CODES: - Drone Records

Like Earth and Skullflower meshed into one buzzing blurry soundfield,
all muted melody and crunchy riffage, a pulsing swirl of feedback and
guitarral grrrr! The sound is basically phenomenal…” (Aquarius)
Growing is a band from Olympia, Washington that was formed by Kevin
Doria, Joe Denardo, and Zack Carlson (who left the band following the
release of their first album) in 2001. They play instrumental drone rock
with elements of noise and ambient music. Their live shows are known
for being incredibly loud, playing straight through their set without break
or pause. They have released albums on Kranky, Animal Disguise,
Archive and Megablade, and currently have a new full length album out
on Troubleman." [label info]
* HAFLER TRIO - Who gave you the ability to envisage perfection
7" (Plinkity Plonk Records PLONK21, 2007) [lim. 333] € 12.50
This new H30-Single wins not just only the price for the best coverartwork
in this list. The sounds are genius too !
The shimmering poly-drones pressed on side A of this clear 7" appear
to us as "imploded music", where all categories and seperated things
merge into one timeless entitiy, when the gentle female voice at the end
comes in it feels almost like a revelation. The B-side is different, with
two over-reverberating drone/organ -extensions. A perfect release!
"when we make a room ready, it's not a given that the appointment will
be kept. furthermore, what used to happen in the old days, and will now
start to happen again, is that random visitors will appear. it's only
natural after all. so when this particular slice of tangerine was severed
from the tree, it had purposes that were commensurate with that
particular time: but now we gaze on the visage of something bigger than
had at first been anticipated. revel in the ending that gave way to a
beginning, although the path is not yet clear. there are no methods used
here - but there are more things to tell when the bus reaches the
terminus. as it will on completion of this piece of homework.
Heavy vinyl and heavy vellum cover." [label info]
"Being pressed on clear vinyl and wrapped in a printed transparent
vellum cover, the Hafler Trio's latest 7" is surrounded by a splendid aura
even before you actually hear the music. The image on the front cites
Christian iconography with the motif of Judith holding the head of
Holofernes, albeit in a great 1920s photographic soft porn version. On
the back there is a text that is printed on the inside of the sleeve and
thus appears mirror-inverted on the outside, which nicely corresponds
to the hermetic nature suggested by the text itself. The music lends
itself to (albeit rather helpless) poetic visual metaphors: distant, yet
most sensuous drones, blurred as if heard through a fine acoustic haze,
with sounds moving about like bizarre shadows, devoid of sharp
contours. One might wonder if the 7" format is the right choice for this
kind of music, and in the case of this release the answer is a definite
yes. There are some particularly fascinating moments on these tracks,
most notably the final passage of side one and the trembling, slowly
speaking female voice on the flipside. The latter is unmistakably human
and even sounds familiar in a way, but at the time it is of an highly
unnatural, almost ghost-like character. The former is marked by a
limited frequency range and a use of distortion which hint towards the
aesthetics of gramophones or antique loudspeakers, without actually
citing it, thus evoking a sense of nostalgia while keeping away from any
obvious references. It's the sheer fact that the 7" formats emphasizes
the ephemeral nature of these passages that makes them even more
precious - indeed, this release is a precious artifact throughout, exciting
and unsettling in its beauty as well as in its exquisitely auratic
appearance." [MSS / Vital Weekly]
* HALO MANASH - r.A.S.H.n.k.a.-RA LP & DVD (Kaosthetik
Konspiration KSTK 004, 2007) [lim. 500] € 22.50
New shamanistic noise for the anti-rational mind ! HALO MANASH,
maybe the "main" project of the AURAL HYPNOX-stall, with a new
album on this french label; it sounds amazingly harmonic & dense,
more "arranged" than before, still there's a wonderful tribal archaic
"primitivism" inside the music which feels highly authentic & powerful.
Many different instruments have been used, howling voices &
whisperings, metals / gongs & percussion-elements are often present,
absolutely stunning & hypnotizing! These are pulsating Ur-drones with
lots of energy & emotion!
On the DVD recordings from a shamanistic ritual held in finnish woods
are shown, with different soundtrack. Comes with great gatefold-cover
& artwork, plus A2 poster!
"HALO MANASH, redrobed and clothed in ash, has completed a helical
cycle, r.A.S.H.n.k.a-RA. Archaic sounds and visions from the heights
and depths, elemental ambience and primal thundering.
Various instruments such as horns, kanglings, bells, cymbals, drums,
singing bowls, damaras, rattles, chimes, bones, selfmade instruments,
vocals, voices, and the elemental sounds themselves give form to a
work that is sometimes serene, sometimes fierce and chaotic.
Everything is in pairs: thus r.A.S.H.n.k.a-RA itself consists of two
distinct creations/ destructions. "In 4 Elements" (DVD) was
realized/received in 4 circulations of the sun and consists of 4 parts.
Serpentine silver sounds ascending and descending, moving and
flowing in the upper realms, through the elements and elementals. The
sounds of spilling seed. The film reflects this rite-of-passage, showing
r.A.S.H.n.k.a-RA taking form in the primal landscapes and in the
elements themselves. "In PolarDual" (LP) is the dark twin, and was
received/realized in 2 circulations of the sun, consisting of two parts. It
is very intense, fierce and chaotic: a tearing down, a dive into the deep,
screams to and from the depths. The sounds shedding skin. From these
twins an elemental initiation and revelation, r.A.S.H.n.k.a-RA, is formed.
r.A.S.H.n.k.a-RA is a total creative and destructive cycle, a very real
and intense experience where Halo Manash itself was the canvas of
birth and death. r.A.S.H.n.k.a-RA was received/realized in Summer
2005; completed and sealed in Winter 2006. The circle is closed, yet
remains ever open. Comes in full-colour gatefold LP covers including a
DVD (incluing one audio track of 30 minutes) + A2 Color Poster and is
limited to 500 copies." [label description]
* HODELL, AKE & DAVID GRUBBS - Igevär / Yellow Sky LP
(Kning Disk / Hall Tjäften KDHT001, 2004) [lim. 327 copies]
€ 20.00
Rare Scheibe mit zwei unveröffentlichten Stücken des legendären
schwedischen Sound-Poetikers AKE HODELL (unglaubliche Stimmen-
Drones, von 1963 und 1965, extrem!), dazu hat HODELL-Fan DAVID
GRUBBS eine theatralisches Hörspiel-artiges Stück komponiert!
Weisses Vinyl, Klappcover, ausführliche liner notes.
"The first release by Kning Disk is a 12 vinyl, consisting of two
legendary works (one previously unreleased) by Swedish text-sound
pioneer Ake Hodell; Igevr (1965) and General Bussig (1963), coupled
with a specially composed piece by the north American popexperimental
musician David Grubbs; Yellow Sky (2004). The cover is
created by Swedish artist Elis E. Eriksson." [label info]
* JESU - Conqueror do-LP (Conspiracy Records CORE046, 2007)
€ 19.50
First edition! More info see CD-section!
"J. Broadrick triumphantly returns with his second, and quite
appropriately titled, Jesu full-length (the follow-up to last year’s critically
acclaimed Silver EP). Packed with eight gorgeously hypnotic tracks in
just over an hour, Conqueror exhales a dreamlike mist of weighty
celestial ambience, underwater phantasms and slow-rolling nebulae,
fomenting the kind of kaleidoscopic rapture—brimming with lush
electronics, dulcet guitar textures, massive riffs, and lavish atmospheric
hues—that makes you swear you're on drugs." [label info]
KALLABRIS - Shanghai Dortmund 12" (Genesungswerk GW15,
2002) [ed. of 300] € 10.00
Wieder ungewöhnlich! Kallabristischer Pop! „Mir träumte von Matrosen
…“ ist ein textlicher Bestandteil dieses düster-marinen slow-mo obskur-
Hits mit schleppendem Basslauf und einer surrealen Atmosphäre.
“This is popmusic at its best! Rough and with edges to every side. A
shanty-ballad, a waltz and droning chillouts, perfectly arranged,
showing the overwhelming musical skills and poetic genius of Kallabris.
This 12” submarine will take the club-scene by storm, definitely.
Popmusik, wie sie sein muß! Rauh und kantig. Eine Shanty-Ballade, ein
Walzer und dröhnende Chillouts - perfekt arrangiert -demonstrieren
Kallabris’ überwältigende musikalische Fähigkeiten sowie sein
poetisches Genie. Dieses 12“ U-Boot wird unzweifelhaft die Club-Szene
im Sturm erorbern.“ [Ellen Persons]
“Kallabris have musical craftsmanship, artistic vision and a sense of
finding the balance between humor, entertainment and melancholy that
makes them rather unique. As the first release I heard by them I think