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2LP
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SB 1112LP
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"Originally seeing the light of day in April of 1992, Harsh 70s Reality was not just a high water mark for that year, but for the ages. Technically this was the band's fourth long-play outing, and as a double-album, it followed (and was ever so slightly informed by) two formidable juggernauts that preceded it: Twin Infinitives and Lake. But it was Harsh 70s Reality that left the decade stronger and more resonant than it came in. People say that rock music died with the passing of Kurt Cobain. But The Dead C slaughtered it in its sleep with this tremendous set of grinding thud. It is in every sense the ultimate post-rock album. To hear it is to understand why one scribe back in the day referred to their sound as 'a garbage truck backing over the abyss.' A legendary release from a legendary band on a legendary label."
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LP
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SB 200LP
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"Omit's inSec is 'new,' but not new. Recorded in 2013, the masters lost in the label's murky somewheresville that always shows up when moving. For those who don't know, Omit is an experimental electronics artist from New Zealand's south island who, since 1990, has released thirty-some xerographed cassettes and CDs in the Dead C orbit for those who do. It's not enough to say that inSec is an ambient masterpiece bringing to mind a John Carpenter soundtrack performed by the Hub because listening to it engineers new species. The infectious and corrupting sounds synthesize new life forms in your brain's enzymes. If you specialize in a niche too much, you are prey to predators outside, but Omit never goes for low-hanging fruit and isn't simulating anything. Besides the xenobiological effects, Omit constructs your sentiment through timbral concepts that repeat and shift with minimal reference to harmony, melody, key, or mode. Streams jump and skitter, knitting tightly high and low in a dense rattling driven to the long and most plaintive tones amongst the countless gizmos. This one is for big fans of Anode/Cathode, Ikue Mori, Papa Srapa, Fronte Violeta, and Insignia refrigerators."
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LP
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SB 183LP
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2023 repress. "Daylight Moon is Yuzo Iwata's first outing since his debut, Drowning In The Sky, got the green light in 1999 on the legendary Org label. While Yuzo's been living stateside for a couple of decades, his roots, style and fluidity harken back to the Kichijoji Minor days of the late seventies Tokyo underground scene. He also put in some time as a member of Tori Kudo's Maher Shalal Hash Baz early on and there's no one else in Philadelphia who can make that claim. His pedigree is legit. As is his playing. For fans of Kousokuya and Hallelujahs especially and PSF and Org label output overall. Limited re-pressing of 300."
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LP
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SB 196LP
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"Oamaru, located about 80 miles north of Dunedin on New Zealand's south island, might seem like the last place you expect to find a prodigious racket like Cuticles, but ain't that a kick? You just never know. Formed around the nucleus of Austen McMillian, Matthew Plunkett (ex-Trendees) and Lisa Preston (Nux Vomica, The Portage) a couple years back, they've been stacking up the hits and on Major Works, it's time to cash in. There's 18 tracks here and Cuticles chew through 'em with abandon. Someone just yelled out from the attic next door, 'Sounds like the Pastels, with guns!' One could make a case for the South Island Sound coursing through their veins (they do live there after all), but the sheer abandon-pop that gushes off the grooves, it's hard not to be reminded of those two, great, David Mitchell helmed Auckland outfits, The Exploding Budgies & Goblin Mix. They might all drink the same water, who knows? But it sure feels good to get brain-stung again by the salty rimes off the Otago Coast. Long may they howl."
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LP
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SB 194LP
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"If the names Amber Sermeno, Andy Jordan and Stanley Martinez sound familiar, it's because they're in practically every band that matters from the SF/Bay area, A short list reads; Non Plus Temps, Children Maybe Later, Naked Roommate, and not the least of which is Famous Mammals. Following a self-released cassette, Instant Pop Expressionism Now! is their first full-length vinyl effort. On their debut tape the seeds were sown for what has blossomed on this LP as a fully pollinated orchard of hybridized post punk that seemingly harkens back to the halcyon days when Rough Trade called 202 Kensington Park Road home. Instant Pop Expressionism Now! is an ultramodern polyglot of smatterings that at once sound familiar, but you can't quite place it. Swell Maps? Happy Refugees? Monochrome Set? Maybe. Kinda. It's in the stitching, but the design & thrust is all Famous Mammals. And while we're not prone to hubris, we are confident that Instant Pop Expressionism Now! will be the hit LP of the summer everywhere from Sooty's Disco Party to Gus' Hotdog Hootenanny. If you know, you know, it's not too late to hop on board. The more the merrier. RIYL releases on; Rather Records, Refill Records, Step-Forward Records, NB Records."
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