Elements
(ReR Megacorp) Used LP $35.00
Darkened and more serious than Marduk, more severe and tighter, but not at the expense a certain sense of humor. From 1988
LESLI DALABA / STUART DEMPSTER / ERIC GLICK RIEMAN
Lung Tree
(ReR Megacorp) Used CD $4.00
Nine rather short tracks from 2005 by three West Coast improvisors, each one exploring a different mood within the realm of quiet contemplation. Dalaba and Dempster weave sinuous, slightly sad lines, occasionally engaging in spontaneous two-part skirmishes, while Rieman’s modified piano seduces the ear with unusual plink-plonking. “The Dock-Red Ice” and its sparse landscape, the quiet “Bed Shadows into Sleep,” and the dirge “Morning Light Through Smokestacks” stand out as particularly strong self-contained pieces, but each track brings its share of surprising sounds and pleasant ideas to the table.
Technology of Tears
(ReR Megacorp) Used CD $6.00
2008 reissue of Frith's mid-'80s pieces commissioned by choreographer Rosalind Newman. Guests include Henry Kaiser, John Zorn, Christian Marclay, Tenko. Still sealed but the barcode has been drilled, so we're listing at used.
Lost In Rooms, A Virtualectric Story
(ReR Megacorp) Used CD $5.00
Storytelling, sampling, mainstream electronica, and experimental collage. This captivating hörspiel from 2003 evolved from music written for a dance project where the dancers recorded texts of their choice in English, French, Chinese, and Estonian. “In the narrative sections, voice is untreated, lying on top of heavily processed textures mostly derived from vocal sounds. In the other tracks, other voices are sampled and processed, often brought back to their animal content: breaths, gasps, unintelligible syllables. They become beats, melodies, or background textures for thumping electronica tunes — true enough to the ear not to sound forced or like academic exercises in popular dance music. The whole piece flows seamlessly and elegantly, negotiating the shifts between narration and music, between beat-driven electronica and very delicate sections.”
Kirk
(ReR Megacorp) Used CD $6.00
Slanted, off-kilter chord progressions by Susanne Lewis (vocals, guitar, violin, organ, keyboards, sampler), Bob Drake (organ, keyboards, bass guitar, drums), Dave Kerman (drums), Bill Gilonis (guitar), Faon Lewis (viola), Chris Cutler (drums). From 1992. Sealed
Stockholm & Göteborg
(ReR Megacorp) Used CD $10.00
Volume six from the 2008’s 40th Anniversary Box set fills in some of the history between In Praise of Learning (1975) and Western Culture (1978) – most notably Tim Hodgkinson’s “Erk Gah,” a fiendishly complicated epic that avoids any hint of riff, solo or modular assembly. At the other extreme are the two wide-ranging improvisations built around extended technique, aleatorics, quotations, more-or-less randomly inserted prepared materials and a disregard for genre rules. Between, constantly shifting ground, are a straight-ahead version of Phil Ochs’ “No More Songs,” an unreleased composition by Fred Frith, and a version of the “Ottawa Song,” which, it turns out, dates from a Hamburg concert from around the same time. Sealed
Concerts
(ReR Megacorp) Used 2xCD $7.00
The band’s first serious space allotted for improvisations that accounted for maybe a third of any of its lengthy stage performances in the mid-1970s. 2006 reissue that includes five tracks from Greasy Truckers. Drill hole in jewelbox, book, traycard
Unoccupied Areas
(ReR Megacorp) Used CD $5.00
“Tightly focused electroacoustic compositions from 2005 that are austere, rich, strange and brilliantly executed. Martusciello’s music is never theoretical, always grounded in the grain of the sounds themselves.”
Mindset
(ReR Megacorp - 10) CD $10.00 (Out-of-stock)
Two engrossing, long-form tracks, each an organically shifting mass of piano, bass and drums, in which jazz, drone and electronic soundscaping coalesce. On "Rum Jungle," rendered with a minimalist vision, layers swirl and swoon without friction. The more richly textured "Daylights" deploys filigree electronics around sparse, plangent keys and stalking bass. Hypnotic and dazzling.
London Texas
(ReR Megacorp) Used CD $6.00
A hi-fi live recording of the short-lived line-up that toured briefly between the arrival of Eric Drew Feldman and the departure of Chris Cutler. The songs are economical and tightly arranged but harmonically elaborate with strongly performative and musical underpinnings, all with scary live energy.
Acnalbasac Noom
(ReR Megacorp - RERSHCD) Used CD $10.00
A reissue of the original Polydor 1973 sessions (not the re-recorded version released by Virgin in ’74). “The group’s songwriting are improved since their debut,” according to All Music Guide, “And Dagmar Krause’s German chanteuse-influenced vocals find catchier, more rock-oriented settings. The lyrics are witty and oddball without being pretentious. Tracks like ‘Mr. Rainbow’ recall Yoko Ono’s early-’70s song-oriented material…. ‘The Secret,” with its almost girl-group-worthy catchiness, and “Charlie ’n’ Charlie,” with its nifty surfish guitar riff, even sound like potential commercial singles. The four bonus tracks include the delightful 1982 single ‘Everybody’s Slimmin’.” Sealed with small promo drill hole