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viewing 1 To 16 of 16 items
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SAAH 055CD
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"Described as 'advanced ecstasy' by David Fricke in the pages of Rolling Stone, Austin, Texas instrumentalists My Education create sweeping, cinematic music evocative of the high-lonesome expanse of the Texas Hill Country landscape they call home. Formed in 1999 and comprised of former members of Austin-area psych mainstays Stars of the Lid, ST37 and Cinders, the band has since played over 300 shows all over the United States, alongside like-minded artists Pelican, The Black Angels, Six Organs of Admittance, A Place to Bury Strangers, Isis and many others. Three full-length albums, several compilation appearances and multiple singles are to their credit, including a must-have 12" vinyl collaboration with avant hip-hop act Dalek released last year. Additionally, My Education have received the remix treatment by Kinski, Pelican, Red Sparowes and the aforementioned Dalek, and even have composed an original score to the F.W. Murnau 1927 silent film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. In short, the band has gotten around. Behind this slow-burning momentum, the band is slated to deliver their finest outing to date, the beautiful and sublime fourth full-length Bad Vibrations. Bad Vibrations showcases My Education's sonic flights as sharply-honed, highly melodic mini-epics. Layers of guitar swell and sway over propulsive rhythms while viola spins yearning melodies ever skyward, sprinkled with delicate color by vibraphone and keyboards. Book-ended by ambient passages pillowing heavy-lidded acoustics strumming languid strings and lap-steel, Bad Vibrations is certainly the finest summation of My Education's highly textured and emotive music yet."
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SAAH 054CD
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"Glasgow, Scotland guitarist Ben Reynolds has been a prominent player in and contributor to the United Kingdom's fertile underground psych/drone scene for many years. A current member of the long-running and highly influential Ashtray Navigations, Reynolds appears on numerous recordings in the tight-knit UK drone cabal, including those by the venerable Vibracathedral Orchestra and Sunroof, and his duo project Motor Ghost with Directing Hand's Alex Neilsen. A cascade of solo excursions documenting a fractal of avant-thinking themes are available in limited DIY fashion, while proper pressings are available through Last Visible Dog, Digitalis Industries and Time-Lag. Although Reynolds has touched on acoustic elements in the past, it has mainly been as a textural layer to his psychedelic whirlpools, at which he is so adept. Reynolds puts his electric guitars aside in favor of exploring expressionist acoustic steel string terrain on his astonishing new solo recording Two Wings. Entirely improvised, Two Wings effortlessly weaves shimmering melodic lines together to form spontaneous compositions of dazzling depth and clarity. Incorporating a variety of pacing techniques with his fingerpicking style, Reynolds explores a linearity that harkens back to the American ragas of Robbie Basho, while exposing Middle Eastern influences much like the acoustic trickery of Sir Richard Bishop. The last tune on Two Wings is a written composition, utterly graceful yet striking in its similarities to the spontaneous compositions, underlying the lyrical quality in Reynold's music making. Two Wings is a remarkably unique, non-traditional take on the steel string tradition from a budding musical talent."
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SAAH 052CD
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"Of the players involved in the recent resurgence of fingerstyle guitar, Harris Newman has established himself as a primary envoy on the modern day steel-stringer shortlist. As with the case of his brothers-in-arms Jack Rose, Glenn Jones and Steffen Basho-Junghans, each of whom borrow from the past traditions of mavericks Fahey, Basho et al but have re-invented the sound and style with fresh perspectives, Newman distinguishes his music even further with a very idiosyncratic sound. In contrast to the name of the album, Harris Newman opts for a somewhat stripped-down, almost minimalist approach to Decorated. Subtle and introspective, the first half of the album showcases Newman's brand of solo acoustic guitar. Mood and color take precedence, as Newman's fingerpicking weaves tonal spirals across each composition. Melodies bob and weave from alternate pacing, balanced between space and sound like strands of tinsel clinging to a tree. Marking a stylistic turning point in the album, 'Blues for Vilhelm' is a humming incantation for lapsteel guitar, a minimalist sound pool rippling ever outwards. Following with the languid improvisation 'Golden Valleys as Seen From the East,' Newman stretches out and explores intoxicating themes, coaxing out melodies which quickly blossom and decay in slowly unfurling spools. Newman picks up the electric guitar with 'Thee Opera House Stomp,' and backed by the forward momentum of drummer Eric Craven, the song embarks from a country-blues riff headlong into serpentine trajectory reminiscent of the arty twang of Gastr del Sol. Extracting elements of folk and blues and exposing it bare, Harris Newman dresses up his music in cinematic, post-rock attire. Decorated is accessible solo guitar music for the experimentally-minded, a meditative electro-acoustic melding of Leo Kottke and Jim O'Rourke, illustrating why Newman's own take on the tradition sets him apart from the pack."
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SAAH 047CD
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"Nonloc is the solo guise of Mark Dwinell, the guitar-slinging ringleader of East Coast spontaneous trance rockers Bright. When composing on the spot with Bright, Dwinell directs the minimalist, Krautrock-inspired jams into melodic and sonically layered songs, draping over it impromptu vocals in a manner loosely akin to any number mid-'70s Kraut legends, or the philosophies of Damo Suzuki and his instant compositions. Nonloc takes direction from the Bright model, but springboards away with a more refined perspective. Between Hemispheres, the second solo album for Dwinell as Nonloc, is a heady excursion into repetition and the unyielding strength of unrepentant melody. Fascinated by minimalist composers such as Steve Reich and Terry Riley, Nonloc seeks to focus on the microtonal universes and hypnotic netherworlds: minimalism awakens from repetition, while constructing ivory towers of melody enveloped top to bottom with softly barbed hooks. Acoustic and electric guitars provide focus instrumentation, but the elaborate color accumulation of Between Hemispheres is dominated by alternate layering of acoustic instruments such as piano, accordion, mandolin, and cello. Whereas Bright will use vocals sparingly as instrumental color, Nonloc spices up the instrumental forays by peppering tunes with lyrics that are direct and at times strikingly personal. Impeccably recorded, Between Hemispheres is a long-playing lullaby for intimate, contemplative twilight stares into candlelight."
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SAAH 051CD
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"Portland, Oregon's Plants are blossoming into one of the most expansive ensembles emanating out of today's psychedelic underground. Formed by the wedded musical partners Joshua and Molly Blanchard to explore delicate acid-folk terrain, Plants have evolved well beyond their sparse and mystical roots to sail along a rich and diverse confluence of mind-enhancing streams. 2006 bore witness to a trilogy of recordings, from the quivering folk of their debut The Mind is a Bird in the Hand (Audio Dregs) to music captured in yurts and bunkers along the Oregon coast (Totem CDR, Audio Dregs) and the pillow-prog odyssey Double Infinity. Reaching deep within, Plants unfurl Photosynthesis, a haunting foray into gently rippling netherworlds. Aptly named, Photosynthesis illustrates the subtle skill in which Plants extract and blend a variety of sounds to concoct a heady elixir of minimalist psychedelia. A rotating cast of support for the husband and wife core offers a diverse array of instrumentation, including acoustic/electric guitars, cello, singing saw, organ, electric tones, and a guest appearance from Jason Buehler of the band Nice Nice on banjo and 'piano box.' Gently swirled together, Plants invoke images of a quiet solstice ritual involving early Popol Vuh, the fusion-folk of C.O.B., and a flower-powered, V.U.-era John Cale. Haunting and ethereal, Photosynthesis is a fresh new perspective from the West Coast folk-psych scene."
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SAAH 049CD
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"Autumn Shade is the nom de plume of Jes Lenee, a stunning young songstress brimming with unbridled talent. Armed with a satchel full of pensively beautiful tunes, Lenee possesses a voice as pristine as any your ears will have heard in this lifetime. Ezra Moon is a journey into a unique sepia-toned microcosm, one that intertwines folk, chamber music, psychedelia, avant-rock and indie singer/songwriter. Opening with the wispy 'Sparrow,' a delicate piano interlude softly fluttering in and out of focus like a foggy memory, the misty landscape spills into 'Home,' a folk-inspired lament driven by acoustic strumming and Jes Lenee's yearning vocals. Colored by additional instrumentation of violin, hammer dulcimer and percussion, and a healthy penchant for sonic experimentation, the narcotic, detached feel of Ezra Moon is reminiscent of albums by the female artists that helped define the 4AD sound. Jes Lenee's classical roots and compositional sense invoke the avant-chamber feel of Rachel's, if they were enveloped in the hazy folk atmosphere that Marissa Nadler resides in. Ezra Moon is an entrancing debut, inaugurating Autumn Shade into the contemporary folk scene with an understatedly personal and cinematic sound."
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SAAH 044CD
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"Eric Arn and his Primordial Undermind have tirelessly mined the nether regions of avant psych-rock for the past 15 years, resulting in a sonically fertile body of work. Arn cut his teeth in the legendary Crystallized Movements throughout the 1980s, the Twisted Village flagship band which, in its wake, also spawned Magic Hour and Major Stars (Wayne Rogers & Kate Village). Even with a history of taking left turns, it is evident from the get-go that Loss of Affect is a departure for Primordial Undermind. Oozing into consciousness with 'Intercessor,' the band bellows forth a full collective cosmic ethno-drone mantra, utilizing space and interplay to coax ritualistic swirls of sound, reminiscent of what Ghost achieved on Temple Stone. Flowing into 'Breathe Deep,' a solo avant acoustic excursion exploring odd tunings and tonal colors, shifting and heaving as it winds ever forward. From here, the band unleashes the volume and Loss of Affect continues further out, as full-blown, free acid-rock magma surges in molten explosions, intertwined with an expanded palate of instrumentation that includes bass clarinet and various other woodwinds, shakers, electronics and who knows what else. All disparate sounds are tethered to a common point, synthesized with stunning results."
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SAAH 042CD
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"West Coast psychedelic folkie Nick Castro is currently making some of most dynamic and truly original sounds to emerge from the much-ballyhooed new folk movement. As 'freak-folk' and assorted hairy-fairy type labels grab the headlines in the underground, Castro strives for a solemn, serene sort of beauty, summoning utterly melodic incantations in song and sound. Gracefully immersing '60s/'70s British Isles acid balladry with Middle-Eastern traditional music and heady, pan-cultural communal jams, Castro succeeds in reaching otherworldly vistas and ocean-spanning folk transcendence. Following up 2005's lauded Further From Grace, Castro unfurls his sprawling third album Come Into Our House, easily his most far-reaching and deeply molecular outing yet. An East-meets-West melting pot of instrumentation -- from acoustic guitars, upright bass and piano to Celtic harp, Moroccan tabla and nyabinghi drum -- Come Into Our House is at once primitive and polished, elaborate yet elusive, effortlessly mating Bert Jansch-style folk song ('Winding Tree'), psychedelic folk rock ('One I Love'), Middle Eastern traditional music ('Attar') and Bay Area acid-raga ('Lay Down Your Arms') to a kind of organic studio musique concrete that Can forged on albums like Tago Mago."
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SAAH 041LP
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SAAH 041CD
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"The abandonment and subsequent plight of America's many major urban centers is well documented, but nowhere else is this manifest to its extremity as in Detroit, Michigan. Although there have been hints of a resurgence, downtown Detroit exists in an advanced state of decay and has for many years, its blue-collar past and collection of pre-Depression skyscrapers often referred to as an American Acropolis. For Paik, the very epicenter of this deterioration is precisely where they call home. From the erosion of concrete and steel comes a certain inspiration, a parable that has fueled Paik's ongoing quest for beauty amongst ugliness and chaos. Since their inception in 1997 and across four full-length albums and a smattering of singles and compilations, Paik have studiously advanced and mutated their sound. Evolving from their embryonic shoegaze-inspired melee into sprawling, heavy stoner/psych/drone hybrids as evidenced on 2003's epic Satin Black, Paik have an uncanny ability to completely shred the atmosphere while coaxing out blissfully sonorous melodies from their thunderous caterwaul. Pulling back the reins just a bit, Paik funnel their supersonic cyclones into a tightly focused box of thunder with Monster of the Absolute, their greatest balancing act of melody and dissonance to date."
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SAAH 038CD
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"Early on, Bright tread predominantly in ecstatic instrumental rock forms. Colliding harmony and dissonance, their music clung precariously to a raw, edgy core, even as blossoming sound forms methodically unfurled outwards, like flowering vines towards the sun. By the time of Full Negative (or) Breaks, vocals became part of the mix, but largely used as more décor for their vibrant sound pools. What makes the jaw drop with a thud to the floor, however, is the realization that Bright's finely-honed music is composed entirely on the spot. Entering the studio, Bright let it fly, and with a few overdubs of added instrumentation, the result is head-bobbing and mind-elevating all at once. Drone and ambient textures, motorik Kraut rhythms and repetitious grooves collide with a tremendously melodic, almost pop sensibility, lending Bright a unique sound. Bells Break Their Towers expands their textural palette further, as evidenced on the acoustic hypnosis of 'Flood,' and with the Terry Riley-like ambient propulsions of 'Secret Form of Time,' which turns keyboard lines into cartwheels while overtones exhale into space. Bright make it seem so effortless... their sonorous whirlpools erupt from improvisation but never sound overtly 'jammy,' while their attention to melody, form and instrumental layering buffs to a shine the circular breathing of their rhythms. This is improvised rock you can hum to while you drift into trance states. German minimalist rock as forged by Neu! melds with '70s ambient and modern underground independent rock, sculpting fresh new trajectories in sound. Impeccably recorded, Bells Break Their Towers is a triumphant return for Bright, one of psych rock's most underrated sound spinners.
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SAAH 035CD
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"Originally self-released by the band in 1999 in a limited edition pressing, Kinski's debut album SpaceLaunch for Frenchie captures the group in their infancy. Exploring multiple sonic terrains, the album clearly illustrates Kinski's skillful melding of their love of pop with their love of the drone. Initially a 3-piece, the band recorded their debut in their rehearsal space on an Otari 8-track. Spacelauch For Frenchie contains some of the bands' favorite early tracks, namely 'Staring' and 'Jetstream,' and a cover of the Spacemen 3 tune 'Losing Touch with My Mind.' Remastered and repackaged, this reissue includes Kinski's ultra-rare five song demo unearthed from the period, featuring two never-before heard songs as well as an early version of a number re-recorded for Be Gentle With the Warm Turtle and the outtake 'She Always Made Us Work Like Dogs.'"
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2CD
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SAAH 032/33CD
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"Much has been said about The Jewelled Antler Collective, the fertile womb from which Thuja emits its primordial ooze, and of Thuja itself. A loose-knit assembly of like-minded sound ecologists who study the connections between their immediate environment and the music created by its players, Jewelled Antler claims a multitude of music makers in its orbit -- Blithe Sons, Skygreen Leopards, Franciscan Hobbies being just a mere cross-section. Thuja, however, remains one of the earliest and best-known incarnations. Steven R. Smith, Glenn Donaldson, Loren Chase, and Rob Reger coalesce interests in field recordings, found sound, experimentalism, folk and psychedelic rock (among others) to weave seriously detailed and immense journeys into pure sound. By incorporating real-time recordings of natural sounds from their particular surroundings, the four members of Thuja play off each other and the space they inhabit with impeccable instinct, succeeding in creating eerie yet strikingly melodic compositions. The end result is a total immersion of the senses, for both the player and the listener. Across the grand expanse of Pine Cone Temple's two discs, implements such as piano, guitars, percussion, and well-placed contact mics are blended like pigments to conjure the subtlest of sonics, pulling every lost drop of their immediate universe into floating and buzzing cinematics. Minimalist hues are brush-stroked into being and slowly unfurl into the atmosphere. Improvised clouds of sound softly erupt to form compositions of such immense and precise detail, it would seem the music was written out rather than spontaneously developed. Such is the magic of Thuja and their uncanny ability to sculpt microscopic psychedelia from their immediate environment and collective consciousness."
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SAAH 029CD
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"It is not unusual for the world-beating Montreal, Canada underground music scene to gestate and nurture a genre-bending artist of Harris Newman's caliber. Yet Newman's unique approach to the compositional acoustic steel-string style sets him apart from the herd, both in his hometown and far beyond. Newman's strengths lie in his dexterous ability to borrow from the traditions of the steel string guitar movement while propelling it forward into postmodern realms. Accidents with Nature and Each Other has time-honored solo acoustic grandeur on full display, but Newman brings many more variables to the table. Experiments with the raw sounds of the naked steel string and a wider palette of instrumentation augment beautifully his particular brand of guitar soli. The result is a rather diverse array of sounds and structures, all centered on the acoustic guitar. Languid, gorgeous melodies and hefty fingerpicking workouts bump up against ghostly harmonics and acoustic drones. A trio of solo workouts mark the beginning of the album, harkening both the aggressive trajectory of Leo Kottke and pastoral terrain of Robbie Basho."
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SAAH 022CD
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"In their hometown of Seattle, Chris Martin, Lucy Atkinson, and Matthew Reid-Schwartz of the lysergic-punk band Kinski often play out incognito. Under the guise Herzog (film buffs should figure all these German names out pretty quickly), the goal is to experiment with mood, sound construction and interplay by channeling their chemistry into an exploration of their 'cosmic' side. These entirely improvised sets have yielded some truly heady excursions into the sonic ether. Although they may perform as Herzog, the sum of the parts is still Kinski, and while the intent is to shower the air with slow-raining space dust rather than their trademark heavy-paisley riffs, ambient drone is still very much an aspect of the overall Kinski sound. Don't Climb on and Take the Holy Water is a snapshot of these experiments, 'free-ambient' sounds weaved on the spot when the guitarists subliminally dialed into one another and directed their energies into a subtle exploration of drone, texture and atmosphere."
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SAAH 006CD
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"Alex Bundy from San Francisco, CA-via-Portland, OR is the man in question operating the ambient trajectories of Planetarium Music, a heavenly electronic orchestra raining down like a vibrant meteor shower from the constellations high above. Through his Planetarium Music project, Bundy explores a style of electronic music that originated with predominantly German artists in the early 70's such as Tangerine Drea, Cluster, KIaus Schulze, and Popol Vuh's first couple of albums, and was carried through the 80's by artists such as Robert Rich, Steve Roach and Jeff Greinke. Using digital synthesizers, processing software and computers as sonic arsenals Planetarium Music seeks to reclaim the Music of the Spheres while updating it with a modern perspective. As cosmic tides ripple throughout shimmering modulations envelop and a multitude of discreet drones burble just below the surface."
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