***Our buds at the Empty Bottle penned this little bit about BASIC CABLE for our 7th Year Anniversary party and we think it sums these snide booze fueled bad vibe bringers up very fucking nice: "Channeling bad vibes, worse hangovers and a general life-keeps-shitting-on-us attitude, Chicago’s Basic Cable find a way to have fun as they commiserate with each other, and their listeners. Fairly new to ‘the scene,’ their blown out guitars, shouted, monotone vocals and punishing rhythms make for a noisy, punk-as-fuck attack that tingles our dingles in ways we can barely comprehend.” Edition of 200 copies on black vinyl.
LP $17.50
12/17/2013
MP3 $9.90
12/17/2013
FLAC $11.99
12/17/2013
These works are a collaboration between the Japanese figure of experimental electronic music, KK NULL, and Mexican artists and brothers ISRAEL and DIEGO MARTINEZ. Diego is best known as LUMEN LAB, and both are mentors of the label Abolipop - Suplex. The process started at the end of 2012 when Null, based in Tokyo and Israel Martinez in Berlin, started to share electronic sounds and field recordings. They tried making new pieces exploring various approaches to composition such as the recording of improvisation sessions, the capturing of the soundscape and incorporating some electroacoustic computer processes. After several exchanges, Israel invited Lumen lab to participate in the project from Zapopan, Mexico. The two had not worked together since 2002 when Israel was part of Lumen lab. Sharing this experience with an early influential musician of the ‘90s electronic and experimental scene provided a good moment. The process of exchanging isolated sounds and then fragments of composition continued. The three musicians worked using each others' lead. Eight months after moving back to Mexico, Israel together with Diego and Kazuyuki, finished four pieces called Incognita, now available on CD as an album. In addition, they composed work for a limited edition vinyl, Terra. It includes the first track of Incognita, which makes it especially appealing for vinyl collectors. The result of this collaboration shows the different profiles of the musicians, from the semi-rhythmic and powerful electronic dynamism of KK Null and Lumen lab to the deep drones and the convulsive field recording's treatment...
CD $10.50
12/17/2013
***Visiting Hours, the newest long-player from Brooklyn's VAZ for the SGG label, following 2011's precedent-obliterating Chartreuse Bull, manages to at once capture the live ferocity of the band as well as highlight their use of the studio as another weapon in a formidable aural arsenal. Our use of alliteration here should illustrate that we mean business. In fact, it's safe to say that the needle was buried so deep in the red that recording engineer BEN GREENBERG (The Men, Hubble) still hasn't managed to excavate it. Vaz are touring for the entirety of November in support of Visiting Hours" making stops all across the U.S. and sharing bills with label-mates and old and new friends alike. It is advised that you attend these shows.
LP $15.50
12/17/2013
***BACK IN STOCK!!! Experiencing Nirvana: Grunge in Europe, 1989, is a photo journal and a grunge rock micro-history; an inside look into a crucial eight-day period in the touring life of NIRVANA, and two other Seattle bands, as seen through the eyes of BRUCE PAVITT, the co-founder of Sub Pop Records, the Seattle label that first signed Nirvana in 1988. The dramatic eight days covered in this book, from November 27 through December 4, 1989, represented a turning point for Nirvana. In this brief period, the young band went from breaking up in Rome to winning over the influential British music press at Sub Pop’s LameFest UK showcase in London, setting the stage for their looming leap in popularity. On November 27, 1989, when Bruce Pavitt and his Sub Pop partner JONATHAN PONEMAN arrived to meet Nirvana in Rome, the band was almost finished with a grueling six week tour of Europe. Although determined to promote their grungy, riff-heavy debut album, Bleach, Nirvana’s travels with fellow Sub Pop act TAD had left them exhausted. Pavitt and Poneman did their best to revive the spirits of a frustrated and downcast KURT COBAIN. Despite a threatened leap from a 14-foot speaker tower, soon followed by the theft of his passport and wallet, Cobain managed to continue to London, where Nirvana played the biggest and most important show of its career to date. Nirvana’s breakthrough night at the 2,000-capacity Astoria Theatre in London featured three Seattle Sub Pop acts: Nirvana, Tad, and popular...
BK $23.75
12/10/2013
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
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
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
David Ackles’s eponymous 1968 debut is a rich emotional experience rife with poignant balladry and evocative lyricism. The era’s market was unprepared for such a singular songwriter, but the cult of Ackles is a potent force and this reissue obliges its demands. Elton John, Bernie Taupin and Elvis Costello are Ackles acolytes—the latter even championed him as “perhaps the greatest unheralded songwriter of the late ’60s.” As a staff songwriter for Elektra and avid composer for theatre and film, Ackles developed a maverick style. Indeed, David Ackles materialized when Elektra couldn’t imagine a singer more suitable for the material than its composer. David Ackles boasts wonderfully restrained arrangements that only enhance its power. The widely covered opening track “The Road to Cairo” features Ackles at the pinnacle of his emotive ability. With marvelous dramatic grace, he evokes the weary traveler’s wisdom and turmoil as it devolves to a devastating breaking point. It’s a gut-wrenching moment, though one quickly tempered by the melancholy “When Love Is Gone” and beatific “What a Happy Day.” Perhaps akin to Randy Newman, Scott Walker or the darkest Van Dyke Parks (at least for their inimitability), Ackles’s debut sounds peerless today. As critic and archivist Richie Unterberger writes in the liner notes, “About 45 years later, the record is more durable than many a high-charting singer-songwriter statement of the time, precisely for the idiosyncratic qualities that kept it shrouded in obscurity at the time of its release.” This record is an extraordinary achievement—it belongs to a...
LP $17.50
02/18/2014
CD $16.00
12/10/2013
Matt Baldwin on the Fender Strat is the last living prophet. Here is a young man who plays with a technical skill and virtuosity that few can ever hope to attain, and does so rather easily. Wherever one hears this record, one will find him. His lucid tapes are for truck drivers, surfers, painters, pilots, miners, lovers, loners, what have you; for those in prayer; for those performing surgery; for those on the moving sidewalk… It’s music to win by. Baldwin’s latest work follows releases on American Dust and Tompkins Square. This deluxe album is pressed on white vinyl and comes packaged in a foil-stamped jacket replete with a bonus 7-inch flexi disc. Full release digital download includes the track Drowning Butterflies from the flexi.
LP+7" $16.00
12/10/2013
MP3 $9.90
12/10/2013
FLAC $11.99
12/10/2013
***Blazing Gentlemen is the last Robert Pollard record. That will be released in 2013. It is also the finest Pollard-related record to come out in this or several years, aural evidence of a rock mage reinvigorated by the fact, according to the man himself, that he's "finally figured out how to write a song after 55 years." Which may come as a surprise even to casual fans of Pollard's thousands-strong catalog, and fair enough, Bob's certainly hip to the irony, but it's no joke. While he's explored pretty much every highway, toll road and dark alley of songcraft in his long career, including spontaneous "drum contests" where every member of Guided By Voices would be given the opportunity to come up with a drumbeat, over which he would then improvise a spontaneous melody based on semi-random lyrics from his ever-present notebook (for example), he's never before applied one consistent approach over the course of even one record. The new technique is considerably more disciplined: he first collects — in the (figuratively) selfsame notebook — phrases and titles, bits of overheard conversation, snatches of misheard movie dialogue, thus providing an assortment of lines all of which he considers strong enough to serve as potential song titles. He then assembles these song titles into lyrics, which because each line is strong enough to stand on its own, contain neither bloat nor the least misstep. When he's happy with the lyrics, he writes a melody for each lyric. He then sits down with...
LP $16.00
12/10/2013
CD $13.00
12/10/2013
MP3 $9.90
12/10/2013
FLAC $11.99
12/10/2013
***A fresh bit of dross and a some old toss from the UK's number one band! Featuring "We Are The Wankers," "Two Bob Cunt" (previously unheard alternate version) and "Fuck It" (previously unreleased). Oi! Oi!
7" $6.75
12/10/2013
***A reissue of BIL VERMETTE’s phenomenal private press LP, Katha Visions, from 1984. “Fans of all things SYNTH absolutely must hear this LP. Bil is a synthesizer aficionado and it shows. The first track on the ‘dark side’ is ‘Mountain Funeral,’ an aptly titled ambient synth dirge if there ever was one. The title track ventures into territory that was likely influenced by Terry Riley and could’ve easily been an influence on Bitchin’ Bajas. It’s a repetitive, layered, and soothingly long centerpiece to the album. ‘Long Trail Down’ closes out the A-side with effects that sound like seagulls floating over the top of the layered synth chord drones and melodies. It’s an easy track to get lost in, but then again, so is this whole record. The ‘light side’ (aka Side B) begins with ‘Morning Dance’ an upbeat number featuring the first appearance of synthetic rhythms. Up to this point, Katha Visions has been completely instrumental, but ‘Someday Soon’ features the only appearance by guest vocalist DAN COOPER. Cooper’s voice is melancholic and robotic, which fits in with the rest of the track perfectly. ‘Staircase’ sounds like a long-lost John Carpenter horror flick theme while the album’s closer ‘Opposites Attract’ is the curveball track on Katha Visions. It includes the first and only appearance by BRUCE WALTERS, an old high school chum of Vermette’s. Bruce disrupts the synth-clusiveness of the record with some soaring guitar lines that have us wondering what else he was up to around this time. We...
LP $17.50
12/10/2013
MP3 $6.93
12/10/2013
FLAC $7.99
12/10/2013
BACK IN STOCK - LAST COPIES - NOTE NEW LOWER PRICE!!! A collection of thirty-two 1960s mod, garage, and freakbeat bands covering The Kinks. By the end of the 1960s The Kinks had clearly inspired a veritable army of artists who for one reason or another felt the need to put their stamp on a Davies composition. Often times deciding to do so over releasing even their own material in the belief that Ray and Dave, speaking through them, could convey their feelings and the feelings of the day better than their own words ever could. Others just wanted to cash in on a known hit making songwriter. Both camps are heavily featured here and it’s usually pretty obvious which was their respective persuasion. Both takes end up being fascinating however, as you are able to hear the respective artists try to decide where they were going to take what were usually well fleshed out compositions. Few exceed the energy of the Kinks’ performances of these masterpieces, but everyone here put their own interesting stamp on their favorite track and there are many unexpected takes that will interest the casual and hardcore fan alike. Davies’ original compositions still feel as fresh as the day they met the world, but many of the versions heard here have been, until now, very hard to locate, even if you knew of their existence. There is no shortage of fuzz guitars, organs, reverbed out vocals, larger than life drumming, foreign accents, and sixties studio...
2XLP $25.25
12/10/2013
***Uncompromisingly bleak and harsh noisecore made from drums, vocals, bass, and electronics. All fifteen tracks from CHARLIE MUMMA and JOHN WIESE's Gate seven-inch (A Dear Girl Called Wendy, 2013), all five tracks from their Incomprehensible Dehumanization seven-inch (Gilgongo, 2014), and a six-minute bonus track “Live At 799 Towne Ave,” recorded February 2015.
CD $9.75
12/18/2015
MP3 $1.99
12/10/2013
FLAC $2.99
12/10/2013
***Deep, hypnotic, trance-like music from BAHRU KEGNE, a legendary Azmari, who was even a private court player under Haile Selassie, then the "free newspaper" of Ethiopia in the communist days. He recorded some amazing "modern" cassettes in the last years of his life. CD comes with 44-page booklet with interviews, photos, lyrics, stories, histories, etc. No Export outside of North America.
CD $9.75
12/10/2013
MP3 $1.98
12/09/2013
FLAC $2.99
12/09/2013
Slim Volume is the debut single by New Bums, a duo consisting of Ben Chasny (Six Organs of Admittance) and Donovan Quinn (Skygreen Leopards). Although the two began playing together during the summer of 2008 while neighbors in San Francisco, 2013 has seen them finally performing live (including touring with Bill Callahan) and recording. Slim Volume exemplifies the surreal storytelling, 4:00 A.M. acoustic guitars and urban paranoia that lie at the core of their music.
7" $6.00
12/03/2013
MP3 $3.96
12/03/2013
FLAC $4.99
12/03/2013
***River of Souls is the third enchantment from the hat of TIM COHEN (THE FRESH AND ONLYS) and his band, MAGIC TRICK. Picking up from where he left us with Ruler of the Night (Hardly Art), Cohen brings us ten new intimate tracks, polished as yet unseen. Recorded in The Tree House, his attic studio, River of Souls whirls with parables of change amidst emotional flotsam and jetsam. Insecurities, sarcasm, escapism, optimism, vanity, honesty, and bona fide love… it is all there, but in comforting form. Tim’s well-skewed pop songs remind us that things can always be better, but also that what we have is pretty amazing. River of Souls signals a new approach for Magic Trick. As in The Fresh and Onlys, Tim has begun to distinguish his muses from those of the foggy San Francisco lo-fi movement that he helped to shape. Mixed at Lucky Cat Studios with PHIL MANLEY and mastered by PAUL OLDHAM, this album exudes presence and confidence. Now, more than ever, the vocals break through the clouds, and the mix champions the artistry in each player’s performance. Tim’s baritone spars with angelic female chants (NOELLE CAHILL and ALICIA VANDEN HEUVEL) over the crisp unmistakable pulse of JAMES KIM’’s drums throughout. San Francisco’s gifted guitar workhorse, TOM HEYMAN, channels Mark Knopfler; one-man metal mystery, STEVE PEACOCK, brings the right kind of shred; and MARC CAPPELLE’s horns retort the melodies, as Tim jettisons his woes upriver. It is clear with each downbeat the band has honed...
LP $17.50
12/03/2013
MP3 $9.90
12/03/2013
FLAC $11.99
12/03/2013
Introducing one quarter of San Francisco’s Cool Ghouls, Pat Thomas! He’s the tall dude who plays the bass. He also writes one third of the Ghouls' songs. Coasters Riding in the Air is a collection of songs written, performed and recorded by Pat Thomas. The Cool Ghouls have made a name for themselves. Their soulful tunes and energetic live set have earned the band back-to-back slots with toast of the coast acts like Sonny and the Sunsets, Thee Oh Sees, The Fresh and Onlys, Mikal Cronin, Fuzz, Magic Trick and Shannon and the Clams etc., and they have no plans to slow their role. It has been less than a year since Cool Ghouls released their self-titled debut with Empty Cellar and Burger Records, and a new full-length album (recorded by Sonny Smith) is already in the can. The above in mind, one might guess that the Ghouls have their hands full; but like label-mate and fellow San Franciscan, Tim Cohen… Pat has more songs than any one band is prepared to handle. So as the Ghouls keep on truckin’, Thomas is offering this batch of solo material, Coasters Riding in the Air. He wants to keep the songs flowing; to convey another corner of the musical realm that he and Cool Ghouls inhabit; but mostly, because he recorded ‘em and he’d like to share ‘em. Pat laid these tracks at a leisurely pace, coming back to them whenever he could. He plays everything on the album, except...
MP3 $5.94
12/03/2013
FLAC $6.99
12/03/2013
Ablaze, Karren
City is Ablaze: The Story of a Post-punk Popzine 1984-1994
Happy Happy Birthday To Me / Ablaze
***Ablaze fanzine was published in Manchester and Leeds in the late eighties and early nineties by Karren Ablaze!. The best bits of this notorious and outspokenly passionately zine are now available in book format. Alongside hundreds of zine pages, The City is Ablaze features new writings by Karren and other members of the Ablaze! team, as well as interviews with other zine writers, essays by DIY cultural commentators, a re-examination of the Riot Grrrl movement, and an epilogue by Gary Jarman (the Cribs). The 320 page A4 book covers other zines that Karren produced in Manchester and Leeds between 1984 and 1994, capturing an era where DIY was de rigueur and indie actually meant something. You'll be able to read original interviews with the following bands (in chronological order). Eyeless in Gaza, the Membranes, the Stone Roses, the Inca Babies, Tools You Can Trust, the Bodines, Inspiral Carpets, the Pastels, the Janitors, Happy Mondays, King of the Slums, the Dust Devils, the Shamen, Cud, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, the Pixies, Throwing Muses, the Sundays, Thrilled Skinny, Rapeman, UT, Dog Faced Hermans, Edsel Auctioneer, Mudhoney, AC Temple, fIREHOSE, Band of Susans, Henry Rollins, Live Skull, Kilgore Trout, the Sun and the Moon, the Breeders, Happy Flowers, Silverfish, the Keatons, the Stretchheads, Pregnant Neck, Mayomberos Alive, Fluff, Archbishop Kebab, Nirvana, Pale Saints, Mercury Rev, The Heart Throbs, Babes in Toyland, American Music Club, Hole, Pavement, My Bloody Valentine, Shudder to Think, the Wedding Present, Leatherface, Nation of Ulysses, Tsunami, Poster Children, Sugar,...
BK $47.75
11/26/2013
An aural tempest brews as the history of a land steeped in epic struggle, passion and beauty spews forth—a history informed by the rhythm of the grasses, the waters, the animals and the nomad tribes—a history of armies, great battles, many deaths, iconic leaders and the followers loyal—to the cause of a land that tempts all men with the powers of conquest and trade—wars innumerable fought through winters of unspeakable loss—generations of warriors, soldiers, citizens noble—bred from this soil nourished by blood—the land is the body and soul. Tsaritsyn, Stalingrad, Volgograd—Russia. With their eighth full-length album, nomadic sludge death-drone duo Jucifer channels the soul / soil of a place called Volgograd into an hour and seventeen minutes of music as storied and powerful as the land and people to which they have dedicated this latest offering. Entitled за волгой для нас земли нет (“There Is No Land Beyond the Volga,” a quote from a Russian soldier in the battle of Stalingrad), Jucifer’s new concept album tells the history of Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) from the perspective of its people, its soldiers, its children and the very land itself. And the music? Sonic S&M for the modern, corroded soul; untouchable epithets of beauty; grim odes to all that’s heavy—some of the best songwriting to emerge in modern extreme / heavy music today. There’s Sleep, there’s the Melvins, and there’s Jucifer. It’s that simple and strong. A hot oil bath of riff after vicious riff. Massive, distortion-soaked stoner sludge Sabbath worship—down-tuned, skin-curdling, infectious, headbanging riffs...
2XLP $16.00
11/26/2013
Though lesser-known than Young Marble Giants’ output, the sole LP from Stuart Moxham’s The Gist is an essential entry in the great canon of English post-punk. As the principle composer in Young Marble Giants, Moxham honed minimal songwriting to maximal effect with the help of early electronic experimentation. He formed The Gist shortly before Young Marble Giants’ dissolution to realize experiments in sound outside his primary group’s mold and feature friends from such bands as Essential Logic and Swell Maps. The Gist yielded several singles and Embrace the Herd, originally released in 1982 on Rough Trade and featuring fellow Giants Alison Statton and Phillip Moxham along with Epic Soundtracks. Recorded at home by Moxham, Embrace the Herd is a venerable instance of post-punk liberation to indulge every stylistic whim. With a four-track reel-to-reel, tape echo machine and menagerie of instruments, he veers from the beautifully understated and evocative “Love at First Sight” (with a timeless, quasi-R&B chorus) and the gleaming pop progression on “This Is Love” to instrumentals like “Far Concern” and “Fretting Away,” the latter evoking Young Marble Giants’ sparse but evocative work on Colossal Youth. Moxham sometimes dons a prominently mixed baritone, coos soulfully elsewhere and defers to Statton’s inimitable voice on “Clean Bridges.” The fragmented and disparate ideas of Embrace the Herd expose the anatomy of bedroom DIY song-craft for listeners to revel in. Moxham’s liner notes express humble amazement at fans’ continued interest in this body of work, but even a casual listen explains why...
LP $16.00
11/26/2013
If you’ve seen mammatus clouds in person, you probably noticed the way those massive formations hang heavy like wilting and bulbous gray-blue sacs, bubbling from heaven towards us. Curiously, as monstrous as they look, these gentle giants are not portents of a storm; they cradle the sky, high above where they belong. How can something so heavy float? If you’ve seen Mammatus the band in concert, you probably noticed how visual their sound is. Guitarist Nicholas Emmert sports a one-piece full-body flight-suit, bassist Chris Freels dons a space cape, and drummer Aaron Emmert steers the ship, staring straight ahead with flashing laser eyewear. The homespun wizard-cum-trippy-dad-at-a-campfire look that they’ve adopted softens the blow of the heavy aural trickery afoot. Heady Mental is the perfect title for the third Mammatus album, for it rests heavily in the moldy caverns of heavy metal history, but doesn’t get too comfortable before revealing its true colors. This is music for flight, music for the sky, and music for the things that lie beyond. These men are searching for the source through sound. Repetitions of themes with variants spread over four separate songs that act as a whole. Heady Mental functions as a soundtrack to the Mammatus Brain: Heavy / Airy, Earth / Sky, Man / Creator, Complete and Grok’d. For the obligatory band reference, one could start by imaging what The Fucking Champs’ IV would have sounded like if they had been more into the McLaughlin / Santana LP Love, Devotion, Surrender instead of Iron Maiden’s Piece...
LP $16.00
11/26/2013
MP3 $5.99
11/26/2013
FLAC $6.99
11/26/2013
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
***Received a 7.0 rating from Pitchfork. Title track featured in Volvo commercial. Harlem River marks the solo debut of songwriter Kevin Morby. Known for his work as the singer / guitarist for Brooklyn band The Babies and bassist for Woods, the Kansas City native and new Los Angeles resident calls the record “an homage to New York City,” his adopted home for the past five years. Harlem River features eight interweaving tales of tragedy and misfortune from a series of desperate characters playing out their dramas with the city as backdrop. A departure from some of the signature sounds of his better known projects, Morby’s solo material glistens with a haunting intimacy. He maintains that the songs are about other people, but it’s hard not to feel a piece of him in each one—a half-imagined, half-painfully personal world of lost love, addiction, violence and prayers for the departed. The album was recorded in Los Angeles in February and March of 2013 with producer Rob Barbato, who recorded The Babies’ second album Our House on the Hill and whose guitar and bass work figure prominently on Harlem River. It also features drummer Justin Sullivan (The Babies) as well as contributions from Will Canzoneri, Tim Presley (White Fence), Dan Iead and Cate Le Bon.
LP $19.00
11/26/2013
CD $12.00
11/26/2013
Nashville, Tennessee’s punk warlords Cheap Time soldier on, delivering their fourth studio album. Produced once again by band leader / singer / guitarist Jeffrey Novak at his home studio, Exit Smiles builds off the sound of 2012’s Wallpaper Music, employing sharper production and more expansive songwriting. Along with danceable art-rock stompers like “Kill the Light,” and “Slow Variety,” the album also includes more progressive material like “Modern Taste” and the abrasive title track that opens the album. Taking everything up a notch is new bassist Jessica McFarland (vocalist of Heavy Cream), whose voice is the perfect counterpoint to Novak’s Bailey / Devoto punk snarl. McFarland’s tight bass playing fits right in the pocket between Novak’s overblown guitar chords and drummer Ryan Sweeney’s endless, Moon-y drum fills. Sweeney is Cheap Time’s backbone, an integral part of the band since 2010’s Fantastic Explanations. His drumming is powerful and relentless, especially on songs like “Country and City.” Where most bands drag or burn out around their second album, Cheap Time are students of rock history. They tread in the footsteps of their ’70s heroes—like Sparks or Alice Cooper—learning from the shortcomings of previous works and continuing to develop their craft. They’ve worn out their John Cale and Peter Hammill LPs, and finally delivered the classic punk album for 2013!
LP $16.00
12/24/2013
CD $12.00
11/26/2013
MP3 $7.92
11/26/2013
FLAC $8.99
11/26/2013
The poisonous death metal duo known as Vasaeleth returned this year with the barbarous five-track statement All Uproarious Darkness, now issued on vinyl via 20 Buck Spin. Like the Bone Sickness 12-inch release earlier in 2013, Vasaeleth unleashes death with a less-is-more approach, summoning forth five songs in just under 19 minutes, warranting repeated beatings. Raw, noxious, swirling murk and punishing brutality announce Vasaeleth as possibly the most horrifying young death metal band in the US; methodical in their madness. “… the 19 minutes of All Uproarious Darkness contains equal parts unpurified hostility and unprocessed cold-bloodedness. It’s the perfect representation of the underbelly of the Earth vomiting the grotesque into the face of modernity…” —PopMatters.com “Vasaeleth are excellent at blasting through their manic paces, but they’re deadliest when they slow it down, ramp up the intensity, and just fucking punish.” —Pitchfork.com “Like a demon’s birth in the darkest depths of hell, the death metal of Vasaeleth is a wretched natal ritual giving life to a truly horrific beast.” —CvltNation.com “The sound here is deliberately ugly, lo-fi and old school, yet despite all this, the music never sounds dated or tired.” —GhostCultMag.com [9/10 Rating] “Your skull takes a serious pounding due to Antinom’s furious drumming, and the band sounds like a demon-spawned machine moving and slicing its way through anything standing in front of it, with mercy never even entering into the equation.” —MeatMeadMetal.com “Open your window, turn off the lights and breathe, but don’t...
LP $16.00
11/26/2013
In 2010, death metal duo Vasaeleth released their debut LP Cryptborn and Tethered to Ruin, a violent, domineering march of unholy blasphemy. Equal parts blasting chaos and slowed-down battery, Cryptborn was a monstrous album that instantly signaled Vasaeleth as a top contender to the US death metal throne. Released on vinyl by the resolutely underground Swedish label Blood Harvest in limited quantity, the scorching LP has been out of print for some time, demanding increasing sums on the secondhand market. 20 Buck Spin now makes Cryptborn available domestically on vinyl to the pleasure of all wrathful deities. “It’s the kind of primitive metal that will thrill those who’ve grown jaded with death’s current direction…” —PopMatters.com “Cryptborn and Tethered to Ruin makes you feel like you are locked in the confines of a prison for the damned, where the cries of the insane keep you awake at all hours.” —About.com “With its brutally low guttural vocals, thick old school guitar riffs, and wall of drum beats working in the background, this low-production album invokes a dense and hellish atmosphere and imagery.” —SputnikMusic.com [4.5/5 Rating] “It’s classic death metal to the marrow: dark, dingy, and dangerous, simultaneously bucking ‘core and retro trends, the kind of music that inspires adolescent animal sacrifices and ritual suicides.” —MetalPsalter.com
LP $17.50
11/26/2013
***BACK IN STOCK!!! Received a 7.8 rating from Pitchfork. It's no secret that JOHN DWYER and THEE OH SEES put out a ton of stuff. Not just full-lengths—of which there are many—but singles, split releases, compilations and even books. The dude cooks in many kitchens, but the sauce is always tasty. Castle Face is proud to continue their tradition of occasionally corralling these rarer gems onto the convenient LP format. For even the most insane Oh Sees collectors, the inclusion of an unreleased, mutated live version of “Block of Ice” makes this a must-have. To sweeten the deal, the tunes have been gussied up ever-so-slightly to knock you nightly, and the incredible tritone artwork by SHALO P is printed on blinding silver-foil jackets. The CD version of Singles Collection Volume Three adds a bonus live jam that just wouldn’t fit on vinyl—a particularly bloodthirsty medley of “Destroyed Fortress” and “No Spell” recorded at Death By Audio.
LP $19.75
12/10/2013
CD $12.00
11/26/2013
MP3 $9.90
12/10/2013
FLAC $11.99
11/26/2013
***“BACK IN STOCK!!! Behold—when we introduced this live series, we spoke of lightning in a jar—this here’s a thunderstorm. TY SEGALL’s new stoner thrashers FUZZ not only totally murdered this set at San Francisco leather-daddy hangout The SF Eagle, but it was Ty’s birthday and he blew out his birthday cake candles mid-song, didn’t miss a beat, and that moment is forever etched into this record (we took a photo, too). “The place was insanely packed and they sound like the agile wolf-men they are up close and personal—Ty, mic wailing through a guitar amp and dominating drums like it’s the easiest thing in the world; CHARLIE, guitar set to Hendrix-meets-Hawkwind melter-mode; and ROLAND, keeping his bass firmly lodged in the groove—the jams are thick and wooly, we got some great photos of the night—man, this was one to remember and we’re super excited we captured such a freakishly good performance. As always, captured hot to tape, and mixed and massaged by our crack team of speaker-freakers (CHRIS WOODHOUSE, ERIC BAUER, BOB MARSHALL and JOHN DWYER) and shot to nicely grainy (real) film by BRIAN PRITCHARD.”—Castle Face Records
LP $19.00
11/26/2013
CD $12.00
12/10/2013
MP3 $3.96
11/26/2013
FLAC $4.99
12/10/2013
Crimes Against Totality is the final release in Sole’s Ruthless Criticism trilogy. Initiated last year, the series has since reaffirmed his place as “experimental rap pioneer,” breaking new ground among leftist zines, radical blogs and activist-minded people everywhere. Critics and fans heralded previous installments No Wising Up and Ruthless as some the artist’s greatest work to date; “a poetic blend of critical theory and experimental club beats.” Crimes Against Totality is a collection of songs from the Ruthless Criticism sessions that have been locked away deep in e-vaults and are now released to the world to fight the class war on their own. The dozen tracks feature production from Man Mantis, Thavius Beck, Egadz, Skyrider, Crushcon7, Fanesha Fabre and Hollagramz.
CD $13.00
11/26/2013
MP3 $9.90
11/26/2013
FLAC $11.99
11/26/2013
Anarchic trash-techno trios from Minneapolis aren't necessarily a plentiful commodity in our experience, especially ones as freewheeling and funked up as Beat Detectives. Comprised of visual artist Aaron Anderson, Chris Hontos (also of Food Pyramid and Dreamweapon), and the multi-talented Oakley Tapola, the group got their start playing a heavily smeared form of rudimentary dance music at "dirt raves in punker basements" around the Twin Cities before Anderson relocated to NYC. Music 2 is the perfect sophomore stepping stone slab, following their Casual Encounters Of The Third Kind debut collection on Moon Glyph earlier this year. Woozy house mutations and pitch-shifted party-acid experiments congeal and dissolve around Tapola's delirious, deadpan vocals (she manages to make lyrics like "American flag / with weed leaves / replacing the stars" sound strange and deranged instead of silly), interspersed with dizzy dub grooves and displaced electro-jack. Reminiscent in places of those weird deep cuts on certain late 80's Warrior Records acid comps, before the style got codified and normalized. Regenerative club mutagen for a world with a stick up its ass. Recorded in Minneapolis and Brooklyn, 2012-2013, and mastered by Cole Weiland.
MC $6.75
12/10/2013
MP3 $5.99
11/26/2013
FLAC $6.99
11/26/2013
Brooklynite Jorge Day's musical CV includes synth duties in Wierd Records mope-pop act Plastic Flowers as well as production for sultry neo-wavers Lingerie, but when left to his own devices he crafts gritty skeletal house sketches under the Fast Times flag. Bodytalk is his debut after a year of workshopping demos and touring Europe, and the results caress a spectrum of SILK sweet-spots: reverbed runway themes ("Mon Petit"), warehouse memory tapes ("Ephemera"), dirty drum machinery ("Eternity Is Past"), naked soul samples ("Toxic City"), luxe lo-fi hypnosis ("Male Polish," "Midnight Vamp"), etc. There's a starkness and crunch to these tracks that skews them more towards the proto-house vibe of various mid-80's analog sides, when productions were more about raw rhythms and melodic minimalism, instead of the prolonged tension-and-release model which dominates to this day. History aside, Fast Times makes background boombox gold, ripe for cranking loud and cutting loose. Expect more from this transporter in the near future. Mastered by Brian Pyle.
MC $6.75
12/10/2013
MP3 $5.99
11/26/2013
FLAC $6.99
11/26/2013
Second single from the upcoming album Blazing Gentlemen. Limited to 1000 worldwide.
7" $6.00
11/26/2013
MP3 $1.98
11/26/2013
***When the legendary KING LOUIE BANKSTON and his MISSING MONUMENTS stopped by the Slovenly USA office on a recent tour, they said they wanted to do a single for us. We replied with, “Sure! Just make sure it’s fuckin filthy.” And here ya have it, the Blast! EP, released to coincide with their new self-titled LP on Dirtnap Records. This exclusive three track monstrosity gives us the filth we were promised in the title track, and a corrosive jangle with complicated poetics on “Ghost HWY.” Doing what they do best, Missing Monuments lay down some serious power-pop skills on the B-side with “Covered In Ice”—a dirty, southern barroom swinger with all the infectiousness of the sweet, germy influences worn on their leather sleeves.
7" $8.50
11/26/2013
***SAM LANGHORN (1933-2007) was known among locals as the best blues guitarist to come out of Oxford, Mississippi, but he somehow eluded the blues mafia who scoured the state looking for talent. The recordings here are the first ever issued by Langhorn, who demonstrates his skills performing traditional gospel in a style remarkably similar to Mississippi John Hurt. Langhorn learned guitar from his mother Camilla, who played at sanctified church services, but he eventually chose the blues lifestyle. The recordings here were made around 1963 by two former Ole Miss football stars who befriended Langhorn and cut a session with him only to put aside the tapes for half a century. JIMMY HALL went on to pursue a career of acting in New York City and L.A., while ROBERT KHAYAT had a Pro Bowl career with the Washington Redskins before returning to the University of Mississippi, where he became a celebrated Chancellor.
10" $14.25
11/26/2013
***From the sun-bleached groves and terminal beaches of the Southland comes ERNEST GIBSON’s (NET SHAKER) debut LP—a weathered, mysteriously adorned block of sonic timber, soaked in watery reverb and awash in sinewy skeins of damaged tape. Island Records ventures ever deeper into dense primeval territory, only roughly intimated on his prior releases and further still from the scorched-earth urbanism of his group Net Shaker’s recent long-player. Trading those sputters of failing machinery and abstract paranoia for more hypnotic twilight vibrations, Gibson coaxes his own strain of mutant exotica from this suite of thirteen serpentine compositions. Trailing a procession of shadows across the dunes, Gibson moves at an oneiric pace worthy of Maya Deren—easing repeatedly at an enigmatic and sinister motif, whose full appearance never quite manifests beyond the glassy confines of the unconscious. Circular bass lines and loping rhythms crisscross the landscapes of these songs leaving wet footprints, while the album progresses with the indeterminate persistance of a febrile, paranormal pursuit. Occasional squalls of tremulous guitar burst forth, Poison Ivy-like, as on anti-anthemic opener “When You Get There,” while on tracks like “All Of Us Together,” incantatory verses hover just below an intelligible frequency—untold rites, issuing from an elusive cavern’s hidden entrance. For Gibson, each record acts as a field report from some newly imagined country—shorthand notes describing local rituals, glimpsed through the wary eyes of an itinerant stranger. Broadcast from this Delphic perspective, Island Records is a series of barely overheard conversations and half-remembered discoveries, staggering along the creeping...
LP $13.50
11/26/2013