Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis have always juggled darkness and light in their various collaborations (Dome, Cupol, etc.); Gilbert’s pointillist melodicism counterbalanced by Lewis’s menacing bass and sardonic lyrics. While the duo explores cinematic soundscapes on their album 3R4, here they return to more song-based territory with icy vocals, detached guitar lines and even a faint industrial vibe. Ends With the Sea provides a vital glimpse into the creative forces that even a band as daring and inventive as Wire could not contain. This first-time vinyl reissue is recommended for fans of SPK, Chris Carter, and Einstürzende Neubauten.
7" $9.75
02/17/2015
San Francisco provocateurs Inflatable Boy Clams recorded one of the greatest all-female art punk records ever made, a wrongfully obscure five-song double 7-inch EP which has garnered a cult following ever since its initial release on Subterranean Records in 1981. While the music blends simple instrumentation and captivating, quirky lyrics, the artwork looks like an early Rough Trade single, complete with a posh Winogrand-esque photo of the group. More of a performance art troupe than a traditional rock band, the Boy Clams often rotated between instruments and shared vocal duties: JoJo Planteen, Judy Gittelsohn and Carol Detweiler (the latter two both members of Pink Section), along with saxophone player Genvieve Boutet de Monvel. It is easy to imagine Planteen dancing to “Skeletons” with its infectious bassline and kitschy organ (or even to the flip-side track “Snoteleks,” which is the A-side played backward). “I’m Sorry” is the ultimate one-upmanship song that reveals that women can be sinister, too. This first-time reissue comes from the original master tapes. Recommended for fans of Kleenex / LiLiPUT, Raincoats and Bush Tetras.
2X7" $16.00
02/17/2015
MP3 $4.95
02/17/2015
FLAC $5.99
02/17/2015
Named after San Francisco Chronicle’s pink-hued arts and entertainment guide, Pink Section coalesced at SF Art Institute and performed their first show at the legendary Deaf Club on Valentine’s Day, 1979. These self-taught musicians existed on the fringe (even in the local underground scene), producing an unusual brand of off-kilter post-punk against a backdrop of Dadaist aesthetics. The group itself was strangely symmetrical: singer Judy Gittelsohn and drummer Carol Detweiler (both members of Inflatable Boy Clams), singer / guitarist Matt Heckert (Survival Research Laboratories) and bassist Stephen Wymore. While the hallucinatory layers of male / female vocals on “Shopping” conjure images of deranged domesticity and ’50s Americana gone haywire, the fractured riffs of “Midsummer New York” deconstruct Yoko Ono’s original even further, stripping bare Pink Section’s fondness for angular rhythms and out-of-control oscillations. This first-time retrospective LP collects the band’s rare 1979 single, the self-titled EP, unreleased demos and live material. Recommended for fans of Suburban Lawns, Units, and DEVO.
LP $16.00
02/17/2015
MP3 $9.90
02/17/2015
FLAC $11.99
02/17/2015
Cleveland’s electric eels (all lower case in homage to poet e.e. cummings) is America’s quintessential proto-punk band. Formed in 1972 by singer Dave E. McManus and guitarists John Morton and Brian McMahon, the group enlisted drummer Nick Knox (later of The Cramps) and producer Paul Marotta to record a flurry of catchy and genuinely fucked-up tunes. After only five legendary live performances—complete with Dave E. in black leather jacket covered in rat-traps and playing a gas-powered lawnmower on stage—the eels broke up in 1976 and posthumously released their classic single Agitated on Rough Trade in 1978, blazing a trail for high-art, low-concept rock. As Jon Savage writes in the liner notes, “There is something heroic about the eels’ isolation and uncompromising attitude: a fierceness that you can hear in these songs that still resonates in a different time and world.” Retrospective LP of seminal Clevland band, circa 1975. From the loud and snotty “Agitated” and its B-side “Cyclotron” (which Johan Kugelberg listed as #1 in his top 100 punk singles) to the anarchic anthem “Jaguar Ride” and the loose, bluesy sludge of “Anxiety,” the album exorcises the demonic power of the Stooges and Velvets and captures the mystique of these outsider artists inventing a new language. As the eels demand “Attendance Required” on their flyer for the infamous Special Extermination Music Night, listening is absolutely mandatory for this seminal band. Recommended for fans of Dead Boys, Simply Saucer and Pagans.
LP $17.50
12/16/2014
Following their legendary punk-as-ever Agitated single, electric eels released their second posthumous single, Spin Age Blasters / Bunnies, on Mustard Records in 1981. Recorded in 1975 and taking the band’s free-form jazz and art rock alliances to dizzying extreme, the twin-guitar swirl of “Spin Age Blasters” sounds like Trout Mask Replica on paint fumes, while “Bunnies” features Dave E.’s relaxing Bob-Ross-like vocals and frantic clarinet bursts à la Roscoe Mitchell. This first-time vinyl reissue includes original cover artwork by eels’ guitarist John Morton and is pressed in a limited edition of 1,000 copies.
7" $9.75
12/16/2014
In the late ’60s, Pip Proud recorded two of the oddest records ever to come out of Australia—Adreneline & Richard and A Bird in the Engine—before vanishing into obscurity for the better part of three decades. Often called the “Australian Syd Barrett,” Proud actually released his second album in 1969, a year prior to The Madcap Laughs, and developed his indigenous psychedelia in virtual isolation. A Bird in the Engine is even more rare than his debut. From the extraordinary “Eagle-Wise” to the remarkable title track (which includes the uncredited performance of a friend hitting a cardboard box with a microphone), Proud’s unrestrained genius is laid bare, a delicate tension of simple melodies and maddening form. While other compilations of Proud’s music have been released in recent years, this is the first time A Bird in the Engine has been reissued in its original format. Recommended for fans of Alvarius B., Donovan and Jandek.
LP $20.25
12/09/2014
In the late ’60s, Pip Proud recorded two of the oddest records ever to come out of Australia—Adreneline & Richard and A Bird in the Engine—before vanishing into obscurity for the better part of three decades. Often called the “Australian Syd Barrett,” Proud actually released his second album in 1969, a year prior to The Madcap Laughs, and developed his indigenous psychedelia in virtual isolation. To quote Byron Coley, who like a handful of underground luminaries discovered Proud in the ’80s via collector mail-order lists, Adreneline & Richard features “weirdly strummed barre-chord guitar, monotone vocals that occasionally [try] to pass way beyond their known range, oddball lyrics that [combine] nursery rhymes with druggy imagery. It [is] a hell of a cool record.” While other compilations of Proud’s music have been released in recent years, this is the first time that Adreneline & Richard has been reissued in its original format (including inner sleeve with lyrics). Recommended for fans of outsider and lo-fi pop from the US, UK, New Zealand and beyond.
LP $20.25
12/09/2014
***BACK IN PRINT ON VINYL!!! Glenn Branca’s first full-length album The Ascension is a colossal achievement. After touring much of 1980 with an all-star band featuring four guitarists (Branca, fellow composers Ned Sublette and David Rosenbloom, and future Sonic Youth member Lee Ranaldo) along with Jeffrey Glenn on bass and Stephan Wischerth on drums, Branca took his war-torn group into a studio in Hell’s Kitchen to record five incendiary compositions. Originally released in the summer of 1981, The Ascension effectively tears down the genre-ghettos between 20th century avant-garde and ecstatic rock ’n’ roll. On “The Spectacular Commodity,” chiming, shimmering tones unfold into sinister drone-territory à la Tony Conrad, while abrasive guitars and repetitive beats retain the raw primitivism of No Wave. The title track attains a densely packed, larger-than-life sound and (as author Marc Masters says best) “never stops climbing skyward.” With artist Robert Longo’s stark front cover that depicts Branca battling an unidentified man, The Ascension is a must-have record not only for fans of early Swans and Sonic Youth, but also of Steve Reich or Slint’s Tweez.
LP $22.00
11/25/2014
Philip Johnson, a lost figure in the dark waters of early industrial music, self-released over 25 tapes starting in the late ’70s. As a part of the “cassette culture” in the UK, he produced ethereal soundscapes, damaged electronics and undanceable drum patterns, along with homemade j-cards. For his first and only LP, 1982’s Youth in Mourning, Johnson further refined his approach with mesmerizing audio collages and Mark-E-Smith-ian vocals to make one of the most unique documents of the era. The song “C81,” commenting on NME’s compilation of the same name, expresses contempt with know-it-all indie culture that was similarly reflected 20 years later in LCD Soundsystem’s “Losing My Edge.” Fans of the degenerate tale in The Velvet Underground’s “The Gift” will appreciate Johnson’s “The Karate Kicking Girl of New Invention.” Youth in Mourning is a personal record, yet fearless. It pulls back the bedroom curtain, revealing (as Johnson writes in the liner notes) “the sound of a warm-air heater on a cold afternoon and a cassette being pushed into the deck and switched on.” This first-time reissue comes from the original master tapes. Recommended for fans of Cabaret Voltaire, John Bender and The Shadow Ring.
LP $16.00
10/28/2014
MP3 $9.90
10/28/2014
FLAC $11.99
10/28/2014
Considered the first collective of experimental composers, Gruppo d’Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza formed in 1964 in Rome to chase the expressive potential of live improvisation to its furthest reaches. Led by Franco Evangelisti, Gruppo also included Ennio Morricone before he found fame composing soundtracks. The ensemble advanced the innovations of 20th century avant-garde in laboratory-like studio settings where the intuitive interplay between members flourished. Before 1976’s benchmark release, Musica Su Schemi, Gruppo recorded this eponymous album in 1973. Whether the passages are jarring or soothing, clamorous or silken, the ensemble retains astounding organic coherence. An ultra-rare entry in Gruppo’s formidable discography, Gruppo d’Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza is finally reissued for the first time ever.
LP $17.50
08/26/2014
***Available again on LP!!! Peter Jefferies (This Kind of Punishment) released his brilliant sophomore album Electricity in 1994. While his solo debut, 1990’s The Last Great Challenge in a Dull World, has drawn comparisons to classic singer-songwriters like Nick Drake and Townes Van Zandt, Electricity is a far more sparse and nocturnal affair. Jefferies’ earthy baritone weaves between piano, guitar, cello and analog tape machine noise, pulling in listeners to the deep pastoral life of his music. With guest appearances from heavyweights in the New Zealand music scene (Straitjacket Fits’ Shayne Carter, Plagal Grind’s Robbie Muir and the Dead C’s Bruce Russell), Electricity has garnered a cult following among fans, yet the songs possess a singular quality—every note, utterance and flourish reflect back to Jefferies alone. The simple arrangements, in particular on ballads such as “By Small Degrees,” convey fiercely intimate moments as well as Jefferies’ tremendous range and playfulness as a writer. This first-time vinyl reissue includes four bonus tracks from 1992’s Swerve EP and is highly recommended for fans of Flying Nun Records, John Cale and Jim Shepard. After 20 years, now is the time to revisit the groundbreaking work of this New Zealand legend.
2XLP $24.00
08/26/2014
MP3 $9.90
08/26/2014
FLAC $11.99
08/26/2014
***BACK IN STOCK!!! San Francisco’s first and only rock ’n’ roll band, Crime loomed over the entire Mabuhay Gardens scene with their blistering 1976 single Hot Wire My Heart. The group’s loose, damaged rock ’n’ roll was as immediate as it was controversial. They were punk by any definition, yet shunned the label with a guttersnipe sneer. Their meticulously cultivated aesthetic of S&M graphics and police uniforms produced some of the era’s most indelible imagery. One of their finest moves was playing in the San Quentin prison yard. Formed by guitarists / vocalists Johnny Strike and Frankie Fix, Crime enlisted bassist Ron the Ripper and drummers Ricky “Tractor” Williams (later of The Sleepers), Brittley Black and Hank Rank. Joey D’Kaye later joined on keyboards and bass duties. For the first time, this LP release collects the sick energy of Crime’s three singles along with nine previously unreleased studio recordings from 1976 to 1980. The visceral churn and unwieldy leads on tracks like “Frustration” and “Piss On Your Dog” make Murder By Guitar the definitive statement from this prescient American underground band.
LP $22.00
08/19/2014
MP3 $9.90
08/19/2014
FLAC $11.99
08/19/2014
Never one to settle on a single musical style, Brigitte Fontaine followed up her debut, Est…Folle, and her astonishing collaboration with The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Comme à la Radio, with the most eclectic release of her lengthy career, 1972’s Brigitte Fontaine. It is telling that Fontaine chose an eponymous title for her third album, the sole release from her venerable ’70s catalogue attributed to her alone. Here the actress-cum-singer has finally arrived. From the introspective opening track, simply named “Brigitte,” seductive melodies perfectly hang above slithery bass lines and acoustic strumming. On “Moi Aussi,” a sparse and trance-like duet with long-time collaborator Areski, Fontaine muses, “They put me in a cage and after they told me ‘You fly down.’” Brigitte Fontaine is an unmatched European art-pop masterpiece anchored by both vocal and lyrical dexterity—in many ways, Fontaine’s most compelling work and an excellent entry point for those unfamiliar with this unique French icon.
LP $17.50
08/19/2014
Allez-Téia, the second album by French guitarist Richard Pinhas under the Heldon moniker, was originally released in 1975 on the artist’s own Disjuncta imprint. Far from the band’s prog-tinged trio lineup, Allez-Téia features a menagerie of guitars, Mellotron and analog synthesizers. While opening track “In the Wake of King Fripp” pays homage to King Crimson in its title, the album’s heady textures and rhythmic meditations are more reminiscent of the German Kosmiche movement (Cluster, Harmonia, et al.) and post-rock experimentalists, such as Jim O’Rourke and Gastr del Sol. Acoustic guitar even makes a rare appearance—on the beautiful and melancholy “Aphanisis.” With front cover artwork depicting the events of May ’68 in Paris (by renowned photojournalist Gilles Caron), these dark ambient sounds make Allez-Téia perhaps the most revolutionary release in Heldon’s influential catalogue, foreshadowing Pinhas’s incredible solo work for decades to come.
LP $20.25
08/19/2014
***BACK IN STOCK!!! Fire of Love is the no-nonsense debut from blues-punk legends The Gun Club. Formed in 1979—when singer Jeffrey Lee Pierce taught a young Kid Congo Powers to play guitar—the band injects the Delta blues, rockabilly and ’60s garage with their own amplified fury. Originally released in 1981 on Slash’s sub-label Ruby Records, Fire of Love features the classic second lineup with Ward Dotson on guitar (replacing Powers, who left to join The Cramps) and The Bags’ rhythm section. Opener “Sex Beat” shakes and stutters through a dynamic slab of American rock ’n’ roll that reverberates throughout the album. “She’s Like Heroin to Me” is perhaps Pierce’s most famous paean to modern love, elevating him to raucous demigod of the underground. Take it straight from Chris D. of The Flesh Eaters, who (along with Tito Larriva of The Plugz) produced these sessions: “Fire of Love is probably the definitive record to come out of this roots revival movement. Several people have told me that record made them want to start a band and come to Los Angeles.” This long out-of-print CD release has been carefully remastered and features liner notes by Chris D.
CD $16.00
07/08/2014
The Flesh Eaters is the name behind one Chris Desjardins a.k.a. Chris D. Taking his stage name from a 1964 cult film, Chris D. wrote for legendary fanzine Slash in the late ’70s and assembled the first of many Flesh Eaters lineups from heavyweights in the burgeoning L.A. punk scene. After releasing a ravenous EP and heart-ripping debut album, The Flesh Eaters unleashed their era-defining statement, A Minute to Pray A Second to Die. Originally released in 1981, A Minute to Pray brings together the greatest band in American rock history: Dave Alvin (Blasters) on guitar, John Doe (X) on bass, Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) on sax, along with Bill Batemen (Blasters) and DJ Bonebrake (X) providing the album’s trademark percussive backbone. Chris D. leads the group like a man possessed. Through a series of grotesque vignettes, his lyrical prowess and indelible growl stand toe-to-toe with the music’s powerful shifts. From opener “Digging My Grave” (resembling a diesel-charged Magic Band) to the gothic groove of “Divine Horsemen,” each song is its own hairy beast. Inspired by African tribal music, ’60s garage-rock churn and Funhouse-era Stooges swing, A Minute to Pray remains (according to author / archivist Byron Coley) “the best rock record ever recorded.” This first-time vinyl reissue and long out-of-print CD release has been carefully remastered and features liner notes by Coley. Without a doubt, The Flesh Eaters will hypnotize a new flock of listeners in this millennium.
CD $16.00
07/08/2014
***BACK IN STOCK!!! Born Alice McLeod into a musical Detroit family, Alice Coltrane began playing piano at age seven and later studied with Bud Powell in Paris. Upon returning to the States, she joined vibraphonist Terry Gibbs’s group and eventually shared a bill with the John Coltrane Quartet. In 1965, the two wed in Juárez, Mexico, and played alongside one another until her husband’s last performance in May, 1967. A Monastic Trio, created in the year following her husband’s passing, is Coltrane’s first recording as a band leader and features six original compositions. While John’s spirit can be felt throughout—from the song titles (“Ohnedaruth” was his adopted Hindu name) to the personnel (Jimmy Garrison, Rashied Ali, and Pharoah Sanders were frequent collaborators)—the album showcases Alice’s immense talent for fusing spiritual free jazz and new age with classical, Eastern, post-bop and gospel. As the late Amiri Baraka writes, “‘I Want to See You’ is a monastic piano concerto. With echoes of Europe..., it has a solemnity and majesty to it.... Yes, monastic is the word. The piano broods in its earth imagination.”
LP $22.00
06/10/2014
Produced in the twilight of the ’80s in London and originally released on white-label LP with a homemade rubber stamp impression, Witch is the mysterious and powerful debut from poet, artist and musician Leslie Winer. It’s an infectious patchwork of dub beats, tasteful samples and Winer’s sultry blend of spoken word with cool, folksy lullabies that later became popularized by acts such as Massive Attack and Tricky. Even though Witch predates those artists’ breakthroughs by a year or more, Winer quickly rejected NME’s christening her as the “grandmother of trip-hop.” No stranger to the concept of fame and its pitfalls, Winer moved to New York in the late ’70s to attend university and befriended William S. Burroughs and Jean-Michel Basquiat, among other street-level luminaries. Her striking, androgynous looks eventually led to a successful modeling career. As the ’80s closed, Winer chose to use © instead of her own name as a moniker; the front cover of Witch features an ouroboros around the letter C to form a copyright symbol. Winer’s spoken delivery evokes the frank realism of beat poetry; her lyrics grapple with socially constructed notions of beauty, womanhood and domestic roles. These stark challenges to power structures are articulate and staggeringly direct, pushing the boundaries of pop music’s form. This message, matched with Winer’s uncanny approach and melodic ear, fitted with an electro-acoustic palette built on tension and restraint, culminates in the extraordinary work that—as John Peel said—is “the very definition of a hidden gem.”
LP $17.50
06/10/2014
It comes as no surprise that Andrei Tarkovsky, master of Soviet cinema, turned to composer Eduard Artemiev to score his two lyrical and haunting films, The Mirror (1975) and Stalker (1979), as he had done for Solaris (also available on Superior Viaduct). Artemiev’s magnificent soundtrack to The Mirror is the natural follow-up to Solaris. Dense, slow-moving, and often disorienting mood pieces with Baroque sensibilities resonate beyond the film’s dream-like images. For Stalker—Tarkovsky’s other science fiction masterpiece—Artemiev was inspired by Indian classical music and employed layers of synth tones, flute and tar (a traditional Iranian stringed instrument) to create a central theme as spellbinding as The Zone, a setting in the film where laws of physics no longer apply. Superior Viaduct presents the first-time official release of these two astonishingly unique soundtracks. Recommended for fans of Lech Jankowski’s music for Brothers Quay films, BC Gilbert & G Lewis and Oneohtrix Point Never.
LP $20.25
05/20/2014
Residue of The Residents collects outtakes, rare tracks and other experiments from this legendary San Francisco collective. Originally released on Ralph Records in 1983 and spanning The Residents’ career up to that point, this first-time vinyl reissue has been expanded to a double LP and contains 26 songs from the late ’70s and early ’80s—the group’s most fertile period. Highlights from the first LP include the Morricone-inspired “The Sleeper,” the dreamlike “Whoopy Snort” (initially on the LAFMS compilation Blorp Esette), the intense collage piece “Kamikaze Lady” from the pre-Residents 1971 Baby Sex tapes, and the RAO Studio Orchestra version of “Ups & Downs” (which may be the group’s finest pop moment). The second LP features many insider favorites that have not been available on vinyl for decades: “Loser = Weed” (initially released as the B-side to the Satisfaction single), “Death in Barstow” and “Melon Collie Lassie” (from the Babyfingers EP), as well as The Residents’ contributions to the great Subterranean Modern compilation. Balancing the group’s conceptual impulses with a dark palette of electro-esotericism, Residue of The Residents is an intoxicating collection that serves as an ideal starting point for the uninitiated.
2XLP $24.00
05/06/2014
After cutting his teeth in the late ’70s no wave scene with bands Theoretical Girls and The Static, Glenn Branca made his first solo statement, Lesson No. 1, in 1980. The inaugural release on legendary post-punk / dance label 99 Records, Lesson No. 1 unveiled Branca’s visionary guitar concepts with two monstrous, side-long compositions that helped forge NYC’s downtown art-punk sound and acted as a massive influence on countless young groups, including Sonic Youth and Swans. The title track is easily Branca’s most accessible moment; its driving beat and interlocking patterns resemble German pioneers Neu! playing Phillip Glass. Never before (or since) has minimalism sounded so euphoric. “Dissonance” is the A-side’s polar opposite. Dark, skittish and unhinged, Branca leads his band (guitar, keyboard, bass, drums and sledgehammer) through block after block of industrial terror, leaving listeners drained in the process. Soon after the release of Lesson No. 1, Branca began to work on ambitious, long-form symphonies. “Bad Smells,” included here as a single-sided bonus 12-inch, was commissioned in 1982 as a dance piece for choreographer Twyla Tharp and originally released on a split LP with John Giorno. Featuring Sonic Youth guitarists Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore, “Bad Smells” is a thrilling multi-section guitar assault that foretells much of Branca, Ranaldo and Moore’s work for the next decade.
2X12" $17.50
02/18/2014
Glaxo Babies are the greatest UK post-punk band you’ve never heard. Formed in Bristol in late 1977 and named after the British pharmaceutical giant who allegedly inoculated thousands with a toxic vaccine, the original lineup included Rob Chapman (vocals), Dan Catsis (guitar), Tom Nichols (bass) and Geoff Alsopp (drums). The band’s pioneering mix of metallic guitar, dubbed-out rhythms and shamanistic chants found its way into the bloodlines of generations on both sides of the pond. Naturally, Glaxo members later joined The Pop Group and Maximum Joy. Originally released on Heartbeat Records in 1980, Put Me on the Guest List collects the band’s propulsive demos, mostly performed live in the studio with no overdubs and not originally intended for release. “This Is Your Life” is a veritable classic, with Chapman’s angst-ridden lyrics soaring low as the band rides tense, sinuous grooves. The skittish “Police State” stands toe-to-toe with the art-punk flag-bearers in the North (Gang of Four, Mekons) and in London (Wire, The Homosexuals). “Stay Awake” is a vitriolic screed as powerful as anything from the newly formed Public Image Limited. By the time England’s post-punk scene was in full bloom, dominating the pop charts in the UK and college radio in the US, Glaxo Babies had unfortunately dissolved. Released domestically for the first time ever courtesy of Superior Viaduct, Put Me on the Guest List is available on vinyl and CD with liner notes by Chapman. The CD version contains three bonus songs including the rare “Christine Keeler” single.
LP $16.00
12/24/2013
CD $13.00
12/10/2013
French poet and chameleonic vocalist Brigitte Fontaine’s career spans over four decades. Only a few years before her 1968 debut, Brigitte Fontaine Est…Folle, she moved to Paris to become an actress and took her prodigiously mature voice into the studio. Rich in the drama she brought to theater, Fontaine synthesized chanson (French pop song) and world music, which eventually won her international acclaim as a performer and collaborator with a variety of artists from around the world (Art Ensemble of Chicago, Sonic Youth and Stereolab, to name just a few). On Est…Folle, Fontaine takes flight over conductor Jean Claude Vannier’s brilliant arrangements. Vannier, best known for his work on Serge Gainsbourg’s Histoire De Melody Nelson, is in fine form, using what would become his trademark stylings: lush strings, taut rhythms culled from across the globe and a healthy dose of whimsy. “Il Pleut” swings from understatement to rapturous delight. “Une Fois Mais Pas Deux” is an infectious pop song that could have been culled from a French New Wave soundtrack. Fontaine is adventurous and multi-dimensional with sophisticated lyrics, poignant melodies and enthralling delivery. Such artful handling of meter and rhyme (or lack thereof) is rare in pop song. Far from the era’s yé-yé phenomenon, but never fully removed from its traditions, Est...Folle is an essential link in French pop music, exuberantly pushing the genre into more conceptual and experimental sounds.
LP $22.00
12/24/2013
CD $16.00
12/10/2013
Featuring Areski Belkacem and Art Ensemble of Chicago, Comme à la Radio is the sophomore album in Brigitte Fontaine’s prolific career. While her debut, Brigitte Fontaine Est...Folle, is a unique take on French chanson, here the Art Ensemble provides the perfect setting for Fontaine’s exploration of free-verse poetry. Often arrhythmic and spoken, her vocals command the same spontaneity and grace that her collaborators applied to their instruments. The album’s eight-minute title track sets the tone: a sparse bass line keeps time as Fontaine dances around stabs of flute and trumpet. On “Tanka II,” named for a form of concise Japanese poetry, Areski (who provides percussion throughout) plays hand-drums atop flurries of bass as Fontaine coos and whispers pensively, gradually uttering controversial phrases. “L’Été L’Été” centers around a repeated motif with individual lines of high-pitched melody on a bed of muted horns. Each track is its own world, with Fontaine’s incredible range, both in style and substance, acting as the glue between the immense talent involved. The overall effect is chilling, and it is no surprise that Comme à la Radio is often cited as Fontaine’s best known work.
LP $22.00
12/24/2013
CD $16.00
12/10/2013
Founded by Steven Brown and Blaine Reininger in San Francisco, Tuxedomoon are a futuristic alternate reality of delirium and existential dread. Aligned with fellow Bay Area experimentalists The Residents (to whose Ralph Records the group eventually signed) and Robin Crutchfield’s post-DNA project Dark Day, Tuxedomoon developed a unique combination of synthesizer and guitar that placed them at the forefront of the US post-punk movement in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Their 1978 debut EP, No Tears, was recorded with vocalist Winston Tong and sound engineer Tommy Tadlock. Replete with tense synth swells, devastating live drums and a psychotic ode to the “creatures of the night,” the title track is a crucial entry in the synth-punk canon that stacks up next to the best work by Units and The Screamers. Reininger’s electric violin congeals with electronic atmospherics to unnerving ends on the instrumental “Litebulb Overkill.” Few records do justice to the mania and paranoia of a forsaken city; none do it for San Francisco like Tuxedomoon’s No Tears.
12" $12.00
12/17/2013
Founded by Steven Brown and Blaine Reininger in San Francisco, Tuxedomoon are a futuristic alternate reality of delirium and existential dread. Aligned with fellow Bay Area experimentalists The Residents (to whose Ralph Records the group eventually signed) and Robin Crutchfield’s post-DNA project Dark Day, Tuxedomoon developed a unique combination of synthesizer and guitar that placed them at the forefront of the US post-punk movement in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Scream With a View, recorded surreptitiously in The Residents’ private studio in 1979, advances brilliant melodic concepts through analog technology for a sound barely comprehensible today. On “Where Interests Lie,” punchy drum machine underlies barbed and eerie leads from guitarist Michael Belfer (The Sleepers). “(Special Treatment for the) Family Man”—a reference to Dan White’s trial for the assassination of San Francisco’s mayor George Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978—is an indignant vigil cut with a rare brand of macabre humor. Saxophone, Polymoog, violin, e-bowed guitar, and CB radio interference make Scream With a View the insidious foil to the urgent No Tears EP.
12" $12.00
12/17/2013
After the abrupt departure of singer Rob Chapman, Bristol’s Glaxo Babies moved into more improvised and electronic-based territory. Their early demos (as compiled on Put Me on the Guest List, also available from Superior Viaduct) only hinted at such exotic sounds. Other bands from Manchester and New York were spiking post-punk with dance beats, yet Glaxo Babies were brimming with fun and spontaneity, spearheading England’s death disco movement in the process. Reportedly recorded in a single day, Nine Months to the Disco originally appeared on Heartbeat Records in 1980. Glaxo Babies’ sole proper album veers between wiry electro à la Liquid Liquid (“Free Dem Cells”), piano-based free jazz burners (“Seven Days”) and progressive post-Krautrock jams that would make even This Heat blush, culminating in the mutant funk masterpiece “Shake (The Foundations)” (which was regularly covered by The Pop Group in their live set). Nine Months to the Disco is a monster statement, equal parts ballroom bangers and dancefloor clearers. Released domestically for the first time ever, the album is available on vinyl and CD with liner notes by The Pop Group founder Mark Stewart and band members Dan Catsis and Charlie Llewellin.
LP $16.00
12/10/2013
CD $13.00
12/10/2013
Negative Trend were ground zero for California punk. Formed in San Francisco in 1977, they shared the stage with other now-legendary bands such as Dead Kennedys, The Dils, The Avengers, and The Sleepers. Their sole EP first appeared in 1978 to reveal the shape of punk to come. “Black and Red” features guitarist Craig Gray’s nihilistic riffs and singer Mikal Waters’s ominous battle cries. “Meathouse” is a hardcore anti-ballad to the Mabuhay Gardens, San Francisco’s answer to CBGB’s. The group disbanded soon after a brief sojourn with vocalist Rik L. Rik (F-Word), yet the break-up birthed even more maladjusted offspring. Will Shatter (bass) and Steve DePace (drums) formed Flipper, and Gray would go on to found Toiling Midgets (the first band signed to Rough Trade’s US label). One of the most sought-after US punk records, the Negative Trend EP made such an impression on a young Henry Rollins that decades later he reissued it on CD on his 2.13.61 imprint. Superior Viaduct and Subterranean Records are proud to make Negative Trend available again on vinyl in its original 7-inch format.
7" $9.75
12/10/2013
MP3 $3.96
12/10/2013
FLAC $4.99
12/10/2013
Phill Niblock has pushed the boundaries of sound and visual art for over 40 years. While dutifully producing experimental films and curating multi-media loft performances in New York’s 1960s avant-garde circles, Niblock developed a composition technique informed by American minimalists such as Tony Conrad and La Monte Young. His music consists of long instrumental tones, closely pitched together to create beat patterns and multi-tracked into dense layers. Nothin to Look At Just a Record, originally released on esteemed 20th century / jazz label India Navigation in 1982, is Niblock’s recording debut and often cited as his masterpiece. “A Trombone Piece,” the first of two side-long tracks, was recorded by Richard Lainhart and Richard Kelly (both music innovators in their own right) at SUNY Albany in the mid-’70s. Breathing pauses from instrumentalist James Fulkerson’s trombone were spliced out to unravel the drones spatially, rather than according to metered rhythm. The overall effect is mesmerizing and beautifully envelops the listener with each tonal subtlety. To celebrate Niblock’s 80th birthday, Superior Viaduct is honored to present the first-time vinyl reissue of Nothin to Look At Just a Record, a high-water mark in 20th century music and listed as #5 on Alan Licht’s Minimal Top Ten.
LP $20.25
11/26/2013
***BACK IN STOCK!!! It’s only appropriate that Solaris, Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky’s psychological sci-fi classic from 1972, contains an equally original and mind-bending score. Solaris explores the inadequacies of time and memory on an enigmatic planet below a derelict space station. To reinforce the film’s chilling setting, Tarkovsky commissioned composer Eduard Artemiev to construct an electronic soundscape reflecting planet Solaris’ amorphous and mysterious surface; Artemiev rose to the challenge with a prophetic work that defies the era’s technological limitations while evoking unparalleled emotional responses even today. Artemiev’s score—centered around variations on Bach’s “Chorale Prelude in F-Minor,” a somber piece for solo organ—sounds majestic alongside dissonant crescendos and formless, ambient tracks. Armed with the massive ANS synthesizer (aptly named after Russian occultist Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin, who pioneered thought behind the synesthesiatic effects of music), Artemiev drafted sine waves on glass plates for the machine to interpret. The only prototype of the ANS was destroyed shortly after the Solaris soundtrack was recorded. Luckily this artifact of transcendent composition married with technological innovation endures as a masterpiece of early electronic music. Superior Viaduct is honored to present the first-time official release of Artemiev’s original soundtrack for the film (not to be confused with the previously available re-recording of the music). This deluxe package comes with three unique front-cover designs and is recommended for fans of Cluster, Iannis Xenakis, and Louis and Bebe Barron’s Forbidden Planet.
LP $20.25
10/29/2013
Richard Pinhas is an artistic iconoclast. A French intellectual as likely to collaborate with Magma as the radical philosopher Gilles Deleuze, Pinhas released seven albums under the Heldon moniker in the 1970s that flaunt the mastery of progressive rock and early electronics while still being thoroughly avant-garde. The genre-expanding innovation of his ’70s output is best encapsulated on Interface, the group’s sixth album (and second with the stripped-down trio featuring drummer Francois Auger and keyboardist Patrick Gauthier). Interface is a sonic tour de force where Heldon avoids every logical category vis-à-vis infinite climaxes and rhythmic explorations that sound impossibly futuristic. As with much of the Pinhas’ music from this period, Interface is heavily influenced by the guitar treatments of Robert Fripp (King Crimson), especially those in collaboration with Brian Eno. More experimental than virtuosic, Pinhas applies feedback and a jazz-like looseness to create otherworldly soundscapes. Interface is loud, dark and unrelenting with a maximal approach to minimalism that would go on to inform the cold wave scene in the late ’70s. Few recordings are as menacing, although certainly Miles Davis’ Dark Magus and Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music come to mind. It is Heldon’s most crystalline work, building to the epic crescendo of the title track. Many fans consider this to be their masterpiece, but more importantly, Interface is a record that will continue to unfold for centuries to come.
LP $20.25
10/15/2013
Sensations’ Fix guitarist, keyboardist and occasional vocalist Franco Falsini cut his teeth with Italian groups in the ’60s before assimilating the heady guitar virtuosity of English rock. In 1969, he moved to Virginia and built a recording studio in his girlfriend’s basement, employing little more than his guitar, the newly available Minimoog synthesizer and a 4-track machine. These raw tracks, intended to be simple demos, formed the base of Fragments of Light, the debut album by Sensations’ Fix. Originally released on Polydor in 1974, Fragments of Light does not bend to mid-’70s genre-classism. Fluid, meditative guitar leads and innovative use of synthesizers, combined with a noted lack of percussion (and vocals) on all but a few songs, have drawn comparisons to Kosmische legends Tangerine Dream and Popol Vuh. “Space Closure,” the only track with live drums, resembles the kinetic progressive rock of fellow Italian Franco Battiato, while the shimmering bliss of “Do You Love Me?” rivals the American power pop that Falsini surely absorbed during his time in the States. A certain airy, homespun feel lends Fragments of Light its unique character. While other Sensations’ Fix records may sound more cohesive and polished, Fragments of Light remains the most personal. The album is sadly not well known outside of Italy, but Superior Viaduct hopes to rectify that situation with this first-time vinyl reissue.
LP $20.25
10/01/2013
*** Pitchfork review 8.0! First appearing incongruously on John Fahey’s Takoma label in 1981, Nommos remains enshrouded in impenetrable mystery—from its understated artwork to the rich assemblage of analog synths contained inside. According to Head Heritage, Nommos is the “missing link between the proto-industrial rhythm and drone of Suicide and the whole minimalist drone / static / repetition method of Terry Riley and La Monte Young.” Best known as a producer, Craig Leon worked on landmark debuts from Suicide, Richard Hell, The Ramones and Blondie. Rather than ape the early NYC punk that he helped foster, Leon’s own music is filled with lush textures and pulsating rhythm boxes. Comparisons can be made to German innovators such as Cluster and La Dusseldorf, yet Nommos is an unbalanced cosmos marked by anxious melodies, aggressive shifts and spiritual overtones. The name “Nommos” itself refers to mythical deities worshipped by tribes in West Africa. Some scholars have argued that the myth has extraterrestrial roots. While these are significant details for understanding the album’s peculiar meditative qualities, there was little context for these sounds upon their initial release. Even today, in the cold light of the early 21st century, Leon sounds fiercely contemporary. This first-time CD release is mastered from the original analog tapes. “A perfect storm of pedigree, obscurity and musical uniqueness that creates a three-decades-in-the-making cult classic.” —The Wire
LP $17.50
07/23/2013
CD $16.00
05/13/2014
DEVO’s Hardcore documents the group’s beginning as pre-punk outcasts in the fertile Akron, Ohio, underground rock scene. Spawned at the nearby college of Kent State, site of the infamous May 4 Massacre, DEVO formed as a conceptual art project armed with the radical philosophy of de-evolution. Brothers Mothersbaugh (Mark, Bob and Jim) and Brothers Casale (Jerry and Bob) along with drummer Alan Myers soon whipped up an otherworldly brand of “devolved blues” that could hold its own alongside the beatnik groove of 15-60-75 (a.k.a. The Numbers Band) or the primal rock poetry of The Bizarros. Recorded on various four-track machines and in tiny studios, basements and garages between 1974 and 1977, Hardcore reveals their strikingly clear vision: rock ’n’ roll stripped bare of its collective cool and jerked back into propaganda fit for post-modern man. It’s no surprise that these transmissions would soon catch the eye and ear of Brian Eno, who later produced their landmark 1978 debut album. Noisy synth, strangled guitar chops and a primitive rhythmic thud power the early DEVO sound. Threaded beneath it all are lyrical themes of post-McCarthy paranoia, middle-class ephemera and DEVO’s long-running topic of choice: sex, or lack thereof. Few moments in pop music history can match the grinding, pent-up energy of “Mongoloid” and the spastic bounce and sputter of “Jocko Homo” (two anthems presented in their earlier and superior versions here). Cult favorites like “Mechanical Man” and “Auto-Modown” make Hardcore essential listening. Digging further into the band’s cranial bunker, one finds the...
2XCD $20.25
07/09/2013
***BACK IN PRINT!!! Received an 8.6 rating from Pitchfork. DEVO’s Hardcore documents the group’s beginning as pre-punk outcasts in the fertile Akron, Ohio, underground rock scene. Spawned at the nearby college of Kent State, site of the infamous May 4 Massacre, DEVO formed as a conceptual art project armed with the radical philosophy of de-evolution. Brothers Mothersbaugh (Mark, Bob and Jim) and Brothers Casale (Jerry and Bob) along with drummer Alan Myers soon whipped up an otherworldly brand of “devolved blues” that could hold its own alongside the beatnik groove of 15-60-75 (a.k.a. The Numbers Band) or the primal rock poetry of The Bizarros. Recorded on various four-track machines and in tiny studios, basements and garages between 1974-1977, Hardcore reveals their strikingly clear vision: rock ’n’ roll stripped bare of its collective cool and jerked back into propaganda fit for post-modern man. It’s no surprise that these transmissions would soon catch the eye and ear of Brian Eno, who later produced their landmark 1978 debut album. Noisy synth, strangled guitar chops and a primitive rhythmic thud power the early DEVO sound. Threaded beneath it all are lyrical themes of post-McCarthy paranoia, middle-class ephemera and DEVO’s long-running topic of choice: sex, or lack thereof. Few moments in pop music history can match the grinding, pent-up energy of “Mongoloid” and the spastic bounce and sputter of “Jocko Homo” (two anthems presented in their earlier and superior versions here). Cult favorites like “Mechanical Man” and “Auto-Modown” make Volume 1 essential...
LP $22.00
06/25/2013
***BACK IN STOCK!!! Received a 7.9 rating from Pitchfork. DEVO’s Hardcore documents the group’s beginning as pre-punk outcasts in the fertile Akron, Ohio, underground rock scene. Spawned at the nearby college of Kent State, site of the infamous May 4 Massacre, DEVO formed as a conceptual art project armed with the radical philosophy of de-evolution. Brothers Mothersbaugh (Mark, Bob and Jim) and Brothers Casale (Jerry and Bob) along with drummer Alan Myers soon whipped up an otherworldly brand of “devolved blues” that could hold its own alongside the beatnik groove of 15-60-75 (a.k.a. The Numbers Band) or the primal rock poetry of The Bizarros. Recorded on various four-track machines and in tiny studios, basements and garages between 1974-1977, Hardcore reveals their strikingly clear vision: rock ’n’ roll stripped bare of its collective cool and jerked back into propaganda fit for post-modern man. It’s no surprise that these transmissions would soon catch the eye and ear of Brian Eno, who later produced their landmark 1978 debut album. Noisy synth, strangled guitar chops and a primitive rhythmic thud power the early DEVO sound. Threaded beneath it all are lyrical themes of post-McCarthy paranoia, middle-class ephemera and DEVO’s long-running topic of choice: sex, or lack thereof. Volume 2 digs further into the band’s cranial bunker with the caveman hit “Be Stiff,” the space age surf-blues of “Clockout” and even a demented take on bubblegum pop, “Goo Goo Itch.” This 2xLP set includes four previously unreleased tracks: “Man from the Past,” “Doghouse...
2XLP $30.00
06/25/2013
There is no sense in trying to outdo Angel of Madness, Destry Hampton’s bona fide cult classic. Caught up in the international punk zeitgeist, Hampton laid down his une saison en enfer in late ’77 in the North Beach district of San Francisco with a pack of friends that included Danny Mihm from the Flamin’ Groovies. Buzzsaw riffs and manic leads underpin Hampton’s feral, reverb-doused vocals (“I’m feeling mean / Screwed up tight / O I’m ready to kill”). Angel of Madness is one of the most elusive records of the era: manufactured through legendary oddball label Moxie Records, stamped on Hampton’s own Z-Bop imprint, and distributed through a couple local record stores. Eventually the remaining stock was stolen from storage. Deranged like the Mentally Ill, yet grounded in Crime’s impeccable rock sneer, the ignoble savagery of Destry Hampton proves its supremacy in the annals of Killed By Death’s many volumes. This first-time reissue comes from the original master tapes.
7" $7.75
06/25/2013
MX-80 Sound is one of the real oddities in American music. Their debut album, Hard Attack (released in the UK on Island Records), found little-to-no audience in the States upon its release in 1977, yet remains a key document of the mid-’70s proto-punk zeitgeist. Hailing from Bloomington, Indiana, MX-80 Sound is lead by guitarist Bruce Anderson and defies simple classification with relentless riffs, dual drummers and vocalist Rich Stim’s absurdist prose and dizzying sax. Assimilating the avant-rock of Captain Beefheart and conjuring the ghosts of Albert Ayler, MX-80 Sound evokes what free jazz would sound like if born in Bloomington. As archivist Byron Coley writes, “Hard Attack has long been considered one of the great squirts of the Midwest underground’s prog-punk tradition. Fellow travelers include Debris’ Static Disposal, Pere Ubu’s Modern Dance and Destroy All Monsters’ 1974-1976, and what makes each of these fine gushers unique is that they were all created in virtual isolation. No one else in the neighborhood was creating anything akin to them.” Superior Viaduct is honored to reissue Hard Attack, mastered from the original analog tapes for the first time since 1977 and remixed by the band. The definitive version for longtime fans and newcomers alike, this deluxe 2xCD set includes 19 previously unreleased tracks, documenting the band from their early days to the moment they relocated to San Francisco and signed to the Residents’ Ralph Records label. The singular and staggering innovation of MX-80 Sound still harkens to rock’s future potential. “If ever...
LP $16.00
05/28/2013
2XCD $17.50
09/17/2013
In the early 1970s, Franco Evangelisti assembled Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, a collective of Italian composers that included Ennio Morricone on trumpet. Gruppo aspired to revolutionize composition through group improvisation and—like their peer, Karlheinz Stockhausen—musique concrète, aleatory (controlled chance) techniques and early electronic music. One significant influence in the studio was their use of chess to define key parameters of their music. Musica Su Schemi is unpredictable, fluid and always marked by a tension between the performers and their conscious rejection of traditional forms. Each member of Gruppo would establish themselves as important figures in 20th century music, though no others gained the notoriety of Morricone. Nonetheless, Gruppo’s influence on modern composition endures. As composer / saxophonist John Zorn explains, “[They] were instrumental in founding a radical tradition of Western musical improvisation that owed little or nothing to anybody and created some of the strangest music ever made.”
LP $16.00
04/30/2013
MP3 $9.90
04/02/2013
FLAC $11.99
04/02/2013
The Sleepers’ debut five-song EP, originally released in 1978, is one of the truly essential records to come out of California in the late ’70s. It is 100% punk in spirit and yet avoids every punk cliché. The band’s original lineup of Ricky Williams, Michael Belfer, Paul Draper and Tim Mooney operates here as a machine—a temperamental one rattling in unison. Opener “Seventh World” trudges through many tempos without repeating a single one, while Williams’s astonishing, Robo-fueled voice douses the microphone with esoteric imagery. Each track creates a new template for psychedelic rock and discards it by the time the next one begins. This record inexplicably transcends the mere sum of its parts.
7" $9.75
04/16/2013