***Al Anon concludes ERIC COPELAND’s (BLACK DICE) two part album entitled Alien In A Garbage Dump. Where the first half offered a discombobulated collection of radio cross-signaling, here the alien finds its groove for a minute and tidies up the frequencies. There is still something outsiderish here, but with more of an effort to get inside, to play by the rules even? Or maybe the motivation is to sneak something subversive into the norms’ hideout? Since Al Anon was recorded at the same time as two Black Dice albums, there are obvious parallels in the results; an uncompromised sonic landscape. But outside the group setting, Copeland has found places one can only find alone: small inner dialogues and isolated mind caves where an idea may only last a moment. He captures and tweaks these ideas into fragments of many memories; a déjà vu record déjà vu record. Funny characters drop in and out. Songs come and go. Al Anon proves to be a strangely curated time capsule of OUR time right NOW; music where birds beat-box with car-stereo subwoofers and the neighbors’ Espanol sings on top the Sabbath siren. With all this going on, Copeland sometimes disappears into the anonymity, playing a ‘behind-the-scenes’ role, pushing cords and pulling buttons, laughing because the batteries are dying. Here the familiar becomes mysterious and the unknown feels normal and we can listen to this one all day trying to make those distinctions. Edition of 500 copies with jaw-droppingly amazing black and white
12" $10.95
09/21/2009
***A first-time collaboration between noted songwriters SIMON JOYNER and DENNIS CALLACI (REFRIGERATOR, PASTE, Shrimper Records). Recorded live in the Callaci living room in late August, 2003, the record features three songs by Joyner and two from Callaci. Both tap into the gravitas of the collective artistic unconsciousness in a way that lifts them up above the usual singer-songwriter pap. Joyner's dark tales of loneliness and loss are as strong as ever, while Callaci's tunes are a stream-of-consciousness take on modern day tension and angst. Acoustic guitar, piano, strained vocals, and the warm hiss of an unsoundproofed living room round out the package. Pressed on one-sided vinyl.
LP $10.50
11/30/2004