secret birds

secret birds • in hex [no kings 2012]

"Damon Black of Australia recorded this audio cryptogram of interlocking loops, riffs, and textures when he was living in Tokyo in 2011. Moment to moment, this record is hitting many touchstones, part Kraut / psychedelic / drone, but always expansive, outward, and visual. Shapes and forms: waves, hexagons, prisms, serpentines, pyramids. A druggy wah in the distance buried over with fuzzy ether. Edition of 80 pro-dubbed tapes with risograph artwork." no kings

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fotola: jordan carmignani

secret birds

secret birds ~ moon clouds infinite (sonoptik 2011)

"We’ve been loosing ourselves here on the west-coast recently basking in the sweet fall sunshine and Secret Bird’s new jam, Moon Clouds Infinite. This new release marks a radical departure from earlier incarnations of the band. Having consisted of almost 30-band members in the past working on a revolving door basis, Secret Birds has and always will be the brain-child of one man, D.Black.

Across Moon Clouds Infinite we hear bollywood, hypnagogic, doom, pop, kraut and a host of other tags you could lay on this album, a thinking-man’s ambience, provocative but not distracting with the right amount of subtle shifts, abrupt changes and lulling melodies, we have a hunch at Sonoptik that D.Black is on the cusp of something big..." sonoptik

foto: robin mellway

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secret birds

secret birds ::: peace forest [bon voyage, 2011]

"Mind-altering drone and psychedelic noise journeys here by Brisbane, Queensland native D. Black aka Secret Birds, currently residing in Tokyo, who returns with his sophomore full-length Peace Forest later this month. The four-track cassette is a breathless exploration into meandering soundscapes made up of distorted guitar drones, heavy layers of synth and restless, tropical drum machine trances, somewhere between Sun Araw, High Wolf and Ducktails, according to the artist “inspired by night rides around Shibuya“. Hot and sultry these nights were, we assume. The tape is absolutely mesmerizing stuff from start to finish. Highly recommended." no fear of pop

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tons of luck to dan with his label bon voyage, "the label specialises short-run limited editions, taking in psychedelia, lo-fi, noise, avant-pop and everything good that defies definition,
from Australia and across the sea"
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fotola: reuben wu