- Iibiis Rooge Hespherides LP
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Iibiis Rooge is the high-powered collaboration of Neil Campbell (Astral Social Club, Vibracathedral Orchestra and A Band) and High Wolf (releases on Holy Mountain, Not Not Fun, and his own Winged Sun label). Their new album, Hespherides, is a welcome development in the duo's trajectory, with its immersive propulsion more refined and synthesized than their 2009 self-titled debut. That earlier effort showcased the possibilities and capacities of the two artists' collaborative spirit, each track exploring the individual aspects of a shared sense of sound with discernible cues from either Campbell's or High Wolf's discography. In contrast, Hespherides is a meticulously sculpted document that embraces a total sound -- one that denies prominence of each contributor by melding the psychic duality of the pair. Shifting industrialized ethno-polyrhythmic structures are transformed by droning, blissed-out textural threads that seamlessly coexist and contradict one another; Through two side-long process-driven mechanical meditations, a shared space is constructed, one that satiates anyone willing to gorge on the global, post-acid house, rainbow hypnotism that is Iibiis Rooge.
- Mastered by Pete Swanson with artwork by Jamie Potter and layout by Sean Johannessen.
- Limited vinyl edition. Also available for digital download.
- $14
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- Excavacations Object Permanence CD
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What to make of Excavacations? Are they a pop band? Perhaps, except they spend as much time zoning out and embedding weird sounds into extended soundscapes as delivering infectious payloads loaded with hooks. Are they drone? If so, this is the catchiest drone you'll ever hear. Are they rock? Maybe -- they rock hard at times but not often. Are they bad spellers? Probably (don't miss that extra 'ca' in the name). But if we live in a post-post-everything world, then Excavacations is simply music for the 21st century.
Object Permanence is one of the catchiest releases in the Weird Forest catalog but this isn't empty-calorie Diet Mountain Dew for the ears. The hooks will stand out initially but repeated listens reveal nuances embedded in the music and the care that went into creating these compositions. The boys aren't afraid of big hooks and choruses but they warp traditional song structures and abandon verse-chorus-verse. Indeed, Excavacations don't write songs as much as they craft delicate sonic vignettes, song miniatures that ebb and flow, often interweaving and bleeding into each other. Maximalists by nature, nearly every track incorporates overdubbed layers and unusual sonic elements into its core but somehow it all just works -- the songs never sound overcrowded or weird for the sake of it.
Object Permanence comprises of songs culled from a string of underground cassette releases on the venerable Stunned, Avant Archive and Paramita labels plus 4 new exclusive tracks but the album sounds like a cohesive statement. Partially re-recorded, mixed and mastered specifically for this release, these songs have never sounded better.
Excavacations - Object Permanence Preview by Weird Forest - Exquisite color pencil art by Phil French of Stunned Records.
- Deluxe CD digipak edition.
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Excavacations - Ojbect Permanence CD
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- Dead Reptile Shrine The Sun of Circles And Wood 2LP
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Listen to
- DeadReptileShrine-a01.mp3
- DeadReptileShrine-c02.mp3
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Finally, the legendary Finnish black metal project returns with the first full-length album in years! With a unique and encompassing sound, Dead Reptile Shrine has always been uncomfortably slotted in the black metal genre but DRS fits right into the Weird Forest catalog. "The Sun of Circles and Wood" encapsulates all spects of the Dead Reptile Shrine sound: primitive riffs, ambient synth pieces, droning backdrops, snarled vocals, plaintive cries, Satanic chants, the works. But this album isn't a celebration of darkness -- it's a portrait of a soul being torn apart by dark and light elements. The poor listener is dropped down a well and left to wallow in the stench of her own soul's filthy excrement and only occasionally alleviated by glimpses of light at the top of the well that seems so far, far away.
The Sun of Circles and Wood was mastered by Pete Swanson and comes in a beautiful full-color deluxe gatefold vinyl edition limited to 500 copies.
- Mastered by Pete Swanson. Deluxe double-vinyl edition with full-color gatefold and insert.
- Preorder now and save 10% of the regular $22 price.
- $22
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- Mudboy This Is Folk Music LP
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Listen to
- Mudboy-ThisIsFolkMusic-SolitronWave.mp3
- Mudboy-ThisIsFolkMusic-SailingSong.mp3
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Raphael Lyon is the enigma known as Mudboy. From the incredibly detailed art/packaging to bizarre mp3 releases attached to scrap metal or plant matter to Freddy Krueger-inspired art installations, Lyon has always been one of the strangest cats on the scene.
This unique perspective also infects his music. Whereas many of today's kosmiche-influenced artists bubble up from the noise scene (with knob-twiddling pedal pusher seemingly a prequisite to sequencing synth jammer these days), Mudboy's work hints more toward the avant-garde as well as a touch of the classical.
Originally released on CD in 2005, This Is Folk Music finds Lyon placing each sound with purpose and carefully sequencing the songs to create a dark, slightly twisted yet strangely beautiful soundscape. Listen to the gunshot crack that kicks the album into high gear on "Solitron Wave", the seamless transition from the sparkling melody of "Running" into the jungle rhythms of "Beirut Dance Party", even commonplace field recordings of waves and night sounds take on a different dimension in Lyon's hands.
This Is Folk Music may have been his first major release but already, all the trademark elements are present: the skewed aesthetic, the attention to detail and especially, the strong compositional sense. This is Mudboy.
- Art/layout by Raphael Lyon. Vinyl reissue specially re-sequenced by the artist.
- Limited edition of 500 includes 22" x 22" insert with mp3 download of the album in its original form.
- $14
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- Noveller Desert Fires LP
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Listen to
- Noveller-DesertFires-a1Almost.mp3
- Noveller-DesertFires-a2ThreeWindowsFacingThreeDoors.mp3
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The solo project of Brooklyn-based guitarist and filmmaker SARAH LIPSTATE (Rhys Chatham's Guitar Army, Glenn Branca's 100 guitar ensemble, Parts & Labor, Carla Bozulich / Evangelista, Cold Cave), follows up her Red Rainbows CD (No Fun 2009) with this compositional evolutionary step from layered, loop-based drones to more expansive formal arrangements of swells, throbs, tones and shimmer.
"Almost Alright" explores territory charted by Fripp & Eno or synth-heavy contemporaries Emeralds. "Kites Calm Desert Fires" is a sandstorm of rich, percussive guitar, warm humming bass and swirling rhapsodic chimes. "Toothnest (for Chris Habib)" arrives at an idyllic sonic plateau of windswept fuzz and tremolo, then charges blindly with a soaring guitar solo evocative of bagpipes triumphantly marking a return from battle.
- Art by Sarah Lipstate. Originally released on CD by Saffron Recordings.
- Limited edition vinyl comes with 11"x11" insert.
- $14
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- Garrincha & The Stolen Elk Void CD
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Watch
- Watch Tower Of Babble video on Facebook.
With a pair of cassette releases in recent months on the venerable tape labels, Stunned Records and 905 Tapes, Garrincha & The Stolen Elk may seem like neophytes on the scene but the truth is Davy Bui and Matt Kretzmann have been making music together in one form or another since 2002. Both have been active in their regional noise and DIY scenes for years with little official documentation other than Bui's releases in Antennas Erupt! for Weird Forest and S-S Records. Garrincha & The Stolen Elk's full-length debut reflects this combined two decades of fully integrated experience and influences.
"I Don't Believe You" kicks off the album with chiming bells and an upbeat church hymn slowed down and matched to a barrage of processed chanting voices. The song morphs into a hypnotic guitar loop layered with ringing synths, guitar washes and ghostly vocals, all building to a cacophonous climax replete with bleating saxes, a buzz metal riff and shredded guitar. "Tower of Babble" begins with sounds of rainfall and something sounding like slowed-down Gregorian chants as a chiming guitar melody softly repeats, eventually giving way to a buzzing organ drone, a tribal drum beat and belted German vocals before taking a final sinister turn with an insistent snare roll propelling the song towards its grand finale. The album concludes with the side-long, three-part "First Rites, Last Communion" suite. Heavily comprised of processed Asian church ceremony field recordings accompanied by occasional guitar and keyboard statements, the piece eventually erupts into a maelstrom of noise blasts, wild guitar and ringing bells before settling into a series of long, drawn out tones.
Mastered by Graham Lambkin (ex-Shadow Ring), this album sounds like little else in the Weird Forest catalog.
- Mastered by Graham Lambkin. Design/layout by G+SE & Aaron Winters.
- Jewelcase enhanced CD version includes bonus live videos viewable on your computer. Price includes shipping world-wide.
- $13
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