ASTRAL SOCIAL CLUB / TOMUTONTTU
Wet Wheel / Hot Wheel b/w Syvät Svyät
(Tipped Bowler - TBT012) split LP $16.50
On “Wet Wheel / Hot Wheel,” Neil Campbell of Astral Social Club succumbs to the heartbeat throb of house, but tops the bass with a frenetic squall of darting alien melodies. On cursory listen, the elements congeal into honest-to-goodness body music, but the track is riddled with stutters and gaps that flooded synapses fill with aural afterimages. On the reverse, Jan Anderzén of Tomutonttu buries the dance influence, retaining only the genre’s neon shimmer and linear logic. The cuckoo loops of “Syvät Svyät” briefly cohere into musical shapes before casting off, replaced by an ecstatic march of manic squiggles. 150-gram vinyl. Stamped and screened sleeves by Siwa. Edition of 300.
A Million Corpses of Dead Bees b/w High Road
(Tipped Bowler - TBT011) split LP $16.50
(Tipped Bowler - TBT011) Used Split LP $11.50 (Out-of-stock)
Two side-long tracks by a pair of rigorous yet unbound New Zealand-based groups. The eighteen-minute burner “A Million Corpses of Dead Bees" by Nova Scotia of Wellington grows from violin sine-squeak and distant shortwave, gains momentum with its patient drumming, and resolves into a saxophone swarm shot through with synthetic scrabble. “High Road” by Dunedin’s Eye comes off colder and more aggressive, throttling the listener with Schnitzler electronics, militant percussion, and guitar strangulation before collapsing into a coda of cymbal taps and glassy string-work. 150-gram vinyl. Screened sleeves by Siwa. Edition of 250.
Lovers With Cloisonné Bracelet
(Tipped Bowler - TBT009) LP $16.50
(Tipped Bowler - TBT009) Used LP $11.00
Oceanic and desolate, Lovers with Cloisonné Bracelet's two halves are an ideal introduction to Li's music: "Lovers in Misery" offers a restrained, electric swell; "Time in the Mirror" wallows in Hototogisuous guitar hell. This well-paced, dense album decimates retro psychedelic guitar and trivializes the violence of harsh noise. 180-gram vinyl. Hand-screened linen-paper sleeves. Edition of 350.