“With its meditative tempos and enveloping guitar work by Michio Kurihara—‘it’s like this golden net,’ Naomi said of his gorgeous, versatile playing—A Sky Record offers shelter from the squall. If it has the glow of a long-delayed reunion between friends, that’s not accidental: Kurihara hasn’t traveled outside of Japan in some time, so Damon and Naomi hadn’t recorded with him in nearly ten years. When they finally made it back to Japan in November 2019 for a brief tour, they were elated to book some time with Kurihara at the aptly named studio Peace Music. “In those long stretches of quarantime, the tracks they returned from Japan with had distinct moods but not yet any lyrics. (Kurihara works best when trying to conjure a specific feeling or natural image—after all, he did once make a solo record, Sunset Notes, on which every song was based on a different sunset he’d witnessed...) How to write about the pandemic? How to not write about the pandemic? Naomi first struck upon the appropriate tone when re-reading the journals of one of her favorite abstract painters, Charles Burchfield. She arranged this found language into the lyrics of the iridescent ‘Season Without Time,’ which also became a tribute to a friend that she and Damon had lost in the last year. “From there, the floodgates opened. The wistful and watery ‘Midnight’ (electrified, towards the end, by the slow screams of a Kurihara solo) conjures Naomi’s nostalgia for youthful summers spent at Jones Beach, while the...
LP $19.00
07/29/2022
CD $13.00
08/12/2022
MP3 $9.90
07/29/2022
FLAC $11.99
07/29/2022
“Every audio format has its strengths and weaknesses… but those without liner notes are really missing out. “We thought we’d take advantage of the persistence of physical media for words and images and print a booklet to accompany what will be, inevitably, a digital album for many. Richard Youngs was with us when this project began, like a screwball comedy, with a (largely harmless) fall down stairs. Michio Kurihara lent his wonderful electric guitar to all its tracks, and Soichiro Nakamura skillfully recorded those parts at his Peace Music studio in Tokyo. Susanne Sasic joined us on the trip to Japan that made those recordings possible, a tour sparked by an unusual invitation in 2019 to play a cultural festival in the small port town of Tsuruga, on the Sea of Japan. (The same port where Damon’s father landed as a nine-year-old refugee from Europe in 1940.) We asked the music writer Lindsay Zoladz to tell the story of what happened next, to this project and to all of us, in the unexpected events of 2020. And Jarvis Cocker explains an audio ritual that helped us through that year. We’ve added some short notes of our own, on the genesis of the music and words for these songs; and their lyrics. Thank you for listening, however you choose to do so. And welcome to our Sky Record.” —Damon & Naomi
BK $17.50
08/27/2021
Back in 1998, Damon & Naomi sang, “It’s the turn of the century / which way you going to go?” In the 21st Century documents the direction they chose, drawing on their four albums recorded for 20/20/20, 2005-2015. Michio Kurihara, electric guitarist extraordinaire known for his work with Tokyo bands Ghost and Boris, features prominently on nearly all these tracks, as does avant-garde soprano saxophonist and arranger Bhob Rainey. Damon & Naomi’s 21st century songs may be a bit more musically complex than their albums made for Sub Pop in the 1990s, or their recordings with Galaxie 500 in the 1980s, but as journalists (and twin sisters) Jenn and Liz Pelly point out in collaborative liner notes that accompany this release, there are strong continuities with the mood of those earlier albums. “In their acoustic dream pop, inspired by poised English folk, I hear composure and also intensity; delicacy and also rigor; a hushed quality as well as strength, which is to say stoicism. I hear grace and what makes grace so emotionally necessary. Theirs are magic-hour songs, pushing the dualities of our emotional lives into stark relief,” says Jenn. “It’s music that makes time stop, or stretch, or slow down. Songs where the ticking clock is not met with pure anxiety,” adds Liz. “There’s also a sense of mystery in some of these songs that seems to allow for the unpacking of interior life with a respectful distance, which I admire.” “Really I feel like there is a whole...
MP3 $9.90
02/14/2019
FLAC $11.99
02/14/2019
“Grey day celebration music for meshed afternoons; eleven strums and songs to savor as you wander till spring. Did Damon & Naomi dream them? Did I? Will you?” —Andy Zax People talk about Damon & Naomi as if they’re the raw infrastructure that remained after Galaxie 500 fell apart, a steel skeleton stubbornly standing after an earthquake. But when the pair began a new project, they weren’t adjusting so much as starting from scratch. By the time they released More Sad Hits, they had grown enough as musicians and songwriters that they didn’t need to lean on stark sincerity and reverb-drenched emoting. Instead, they reigned in their sound, favoring acoustic over electric, building more complex and specific textures, and exploring smaller sonic spaces. If Galaxie 500 was ahead of its time, Damon & Naomi are prescient in their own way, firmly rooted in the early ’90s but hinting at things to come. The project provided a necessary platform for the pair to focus, hone and build on the groundwork that they laid for themselves, peeling away layers to reveal a shy closeness that Galaxie 500 never could. The pair’s latest project, Fortune, is an LP released in tandem with Naomi Yang’s video piece of the same name. She refers to the work as “a silent movie,” though the visuals are so bound up in the music (and vice versa) that it’s more of a long-form music video, a visual poem set to the metronome of a textural score. She conceived...
LP $16.00
03/17/2015
CD $9.50
02/17/2015
MP3 $9.90
02/06/2015
FLAC $11.99
02/06/2015
In his native Brazil, Kassin is a sought-after producer (Bebel Gilberto), bass player (Caetano Veloso) and musical director (Orchestra Imperial, a new-twist samba band that regularly plays for audiences of 40,000). But outside Brazil, he is best known as a member of the mysterious trio known as +2, who released three albums on Luaka Bop, each identified by a different leader: Moreno +2 (lead by Moreno Veloso, Caetano’s son), Domenico +2 (lead by Domenico Lancellotti), and Kassin +2 (the last of the series, released in 2008). The +2s toured the world, collaborated with royalty of the indie rock world like John McEntire (Tortoise) and Sean O’Hagan (High Llamas), and, upon completing their high concept trilogy, called it a day. Kassin’s first songwriting project since the +2s, and his first proper solo release, is likewise conceptual: a set of songs about dreams. Sonhando Devagar (“Slowly Dreaming”) is no routine mishmash of oneiric whimsy, however; Kassin’s unconscious turns out to be both lucid and precise. He dreams / sings about eating zebra (“Natural World”) and bananas (“Potassium”), about losing cell phone signal (“Out of Service”) and his heart (“When You Are Dancing Samba”), about sex in a handicapped bathroom (“Gym Pants”), and about the similarities between ice cream and bodily fluids (“Absorb You”). The journey is as deadpan as it is surprising—plus, you can dance to it.
LP $16.00
11/12/2013
MP3 $9.90
10/01/2013
FLAC $11.99
10/01/2013
In 1995, Damon & Naomi went into the studio with Galaxie 500 producer Kramer to record their debut for Sub Pop. Not everything went according to plan, however; or rather, it turned out Kramer and Damon & Naomi each had a different plan for what should result. Damon & Naomi put down tracks for what they thought would be their first “acoustic” album, the beginnings of the folky sound they would develop in years to come. But Kramer, in the engineer and producer’s seat, finished it according to his own idea: closer in spirit to the psychedelic record the duo and he had previously recorded together, More Sad Hits. When Damon & Naomi asked for changes, the mercurial Kramer—Phil Spector of indie rock—flew into one of his famous rages, insisting the album was already as it should be. In the end, he made the changes, but only under protest. And when band and label asked to hear the original version again to compare, Kramer said too late: he’d erased the tape. Flash forward a number—OK, a lot—of years. Old arguments are forgotten or forgiven, and fortunately no one has been murdered (this is still indie rock, after all). Damon & Naomi receive a message out of the blue from Kramer: a friend of his has found a bunch of master tapes from the old studio, some might be yours, here’s the address. Damon climbs the stairs of a Tribeca walk-up, where a dusty plastic bag sealed with duct tape is waiting...
LP $16.00
04/30/2013
MP3 $9.90
04/20/2013
In 2011, Damon & Naomi celebrate their 25th year as performers together, and nothing displays that celebratory spirit more than False Beats and True Hearts, their first album of new recordings in four years. An record of lush possibility and depth, False Beats and True Hearts fuses the skill of music veterans with the fervor of artists continuing to create at the top of their craft. With the reissue of the first Damon & Naomi record (More Sad Hits), a retrospective of their mid-career highlights (The Sub Pop Years), and, perhaps most notably, rereleases of all three seminal Galaxie 500 albums, there’s been a lot of looking back. It’s therefore appropriate that the first song off False Beats and True Hearts is “Walking Backwards,” an ode to the joy of nostalgia and warmth of reflection. The song, and indeed, much of the album, is cross-stitched by Michio Kurihara’s elegant guitar playing—a thick and resonating psych sound that has been a part of Damon & Naomi’s music since their collaboration with the Japanese band Ghost. The album is unexpectedly upbeat and strident; while lyrics portray true introspection, the melodies are ambitious and far-reaching. Naomi’s new passion for piano playing circles the album like a starry night, capturing the vitality found in the finest Plastic Ono Band recordings. Like their best material, it’s the sincerity and necessity of their expression that is the most striking. With False Beats and True Hearts, Damon & Naomi offer an essential document of what brings listeners to music in the first place: emotion,...
LP $16.00
05/17/2011
CD $12.00
05/17/2011
MP3 $8.91
05/17/2011
Two years out of print, and just in time to go along with the album reissues, the double-DVD Galaxie 500 compendium has been made available once again via 20|20|20 at a discounted price. Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste is a comprehensive visual document spanning the history of Galaxie 500. A collection of all their music videos, a TV appearance and an archive of over 40 songs performed live, this two-DVD set includes an unreleased original song "Buzz in My Head" and a live version of Jonathan Richman's "Back in Your Life," both of which were never recorded or released in any other form. The deluxe booklet contains photos and a new interview with all three members conducted by Yo La Tengo's James McNew.
2XDVD $9.50
06/08/2010
On Fire is widely recognized as the canonic pinnacle of Galaxie 500's career. The artwork conveys this, with a low-angle shot of the band, looking up towards an amber sky. This record marked the realization of their signature sound. Nowhere is it clearer than on the album opener, "Blue Thunder," the closest a song can come to waves crashing on a beach in song form. Lyrically inconsequential, with a chorus composed entirely of "la"s, the track's power lies in a systematic build and break of intensity that reaches a Spector-like climax. It is the quintessential Galaxie 500 song, encapsulating all that was great about the band. With the Boston trio once again utilizing the bizarre genius of producer Mark Kramer, On Fire sounds like anything but. The guitars are warm blankets enwrapping Dean Wareham's vocals, percolated by the open percussion of Damon Krukowski and anchored by the emotion-laden bass of Naomi Yang. Songs like "Snowstorm," "Strange," and "Decomposing Trees" have an endless quality, without beginnings or ends, but rather frozen somewhere on a spectrum of melancholy. A bonus CD contains Galaxie 500's legendary Peel Sessions--essential live recordings from the group at the peak of their powers. Split between two sessions, the band plays their quintessential songs while masterfully blending in covers of the Sex Pistols, Young Marble Giants, Buffy St. Marie, and Jonathan Richman. Never afraid to wear their influences on their sleeve, the Peel Sessions exhibit Galaxie 500 as a band most interested in creating a mood, complicating it, and following wherever...
2XCD $16.00
03/30/2010
After producing two albums celebrated by a thirsty underground network of fans, Galaxie 500 released what turned out to be their unexpected swansong, This Is Our Music. The title is an intentionally declarative statement. After being labeled masters of the disengaged and forlorn, Damon Krukowsi, Dean Wareham, and Naomi Yang delivered a full-length comprised of their most stately material. Here, one can hear potential realized, as well as changes afoot. "Fourth of July" is a surprisingly up-front song for the band, with rolling drums and a bass-heavy refrain, and it proved to be their most popular single. The track sets the stage for the dynamism of This Is Our Music. When Galaxie 500 sounds wistful ("Summertime"), it sounds like years of yearning actualized; when the band sounds regretful ("Sorry"), it comes pleading on its knees. The trio found a beautiful balance between increased production values and knob-twiddler Mark Kramer's odd-handed approach. This Is Our Music is once again available, now as a double-CD with deluxe packaging, featuring the bonus disc Copenhagen, a live album capturing the band at their most fully realized. It documents what was to be one of their final performances ever. "This Is Our Music" is also available separately on vinyl and MP3 download. You can purchase "Copenhagen" on MP3 download by clicking here
2XCD $16.00
03/30/2010
When Galaxie 500's Today was released in 1988, it set off a chain reaction of quiet explosions still being felt. Never before had a record so emphasized the calming elements of rock music, transforming what at first seems like a collection of bridges into fully realized songs. And one can draw a straight line from here to the many groups they influenced, like Low, Belle & Sebastian, and Bon Iver. Today is full of idiosyncrasies. The trio of Damon Krukowski, Dean Wareham, and Naomi Yang were recent Harvard grads who intuitively eliminated any histrionic tradition to rock songs, leaving core emotion (not for nothing did they include a cover of "Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste," by the kings of feeling, The Modern Lovers). It was produced by Mark Kramer, who was best known for his work with cataclysmic slop rock pioneers such as Bongwater, Ween, and King Missle. The band's hometown of Boston was just coming out of its love affair with Mission of Burma and pouncing upon the spasmodic electricity of The Pixies. Despite, or perhaps because of, all these elements, Today thrived. More than 20 years after its initial release, its title is still no misnomer. The music, recorded with what many thought at the time was too much reverb, sounds present, alive, and indeed a product of today. Songs like "Flowers," "Temperature's Rising," and of course "Tugboat" (the band's debut single) stand the test of time and exist in an eternal now. Today is now back...
2XCD $16.00
03/30/2010
***BACK IN STOCK!!! On Fire is widely recognized as the canonic pinnacle of Galaxie 500's career. The artwork conveys this, with a low-angle shot of the band, looking up towards an amber sky. This record marked the realization of their signature sound. Nowhere is it clearer than on the album opener, "Blue Thunder," the closest a song can come to waves crashing on a beach in song form. Lyrically inconsequential, with a chorus composed entirely of "la"s, the track's power lies in a systematic build and break of intensity that reaches a Spector-like climax. It is the quintessential Galaxie 500 song, encapsulating all that was great about the band. With the Boston trio once again utilizing the bizarre genius of producer Mark Kramer, On Fire sounds like anything but. The guitars are warm blankets enwrapping Dean Wareham's vocals, percolated by the open percussion of Damon Krukowski and anchored by the emotion-laden bass of Naomi Yang. Songs like "Snowstorm," "Strange," and "Decomposing Trees" have an endless quality, without beginnings or ends, but rather frozen somewhere on a spectrum of melancholy. For the first time since its original pressing, On Fire is available again on vinyl. Cut by vinyl ace Kevin Gray from a remaster by Kramer and Alan Douches, the album sounds more vibrant than ever, and Galaxie 500 exists again as one of the most enrapturing and glorious bands to emerge from the underground in the past 25 years.
LP $22.00
07/14/2009
MP3 $9.90
03/30/2010
***BACK IN PRINT ON VINYL!!! After producing two albums celebrated by a thirsty underground network of fans, Galaxie 500 released what turned out to be their unexpected swansong, This Is Our Music. The title is an intentionally declarative statement. After being labeled masters of the disengaged and forlorn, Damon Krukowski, Dean Wareham, and Naomi Yang delivered a full-length comprised of their most stately material. Here, one can hear potential realized, as well as changes afoot. "Fourth of July" is a surprisingly up-front song for the band, with rolling drums and a bass-heavy refrain, and it proved to be their most popular single. The track sets the stage for the dynamism of This Is Our Music. When Galaxie 500 sounds wistful ("Summertime"), it sounds like years of yearning actualized; when the band sounds regretful ("Sorry"), it comes pleading on its knees. The trio found a beautiful balance between increased production values and knob-twiddler Mark Kramer's odd-handed approach. For the first time since its original pressing, This Is Our Music is available again on vinyl. Cut by vinyl ace Kevin Gray from a remaster by Kramer and Alan Douches, the album sounds more vibrant than ever, and Galaxie 500 exists again as one of the most enrapturing and glorious bands to emerge from the underground in the past 25 years.
LP $22.00
07/14/2009
MP3 $9.90
03/30/2010
***BACK IN STOCK ON LP!!! When Galaxie 500's Today was released in 1988, it set off a chain reaction of quiet explosions still being felt. Never before had a record so emphasized the calming elements of rock music, transforming what at first seems like a collection of bridges into fully realized songs. And one can draw a straight line from here to the many groups they influenced, like Low, Belle & Sebastian, and Bon Iver. Today is full of idiosyncrasies. The trio of Damon Krukowski, Dean Wareham, and Naomi Yang were recent Harvard grads who intuitively eliminated any histrionic tradition to rock songs, leaving core emotion (not for nothing did they include a cover of "Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste," by the kings of feeling, The Modern Lovers). It was produced by Mark Kramer, who was best known for his work with cataclysmic slop rock pioneers such as Bongwater, Ween, and King Missle. The band's hometown of Boston was just coming out of its love affair with Mission of Burma and pouncing upon the spasmodic electricity of The Pixies. Despite, or perhaps because of, all these elements, Today thrived. More than 20 years after its initial release, its title is still no misnomer. The music, recorded with what many thought at the time was too much reverb, sounds present, alive, and indeed a product of today. Songs like "Flowers," "Temperature's Rising," and of course "Tugboat" (the band's debut single) stand the test of time and exist...
LP $22.00
07/14/2009
MP3 $9.90
03/30/2010
Compiling the best of Damon & Naomi's records over the course of four albums on the venerable Sub Pop label, The Sub Pop Years commemorates a grand chapter in the career of a band who never planned an existence in the first place. After More Sad Hits (just reissued last year on 20/20/20), the duo was ready to call it a day and concentrate on their book company. However, they were convinced to continue onward by Sub Pop poobah Jonathan Poneman, who saw great potential in their continued collaboration. It was not the first time (nor last) his hunch proved right. For the next ten years, Damon & Naomi developed from a simple recording project to a fully fleshed-out band, with a knack for articulating sounds and accumulating collaborators that continues today. Every early Damon & Naomi release was an event by virtue of its very existence, and Wondrous World of Damon & Naomi was no exception. It was not the final signature to an abridged letter, like More Sad Hits was, but rather marked new forays down future pathways. An eagerness to experiment with folk music formats from around the world, combined with the developing abilities of two true artists, plays out on this compilation, displaying the duo's growing sound. Each album is indeed a leap, the most notable being With Ghost, where a friendship with the Japanese psych band Ghost led to one of the great cross-cultural collaborations in the history of independent music. For a couple of musicians...
CD $9.50
09/08/2009
MP3 $9.90
09/08/2009
Damon & Naomi have always been a bit more ahead of the curve than is good for them. Galaxie 500 ended before slowcore was a thing. Their psychedelic duo albums with Kramer came out while the Elephant 6 collective were still in high school. They toured the country with an acoustic guitar and Indian harmonium years before there was a New Weird America to receive them. And they made their lushest, most analog album before the vinyl revival. 2007’s Within These Walls came out on CD only, and is only now ten years later being released for the first time on vinyl — the way the duo intended it to be heard. Conceived as a DIY tribute to the great “mood” albums of Sinatra’s Capitol years, the album was recorded with real strings, real horns, real drums, and a very very real electric guitarist named Michio Kurihara. It’s a chamber record with ebow and wah-wah, featuring some of the most emotional songs of the duo’s career. “Lilac Land” opens the album in a somber mood, which never lets go. The string section — Helena Espvall, Margaret Wienk, and Katt Hernandez — underscore Naomi’s dark lyrics and melodies. The horns — Bhob Rainey, Greg Kelley, and Kyle Bruckmann — answer with wit and even a bit of joy, but they’ll never win the arguments here. This album was meant to cast a mood from start to finish, like Sinatra’s classic In The Wee Small Hours, or No One Cares. The album...
LP $16.00
04/21/2017
CD $12.00
09/25/2007
MP3 $9.90
09/25/2007
In 2005, Michio Kurihara released his first solo album, Sunset Notes, on Japan’s respected Pedal Records. It was a long time coming for the guitarist, whose musicianship has enlightened such groups as Ghost, Damon & Naomi, White Heaven, The Stars and Yura Yura Teikoku. Kurihara is not one to indulge in the spotlight (in fact, he often literally ducks away from it), and that attitude reflects strongly in his guitar-playing style. Never does one hear a straight phrase from him. Instead, he often decorates around the edges, bringing forward a sense of a song’s structure and identity through delicate brush strokes. The songs on Sunset Notes reflect this approach. While embracing a variety of styles and techniques (a gentle song sung by Pedal pop star Ai Aso is followed by a snakelike instrumental psych workout, which is followed by a Branca-esque tsunami of distorted guitars, and so on), the album maintains a focus around Kurihara’s ingenius guitar playing. Sunset Notes is a mind-expanding, exciting album—beautifully arranged, precisely executed, and an absolute thrill to hear. “Seminal psych guitarist.” —Pitchfork “Some of the coolest trance-inducing musicians are living in Japan . . . and Mr. Kurihara [is] the scene's Jimmy Page.” —New York Times “The premier guitarist of the Japanese underground psychedelic movement.” —All Music Guide
CD $9.50
05/29/2007
MP3 $8.91
05/29/2007
International Sad Hits: Volume One introduces four singer-songwriters from Asia to the English speaking world. All four are veteran musicians in their respective homes, with decades-long careers, large discographies, and devoted followings. These are not pop stars or traditional folk artists, but singer-songwriters in the tradition of Bob Dylan, Tim Buckley, and Nick Drake. As a result, their music has, for the most part, never traveled beyond their national or linguistic cultures. This co mpilation is intended to take the music across those borders, and introduce it to the wider audience it deserves. The tracks were selected by 20/20/20 owners Damon & Naomi, who first encountered these songs when touring the world themselves. These four singers are among the discoveries closest to their hearts. And while the title points out that these artists are linked by a linguistic family (Altaic) as well as a continent (Asia), what truly connects them is their love of melancholy. Indeed, these could be among the saddest songs you'll ever hear. One of them, "Bohemian" by Kim Doo Soo, is reputed to have caused two suicides in Korea. Mikami Kan and Tomokawa Kazuki are famous in their native Japan for their extreme emotional singing styles, and Turkey's Fikret Kizilok plays melancholy love songs backed by guitar, strings and percussion. Rather than a common style, the poetic lyricism and emotional possibility of these songs unite them. After all, even if you grew up in Anatolia, and someone gave you a comp with Nick Drake, Tim Buckley, Tom...
CD $13.00
10/31/2006
Following up their full-length album, The Earth Is Blue, on their new label 20/20/20, Damon & Naomi have assembled the rare, often-bootlegged, Galaxie 500 Peel Sessions, which capture the group at the height of their abilities and feature a selection of the band’s personal favorites along with some unexpected cover songs. Known by fans for years, these tracks now are made officially available for the first time. The members of Galaxie 500 were not expecting the reception they received when they went overseas in 1989. While their nascent fame in the U.S. was slowly rising, England caught on quickly, and the bewildered band played to sold-out audiences throughout Mother Britain. Of course, nothing was more of an honor than being asked by music weathervane and scholar John Peel to record a session for his BBC One Radio show. Their first session, recorded September 24th, 1989, produced live versions of “Flowers, “Blue Thunder,” “Decomposing Trees,” and The Modern Lovers’ “Don’t Let Our Youth Go To Waste.” A year later, they were back again, playing even larger venues, and trying out new material for their second session. Recorded October 30th, 1990, Galaxie 500 did “When Will You Come Home,” as well as covers of Buffy St. Marie (“Moonshot”), Young Marble Giants (“Final Day”), and a left-field version of the Sex Pistols’ “Submission.” Stunning artwork by New Yorker illustrator Lara Tomlin, and a special low price, round out the package beautifully.
CD $9.50
11/15/2005
MP3 $7.92
11/15/2005
***A year in the making, The Earth Is Blue is Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang's most intimate and accomplished record to date. Delicate harmonies and intricate melodic lines dominate the album's ten tracks, all of which were recorded in the duo's home studio. Michio Kurihara flew in from Japan, where he provides the guitar playing for the genius psych-folk of Ghost, and added another layer of inspiration to the songs. Also contributing are trumpeter Greg Kelley and soprano saxophonist Bhob Rainey of Boston's nmperign. Along with eight original songs, the group beautifully interprets "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by George Harrison and "Araca Azul" by Caetano Veloso. The Earth Is Blue marks the first release on Damon & Naomi's record label, 20/20/20. After almost a decade with Sub Pop, the band decided to oversee the production and distribution of their new release. The Earth Is Blue is a song of hope, and its thoughtful charm will be a strong sedative toward worries beyond control. In the five years since Damon & Naomi released With Ghost (Sub Pop), the duo have released the live Song To The Siren CD/DVD, which documented trips through the US, UK, Europe, Brazil, Japan and Taiwan supporting With Ghost. They run Exact Change, an independent publishing company dedicated to re-releasing innovative surrealist literature of the 20th Century. Damon just released The Memory Theater Burned (Turtle Point Press), a dynamic and cerebral book of poetry. In addition, the band oversaw the recent releases of a...
LP $12.00
02/22/2005
CD $12.00
02/22/2005
MP3 $9.90
02/22/2005
MP3 $8.91
03/08/2004
MP3 $9.90
03/08/2004
Live show recorded in 2001 as a trio with Michio Kurihara on electric guitar. Originally released by Sub Pop on CD."Each song is varnished with the glistening warmth that is often felt during a particularly special live performance, making Song to the Siren pleasingly distinct from Damon & Naomi's studio recordings." — The Wire
MP3 $9.90
04/23/2002
A meeting of Damon & Naomi's spare and emotional songwriting with the Japanese band Ghost's densely psychedelic arrangements. Recorded in the last days of 1999 and the first of 2000."By turns breathtakingly radiant and heartbreakingly melancholy, Damon and Naomi With Ghost finds these kindred spirits joining forces to make the most transcendent music of their respective careers." -- All Music Guide"This slow, hazy, head-in-the-clouds music has a way of leaving sonic cobwebs long after it's over, the melodies lingering like distant memories."-- The Onion
MP3 $8.91
09/05/2000
The Wondrous World of Damon & Naomi was recorded in the summer of 1995, and released that fall by Sub Pop. Like Damon & Naomi’s first "solo" album, More Sad Hits, it was produced by Kramer at Noise New Jersey.
MP3 $9.90
11/07/1999
Created as a swan song response to the dissolution of Galaxie 500, More Sad Hits was recorded with Galaxie producer Mark Kramer, and is just as cutting a reaction to the sinister allure of fame as it was when released back in 1992. The album was so strong, that a presumed one-off led to a long relationship with Sub Pop Records, who offered to put out future releases after hearing what the duo could accomplish on their own.Damon & Naomi originally released More Sad Hits on Shimmy Disc one year after the breakup of Galaxie 500, when Dean Wareham left the group to pursue a career with Luna on Elektra Records. With no intention of doing any more recording, the duo were nonetheless convinced to go into the studio after Kramer told them he'd assist with both recording and release.While Damon & Naomi have remained publicly silent regarding Wareham's recent autobiography, this album serves as all the answers anyone needs concerning their side of the drama. And with a shimmering and lonely beauty as only they can achieve, the two made a series of songs as emotionally stark as you're likely to hear. It was recently voted one of the "Top Twenty Most Overlooked Psychedelic Albums" along with Skip Spence and 13th Floor Elevators. This remastered reissue will contain new liner notes and photos.In advance of the release, Damon & Naomi will be touring the states for a serious of special shows with Masaki...
LP $12.00
05/06/1999
CD $9.50
05/06/1999
MP3 $9.90
05/06/1999
Damon & Naomi produced their third album in 1998, alone in their home studio — a personal, almost private recording, emotional and spare."Playback Singers comes from the soft side of the Velvet Underground, from the hushed folk of the late Nick Drake. Soft, sad, gently stirring." — Boston Globe
MP3 $8.91
04/07/1999
MP3 $9.90
02/14/1997