microphones in the trees: sloow tapes
Showing posts with label sloow tapes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sloow tapes. Show all posts

Thursday, November 13, 2014

matt baldwin

matt baldwin - imaginary psychology (psychic arts, 2010/ false industries, 2014) 

Al rastrear la trayectoria de Matt Baldwin es fácil intuir la presencia de un explorador de espíritu saltarín e inquieto, algo equiparable a las tres rediciones que lleva ya este irresistible disco. Editado originalmente por psych arts en 2010, edición en vinilo el año pasado vía spiritual pijamas y nueva reedición este 2014 de la mano de false industries.‘lindsay and her duplicates’ es una clara invitación al viaje cósmico a ritmo de motorik, siguiendo la estela imborrable de Neu! o la Düsseldorf. Poco a poco, esa cadencia monótona e infecciosa, pero cristalina, se va haciendo dueña de ti sin que puedas hacer nada para evitarlo. Cuando surcas los 2’ Matt comienza a añadir serpenteantes exploraciones de guitarra, sintes analógicos, loops y entonces empiezas a vislumbrar que debe que ser Manuel Göttsching, en clave minimal, la figura principal de este imaginario. ‘bokarian dervish’ funciona a modo de interludio, una frágil y apacible nana que evoca a sus tiempos de fingerpicking y folk primitivo pero con sensaciones invernales. Es como seguir allá fuera pero sentir que has vuelto a casa por unos instantes. ‘imaginary psychology’ es el punto culminante, 15 minutos de eternas melodías que ondulan entre devaneos cósmicos y brumosas líneas de guitarras que van desvaneciéndose. Según se va acercando el ocaso, un remolino de sintes, que Matt manipula con tacto, recupera el pulso con mayor amplitud y timbres brillantes para terminar dejando que la hipnosis prosiga.



"Echoguitars floating into reverse spinning wormholes, slowly evolving endless variating looped melodies and riffs in swirling hypnotic delayed consciousness. The B side is a meditative harmonium piece recorded on the beach. 100 copies."

A pesar de los años, el sello belga ‘sloow tapes’ sigue siendo un buen cobijo para encontrar cintas imperdibles. Aquí, Matt se transporta a una playa sinuosa al son de sintes, drones, field recordings y más exploraciones de guitarra. No sé, a mí me parece uno de los discos de este año que ya oscurece. A ratos me recuerda a Scott Tuma, Hakobune o aquel split de Sky Stadium y Pierrot Lunaire en koppklys. Magia es la palabra para estas 2 largas y meditativas suites de las que no consigo vislumbrar el horizonte. ‘golden twins’, que puede ser mi canción favorita de Matt, parece orbitar alrededor del ambient o la new age en paisajes difusos, donde las sensaciones son placenteras pero esquivas, como la guitarra que asoma intrépida pero tímida al mismo tiempo. ‘asilomar’ es una redentora sinfonía a bajas revoluciones que alterna pasajes de guitarra delicados y juguetones, con otros más silvestres y orgánicos. Así, entre pájaros saltarines y el sonido de las olas termina el chapuzón de medianoche.


 

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

jack kerouac / alen ginsberg


"Counter Culture Chronicles has released on cassette a rare recording of Jack Kerouac at home in Northport, where he lived from 1958 to 1964. We hear Kerouac reading from his work while getting drunk and occasionally singing along with Frank Sinatra records that are being played in the background. Kerouac is clearly having a good time and takes the listener on a lucid deconstructionist trip, in which American popular culture is turned upside down and inside out. The recording covers the full 90 minutes of the cassette and is roughly cut, which adds to the directness and informal atmosphere of the material. Have a seat and get filled to the brim with Kerouac’s intoxicated mind. You won’t get up again." sea urchin


sold out ~ download

 alen ginsberg ~ london mantra (sloow tapes, 2014)

"solo recordings of Allen Ginsberg playing a small hand-pumped harmonium from India and singing mantras and songs to the cosmos. these recordings were made in the early seventies by the American poet and bibliographer George Dowden. from the vaults of Gerard Bellaart’s Cold Turkey Press (who also made the cover). 100 copies." sloow tapes

   
"London Mantra consists of songs, Buddhist chants and mantras (including some that Ginsberg explains were taught to him by the legendary Trogyam Trungpa Rinpoche) while he plays his small Indian hand-pumped harmonium. the results are beautiful, minimal holy music, with Ginsberg omming into the void over ascending drone patterns and with a cool audio verite appeal with lots of interesting asides and chatter." volcanic tongue 


Wednesday, January 22, 2014

razen


"esoteric improvisations deeply rooted in medieval, world and folk music. this Brussels duo plays an impressive variety of traditional instruments (santur, bombus, bouzouki, psalterium, bagpipes, hurdy gurdy etc) in transcendental dimensions. has Bryan Lewis Saunders reciting on one track. 80 copies." sloow tapes 

Razen son un duo belga formado por Bart Reekmans y Brecht Ameel. hay algo que me recuerda a Hala Strana, o a Bird People y Von Himmel. de la portada, qué decir. me encanta, como casi todas las de Sloow Tapes. y yo me pregunto, cuantísimas cintas imprescindibles, y diseños preciosos, ha editado ya Sloow Tapes.
 

Thursday, July 04, 2013

bird people


"Uli Rois’ Bird People celestial meditations on the recurring image of the water buffalo in eastern mythology. The animal plays an important role in the myths surrounding the Hindu god of Death Yama, Oya, the goddess of change, and Lao Tsu who left China over the Han Gu Pass on the back of a water buffalo. Abstract guitars and electronics drowning in tanpura drones. 70 copies." sloow tapes

 sold out ~ listen/name your price

Thursday, January 10, 2013

grapefruit


"Grapefruit is layers of analogue synths, subtle pulses and polyrhythms in sprawling myriad-dimensional Kosmische kraut universes. shape-shifting Schulze, Vangelis and Spacemen 3 into mutant arpeggios of aleatoric tones. 60 copies." sloow tapes


"mysterious Euro-zone organ-led psych stylings that combine late period Spacemen 3-style laser-guided melodies with the timeless circuitry of Harmonia: a world away from alla the new age synth currently blocking the gutters, this is a beautiful set of outer space meditations from the other side of lonely with an out-of-focus aspect and a wintery, melancholy feel that feels like Christmas with Asmus Tietchens." volcanic tongue

ante tal avalancha de discos efervescentes de ambient y kosmische, escoger uno favorito es casi imposible, pero junto a 'live/dead' de Food Pyramid, 'twin reflections' recoge como pocos el espíritu kraut de los sesenta y es tal vez el más especial para mí... ya desde la portada que nada más verla me hacen chirivitas los ojos. qué bien le sienta a Grapefruit la cinta de cassette, los colores marrones y la estética de un sello favorito y mágico como Sloow Tapes. con permiso de 'many moons', no existe un diseño más comestible y atractivo que el de 'twin reflections', un disco de largo recorrido, de numerosas escuchas, tan puro y cristalino que se acaba en un suspiro. pocas cintas han sido tan mimadas como ésta, diez canciones en más de cuarenta minutos, algo que no se puede explicar pero sí escuchar: el viaje de cinco minutos sin destino conocido que es 'being nothingness'. Grapefruit emula a  Klaus Schulze con el mismo cariño que a Vangelis y cruza notas de sintetizadores analógicos y arpegios en un mundo paralelo que un día habitó, tiempo ha, Spacemen 3. escuchad 'cop talk', la colosal y sedosa 'on her majesty' y los numerosos cambios de ritmo de 'time puncture' y volad. y luego escuchad 'von appex flux' y volved a volar

Sunday, December 09, 2012

ralph white


"Ralph White calls blues, country, folk and other influences to new psychedelic depths. recorded under cold starry Texas midnight skies, these kalimba/ banjo/accordion/fiddle arrangements are sure to bring you 'out there'. 'Atavistic Pillow' compiles the best tracks of the privately issued cd-r's 'The Atavistic Waltz' (2008) and 'A Kalimba Pillow' (2009). featuring Amy Annelle on a great rendition of ‘The Cuckoo’." sloow


sold out ~ download

Thursday, November 15, 2012

von himmel


"Von Himmel means 'From the Sky' in German. obviously, their song titles suggest a supreme fascination with celestial bodies, galaxies beyond and interstellar regions of dark matter and plasma clouds drifting about the universe. sonically, their sound stretches out for the heavens as well. It's a trippy and progressively unsettling voyage into the unknown. this floating psychedelic cosmos is electron charged with echo and delay effects, stoney cymbal hissing impulses and blown out harmonic resonations. once launched into orbit this first track hovers, crawls lethargically, intensifies, subsides, expands and contracts as though it were on some elliptical collision course into some black hole void. second track evens the tension, riding the interstellar highway smoothly with phased out effects in ascending and descending waves, exploring the furthest points of the galaxy sifting into macrocosmic meditative ambient spaces. alien sci-fi psychedelia." kfjc



"much anticipated reissue of obscure kraut masterpiece from this mysterious unit. a classic kosmische sound dream, hitting multiple familiar mind harmonics assembled in stereo polyphony. guru is you… 300 copies in lovely screen printed fancy packaging. sweet." time~lag

"Moon Moss... blast off! the echo of cosmic synth sounds announce that exploration has commenced. Astronomer begins with some a conga jam, which is soon joined by the flute and synth. the flute is alluring, floating on the drum beats." honest bag

"It's not difficult to imagine this as some educational 1970s soundtrack whipped up by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and one can almost hear David Attenborough's mellow voice describing the living habits of leafcutter ants or something." aquarius


qué dos discos mágicos y difíciles de ubicar en el espacio y el tiempo han hecho Von Himmel, de esos que hacen que te preguntes por qué no son una leyenda viva y por qué no me enamoré de 'space communion' en el 2009 cuando se editó en Sloow Tapes. en Humito lo saben y por eso han reeditado 'space communion' en vinilo. si hay tonadillas que definan una cierta idea de lo que es el espíritu cósmico, el espíritu 'ladies and gentleman we are floating in space', ésas son seguro 'moon moss' y 'astronomer' (piel de gallina cuando  aparece esa flautilla extraterrestre flotando entre los bongos...), tan lisérgicas y cristalinas que parecen salidas de la quinta dimensión. o del mismo lugar donde se grabaron 'stoned, an electronic symphony' de Gunnar Møller Pedersen y muchos de los discos de JD Emmanuel. de hecho podrían ser de esa época por lo mucho que tienen en común con Ash ra Tempel, Neu! o Cluster... o por el contrario ser otra joya semidesconocida de las librerías musicales de los setenta que tanto me gustan. como si hubieran vivido atrapados en una burbuja insonorizada todo este tiempo. contagian una sensación de felicidad parecida, imagino, a comer peyote en mitad del desierto, psicodelia y abandono puro. por no hablar de 'strawberry hill' y la cara b de 'florid pagoda', flautas new age, bongos, hammonds, moogs, viento y sintetizadores que nos llevan de viaje por planetas desconocidos. y 'moon moss' hasta el fin de los días...que por más vueltas que le dé, sigue siendo una sensación de ubicación imposible. ¡es magia!. gracias Honest Bag y Humito por haber desenterrado esta barbaridad.

filed under: alien sci-fi psychedelia

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

dreamers cloth


"here is a tiny album from Danish musician Dreamers Cloth. It was released by Relax With Nature on a cassette titled A Bamboo Dream. this feeds me the necessary energies and inspirations I need to cancel out the bad shit. excellent healing pleasure. as far as I know, he’s got 4-5 releases under that name… all sold out though ~ super limited edition. though I do believe there is a blog out there that one might be able to find his stuff on (that is an assignment)." gift tapes

sold out ~ download


"New Age meditation dance party on tropical beach, getting one with nature under a relaxing shower of multi~colored fractals and shining keys. It’s only the dreamer who moves mountains. Fantastically zoned drones from Denmark . Smoked-wreathed drones underpin heady swirls of vocal wail and wow." sloow tapes

"I think Mind Beach is whenever you rest your thoughts on something ~ and that could be anything really... Mind Beach is a picture of this static “thought gazing". But, also when you’re having many concurrent thoughts and the next minute everything seems solved and you rest your mind on one specific thing. This way, “Mind Beach” works as a landing strip for your thoughts. That is a picture I find really beautiful" jonas frederiksen aka dreamers cloth


sold out ~ download


"Relax with Nature is my idea of chilling out and going with the flow. I think that what I’m trying to evoke is an atmosphere of a place where civilization and culture is non~existing. Maybe I should call it cultural~civilization, since our concept of civilization is defined and interpreted via our culture. What I’m talking about is a place ~ or a state of mind, which becomes real the very second cultural~civilization is cancelled, and all that is left is nature ~ but ~ a new nature where, amongst other things, communication between individuals isn’t corrupted by words. I know this sounds really romantic and it’s also paradoxical to try to describe a place free from culture by means of words!..." jonas frederiksen aka dreamers cloth

sold out ~ download
 
dreamers cloth ~ the coconut pearl (relax with nature, 2008)
 
"Dreamers Cloth is diving underwater in the ambient dreamlands of fantasy creatures and unknown high sky visions. beautiful & psychedelic new age bliss-sound drones, for the fans of Ashtray Navigations, Family Underground, Skaters, Dolphins Into The Future."

sold out ~ download ~ see


"Dreamers Cloth is Jonas Frederiksen from Copenhagen. He has been pumping out limited-edition, cassette-only recordings from a secret lair in Denmark as fast as eager bloggers can upload them. The idea of swimming in an ocean on a distant planet full of telepathic otters, diving underwater in the ambient dreamlands of fantasy creatures and unknown high sky visions: these are beautiful & psychedelic new age bliss-sound drones. Jonas runs the tape label Beyond Repair" ~

sold out ~ download

dreamers cloth es una pequeña y exótica maravilla del danés jonas frederiksen, uno de esos grupos 'clima' tan escondidos que agradeces mil veces que exista alguien que se acuerde de ellos y finalmente lleguen a ti. su música es infinitamente evocadora, como si fuese tocada bajo el agua rodeado de peces y corales de colores, o compuesta en una habitación junto al océano pacífico, huye de la contaminación, del frío, sueña e imagina paisajes tropicales en sellos como relax with nature o beyond repair y todo es tan bonito que es imposible resistirse a compartir casi todos sus discos. no puedo evitar asociar nombres: dolphins into the future y monopoly child star searchers sobrevolándolo todo, buchikamashi y komodo haunts flotando en el hilo musical, james ferraro, john elliott, exo tapes, palmeras, sol, tormentas de verano, cascadas de agua, cocos, sueños de bambú, buscadores de perlas, playas imaginarias, grabaciones de campo, de agua, kraut, psicodelia submarina, hypnagogic pop, ambient, lo-fi, glow-fi, chill wave,... todo!, para volar muy muy lejos. larga vida, espero, quiero

entrevista a jonas frederiksen, aquí

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

planets around the sun / herbcraft / sacred basil


"Planets Around The Sun have been exploring many inner and outer spaces inebriated with fluid acid folk/drone/psych improvisations. prior to this indefinite tour, they collected these recordings made in various barns, on boats and in bedrooms. an epic collection by these traveling wizards who are also part of the extended Cursillistas, Herbcraft, Tempera, White Light etc. family. 70 copies." sloow tapes

"...fantastic repeating gamelan-tone hypnotics and zoned female vocalese giving way to Godz-play-Jandek downer guitar blues. some of the guitar playing is as out as Matthew Valentine’s post-Takayanagi navigations of folk/blues but when the rest of the commune start hunching like Amon Duul it’ll have you reaching for your Siloah albums to make sense of the levels of brain-erasing boo that these heads bring to the table." volcanic tongue


"Portland, Maine’s Matthew Lajoie is a man of many projects, and lately he has kept himself busy releasing and touring with Planets Around the Sun and his latest venture Brainshadows. ever since the dissolution of his principal group Cursillistas however, Lajoie’s main creative focus has been Herbcraft. this year Lajoie returns with two new releases of his signature psych-induced outsider folk. before the third proper Herbcraft record arrives this fall, a new limited edition tape comes next week to bridge the gap. Flowering contains ten fresh transmissions of opaque and somber yet delightfully ambitious and sprawling explorations. Flowering will be out July 9 on Julia Dream Recordings in an edition of 99 tapes. The new imprint has no website yet, but distribution will happen via Volcanic Tongue." nfop



"sacred basil is the trio of nicholas barker (tempera), matt lajoie (cursillistas) and jordan spencer (gorman) and their collective talents are lighting up the skies. "tuvan annex" starts of shimmering and peaceful but it's a total ruse. guitar lines get washed into an oscillating oblivion and everything gets bathed in a heavy dose of noise swash. it's like being stuck in a tornado, desperately searching for a way out. the shimmer returns but with full-on density and triumph. each shift feels in the zone. blissed guitars and electronics join together, siamese twins moving in perfect harmony. contemplative, sparsely used notes flicker like a lightbulb about to give up hoping to make one final impression before crossing the great divide. there's something almost heartbreaking about it all.

but those aren't the only paths being crossed ~ not at all. rickety, looping acoustic guitars thrum their way forward with barely-audible background beats and electronic backwash. it's like being lost when nobody wants to admit their mistake. it's unsettling but worthwhile as it finally comes together and everything gets sucked to the bottom in a massive, exquisite whirlpool of sound. love those collaborations." digitalis

Sunday, November 27, 2011

ralph white

"Ralph White’s home-made Americana internalizes old folk, proto-blues and country music into meditative, psychedelic textures transcended by a high-lonesome drawl. Drone-like banjo, reminiscent of Dock Bogg’s, fiddle, button accordion and African kalimba. Edition of 100 copies." sloow tapes

photo via magpie magazine
(thanks to the radiant now for the rip & upload)

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

plankton wat

plankton wat • shadows cs [sloow tapes, 2010]

"Late-night brooding acoustic guitar arpeggios by Eternal Tapestry’s Dewey Mahood. Cosmic raga’s moonlit by deep earthmagic awareness, invoking the spirits of Jack Rose, Robbie Basho, Sandy Bull etc. 70 copies." sloow tapes

Thursday, February 04, 2010

drmwpn

"Light your dreamweapon with some of Chicago’s most enlightened Heads. Improv band rocking the outer limits of Quantonia featuring Michael Zerang, Adam Vida, Liz Payne, Sam Wagster, Majahbeen, Steve Krakow, Jim Becker, Jim Dorling, Carol Genetti and Dan Mohr. A galactic transmission from beyond." sloow tapes

foto: jeff luker

Monday, November 09, 2009

tom carter & robert horton

"Casual late night camfire jams by Robert Horton and Tom Carter, with laidback appearances by Natacha Robinson, Janet and Mary Carter. Baked guitars, boot and percussion. On special request there’s only 40 copies of this one." sloow tapes


Friday, August 07, 2009

im jahrtal

im jahrtal • reprisen und instrumentalstuecke [sloow tapes 2009]

"Post-Pilz folk instrumentals from the mountains of Tyrol. Jahrtal is the one-man project of Ewald Spiss, who has been involved in music and art since the early eighties. Tranquil melodies, exotic instrumentation and barking dogs echoing peaceful mountains and forests. 70 copies." sloow tapes

"Im Jahrtal is the magical musical world inhabited by Ewald Spiss of the Austrian Tyrol. It's a world of pastoral psych-folk instrumentals with backwards tapes, drifting flute, exotic instrumentation, guitar and pipe organ madrigals and a rudimentary charm in the way it's all put together. Lovely stuff." boa melody bar

download

fotola: coquinete

se vale soñar :)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

gin en tsubame

"Gin en Tsubane are the Duo of Tansch and Tsubame. Repetitive acoustic guitar plucking shimmers through the cracks of fragile folksongs reverberating in clouds of acid dust guitar. Artwork by the band, insert by Sloow. Edition of 70." sloow tapes

maravilloso y dulce folk japonés: silbidos, psicodelia, flaviola e o bando do sol, eddie marcon, vashti bunyan...

filed under: delicious japanese sloow food

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

tulasi

tulasi - maa autaa (sloow tapes cassette 2007)

"Ethereal recordings by the duo of Kulkija (Uton, Keijo & The Free Players, Vapaa…) and Kutomo. Waves of flutes, voices and bubbling ambience drifting away on a soft whispered breeze blowing it out into thin cool air. Artwork by the band in an edition of 90 copies." sloow tapes

"Tulasi are a Finnish duo featuring Kulkija (Uton, Vapaa, Keijo & Free Players) and Kutomo." . This is gorgeous haunting music, easily at atmospheric as the Free Players stuff but with a totally different character, maybe more similar to Xenis Emputae Travelling Band. It sounds ancient and ghostly, like forest spirits floating in dense air. Lovely stuff." Boa Melody Bar

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

peonies

"Continuous fascinating and mysterious vocal harmonies unfolding into raw infinity. This acid-soaked haunting psychedelia truly has no exits. 100 copies." sloow tapes

"Peonies have become a real Melody Bar favourite with previous releases on Time Lag, Blackest Rainbow & House of Alchemy among others. This one is just as special. Two spaced-out lullabies with layered female vocals ushering you to a strange dreamworld and one ragged song that reminds me of Alistair Galbraith. Gorgeous." boa melody bar

foto: harley v w

Thursday, January 08, 2009

sloowroad

"Space hymns from deep woods within by Sloow Tapes Bart De Paepe and Golden Roadie Matt Valentine, crawling beyond shredding wah-wah guitars and intoxicating synth, culminating in twisted chouffe raga and porkslap pulse. Reissue of obscure Heroine cd-r, 100 copies." sloow tapes

Friday, January 02, 2009

gnod

"Kosmische Musik from Manchester speaking through hypnotic percussion grooves and splashes of synth delayed into eternity." sloow tapes

"The Somnambulist's Tale from Gnod eases in gently with spoken word passages over a hypnotic keyboard pattern and melodica and builds into a long piece which, at times, evokes Stratos-Fear era Tangerine Dream, only with some large drums (possibly tablas?) along with the synths, leading to something spookily groovy towards the end. Even if you don't normally buy cassette releases, by ignoring this you're missing something rather special. There are only 90 copies and it deserves to be heard by a lot more people than this implies will get to listen to it." boa melody bar

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

sepviva bells

"Duo recordings by Tara Burke (Fursaxa, Anahita, Tau Emerald) and Grant Acker (Slurp Dogs), smoking one late-period Un/early Fursaxa style. A scorching blend of distorted psychedelia, hypnotic riffing and mellow vocals trapped inside a very trippy atmosphere. Edition of 170 copies with silkscreened fold-out booklet." sloow tapes