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Hailing from Nuneaton, England, Kevin Harrison recorded both solo and collaboratively throughout the late ’70s and early ’80s. While his early recordings would come out in hyper-limited editions or go unreleased for decades, Inscrutably Obvious remains his sole LP—a lost gem of Britain’s ’80s cassette culture and DIY bedroom aesthetics. Originally released in 1981, Inscrutably Obvious covers a lot of ground on its seventeen inscrutable tracks—from analog synth workouts to mutated disco and shimmering guitar improvisations. The album maintains a late-night vibe, filtered through a post-punk lens. Harrison clearly wears his influences on his sleeve—major debts are paid to Brian Eno, Robert Fripp and Manuel Gottsching—yet finds his own unique voice, combining quirky instrumentals and surrealist sensibilities. This first-time reissue is recommended for fans of Chris & Cosey, Cupol and The Normal. Inscrutably Obvious sounds as fresh today as it must have nearly 40 years ago.

LP $17.50

03/29/2019 855985006451 

SV 145 


***BACK IN STOCK!!!  “It’s been nearly five decades since Joe McPhee assembled a group of musicians to perform the weekend concerts that would become Nation Time. It was December 1970, thirty-one-year-old McPhee was inspired by Amiri Baraka’s poem ‘It’s Nation Time,’ and the students at Vassar College didn’t know what hit them. ‘What time is it?’ shouted the bandleader. ‘C’mon, you can do better than that. What time is it?!’ “The music on Nation Time came out of the fertile, but little-known creative jazz scene in Poughkeepsie, New York, McPhee’s home base. Two bands were deployed, one with a funky free foundation featuring guitar and organ, the other consisting of a more standard jazz formation with two drummers and the brilliant Mike Kull at the piano. Across the concert and the next afternoon’s audience-less recording session, the band was ignited by McPhee’s passion and his gorgeous post-Coltrane / post-Pharoah tenor. On ‘Shakey Jake,’ they hit a James Brown groove filtered through Archie Shepp, while the sidelong title track is as searching and poignant today as it was during its heyday. “Originally released in 1971 on CjR, an imprint started expressly to document McPhee’s music, Nation Time has a sense of urgency and inspiration. Additional material from those December days would later appear on Black Magic Man, Hat Hut’s first release. In fact, the first four records on this seminal Swiss label all featured McPhee. “Nation Time was largely unknown a quarter century or so later, when it was first issued on...

LP $22.00

01/18/2019 857661008643 

SV 164 


Originally released in 1979, Iceland is Richard Pinhas’ third solo album and his first following the breakup of Heldon. While moving away from the maximalism of his old band, paring down Heldon’s hybrid of otherworldly sci-fi imagery and pummeling psych-prog riffs, the journey through Iceland is decidedly more inward. Consisting of longer, brooding synth-based pieces as well as short proto-industrial études and interstitial sketches, Iceland features Pinhas’ delay-ridden electric guitar, pulsating machine rhythms and analog synthesizer washes—all vivid in texture and timbre, notwithstanding an undeniably chilling ambience. This first-time vinyl reissue includes “Wintermusic,” an immersive 25-minute bonus track recorded in 1983 and appearing here on vinyl for the first time. Pinhas’ excursions channel the season’s stillness and sublimity, its majesty and its threat. Without a doubt, one his finest moments. Recommended for fans of Cluster, Mica Levi and Fripp & Eno.

LP $14.75

01/18/2019 855985006765 

SV 053 


2XLP $22.00

01/18/2019 855985006765 

SV 053 


MP3 $9.90

01/18/2019 855985006765 

SV053 


FLAC $11.99

01/18/2019 855985006765 

SV053 


In the Kingdom of Dub by Scientist

Scientist

In the Kingdom of Dub
Superior Viaduct

***BACK IN STOCK!!! Hopeton Brown, better known as Scientist, has been a pioneering figure in the world of dub for 40 years. His early love of electronics proved fruitful when (still a teenager) he was hired at King Tubby’s studio in Kingston. Brown quickly ascended the ranks and became heir to Tubby’s throne, producing imaginative and technically impressive mixes that solidified his forward-looking nickname. Originally released in 1981, In The Kingdom Of Dub remains one of the best early LPs in Scientist’s long career. Produced by Roy Cousins at Channel One and featuring Sly & Robbie along with members of The Revolutionaries, The Aggrovators and The Soul Syndicate, the album offers a wide range of arresting rhythms, bold effect drops and exquisitely melodic bass. From “18 Drumalie Avenue Dub” (a reference to King Tubby’s address) to “Burning Sun Dub,” Scientist lays down a veritable roadmap of dub —filled with disintegrating echoes of satiny organ and textural guitar—firmly cementing his place as one of the true innovators in Jamaican popular music.

LP $22.00

12/07/2018 855985006635 

SV 163 


Given The Fall’s penchant for iconoclasm, it’s no surprise that they decided to say goodbye to the ’70s with a series of gigs at Northern England’s gruffest halls. The band’s formidable live show was met with even more derision and disorder than customary during these late ’79 and early ’80 performances, and they skillfully amplified such sentiments back at the crowd. Totale’s Turns, The Fall’s first live album, was released on Rough Trade just prior to their pivotal third album, 1980’s Grotesque. “The difference between you and us is that we have brains,” shouts Mark E. Smith to open Totale’s Turns as the band breaks into the rollicking “Fiery Jack,” their latest single at the time. Each player is at their jagged best: Marc Riley and Craig Scanlon’s splintering guitars, Steve Hanley’s thunderous bass and Smith’s combative sneer reverberate over “Rowche Rumble,” “Choc-Stock” and “Spectre Vs. Rector” more than any studio would ever allow. Totale’s Turns never panders to live-record conventions, serving instead as a gripping exhibit of The Fall en masse and arguably the most accurate document of the group to date. Superior Viaduct’s edition is the first time that Totale’s Turns has been available on vinyl domestically. Liner notes by Brian Turner.

LP $20.25

12/07/2018 855985006468 

SV 146 


Composer, multi-instrumentalist and mixed-media artist, Takehisa Kosugi has stood on the forefront of the Japanese avant-garde for over six decades. In the 1960s, he was part of Japan’s first improvisational music collective, Group Ongaku, and contributed to Fluxus in New York. In 1969, he founded the influential, experimental ensemble The Taj Mahal Travellers, and in 1975 he would release his first solo album, Catch-Wave. “Mano-Dharma ‘74” features improvised violin drones and voice with various oscillators, echo delays and layered tape experiments that the artist made in New York in 1967. While Kosugi’s continuously changing spectrum of sound shifts gradually (almost imperceptibly), photocell synthesizers create ultra-low frequencies to disturb the crestless sound waves. The brighter the light is, the harsher the noise becomes. Catch-Wave’s second sidelong piece, “Wave Code #E-1,” is a three-part performance for solo vocalist. As Kosugi describes in the liner notes (translated into English for this edition), the concept of onomatopoeia played an essential role in the type of sounds he generates with his voice, manipulated through customized electronic circuits and at times recalling Gregorian chant, throat singing and cosmic soundscapes. This first-time vinyl reissue is recommended for fans of Tony Conrad, Eliane Radigue and Fennesz.

LP $27.00

11/09/2018 855985006581 

SV 158 


Rough Trade Singles by The Fall

The Fall

Rough Trade Singles
Superior Viaduct

The Rough Trade Singles collects The Fall’s four singles recorded for this influential label in 1980 and 1983 – How I Wrote ‘Elastic Man’ / City Hobgoblins, Totally Wired / Putta Block, The Man Whose Head Expanded / Ludd Gang and Kicker Conspiracy – none of which appeared on any of the band’s studio LPs. With 7-inches being the era’s vehicle for buzzing communiqués, The Fall would use the format for short-form, standalone works rather than as mere promotional devices for forthcoming albums. “Totally Wired” is often cited (and rightfully so) as The Fall’s most infectious tune – an amphetamine-fueled anthem with stuttering nods to forebears, yet too incisive to have been made by anyone else. “How I Wrote ‘Elastic Man’” is another mad hoedown, one reimagined for the post-punk age. While the playful rhythm machine on “The Man Whose Head Expanded” almost suggests danceability, Mark E. Smith’s idiosyncratic shriek on “Kicker Conspiracy” pierces through the twin drumming of Paul Hanley and Karl Burns and the group’s unpredictable / unmistakable racket. Together these songs remain some of the absolute best material The Fall would ever release. Superior Viaduct’s edition is the first time that The Rough Trade Singles has been available on vinyl domestically. Liner notes by Brian Turner.

LP $22.00

11/09/2018 855985006475 

SV 147 


Canti E Vedute Del Giardino Magnetico by Curran, Alvin

Curran, Alvin

Canti E Vedute Del Giardino Magnetico
Superior Viaduct

***BACK IN STOCK!!!  American composer and multi-instrumentalist Alvin Curran has remained one of the great emblems of experimental music for the last half-century. In 1966, along with Frederic Rzewski and Richard Teitelbaum, Curran co-founded Musica Elettronica Viva, a seminal gesture in collective free improvisation. In the early ’70s, his solo work would become a crucial bridge between minimalist traditions on both sides of the Atlantic. Canti E Vedute Del Giardino Magnetico, Curran’s solo debut, was recorded by the artist himself and issued on Ananda, the small Italian imprint started by Curran and fellow composers Giacinto Scelsi and Roberto Laneri. The piece itself was put together in the winter of 1973 and presented for the first time at Teatro Beat 72 (Rome’s The Kitchen). Encouraged by the work of Terry Riley, La Monte Young, Charlemagne Palestine and Simone Forti, Curran binds the listener to aberrant notions of place and time: blending field recordings (wind, high-tension wires, beach waves, etc.) with simple and often primitive instruments. Across two sidelong tracks, Giardino Magnetico forms a lyrical collage of synthesizer, glass and metal chimes, plastic tubes, brass and the composer’s alluring voice—converging in an immersive realm of Curran’s inner / outer experiences. This first-time vinyl reissue is recommended for fans of Harry Bertoia, Michel Redolfi and Lino Capra Vaccina.

LP $22.00

09/28/2018 855985006291 

SV 129 


Niblock For Celli / Celli Plays Niblock by Niblock, Phill

Niblock, Phill

Niblock For Celli / Celli Plays Niblock
Superior Viaduct

Composer, filmmaker and photographer Phill Niblock is a true pillar of the New York avant-garde. In the past 50 years, he has curated over 1,000 performances at his Centre Street loft and steadfastly built a massive, multidisciplinary body of work. While his earliest musical compositions date back to 1968, Niblock waited until the early ’80s to release any recordings. Nothin To Look At Just A Record, a powerful debut with densely layered trombones, would be the first to unfurl his unique approach to sound. The second album and perhaps the most rare in Niblock’s vast catalogue, 1984’s Niblock For Celli / Celli Plays Niblock is a meeting of two great minds. Working with reed player Joseph Celli (a composer in his own right, who has collaborated with John Cage, Pauline Oliveros and Ornette Coleman), Niblock nimbly removes the breathing pauses from Celli’s oboe and English horn to create seamless, enchanting drones. Niblock insists that his music be played loud: only in this way can one experience the visceral ringing of these long instrumental tones through the speakers and their natural overtones generated by the room. Niblock For Celli remains deeply absorbing. This first-time reissue is recommended for fans of Alvin Lucier, Yoshi Wada and Dome.

LP $22.00

09/28/2018 855985006574 

SV157 


MP3 $9.90

09/28/2018 855985006574 

SV157 


FLAC $11.99

09/28/2018 855985006574 

SV157 


Following the release of lo-fi electronic masterpiece I Don’t Remember Now / I Don’t Want To Talk About It and his brilliant follow-up Plaster Falling, Cincinnati-based artist John Bender began assembling his third and last album, Pop Surgery, in late 1982. While all of Bender’s work draws from intimate home recordings—featuring the artist alone with various keyboards, analogue sequencers and tape delays—Pop Surgery remains the one that perhaps best distills his arrant deconstruction of the “pop” concept. These twelve frenetic tracks, meticulously stitched together with dubbed-out vocals and disjointed drum machines, stretch the boundaries of bedroom electronics. Bender would forgo the handmade LP sleeves typical of his Record Sluts imprint. The cover depicts an imposing scrapyard crane, ready to pick up discarded objects with its bright red electromagnet, while the center labels détourn Columbia’s classic ’70s style. “I pressed a single run of 500 copies,” Bender recounts. “The only review I remember railed at the poor production quality. The DIY era had clearly come to an end.” This first-time standalone reissue is recommended for fans of Suicide, TG’s 20 Jazz Funk Greats and early Cabaret Voltaire. Liner notes by John Bender.

LP $20.25

09/14/2018 855985006031 

SV 103 


MP3 $9.90

09/14/2018 855985006031 

SV 103 


FLAC $11.99

09/14/2018 855985006031 

SV 103 


Of all the releases on Italy’s legendary Cramps Records, Raul Lovisoni and Francesco Messina’s seminal LP from 1979 has long remained among the most beloved. Prati Bagnati Del Monte Analogo not only introduced the world to the work of two gifted composers, but also is notable for being produced by electronic pioneer Franco Battiato. A sister album to Prati Bagnati would be Giusto Pio’s breathtaking Motore Immobile, likewise graced with the maestro’s gentle hand around the same time. Lovisoni and Messina are both central figures within the Italian avant-garde. Part of a generation of artists who contributed to a radical rethinking of musical practices and composition, they reveal Minimalism as it’s rarely known: delicate melodies, subtle harmonic interplay, incorporating diverse creative traditions and slowly giving way to an ever-expanding open space. Prati Bagnati Del Monte Analogo’s meditative title track, inspired by René Daumal’s surrealist novel Le Mont Analogue, features Messina on synthesizer and Michele Fedrigotti’s impressionistic piano, while on Lovisoni’s “Hula Om” and “Amon Ra,” solo harp, crystal glasses and Juri Camisasca’s radiant vocal drones further ascend into the stratosphere. Skirting the outer edges of ambient, new age and experimental music, Prati Bagnati has a transformative beauty unlike anything else. Superior Viaduct’s edition reproduces the original sleeve design and is recommended for fans of Jon Hassell, Luciano Cilio and Popol Vuh.

LP $22.00

08/31/2018 855985006307 

SV 130 


MP3 $9.90

08/31/2018 855985006307 

SV 130 


FLAC $11.99

08/31/2018 855985006307 

SV 130 


The Faust Tapes by Faust

Faust

The Faust Tapes
Superior Viaduct

Faust stand among the most influential creative forces to have emerged from Germany in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Along with Can, Agitation Free, Neu! and others, Faust rejected the Anglo-American norms of rock ’n’ roll to start a back-to-basics and uniquely Teutonic revolution in sound—later dubbed by the UK press with the semi-derogatory term “krautrock.” Faust would reach near-mythical status through a series of classic albums recorded between 1970 and 1973 at their secluded Wümme studio. As Dave Segal writes in the liner notes, “There’s no consensus about which Faust album represents their zenith. But a survey of the group’s fans would likely find the collage-heavy messterpiece The Faust Tapes triumphing. Its freewheeling, jump-cut nature and unlikely earworm moments conspire for more what-the-fuck epiphanies per minute than just about any other record about which Krautrocksampler author Julian Cope has raved.” Comprised of twenty odd tape-manipulation experiments and freak-out jams, The Faust Tapes stashes away some of the band’s best-known songs. “Flashback Caruso,” with its delicate acoustic guitar and Rudolf Sosna’s airy vocals, could easily have appeared on So Far or Faust IV, while on “J’ai Mal Aux Dents,” Jean-Hervé Peron’s playful lyrics and this ecstatic, era-defining riff perfectly represent Faust’s magical mischievousness. This first-time domestic release of The Faust Tapes on vinyl reproduces the original sleeve design, featuring artwork by Bridget Riley.

LP $22.00

08/31/2018 855985006185 

SV 118 


Originally released in 1972, Lord Of Lords was Alice Coltrane’s final album for Impulse! and the last installment in her awe-inspiring trilogy that also included Universal Consciousness and World Galaxy. While all three records featured strings alongside a jazz ensemble, Lords Of Lords stood apart from its predecessors due to the sheer size of the orchestra (12 violins, 6 violas and 7 cellos, arranged and conducted by Coltrane herself) and its refined, blissful performances—shining a vital light on the devotional path that she would follow for the rest of her career. On the first two pieces, “Andromeda’s Suffering” and “Sri Rama Ohnedaruth” (titled after the spiritual name for her late husband), Alice’s dazzling piano and harp blend perfectly with the blanket of strings, while the haunting rhythm section of Charlie Haden and Ben Riley and a magnificent, droning electric organ emerge immaculately on the title track and closer “Going Home.” Coltrane’s musical vision is bold in its imagination and cosmic in scope, yet remains intensely personal and immediate. Lord Of Lords points inward as much as to the beyond, recalling her classical roots and recasting Eastern modes to radically invert the American avant-garde and spiritual jazz traditions. This first-time vinyl reissue has been carefully remastered from the original master tapes.

LP $22.00

08/03/2018 855985006505 

SV 150 


***BACK IN STOCK!!!  Steve Reich’s Drumming is regarded as one of the most important musical works of the last century. Distilled through his studies of African percussion in Ghana during 1970 and Balinese gamelan music, Reich revolutionized our understanding of polyrhythms, sculpting a new sonic territory to illuminate the radical potential of Minimalism. Divided into four sections, performed without pause, Drumming is written for eight small tuned drums, three marimbas, three glockenspiels, piccolo and voice. The singers recite melodic patterns that mimic the sounds of the instruments, gradually rising to the surface and then fading out. The overall effect can be transfixing—pulling listeners into the rhythm and possessing a raw immediacy, directness and energy. The premier performances of Drumming took place in December 1971 in New York City—first at The Museum of Modern Art, then at Brooklyn Academy of Music and finally at Town Hall where this recording was made—and featured the composer along with a cast of longtime collaborators including Art Murphy, Steve Chambers, Russ Hartenberger, James Preiss, Jon Gibson, Joan La Barbara, Judy Sherman, Jay Clayton, Ben Harms, Gary Burke, Frank Maefsky and James Ogden. Originally released in 1972 by gallerist John Gibson in a small private edition, Drumming represents the culmination of Reich’s investigation into rhythmic phase relationships and its early realization captures a remarkably organic feel, especially compared to the more widely known version on Deutsche Grammophon from 1974. This first-time vinyl reissue and first-time CD release has been carefully remastered from the original...

2XLP $29.00

07/06/2018 855985006970 

SV 097 LP 


2XCD $22.00

06/15/2018 855985006659 

SV 097 CD 


For All The Fucked-up Children Of This World We Give You Spacemen 3 by Spacemen 3

Spacemen 3

For All The Fucked-up Children Of This World We Give You Spacemen 3
Superior Viaduct

In 1984, Spacemen 3 made their first-ever recording session and sold a few cassettes at now-legendary, incendiary gigs. Growing out of the dual guitar attack of Jason Pierce and Pete Kember, the band’s three-piece line up with Natty Brooker on drums offered a liturgical take on ’60s psychedelia, bare-knuckle blues and stunning feedback. This early glimpse into the Spacemen 3 cosmos—crafted by and for all the fucked-up children of this world—captures the band’s unorthodox approach to rock ’n’ roll with nuance and power. While the raw atavism of “Things’ll Never Be The Same” and “Walkin’ With Jesus” would be scaled back considerably on later recordings, the one-chord propulsion of “T.V. Catastrophe” and hardwired stomping of “Fixing To Die” draw from a primitive force that served as the impetus for the group’s formation.  For All The Fucked-Up Children remains the perfect introduction to Spacemen 3. Not only do these demos reveal the auspicious beginnings of two teenagers born on the same day in Rugby, England, but also compelling clues that point toward the exploration and eventual refining of their signature sound.

LP $22.00

06/15/2018 855985006550 

SV 155 


Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To by Spacemen 3

Spacemen 3

Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To
Superior Viaduct

***BACK IN STOCK!!!  Amidst the swirl that is Spacemen 3’s discography, Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To occupies a pivotal position --- one right at the nexus between their garage beginnings and their expansionist future. While much of this material is expanded upon via Sound Of Confusion and The Perfect Prescription, many devotees consider these urgent, minimally treated recordings as the prime document of Spacemen 3 at this stage.    Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To casts Spacemen 3 alongside the mid-80s cadre of UK front-line rockers, contributing a distinct variation of high pop shining through layered noisy guitars.  Ultimately, this collection serves to exalt the strength of Spacemen 3’s songwriting over the atmospherics and production assemblage that would permeate their later efforts.  Be it the rave-up rendering of “The Sound Of Confusion” or the churning take on “Losing Touch With My Mind”, these full band recordings capture the excited and inspirational spark of psychedelia rather than deep-dive ruminations on sonics and space.

2XLP $30.00

06/01/2018 855985006543 

SV 154 


On his fourth album, Clic, Franco Battiato moves further out—into realms of pure and elemental approaches to sound—to create a seminal work that flows naturally from one musical form to the next. Every second ripples with orbital chords, kosmische textures and schizophrenic string quartets, yet somehow manages the same dramatic pacing and variety as his avant-rock albums Fetus and Pollution. Originally released in 1974 on Bla Bla, Clic features Battiato on VCS3 synthesizer and piano, along with trusted collaborators Gianni Mocchetti on guitar and Gianfranco D’Adda on percussion. While only “No U Turn” bears the maestro’s voice, these seven tracks contain some of his boldest melodies, an underlying thread that runs through the choral arrangements and meditative compositions. Clic’s dedication to Karlheinz Stockhausen comes into focus on the final piece, “Ethika Fon Ethica”—a rapidfire journey into Italian shortwave radio, interrupted by fleeting fragments of folk music from around the world (sampled from Henry Cowell’s celebrated Folkways compilations from the 1950’s). It’s the perfect ending to Battiato’s beautiful and expansive tour of the cosmos, signaling the uncompromising experimentalism that would dominate much of the composer’s mid-1970s oeuvre. Superior Viaduct presents the first-time domestic release of Clic. Reproducing the original gatefold jacket and booklet, this reissue is part of an archival series that chronicles Franco Battiato’s masterful body of work from 1971 to 1978.

LP $27.00

05/25/2018 855985006345 

SV 134 


Playing With Fire by Spacemen 3

Spacemen 3

Playing With Fire
Superior Viaduct

***Back in print on vinyl!!!  Spacemen 3 began assembling their third album, 1988’s Playing With Fire, at perhaps the freest, most confident point in their career. Recording began with the band road-tested and rugged, even amidst the functional volatility that famously motivated their course. The sessions’ first offering came in the form of “Revolution,” a single of heroic Stooges-devotion and the most commercially successful release the group had to date. High expectations for the album were soon exceeded, as Playing With Fire would become Spacemen 3’s crowning studio achievement and cement their rightful place on the vanguard of otherworldly rock ‘n’ roll.  An exquisite mix of stuttering tremolo guitars and wistful melodies, Playing With Fire sheds any trappings of revisionism and furnishes a nuanced grade of psychedelia. Epic entries like “Suicide” (named after the notorious NYC band) and the mesmeric “How Does It Feel?” catch Spacemen 3 at their celestial apex, the very point where their collective writing, performance and production would crest and wondrously splinter.  Includes download card and new insert with liner notes by Marc Masters.

LP $27.00

05/11/2018 855985006512 

SV 151 


***BACK IN STOCK!!!  1990’s Recurring, the fourth and final studio album by Spacemen 3, is often considered the introduction of two brilliant solo projects (Spectrum and Spiritualized) rather than the work of a functioning band. While Spacemen 3’s departing statement surely reveals a deep divide within the S3 camp—each side of the LP was written by Sonic Boom and Jason Pierce separately and, unlike previous releases, the two do not play on each other’s songs—Recurring maintains a cohesive, dreamy feel with its chief sonic officers backed by fellow travelers Will Carruthers, Mark Refoy and Jon Mattock.  Opening saga “Big City (Everybody I Know Can Be Found Here)” marries ambient haze with narcotized indie rock, while “I Love You” manages to arrange a beautiful flute alongside a defiantly throbbing bass track. “Hypnotized,” a reimagined fuzz-pop hymn, would become the group’s first entry in the UK Singles Charts. Recurring lays bare the essence of Spacemen 3’s persistent sound, rooted in both aural expansion and phenomenal songwriting.  Includes download card and new insert with liner notes by Marc Masters.

LP $27.00

05/11/2018 855985006529 

SV 152 


August 1988, Spacemen 3 embark on one of the strangest events in the band’s already strange history. Billed as “An Evening Of Contemporary Sitar Music” (although consciously omitting the sitar), the group would play in the foyer of Watermans Arts Centre in Brentford, Middlesex to a largely unsuspecting and unsympathetic audience waiting to take their seats for Wim Wenders’ film Wings Of Desire. Spacemen 3’s proceeding set, forty-five minutes of repetitive drone-like guitar riffs, could be seen as the “Sweet Sister Ray” of ‘80s Britain. Their signature sound is at once recognizable and disorienting —pointing as much to the hypnotic minimalism of La Monte Young as to a future shoegaze constituency.  On this double LP reissue, Dreamweapon is augmented by studio sessions and rehearsal tapes from 1987 that would lead up to the recording of Spacemen 3’s classic Playing With Fire album. “Spacemen Jam,” featuring Sonic Boom and Jason Pierce on dual guitar, is a side-long mediation on delicate textures and psychedelic effects.  Includes download card and new insert with liner notes by Will Carruthers.

2XLP $30.00

03/23/2018 855985006536 

SV 153 


In the fertile terrain of New Zealand’s 1980s post-punk scene, few figures loom as large as the Jefferies brothers. Graeme Jefferies and Peter Jefferies—the primary forces behind This Kind Of Punishment—wrote some of the best music to come out on Flying Nun, Xpressway or elsewhere. A dizzying mix of pastoral ballads and DIY experimentation, TKP’s songwriting was at once classic and acutely raw. Among This Kind Of Punishment’s myriad recordings, A Beard Of Bees best outlines the collective vision of the Jefferies brothers. Their classic second album feels more meticulous than its predecessor, proffering a grey, near-Mancunian influence that serves as both touchstone and springboard for the proceedings. The unique maneuvering on “Trepidation” is a marvel: guitar sweetness shifting toward melancholic piano and ending with their combined shimmer. Conversely, the augmented VU-inspired noise of “East Meets West” positions itself as the album’s prime moment of severity, creepily building toward horror-show screams that inch to a buried, found-sound resolution. Originally self-released in 1984, A Beard Of Bees has been out of print for almost 25 years.

LP $20.25

02/09/2018 855985006420 

SV 142 


MP3 $9.90

01/26/2018 855985006420 

SV 142 


FLAC $11.99

01/26/2018 855985006420 

SV 142 


In the fertile terrain of New Zealand’s 1980s post-punk scene, few figures loom as large as the Jefferies brothers. Graeme Jefferies and Peter Jefferies—the primary forces behind This Kind Of Punishment—wrote some of the best music to come out on Flying Nun, Xpressway or elsewhere. A dizzying mix of pastoral ballads and DIY experimentation, TKP’s songwriting was at once classic and acutely raw. On their self-titled debut, the Jefferies brothers and Chris Matthews eschew the punk-informed modes of their contemporaries for a sound that is decidedly more deliberate / intimate. Rooted in a marriage between simplistic, classically-influenced piano, alternating guitar chime and sparse, subtle violin drone, This Kind Of Punishment is a contemplative, inventive collection of ideas corralled via economic 4-track recordings, minimal instrumentation and an austere performance style entirely of the Jefferies’ own making. Songs like “After The Fact,” “In View Of The Circumstances” and “Two Minutes Drowning” boast a living quality whereby the listener can act as bystander to these moments of creation—a trait that the band would expand upon throughout the course of their brief tenure.  First-time vinyl reissue since its initial release in 1983.

LP $20.25

02/09/2018 855985006413 

SV 141 


MP3 $9.90

01/26/2018 855985006413 

SV 141 


FLAC $11.99

01/26/2018 855985006413 

SV 141 


Worlds Within Worlds by Kirchin, Basil

Kirchin, Basil

Worlds Within Worlds
Superior Viaduct

Basil Kirchin was a pioneering British composer who blurred the lines between musical genres. While his career began in the ‘40s as a professional jazz drummer, in the ‘60s he started to make field-recordings, painstakingly splicing tapes and slowing-down sounds until the source material would be virtually unrecognizable. Originally released on Island Records in 1974, Worlds Within Worlds juxtaposes Kirchin’s various tape manipulations—amplified insects, animals, engines, glossolalia of children—with traditional musical instruments to form an organic totality that has the overall effect of otherworldly, ambient soundscapes. As Brian Eno writes in the liner notes on the original release, “Within the first couple of minutes it became obvious to me that Basil had not only discovered a whole new area of sound, but had exploited it with extreme skill and sensitivity, producing beautiful and evocative music as well…. So Basil Kirchin has made a double contribution: he has not only built the instrument, but has written and played the first successful works for it.”  Worlds Within Worlds remains a lost classic in sonic abstraction. This first-time reissue is recommended for fans of Broadcast, Aphex Twin and Nurse With Wound.

LP $22.00

12/15/2017 855985006260 

SV 126 


You Are My Everlovin' by Flynt, Henry

Flynt, Henry

You Are My Everlovin'
Superior Viaduct

Philosopher, musician and anti-art activist, Henry Flynt has long foregone the academicism often associated with “serious music” in favor of a uniquely intuitive, emotional approach to composition. In the 1960s and 1970s he was a part of NYC’s vibrant avant-garde scene, studying with Hindustani singer Pandit Pran Nath and developing his own proprietary technique on violin. You Are My Everlovin’, Flynt’s first published musical work, finds the composer in peak form at a lower Manhattan loft in late spring 1981. Featuring solo electric violin and pre-recorded tambura, this sinuous performance elegantly brings together disparate vernaculars—Southern blues, modal jazz, Appalachian fiddle, North Indian raga—into a new and bracing whole. As Flynt writes in the liner notes, “The electric violin timbre is crucial; it allows me to crush the diverse styles into a unity. I imagined the genre as open, radiant improvisation…an open plain that could absorb anything.” Incorporating themes and melodic phrases from his earlier work, Everlovin’ becomes Flynt’s own Gesamtkunstwerk—a work that is at once rooted in and liberated by the drone, revealing the profound mutability and utter singularity of this American iconoclast.

CD $13.00

11/24/2017 855985006444 

SV 144 CD 


First Rehearsal Tapes by Suicide

Suicide

First Rehearsal Tapes
Superior Viaduct

“On Suicide’s First Rehearsal Tapes, recorded in 1975, Alan Vega and Martin Rev create minimalist aural structures, traces of which would surface on their eponymous debut album, released on the Red Star label in late 1977. “These songs are not a sketchpad of semi-formed ideas. The First Rehearsal Tapes comprise an audio diary of two men out in the ether, measuring themselves as evolving individual artists and as a unit who would rely on inseparability to realize their unique and often confrontational mass in the decades to come. What the tapes also reveal is that Vega and Rev were compositionally ambitious, capable of melody and form, while resisting definition as they headed further into uncharted territory.   “The First Rehearsal Tapes afford the listener a glimpse into the creative process of two groundbreaking, true art warriors with their swords and shields leaning against the practice room wall. To understand the absolute brilliance of Suicide’s first album as well as their sonic adventures that followed, you have to start here with their earliest recordings.”   —Henry Rollins (excerpt from the liner notes)

LP $22.00

11/24/2017 855985006284 

SV 128 


Featuring Pharaoh Sanders And Black Harold by Sun Ra And His Arkestra

Sun Ra And His Arkestra

Featuring Pharaoh Sanders And Black Harold
Superior Viaduct

***NOW ON LIMITED GREEN VINYL!!! “To understand the significance of the word ‘featuring’ on Featuring Pharoah Sanders And Black Harold, consider how infrequently Sun Ra used it and the exact way it had been used.  “The October Revolution in Jazz, organized by Bill Dixon in the West Village in 1964, presented a vivid cross section of approaches to the new music, including a sextet led by Ra. For the October Revolution’s continuation, titled Four Days in December, held at nearby Judson Hall on the last days of 1964, the Arkestra performance presented Pharoah Sanders as well as a flautist (who was and remained obscure thereafter) named Harold Murray, nicknamed Black Harold. “It wasn’t until long after Sanders had achieved worldwide acclaim with John Coltrane that Ra and manager Alton Abraham decided to issue the music they’d recorded at Judson Hall. After its first release in plain or hand-decorated covers in 1976, Featuring Pharoah Sanders And Black Harold remained an exceptionally rare item in the El Saturn discography, known to a few lucky collectors.  “We’re lucky to have this glimpse of what Sanders sounded like in such a different context, galvanizing the large group and in turn being inspired to make his first significant contribution on record.”  —John Corbett (excerpt from the liner notes)

LP $22.00

11/17/2017 855985006437 

SV 143 


LP COLOR $27.00

04/19/2024 857661008421 

SV 1433 C 


Franco Battiato is often heralded as Italy’s answer to Brian Eno. A quizzical composer / lyricist, Battiato turned pop music upside down in the early ‘70s with three classic LPs—Fetus, Pollution and Sulle Corde Di Aries—that formed a confluence of avant-folk sensibilities and analog electronics. Originally released in 1971 on Bla Bla, Fetus predated the prodigious Cramps and Multhipla catalogues to become one of the first electronic records produced in Italy. With his trusted VCS3 synthesizer, Battiato created primordial soundscapes that shift between dreamy and delirious. His unsentimental, yet evocative voice—combined with a sublimely detached approach to lyrics—spawned a new breed of divergent songwriting. Fetus, a concept album exploring themes of genetic engineering, is enigmatically sub-titled “Ritorno al Mondo Nuovo” (Return to the New World) and dedicated to Aldous Huxley. While the sleeve design may have raised a few eyebrows upon its initial release, the back cover photograph of Battiato (standing defiant in dark glasses) makes the real iconoclastic statement. Battiato’s infectious melodies and innovative sound-collage techniques remain uniquely spry given that each track averages less than four minutes in length. Pink Floyd’s Meddle, Os Mutantes’ eponymous recordings and Jim O’Rourke’s experimental-pop idiosyncrasies all find parallels to the curious beauty of Fetus. Superior Viaduct is honored to present the first-time domestic release of Fetus on vinyl. Reproducing the original gatefold jacket, this reissue is part of an archival series that chronicles Franco Battiato’s masterful body of work from 1971 to 1978.

LP $27.00

10/27/2017 855985006314 

SV 131 


Franco Battiato is often heralded as Italy’s answer to Brian Eno. A quizzical composer / lyricist, Battiato turned pop music upside down in the early ‘70s with three classic LPs—Fetus, Pollution and Sulle Corde Di Aries—that formed a confluence of avant-folk sensibilities and analog electronics. Pollution from 1972 is the captivating follow-up to Fetus. Like its predecessor, the album features Baroque textures, motorik rhythms, weird tape effects and Battiato’s perfectly oblique vocals. Upon hearing Pollution, Frank Zappa joyfully proclaimed it “genius.” While Battiato’s core group of collaborators remains largely the same as on his debut, this phenomenal band (joined by an eighteen-year-old Roberto Cacciapaglia on keys) appears even more in the foreground on Pollution. Out of the Ash Ra Tempel-like riffs and urgent guitar strumming emerge hypnotic grooves and cinematic flourishes, suggesting a futuristic meeting point between Stereolab and Ennio Morricone. Dedicated to the Centro Internazionale Studi Magnetici, Pollution touches on themes of environmental catastrophe. Futurist allusions seep in through eccentric lyrics (at times sung backwards) about hydraulics, magnetic fields, etc., yet listeners don’t need to speak the artist’s language to grasp his melancholy vision. With Pollution, Battiato solidifies not only his cult figure status, but also many of his forward-thinking ideas on rock ‘n’ roll. Superior Viaduct is honored to present the first-time domestic release of Pollution on vinyl. Reproducing the original gatefold jacket, this reissue is part of an archival series that chronicles Franco Battiato’s masterful body of work from 1971 to 1978.

LP $27.00

10/27/2017 855985006321 

SV 132 


Franco Battiato is often heralded as Italy’s answer to Brian Eno. A quizzical composer / lyricist, Battiato turned pop music upside down in the early ‘70s with three classic LPs—Fetus, Pollution and Sulle Corde Di Aries—that formed a confluence of avant-folk sensibilities and analog electronics. 1973’s Sulle Corde Di Aries is the third chapter in Battiato’s foray into esoteric pop. While the artist would venture further out into avant-garde terrain on subsequent releases, his early records enjoy a lyrical and playful spirit—eschewing traditional, song-based composition in favor of kosmische voyages. On Sulle Corde Di Aries, Battiato guides the labyrinthine structural changes and majestic tones to evolve gradually over four electroacoustic suites. “Sequenze e Frequenze,” the album’s side-long centerpiece, blooms in a polyphony of organic pulses reminiscent of the vibrant keyboard minimalism of Terry Riley’s A Rainbow In Curved Air and the rhythmic interconnectedness of Can’s Ege Bamyasi. While Fetus and Pollution are often considered his masterpieces, Sulle Corde Di Aries remains a hidden gem in Battiato’s catalogue. With more of a cohesive album-feel than the previous records, Sulle Corde Di Aries slows the pace to take in the sweeping scope of otherworldly sounds and soulful harmonies. Superior Viaduct is honored to present the first-time domestic release of Sulle Corde Di Aries on vinyl. Reproducing the original gatefold jacket, this reissue is part of an archival series that chronicles Franco Battiato’s masterful body of work from 1971 to 1978.

LP $27.00

10/27/2017 855985006338 

SV 133 


Niandra LaDes And Usually Just A T-shirt by Frusciante, John

Frusciante, John

Niandra LaDes And Usually Just A T-shirt
Superior Viaduct

***BACK IN STOCK!!!  Niandra LaDes And Usually Just A T-Shirt is the first solo record by John Frusciante. Between 1990 and 1992 the guitarist made a series of 4-track recordings, which at the time were not intended for commercial release. After leaving the band Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1992, Frusciante was encouraged by friends to release the material that he wrote in his spare time during the Blood Sugar Sex Magik sessions. Originally released on Rick Rubin’s American Recordings label in 1994, Niandra LaDes is a mystifying work of tortured beauty. Frusciante plays various acoustic and electric guitars, experimenting with layers of vocals, piano and reverse tape effects. Channeling the ghosts of Syd Barrett and Skip Spence, his lyrics are at once utterly personal and willfully opaque.  Frusciante’s rapidfire, angular playing shows how key he was in the Chili Peppers’ evolution away from their funk-rock roots. His cover of “Big Takeover” perfectly deconstructs the Bad Brains original with laid-back tempo, twelve-string guitar and a fierce handle on melody.  The album’s second part—thirteen untitled tracks that Frusciante defines as one complete piece, “Usually Just A T-Shirt”—contains several instrumentals featuring his signature guitar style. Sparse phrasing, delicate counterpoint and ethereal textures recall Neu/Harmonia’s Michael Rother or The Durutti Column’s Vini Reilly. On the front cover, Frusciante appears in 1920s drag—a nod to Marcel Duchamp’s alter-ego Rrose Sélavy—which comes from Toni Oswald’s film Desert in the Shape. This first-time vinyl release has been carefully remastered and approved by the...

2XLP $31.00

10/27/2017 855985006826 

SV 076 


Perverted By Language by The Fall

The Fall

Perverted By Language
Superior Viaduct

The Fall returned to Rough Trade in 1983 to release a pair of singles (“The Man Whose Head Expanded” and “Kicker Conspiracy”) and Perverted By Language, their sixth proper studio album. Perverted By Language hints at the band’s shift towards a distinctly pop approach, one that they would perfect via their Beggars Banquet output that immediately followed. Yet again, the force and panic of their initial Rough Trade recordings remains the foundation for much of the album. A transitional recording in the absolute best sense, Perverted By Language is The Fall both as they were and as they would become. The emergence of Brix Smith is often cited as the impetus for The Fall’s move toward outward pop, and she first makes her first appearance with the band on Perverted By Language. Nowhere is her presence felt more than on “Hotel Blöedel,” where she handles lead vocal duties alongside Mark E. Smith whose mangled violin accompaniment roots the song’s cold romanticism in his unmistakable brand of strange. “Garden” provides a new take on The Fall’s stretched-out tendencies—using ringing, clean guitars to build a nearly 10-minute epic more subtly than ever before. The opener, “Eat Y’self Fitter,” is wholly classic Fall: a playfully circular bass line drives the album’s strongest vocal spout, complete with emphatic breaks where Mark E. Smith issues the song’s spiteful decree with equal parts glee and scorn. Superior Viaduct’s edition is the first time that Perverted By Language has been available on vinyl domestically.

LP $20.25

07/14/2017 855985006277 

SV 127 


John Coltrane transformed the inner architecture of jazz, throughout the mid-1950s and 1960s and long after his premature death at age 40 in 1967. No other American musician could be said to be at the spiritual center of the ‘60s musical universe as Trane influenced Albert Ayler, La Monte Young, Jimi Hendrix and everybody in between. Cosmic Music, originally self-released by Alice Coltrane in 1968 and later issued by Impulse!, features two tracks (“Manifestation” and “Rev. King”) by John Coltrane’s legendary final quintet that were recorded in San Francisco on February 2nd, 1966 and two more (“Lord Help Me To Be” and “The Sun”) from Alice Coltrane’s very first session as a bandleader, recorded six months after her husband’s passing. “Manifestation” opens with the group already in mid-flight: Trane’s fierce tenor leads the way with Pharoah Sanders’ blistering sax and Alice’s powerful chords hearing his call. On “Rev. King,” Trane introduces a lyrical theme and then the composition erupts into fiery incantations, while Jimmy Garrison’s bass throbs alongside the propulsive, gravity-defying drumming of Rashied Ali. Foreshadowing her majestic debut, A Monastic Trio, “Lord Help Me To Be” brings Alice’s celestial piano playing and inspired improvisations to the foreground with Sanders, Garrison and drummer Ben Riley rumbling in tow. “The Sun,” a meditative ballad with subtle urgency, perfectly closes the album’s contemplative circle. As John Coltrane recites on the final track, “May there be peace and love and perfection throughout all creation.”

LP $20.25

05/26/2017 855985006208 

SV 120 


Ten Years Alive On The Infinite Plain by Conrad, Tony

Conrad, Tony

Ten Years Alive On The Infinite Plain
Superior Viaduct

***BACK IN STOCK!!!  Received an 8.4 Best New Reissue rating from Pitchfork.  Ten Years Alive On The Infinite Plain is the quintessential work of artist/filmmaker/composer Tony Conrad. Comprised of both film installation and minimalist score for amplified strings, Ten Years leaps across genre and medium to connect his revolutionary structural filmmaking with the experiments in long-duration sound that Conrad had begun in the 1960s as part of the Theatre of Eternal Music.  "Ten Years began with image before sound," writes Andrew Lampert, "a row of quadruple projections arranged side-by-side, all the shuffling stripes cascading into each other. Over the next two hours the music throbbed and the projectors incrementally shifted inwards, their beams gradually uniting to form one pulsating, overlapping picture."  For its 1972 premiere at New York's The Kitchen, Ten Years included Conrad on violin as well as Rhys Chatham and Laurie Spiegel performing on instruments of the composer's own making. Chatham played the Long String Drone – a 6-foot long strip of wood with bass strings, electric pickup, tuning keys, tape, rubber band and metal hardware – while Spiegel carried out an arrhythmic bass pulse throughout.  Superior Viaduct is honored to present this previously unreleased recording of Ten Years Alive On The Infinite Plain's breathtaking premier performance. As Chatham recounts in the liner notes, "When I first listened to this recording after not hearing it for over 40 years, it transported me back to the early Kitchen and the heyday of early...

2XLP $30.00

06/02/2017 855985006833 

SV 049 LP 


2XCD $19.00

05/19/2017 855985006840 

SV 049 


MP3 $9.90

05/19/2017 855985006840 

SV 049 


FLAC $11.99

05/19/2017 855985006840 

SV 049 


***BACK IN PRINT!!! New Zealand's Pin Group emerged out of the early '80s Christchurch scene and, with just two stunning singles and one brilliant five-song EP, have become an archetype for nearly all indie bands ever since.  Ambivalence was not only The Pin Group's hypnotic debut, but also the very first release on Flying Nun. While guitarist Roy Montgomery, bassist Ross Humphries and drummer Peter Stapleton build off each other's jittery riffs, Montgomery's uncanny baritone pierces the torrential clangor. Conjuring both Wire's Chairs Missing and VU's White Light/White Heat, the band captures a truly unique sound – evocative, yet austere.  Wasting little time, The Pin Group released Coat in November 1981, merely two months after their first single. On the title track, Humphries' distant vocals call out as tense rhythms gradually push listeners over the edge. B-side track "Jim" could easily have been recorded in Manchester circa 1979, but remains a master class in NZ post-punk atmospherics, menacing from start to finish.  The Pin Group went back into the studio in January 1982 to record their third and final classic release. Featuring an expanded five-piece lineup with Mary Heney on guitar/vocals and Peter Fryer on viola, Go To Town is a work of taut perfection. Showcasing the band's dramatic chiaroscuro textures and arresting lyrics, "Long Night" and "When I Tell You" make staggeringly clear how much sonic ground The Pin Group covered in their unfortunately short tenure.   These first-time standalone reissues, featuring Ronnie van Hout's...

12" $13.00

05/12/2017 855985006406 

SV140 


MP3 $7.99

05/12/2017 855985006406 

SV140 


FLAC $8.99

05/12/2017 855985006406 

SV140 


For his second album, Two Solo Pieces, Jon Gibson forgoes the dense, multi-layered timbres of Visitations in favor of simple textures and tone. While Two Solo Pieces serves up further evidence of Gibson's centrality to American minimalism – witness its inclusion in Alan Licht's famed Minimal Top Ten list – this profoundly intimate record also reveals the beauty of enclosed spaces and infinite harmonic vistas.   As its unadorned title suggests, Two Solo Pieces consists of a pair of side-long tracks featuring the composer alone. While "Cycles," an iridescent improvisation on organ, achieves a downright eerie sense of expansiveness, Gibson's captivating alto flute on "Untitled" draws the listener inside the instrument itself.  The photo on the album's back cover – a seated Gibson surrounded by cascading rows of organ pipes and the vaulted ceiling in Manhattan's Peace Church – offers a striking visual complement to these gorgeous recordings.  Originally released in 1977 on Philip Glass' Chatham Square imprint, this first-time vinyl reissue is recommended for fans of Anthony Moore, Roberto Cacciapaglia and Terry Riley.

LP $17.50

05/05/2017 855985006864 

SV 069 


Arnold Dreyblatt has been called “the most rock ‘n’ roll of all the composers to emerge from New York’s downtown scene in the 1970s.” Dreyblatt founded The Orchestra Of Excited Strings in 1979, harnessing unusual tuning intervals to an exuberant performance style. Propellers In Love, the Orchestra’s second album – originally released in 1986 on the Stasch imprint, in conjunction with the contemporary art space Künstlerhaus Bethanien – develops Dreyblatt’s rhythmically exacting exploration of the glittering resonances and overtones generated by an ensemble of uniquely-altered stringed instruments and drums. On Propellers In Love, simple song titles – “Odd & Even,” “Harmonics,” “Bowing” – belie intricate harmonic structures. Dreyblatt’s modified instruments – a contrabass and miniature piano fitted with piano wire along with violin, all tuned in just intonation – undergo the Orchestra’s rapid, staccato attacks. Sparkling timbres dance above interlocking rhythmic patterns moored by sparse yet propulsive percussion (“Pedal Tone Dance” and the title track). Throughout, the Orchestra’s perpetual motion achieves a tremulous and exquisite density. Thirty years since its initial release, Propellers In Love remains a peerless work of second-generation American minimalism. This first-time domestic release is recommended for fans of Glenn Branca, Ellen Fullman and Charlemagne Palestine.

LP $17.50

05/05/2017 855985006178 

SV 117 


FLAC $0.00

05/05/2017 855985006178 

 


***LIMITED QTY RESTOCK!!!  Bert Jansch’s freewheeling fifth album, Birthday Blues, occupies a unique place in his solo discography. Released in 1969, the same year Basket of Light propelled Pentangle into the UK pop charts, Birthday Blues almost sounds like a Pentangle LP missing John Renbourn and Jacqui McShee. Backed-up by bandmates Danny Thompson and Terry Cox, Jansch neither holds back his characteristic moodiness nor takes himself too seriously. What’s more, Jansch is in love. Heather Rosemary Sewell isn’t just the inspiration for one of the song titles; she also designed the cover, whose Hans Feurer front photo shows Bert holding the couple’s puppy. With just enough of a Donovanesque pop sense, Pentangle producer Shel Talmy keeps the overall feel of these recordings fresh, warm and immediate. As its playfully ambivalent title suggests, Birthday Blues reveals an artist fully comfortable in his own skin. Blues and folk influences are woven together into songs at once directly personal, yet generously light and free. The most “pop” of Jansch’s ‘60s solo recordings and perhaps one of his most underrated, Birthday Blues is a deep and rewarding family affair at the height of his musical powers. This vinyl release has been carefully remastered from the original master tapes and features liner notes by Richie Unterberger.

LP $20.25

04/21/2017 855985006246 

SV 124 


By the time Rosemary Lane was released in 1971, Bert Jansch had covered a great deal of territory on numerous albums as a solo artist, collaborations with John Renbourn and records by the band in which he and Renbourn sang and played guitar, Pentangle. Returning to the intimate economy of his self-titled debut LP from a half-dozen or so years earlier, Rosemary Lane was recorded on portable equipment by engineer/producer Bill Leader and featured Jansch with no accompaniment save his guitar and voice. Rosemary Lane has elements of many of the styles Jansch covered in his extraordinarily eclectic career — from the folk and blues that were his bedrock to medieval music — yet cuts to the heart of his strength as spell-binding storyteller and empathic interpreter of isolation and want. Occasional instrumentals vary the mood that, like much of his work, is usually somber and introspective. Jansch once again lights the way forward with detours through the past. His sparse arrangements seamlessly merge original songwriting and traditional folk songs, while Jansch’s imaginative lyrics charm every step of the way — as if speaking directly to the listener alone. This vinyl release has been carefully remastered from the original master tapes and features liner notes by Richie Unterberger.

LP $20.25

04/21/2017 855985006253 

SV 125 


Un Uomo Da Rispettare Ost by Morricone, Ennio

Morricone, Ennio

Un Uomo Da Rispettare Ost
Superior Viaduct

Un Uomo Da Rispettare translates to “A Man to Respect,” which can easily be said of Ennio Morricone himself—the unparalleled maestro of the soundtrack. This 1972 crime film stars Kirk Douglas as a master safecracker at a crossroads in his life, emerging from prison yet tempted by one last big job. Morricone builds the main theme around Cicci Santucci’s flugelhorn as riveting leitmotifs reprise amidst variations of noir-jazz abstraction to frame the composer’s grand vision. A strident, two-note piano phrase sets the mood of heightened tension, while muted timpani and trance-like descending bass patterns sweep dramatically across the cinematic stereo field. On “18 Pari,” slinky rhythms and softened wah-wah guitars offer a distinctly Italian library music, adding elements of lightness to the overall avant-garde score. Un Uomo Da Rispettare’s dissonant chords and angular arrangements recall Morricone’s free improvisation work with Gruppo D’Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza. This first-time vinyl reissue is recommended for fans of Krzysztof Penderecki, Harry Partch and Sun City Girls.

LP $20.25

02/10/2017 855985006857 

SV 047 


Jack Orion, Bert Jansch’s third album, may have surprised some fans upon its 1966 release, as it features no original compositions by Jansch. While nearly all of the eight tracks (four of which include guitarist John Renbourn) are interpretations of traditional folk songs, Jansch’s experimental approach breathes new life into this repertoire through his exploratory use of open tunings and passionate, gritty vocals. According to Melody Maker, “his interpretations illuminate the songs from a completely new angle. As sung by him, with brilliant accompaniments, the brutal world that created the old ballads doesn’t seem so very far off.” The ten-minute title song foreshadows the future through the past: with his sublime retelling of this dark tale of desire and revenge, Jansch embarks on a musical trajectory he would further develop with his group Pentangle. In “Black Water Slide,” a haunting ballad he first heard from Anne Briggs, Jansch plants the seeds for future versions by Led Zeppelin and Sandy Denny. Jack Orion’s unique combination of medieval themes and progressive arrangements would pave the way for the next wave of the British folk revival and beyond. This vinyl release has been carefully remastered from the original master tapes and features liner notes by Richie Unterberger.

LP $20.25

01/27/2017 855985006239 

SV 123