monster rally

monster rally ~ crystal ball (self~released 2011)

"This is potentially the most leisurely release of the year...Monster Rally is the brainchild of Cleveland, Ohio’s Ted Feighan. Piecing together vinyl samples of yesteryear’s chillest as if recalling a story, Monster Rally is all about loopy, fun collages that come to life as their own entities. As a nostalgic past glistens through each jam, you cannot shake the feeling that there is a full band playing; you can feel the spirit of long-lost souls letting their internal light shine through each carefree note. It is a testament to avid sample-collectors and space is the place-ers alike..." zen tapes

"Monster Rally sent over Crystal Ball, a collection of loop-based material that was recorded “in an unbelievably hot attic” during the Palm Reader sessions of July 2010. It’s intriguing to hear him work with more vocal-heavy samples with this record, which almost serves as a primer for the rest of his catalog. You can pick your price for these tropics on his bandcamp for a limited time only" dipped in dollars

"...Ted Feighan creates an atmosphere that’s light, fun, sand between the toes fresh. It’s hip-hop, stylistically lo-fi, and Beach Boy madness. Really takes the mind off of nonverbal postures that elicit dominant interviewing techniques and puts me on the beach hoping to catch a sunset." 

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je suis le petit chevalier

je suis le petit chevalier ~ discovering mathematics 2 (no kings 2011)

"This prolific triple-threat talent (artist, writer and musician) from Belgium has graciously allowed No Kings to handle 42 minutes of her chance operation / intuitive sound collage work, after a myriad of releases on such underground institutions as Digitalis, Stunned, and Kaugummi. “Discovering Mathematics II” is warm, spacious, and immersive, and is treated with the same emphasis on process, openness and relationships between elements as her visual art..." no kings

"Je Suis le Petit Chevalier a.k.a. Félicia Atkinson is in your dreams. Her latest output lies peaceably at rest, with long willowy swathes of synth feedback, barely discernable utterances, saturated synth strings, pan-fried electric guitar treatments, diaphonous kitchen sink clatter--all flooding the long hall of consciousness with a tank of vicks vabor rub and a barrel of absinthe. Be at peace and try not to move too much and you may just start to float up into the ether yourself." impose magazine

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guanaco ±

guanaco ± ‘ardea cinerea’ (sweat lodge guru 2011)

 "A new Guanaco ± tape has surfaced on Sweat Lodge Guru Records. ‘Ardea Cinerea’ is a 4 track e.p put together in the early stages of the year." lex panayi

"An absolutely stunning set of songs, shades and threads of color arranged in an impeccable and dense tapestry of sound. Bedroom psych for those who travel while sitting stationary between four walls. Limited to 100 pro-dubbed cassettes with vellum inserts." sweat lodge guru

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moonwood

moonwood ~ river ghosts (arachnidiscs 2011)

"Subtitled Music For Water Borne Disease, these instrumental tracks wind like a river through far eastern modes and southwestern reverb. Multi-instrumentalist Jakob Rehlinger layers bowed strings, Romanian lap harp and gourd flute over fuzzy psyche-guitar and ethnic percussion, bells and gongs vaguely woven together by Taoist mysticism and modern day beards... ritual chants and soft-spoken tales about death and small woodland animals." arachnidiscs

foto: nicolette polek

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cankun

cankun ~ ethiopian dreams (hands in the dark 2011)

"Cankun will honour Hands in the Dark Records of its very first album release with its "Ethiopian Dreams" full length. The beach, idle, psychedelic melodies, piña coladas, burning hot sand, exotic rhythms, a blazing sun, an enchanting voice..." hands in the dark

"Here's a side-wack to the head from Archers by the Sea and Monks of the Balhill guru Vincent Caylet, called Cankun. Think of Ethiopian Dreams as a chorus of guitars that specialize in sparkly hi-end fragments and tell tale elements of drug music: shimmering psych texture, odd harmonic sense, gently lilting beats looping ad infinitum...Cankun will get you high off the glitter" impose

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cannibal movie

cannibal movie ~ avorio (sound of cobra 2011)

"Cannibal Movie is a sub genre of exploitation films made mostly by Italian filmmakers through the 1970s and 1980s. This sub genre is a collection of graphically gory movies that usually depict cannibalism by primitive, Stone-age natives deep inside the Asian or South American rain forests.

Cannibal Movie is also a duo from south of Italy, exponents of new rising Italian avant-garde music scene.

They play drums and a old italian organ and their sound is a mix of obscure psychedelia, hypnotic tribalism and ecstatic magic tunes." sound of cobra

"Incredibly promising debut release from Italian organ and drums duo, Cannibal Movie, whose membership includes super-continental soundmaker, and Sturmundrugs honch, Donato Epiro and Gaspare Microwave With Marge / Lemming Records. This also marks a fine start for the brand new, Berlin-based Sound of Cobra label.

Cannibal Movie deal in heavy hypno-psych pound, with plenty of ability to conjure suspense and swing no less. It’s as if Religious Knives went batshit crazy, ate their guitarist, and continued on as a band..." foxy digitalis

foto: ryan mcginley

imposible resistirse al hechizo de avorio, y es que tiene demasiadas cosas que nos gustan..

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laughing eye weeping eye

laughing eye weeping eye • where snakes & seers go
[hairy spider legs, 2011]

"Laughing Eye Weeping Eye performances are akin to watching a vaudevillian story-teller in a medieval church gospel singers, gnomes, and goats. Bandmates in this lifetime and gurus in another, Chicagoans Rebecca Schoenecker and Patrick Holbrook create a multi-faceted experience that incorporates harmonium, looped vocals, toy instruments, visuals, and effects. Inspired by folk music and spiritual singing, LEWE creates songbooks for audience members so that they may sing along. On occasion, the bliss of this act has held to singing in tongues." laughing eye weeping eye

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ya está. he encontrado la solución perfecta para ser un personaje de un cuento. en una historia donde las palabras celebración, comunidad, juego, encanto, pócima y paseo dan color a los sonidos que hace que lo irreal sea realidad... es que así suena esto, y mientras más escucho siento que ya me crece una cola, unos lindos cuernos, me comienzo a retorcer, a aplaudir pero sobretodo qué ganas de maullar. miau!

fotola: ana noble

smokey feather

smokey feather • arbore en la cresta

[luzzzalig, microphones in the trees, 2011]

spacey improvisations dedicated to spacey ones:
rafa aka arbore & salvador cresta
recorded the nights of july 16 & 17, 2011.
san miguel de allende, méxico.

*
::: a volar, cual pluma en el humo :::
*

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wyld wyzrdz

wyld wyzrdz ~ positive texture (moondial 2011)

"When I started recording as Wyld Wyzrdz I was in a much different place than I am now. The albums between 2008-2009 were made quickly and represent an exploration of sound, an era of figuring things out. In late 2009 my life began to shift rather drastically, and by early 2010 I was a new human. As a result the world of the wizard evolved with me. My intention for making these recordings changed and Wyld Wyzrdz became more of a reflective practice, a space for sharing my inner journey. The beginnings of these changes can be heard with the Antelope Island 7” and Positive Texture c45, while Free Magick is the full embodiment of my newness. After further exploration with From a Stone and Acceptance I found myself at a place of peace with Wyld Wyzrdz and a feeling of letting go has come to me. After these albums are released I will continue my journey as Coyote Dreamer." braden j mckenna

"...all of McKenna's work reflects the quiet passion and sincerity that can easily be overlooked by his enigmatic creative process. It doesn't matter how the music was made. Wyld Wyzrdz and all of the other channels McKenna inhabits exhibit experimentalism and artistic expression in a very digestible form. Relax, meditate, cleanse your nostrils..." inyourspeakers

me gusta su expresión de absoluta felicidad. gracias, braden

owl photo: ramona flume

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paavoharju

paavoharju ~ ikkunat näkevät (fonal 2011)

"...Ikkunat näkevät EP is a collection of rare and unreleased tracks with a first appetizer - its title track. Ikkunat näkevät belongs to their slower, more dreamy tracks, but still, more accessible in the way Laulu was. It features grieving, lamenting vocal with roots in Finland’s rural folklore. Its clear structure and slow build are nicely interconnected with Paavoharju’s usage of classical instruments - piano and violin - which make this more a classical folk ballad than band’s typical electro-acoustic experiment. Ikkunat näkevät is a nice introduction to Paavoharju’s calmer and more romantic soul." tomas slaninka

foto: Joanna Pallaris

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gkfoes vjgoaf

gkfoes vjgoaf ~ nature eternal striving (inner islands 2011)

"This album is a reflection of my new-found intimacy with the water on our planet and within us. Previously I never felt a deep connection with water. I had a fear of drowning as a child. And I never really resonated with the color blue. All of this pretty much changed after Rosa and I moved rooms in a cooperative house. Our new room had only light blue, teal-ish walls. I thought I wanted to repaint at first, but after living in there a couple days it really grew on me. A lot of new songs and textures came out of living in that room. Very soon after, though, we traveled to New Zealand to do Wwoofing. New Zealand is one of the wettest countries and is home to the second wettest landscape (Fiordland) on Earth.

I worked on the rest of the album there and I very consciously felt like I’d never been so in love with the water. I swam in the ocean naked, after not having swum at all for years. I even got a blue hat to work in. My body is mostly water. It is pretty much the essence of thriving life on this planet. I also started thinking about how water works and moves. It is always moving, if it can… effortlessly though. It has no aversion. And it has no point of arrival. For me the songs on this record all resonate with particular forms that water takes. And, of course, whatever you perceive is equally valid. That’s where I’m coming from." sean conrad

suenan teclados y se intuyen, lejanos, efectos de murmullos y agua. es 'wholeyness', un nuevo viaje de sean conrad aka gkfoes vjgoaf, la inspiración infinita

foto: ruhnay ackerman

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river friends (mp3)

clouds glide through me (mp3)

stag hare

stag hare ~ spirit canoes (hands in the dark 2011)

"Strange crossroad towns on top of the world rolled by, with shawled Indians watching us from under hatbrims and rebozos. All had their hands outstretched. They had come down from the backmountains and higher places to hold forth their hands for something they thought civilization could offer and they never dreamed the sadness and the poor broken delusion of it. " J. Kerouac

"Following her very noteworthy first album (Black Medecine Music, 2008), Stag Hare has joined us at the dawn of her second opus, Spirit Canoes. 4 titles make up 40 minutes of folk, drone, psyche played in a slow motion by this barefoot uninhibited free-spirit..." hands in the dark

"stag hare was raised mostly by wolves in the northern woods many hundreds of years ago, she has been traveling the path for many of the years since with frequent and extended stops along the way for food and tea. her favorite color is purple. she enjoys lavender, dancing, and decadent celebratory feasts. as the princess of her forest you may find her patrolling amongst the chattering ferns or perhaps sleeping away lifetimes lost in a mossy dream."

"Stag Hare seemingly lives that bohemian way on her own quest for truth (follow his beautiful travelin’ photos on Tumblr) and writes the soundtrack from her barefoot heart, a true traveling troubadour.  Get this among four songs on cd or wait for it on vinyl from Inner Islands in August." yvynyl

filed under: criaturas celestiales

buy
asha moon canoes (mp3)
to coyoto to hop (mp3)

sad souls

sad souls ~ precious paragons (self~released 2011)

"songs of differing ages, all from differing phases"

free download

sad souls ~ forest loops (self~released 2011)

"Sad Souls’ “Forest Loops” is an album of quiet guitar moments, loops, and subtle shifts of mood and ambiance. The eight tracks on this record slowly build through delicate reverb, echoed sounds, sad moods, and the occasional distant background vocal, like on the sublime “On the Strand”..." their bated breath

free download

bitchin' bajas / faceplant

bitchin bajas • faceplant ~ split (bathetic 2011)

"Bitchin Bajas is the solo synthscapes of one Cooper Crain, maybe better known as a member of modern krautrock masters Cave. With Bitchin Bajas, Crain creates worlds of sound, crafted from analog synthesizer and organ tones, not entirely too far removed from certain elements of Harmonia, Edgar Froese, or Cluster. Crain is definitely bringing a vintage sound to the table here. Clean, distinct arppegiated tones floating and bouncing, drifting and forming zones of their own. This is real deal psychadelia at its finest.

Faceplant is the solo work of one Aaron Coyes, of Peaking Lights and Rahdunes fame. Peaking Lights have made a sturdy name for themselves playing homemade synth-driven psychedelic, dub-infused drone-pop. With Faceplant, described as Coyes' ''solo modular hessian noise trance project,'' he is mining a somewhat similar terrain. Driving percussive beats are slathered in dubby echo, while sweet synthesizers hover and chime; it's definitely a groovy affair..." bathetic

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eternal dreamer

eternal dreamer ~ splintered sunlight (calypso hum 2011)

"opaque ruminations waver like dust clouds"
jewelled antler por fuera y por dentro

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hear hums

hear hums ~ shrines

"droned beginnings that soon become percussion led behind an organic setting filled with acoustics of every timbre, as Mitch’s ‘ohs’ & ‘ahs’ accentuate all around nature samples that seem to soak in and add a bit of a wilder Florida environment to it all.

Gainesville duo, Hear Hums, is about as atmosphere-driven as a project gets. I was lucky enough to be able to first come across these two at a show and experience the ethereal nature of their experimental work live. Now, Mitch Myers and Kenzie Cooke, the two behind Hear Hums, have prepared a wonderful third album, Opens, to follow the previous Psyche Cycles. After, several listens of the release, I can easily say it’s their most encompassing release of the three.

Though, the only track available on the internet right now is “Shrines”, but take it as a sampler of good things to come from the rest of Opens." awd castles

cualquier canción que me recuerde un poquito, o un mucho, a stag hare se convierte automáticamente en favorita

foto: hui

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james ferraro

james ferraro ~ marble surf (new age tapes 2008)

"...Marble Surf is simply the most endlessly beautiful thing I've ever heard. In a post-post-Eno way, James Ferraro composed a slow-motion, ocean-sized waterfall of washed-out angelic choruses, watery steel drums, and dreamy synths that repeat the same basic structure for forty minutes (there are two tracks, but they're essentially the same piece of music)...

...It's a cloud-floating heroin-basted rimjob from jesus in a Terry Reilly calypso dream. It's J.S. Bach for the polaroid-transfer, new-age tapes set. It's weightless and epic and magnificent and ecstatic and transcendent all at once, and it's the best fucking thing I've ever heard." victorian squid

...a los nombres de brian eno, j.s. bach y terry reilly tan sólo añadiría uno más: julianna barwick. y algún pasaje de birthday of bless you de inca ore, aunque marble surf sea infinitamente más sobrecogedor 

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l.r.j. martens & ada van hoorebeke

l.r.j. martens & ada van hoorebeke ~ eternal landscapes (aguirre 2011)

"L.R.J. Martens aka Dolphins Into The Future presents two 'Eternal Landscapes' inspired by the artwork of Ada Van Hoorbeke. These landscapes were recorded at the Cetacean Nation Studios in Antwerp, and at Wiels, Brussels, in 2010 and cover similarly tropical aquatic zones as Lievens is best known for. The first expanse is a trip through tropical mangroves soundtracked by chirruping bird calls, trickling polynesian rhythms and a nocturnal chorus of unidentified animalicula, maybe... The other side feels like we're on land, in a humid downpour listening to a novice gamelan orchestra zonked on the heat but compelled to keep playing beautifully out of time. Immersive." boomkat

tropical field recordings beneath the ocean como pequeños viajes bonitos por selvas y océanos donde suenan pájaros, búhos, delfines, metalófonos, xilófonos, tambores, gongs, cantos nocturnos de animales no identificados, agua...

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hertta lussu ässä

hertta lussu ässä ~ s/t (de stijl 2011)

"Kuupuu (Jonna Karanka), Lau Nau (Laura Naukkarinen) and Islaja (Merja Kokkonen),  all together in one band - it's like the dreamiest Aquarius daydream come true! All three of these ladies have been responsible for some of the most mystical and beautiful recordings of the last few years, all of which have become permanent favorites with everyone here. Lau Nau, and Islaja's recent recordings have shown them moving toward a more direct approach in their songwriting, but this project really lets all of these ladies dig deep into their textured, experimental roots.

It's a bit like listening to a seance happening miles away. Distant and subtle rumblings, murmurs, and gently conjured spells. One of those records that you can't identify what instruments/electronics are being used, with many of the sound sources seeming to be drawn from nature. Hertta Lussu Ässä use their voices as another haunting instrument that glides in and out of these four long tracks. It has us thinking of the Jewelled Antler crew performing an Arvo Part piece, or Grouper and Hala Strana collaborating on the soundtrack to a pagan solstice ceremony. Completely breathtaking!" aquarius records

...y poco más puedo añadir a lo que nos cuenta aquarius. la emoción en estado puro. dicen que este nuevo disco de islaja, laura y jonna es como un sueño hecho realidad. jewelled antler interpretando una pieza de arvo part, o grouper y hala strana colaborando en la banda sonora de una ceremonia pagana. tan sólo añadiré que las risas, murmullos, susurros, palmas, flautas, maullidos y pianos, convierten a estas cuatro canciones nana en otro disco familiar y acogedor del que no quieres salir. y que jewelled antler y finlandia es lo mejor que le ha pasado a la música en los últimos diez años. alabados sean por siempre ^^

foto via jesse treece

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deep magic

deep magic ~ ancestor worship (goldtimers tapes 2011)

"Deep Magic is an ascent of vibrating dreams.  A reverence for the past.  Family as honor and narrative bliss.  Spun webs of high wet dew.  Deep Magic is archaic spirit hymns.  Healing music." goldtimers tapes

foto: petercat harris

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deep magic ~ ocean breaths (deep tapes 2011)

"...“Ocean Breaths 1″  by Deep Magic is one of the most aptly titled songs I’ve heard in a while. Its nine-and-a-half minute run takes us on a shoegazing journey colored by bells, shakers, and the sound of slow, deep breaths. If you’ve been running around town, and have somehow forgotten to breathe, this meditative track will remind you. The visuals, which Gray produced on his own, are the sort of ethereal psychedelic fare. We’re shown scenes of the African animals in the plains, layered over images of Ocean predators... the deep focus on nature here works perfectly for this cleansing, zen track." visitation rites

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