Scott Morgan’s second Loscil full-length, Submers, took inspiration from salvaged Time Life classical music albums and “the indelible mystery of submarines and the deep sea.” Composed using a custom-built Max / MSP sequencer—with no external samplers, synthesizers, or acoustic instruments involved—the limitations of the process shaped these masterful, minimal compositions. Each piece was produced as a live mix, direct to disk, with no separated tracks. Originally issued in November of 2002 on compact disc, Kranky is now making these timeless recordings available on vinyl for the first time. All of these tracks are named after submarines, the final cut being a requiem for the crew of the ill fated Russian nuclear vessel Kursk. Recorded at home using only samples as sound sources, the album is rife with sourceless echoes, steely surfaces and ominous melodic and rhythmic undertows. The sifted melodies are layered over muffled, clicking and pulsing rhythm tracks with an appropriately aquatic feel to the tracks. “This is seriously gorgeous stuff that just happens to be the right sort of thing for drifting into another consciousness. A tuned-out heaven perfect for dreaming.” —Pitchfork
CD $13.50
11/12/2002
2XLP $24.00
11/23/2018
***Here it is, the first kranky release aimed at your ass as well as your head. OUT HUD deliver the rhythm and the restraint; recalling the dry, brittle funk of early 80s UK post-punk, Sherwood’s beat-mashing across the On-U Sound catalog and even acid house and hip hop. The five piece doesn’t sound hopelessly retro or preciously muso. At the core is an airtight, energetic live band transformed in the mix into a pounding system with a wide melodic range.
LP $19.00
11/12/2002
CD $14.00
11/12/2002
***The exploded view, deadpan pop of Model 91 marks the recorded debut of the Brooklyn, NY duo CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS. Using vocals, guitar, bass guitar, primitive digital sequencers, and melodica, the band delivers their unique brand of "ambient punk," and point to modern electronic composers like Gert-Jans Prins, Carsten Nicolai (Alva Noto) and Wolfgang Voight (Gas, M:15), and abrasive minimalists like The Shadow Ring as inspirations. Christmas Decorations take a succinct, direct approach to song structure and instrumentation while experimenting with mood and melody.
LP $19.00
10/29/2002
CD $14.00
10/29/2002
***A blend of shimmering drones and deep waves of sound composed on laptop computer from recordings of improvised acoustic and electric guitar tracks. Ring modulators, granular re-synthesis algorithms and banks of delays and special effects come together in a process that owes much to Terry Riley's Time Lag Accumulator setup and Steve Reich's Phase Pieces.
CD $14.00
10/29/2002
***BACK IN PRINT!!! The ninth full-length album from slo-mo beauty dealers LOW, and the band's most assertive and expansive release to date. Thirteen tracks recorded in Minneapolis with TOM HERBERT and mixed in London by TCHAD BLAKE (Latin Playboys, Lisa Germano, Pearl Jam), and featuring guest vocals on two tracks by GERRY BECKLEY of 1970s soft-rock giants AMERICA, and banjo work from MARC GARTMAN.
CD $16.00
09/23/2002
2XLP $30.00
11/19/2021
***BACK IN STOCK!!! The sixth full-length offering from these heavens-soaring, super-sonic, gargantuan sound explorers. A massive blend of treated strings, organs, backwards tubular bell runs, field recordings, and much more, expertly layered and crafted into a relentlessly uplifting symphony of hymnal beauty. Gracious, me. "Their relentless commitment to subtlety sets them apart, as does their masterful hand with tone… dissonance is doled out in small portions, perfectly coloring the sculpted fields of sound."—Pitchfork
2XCD $16.00
10/30/2001
3XLP $58.00
08/18/2023
***Still determined to drift and dream following the demise of JESSAMINE, guitarist REX RITTER and keyboardist ANDY BROWN formed FONTANELLE. The music on F is taken from various sessions over the last three years and reflects a variety of the bands moods. With a host of musicians and an impressive array of instrumentation, FONTANELLE make clever music that is always worth the price of admission.
CD $9.75
05/29/2001
***AVAILABLE AGAIN!!! Note new price. The sixth album from the now-stripped-to-a-three-piece drift-off we call LABRADFORD. Four extended tracks of gorgeous guitar, soothing keyboards and samples, and delicious bass rumble that stradles the compositional chasm between organic sound sources and digital processing.
LP $19.00
02/27/2001
CD $14.00
02/27/2001
***Recorded at the band’s Magnetic Park studio, where Fontanelle work their unique mix of instrumental improvisation and computer-aided arrangment, FONTANELLE forged a muscular, freaky groove with propulsion, edge and heft behind it. Touching on the liquidity of fusion jazz and the crystalline angles of IDM electronics., the melodies and rhythm joust, then mingle without being reduced to chin-scratching exercises in chops-mongering or Pro Tools gimmickry.
LP $19.00
01/08/2001
CD $14.00
11/12/2002
***Cinematic and broad lushscapes from Kranky's most consistent out-of-body sound and space travellers. Primarily instrumental dream epochs to get lost in, with added clouds of strings, electric paino and slide guitar.
LP $19.00
01/08/2001
CD $14.00
11/26/1997
LP $19.00
01/08/2001
CD $14.00
09/25/1998
***A unique collaborative project between tonal feedback reverie kings Stars of the Lid, and New York minimalist painter JOHN McCAFFERTY who's work was influenced by the band's Music For Nitrous Oxide album. In an attempt to blur the distinctions between mediums, The Stars have incorporated the sounds of McCafferty painting into the music, as it was composed to accompany the visual images.
LP $19.00
01/08/2001
CD $14.00
11/17/1998
***BACK IN STOCK!!! Canada's number one export (besides singer-songwriters) returns with an incredible third album. An evo-revo-lutionary collage of sonic gorgeosity and ache-agonizing ensemble reverie, overloaded with layered melodics, pulsing dynamics and dedicated exuberance. Five expansive compositions of sadness, beauty and freedom. Follow me, I'm gonna total this thing.
2XCD $16.00
10/31/2000
***Still determined to drift and dream following the demise of JESSAMINE, guitarist REX RITTER and keyboardist ANDY BROWN formed FONTANELLE. Continuing along the righteous path set by their former group, they bring their electric pianos and synths into even more complex patterns, layering guitars over them the entire way. Six detailed and intricate songs.
CD $14.00
06/06/2000
***The second full-length recording under the PAN AMERICAN imprint from LABRADFORD guitarist/vocalist MARK NELSON, and an expansion of the rhythmic intricacies of his earlier efforts as he adds new instrumental and melodic textures to the mix. Joined by guests ALAN SPARHAWK & MIMI PARKER of LOW, and cornetist ROB MAZUREK of the CHICAGO UNDERGROUND DUO/TRIO, Nelson balances atmospheric dread with hints of dub, funk and bossa nova, Sparhawk and Parker's trademark vocal melodies, and the digital mixing of CASEY RICE (DESIGNER, et al). Six tracks including a reworked version of "Both Ends Fixed" (originally released on a split 12-inch with Janek Schaefer on Fat Cat).
CD $14.00
02/22/2000
2XLP $24.00
02/22/2000
***Tri-State sparkling dream weavers and VHF house band DOLDRUMS return to action with another godhead prog-stomp into the future. Seven tracks of guitar-loaded and rocked improv jams mixed via the wonders of computer technology to create some thoroughly damaged sounds and loop-like atmospherics. High like a kite.
CD $14.00
11/09/1999
***The second album of ravishing post-rock excitement from sonic researcher JESSICA BAILIFF. Seven tracks filled with delicate and alluring vocals, waves of guitar feedback, gooey-slow rhythms, textured atmospherics and beautiful pop melodies recorded in Duluth with ALAN SPARHAWK producing. Features guest aid from Sparhawk and MIMI PARKER.
CD $14.00
10/12/1999
***GARETH MITCHELL of AMP returns with a second album of delirious loops and sound weaving. Recorded over a period of nine months spent recording, re-recording, processing, editing and sampling, the songs were given structure and design as they continued to evolve, morph and unfold. Nine tracks delivered to draw the listener into a world of minute details and impressionistic sound.
CD $14.00
10/12/1999
***The fifth album from Richmond's onward drifting soldiers again kills you softly with painless arrows of beautiful and haunting atmospherics. Utilizing a string section, dulcimer, tape loops and samplers to create six songs that combine the organic and electronic elements into a seamless whole.
LP $19.00
05/25/1999
CD $14.00
05/25/1999
***Two new extended pieces from this Montreal ensemble capture the band in full mesmerizing, drawn-out, drift-on glory. Dynamic like nobody's business and full of the weaving, soaring, musical interplay of their live performances. Track one comes in at a loving 11-minutes, track two, a mere eighteen. Let it weep.
CD $9.75
04/06/1999
***BACK IN PRINT!!! Twelve new tracks of morphinous, skeletal drift-sound wonders from the combined voices, guitars and percussion of ALAN SPARHAWK, MIMI PARKER and ZAK SALLY. Diverse and painless songs that cut simply but effectively through heart-strings and nervous systems, leaving an absorbed and beautiful corpse in their wake. Features added instrumentation of strings, piano and timpani.
CD $14.00
03/29/1999
2XLP $30.00
11/19/2021
***Five tracks of soaring, sonic-drift experimentation from ambient dronologists Spybey & Plotkin. Improvised pieces recorded on the first take and then later arranged, mixed and remixed.
CD $14.00
11/17/1998
Dreamy and blissful song stylings from Toledo melody dove Bailiff. Drones, organs, piano, guitars and her beautiful voice all combine for a sweet nap in the ether. Joined by Zak Sally and Mimi Parker of Low.
CD $14.00
06/05/1998
***BACK IN STOCK!!! A CD reissue of this Montreal nine-piece band's first LP originally released on the Constellation label in an edition of 500. Twin percussionists, three guitars, violin, cello, and tape loops all feed to a blend of Morricone-scope, Savage Republic desertscape, and 17 Pygmies art-slash. Rhythmic and ready to either rumble or just float by.
CD $16.00
06/05/1998
***Who among us can say that they are immune to the shifting soft dreaminumb of Windy & Carl's hypnotic lullabyes? Those who might answer yay, enter now into submission. The third full length album from these Michigan space twirlers soars to new heights and delves into darker realms, with astonishing layers-upon-layers of guitar drones and unsettling, blurred melodies. An expanded atmosphere stretched to the latest limits.
CD $14.00
04/24/1998
The ongoing and aforeto now cassetted-only solo project of Labradford guitarist/vocalist Mark Nelson. A rhythmic led offering of tone-nurtured ambient soundwaves, with elements of dub and bossanova sprinkled throughout. Minimalist, and heavily electronic sound maneuvering with both live and sampled percussion.
LP $19.00
03/31/1998
CD $14.00
03/31/1998
Gareth Mitchell moves post-Amp with a massive soundfield display of swirling guitars, strings and loop- wrangling dreaminess, punctuated softly by melodic vocal lines and the chiming of bells. Muy Kranky, no?
CD $14.00
09/16/1997
***CHECK STOCK!!! Received an 8.5 Best New Reissue rating from Pitchfork. The vinyl version of the second (or third, depending on how you calculate) STARS OF THE LID album, their first for kranky, is finally being reissued. When kranky tried to reorder this title from our then vinyl manufacturer many years ago, we learned that the metal mothers had become oxidized and unusable, probably through poor care in storage. So we shrugged our shoulders and let it be. But with the recent resurgence in vinyl sales, the continued interest in the SotL catalog, and the promise of recent and future activity by the duo, here we are. The original 4 track cassette recordings (yes, 4 track cassette my friends) were remastered and new lacquers were cut, and the original artwork has been updated. The music itself shows Sotl with one of their first major transitions, from the found sound and guitar abstractions of their previous Music for Nitrous Oxide to a much more defined and refined compositional structure which would soon develop into the full blown miniature symphonies heard on later works. As an added bonus, the double LP vinyl version has 9 additional minutes of material not on the CD or digital versions. Stars Of The Lid’s first major statement as a sonic force to be reckoned with is now available on the analog format once more.
CD $14.00
02/12/1997
2XLP $24.00
01/08/2013
NOW DISCONTINUED, LAST COPIES!!!
LP $19.00
11/22/1996
CD $14.00
11/22/1996
CD $14.00
07/08/1996
CD $14.00
06/11/1996