THOMAS ANKERSMIT / VALERIO TRICOLI
Forma II
(Pan - PAN16) CD $12.00
Four electroacoustic pieces based largely on analogue synthesizer material and one long-form swarm-like composition for multiple overdubbed saxophones -– the duo’s first collaborative output, composed and recorded in Berlin between 2008 and 2010. Additional sounds range from metal foil floating on ultrasonic sound-beams to mechanical clickers recorded in the abandoned radar domes at Teufelsberg. The raw materials have been extensively processed and re-constructed using analogue tape and digital methods. The five pieces shift between sharply detailed blizzards of electronic interference to passages of delicate balance, between calm and turbulence, between stasis and rapid shape-shifting, between multiple virtual spaces and non-spaces.
Astro / Family Battle Snake
(Pan - PAN1) split LP $16.00
Delving into the realm of deep listening, transported by way of analog synthesizers, Family Battle Snake (aka Bill Kouligas of Sudden Infant) weaves an electronic web that cocoons the listener in warm cascading frequencies, calling to mind classic electronic composers such as Charles Dodge, Eliane Radigue and even a hint of NWW. Astro (aka Hiroshi Hasegawa of C.C.C.C.) melds waves of squealing feedback and oscillating waveforms with biting distortion. Enveloped by haywire electronics and burbling loops and skree, Astro has constructed an impressive piece of modern electronic music of devastating magnitude. Limited edition of 330 hand-numbered copies, pressed on 140g vinyl, jacket housed in a two-tone silkscreened PVC sleeve with interweaving geometric designs.
Urban Disease
(Pan - PAN11) LP $12.00
It has been said that Billy Bao doesn't believe in hypnagogia because he always sleeps with one eye open, and when he dreams, all he sees is AIDS deniers, German shepherds, and soldiers disguised as UN peacekeepers. Before Mattin and anarchism ruined his life, Billy was a bit of a troubadour who accompanied himself on acoustic guitar and warbled wild songs of protest in his native Nigerian patois. This new album, his third on vinyl, is a transitional one dating from late 2006. The gaztetxes of Bilbao hadn't yet burrowed into his marrow, Mattin was still plotting his moves for acting as Merle to Billy's G.G., and the herpes sores in the mouth of global capitalism revealed no visible symptoms. What began as a relaxing session in which Billy conducted a pickup band of itinerant improvisers through a song-by-song cover of Amon Düül's Psychedelic Underground got fucked up by Taku Unami. Likewise, Margarida Garcia lends astounding skill and highly personal idiom on the electric double-bass (in her hands an instrument with the tension of string on wood and the disruptive potential of a crackle box); Barry Weisblat, meanwhile, teases out a century of drone from a Cornell lunchbox of filament and circuitry; the sainted Tim Barnes plays drums and percussion with a saintly touch; Mattin, thumb and forefinger compulsively pinching (or stroking) his Hitler mustache after every take, funnels Billy's malaise through laptop, percussion, and folk instrumentation; and a women's choir eerily fills out the atmosphere with wordless vocals and incantations. The result is a fragmentary, extremely loud hippie jam session punctuated by stretches of uneasy silence and scrape. Cover artwork by Henry Flynt.
Your Snakelike King
(Pan - PAN5) LP $27.00 (Out-of-stock)
These Brighton mongs -- Dylan Nyoukis and Karen Constance -- pick up where they left off with 2008's The Magnetic Headache. Midnight-to-three recordings fueled by grape and smoke conjure a blurred narrative, the meaning of which is never clear, like weird off-camera sounds in a tripped out movie. A shape-shifting and strange mix of tape collage, free vocals and electro-acoustic mischief. Limited edition of 330 hand-numbered copies, in jacket and a two-tone silkscreened PVC sleeve. TEDIUM HOUSE BEST OF 2009
Wie Zeit Vergeht
(Pan - PAN14) LP $15.00
The Berserker of Berlin's uninterrupted stream of timbre-changing and alternating sounds takes influence from aspects of Stockhausen's work, albeit certainly far from Serielle Komposition methods. Using an entirely different array of equipment and caring less for technical finesse, a raw and sometimes absurd quality emerges. In spite of the dramatic character of the compositions, Butzmann works with the same joy and intuition as when he first heard them almost 40 years ago. Manipulating analogue sounds culled from old electronic recordings that he made at STEIM in Amsterdam back in 1995 (using the infamous Black Box modular system), a dadaistic influence shines through in the semi-naive use of electronics, vocals and undefined sound sources. For Butzmannm the basic idea is always more important than the perfect realization. The lyrics are excerpts of ... wie die Zeit vergeht ..., Telemusik and Kurzwellen by Stockhausen plus re-writings of lyrics used in the first section of the composer's concrete and electronic composition Hymnen. 140-gram vinyl, color jacket, silkscreened PVC sleeve. Edition of 500.
Frequency Conquistadors
(Pan - PAN6) LP $27.00 (Out-of-stock)
Das Synthetische Mischegewebe's track titles here stem from El Mundo Alucinante by Reinaldo Arenas (which itself is inspired by François-René de Chateaubriand's Mémoires d'outre-tombe). It is about time rather than history, and about being in history. Having lost the war of time, the only thing that remains to do is be, and here we go, 'being infinitely required' as a means of expression. DSM began in the early '80s, partook of the international industrial cassette scene; composed for light installations with open-reel machines, cassette recorders, microphone and guitar fuzz boxes with loud, quiet, occasionally full blast and frequently snuck-in little sounds, all alternating within a few seconds; created an electroacoustic anti-music; performed unusual concerts in the underground network as well as in high art institutions and museums (such as Centre Pompidou); created mixed media installations, exhibitions and conferences on cognitive science and neurologic research related topics; toured with changing line-ups; and participated in international festivals throughout Europe and the US. Limited edition of 330 hand-numbered copies, in jacket and a two-tone silkscreened PVC sleeve.
Ploughing Furrows Into Rotten Burrows
(Pan - PAN3) LP $13.50
Made up of acoustic and electronic junk sounds, Ploughing Furrows into Rotten Burrows is informed by a caustic patience and steady pacing. With a concentrated approach, Mark Durgan (Putrefier, Birthbiter label) builds tracks with loops, samples or acoustic sounds, which then become automated from the influence of the feedback generated from the electronic devices. For the past twenty years, Durgan has influenced the directions of musique concrete, improvisation, electroacoustic music, power electronics and early ’90s Japanese noise. Limited edition of 330 hand-numbered copies, pressed on 140g vinyl, jacket housed in a two-tone silkscreened PVC sleeve with interweaving geometric designs.
Akustische Aktion - Zürich 1991
(Pan) Used LP $30.00
In which him from Sudden Infant and him from Runzelstirn &G bite, chew, smack, gulp and slurp. Instead of decay and corruption, Lanz and Eb.er deliver a true and undiluted composition of this existential act of annihilation, because they “believe what we are doing is right, because we are endeavoring to remain true. We want to create no false illusions, no sickly aesthetic or anything beautiful. We want to find things that we are not even looking for and we wish to unite them together to form a new reality.” Mission accomplished.
I Love You, Please Love Me Too
(Pan - PAN8) LP $27.00 (Out-of-stock)
Los Angeles sound artist actively creating experimental works since 1980 as a member of LAFMS, Solid Eye, Joe & Joe, Dinosaurs With Horns, Dimmer, and Points of Friction, Joseph Hammer continues his journey into playful yet heavily focused idiot-savant infinite psychedelic inertia. He utilizes consumer audio technology and 20th century detritus to decode and snake-charm mid-century sci-fi and AM radio beyond the point of recognition in multi-dimensional audio collages and free form, completely unorthodox plunderphonic hypnosis. Baked devotionals for tape loop minds. Edition of 330, 140g vinyl, black-andwhite LP jacket in a two-tone silk screened PVC sleeve with interweaving geometric designs. Artwork by Kathryn Politis and Bill Kouligas.
Sun Pandämonium
(Pan - PAN15) LP $27.00 (Out-of-stock)
Deluxe vinyl reissue of the third full-length album from Florian Hecker (Mego 2003). Sun Pandämonium strikes from many angles with a diverse range of fiercely dynamic electronic scenarios. The computer materializes new compositional strategies, leaving behind standard musical structures and seeking out unusual timbral and textural effects. As one reviewer stated, “This record is electronic music as psilocybin science.” Pitchforkmedia described it as “the sounds and frequencies not only of diamonds being sharpened, but then being used to etch directly on the lenses of your optical readers. Call him a sick fuck, a genius, or even Mister Antichrist, but this will cleanse the audio palate as it blows your teeth out.” 140g vinyl, with six monochrome lacquered sheets, silkscreened PVC outer sleeve with the original artwork by Tina Frank and Hecker. Edition of 800.
How Wheeling Feels When the Ground Walks Away
(Pan - PAN92) LP picture disc $27.00 (Out-of-stock)
An audio landscape comprised of various historic riots, from the concert hall and music venue to the sounds of modern warfare. Presented in surround sound, the tumultuous panorama of over-layered riots relentlessly envelops. The NYC-based artist, editor and art curator has been working with sound and performance since 2003, and co-founded Primary Information, an organization devoted to publishing lost works of the avant-garde and artists' publications vital to discussions in contemporary artistic practice.
Kenrimono
(Pan - PAN4) LP $20.00 (Out-of-stock)
Named after a type of pachinko machine for advanced players which gives certain privileges during the course of a high-risk game, this LP is based, not surprisingly, on field recordings and manipulations made from sounds in pachinko parlors in Kansai area, Japan in 2007. A very intense and meditative atmosphere to be played at maximum volume. Active since the early '90s in sound art and image, Ilios has been exploring the extremes of sound and image-derived phenomena. Through constant change in his sound palette, touching and surpassing the limits of the sound spectrum, a better advocate for an anti-career you could not find. Limited edition of 330 hand-numbered copies, in jacket and a two-tone silkscreened PVC sleeve.
Provocative Electronics
(Pan - PAN2) LP $13.50
As in the days of musique concrete and the beginning years of synthesizer development, Ortmann (Panicsville, Plastic Crimewave Sound, Nihilist label) experiments with tones and his own brand of electronic tweakage. Not a homage, but yet another document in the ongoing history of electronic music. Limited edition of 330 hand-numbered copies, pressed on 140g vinyl, jacket housed in a two-tone silkscreened PVC sleeve with interweaving geometric designs.
C-Section
(Pan - PAN9) LP $18.00
Pan’s vinyl edition of the CD (Second Layer 2010) contains all the final mixes and edits of the sessions by the British free jazz phenomenon and L.A.’s no-nonsense electronic and tape noise artist. The duo’s real-time, evolving improvisations are intended for maximum volume and have been mastered accordingly. C-Section finds density in scarcity — deep, glacial muck bubbles emerge beneath Parker's inhuman circular breathing, only to plunge into an incessant clatter of industrial landscape. Edition of 330, 140g black-and-white LP jacket in a two-tone silkscreened PVC sleeve with interweaving geometric designs. Artwork by Kathryn Politis and Bill Kouligas.
USA
(Pan - PAN18) LP $27.00 (Out-of-stock)
This archival release -- the second full length following One (Snow Mud Rain) (Erstwhile 2007) -- documents Peter Rehberg and Marcus Schmickler's 2009 USA tour. Their real-time extreme music improvisations were recorded at Lampo in Chicago and No Fun Fest in New York City. Rehberg (aka Pita) founded the influential Editions Mego label based in Vienna in 1995. Schmickler is a key figure in German contemporary experimental electronic music. 140-gram vinyl, color jacket, silkscreened PVC sleeve. Edition of 500.
Vidöppna Sår
(Pan - PAN7) LP $27.00 (Out-of-stock)
Vidöppna Sår is the next step in the evolution in scum-brow field recordings and voice recorded to mono tape. Akin to OU revue recorded on a building site, this record documents Sewer Election's development, as witnessed from recent live performances, of aggressive blur build up and ominous restraint, tape speed replacing effect pedals, going beyond the mere "junk noise" description closer to the original idea of musique concrete, namely altering everyday sounds onto tape into a wholly other vocabulary that runs pure power and energy through subtle and restrained soundscapes of a world falling to pieces. Discomfort-and-filth aficionado Dan Johansson, based in Gothenburg, Sweden, is most known for extreme and nasty noise on iDEAL, Troniks, Chondritic Sound, Release the Bats!, Freak Animal, Segerhuva, Gameboy and others. He is a member of Swedish collective Utmarken and lo-fi group Ättestupa. Edition of 330, 140g vinyl. Black-and-white jacket in a two-tone silkscreened PVC sleeve with interweaving geometric designs. Artwork by Kathryn Politis and Bill Kouligas.
Repas Froid
(Pan - PAN17) LP $27.00 (Out-of-stock)
(Tanzprocesz - TP7) Used CD $10.00
An extraordinary combination of culled, found, and taped fragments juxtaposed against drums, field recordings and mystery noises, sound loops, birdsong, keyboards and Tazartès's throaty drones and voice propelled by hypnotic, ritualistic rhythms balanced on a razor sharp edge. Pan's LP is the complete work of Repas Froid, including archival and previously unreleased recordings from the late 1970s and early 1980s, strung together to form two long compositions (the CD edition on Tanzprocesz is brief tracks of source material and a palette of various sounds). A French musician of Turkish parentage, Tazartès is an uncompromising character who defies categorization. Born 1947 in Paris, he's one of France's most idiosyncratic talents. He has spent over 30 years within musical practice and experimentation, letting his musical work wander from chant to rhythm, from one voice to another. Utilizing magnetic tape recorders in a rough collage and loose ethno-instrumental mulch, he paves the way for the electric and the vocal paths, between the muezzin psalmody and the screaming of a rocker. He traces vague landscapes where the mitre of the white clown, the plumes of the sorcerer, the helmet of a cop and Parisian anhydride collide into polyphonic ceremonies. 140-gram vinyl, color jacket, silkscreened PVC sleeve. Edition of 500.
Disingenuity b/w Disingenuousness
(Pan - PAN13) LP $18.00
The two pieces of forward-thinking electronic music on Whitman’s first full length record in four years use as source material live and studio recordings from the past two years (Cambridge, New York, Toronto), which were then realized into longform compositions. Using a Musique Concrète approach of deconstructed sounds, Disingenuity b/w Disingenuousness are tape-collage pieces derived from an hour-long improvisation based around a setup involving a tape of chance field-recordings (a helicopter, walking on snow, children) bounced to a mono Nagra tape machine, which is covered in contact mics that translate not just the sound coming from the speakers, but the actual mechanical "interface" of the unit into control voltage and triggers that drive a modular synth that's processing said audio using the classic electronic music toolkit (i.e. ring modulation, panning VCAs, filters, etc.). 140-gram vinyl, color jacket, silkscreened PVC sleeve. Edition of 500.
Fanfare and Contrapunctus / Imago
(Pan - PAN12) LP $18.00 (Out-of-stock)
Fanfare & Contrapunctus (1976) were made at the newly opened electronic studio at the Sydney Conservatorium, before the advent of music computer technology. The source material derives from free improvisations by Wishart and Martin Mayes using “soft trumpets,” pop-guns, French Horn and virtuoso eating noises, plus recordings of birdsong and other environmental sources. Imago (2002) metamorphoses the single “clink” of two whisky glasses into birdsong, a junkyard gamelan, the ocean and the human voice, but never entirely abandons its links to this minimal source. The piece was made using sound transformation software written by the composer, available through the Composers Desktop Project, and the original source sound was taken from Jonty Harrison’s “et ainsi de suite.” 140-gram vinyl, color jacket, silkscreened PVC sleeve. Edition of 500.