Wet Hair - Spill Into Atmosphere LP - De Stijl 2012

Wet Hair - Spill Into Atmosphere LP

New merciless splendid outcome from amazing Wet Hair, who have always reminded me Blur... Sorry for this allusion but what makes Wet Hair different makes me love them even more. Perfectly played, pop and psychedelic at the same time this record forces me to dance and drink whiskey in the morning and that's a rare thing. But what i Love most in this album is vocal. Especially in Blank Sunday. It is so boyish and so strong, so free and so fucking sad, like a Miauh of Gertie (if you know who's Gertie).
Anyway, this is not a revolution. This is a perfect dose of greasy and melodic craziness.
Buy from De Stijl.   

Oxykitten – Octagonal Wax Cassette - Field Hymns 2012

Oxykitten – Octagonal Wax Cassette

I've been in love with Portland's Field Hymns tape label for a while already. And this great tape is a perfect adding, for sure. Psychedelic but rigid synth vibes attack the surface. Beats rise as mountains constructing a relief. Sky changes its color. Black waters burst through the wholes in the surface creating lakes, rivers, seas and oceans. This sound develops the structure of the new Earth. Who wants to be the first inhabitant? Oh, I mean the second. I am the first.
Buy the tape from Field Hymns.

Nodolby - Untitled Cassette - Retrograde Tapes 2012

Nodolby - Untitled Cassette

I remember how my good friend described his first real falling-in-love with music. That was in a concert hall. Orchestra. It was tuning up. Seemingly with no order, with no real intention and scheme. Massive and natural animistic expression of sound. These three long pieces are totally about that feeling. Dozens of buttons and lights, complex sound networks, Hyperion's infosphere working. At last you find yourself alone in this place and nobody's on the scene.
Buy from Retrograde Tapes.

Blanche Blanche Blanche- Wink With Both Eyes LP - Night people 2012

Blanche Blanche Blanche- Wink With Both Eyes LP

Somehow this reminded Anne Laplantine music mixed with shiny post-punk from 80s. No doubt, you can count on this music when you are leaving in a long trip... You know that, pal, long trip yes... You can definitely count on this music crashing up the mix for an evening outburst with 2beers and 2muchachos at the door. You can count on this music when writing a dissertation on a medieval music. Do not stab the floor though with your fucking stick. Be Wagnerish. Turn to the orchestra and fly. Awesome and sincere dance music.
Buy from Night People.

Ou Du Monde by Mpala Garoo LP - Aguirre 2012

Ou Du Monde by Mpala Garoo LP

Shakespeare in Kabul. Holy rhythms. Holy guitar riffs. Tropical wave in act tripping over one's feet, leaning over the hand wave of a close friend who cares and can find you when you can't find the way home. Long long sleep. Coldplay soul funk emergency splashed reversed blushed lo-fied.
Lets sing these hymns together.
Buy from Aguirre records.

Woodpecker Wooliams and Golden Cup meet Love Cult “In Russia” - Full od Nothing 2012

Woodpecker Wooliams and Golden Cup meet Love Cult “In Russia” Cassette

Dear friends, i was there! I was there when Avant club was still alive. That was the first time when I heard Luca's sounds and when I first met Ivan and Anya who carry out Full of Nothing activities. This cassette became a sweet reminder for me. Bursting electronics by Golden Cup, Meditative noise-ambient by Love Cult and beautiful experimental folk by Woodpecker Wooliams. Try it. You'll love it as I do.
Buy from Full of Nothing.

Mike Shiflet / Joe Panzner - Recollect / Reconstruct Cassette - Rubber city noise

Mike Shiflet / Joe Panzner - Recollect / Reconstruct Cassette

Taken aback. You wake up from greasy confusing dreams. You come out from an surreal world and ...surprise. Nothing changed. The same surreal world around you. The same confusing things around you. What is reality?
Heavy noisy drones stab and fondle at the same time until you can not tell the difference. Choppy vibes irritate and soothe until you can not tell the difference. You should get used. Really. There's no difference.
Buy the cassette from Rubber city noise.

DDb Interview Series (1013) - Justin Wright (Expo'70/Sonic meditations)

Many thanks to Justin for his time!

1. Well, obviously for those who know your project this question is aimless. However, why ‘Expo’70’? And how did it start?

I wanted to work on more organic music and needed a platform to showcase that. At the time I was in a band, which was really great, I had many more ideas flowing through my veins and needing a way to execute them, this is what become Expo '70.


2. Your project name has a special design that, if I am not mistaken rarely changes. Am I right? Or is it just an optical illusion? Do you feel a certain aura hovering about every record you make (because I do)?

I'd say each record has it's own aura and mysticism in place. I try not to create the album twice, one may think it's going to be the same at first listen, but it reaches further into it's own design.


3. Tell a bit about the local community? What stuff can you recommend for checking out? What gigs you’ve attended lately were exceptional? 

The last show I went to was Acid Mothers Temple, it was part of a local music festival, mostly indie rock stuff. I also played with Woodsman and Dustin Wong, that was an exceptional show. The local community is very sparse for good experimental music, most are just bar bands. There are a handful of great groups here though like Umberto, Snuff Jazz, Vor Onus, Carnal Torpor, Monta at Odds, Goodwillies, Shawn Hanson, Plante, Sounding the Deep, Christopher McFall, Scammers...everyone sounds very different and unique from one another.


4. Since the improvisation is the base of your music, how would you describe the difference between what you feel while playing live and while recording? Do these schemes somehow affect the improvisation approach or technique?

While playing live I have to keep in mind it's for an hour straight, not much room for error. Recording, I can do as much experimentation as I need to get where I am going. Live setting and recording I try to put myself mentally in the same place so the music will flow the same.

5. You run your own label ‘Sonic Meditations’. What was that that pushed you to put out your first release?

I think it was having a lot of great local music with no platform and a way for me to re-release my music on different formats. It has since grown into handpicked music I feel needs to be heard or feel I want my personal stamp on it.

6. You’ve recently released a cassette by one of my favorite artists James R. Moore (Cloudland Ballroom) and it’s truly amazing! How do you decide what to release? Do you receive lots of demos or you rather work with your friends or those who you know?

James and I have been talking for a few years now. I was really impressed with his Black Mountain Transmitter release, "Theory & Practice". So I decided to have him do an album for me. It's a really great release, I think he did an outstanding job on it. I do get many demos, but I try to hand pick things that I search out, it's very rare I will release something someone sends to me blindly.


7. Next question I will ask to every person in DDb interview series. What have changed in independent music world with the developing and spreading of the Web?

Well, there are less independent shops, more web-based shops, so I don't really have a place in my town to go shop for the music I like. I have to drive about an hour away or just order online. Now, anyone can be heard making music from their bedroom, which isn't always a good thing. I think stores are more competitive and don't take too many risks these days. You can pretty much hear any music on the web now, so for new bands that's great for getting listeners outside of their region.
Any positive improvements? Any negative repercussions?

It's saturated, I'm surprised sometimes how popular Expo '70 still is with so many other great artists out there, but also glad since there are so many new comers to the genre of music I am associated with.

8. Tell about your relationship with vinyl collecting. Do you collect anything?

Well, I used to collect way more than I do now, I used to buy just about everything on vinyl I could afford, but having been down and out in the past, I have sold over half my collection. Now it's only records I feel deserve to be owned by my, my very favorite records or ones that are more affordable. I also get lots on tour from other bands and also with trading.

9. What about your day work? Does it affect your ideas in music? How does it correlate with your music life?

I guess it does, more so that now I'd say. I have too much free time now and think I have more structure it would give way to producing more music.

10. Please share your future plans? What are you working on? And what’s next?

I am making plans now for a European tour with Ancient Ocean, we will head over seas mid September for the tour. I have an album coming out on Blackest Rainbow and Ancient Ocean and I will have a split LP for the tour. I have also been working with a 3 piece band version of Expo '70 and we have a side of an LP coming out on Record Store Day and will be recording early May for a release on Essence music.

Femminielli – Sprezzatura Cassette - Robert and Leopold

Femminielli – Sprezzatura Cassette

Hey pal. Here's a healthy dollop of seducing voices and beats. Flee of the office chair and lets meet at 7pm at the barroom. I will order four beers but then we will drink only champaign. Bring your girlfriend, sure! There will be a fucking awesome opportunity to dance. But beers and champaign first... OK. See you. Oh! One more thing. It's raining. And the rain is violet. Strange, ha?
Released by Robert and Leopold.

Ewphoria - Ewphoria Cassette - Already dead tapes 2012

Ewphoria - Ewphoria Cassette

Second offering from Mario Gonzalez released by Already dead tapes.
This is the music of fear. Perfect soundtrack for disaster movies like The Road... However it does not depicts. On the contrary it digs in minds and thoughts and reveals the bodiless monsters. What we see is the endless battle between a man and his disgusting desires.
Lucid, harsh and as always well-crafted. Buy from Already dead tapes.

sashash ulz ~ maenads Cassette - sicsic tapes, 2012

sashash ulz - maenads Cassette

Calm winter day. People move slowly. Everything is slow and half-asleep. Buildings and streets change their shapes. Coffee gets cold immediately. One can not catch anyone's look. No familiar faces. No familiar directions. There's no memory. This is a music for total estrangement.
Released by Sicsic Tapes.

Imperfect Masters “This Humanly Mess: Music of El Cerrito for Clarinet and Boot, Vol. #23″ Cassette - Full of Nothing

Imperfect Masters “This Humanly Mess: Music of El Cerrito for Clarinet and Boot, Vol. #23″ Cassette

Many thanks to Ivan and Anya for this amazing tape. It has become a good friend of mine for a few hard days in the past. This record can be nominated for the most multifarious tape prize. And the koolest thing is that the artists manage to keep the definite line, not stepping over the edge where most improve composers find themselves speaking to the gods of Math and playing in Angry birds with devil. Nope. Robert Horton and Dan Plonsey keep and keep their line. A good line leading to the throne of the Beauty Goddess. Another koolest thing is that so many different styles and directions are mixed and delivered during the improvisation set. Clarinet and hand-made string instrument called “boot” open up beautiful world which is not real but which is almost real... Very honest record.
Must have. Buy from Full of Nothing.

DDb Interview Series (1012) - Felicia Atkinson

1.

As a musician you are mostly known either as Felicia Atkinson or Je suis le petit chevalier. Please tell about the originals of both projects and the differences between them. Do you have any else monikers?

I don't know if people know me more under my real name or under my moniker

changing my name was for me a possibility of mutation, like a werwolf would do for example.

I like this idea of having several different names, like bluesmen or soldiers.

It gives me a certain of kind of freedom.

2.

Please describe your most busy day!

my days are pretty buisy everyday: i work in the bookstore, i cook, i draw, i make music, i answer e mails…

what i love the most is when i have free time to do endless walk until the city touches the forest.

3.

Do you like to perform live? What gear do you use in your live shows?

I like to play live. Most of the time I improvise. Those days i am playing with a microkorg and different pedals effects. I used to perform with a guitar. It may happen again.

4.

You are also a famous visual artist. Tell a bit about the directions you move in and the fields of your interest. What inspires you to make your drawings and installations?

My drawings and installations or a way to communicate with the invisible, as is my music too. I call the ghosts and they come.

My installations are more like little reminders of their passage, like little memento mori.

I use watercolor, paper, wood, it is made also with a sense of improvisation in the meaning that they answer to the present moment and the feeling of the space itself.

5.

Some time ago you launched the Shelter Press. What is it? Is it supposed to be a platform for any kind of art or is it rather a mix of label and chapbook publishing?

Shelter Press is the second part of Kaugummi, the publishing house that created Bartolome Sanson a while ago.

We decided to create Shelter Press together to shelter our visions and the visions of certain precious people we wanted to invite.

The name is inspired by a book by Lloyd Kahn, about building your own shelter.

The first book we published was a book of collage of Julien Langendorff, then a re-issue of an LP by Pete Swanson and Renee Hell.

We want this publishing house to be more than that! It will host records, books and art shows. It will be a moving and utopian structure that will be the thresholds of our dreams.

6.

I bet you have lots of plans. However please share a few with us – most secret please.

Well, just right now i am releasing with Shelter Press and La Station radar a new LP as JSLPC, called An Age of Wonder that I recorded in Ohio last summer.

I am very excited about this!

Late a tape on  the great Sic Sic Tapes will be out i think!

Then under my name i will release a 7 inch on this wonderful newzealand label called Cooper Cult.

I am working also on a book of my drawings. Should be ready in for summer-fall 2012.

7.

Describe your most free day.

Well, if it's a completely free day, it should be also a completely secret day! :)

8.

How often do you listen to other’s music? What stuff impressed you most lately?

I listen to music everyday.

I love the last Ilyas Ahmed on Immune. Can't wait to listen to the new Motion Sickness of Time Travel on Spectrum Tools.

I listen to a lot of 70's folk music too, like i love the compilations they put on the rootstrat blog sometimes.

When i am at the bookstore i listen to Sonic Pieces records such as Ryan Teague or Pantone, and some jazz music such as Horace Silver or Ornette Coleman.

  

9.

This question may sound stupid but, what is more primordial for you? Art or music? Image or sound?

LOVE is the most important!

10.

Next question I will ask to every person in DDb interview series.

What has changed in independent music world with the developing and spreading of the Web?

Any positive improvements? Any negative repercussions?

I feel intent helped a lot the music! It is easy to discover and exchange music, i love it! I LOVE INTERNET!

the only thing i don't like with internet is when people stalk you and forgot that internet doesn't allow you to bother people or speak theme as they know you wether you never have met them.

It;s just that the words "KNOWING" is pretty vague on internet: it can mean " i haven't listened i just saw a post" or " i just know his name through Facebook" or " i read the two first lines about it on wikipedia".

I guess you need to stay humble about "knowing" something when you consult the internet.

But beside this, it is very very helpful! I have more people supporting my music in the United States, Russia  or Japan than in France where i come Framce! it's funny!

MI AMI “DECADE” LP - 100% Silk

MI AMI “DECADE” LP

I want to present you one of my favorite releases as of today.
Pure electronic madness. Without any adornments. Clear and simple beats composed in a perfect way are mixed with equally clear and simple electronics. Strangely - no reminiscences. Strangely - nothing at all. You know what I mean? Nothing at all in my head except for this music. And now, get lost you all!
Grab it fast from 100% Silk.

Lichen Gumbo “Zoom Zoom Ohm Umpha” Cassette - Full of Nothing

Lichen Gumbo “Zoom Zoom Ohm Umpha” Cassette

One more positive dollop of sound for today. This cassette is full of lo-fi guitar, happy melodies, spring atmosphere and tropical tones. A bit sad vocals buried under the mess of sounds make the whole thing more diverse and uncertain though the acoustic guitar on the track named Bertha leaves no doubts. We have stumbled across a fresh and good portion of sunny lo-fi pop songs. Turn off all your devices and remember the best moments of your life. All the holidays, dances, love affairs etc. This music will help you.
Buy from Full of Nothing.

GNOD – Chaudelande Volume II LP - Tamed Records

GNOD – Chaudelande Volume II LP

This gorgeous record begins with meditative chorals and transforms into a mesmerizing psychedelic collapse. Awesome juicy drums and abruptly appearing voices accompanied by rough guitar riffs blows listener's mind.  The battle begins. Gods fight in the skies and mortal onlookers hide in the caves. Industrial theme protrudes from each sound phrase and makes this unkempt record even more sexy and punk. I have danced.
And you should.
Buy this LP from Tamed Records. 

Floris Vanhoof - Hootcha! Cassette - STENZE QUO

Floris Vanhoof - Hootcha! Cassette

Very uncomfortable release... Very unstable sound... It seems that the whole planet is tuning up and can't find the proper channel... Perfectly built atmosphere does not let you go anywhere until the music stops. But even then you anxiously stare at your radio and tv...
Plastic, tasty and scary. I love it!
Released by Stense Quo.

Nuojuva - Otavaiset Otsakkaha Cassette - Hooker Vision

Nuojuva - Otavaiset Otsakkaha Cassette

New project from Olli Aarni (known for his project Ous Mal). 6 tracks packaged in a tape recently released by Hooker Vision. Pop melodies, greasy contorted vocals, amusing synth vibes: this is what you will hear on this record. The sound is extremely righteous. Birds are flying around and singing. Sun is shining. Fuck. This is too good, isn't it? Can't believe it, but maybe you could...
Released by Hooker vision.

Michael Tapscott with Andrew Kenower "GOOD MORNING, AFRICA" LP - Bookmaker Records

Michael Tapscott with Andrew Kenower "GOOD MORNING, AFRICA" LP

This came today from a young Paris-based label Bookmaker Records. Firstly I thought that it is worth an immediate review and a thankful letter to a a sender. But then in a few minutes I found myself writing some spontaneous words on a newspaper that my wife left on a table near the bed. I understood that it's not my will anymore. I am forced to speak about this record. It is terrificly powerful. Some undetermined strength are hiding on it. And they effect you in so different ways. The sound is based on a pretty cool atmospheric electronics mixed with pallid vocals and mesmerizing field recordings. One's lifted and gets some ambiguous and almost palpable feelings similar to what one feels looking at amazing landscape from the top of the mountain. There's also a very thin and fascinating aspect that this record did manage to provide. I am telling about the feeling that one gets on the top - when you want to jump. You know that you will die. You know that it is not normal to jump and you definitely know that you really do not want to jump. But something inside of you pushes you. And then when your mind refuses and you get down safely you recall this moment with a sacral awe. Beautiful and thoughtful work. I wish I had a physical copy.
You should go here to buy the record - Bookmaker Records.

White Out - Asphalt and Delay LP - AudioMer

White Out - Asphalt and Delay LP

Greasy and unstable, claustrophobic and constantly running away, very little and very shy, collecting postcards and leaning towards the water, reading bestsellers and physics magazines, killing flies and making keys right around the corner on the street where you live!
This record made me imagine how people I see every day around me are complex. Every person. Every single person has a complex world inside and a strong relationship with God. Not a very fresh idea. But have you ever thought about it seriously?
Buy from AudioMER.

Pulse Emitter - Aeons LP - Aguirre

Pulse Emitter - Aeons LP

Oh, this is a beautiful stuff... Amazing, toughing composition! A perfect soundtrack to such films as a Moon 2112 or The Turin Horse. Calm and pouring down as a dust synth reverberations gradually open new sound planets for an observant listener. Everything on this record deals with the microscopic values and measures... Pulse Emitter somehow draws one's attention to the material that can't be seen without splitting up the sound. On the contrary sounds keep steady and naturally complete forms. Fantastic journey.
Buy this great record here - Aguirre.

DDL Label SPECIAL OFFER

Buy two CDrs    for 10 Euro and SAVE 4 Euro!
Buy two CDrs and LP   for 10 Euro and SAVE 14 Euro!!!
Send orders to - dredmase@mail.ru

Lafidki / Orphan I Oliver - Split LP DDLP0001 - LP in a full-color sleeve



Side A:
01 - Lafidki - Siegfried and Artemis is Diane
02 - Lafidki - I'm the Matador and you're the
basketball player
03 - Lafidki - Phanat Phoenix
Side B:
01 - Orpha I Oliver - Haunting + Heart
02 - Orpha I Oliver - Cherry Belly
03 - Orpha I Oliver - Stray birds
This amazing split between two french artists
shows a promising coliision od dark folk and heavy synth wave. Awesome polished electronics
produced by Lafidki occupy the Side A and open
up as a huge colorful flower with sharp angles.
Side B is more plastic and more intimate. Beautiful vocals step through the darkness of meditative
guitars and electroacoustic vibes.
Lafidki - http://lafidki.free.fr
Orpha I Oliver - http://thisisthewaywe.tumblr.com
Artwork by Saphy Vong
Price - 10 euro / 400 рублей

ANDREAS BRANDAL - The Merchant of Salt  
DDLC0003 - CDr in full-color 6-page digipak

01. Existence Is Elsewhere
02. Anemic Cinema
03. School Of the Thread
04. Staircase
05. Kinetic
06. Chance Operations
07. End Game
08. The Merchant Of Salt
Edition of 100.
Here comes a new record from one of the best
known Norwegian experimentalists. Eight tracks
of quite dark, jiggeting electro-acoustic and noise
soundscapes will open to you a door which you
have never noticed before.
Andreas Brandal – www.andreasbrandal.com
Recorded at The Station, Bergen
from January to May 2011. 
Price - 7 euro / 280 рублей  

RELENTLESS - Souffle et mécaniqu
DDLC0004 - CDr in 6-page full-color digipak


01 – Untitled –  26:04
Edition of 100.     
The third offering from this amazing Paris-based
sax-duo. Long corridors full of expectations
and fears are welcoming you to find a way out. Enter
the labyrinth and go.
Recorded live at Galerie G, "l'art au garage", Paris,
June 2011
Relentless: Artur Vidal and Sébastien Branche,
saxophones and objects
website : www.relentless.es
Artwork by Joshua Tabbia
www.joshuatabbia.com/
Price - 7 euro / 280 рублей  

Expo 70 - Hovering Resonance LP - Sound of Cobra

Expo 70 - Hovering Resonance LP

Here's a new offering from a gorgeous Missouri-based musician.
The atmosphere of this record reminded me of the soundtrack for the Deadman by Neil Young. Cruel low guitar riffs arise from the surgent electronic noise as violent luminaries. Colorful birds of suppressed solo fall down attacking long and slow synth flesh. Great music with clear idea.
You can find it here - Sound of Cobra. 

Tulasi / Caligine split Cassette - Jozik records

Tulasi / Caligine split Cassette

Beautiful! There's no other word to describe this record. Some folklore melodies are tenderly wrapped in a warm tropical sunlight. The sound on each of the tracks is charmingly welcoming and illuminating. The melodies stream as a single flow. Azure mudulations keep one's body on the surface and one feels how everything around strives to make him happy. Encore. Fantastic split work.
Buy it here - Jozik records.

Forget The Times - Soul Music LP - Already dead tapes

Forget The Times - Soul Music LP

A new release by Forget the times.
After the cassette released earlier on the same label Forget the times come back with more funky and more avantgarde-directed sound. Juicy percussion stumbles against the guitar seemingly by mistake. And then it somehow appears that they have lots of things to do together! They go to an expensive restaurant, order pizza and find out that they have no pizza in menu. So they begin to think... They order some meat. Meat is tasty but there's a bullet in it. The waiter assures them that the bullet is actually a part of a recipe and it is supposed to be swallowed in the end as a tablet. But percussion does not agree with this. It seems stupid to swallow a bullet. A guitar pulls out a revolver. It will be a very nice desert! One can hear no shot. One is sleeping. Or maybe hiding under the pillows and blankets.
Buy it here - Already dead tapes.

edward sol - how can i sleep with these voices in my head - Cassette - Sangoplasmo

edward sol - how can i sleep with these voices in my head - Cassette

I remember when a few months ago when I was in Kiev Edward was telling me about this work., So now it is out. Hundreds frogs. Pure and magical sound of nature without any interruptions and interventions. Field recording inauguration. Impressive.
Buy the tape here - Sangoplasmo.

Hieroglyphic Being - Le jardin des chemins bifurquants LP - AudioMer

Hieroglyphic Being - Le jardin des chemins bifurquants LP

Absolutely the best album I've heard this year as of today. Innocent and thoughtful composition is mixed with surrealistic hints of improvised synth stuff masterfully. Actually I even can see the real story behind this music. The author tells it with affection and passion. Objects and characters appear and disappear fast but in a precise order. Punk dancers fall on the IDM dance floor and are forced to dance minimal synth dances. I can not describe it better. I am totally in love with this release.
Urgently buy a copy - AudioMER. 

Mythomaniacs Are Right - There Is No Such Thing As Death- Life Is Only A Dream And We Are The Imagination Of Ourselves

Mythomaniacs Are Right - There Is No Such Thing As Death- Life Is Only A Dream And We Are The Imagination Of Ourselves - Cassette

The title is so long, is not so? Why? This music is supposed to claim that death does not exist. It means that life does not exist either. So where these sound come from? Well, anyway. I do not care. And honestly I do not give a fuck what philosophical ideas author(s) want to share with us. Track number 3 changed my attitude to this tape. And I decided not to think anymore about such things. The music we are offered is... kind. It is so kind... so nice and so sweat... so LIFE-asserting and optimistic... And of course it is simple. It should be simple. Melodies travel inside my stomach as Bedouins in the desert. They are the only ones who know where to go and why.
Take this from always amazing Already dead tapes.

felicia atkinson - crystal arrows for a cosmic king - Cassette - Sangoplasmo

felicia atkinson - crystal arrows for a cosmic king - Cassette

Here come a new tape from Felicia from Felicia Atkinson. From the very first sound one gets the idea of a raw nature of the whole album. The music lead us nowhere. This is obvious. Felicia tells us without any irrelevant allusions that the music is not a leader. It is a clap - a lucid and freaky clap of the nature. Our mind's games always end up with this clap. Shiny and greasy waves move around and laugh.
Get it - Sangoplasmo.

Ashley Paul's 'Slow Boat' LP on Orange Milk

Thanks to Keith for sharing this.
Ashley Paul's 'Slow Boat' LP

This is a good comeback album, haha. I am a bit ill today. Caught a flu. I woke up very late. Then I moved to the kitchen and had some coffee. I am now listening to this album. And I want to go back to bed. Then wake up again. Then move to the kitchen again. Then have some coffee again. Then go to the bed again. Then wake up again. Then move to the kitchen again. Then have some coffee again. Then and then and then and again and again and again. This is a pure circling meditation soundtrack. The meaninglessness of human life has no taste indeed. Or maybe the taste of morning coffee.
Here is it - Slow Boat.

DDb Interview Series (1011) - Bathetic Records

I want to thank Jon for making this great QA session possible.
Enjoy!

1.

From my point of view, Bathetic is now presenting an example of one of the most diverse and unique music publishers. When did you launch the label? Tell about the history of Bathetic and the label’s name.

Bathetic started with just DIY tapes a few years ago when I lived in Arkansas (a small southern state).  I had read about the idea of ‘bathos’ and thought it fit with what I was doing in the DIY world at the time.  During that time, the phonetical sound of the word itself was on point, so it stuck.  I dubbed tapes at home and silk-screened, painted and stamped the covers.  These were mostly Arkansas reclusives doing their own interesting thing in Ozark Mountain basements.  I later moved to Chicago where my good friend William Cody Watson convinced me to re-start the label, this time expanding upon the tape idea. We decided to make it more national and international than it was before, releasing music which we thought was really good, regardless of the genre.  I later moved around the midwest and eastcoast for a while, carrying all the tapes and records with me, using addresses I called home at the time to mail off Bathetic orders.  to I've recently moved to Asheville, NC near the Smoky Mountains where Bathetic Headquarters will remain permanently.

2.

You are quite open in terms of genres and styles. How would you describe your releasing criteria? How do you decide what to release?

Cody and I always have a long sit down with music submissions, or music we find, or friends and friends of friends music before we move on anything.  We listen, think, talk.  Come back to it, listen, think and talk some more.  We don’t like to keep things heading in one particular direciton other than what we can truly dig.  I don’t like to keep focus on folk for too long, or synth/drone, or whatever it is.  In any given day, I’ll listen to all kinds of music, so I’m not sure why I would limit Bathetic’s output to one particular sub-genre of music.  I’m all for contrived genres, and I’m a huge follower of certain labels that put out a specific type of music, but it’s just not Bathetic’s thing to do.  I think if there is any sort of underlying theme woven through our releases, it would be this midwestern/southern feel of darkness.  I love downer tones, I love bedroom jams, I love loner head-space.

3.

Does Bathetic keep a strong connection to the local scene? What projects have you been impressed by recently?

Since I’ve moved to Asheville I’ve been trying to book some solid shows, and this has taken grip pretty well so far.  I have been stoked with the sparks of interest and the potential of this town.  Asheville puts on the Moogfest each year with big acts (Suicide played this year!).  The kids here have arranged the underground offshoot, Foogmess.  This past year was dope, and it will continue to grow each year.  This is exciting.  I also meet or hear of new people every couple of weeks, hiding out, doing their own thing, something very interesting and unique.  I like how they are hard to get a hold of and their shows are rare.  This to me says that what they are doing is genuine.

4.

Next question I will ask to every person in DDb interview series.
What have changed in independent music world with the developing and spreading of the Web?
Any positive improvements? Any negative repercussions?

This question sparks a recurring conversation anywhere you go these days.  The web is a necessary evil.  Tons of positive things to be had with it, and tons of negative repercussions.  I always laugh when I think of bands on Myspace who thought they would become more and more famous if they spent all their time adding ‘friends’ and thanking people for ‘the add.’  It went nowhere real fast.  Of course, with the web, theres a ton of movement in interests – everyone kind of moves to whatever is ‘hot’ at that moment, depending on which big blogs post what that week.  It can be exciting and one can easily get lost in it, but it’s just a momentary hype.  I try to lean towards those things which are timeless.  I find myself listening to Black Sabbath, Fleetwood Mac, Bruce’s Nebraska, and Mettalica’s Kill Em All more than anything.  These are timeless works that will never die.  With fast-moving information through the internet, I feel a lot of this aim for timeless quality is lost because, let’s face it, musicians and labels have egos and they want to put out a bunch of releases by a bunch of good artists.  I think it will have a whiplash effect one day, if it hasn’t started already.  I could go on and on, but it’s just a ramble…

5.

Who makes the arts for you releases? As for me, each cover is awesome (especially Age Wave’s 7’’ one)!

We usually have the musician provide some sort of photo, colors or ideas that we can move with.  We are still evolving a Bathetic aesthetic that is entirely open to design, but still has a similar feel to it all.  Omar (who has designed the website) has helped a ton with the art for releases.  Cody always has killer ideas.  It’s kind of all over the place, but we like it to start with the artist, run it through our filter, and then get approval from the artist for finishing touches.  The Age Wave 7” is a great one and has a fun story.  Ren (Age Wave, Container, God Willing, etc) had mailed me some cut out photos (not sure where he got them), paper-clipped together, and had a poorly scripted note with a diagram of how he wanted to piece the photos together for the cover.  It was hilarious.  I then had to piece the info together (the note ended “can you even read this?” !), scan all the photos, send them to Omar and Cody and move with it.  Since then, Ren has bought a scanner, so I’m not sure if projects will be this terrible and fun anymore.

6.

Imagine the music is like fruits and vegetables. How would your catalogue look like then?

Mostly vegetables that are good to eat in the autumn months.  Add a lemon or lime in there for freshness and to keep some optimism, but keep an expired melon in the corner.  Mostly keep around the vegetables that you want to put in a stew that you can eat by the fire.  Warmth is the goal.

7.

Any idea why an intelligent person must be into politics? Is it a myth?

Socrates put a lot of pressure on smart people and therefore set the bar pretty high.

8.

What drives you crazy except for the music?

I love Miller High Life and hanging out by fires and rivers of forests tucked inbetween mountains.  I want to jump, I want to fall, I want to splash.

9.

What future plans can you share with us?

We have the lo-fi bedroom masters Cough Cool putting out an LP with us soon as well as a head trip ambient LP release by Zac Nelson soon, two side-long tracks.  There will forever be tapes, most recently will be Birds of Passage, Angelo Harmsworth, Caroline Park, Dinner Music, Motion Sickness of Time Travel/Listening Mirror split.  Future works with High Auru’d I’m way too excited about!  There’s quite a bit bubbling in the Bathetic office now.

Also, a big focus has been working on starting a bar/music venue here in Asheville… more on that to come… but for the time being, I will work on getting some Asheville musicians on the map and more recognized for their brilliant works.

10.

Please describe the most dramatic dance you can imagine. And what music should accompany that dance? 

One big laser that covers the earth forever.  It is completely silent.