Found Photographs of Ancestors" is an cdr edition of 50 hand numbered copies featuring individual artwork by Matthew Shaw.

The tracklisting of "Found Photographs of Ancestors" is

1. Found Photographs of Ancestors

2. The burden of crows

3. At Clonmacnoise

The Driftwood Manor are

Eddie Keenan: vocals, guitars, bouzouki, banjo, organ, keyboards, kaos pad.

David Colohan: bugle, Hmong tuen flute, tin whistle, low whistle, vocals.

All songs written and performed by The Driftwood Manor. Recorded by Mike O'Dowd at Lakeland Studios, Glasson, Athlone. Mastered by Steve Fanagan. Produced by The Driftwood Manor. Copyright 2010 The Driftwood Manor.

Based on 1 review(s).

...according to our Phil on 05 August 2010.

If there's one word I struggle typing it's Apollolaan. Thank christ for cutting and pasting! Here's a nice looking CD in a screen printed card inner wrapped up in a folded out poster with a picture of a house on. Delightful. I've really liked what I've heard by these guys so it's great to see a few other labels picking up on 'em. They do the whole psyche droney folk thing very well indeed. Obvious nods to Six Organs, Alex Tucker, Ali Roberts etc. in there but they have their own style which they stamp all over your ears. The vocal harmonies are excellent, you get some nice twangy acoustic guitar all doused in psyche sounding bowed droneyness. Very lovely indeed and I'm thoroughly taken by it. 50 copies only so I don't expect 'em to hang around too long!

Norman Records

Cheer - Future Overtones

2010-06-27T12:32:00.001-07:00

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Alec Cheer is a musician and artist based in Glasgow and "Future Overtones" is his new album. Alec records as a solo artist as well as with Alistair Crosbie and with the band Pyramidion, amongst other collaborations. If you like the very best in solo guitar recordings with textures, drones and ambient sounds then this is the album to take you through the summer and all future summers.
"Future Overtones" is released in an edition of 50 numbered copies on cdr. Each copy has a cover hand painted by Matthew Shaw with three different wrap around cover designs printed form paintings by Alec Cheer.
Alec would say...
"Hello, I’m Alec Cheer, I’m based in Glasgow, Scotland .
I like to make animations, videos, music, & I draw/paint a bit too.
If you’d like to contact me my email is: aleccheer [at] hotmail [dot] com "
http://mecheer.com

...according to our Ant on 01 July 2010.

Ah, some excellent summer vibes flowing from the speakers courtesy of Glasgow-based artist and musician Alec Cheer. These are solo guitar recordings that range from pure stripped back acoustic playing through to more textured soundscapes, drones and ambient guitar vibes. Lovely stuff and a great soundtrack to staring into the bright blue summer sky on a hazy summers evening, with a cold one in hand. Hand numbered edition of 50 copies in unique painted and stamped sleeve with wraparound cover.

Norman Records

Peter Delaney - Live in Amsterdam

2010-05-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

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I first heard Peter Delaney when tex la homa were invited to support him at a concert organized by Pual Northcott for his Club Anemone night. Myself and the whole audience that night were captivated by Peter's beautiful voice and exquisite heart rendering songs.

Up until now Peter has recorded and self released one album titled 'Duck Egg Blue', I can't recommend it highly enough. Many of the songs from 'Duck Egg Blue' can be found on 'Live in Amsterdam' which i am very proud to release on apollolaan.
There are eight songs on 'Live in Amsterdam' recorded at the VPRO Dwars festival in May 2009, the songs are

1. Pariah Chimes
2. My Eyes Are Blessed
3. If You Become Impossible
4. The Becalming
5. The Light I Saw
6. The Guest
7. A Maudlin Luna'ula
8. O, Great Father Ocean

This album is released in an edition of 100 numbered copies on cdr. Each cover is individually drawn by hand, inside there is an insert, the photo on it was taken in Amsterdam on Queens day 2009.
Artwork and insert photo by Matthew Shaw.

Peter Delaney photo by C Joynes

Black Tempest - proxima

2010-05-14T04:12:00.000-07:00

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Black Tempest was formed several years ago by Stephen Bradbury as a vehicle for rock/noise music based heavily around improvisations. The first Black Tempest CD "Telepathy and Mutilation" showcased these weighty extrapolations.
From this point, the music was stretched and loosened, allowing longer pieces to develop, eventually taking the form of highly processed guitar drones softened and filtered through banks of delay pedals.
A handful of live performances took these drones to the public, leavened in places with lyrics and melody.
After many years living and recording in London, a recent move to the relative peace of the Surrey countryside has had a major influence on the sound of Black Tempest. The previously hard-edged metal and guitar drone sound of the first Black Tempest CD has evolved into an organic wash of electronics and processed guitar.. Made up of three long-form tracks, Proxima is the first CD release to feature the analogue synths and sequences of this new approach.

"proxima" is made up of three parts
proxima part 1 (11.15)
proxima part 2 (25.32)
proxima part 3 (15.08)

"proxima" is an edition of 50 hand numbered cdrs with pro-printed insert, hand painted inside cover inside a wrap around cover.

photo taken by Russell Bloor

Stormhat - From The Moat

2010-04-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

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Stormhat is Peter Bach Nicolaisen.
Peter is a Danish visual artist and composer of sound-/noisepieces. He teaches full time at Krabbesholm College for Art, Architecture and Design and part time at the electronic department of the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus.

"From the Moat" is an hour long album made up of six tracks.

The tracks are:

Closing Doors
Head Radio
Taking off on fragile wings
Underfladen
Splintret stjerne
In a windy forest in smaaland

This edition is a cdr release of 50 hand painted and numbered copies, with wrap around cover and insert.
"From The Moat" is the first of two albums we have planned for Stormhat on apollolaan in 2010.
Previous Stormhat releases have appeared on Diophantine Discs, Cohort and Austrian netlabel Bleak.

Based on 1 review(s).

...according to our Ant on 13 May 2010.

This is the first opportunity I've had to listen to Danish artist Peter Bach Nicolaisen. I like what I'm hearing; strange soundscapes and really good sound design, possibly some field recordings, distant hints of melody and slightly sinister ambient. Not an easy one to describe which I find is usually a good sign that a piece of work is original. I'd recommend this for anyone looking for decent acousmatic audio. It's possibly a super lazy comparison but I think elements will appeal to followers of Machinefabriek. Ltd hand numbered edition of 50 copies.

http://www.normanrecords.com/records/116504

Susan Matthews & Clutter - Silence Alight

2010-04-20T00:52:00.000-07:00

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"Silence Alight" is a new recording by Susan Matthews & Clutter.

Susan Matthews is a UK based avant-garde experimental composer, known for her intense, ambitious, hypnotic harmonies and industrial noise creations.

Clutter works with a mixture of found sounds/field recordings and traditional instruments to produce highly textured soundscapes which drift in and out of focus. Sometimes they float beautifully near dub and dance other times they rattle your head. At all times Clutter produces works of excellence.
Clutter is the brainchild of audio/visual artist Shaun Blezard who has produced music for film, theatre, dance and art installations.

"a little info on Silence Alight:

the piece was recorded in October 2009 at the Canteen Media and Arts Centre during rehearsals for a performance Shaun and I did as part of my artist residency at the FON (Full of Noises) Festival, Barrow-In-Furness, Cumbria

The piece is based on an extended piano composition I created. Shaun then supplied field recordings and electronics.

Silence Alight was originally inspired by an unfinished song written by my son Fenn with the lyric 'King of the world strike me down, strike me down now'. Fenn had written a basic piano accompaniment to the song from which I took the opening chords as my starting point. The piece has three distinct sections, each with their own 'theme' ('King of the world' can be heard in the second section) Each section was carefully composed and subsequently 'dismantled and developed' through improvisation during performance and as a result of Shaun's imaginative and sympathetic live processing of the piano."
Susan Matthews

This release is an edition of 50 hand painted, numbered and assembled copies on cdr.

Spaceship - Out Of Time's Abyss

2010-03-14T04:10:00.000-07:00

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Spaceship were first caught in our radar with their debut album, released on Julian Cope's 'Fuck Off & Di' records. The debut album featured Stephen O'Malley, Julian Cope as well as our space traveling hero himself Spaceship Mark Williamson.

This brand new album on apollolaan is called 'Out Of Time's Abyss' and is a hand numbered cdr edition of 50 copies.
Spaceship Mark took the cover photo and created the insert artwork for this release, the inside cover paintings are by Matthew Shaw. Every copy comes with a unique original painting. The cover photo on the wrap around cover is of Kerlescan, Mark is something of an expert in this area, having lived near and extensively explored Carnac, contributing to Julian Cope's essential 'The Megalithic European'.

The music on this new album consists of three classic Spaceship tracks, and lasts for almost 50 minutes. It includes all the usual Spaceship instrumentation, Guitar, Bass, Vocals, keyboards as well as a homemade WSG synthesizer.

Spaceship describe their sound as shattered doors hanging off their hinges, the wind whistling through ill-fitting windows, water dripping onto soil from unhealthy rose bushes, damp car seats caused by leaky sunroofs, rust, the darkness of curtains, tumbledown garages, a post office first thing in the morning, collisions between insignificant pieces of space-junk, an old van.

Gish/Perry - I'm Afraid I Ate Too Much Butter As A Youth

2010-02-28T11:20:00.000-08:00

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I'm Afraid I Ate Too Much Butter As A Youth is the new album from Gish/Perry. This cdr release is an edition of 50 hand painted and numbered copies, with a wrap around cover and insert. All artwork is by Matthew Shaw.

Gish and Andrew Perry have been playing together in various bands for longer than either of them care to remember. Improvised no-input mixing board feedback, mouth slop, guitar feedback and harmonics argue in this democracy of the loudest.

Gish is a sound artist based in London, with John Peel sessions and major European festivals under his belt. His education being in electroacoustic composition, his work has been performed at the Sonic Arts Festival. In the past Gish has also played as a member of Tex La Homa, Sunshine Republic, Jack Nicholson, Miss Black America and My Hi-fi Sister. In the last year he’s released a barrage of incredible records on some of the most interesting new British labels.

Perry has come up through the UK none scene playing with Terminal Grief, Sunshine Republic, The Good Time Guys, No Context, Damo Suzuki, Makoto Kawabata, Sindre Bjerga, Nils Rostad, Dead Wood, Touch My Junk and also released many fine records on equally interesting labels. Perry plays live as much as he can, having toured the UK and Europe in 2009.

This record left our Phil feeling happy.

I know the feeling. I love butter. I stopped using butter in a bid to try and be healthy and gave up recently as butter is a million times nicer. There's no competition at all... I even tried to kid my self that olive oil spreads tasted better. So stupid...Anyway I think this is a collaboration between both artists through this long 3 track CD. The 1st track is a long drone with some weird whispering and crunching noises which slowly builds but doesn't really do more than that. The 2nd track is my favourite... it starts off an ominous sounding drone before it builds to include some weird spacey sounding electronics and extra fuzzyness. And then you get one more track. I won't go into too much detail though as that would ruin the surprise! Edition of 50 on Apollolaan Recordings in a foly sealed map thingy!

Norman Records

Astral Social Club - Metal Oblation

2010-02-12T04:17:00.001-08:00

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'Metal Oblation' is 5 tracks, just over 26 minutes of new music from Astral Social Club, released on cdr and limited to 100 hand numbered copies. Each copy comes with unique artwork.

Astral Social Club is the pseudonym of Neil Campbell.
Over the years Neil has played as part of and with The A Band, Vibracathedral Orchestra, Richard Youngs, Smell and Quim, Prick Decay, Sunroof!, Total, SWANC, Tirath Singh Nirmala, Iibiis Rooge, Spider Stacy, Stewart Keith, Phil Smith, Mel Crowley, Spencer Grady, Magnus + Noah Campbell....the list goes on. Astral Social Club have recorded for multifarious labels.

ASTRAL SOCIAL CLUB
"METAL OBLATION"
1 - medulla oblongata
2 - mental alaskans
3 - the bridge of all sorts of wobbles
4 - believers
5 - agnetha frost giant

Norman Records review...
Rating: ecstatic This record left our Phil feeling ecstatic.

"OK before you ask we have none of the metal edition which came with a piece of boiler (no shit). They came and went super quick (in about 10 minutes in fact) as we only had a handful of 'em! But we have some of the regular edition left which has sold out at source as well now as there's only 100. He's a popular lad that Neil Campbell. Here we have 5 tracks (about 30 mins) of squelched, mulched up techno made by aliens. The stuff I've heard from this fella lately is awesome... On the surface it all seems pretty samey but listening to this one through headphones you can hear the textures and fruity loop insanity in it's full HD glory. There's loads of crazy noises all over the shop over the squelchy beats which sound like loads of crazy insects or bird noises... I feel like I'm in Madagascar! It's truly unique music which doesn't really sound like anything else and that is something that should always be applauded. Jolly good!!"

Alt Vinyl Review...

"If you thought it couldn't get any more mind-curdlingly psychedelic then think again, as Neil Campbell pushes the boundaries once again with this storming set of shimmering, throbbing light-music."

Volcanic Tongue Review...

"New limited solo album from Neil Campbell aka Astral Social Club in a hand-numbered edition of 100 copies. While still focussed on the rhythmic psychedelic instants that have defined his most recent form there’s something in the primitive construction and the aggressive sonorities that recalls late-90s solo work like the Never Ending Bowed Metal Song and Boomerang Is Love. Already sold out at source."

Astral Social Club

2010-02-07T12:06:00.000-08:00

Metal Boiler Edition Sold Out.

Astral Social Club "Metal Oblation" special Metal Boiler edition cdr.

These covers are made out of an old copper boiler, this was cut into 24 pieces, flattened, stenciled, and then etched with the finished design. The design and artwork on both editions is by Wesley Burrage and Matthew Shaw. This edition is now sold out.

ASTRAL SOCIAL CLUB
"METAL OBLATION" track listing

1 - medulla oblongata
2 - mental alaskans
3 - the bridge of all sorts of wobbles
4 - believers
5 - agnetha frost giant

230 Divisadero - The Silent Watcher

2010-01-18T14:36:00.001-08:00

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"The Silent Watcher" by 230 Divisadero is a collection of six new songs (just under 35 minutes of music) from Monaco's Nick Grey and Britain's Matthew Shaw. These songs were recorded after the duo toured for the first time, improvising, experimenting and pushing sounds and song form in a live environment, using voice, guitar, melodica, harmonica, laptops, a toy robot and percussion. Up until this time Nick and Matt had recorded together in Monaco and in Poole, Dorset, as well as sending songs between Poole and Montréal, where Nick was then living. These songs were written following the self titled debut on Locust, and show an even darker side to the songwriting of 230 Divisadero.
The track "Maps We Loathe" features a guest appearance from Richard Adams (Hood, The Declining Winter) who adds a variety of sounds and textures to the finished piece.

230 Divisadero have been described as makers of stately, finely crafted atmospheric songs that stand outside the bounds of contemporary musical trends. Their releases so far "A Vision of Lost Unity" (Milk & Moon), S/T (Locust) and "The Breather Key" (apollolaan) have drawn comparisons to SunnO))), Coil, Nurse With Wound, Brian Eno, Talk Talk & New Zealand's sterling & sadly underrecognized act This Kind of Punishment.

This release is a limited hand numbered edition of 54 copies on cdr. The release comes in a Clam shell cd case, in a variety of colours, it comes with an insert, and is wrapped in a 10 year old map from the collection of Matthew Shaw.

White Pee - Wing Off A Plane

2010-01-10T03:56:00.000-08:00

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We at apollolaan recordings wish you a very happy 2010 and are happy to be starting the year with a new release by White Pee.
"Wing off a plane" is an interesting document, featuring some of the earliest "brown lsd magic" created by the band, originally available as a very limited cd available from one shop in the Bay area of San Francisco, and now available from apollolaan. The album is a single track, and just under three quarters of an hour in length.

"...ahahahahaha, the apollolaan is the definitive as well as the final version, there will be no repress"
Michael Boul

This numbered cdr edition is limited to 50 copies with hand painted sleeves. It comes with a wrap around cover and insert.

"I have been very impressed by the new WHITE PEE: www.myspace.com/whitepee CDEP ‘Mudclaude’ on the Apollolaan label: www.myspace.com/apollolaan. This San Francisco quartet’s enchanting, dark and humorous din is a delight, and the recording is a lovely yet frighteningly relentless tale of what loss has to tell. So, the perfect soundtrack for what you want to do and what you don’t! There will be a re-release of their first full length CD, ‘A Wing Off of O Plane’ also on Apollolaan, which is a long slow descent towards a brown acid hell, luckily crashing in an ocean of drink, and alive by the grace of God."
David Tibet

Rock-A-Rolla magazine review by Scott Mckeating

Plastic Crimewave

2009-11-10T07:15:00.000-08:00

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If you have been following carefully then you will already know the name Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow).
Plastic Crimewave Expanse was the very first release on apollolaan recordings, and Steve has since appeared on apollolaan as part of DRMWPN and Folk and Violence.
This latest 13 track album is Plastic Crimewave in solo song mode, and this is pure Plastic Crimewave at its very best. The album is called Fire In The Whole and comes in an edition of 100 copies on cdr. Each and every cover is individually hand painted and unique. Each copy is hand numbered and the package is completed with an insert with the cover art from the original tape from PCW's private collection.

"Recorded on a 4 track in thee bedroom (of course) of one Plastic Crimewave over a decade ago, these tracks were intended as a demo for a PCW solo album that only ever sort-of materialized. The cuts here ended up having a charm and distinct sound of their own, as PCW played all instruments and tweaked all knobs and sounds. Backwards guitars, broke-ass sitar, and even a crude human beatbox all were employed to convey these songs, which were largely transcribed from dreams or written on the creaking steel streets of Chicago, Illinois. Inspired by all from Syd, Eno, Ayers, Simon Finn, Alastair Galbraith, Daniel Johnston and the gooiest of shoegazes, this document captures a certain dystopian bliss not present in the later sanistized studio versions of these tracks with a full band--which would in fact lead to Plastic Crimewave Sound being formed. Some of these songs were not even attempted again, so what materialized was in fact a nice lil album of lo-fi snapshots of the moods of 1999..."
Steve Krakow

Steve is probably best known for the band Plastic Crimewave Sound, the Chicago spacepunk unit in operation since 2001, which has been lauded in Mojo, Wire, Julian Cope's Head Heritage, etc. PCWS delivers blasts of motor-city acid-rock, Japanese-style psychedelic scree, yet touching on cosmic krautrock and eastern folk-blues at times. Plastic Crimewave also does the Galactic Zoo Dossier mag, Secret History of Chicago Music newspaper strip and radio show, Million Tongues Festivals, and plays with DRMWPN and Moonrises.....and did we mention he is also known in some circles as Pythagoras, after being inducted into the Source family.

"Hand-numbered edition of 100 copies CD-R that bundles a bunch of demos cut solo by Steve Krakow aka Plastic Crimewave of Plastic Crimewave Sound. The sound is primitive straight-to-tape nada fidelity psych, with Krakow's vocals barely decipherable outside of tonal mumps and uh-huh yeahs. The backing ranges from fuzz guitar through pirouetting acoustic and doomy synth. The feel is a mile away from the lurid comic book psych appeal of his big band records and closer to a damaged real people/loner psych broadcast from out of nowhere. Hand-painted sleeves, every one unique."
David Keenan, Volcanic Tongue

"

With Plastic Crimewave’s Steve Krakow being something of a psychedelic curator/torch-carrier, you might well expect the Apolloaan label to have done something a little out of the ordinary for the cover. They did – all of the 100 hand painted covers are unique. Originally a very limited here-and-there ‘showcase’ tape of demos, Apolloaan have pulled this from the wiki history books into the here-and-now. Krakow keeps his vision here defiantly no-fi across the 13 tracks, there’s no room for bombast in his slumped-over but skyward seeking visions. There’s a seeming lack of concern for fidelity here that’s beyond no-fi or lo-fi, Plastic Crimewave are just nonchalant. Weird pop are the go-words here, Krakow’s guitar fuzzpop psych decorating the record with an experimental lean to the left. At times it likes Roky sitting alone in the pantry, inner space wandering/daydreaming – fuzzpop at the ready – and elsewhere there’s acid punk, fucked flamenco touches and a definite air of psychedelic coquetry. A record of great psych and pop instincts, it demands investigation. 8/10 -- Scott McKeating (10 March, 2010)"
Foxy Digitalis

Brian Lavelle - Avalonian

2009-10-17T02:38:00.000-07:00

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"avalonian" by brian Lavelle is now sold out from apollolaan.
However, as i write this there are copies available from the fine shops listed below. If you have missed out so far but you would like a copy of "Avalonian" then please contact one these...

http://www.altvinyl.com/
http://www.fusetronsound.com/
http://art-into-life.com/

Or try Brian Lavelle through Brian's Website

Brian Lavelle
Avalonian

1. The Red and the White (19:17)
2. Star Temple of Avalon (26:19)

"Avalonian" is an incredible work, following and adding to a tradition on this subject by artists, musicians, writers and great minds over many years. "Avalonian" was created by Brian Lavelle incorporating Guitar, bass, synthesizer, electronics and field recordings. It was recorded mainly in Edinburgh, Summer 2009; and completed in Avalon, September 2009. Seeking out the Occult Knowledge and mysteries of Avalon over 45 minutes of unmissable, essential music.

"Recorded over the summer months of this year, and completed (in Avalon) in September, it comprises two ...long tracks which I hope capture the feel of that astonishing, inspiring place: its atmospheres; its idiosyncrasies; its mysteries. The pieces represent places I feel are important on the Isle for a number of reasons, but more on that anon perhaps… The album is a little different in focus from what’s gone before; but I hope those who hear it will enjoy something contained therein."

Brian Lavelle

This cdr – limited to only 60 numbered copies – comes packaged in a white digipak, with handprinted front and back covers, and with an insert.

Brian Lavelle is a Scottish soundscaper, born in Glasgow in 1972 but now living in Edinburgh. He has been recording, in one incarnation or another, since the early 1990s.
From 2000 to 2003, Brian curated the net label techNOH, which orchestrated more than 35 releases by electronic composers from all over the world.

Brian Lavelle & Richard Youngs recorded a number of albums together called the Radios series: a ten album set of releases focussed on a particular set of sound sources, processes and the notion of chiasmus. Radios 9 will hopefully see the light of day before too much longer.

Brian has also recorded for a number of years with fellow Glaswegian Alistair Crosbie as Inversion. Very little of that material saw the light of day, other than a few cassette releases, but the two are slowly recording again, this time under own their names, and an album "Disused" was released by Alistair on his Lefthand Pressings imprint. A retrospective of earlier work should be released at some point on Diophantine Solutions.

Recent solo releases by Brian include Ustrina CDR on (Afe Records), Supernaturalist CD on (EE Tapes) and The Petrified Forest 3" CDR (taâlem). Brian also runs the incredible record label Dust, Unsettled.

Additionally, Brian Lavelle is one third of a wonderful, improvising space/kraut/psych trio known as Space Weather, with Alistair and Andrew Paine. Their debut album was released in June 2009.

Scott McKeating "Rock-a-Rolla"

The Zero Map

2009-10-06T14:38:00.000-07:00

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The Zero Map "Found on the Streets" is our latest release, It comes in an edition of 50 individually hand painted and numbered copies on cdr, with front cover collage artwork by The Zero Map made up of items found in the Streets......

"In mathematics every object has a group of symmetries associated with it. For example a cube has 24 fold symmetry, you can place it 24 different ways where it looks the same (one of six sides facing up, and one of it's four edges facing out). And inside each group of symmetries there will be sub-groups of symmetries that you can map it to. For example the cube has the symmetry of the square inside it, you keep one face on the table and you just rotate it to one of the four sides facing forward. Different symmetry groups have different sub-groups, but every symmetry group has at least two maps that you can perform on it. The first is "Identity", whereby you keep the object exactly as it was. The second is "The Zero Map", whereby you map every point to zero and destroy all symmetry and relations.

This is what "The Zero Map" are about, reducing everything to zero, removing all relations, all symmetry and all predesigned comprehensions. In musical terms this means recycling, taking a noise jam and reprocessing it so that it is a coloured backdrop to something else, reusing a guitar riff from an abandoned metal project and playing it acoustically, sampling our own songs, layering casio keyboard sounds to imitate analogue synthesizers, singing children's song through endless delay, and pressing record when your flat mate is doing the hovering. We attempt to use these captured snap shots of our life, these strange effects intentional and unintentional, as a way to channel some inner spirit, our desires and emotions, our fears and anxieties. Not in some concise poetic vent, but in a sprawling cacophony of joy and fear, peace and disgust, the eternal and the instantaneous. Like Jackson Pollock or Mark Rothko the accidental sits alongside the meticulously planned in such a way as the two are indistinguishable and only the final product can be viewed.

The Zero Map are the duo of Chloe Wallace and Karl Waugh, we live in Brighton".

The Zero Map: Found On The Streets

Tracklisting:

1: Accordingly
2: Bee's Queen
3: Candle Waits
4: Data Protection Agreement
5: Each Other Wise

Still Light "Lything"

2009-09-28T06:33:00.000-07:00

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Still Light is a musical collaboration between Edinburgh based Singer/Songwriter Lucy Hague, London based artist Sand Snowman, and Kirill Nikolai.

The tracklisting for "Lything" is:
1. Through The Grain - 6.12
2. A Remedy - 5.48
3. Footprints In The Garden - 4.58
4. August - 10.47
5. Hour Of The Wolf - 2.49
6. Tenebre - 7.11

This cdr release is an edition of 50 copies, all with individually hand drawn and numbered inside covers, it comes with a wrap around front cover and insert.

"STILL LIGHT are Kirill Nikolai, Lucy Hague and Sand Snowman.
Most of the music (predominantly acoustic!) was recorded in Kirill's closet/bedroom/living room in Boulder, CO, Lucy Hague's pad in Edinburgh, Scotland and Sand's home studio in London. It could probably be called psychedelic folk or freak folk, and – according to Kiril – it is influenced by all kind of different sounds, 60's and 70's folk/psych/prog/singer-songwriters, drone/ambient, jazz, classic rock, and some more contemporary music. The male/female vocal arrangements for example are very reminiscent of British folk-jazz band THE PENTANGLE. A beautiful, very dreamy, often rather dark exquisite ambiance is dominant and makes for a pleasurable listening experience."
Mike Floyd homemade lofi psych

"Still Light is an eclectic trio joining Edinburgh based Singer/Songwriter Lucy Hague, London based artist Sand Snowman, and Kirill Nikolai. My original search led me to Kirill Nikolai, who I was surprised to see Irish born painter Francis Bacon sighted as an influence. Also among the top friends listed I find Nick Drake. Upon seeing this I am immediately drawn to the conclusion that Still Light will be golden, and they are. Among the two songs found on their fairly new Myspace page, “Tenebre”, from the 2009 release “Lything” is part Iron And Wine’s “Our Endless Numbered Days” with a dash of imagery formed from the tale of Into The Wild’s Chris McCandless and strangely enough a touch of U2’s “Joshua Tree”. The open plain, the winding road, the desolation. I hear and feel so many ranges of influence. There is Pink Floyd, there is J. Tilman of Fleet Floxes, and to compare Lucy Hague’s vocals to that of Amy Lee, I will do just that. “Tenebre”, with is vaguely Southern use of what appears to be a banjo only leads me to speculate that the trio comes together with a broad background to form this truly new, original, and unique sound. With it’s subtle and overall non-intrusive instrumentation, “Tenebre” stands out and allows for Still Light to shine as vocalist’s as well as seasoned musicians. Music for elevation, not the elevator."
Brad Tilbe adequacy.net

"Its October 1st and ominous skies are already rolling in. Appropriately, so are new tracks from Still Light, a UK/US band that crafts exceedingly dreamy acoustic psych crafted for dark mornings where getting out from under the covers is the last thing one wants to think of. Blurring the line between ambient folk, celestial drone and a land where Delia Derbyshire is still recording the world, Lything, the groups latest release on Apollolaan Recordings (limited to 50!), is a wondrous departure from reality. It drifts by like clouds bound for some other town, but not without leaving an impression. Sort of like this. Recorded by Lucy Hague, Sand Snowman and Kirill Nikolai, Lything is best suited for low impact home life, which makes sense as the record was cut in "Kirill's closet/bedroom/living room in Boulder, CO, Lucy Hague's pad in Edinburgh, Scotland and Sand's home studio in London." Blanket vibes for sure. Take a look at the gorgeous hand made art here. For those of you still lamenting the lose of summer, this should help ease the pain."
McG chocolatebobka

Book Of Shadows

2009-08-27T08:03:00.000-07:00

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Our latest release on apollolaan is "Metrognomes" by Book of Shadows.

Book of Shadows began in 1999 when ST 37 founder Carlton Crutcher and his wife Sharon began making magickal, experimental recordings. Since then Book of Shadows has played live and recorded constantly with numerous Austin Texas musicians. Book of Shadows has released over a dozen cd's, the lineup on the Metrognomes release is Sharon on vocals, Carlton on synth and Jason Zenmoth on guitar and electronics. Book of Shadows aims to combine the best aspects of experimental, psychedelic and pagan music, enjoy!
This 5 track cdr has a playing time of just under an hour and twenty minutes of Pure brilliance by this Austin Texas band.
Each copy comes with individually hand drawn artwork, in a numbered edition of just 50 copies.

Photo by Sandy Carson

"If you've heard the band before, then you know what to expect -- lots of minimalist drone created by keyboards, electronics, guitars, and Sharon Crutcher's otherworldly vocalizing (an interstellar drone instrument in its own right). This five-track release features a stripped-down version of the band, with just the core of Carlton Crutcher (keyboards), Sharon Crutcher (vocals), and Jason Zenmoth (guitar, electronics) providing the unparalleled flow of sound. The sound, while hardly a radical departure from the band's previous output, is nevertheless a bit less layered and ephemeral than before, especially on the title track... but the sound is still plenty, plenty psychedelic and deeply rooted in a spiritual mysticism. This is meditative music, a cloud of sound made for drifting and dreaming, and as such the sound ebbs and flows in its intensity without ever becoming overbearing. There's also a lot of heavy guitar action on this album, especially on the title track, where it's swaddled in acres of reverb and provides a nice counterpoint to the free-flowing river of drone. The drone is heavier and filled with warbling keyboards in "Twoedit Gnos," where the ethereal vocals ride over a wave-like ocean of shimmering drone, along with violin-like sounds that show up later in the piece. "Ong Ones" is one of the more obviously experimental pieces, with the drone in the background as strange noises generated by guitar and keyboards, then processed through efx gadgets, rattle and reverberate in the foreground. (A barking dog also shows up about eleven minutes into the somnolent drone-o-thon, although whether that's by design or accident is hard to tell.) The sound of "Ifev Gons" is thicker but more mellow, with rippling keyboard lines swallowed by a tremelo-happy drone and more mysterious noises floating in and out of the mix. The final track, "Gnrooufs," is built around a tinny-sounding piano track accompanied by a high-pitched drone and more of Sharon's ethereal drone vocals; it's less extraterrestrial than the rest of the album, but every bit as strange and psychedelic. This release continues their tradition of putting out fine, enigmatic drone epics that combine the sound of experimental music with the shamanistic feel of pagan traditions. The bad news is that this album -- issued in a limited run of fifty copies, each with its own unique hand-drawn artwork -- is already sold out. Maybe you'll get lucky and find it available for download on one of the psych / drone blogs...."
theonetruedeadangel.blogspot.com

" A decent conclusion of this section of reviews is three very limited releases by Book of Shadows, the productive combo of improvisers well known to those who carefully follow the Terrascope reviews. The music is mostly drone-ish, with guitars and keyboards building beautiful fields of ghostly and gothic sounds over which voices freely floats, drifting in various directions, soft or intense, sometimes as a part of the drone, sometimes up in front.. The tunes are all long and hypnotic and they put you into moods of stillness. With careless listening you might think it’s a bit monotone, but as with all vital monotony there are loads of details. This band has huge experiences of performing their music live and it’s mostly all improvised with very few exceptions. For me their music is like a good painting; when you first knock it up on the wall you look at it very distinct every time you pass, but after a while it will become more of a part of the whole wall, as well as the room environment, than just a painting. Book of Shadows’ music work in the same way for me. When playing it first it’s a bit obvious and notable, than it more and more becomes a part of the room, like an aural painting and when it ends you realize something’s missing and you have to put it on again."
Terrascope

The A Band

2009-07-08T06:19:00.000-07:00

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Apollolaan recordings are very proud to present this 2xcdr release from the band sometimes known as A Band, or The A Band or on this release Andrew Lloyd Webber & An Ole Crab.
This release is limited to 100 hand numbered copies.

David Keenan has this to say about the release on the Volcanic Tongue website:
"Major archival unearthing from one of the key transitional free music groupings to come out of the UK underground. The A Band were an amorphous collective of pranksters, musicians, improvisers, stand-up comics, fire-breathers and English eccentrics who played free music well outside of any idiomatic styles or previously codified modes, thus building a bridge from the experiments of previous generations the SME, AMM and – particularly – Terry Day’s People Band to the kind of liberated rock-informed explorations of freeform instigated by Vibracathedral Orchestra, Richard Youngs and countless contemporary underground operatives. Both Youngs and Neil Campbell were on/off members of the group alongside key players like Stewart Walden, Jim Plaistow, Stream Angel and Sticky Foster. This excellent archival double disc set (over the years there have been scattered documents released by labels like Siltbreeze and Chocolate Monk) presents two complete and previously unreleased performances. One disc is drawn from a gig at The Adelphi, Leeds, on 24th July 1992 and features the line-up of Jim, Neil, Stream, Stewart, Andrea and Dave, while the other is a recording of their appearance at Nottingham’s Rock & Reggae Festival on 25th July 1992 with a line-up of Jim, Stream, Tim, Andy, Jon, Stewart, Dave and Matt Marks. The set is packaged in a hard plastic slipcase, with both discs packaged in card folders decorated by stickers donated by members of the band. It also comes with a collage of photos from the Nottingham gig and a poster for the event. An amazing document from a time when ‘noise’ was joyous, eccentric, liberating, celebratory and genuinely subversive. Highly recommended."

“A bit more description on these recordings and the events behind them:
on the friday we drove in a van up to Leeds, and there was some kind of fault with the engine, which meant we drove slower and slower as we progressed - the last nine miles took us an hour! As a result, we arrived at the venue and went onstage immediately, no time to relax beforehand. I think (if memory serves) Tim missed the gig so that he could get the van fixed in time for our return home. We drove back to Nottingham, where we were due to be first band onstage at the annual Rock & Reggae Festival
Andrew Lloyd Webber is about 43 minutes long, and has some good sounds throughout. An Ole Crab is about 28 minutes, near the start I'm reading out some found letters and notes, and it ends with us being attacked by a chainsaw-wielding man who I never saw before or afterwards, followed by Stream and me duetting on a children song, with live sound effects (it sounds like the tape slows down, but we sang it that way)”
Stewart

The recordings are from the original Master tape, and other than the gigs themselves are to be heard here for the first time.
Artwork was provided for this release by way of stickers sent to apollolaan by "members" of the a band both on this recording and from the 2000's re-incarnation of A activity. The package also comes with collaged photos from The An Ole Crab gig and a copy of the poster from the gig itself.

ANCIENT BRIEF HISTORY
The A-Band started up because Vince Earimal (saxophone player) had a gig and wanted a backing band. It was formed and it began with the letter A (Arachnid). Then there was another concert and a different band was formed, again beginning with A. This continued to happen, until someone realised that a band (infact A Band) had formed, due to no obvious membership requirements and a total lack of practicing (theoretically due to aesthetic reasons but more due to monetary factors of rehersal space) it was a come-and-go hap-hazard line-up and sound. Releasing numerous self released tapes, a 7" record and a few of albums (although mostly released post-humously.) They disbanded circa 1994 due to no particular reason.

RE-History
In early 2007, due to interest arousal via a documentary (which is mid production) and a new myspace page (thanks to veteran Stewart Keith (nee Treize, Bizzaro and Walden)) the has been a burst of one-off gigs in Warrington, London and Nottingham respectively, announcing the rebirth of The A Band.

If you'd like to know more then this brilliantly written article by David Keenan is is well worth checking out http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/2263/

Here is a review from Foxy Digitalis...
"Often songs and albums are untitled, but rarely are bands. The tribe of British pranksters making caffeinated and clamorous early-90s free improve did have a name, it just happened to change for every performance. Because their multiple monikers each began with an A, the group came to be called The A Band. The Nottingham-based collective’s name shifting emphasized the A Band’s dedication to unfixed musical regulations, embodied by a revolving band lineup, a motley and expansive discography, and undeterred quest to turn anything and everything into an instrument. Anarchic improv bedlam never felt so good.

Apollolaan has collected two unreleased A Band shows from 1992: a recording from July 24th at The Adelphi in Leeds (performing as Andrew Lloyd Weber), and a manic set the following day at Nottingham’s Rock & Reggae Festival as An Ole Crab. (An Ole Crab being Barcelona spelled backwards; the 92 Olympics opened there that day.) The packaging is beyond tremendous: two discs in paper sleeves with stickers provided by the band, pages of collaged photos and a flyer from the festival. The package is solid and substantial, even heavy, and the cover shows a vacuum cleaner sitting beside a microphone. You become intrigued.

“Andrew Lloyd Weber” begins with grinding metal increasing in volume and giving way to vaguely Floydian keyboard riffage. Layers upon layers of crashing cymbals, bass undulations, scraped metal, and tribal drumming compete for attention. The ensemble slowly gathers a full head of steam, and pretty soon are a hurricane tearing through a sawmill, whipping up a colossal maelstrom of ramshackle sounds and dragging blasted circuits into the abyss. After several craggy peaks, the improvisation cools to a viscous ooze and unravels into alarm clocks and whispers.

“An Ole Crab” is shorter and scrappier than “Weber.” There are more voices and more drums. Nebulous percussive hits occasionally align into a simple tribal beat streaked with rips of trombone. Halfway in, feedback monopolized the speakers and textures become sharp and abrasive. The mosaic concludes with what sounds like a Casio being tossed into a chipper. Five or six people clap and someone in the crowd asks, “Who were they then?” Hilarious conclusion. I’m glad the crowd noise made its way onto the end of the recording. Perhaps An Ole Crab were still performing?

The A Band were Free Jazz minus Jazz, Panic music sans satyr, and Industrial without the end of civilization. At times recalling Sun Ra, electric Miles Davis, and Einsturzende Neubauten, they were still utterly unique, proving that noise can be a sloppy sandbox free from overt politicizing or heavy overthinking. Change your name every night, let whoever in your band, and wring sound out of whatever’s handy. The intricate and freewheeling soundscapes heard on this stellar collection are what happens when nearly all conceptual parameters are out the window.

Now for the bad news- “Andrew Lloyd Weber/An Ole Crab” was limited to 100 copies and is already sold out. But fortunately The A Band are back together playing shows. I’m hoping they continue to stir it up for a long time. 8/10 -- Mike Pursley"

Oldman

2009-05-29T11:31:00.000-07:00

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Oldman have produced an amazing album for us called "Stay Gold". It lasts for just over an hour and consists of 7 peices of music. This release is a limited edition cdr of 50 numbered coies. Artwork is a vinyl cut print and painted DigiPak, and it comes with an insert.
Charles-Eric Charrier was one half of the duo MAN. Charles-Eric and his partner Rasim Biyikli have recorded three albums and worked for film soundtracks, painters, choreographers and completed many tours. Charles-Eric also writes and records as a solo artist under the name OLDMAN. He has collaborated with many artists and musicians including Mathias Delplanque (LENA), Rob Mazurek, Jérôme Paressant (ABRAXAS PROJEKT), THE CLOGS, Orange Blossom, Teamforest, and Le COQ...

"Now returning to the Apollolaan Record label, I’ve also been hugely taken with STAY GOLD by Old Man, whose epic bass-led music sometimes conjures up images of prehistoric drovers chasing down herds of wild bison, and invoking memories of the Residents’ ‘Six Things To A Cycle’ percussion ‘event’, elsewhere unleashing discordant bass heavy troublefunk of the mesmerizing Krautian variety. Clad in a handmade sleeve bearing a vinyl-cut fine art print, this Old Man project is the brainchild of Frenchman Charles Eric Charrier, and a rich & highly useful musically Underworld vein he is currently mining. Somewhere in the narrow gap between the tumultuous D. W. Griffithsian grooves of Loop, the metronomic & moronikh pulsings of late Early Faust and the Zeussian antrons of Nadja’s reverb, therein reside Old Man. Fucking eh! Grab your copy from myspace/appollolaan, or access M. Charrier via myspace/charlesoldman."

Julian Cope

"Oldman is a solo project by Charles Oldman (a.k.a. Charles Eric Charrier) plus additional musicians. Here is his new release, ‘Stay Gold’ on Apollolaan Records, a very limited hand-made release with a beautiful vinyl cut print cover. Seven long tracks between 6 and 15 minutes giving us more than one hour of music. The slow, dark-moods, and this kind of minimalistic piecebrings you to the eternal and more and more un-interesting question of what kind of genre it is. As with so many interesting musicians and bands it’s a genre of its own. Mainly built by some simple, but attractive bass-lines and drums, sometimes guitars, sometimes electronics and samples. Sometimes the beat stops, as in ‘ep’, and we get a soft, tense drone spiced with small electronic sounds, ending with the chord of an organ. Ambient spheres. Sunn O))) meets Cluster? Or maybe a little bit of Tah Mahal Travellers. The album has a rough and alert sound-picture I really like, a live-feeling."

www.terrascope.co.uk

Folk and Violence

2009-05-20T10:07:00.001-07:00

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"Wolf Blues" from Folk & Violence is our latest release, an incredible recording by the Chicago band featuring legendary "Outsider blues" character Little Howlin Wolf.
Limited to 50 individually hand painted and numbered copies on cdr. This edition comes in a white Digi-pak with cream insert.
The line up on "Wolf Blues" is:
Scott Lockhard-- gtr
Little Howlin Wolf--vox, nose flute, gtr
Lawrence Peters--chair
Plastic Crimewave--gtr
Ben Baker Billington--drums
Mark Lux--moog
Chris Heightchew--all sorts

Folk and Violence was born from a shared ride to an AMM show, and a common love for "Driver UFO." The monicker was acquired by way of Franco Micalizzi. The infancy of Folk and Violence was in the back room of the White Horse, witnessed by fewer folks than Jesus had parents, and followed by a prolonged hiatus from which the band emerged in 2006 to play an opening slot for drone-daddy, Tony Conrad.
Chicago street musician, bluesman, and actor, Little Howlin’ Wolf, was born James R. Pobiega, Aug. 23, 1950. Of Polish decent, the grandson of a gravedigger and “moonshiner”, and son of a milkman, Pobiega grew up in the working class neighborhood of Justice, IL, a town located on the southwest outskirts of Chicago. Due to his large 6’6” stature, and tenacity on the football field at Argo High, he quickly earned the nickname, ‘Beowulf’, which was later shortened to ‘Wolf’. After high school, he briefly attended The Goodman Theatre in Chicago, IL., and although quite successful, he would soon realize that music was his calling. A self-taught musician, Wolf would gather up his guitar, harp, and saxophone, and hit the streets of Chicago, performing his original blues and jazz compositions, wherever and anywhere he could. Given his voice was filled with a natural booming, yet gravelly, soulful, and bluesy sound, he was given the moniker, Little Howlin’ Wolf, in respect to fellow bluesman and predecessor, Howlin’ Wolf. A name he was honored to receive, and still embraces to this day.
During the 1970s, Wolf started his own record label SOLIDARITY SOLIDARNOSC RECORDS, with subsidiaries ALCATRAZ, BEACON, and JUSTICE. Since then, he has recorded and released over two volumes of singles and three full length albums; THE GUARDIAN (1982), THE COOL TRUTH (1985), and his latest, BRAVE NU WORLD (2005). A cultural student and teacher, and advocate for the people, Wolf has brought his music and messages for peace and understanding all over North America and Europe.

From Volacnic Tongue...
"Limited to 50 hand-numbered copies CD-R documenting an insane black blues session that’s basically Plastic Crimewave Sound with legendary outsider musician Little Howlin' Wolf on guitar, vocals and noseflute. Recorded live in a handheld in 2008, this is some crude stew, with Wolf’s low-down gasoline-huffin’ vocals supported by barely coherent swamp blues riffs and the kind of fractured rock logic of early Royal Trux. Crimewave and Wolf seem to be playing in two only-occasionally coincident universes while the drummer would’ve sat real well on an early Jandek side. If crude avant garage no-fi death jams is yr jag – and if yr a VT fan that almost goes without saying – then dig in."
David Keenan

"Free form boogie blues, the Portsmouth Symphonia of rock? Call it whatever you want, here we have Chicago based Folk & Violence’ new release ‘Wolf Blues’. , a seven-headed monster of weirdness and joy. The albums only piece lasts for 30 minutes and brings you into various fields of AMM-like improvisation and free form expression,s taking off with blues inspired by Howlin’ Wolf (and of course the band’s singer is Little Howlin’ Wolf, a man with legendary street musician status in Chicago). It’s lo-fi, it’s live, it’s mad and beautiful."
www.terrascope.co.uk

White Pee

2009-05-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

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San Francisco band White Pee and their incredible recording "Mudclaude" is the latest apollolaan recordings release.
Limited to 50 hand numbered copies on cdr.
The cover art is a drawing by the amazing Fliss Horrocks. Inside cover art is vinyl cut hand printed front and back covers, with insert by Matthew Shaw.

On this recording White Pee are:

michael boul, moises rios, josh pollock, larry boothroyd, anthony marin

"Readers of my JAPROCKSAMPLER will already know how Hi-Red Centre got around being non-musicians at the height of the swinging ‘60s by instead performing ‘Pop Art’ actions such as cleaning the streets in a Pop Art stylee and throwing their clothes from the flat roofs of high buildings, running down and collecting it all in labelled suitcases and checking it into Tokyo station’s lost luggage dept., thereafter publishing maps of these events in place of the LPs they so desperately wished they coulda recorded. Here in good ole 2009CE, White Pee’s twenty-five minutes of fame appears to be a musical version of that aforementioned Hi-Red Centre event, the four musicians of the ensemble delivering to our doorstep (don’t let these motherfuckers in, fer Chrissakes!) one enormous, nay Titanic slab of both-ends-burning glacial erratic sonic sub-strata that, were it an oven cleaner, would be available only to large professional family businesses with 100% safety records. Hmm, these crazy cats at Apollolaan Records are letting us in on some serious shortcuts and overgrown pathways; catch this wild limited edition piece of Resistance at myspace.com/apollolaan"

Julian Cope

texlahoma - The Rites of Spring

2009-04-01T06:23:00.001-07:00

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For our Vernal Equinox release, we are pleased to announce that "The Rites of Spring" by texlahoma is now available. This cdr comes in a wrap-around cover of a photo taken driving from Blandford Forum towards Badbury Rings, within is a hand painted cover, using acrylic on white card. "The Rites of Spring" contains 5 new peices recorded over the last few weeks. texlahoma on this recording is Matthew Shaw, and was made using vocals, Moog Prodigy, little boy blue, acoustic guitar, a recorder, various percussion instruments, harmonica & a singing bowl.

"Always beautifully packaged and worthy of your attention are the releases from Apollolaan Recordings. The Latest batch does not disappoint, so let’s start with the soft strangeness of Tex La Homa, (Matt Shaw), whose latest five-track EP “The Rites of Spring”, mixes gentle acoustic guitar, flutes, bells and almost whispered vocals into an intoxicating whole. After the introductory lullaby instrumental of “Bonnie”, we are led into a stranger dream filled world as “The Bridge” reveals itself to be a surreal hallucinatory tale, reminding me of Kevin Ayers in its feel. Opening with bell and flute “Wild Swan” is another dream washed journey, the piece turning into a vocal drone, rising and falling until the echoed flute returns, curling like mist around our thoughts. After such mystery, the gentle guitar of “Penn Hill” is a welcome breeze, a chance to sit in the sun before a rattle of electronic insects heralds the arrival of “Sunshine and Snow”, the disturbing sounds used as a backing for spoken words, the listener needing to strain to hear the meaning, producing an intense and edgy soundscape that is a long way from the gentle acoustics of the opening track."

Terrascope

MyBroken101

2009-03-15T13:22:00.001-07:00

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MyBroken101 are a heavy psych band consisting of five members, Matt Gowing, Andrew Tomkinson, Douglas Dalton, Greg Baggot and Simon Tomkinson. Wall of sound guitar, sub bass and rolling drums, play deep groove based rock and roll. Like a modern day Revolution, the sound slides from white noise to melodic blissed out drops of Psilocybin induced hypnosis. The band's current mission is to destroy and start a fuckin musical revolution. Hail Hail Rocknroll.......................................

This is the debut release from MyBroken101, the tracklisting is as follows:

The Drones
Mondays - Tex La Homa remix
Never Down Again
Big Hands
Through The Darkness - Tex la homa mix
Never Down Again - MB101 subtonk bass remix

The cd is packaged in a blue transparent clam shell case, and comes with a professionally printed booklet, all housed within a spray painted and lino cut printed card wallet.

"a collection of pulsing electronic tunes from Mybroken101, with opening track “Drones” setting the pace as a relentless rhythm and squashy breaks dance out of the speakers, a dirty distorted guitar adding to the volume and adding to the fun. Things are slowed down slightly for the more ambient electronics of “Monday (Tex La Homa Remix), which sounds like Renegade Soundwave, the slower pace remaining in place for “Never Down Again” an icy blast of electronic repetition that is highly effective. Add to this the droning wash of “Through the Darkness” and a heavier bass mix of “Never Down Again” ;and you have a collection well worth turning up loud and getting completely lost in."

Terrascope

This release was limited to 56 hand numbered copies

Kleefstra / Bakker / Kleefstra

2009-03-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

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"Wink" by Kleefstra / Bakker / Kleefstra is a beautiful set of poetry and music. This is a live one take studio recording and comes in a white Lino cut printed envelope containing a professionally printed gold ink on white paper booklet of Poems by Jan Kleefstra. These poems are spoken in Frisian but printed in the booklet in Frisian, Dutch & English.

Jan Kleefstra writes 'fragments' about inlands between lakes and near the sea and the sense perceptions of it. And because words about land and water are vulnerable, especially when the relationship with it is fragile, he doesn't want the words to hit the ground and be trampled down by people after leaving his voice. That's why he recitates on soundscapes, partly form the guitar of his brother Romke, partly on samples of William Basinski, Deathprod or Es and sometimes live with others like Machinefabriek and Soccer Committee. Jan & Romke also co-operate with other forms of art like (seascape) painting and cinematographics.

So far Jan published three collections of poems:

* Stem van de stilte (2004, Boon Uitgeverij, Groningen) - a combination of Dutch poems with seascape paintings by Minne Onnes
* Fragmenten (2006, Boon Uitgeverij, Groningen) - Dutch poems with a few digitally adapted pictures by Johan van Aken
* Fragminten (2008, Friese Pers Boekerij, Leeuwarden) - Frisian poems with a few digitally adapted pictures by Johan van Aken

Romke Kleefstra has been singer/songwriter/guitarist in a some groups over the last 15 years, including Shatterhole, Seascape Painters and Polaroyd. He's also been doing stuff solo and might do that again. Last but not least he's in the band Music for the Defect.

Jan & Romke are joined on this release by Anne Chris Bakker on guitar and effects, bowed & fingerpicking guitar.

"Wink is a three piece group whose self-titled release contains one 27-minutes track which was recorded live. Utilising guitars (bowed and picked), effects, loops and laptops, Anne Chris Baker, Romke Kleefstra and Jan Kleefstra have created a softly flowing drone piece with spoken words and gently falling notes, the music rich and overflowing with emotion. As the music moves on it ebbs and flows, giving the impression that you are on a journey, floating on a timeless river unaware of past or future. Definitely one for the headphones this is music to be enjoyed alone, a deeply satisfying trip."

Terrascope

"If you're a collector that likes to have your music on a physical CD, times are rapidly getting harder. Especially in the ambient and experimental genre, where more and more releases are handmade do-it-yourself releases in extremely limited editions.
Take Wixel's 2009 project, for instance: one CD every month, every edition physically released in the number of days of that particular month (but at least these are later rereleased in simpler packaging and available as digital downloads too). Even a relatively 'big name' like Thomas Köner releases his latest CD 'La Barca' in a limited edition of 600 copies only.
By the time the news of a new release reaches you, chances are the album is sold out and unavailable physically.
Such is the case with Wink, the new album by Kleefstra / Bakker / Kleefstra.
Although I thought I acted quickly, my handpainted CD (!) and handpainted cover bear the number 90 - of only 100! So I guess it's sold out the moment you read this...
So what's the use of this blogpost then?
Well, it may be re-released later, maybe you'll stumble upon a copy sometimes, maybe it will later be made available as digital download, or you may even be able to attend a Wink live performance.
Wink can be described as 'Piiptsjilling' part 2. Though Machinefabriek (Rutger Zuydervelt) is no part of this project, the overall atmosphere is quite the same on both releases.
Wink is a single 27 minute track over which a 6 part poem is spoken dreamily. Most people will probably not understand a word of the Frysian language spoken, but for those who want to know the poem is translated in dutch as well as english.
Romke Kleefstra (guitar + loops) and Anne Chris Bakker (guitars, effects) create a perfectly fitting background sculpture of guitar drones and softly evolving mininal loops for Jan Kleefstra's quietly spoken but haunting words.
Like 'Piiptsjilling', Wink deserves to be heard outside Friesland also, outside Holland even: this language is universal.
hast altyd mei stiennen tôge
altyd mei de únrés de sleat
om dyb tinzen útheakkele
(You were always hauling stones
always dredging with unease
the pond around your thoughts)
Wink is (or was) released on Apollolaan Records. I guess you should haunt them for a re-release.
Tour dates can be found on the Kleefstra Myspace page. As well as a live recording of a Wink performance that can be downloaded until the end of october!"

Ambientblog

This release was an edition of 100 hand numbered copies

Plinth

2009-02-11T05:01:00.000-08:00

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Plinth is the solo endeavor of Michael Tanner, The Dorset-based composer who also plays as a member of Pantaleimon, Sharron Kraus and United Bible Studies (amongst others).
Production credits include Sharron Kraus' 'The Foxes Wedding', Pantaleimon “Tall Trees” and forthcoming albums by United Bible Studies and Autumn Grieve.
The first Plinth full length 'Music for Smalls Lighthouse' is to be released on Durtro Jnana records in 2009.
“Dulcimer Music” was recorded in 2 weeks, october 2008. Aine o'dwyer (from United Bible Studies) plays harp on 1, richard skelton (sustain release) plays guitar on 5 and Matthew Shaw (tex la homa, 230 Divisadero) plays percussion on 4.
The artwork on this release is an original Vinyl cut print by Michael Tanner, every copy was printed by Michael by hand, the back cover was also done by Michael using Letterpress printing.

"Plinth will ease your soul with
the fragile beauty of “Dulcimer Music”, a collection of Six pieces that
drift across the room like clouds, the music beguiling and utterly
charming. I assume all sounds are made with dulcimers, both bowed and
plucked, (mainly bowed) but I don’t know for sure. However it is done,
there is magic in these recording, and interested parties should act
quickly as the edition is limited to fifty copies"

Terrascope

directorsound

2009-01-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

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Multi-instrumentalist Nick Palmer is our latest artist on apollolaan. Recording under the name directorsound since 1999 Nick has just recorded this incredible new album for us called “Minstrels for Sleepless”. On these recordings Nick plays Guitars, Piano, bouzouki, mandolin, clarinet, autoharp, toy piano, harmonium, dulcimer, saw, cello, drums and bells, and is joined on two tracks by Lucy Andrews on Viola.
Other labels Nick has worked with include Geographic, Rusted Rail and Domino.

The tracklisting for this release is:
1. Some reckless healing
2. The shepherd and the moonlit thief
3. The bed on the book
4. Whispers
5. A little later

This release is 50 copies on cdr.
Each copy is unique, with hand painted art on gold card and housed in an envelope. All copies are numbered.

“Minstrels for Sleepless”, is another gentle and understated gem, this
time written and recorded by Nick Palmer working under the name
Directorsound. Playing an array of instruments including piano,
guitars, bouzouki, clarinet, dulcimer, saw and drums, the music is
pastoral and vibrant, the gentle piano/violin pairing of “Some Reckless
Healing” giving way to the more complex “The Shepherd and the Moonlit
Thief”, both tracks soft as moonlight and sounding wonderful. Throughout
the album the musicianship is peerless, adding considerably presence to
the tunes, the effortless simplicity belying the more technical aspects
of actually playing them. Highlight of the disc is “Whispers”, a
delicate and wide ranging track complete with the otherworldly sounds of
the saw, whilst the final “A Little Later” leads us out as we came in,
wide eyed and filled with peace.

Terrascope

texlahoma

2008-12-21T11:47:00.000-08:00

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For our Winter Solstice release, we are pleased to announce that "Fernworthy" by texlahoma is now available. This cdr comes in a wrap-around cover of a photo taken this summer from Fernworthy Stone circle, within is a hand painted cover, using acrylic on white card. "Fernworthy" is made up of four parts, all inspired by a trip to Dartmoor this July, and more specificly these tracks are a meditation on fernworthy stone circle, the woods, and surrounding area. texlahoma on this recording is Matthew Shaw, and was made using vocals, Moog Prodigy, PostcardWeevil08, Buddha Box and ipod touch applications.

the album “Fernworthy”
finds Tex La Homa drawing us in with some dense and wholly
satisfying dronescapes, the sounds rich in textures, as the music moves
through four parts with the long opening sequence giving way to some
deep space exploration as part two walks around the outside of the
vessel. Gentlest of all part three is light and graceful, ripples of
notes and the wind in the trees adding a sense of movement to the track,
before part four returns to the deep space chattering with playful
abandon, the sound of an electronic firework display. Released on Matt
Shaws own Apollolann label, this is an excellent example of drone with a
human face.

Terrascope

Sindre Bjerga

2008-11-13T10:29:00.000-08:00

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Our latest release is a new live recording by Sindre Bjerga entitled "Angel Heart, Sparkling With Fire" It was recorded at Ashley Road Methodist Church, Poole on October 4th 2008. This cdr comes in an edition of 50 copies with hand drawn silver ink on blue paper wallets, inside a plastic wallet. It also includes a flyer from the night it was recorded. Sindre Bjerga is prolific both in recording and also running the Gold Soundz imprint that operates under the TIBProd umbrella. He is also a steady collaborator with Jan-M Iversen.
Quite sparse but sparkling set recorded live at the Ashley Road Methodist Church, Poole, UK on my recent tour in October.. Contact mikes, tapes and the electric hum from deep within... Nice hand-decorated silver-on-blue paper-covers.. Numbered edition of 50 copies."

Sindre Bjerga

Recorded in a Methodist church in 2008, the live piece from Norwegian Sindre Bjerga, sounds as if the church in question has been submerged at the bottom of the sea, haunted and almost forgotten. Using the silence between sounds as much as the sound itself, the piece is abstract and calming, the electronics darting around the room, creating a completely different environment. As the music progresses however, the ghostly congregation makes its presence felt, the music becoming slightly uncomfortable, a presence just out of sight, until a roar of white noise fills the room with sound, obliterating what has gone before, the piece fading finally to rest on the ocean floor.fort to do so. (Simon Lewis)

Terrascope

Kawabata Makoto

2008-10-19T12:40:00.001-07:00

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apollolaan recordings are very pleased to announce our latest release, a new full length studio album by Kawabata Makoto entitled "Kiss Me Goodbye"
It features two exclusive new tracks:

1. Slobbery Kiss Goodmorning
2. Sensual Kiss Goodnight

Kawabata Makoto : electric guitar

music by Kawabata Makoto
recorded at Acid Mothers Temple, Oct. 2008
produced & engineered by Kawabata Makoto

This release is an edition of 80 hand painted copies.

"Hand-numbered edition of 80 copies solo studio album from Kawabata of Acid Mothers Temple, with a heavy Terry Riley, all-night flight styled minimalist sound spread across two long tracks that cross repeating keyboard tones with swells of phantom melody and delicate microtonal swells. Hand-painted sleeves".

Volcanic Tongue

"Beauiful new CDR of bubbling, trickling drones from the Acid Mothers man. This is even gentler than the "Inui" releases, but no less psychedelic for it. Really lovely and strange. Limited to 80 hand-numbered copies".

Alt.Vinyl

DRMWPN

2008-08-21T11:46:00.000-07:00

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DRMWPN started as a town and country side-project in
2004 and has been growing ever since.
It has always been understood that DRMWPN are playing a
tune but that keeps getting more and more open as the
group grows. The Brion Gyson Dreamachine has always
been the focus onstage.

Apollolaan are very proud to release "Bright Blue Galilee" by DRMWPN. The cdr is the first ever release by this incredible band. The recording is just over 36 minutes long and out now in an edition of just 50 hand painted copies, using acrylic and ink on card and housed in a plastic wallet.

The line up for DRMWPN on this recording is :

Josh Abrams - Guimbri
Jim Dorling - Leslie Voice Electronics
Steve Krakow - Banjo
Mahjabeen - Kalimba
Dan Mohr - Voice Organ
Liz Payne - String Bass
Adam Vida - Cymbals
Ben Vida - Electric Guitar
Sam Wagster - Lap Steel Guitar
Michael Zerang - Drums

The above photo was taken by Robert Loerzil

From October Drudian 2008ce http://www.headheritage.com

Okay, let's now move on to the review section of this Drudion. I'll commence with the most useful release of the month, which must surely be the transcendentally tripped out witterings of BRIGHT BLUE GALILEE, a single 36-minute epic by the American ten-piece ensemble Dreamweapon (aka DRMWPN). Available on the forward-thinking UK label Apollolaan Recordings, Dreamweapon utilise their vast arsenal of percussion, keyboards and strange string instruments to enslave the minds of listeners, dragging them down into the underworld via a series of ever-unfolding phased vocal chants, in a similar manner to Valley of Ashes' massive triple LP, the more vocal heavy side of Sunburned Hand of the Man and PARADIESWARTS DÜÜL-period Amon Düül. As so many contemporary musicians attempt to perform similar music to Dreamweapon, such stuff can be judged only by how often the listener needs to engage with it; that I've been compelled to rotate this sucker endlessly is surely evidence of its extreme success. Bless you for birthing it, ladies'n'gennelmen! Score this essential motherfucker from Volcanic Tongue (www.volcanictongue.com).

Julian Cope

"First available evidence of Drmwpn (aka Dreamweapon), this Chicago-area free-drone ensemble that features Steve Krakow aka Plastic Crimewave alongside members of Town & Country and various local scene players like Michael Zerang et al. The sound is deep, slow-moving and beautifully brain-erasing, with aspects of AMM, Pelt and The No-Neck Blues Band as well as Spacemen 3, Velvet Underground, LaMonte Young et al. Comes in an edition of only 50 copies in wraparound sleeves."

Volcanic Tongue

Featuring a host of ethnic instruments, plus electronics, guitars, drums, bass, etc, “Bright Blue Galilee” is another extended piece that is given plenty of room to grow and change, the result crackling with vitality, reminding me work by United Bible Studies. With rattled percussion and chanted vocals, the piece has a spiritual dimension at its start, the very psychedelic sound encouraging you to turn off the lights and listen completely. Having drawn you in however, the music is slowly absorbed into a different piece and you find yourself listening to drifting electronics and scattered drums, not completely sure when the music changed, but enjoying the effect it is having. Finally the music flutter and stops and you realise half an hour has passed in the blink of an eye or a thousand years, such is the power of this compelling sound.

Terrascope

Andrew Paine

2008-08-21T11:32:00.000-07:00

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Quietly and without fuss, Andrew Paine has established himself as one of the UK underground’s most progressive thinkers and most diverse operators, his modes ranging from solo voice, through layered howling guitars, gentle piano interludes, oblique electronics and wherever he likes in between. He initially broke cover collaborating with Richard Youngs in their progressive rock group project Ilk. Following their second album “Canticle” (VHF, 2005), he became particularly prolific, releasing many collaborative titles both with Youngs and with fellow Glasgow resident Alistair Crosbie as well as several solo titles. He founded his own Sonic Oyster Records in 2006 to release much of his work and has recently co-founded the progressive kraut-rock power trio, Space Weather, with Alistair Crosbie and Brian Lavelle.

Apollolaan are very proud to release "Five Perspectives (on the same event)" by Andrew Paine. The release is one single track with a playing time of just under half an hour, using Voice, Guitar, Harmonica and FX. This release is limited to just 50 hand painted CDRS, using acrylic and ink on card sleeves housed in plasic wallets.

"New limited to 50 copies CD-R from Paine, proprietor of the Sonic Oyster imprint and frequent collaborator with Richard Youngs. Overlaid pitch-shifted vocals repeat a single, subtly morphing phrase in a kinda detourned gospel style before accruing guitar, harmonica and F/X in minimalist style."

Volcanic Tongue

Home to just one long track, “Five Perspectives (or the same event)”, is a slowly building piece that opens with the repeated refrain “I Was Born To Silence”, hypnotising you the chant gradually fading as other instrumentation takes over. With whispers of synths and whistles, the sounds creep into being, until a wave of distorted drone flows into the music, fragile and beautiful, the sound ever rising, until, it too, is lost, the vocals re-asserting themselves, painting some wonderful, evocative images behind your retina. From here on in a meditative minimalism is to be found, rustles of sound curling around the words, the return of the drone more gossamer than before, cloaking the piece in mist before everything is silence.

Terrascope

"If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still
boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one
discovers that it is not boring at all." While it would be naïve to peg
Glasgow’s Andrew Paine as a direct descendent of the father of
experimental minimalism—ignoring everything that has happened in music
in between-- John Cage’s maxim on repetition goes a long way in
capturing our experience of “Five Perspectives (On The Same Event)”,
released on Apollolaan Recordings last year.
Riding on a single, twenty-eight-minute track, Paine departs from a
simple leitmotif, repeats it ad finitum, and sends it flying
everywhere, nowhere, and straight into the pleasure centers in your
brain. His half-sung, half-spoken incarnation of the phrase “I was born
in silence” may seem a bit grating at first, but it begins to grow on
you after the first ten or twelve replays; once it really becomes
engrained, it is likely to summon flashes of everything from black
spiritual song to Gregorian chant and Buddhist prayer. Harmonica,
guitar and miscellaneous effects snake in and out of the mix,
occasionally becoming animals in their own right and ousting the vocals
with ominous grey cumuli of drone.
When Paine’s incantation returns further on in journey with a couple of
new words added into the equation, we feel light-years away from where
we started, and shocked by the amount of psychological ground we have
covered with so little material to ride on. “Five perspectives” is one
beautiful anomaly of an album, mostly because it doesn’t actually
develop. It develops inside of your head, and that is no small
accomplishment. 8/10 -- Emilie Friedlander (15 April, 2009)

foxy Digitalis

"...of extreme use for meditation, navigation and general cuntedness is FIVE PERSPECTIVES ON THE SAME EVENT, the new album by Glaswegian Andrew Paine on Apollolan Recordings. Consisting of just one single 28-minute track, Paine’s highly original and rounded Vision commences with the artist chanting ‘I was born in silence’ over & over as cracked sounds and ambient squirmings from distant galaxies invade his sonic space. Gradually, as Paine itemizes the extremely specific details of his birth, various other hefty aural vehicles drop in for tea & buns at Paine’s lonely sonic roadside café, but all are eventually chased away by the artist’s obsessive chanting, which draws to it an incoming sea fog that obscures all detail and gives the impression of forthcoming disaster. Powered by pipe organs, reed organs, bandonians and a harmonium, the disorientating overall effect throws up a scene from Ivor Cutler’s ‘Life in a Scotch Sitting Room’, as though invaded by New Age Presbyterians engaged in some vast Japanese Gagaku ceremony. Timeless, weird, strung out, religious and self-obsessed; this is wonderful Western Music that celebrates the alienness of our modern culture in a similarly vocal-heavy & mythical manner as the Residents. Score this superb package from David Keenan’s excellent Volcanic Tongue or check out myspace.com/sonicoysterrecords, which Paine has recently set up. Ripping stuff!"

Julian Cope

White Hills - Live @ The Knitting Factory, NYC 6.26.08

2008-07-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

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White Hills - Live @ The Knitting Factory, NYC 6.26.08

1. Oceans Of Sound
2. Under Skin or By Name
3. My Girl Soars Blind
4. Turn & Turn
5. Speed Toilet / Coming For You

White Hills are:

Dave W - Guitar, Vocals
Ego Sensation - Bass
Kid Millions - Drums
Pierre Auntour - Synthesizers

230 Divisadero

2008-06-01T03:04:00.000-07:00

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We are now taking orders for "the Breather Key" by 230 Divisadero. Recorded by Nick Grey & Matt Shaw in Monaco, 3 tracks, just under half an hour of music. This release follows on from the experimental nature of "A Vision of Lost Unity" available on Milk & Moon recordings and last year's self titled, more song based album on Locust.
Strictly limited to 50 Hand painted, numbered and written covers.

Tracklisting :

01 - Palimpsest. 02 - I Have Long Meditated Upon The Rise And Fall Of The Great Death. 03 - Palindrome.

Benjamin Wetherill

2008-05-12T14:06:00.000-07:00

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We are now taking orders for the Benjamin Wetherill ep. Strictly limited to 50 Hand painted, numbered and written covers. Below is a short description of what to expect from Benjamin himself.

"I have a new limited-run three-track cdr out on Monday 19th May. Out on newly formed Apollolaan Recordings, the release is limited to a mere 50 hand-painted cdr copies and comprises a re-working of a 16th war branle by Arbeau, a rendition of John Dowland's 'Come Ye Heavy States' and a new, largely instrumental composition based on the traditional amatory Yorkshire song 'The Bonny Hawthorn'.

Plastic Crimewave Expanse

2008-05-04T07:26:00.000-07:00

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Track 1. "la sorciere"--recorded by virginia tate 7/21/07 in greenpoint, NY at diamond days fest.
playing: PCW, samara lubelski, taralie peterson, georgia vallas, kathleen baird, adam kriney, virginia tate, SR palm

Track 2. PCW Solo - "Vivid Visions" recorded live in cleveland at pat's in the flat's 4/1/08

"just out is a limited hand-painted UK-label CDR of the Plastic Crimewave Expanse, an ensemble i put together in NY with members of the spires that in the sunset rise, creeping nobodies, the bummer road, la otracina, thurston moore's band, etc"

Plastic Crimewave

"Hand-numbered edition of 50 copies that documents a psychedelic bigband explosion from Plastic Crimewave aka Steve Krakow of Galactic Zoo Dossier et al with a group that features Samara Lubelski, Taralie Peterson (Spires That In The Sunset Rise), Georgia Vallas, Kathleen Baird (Spires), Adam Kriney (Owl Xounds/La Otracina et al), Virginia Tate and SR Palm recorded live in 2007 at Diamond Days Fest, NY. Second tracks is a solo Crimewave explosion recorded live in Cleveland in 2008. Every copy has individual art on the front"

Volcanic Tongue

PLASTIC CRIMEWAVE EXPANSE s/t CD ( Apollolaan )
Steve Krakow of Galactic Zoo Dossier presents here, with a band that features Samara Lubelski, Taralie Peterson (Spires That In The Sunset Rise), Georgia Vallas, Kathleen Baird (Spires), Adam Kriney (Owl Xounds/La Otracina et al), a tremendous leftfield psych hulker that just gets higher and higher... like MVEE or Tower Recordings but much looser, much vaster. Limited to 50 hand-packaged copies.

Alt.Vinyl