| 3/1/2007 |
X.0.4 |
Cataracts |
LP |
$11.99 |
Ecstatic Peace |
"Debut vinyl release by the Western Massachusetts drone/scrape trio of Bill Nace, John Truscinski and Jake Meginsky. These guys have developed into one of the most soul-glowing sound/improv units out there today. And we mean out there – sparkling shards of guitar/amp/file machinations dance and intercede with rolling thundercloud dreamdrum dramatics. Nace you know from his killer duo throwdowns with Chris Corsano as Vampire Belt as well as the more recent weirdness with Dylan Nyoukis and Karen Lollypop as Ceylon Mange and in duo with Thurston Moore as Northampton Wools. Truscinski and Meginsky are the fine gentleman who’ve recorded as Slaughterhouse Percussion, Meginsky a student of, and fellow professor with Milford Graves at Bennington College." Edition of 500 copies. |
| 6/4/2010 |
Xela |
The Divine |
LP |
$15.99 |
Dekorder |
"The Divine" marks the second phase in the trilogy proposed by John Twells aka Xela. Crawling out of a castle dungeon in pursuit of its predecessor, "The Illuminated", this LP finds itself trapped in an abandoned church somewhere in a damp Southern wilderness. Church bells chime and rattle through the record's first piece, echoing and distorting through a fog of chattering voices and prayers. Tape loops stumble over tape loops and the solemn, ecclesiastical drone slowly decomposes into thick, crackling noise. Through the mists choirs sing, heralding the introduction of the second side of "The Divine" which takes the human voice into cavernous and smudged, yet strangely alluring territories. There is almost a Basinski-like charm to this work as the choirs effortlessly degrade into an unrecognisable mud of harmony and abrasiveness. This is music informed by a religious world; Xela has edged from the scriptures of cults and secret societies to the spires of organisation and power. God is in the detail." Limited edition of 500 copies! |
| 3/21/2009 |
Xela |
The Illuminated |
LP |
$15.99 |
Dekorder |
"The music of Xela is not easily described. The alias of Type Records main-man John Twells, he has over the last decade moved through a dense fog of musical styles from abstract electronics to rusty soundscapes. In recent years his output has allied itself with darker realms, taking a liberal dose of influence from Norway's darker exponents, but retaining a deep and measured experimental focus. 'The Illuminated' was originally released on cassette, a format very fitting to the gloomy, waterlogged sounds; but having sold out in a matter of days it now recieves the much needed deluxe re-issue treatment. Taking cues from the cracked black metal of Burzum and Striborg and fusing this with heavy, synthesized noise 'The Illuminated' is possibly Xela's darkest, most spine-chilling work to date. We are taken through chiming Nurse With Wound-inspired soundscapes into Middle Eastern marketplaces and through caverns of thick, buzzing synthesized noise on the album's first piece. Entitled 'Black Scripture' this takes the dank religious themes of 'In Bocca Al Lupo' and goes even deeper into the Church dungeons, digging up lost artifacts and the angry spirits that accompany them. The flipside extends this heresy with a throaty vocal and distorted electric guitar, leaving blackened corpses and the traces of a sleepy village in its wake. Devastating and dark material, listen if you dare..." |
| 11/15/2008 |
Xela / The North Sea |
Electronic Music Vol. 1 |
LP |
$19.99 |
Rite |
"Limited hand-stamped vinyl-only edition of 300 copies for the world. Much in the same vein as the 12th Chapel LP that introduced Type-offshoot Rite, this collector's vinyl finds label boss John Twells as Xela in collaborative mode, this time splitting a record with Digitalis founder Brad Rose (aka The North Sea). Each artist contributes a side's worth of new material inspired by the electronic music of the mid-20th century. Far from being a foray into fusty academic experimentation, this album brings together primordial oscillator drones and ancient-sounding effects, the sort of thing that ties together the soundscapes of Aaron Dilloway with Radiophonic Workshop-inspired sonic resourcefulness. From the introductory drones of Xela's opening piece, you're instantly transported to the timeline-blurring recesses of Sub Rosa's Anthology Of Noise compilations, or the mighty OHM boxset, slowly morphing from fogged-over, ambiguous tonalities to a more corrosive, distorted sound, thanks to some subtle use of prepared electric guitar. Next up, "Masculine Guilt" takes the formula a couple of steps further, encroaching upon a more timbrally-sophisticated blend of auditory decay. In keeping with the album's theme, the music sounds aged and somehow smeared, as if the various sound sources had seeped into one another over time, leaving only sporadic oscillations to cut through the air of obfuscation. That account might make it sound a little harsh on the ears, but it must be radio-friendly to some degree: BBC Radio One's Mary Anne Hobbs has already given this a spin on air. On the flipside, The North Sea takes over, unleashing a single, side-long composition held in place by a bedrock of undulating synthesis and Forbidden Planet-style stray signals, vaguely resembling Theremins. By its end, the piece only seems to accumulate greater density, becoming a solid, humming sound mass before dissipating reluctantly into nothing. The cover art features the artist name and tracklisting in Romanian." - FE |
| 6/11/2006 |
Xenis Emputae Travelling Band |
Heard Gripe Hrusan |
CDR |
$9.99 |
23 Productions |
"Heard Gripe Hrusan collects together archival recordings made in Yorkshire between June 2004 and October 2005. Locales for the recordings include Little Almscliffe Crag, Ilkley Moor, the ruined church of Wharram Percy and the Thornborough Henges. XETB makes beautiful droning 'British primitive music' played with accordion, dulcimer, flutes, guitar, violin and banjo. XETB was formed in Summer 2001 at the prehistoric site of Men-an-Tol in Cornwall. Heard Gripe Hrusan will be the twelfth CDr release." Edition of 129 copies. |
| 3/21/2009 |
Xiphiidae |
Milk from a Feather |
3" CDR |
$8.99 |
Ruralfaune |
"Overwhelmed tape loops created in a room of radiant plasma. Sinking further into heavy trances and then remembering again the 'milk from a feather" metaphor. Sound source/manipulation, faint whispers/vocal noise and quiet tape recordings through heavy manipulation." Limited edition of 77 copies. |
| 1/1/2009 |
Xiu Xiu and Grouper |
Creepshow |
12" |
$24.99 |
Release the Bats |
"A beautiful exploration in ambience and darkness by Xiu Xiu and Grouper. This 5-song collaboration was created out of a shared childhood trauma involving some horror film from the 70's. The recording is ranging from melancholic, cryptic passages to lush soundscapes, all the time with a weird cinematic feel to it. Originally released on cd as a part of States Rights Records & Slender Means Society's Pregnancy Series. "Creepshow, a wisp of a collaboration between Portland phaser Liz Harris (aka Grouper) and Xiu Xiu situates itself at the core of the former's chilly drone and the windiest outskirts of the latter's saddest ballads. The EP's five tracks share similar pacing and a narrowly defined sound; subtly defined gradations emerge across the 20-some minute tapestry, but the participants contentedly explore a limited palette." (extract from Pitchfork Media review). Edition of 525 copies. |
| 9/16/2007 |
XNo BBQX |
Sunshine of Your Love |
LP |
$13.99 |
Siltbreeze |
"XNo BBQX are hardcore vegans hailing from Sydney, Australia. That's right-vegans; the only similarity Matt (guitar) and Nick (drums) share with Cream is a title. All you dairy lovers out there, keep your slowhands in plain sight. This will only take a second. Originally released some time back on the cassette-only label Breakdance The Dawn, Sunshine Of Your Love pricks up the ears in much the same way as a Han Bennink recording might, and left Siltbreeze wondering, what's left in that studio that's not broken? Answer: Only their will! Matt and Nick had played together a couple of times as part of Antipan (with Sumu and Anthony Guerra). On a day off, in a shed out back of a sharehouse in Newtown, the duo did a couple sets with computers and turntables with no records, but then Matt suggested Nick give the drums a go (he'd played a full kit only once prior). They plugged into the cassette deck-left channel, guitar; right channel, mic under the floor tom-and played. Apart from minor adjustment of levels, the end result was basically that. Citing both Harry Pussy and Mouthus as influences, XNo BBQX rocks with a lot of junk in their collective trunk, so of course Sunshine Of Your Love sounds like nothing (or everything) anyone's heard before. Former members of Antipan. One-time vinyl press of 500." |
| 7/16/2006 |
XNOBBQX |
Blues |
CDR |
$10.99 |
Seedy R! |
"What can I say... I seriously believe this album takes urban blues to a whole new level. Featuring seriously damaged autistic slo-mo riffage, comatose drumming and line hum the Sydney-side duo of Mat Earle and Nick Dan will have fans of Armpit/CJA lost for hours, their faces lit up in big shit-eating grins as they swim through the glorious murk. The sheer mind numbing deliberation and persistency of these vaguely blues-inflected untuned guitar lines lull one into an hypnotic trance whilst at the same time the seeming randomness of the drummers interjections keep one anxiously on the edge of ones seat...Overall it makes Jandek sound like Joe Satriani!" |
| 6/5/2009 |
xNoBBQx |
Skewer |
10" |
$13.99 |
Golden Lab Records |
"We first came across Australian two-piece xNoBBQx in Piccadilly Records last year when the Siltbreeze vinyl reissue of their first CD-r appeared on its shelves. The Siltbreeze label being a bastion of all that is great in terms of dirgy, lo-fi, transcendental unmusicality, we were thus intrigued to hear this slab. And, we have to say, it was one of the greatest shop-listening experiences of all time. Here was a duo, probably of fully grown men, bashing away at their instruments in a manner that suggested they had never really learned any 'proper' technique and it was all the more mind-bendingly good for it. We later read a review, in fact, that put it thus: "So what exactly is the difference between an xNoBBQx recording and a couple of 14 year olds bashing instruments in the garage with record pressed down on one of their mum's old tape recorders? Probably not a whole lot, actually, but I get the feeling that's precisely the point." (Cyclic Defrost). Well, it's a helluva point. The duo, in spite of or, perhaps, due to their unabashed simplicity, manage to create sounds that are warm as an old-fashioned blanket, each piece having the ability to induce a state of complete, dribbling mental stasis. It's disjointed, scratchy and 'difficult', yes. But it also manages to be completely absorbing. If you like your rock deconstructed to the nth degree, we highly recommend you dig this stellar new 23 minute masterpiece right here." Edition of 300 copies. |
| 3/21/2009 |
Xochipilli |
Xochipilli |
3" CDR |
$8.99 |
Ruralfaune |
"Recorded at the "Centre de découverte du Son" (Center of sound discovery), north Britain France. A magic path to listen to and make noise between magic world populated of mysterious beings, calm of nature and discovered sound phenomena. The musical path is a place where small and large are invited to include/understand, listen, produce and play with the sounds. 21 minutes, 15 shortcuts, - play random mode - build your own path and go on it." Limited edition of 62 copies. |
| 12/24/2005 |
Xombie |
Deathdrip |
3" CDR |
$8.99 |
Chondritic Sound |
"this time the rotbrain shows a more aggressive style than shown on the split 3" w/ hive mind with heavy mind-melting electronic moans. vintage xombie culled from an unreleased double cassette! green & black artwork on disgusting green paper, painted cdrs." Edition of 132 copies. |
| 12/24/2005 |
Xombie / Hive Mind |
Last Blood Into Soil |
3" CDR |
$8.99 |
Chondritic Sound |
"slow-motion loop mutation and synth swells from redrot alter-ego xombie while hive mind brings classic synth shudder and uncomfortable tones. a nightmare in stereo. brown & black artwork on dark red paper, painted cdrs." Edition of 133 copies. |
| 5/1/2009 |
XV Parówek / Fossils |
Innards Out |
LP |
$17.99 |
Middle James Co. |
"XV Parówek side contains spontaneous recording made before one of first Noise Wastes(*), a dose of maniacal harsh noise with vocals, metal and synth/pedals abuse. Fossils are a brutal trio from around Ontario, who even use some "musical" instruments, but manage to play meaner, louder noise than XVP." Operational since 1994, XV Parówek is the solo output of Bartek Kalinka, Polish experimental noise project and the namesake of his label. Fossils began in 2005, spearheaded by David Payne, and has included a revolving door of members, mostly Hamilton locals or like-unminded folk. 'Innards Out' is two unedited freedom explosions. XVP side= Recorded August 6 2008 in Warsaw, Poland as a rehearsal for Noise Waste (a bi-monthly experimental gig), XV Parówek gives us maniacal electronics and distorted vocal rips, chirps complimented by low-end rumble tumbling crumbling to a groan blasted by rusted metal winds down in the well feeling unwell. Fossils side= Fossils as Daniel Farr, Rob Michalchuk, Steve Smith and David Payne. Recorded sometime 2008 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Farr, Smith and Payne build a buzzing battlefield of junk jackhammers while Michalchuk's sax dances round landmines, bombing sheets of feedback boiling down to a sputtering whiny and a strung-out guitar scattering. skating needles sticking with four lock grooves (placed randomly on the record during the mastering process). yet another WTF to add to the Fossils mammoth discography. Record is housed in a black sleeve with pasted color cover art by Polish artist Ratz, b/w 2-sided xeroxed insert by David Payne." Limited edition of 223 copies. |