A S P/Splintered - split. (UK, Fourth Dimension). A.S.P. a Splintered/Band of Pain side project "reveal an infectious mixture of rhythmic guitar loops, miasmic textures and subtle dissonance that promises a salubrious framework to the forthcoming album". Where as Splintered deliver two pieces. One lifted from an abandoned 7" project. 10" £2.50.

The Ah Club - Kiss the Sky Goodbye. (USA, Shrimper). Lo-fi trip-hop anyone ? Primitive sample loops, including one from Slint, and cheap drum beats. With an out of tune Sandra Bell on vocals. Where they went after at least one excellent cassette I do not know. CD £4.00.

tetuzi akiyama/taku sugimoto/bo wiget - spazieren/hokou/periodic drift. (Japan/Switzerland, Corpus Hermeticum). "The music covers a wide range of moods and techniques, with Tetuzi employing both acoustic and electric guitars, while Taku restricted himself to his usual hollow-bodied electric and Bo deployed both his cello and a range of electronic devices. This aural variety keeps the listener's attention fixed through-out, this is music to get lost in. The overall approach is the 'less is more' aesthetic that anyone familiar with the 'Bar Aoyama axis' might expect, but the range of physical approaches to the instruments, their strings and their bodies will keep even the most attentive listener guessing as to how or by what some of this music was produced. As Michel Henritzi has suggested, one might see precedents for all this in traditional Japanese aesthetic and instrumental traditions, as well as in the Zen category of emptiness. But equally well one can see it as three top-flight improvisers summoning aural magic from the smoking mirrors of their souls - pure and limpid." - Bruce Russel, Press release. CD £8.00.

All Time Present - Good Vibrations/No Expectations. (US, Evolving Ear). A triple guitar, double drummer/percussionist free jazz cum rock ensemble. Laying down the noise where it counts. "The overall tone of this effort is fabricated upon spontaneous interaction and spurious invention, whereas the percussionists trigger responses from the moderately amplified sounds of the electric guitarist. Here, the dual rhythm machine maintains an oscillating foundation underneath fragmented crunch chords, slight injections of electronic feedback, jagged statements, steely edged lines and unlikely themes as the absence of a bassist empowers the band to perpetuate a variegated rhythmic flow. No doubt, Good Vibrations/No Expectations is a suitable title for an outing consisting of arbitrary sounds, curvaceous themes, defiant implementations and atmospheric soundscapes", Glenn Astarita. "Their skewered rock sounds like Twin Infinitives era Roayl Trux, even as the heady, feedback soaked passages carry them so far across the map, they could pass for Joseph Holbrooke. It's that good", the wire. Eight tracks, fifty four minutes. CD £6.00.

Ashtabula - River Of Many Dead Fish. (USA, Siltbreeze). Return of this loveable Fieldhands side project, for another six tracks or so. A little closer to the fucked-up psychedelic punk-rock of the Soft Boys (that I'm always poking my finger at when talking about the 'hands), Andrews period XTC or closer to the mark of their alter ego the Dukes of Stratosphear. Lot's of great pumping organ and new wave guitars. Also a must for Thrilled Skinny fans! The CD also contains the Unbearable Lightness 7". CD £4.50. LP £4.50.

Ashtray Boy - Macho Champions. (Aus, Ajax). CD sold out
Ashtray Boy - Candypants Beach. (Aus, Ajax). CD £7.00.
Second and third album from Ashtray Boy. Both recorded in two separate locations, Chicago and Sydney, with a different selection of musicians for each city. With the common denominator being main Ashtray Boy Randall Lee. Macho Champions was mainly recorded in Chicago. This is serious music with strummed guitars, light though complex drumming and the occasional horn. But it's Randall's deep, lazy voice and relaxed style of song construction that puts him on par with fellow Aussie contemporaries such as the Triffids, Go-betweens and of course the yet undiscovered genius of Small World Experience. Candypants holds a lot more fun than the previous recordings but with some serious subject matter coming through in Randall's inexplicable way. Of course there's some goofing about too, check out the country hoe down 'Cows on the Roof' and a hearty cover of Neil Young's 'Heart of Gold'. But at the end of the day this is more top quality pop music from one of Australia's finest.

BEAK - Autoselfreplicationism. (USA, Insignificant). Where do ya start ? Sort of Shellac/Gastra Del Sol with high input from some freeform Nels Cline improv. Essentially (sometimes repetitive) rock with Albini style vocals smothered in nice sax breaks! Nah, that could be right for about 1/2 this disk but it spurts all over the place ending in quite a riotous free freak out with the saxophone getting pretty wild. CD £8.00.

Sindre Bjerga - Getting Jiggy With It. (Norway, Absurd). First volume in Absurd's 'peripsima' (a Greek word for rubbish, shit, etc.) series. A budget series of home made sounds housed in home made 'suits'. Showcasing Sindre's obscure nightmarish electronics visions housed in 'mazes'. Comes in a small paper bag (sealed) with xeroxes and a nice toy to play with while listening to the disc. CD-R £4.75.

Blek Ink - s/t. (Iceland, Ba Da Bing!).  Maybe you recall the marvellous, self released 7", we were stocking a number of years ago.  Or have taken a chance with the experimental Sanndreymi CD.  Well this is the same guy playing some of the most delicate acoustic guitar this side of Simon Joyner with the off-kilter multi-instrumental backing of, say, Alastair Galbraith.  Touching stuff.  Seventeen tracks, forty two minutes.  CD £7.50.

boca raton - mansdoof. (Netherlands, Absurd). boca raton is the vehicle of martijn tellinga (the person behind the dutch 'mixer' label) who offers us here 10 pieces (or 1 piece divided in 10 tracks if you wish) of an adventurous electro-acoustic nature that will definitely appeal to all those who seek obscure creative soundscapes to stimulate their body and mind. Thirty-Five minutes. CD-R £4.75.

Bright - s/t. (USA, Ba Da Bing !). Woo, had these up as a friendly kraut influenced pop/rock unit for sometime. Until I finally found a frame of mind and time out to get into this disk Their kraut influence comes in from the same direction as Bailter Space. That's harsh repetitive guitars that hack around with odd little sounds, i.e. feedback. They also hit along side some of Straitjacket Fits earlier works. Great insert. CD £8.00.

Bright - The Albatross Guest House. (USA, Ba Da Bing !). Second release from Boston's closest incarnation of Bailter Space. Actually featured here are a number of tracks that were recorded, on 4-track, over a period of three years prior to their debut's release. Blurry guitar drones teetering on the edge of melody. Worthy they are of your ears attentions. CD £8.00.

Bright - Full Negative (or) Breaks. (US, Ba Da Bing!). On this, their second studio album, Bright have extended and expanded their guitar sound to reach the outer limits only previously reached by the likes of Bailter Space.  ‘Full Negative ..’ is a full blown exploration of space-rock riff-a-mania pushed through an array of delays.  With a little Sax, Keyboard and accordion thrown in for good measure.  I love Bright and so should you.  Nine tracks, fifty five minutes. CD  £8.00.

Brother JT & Vibrolux - Doomsday Rock. (USA, Siltbreeze). A cheerfully titled long player that explores some of the usual avenues the Bro' tends to meander down. With a more playful edge I gather from the inclusion of 'fake' talk overs and commentary. There's less overdriven guitar and more late 60's psychedelic pop. It gets better all the time. Twelve tracks, fifty one minutes. CD £7.50.

Brother Love and the Homebacon Gang - Rock'n Roll Criminal. (NZ, September Gurls). Second album from this New Zealand psych outfit. With a more song-orientated approach than it's predecessor and more diverse with it's West Coast grooves, rich Hammond organ sounds, melodic ballads and eruptive free noise excursions. This band also has a whirlwind groove to their sound that few rock groups can touch upon. And let's not forget to mention the Krautrock influences, subtle overtones and fuzz noises that also plops them amongst the current space drone crowd. Ten (plus two hidden bonus) tracks, sixty five minutes. CD £7.50.

Brume - zona ventille. (France, elsie + jack Recordings). The final release from one of Frances most innovative avant-garde musician's. Musique concrete soundscapes just like a soundtrack to a luis bunuel film. Seven tracks fifty four minutes. CD £8.00.

Bügsküll - Distracted Snowflake Vol II. (US, Scratch). Sean Byrne's fifth album under the guise of Bügsküll. Here, as with Vol I, Sean performs almost the entire album solo. The abstract use of tapeloops and instrumentation make this his most experimental work to date while still hanging onto that comfortable lo-fi space rock/bedroom ambience feel. Sometimes intellectual, sometimes informed by abrasive and dissonant experimentalism, Bugskull's music is always masterfully orchestrated and infused with a unique and mysterious enthusiasm. Eight tracks, forty four minutes. CD £5.00.

Bz Bz Ueu - Uhozmerigotz. (Italy, A La Coqúe). These Italian guys are just great. Mixing healthy blasts of quirky stop start punk fuelled guitar with Italian folk music, free jazz and children's music. Played at breakneck speed, I imagine the total number of sounds and notes that are played over the span of this disc, 7 tracks in 20 minutes, are far greater that your average Radiohead Album. Think more later day Dog Faced Hermans, Those Deep Buds, than Badgewearer and more John Zorn than God Is My Co-pilot. Just purr-fect. CD £2.75.

The Cakekitchen - The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. (NZ, Raffmond). CD £7.00.
The Cakekitchen - Stompin Thru the Boneyard. (NZ, Raffmond). LP £5.00.
The Cakekitchen - Far From the Sun. (NZ, Raffmond). CD £7.00.
Kicking of in New Zealand after the implosion of This Kind of Punishment and Graeme Jefferies' completed his solo album 'Messages for the Cakekitchen'. The Kitchen have, almost, remained a mystery to most of the record buying world. A fluctuating line up that revolves around the nucleus of Graeme and a host of talents from whatever country he decides to settle in around the time of recording. He has become some what of an international traveller over recent years. To describe the emotions and feelings these recordings evoke would be like trying to write a thesis on the back of a postage stamp. Each record has it's own particular mood depending on where and obviously with who it was recorded. Consistent elements can be traced right back to the days with This Kind of Punishment. The opening minutes of The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, have you thinking Graeme and Co. have crashed the latest kiwi no-wave scene but 'Old Grey Coast' does eventually break into song. Released this last year this was the previous contender for best Cakekitchen album, so far. Recorded in France, England and New Zealand mainly by the duo of Jefferies and Jean-Yves but familiar faces pop up in guise of Galbraith and Hamish Kilgour. Some incredibly fine moments. From soft, acoustic guitar and violin right through to the foot stomping 'Baby I Luv You'. Ten tracks, fifty five minutes. Stompin is the fourth LP but the first with the band stripped down to a duo with Frenchman Jean-Yves Douet adding drums and percussion. What this LP lacks in personnel it certainly makes up for in sound. Some hypnotic guitar that sometimes falls into chaos other times lifting you onto higher plains, or there's the acoustic guitar and violin pieces like 'The Mad Clarinet'. Other's are slow, emotional pieces or you'll just have to stop and wonder how those sounds can come out of an electric guitar and amplifier. All with that distinctive Jefferies voice and personal tales hidden in the songs. Far From the Sun was written and recorded in London and although this is regarded as the downer album it still holds fond memories for me of their live set. From the occasional live shows they used to play around that time.

Catapult - The Architecture of a Year. (US, Blackbean & Placenta). Hey this is really something and I’m not too sure where to place it.  Fits in easily with your post rock noodlers (Tortoise, AMP, Mogwai) and just as comfortably with the pop experimentalists (MBV, Hood, Movietone).  Just good honest listening.  And I’m sure I’ve heard this guys vocals somewhere before. Ten tracks, forty nine minutes. CD £4.50.

Client/Server - s/t. (US, Three Lonely Kaiju).£6.00.
Client/Server - End of Client/Server. (US, Three Lonely Kaiju). £6.00.
Husband and wife duo, who have nothing to with the computer system hierarchy, deliver beautiful minimal dronescapes via guitars (acoustic and electric), synth, looped robotic samples, and other devices. The repetitive guitar lines that fuzz through industrial wastelands recall the sounds of Roy Montgomery wading, perhaps, through molasses. "Surely the sleeper hit of the year, not to mention an accomplished debut."- The Broken Face on the self titled debut. End of Client/Server. Starts to break the mould that was starting to form with the debut. The songs were inspired and written to accompany Hideaki Anno's film The End Of Evangelion, which the group were playing in front of while touring their debut release. The guitars are more defined and the soundscapes seem to produce some kind of melody and maybe even some song structure behind the repetition of the guitars.

CM Ensemble - Love Central. (NZ, Metonymic). "The CM Ensemble are part of a new generation of New Zealand improvisers. They exist in both small and larger group modes, each based around Christchurch multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Nick Hodgson. Over the past two years they have gained a well- deserved reputation for the exceptional power and range of their live performances. Love Central is their debut CD release on Metonymic and perfectly encapsulates the different shades in their music from fiery jazz and rock free play to levitational string drones." - Forced Exposure. Six tracks, fifty four minutes. CD £8.00.

Control Panel - 02. (USA, Insignificant). Warren Defever from His Name is Alive knocks out some fucked up, fake Techno/Jungle trip. Well one sides a little more ambient than that but still pretty screwy. 12" £2.50.

Crabstick - Discoverroster. (Aus., 555 Recordings). Third and final collection from these Aussie legends fronted by the Nichols brothers.  You know the score quality, low key pop tunes that legends are made of.  I didn’t expect these to be around long.  Let’s hope that second LP sees the light of day one day.  LP £4.00.

Crawling With Tarts - I am Telephoning a Star. (USA, ASP). A collection of 'songs' from CWT. Venturing both to the experimental side and the pop that was demonstrated with Mayten's Throw. Devices, probably everyday found objects, are squeezed, blown rattled and broken while electric motors click and buzz for your entertainment. There's also a number of shorter 78 operas that serve as a fine place to start before you head onto their Grand Surface Noise Operas. CD £6.00.

Brian Crook - Bathysphere. (NZ, Medication). Stunning debut solo album from one of New Zealand’s underground legends. Twelve tracks that take in that Crook song craft that you’ve probably experienced with such ensembles as the Renderers, The Max Block, Terminals, et al. Mixed up with some of the countries more contemporary noises that he explored with the likes of Flies Inside the Sun. Severed guitar twang and tales of sorrow sit amid, soundscapes and walls of blurred guitar noise. Forty six minutes. CD £6.00.

Dachise - Twin Braids. (UK, Assemblage Point). Refreshing bursts of noise and sound collage from the UK. Reminds me of some of Prick Decay's earlier work the way the sounds bounce out of the speakers. A couple of the 'slower' pieces on here drift across into an unsettling other worldly ambience. I've not heard a 'noise' release in such a long time that offers so much variety. This is a reissue of a limited edition cassette that you'll be glad happened. Six tracks, fifty one minutes. CD £5.00.

Matt De Gennaro & Alastair Galbraith - Wire Music. (US/NZ, Corpus Hermeticum). As the title suggests this is music generated from wires. Or to be a little more specific, tensioned piano wires that turned the entire performance space into one large acoustic sounding box. For the performance an audience was led by torch light into the performance space and left in total darkness. As the performers began to stroke their rosined hands over tensioned lengths of piano wire. The sounds on this compact disc document what that audience heard. Also on the disc three pieces recorded at the sound check as well as the two pieces performed at the public show. In addition to the long wires, Alastair also performed on the violin and on one track played a pre-recorded tape loop. CD £8.00.

delphium - nobody sees the monster in the light of day ... (UK, Moloko+).  No major shift in direction for delphium on this his second full length long player, apart from maybe demonstrating a better grasp of composition than previous releases.  ‘nobody’ explores the world of left field electronic/dance music in a similar vein to say Moby, 3rd Eye Foundation and the plethora of other artists that can be found recording in their bedrooms these days. ‘nobody’ could almost be regarded as delphium’s ‘up’ album where as past works have always had a dark undercurrent running through their core, ‘nobody’ features some rich sequences of orchestration which kind of hit me as being a little New Order-ish in places!  Oh and by the way I make a cameo appearance too. Comes in a rather nice digi-pack.  Twelve tracks, seventy four minutes.  CD £7.00.

delphium - how can you hide from what never goes away ?. (UK, Outsider). A career's worth of sounds. Plundering the delphium archives from the past four years. Remixed or previously unreleased 'tunes'. Brooding left field techno, awkward rhythms, soundscapes verging on noisy ambience and an approximation of dub are all areas visited here. Beautiful full colour insert. Fourteen tracks, seventy eight minutes. CD £6.00.

delphium/Mimetic Kino - Lucious. (Fario Records, France). Split CD featuring about 20 minutes of music from both bands as well as the collaborative title piece. Four atmospheric pieces from delphium; "Against The World", "Ambient Bastard", "(another) Dark Plate" & "One Final Act Of Fuckin’ Resentment", the latter giving a clear indication of the sheer depths of darkness that delphiums music has dropped to. Mimetic Kino continue their exploration of operatic industrial techno, popularised on their first album. CD £6.00.

Sam Dellaria/Adam Sonderberg - Fold Your Arms and the World Will Stop. (US, absurd). Fold your arms and the world will stop sounds, as its title suggest, like a bizarre game scored by sam dellaria and adam sonderberg and is their third encounter since their "signal hill" debut back in 1998 and 2000's "64 squares". Scored and assembled from various recordings the duo made late in 2002. The result is stunning giving you the feeling that slowly folding arms move like the soundscapes presented on this disc. Intense ambiences slowly vary in mood and. A really frenetic trip through dellaria's and sonderberg's visionary world. CDR £4.75.

Stuart Dempster - On The Boards. (US, Anomalous). Stuart Dempster has been involved in a variety of new music endeavours over the last 40 years. The list is seemingly endless yet he has only released a few solo recordings of his own work during that time. This, his third release, is also the first to document Stuart in front of an audience. This is important as Dempster works with the audience, two pieces in particular using them to add to textures he is creating and bringing them into the music. "Don't Worry, It Will Come" takes this a step further, using a series of hoses hidden underneath the audience seats with rather humorous results. The bulk of the disc is focused on his meditative buzzing and droning, skilfully drawn from unique didjeridus and the instrument he is best known for playing, trombone. The results are warm and enveloping. Distilled from the best of a four night series of concerts, this is a lovely document. CD £7.00

Ernesto Diaz-Infante & Chris Forsyth - Wires and Wooden Boxes. (US, Pax Recordings/Evolving Ear). Improvised duets for acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and piano by San Francisco based pianist/guitarist Ernesto Diaz-Infante and Brooklyn, NY based electric guitarist Chris Forsyth. This is the second release from this duo, the first recorded in the same room and in real time, their debut being a postal collaboration. The acoustic/electric guitar pieces stand out, where Ernesto prepares his guitar with clips, screwdrivers and bells, from the piano/guitar numbers. But it's the 3rd track "Sound Is Good All The Time" that really slots them into my field of sounds, with plenty of noise being randomly plucked from the guitar strings and any other objects that were laying around. Ten Tracks, forty nine minutes. CD £6.00.

Dodes'Ka-den - Underwhere Everywear. (Belgium, Ubik). After a 7" and a half, maybe there was more. Dode's hits the public with his debut solo album. And this has really come along in leaps and bounds since those 7"s. The music is fragmented and adventurous, with underwater vocals and accordion mixing in with the more conventional Barratt and Hitchcock acoustics. But well beyond the Bedroom Psychadelia you can find experimental pop and some real humdinger tunes. This is an excellent collection of personal songs that, like Plover and Joost Visser, will suffer due to the artists European origin. Which in my book, is a crying shame. Consistent with the two previous 7"s the slip case is hand screened reclaimed card. It also comes with an illustrated booklet. Nineteen tracks, fifty seven minutes. CD £4.00.

Drone - s/t. (NZ, Freek). Long time New Zealanders living in London. Return to form with another selection of classical instrumentation meets contemporary style. Completely surpassing the previous 'Fat Controller' long player and embracing new technology their classical strings get caught in a techno world. Marie and the Atom meets the Orb. Very nice, unique jewel case package. Their debut UK 7", Cavern/Stravinsky, has probably been one of our biggest all time sellers. CD £5.00.

Dronaement/The Infant Cycle -Klab (phonorecord).  (Germany/Canada, The Ceiling).  Excellent collaborative remix project from both parties involved and on clear vinyl too!  Shortwave radio, damaged vinyl, synthesizer and other sound sources have been laid down by one party or added by the other.  Resulting in some rather lavish textured drones and ambient leftfield beats.  Hand made sleeve.  LP £5.00.

Duotron - The Compete Book of Duotron, Illustrated. (US, Scratch). As it says on the tin really, a career summary of this Chicago/Portland ensembles' output. Includes both Bulb LPs 'We Modern! We Now!' and 'Batallia Femini!' plus ep tracks and one unreleased spoken word piece 'Stage Fright'. Perhaps a No Wave statement. Two string guitar, haphazzard drums and a vocal technique that seems to keep the whole thing glued together. Imagine Link Wray playing GodCo hits with a one stringed rake, The Boredoms playing Toni Basil or Half Japanese playing Huggy Bear tunes. Forty one sound blasts in forty three minutes. CD £7.00.

Earth to Nigel - So You Wanna Be A Spy? (US, Blackbean & Placenta). Debut full length from this Aussie trio of teen brothers features distorted guitar riffage planted in swirling pop frameworks with nods to The Saints, The Fastbacks and XTC (circa ‘Making Plans For ....’). Power pop hasn't sounded this good in a long time. Twelve tracks, twenty five minutes. CD £1.00.

Elektro Nova/Electro Nova - Trans . Inter . Ference EP. (Norway, Smalltown Supersound). Dark, minimal, electronic, ambience. That almost disappears into silence. Somewhere between JLIAT and fellow country man Kjetil D. Brandsdal. Comes in a very nice silver on black sleeve. 10" £3.50.

Reidar Ewing 10". (Norway, Hodd Foundation). Five tracks of rather nice guitar and drum machine fuelled indie-pop, with a little organ and viola melancholy thrown in for good measure, produced by fellow Norwegian Kjetil D Bransdal. Somewhere between the Field Mice, Boyracer and something a little more Scandinavian. £3.50.

Jad Fair and R. Stevie Moore - Fairmoore. (US, Old Gold). Well here's hoping that you need no introduction to either of these stalwarts of the US home recording 'scene'. This is the first time they have met as a collaborative force and it's a real meeting of minds for sure. Stevie's instrumental prowess accomplishes perfectly timed hip-hop drumbeats, wild, crisp guitar arpeggios and wonderfully old-school synthesiser arrangements as a backing for Jad's words. Twenty one tracks, forty eight minutes.CD £7.50.

Fatalists - Take the Water. (US, Ear Trumpet). Some beautiful guitar based atmospherics that sometimes recalls memories of the Harold Budd/Andy Partrige collaboration 'Through the Hill'. But only sometimes. Other tracks on here are littered with squeaky little loops of analogue burble and fake turntable clicking, ala Köhn. Eight tracks, forty five minutes. CD £6.00.

Figurine - Transportation + Communication = Love. (UK, Blackbean & Placenta). Dig this wonderful electro-pop group. Being tipped as album of the year by indie pop fans world wide. Intelligent, demure and blissful. Influences from Factory, Kraftwerk and 80s synth pop roots. Blackbean's hottest commodity/discovery in years. Includes a bonus track and new artwork for this second pressing of last year's sleeper hit. Sixteen tracks, fifty two minutes. CD £5.00.

Milo Fine Free Jazz Ensemble - Another Outbreak of Iconoclasm. (US, Fusetron). The Free Jazz Ensemble is actually just Milo Fine playing drums, clarinet, piano, marimba and guitar, with a little help from guitarist Steve Gnitka. The four pieces on here range from very laid back marimba pieces to full on skronk. LP £4.00.

Milo Fine - Frequency Etchings (Ongoing Celebrations of Insignificance). (US, Fusetron). Solo clarinet/electronics set recorded live Nov 20 1998 at Roadrunner Records in Minneapolis and presented here in its entirety. This is Milo's 19th document following last Aprils release of the triple CD, "Surges/Suspensions, Comme Toujours" on Shih Shih Wu Ai. This LP is a numbered edition of 330 with full color paste-on sleeves... LP £5.00.

Flies Inside the Sun - s/t. (NZ, Metonymic). Rolling back from their incarnation as Rain a revamped Flies pay even less attention to structure. Atmospheric, improvised pieces including two vocal appearances by Kim Pieters. Not quite as good as the Rain disc, but far better than the Kranky LP. Very nice, distinctive, packaging. Six tracks, forty six minutes. CD £8.00.

Flywheel - Wrong Way 'Round the Buffet. (Aus., Blackbean & Placenta). Sorry I'm a sucker for this stuff. Anything Australian and featuring members of The Cannanes, Ashtray Boy and Crabstick has just got to be a great an idea as it sounds. Apparently their second album, any help locating a copy of their first would be greatly received. A versatile band, Flywheel layout clean inventive pop rock in one instance and sedate Americana-like harmonising in the next. This is the sort of record many Flying Nun acts have tried for years to make. Super solid song writing supported by compelling guitar and vocals. Not to be missed. Twelve tracks, forty five minutes. CD £5.00.

Tim Foljahn - Obvious Urban Landscapes. (US, Old Gold). A wonderful collection of sounds and textures to accompany a most enjoyable novella of sorts by the man behind Two Dollar Guitar and some of the more interesting session work recorded over the last decade. For those who have glimpsed his writing abilities through his lyrics, here lies full blown prose at its automatic best. CD + Booklet £6.00.

French Paddleboat - Conversions in Metric. (US, Scratch). Solo project from Scott August, one half of the well respected Vote Robot. Strange and minimal compositions that create dreams in your mind as you sit and stare at the ceiling with open eyes. Vibes, chimes, bells and clarinet provide melodic and harmonic measures, while odd sounds punctuate, and samples swim over lilting acoustic drumbeats and loops. Nine tracks, thirty four minutes.CD £5.00.

The Frustrations - It’s Time To Move On. (Aus., Varispeed). Again, another group that skim around the classification pool like no one can touch ‘em. Buzz wire guitar pop, heading certainly in the ’78 punk direction but held down with their minimal indie credentials. Something like real early Thrilled Skinny, Wedding Present and the Yips. Twelve tracks, thirty nine minutes. CD £5.00.

Gila Monster - 165hz All Over. (UK, Behemoth). This set of eight songs has been sitting around for the best part of two years itching to be unleashed on an unsuspecting public. Buzzsaw guitars with more than the usual three chords you'd expect from an indie guitar band. Say Buzzcocks meets Primitives meets the Pastels meets Bitch Magnet, some meeting eh? Plus a 32 page comic Cock-Eyed featuring strips by Marc Baines, John Bagnall, P. Shaw, Tom Tiffin and Rachel House. 10" £2.50.

Graphic Verse. (US, Independent Opposition). A parallel of the struggle between internal and external forces of righteousness and ruin. Conceptual project featuring heavily processed vocals against dark ambient atmospheres. The recommended environment for listening to this CD is in the dark on headphones. Which I imagine is quite the right thing to do given the self loathing and hatred wrapped up within it’s layers. CD £2.50.

The Hat City Intuitive - They Must Be Clapping For ... Me! (US, Crank Automotive). Alright! This is one hell of a maelstrom. A seriously loud improv. cross over unit mixing up high speed guitar blur with alien synthesizer bleeps and full blown saxophone assault. The press release reads like a must have shopping list at Forced Exposure, I quote; "At times sounding like the Sun City Girls covering the ESP-Disk catalogue, at others like the Dead C. auditioning for a role in Space is the Place" The only name I think that's missing is Holland's The Ex. If you like your improvisation, loud, wild and in your face then this is the business! CD £7.00.

Hi-god People - Soundtrack to the movie “Nega - The Eight Headed Serpent". (Aus., Varispeed). Well this is so damn good I’m really having some difficulty trying to focus on any really relevant reference points. It’s Kraut-rock, lo-fi, multi-instrumental and improvised live. More Can playing Dead C. than Dead C. playing Can. I suppose the closest thing I’ve heard to this would have to be Sferic Experiment, but even that only skits around the bowl rim before getting flushed away. And hey even the Wire gave this an enthusiastic review. Fifteen tracks, sixty five minutes. CD £6.00.

Id m theft able - et summertime bodies play harps inside snow banks. (USA, Veglia). Messed up sound collages from Scott Spear, the name behind the Mang-Disc label. Involves a lot of huffing and puffing and stuff along the lines of the Gerogerigegege (but Scotts probably not wacking off!). Packed in a filthy hand assembled cover. Five tracks, sixty two minutes. CD-R £4.25

Ilios - 18-102002. (Greece, Absurd). Live document of a monumental night in Athens at the Small Music Theatre. Minimal electrical pulses are coaxed from a laptop slowly building into waves of rumbling electronics. Occasionally meeting the sounds of a glass "played" w/ a dentist's wheel. An amazing ambient recording that is in the best tradition of people like Zbigniew Karkowski, Hafler Trio, etc. Forty three minutes. CD-R £4.75.

The Infant Cycle – Old Plus Four.  (Canada, The Ceiling).  With a fairly simple and self-explanatory title.  The tracks gathered here where originally released on the ‘single’ format (“Old”).  While the others (“Four”) are exclusive to this release.  Slots into a kind of leftfield electronica.  Nine tracks, forty three minutes.  CD-R.  £5.00.

Institut Fuer Feinmotorik - Negemergenz. (Germany, Fusetron). Translation : The Institute for precision, Motoricity. This is somewhere along the lines of Brandon LaBelle's solo work and research. Minimal, close up explorations of acoustic sounds resulting in six longish pieces of repetitive sounds. I really didn't get enough of these in last time around but hopefully there will be enough copies of this 2nd pressing (of 300) to go around. LP £5.00.

Jackie-O Motherfucker - Wow/The Fire Magik Music. (US, ATP). Reissue of tow fantastic pieces of vinyl. Namely the LP we put out a few years back plus the excellent double that came out on Father Yod around the same time. Double CD £10.00.

Junket - s f claremont hi. (USA, Road Cone). Well I hope you didn't forget them. I certainly didn't. After their debut "Everclear" 7", also on the supreme Road Cone label, way back in the May of 1993 Junket hit a hiatus. The San Francisco based quartet don't aim to impress with their modest but intoxicating guitar blur. But have you reeling none the less. A rare mix of melody and tension dominates this collection, but on the odd occasion they break into some full flight pop songs. Think Seam, sometimes Buffalo Tom and Superchunk and back to the hairs on the back of your neck, Pavement's "Summer Babe" rose. And you may begin to understand how great this is. Junket may not be around now, but this disk should be around forever. This collection fits most of their studio output onto one easy to handle disk. Sixteen tracks, forty nine minutes. CD £4.00.

Dave Knott - Natura naturans.  (US, Anomalous).  Veteran improviser and instrument builder demonstrates his ‘stringboards’, simple yet beautiful amalgamations of wood and prepeared strings that draw to mind harps, gongs and sounsculptures.  CD £5.00.

Larz - Waving with Newtons. (Netherlands, Blackbean & Placenta). Dutch genius follows up to his sold out debut with this fine selection of nineteen songs. Sounding like the greatest compilation of bands that have graced the pages of the Fisheye catalogue over the years. Drag City era Pavement collides with a bedroom bound Lou Barlow or the folk driven pulse of Flying Saucer Attack or other unearthly sounds that only the Jefferies brothers would know how to make. A delicious beefheartarian pop-music that sounds very Andy Partrige(XTC) to me. Forty five minutes. CD £3.00.

Larz - Moral Sewer. (Netherlands, Narrowminded/BBPTC). On the strength of my gushing write up of his 2nd release, 'waving with newtons', Lars has found me a few copies of his debut. Which I'd say is a little darker than the previously mentioned release. Total fucking genius! LP £5.00

Leap Seconds - Hints. (UK, Encaustic). Debut album from bassists Peter Blundell and Neil Robinson, in a limited edition of 50. Recorded at home with a no overdubs Hints paths the way for what was to come with Atomic Time and Peter's other duo project, Palau Beams. Nine tracks of detailed bass drone, wonderful stuff. Lathe Cut LP £9.50.

Leap Seconds - Atomic Time. (UK, Encaustic). Four beautiful unedited recordings of minimal lo-end drone from double and electric bass opened up with the addition of piano and lap-steel guitar. Handsomely packaged in a hand sprayed fold out card sleeve. Four tracks thirty nine minutes. CD £7.50.

Levellers 5 - Big Friday. (UK, Probe Plus). 12" Sold Out..
Levellers 5 - Clatter. (UK, Probe Plus). LP Sold Out.
Levellers 5 - Springtime. (UK, Probe Plus). LP £5.00.
The Levellers discordant guitars, gravely vocals, African drum rhythms and un-compromised approach to their music never won them the acclaim they rightfully deserved. Springtime came first and is possibly the more accessible of the two. Features my favourite, 'Heaven', not too far from Talking Heads song of the same title and the epic 'Springtime' which got them into trouble with a few club owners along the way. Big Friday was a four track EP (12" & CD only) between the two albums. Additional tracks being "Big Friday (mix)", the previously available "Next Big Thing" and one other unreleased track "Mr Tell Me". Clatter was the harsher, vastly improved, second album (not that Springtime was lame in any way). Forced to tag the . onto their name to avoid travelling types turning up to their shows, lurcher on string in tow. Sadly the confusion over the name and flagging interest from the general public forced them into early retirement. But the duo of John and Carol continue under the guise Calvin Party. Live they were in their element, I never saw them enough.

Liar’s Paradise. (US, Independent Opposition). Conceptual project examining the world and it’s opposition to Truth. Features a lot of processed narrative and plenty of electronically manipulated sounds alongside guitars, percussion, etc. Somewhere along the lines of a keyboard less Skinny Puppy (circa Cleanse, Fold & Manipulate), well that’s what I can see anyway! CD £2.50.

The Lost Domain - Sailor, Home From the Sea. (Broken Face / Digitalis). I'm surprised that a whole flood of releases from Brisbane's The Lost Domain haven't hit the market since Rhizome's 'Something Is …' CD-r dragged the ensemble out of their self-imposed obscurity. This is no where near as great as the aforementioned 'Something Is .. ' opening and closing with a mangled cover of John Lee Hooker's "The Waterfront". Some nice reverb laced sax and distant percussion mingles with electronic bleeps, high pitched whistling, organ tones, electronic drones and clattery percussion. Six tracks, thirty eight minutes. CD £7.00.

Greg Malcolm - Homesick For Nowhere. (NZ, Corpus Hermeticum). A damn fine set of improvisations , faux folk (a blend of Islamic, kiezmer and Japanese folk) and interpretations of other folks works (Ornette Coleman, Steve Lacy, Charlie Haden and The Beatles) from this stalward of the NZ fringe. Over the years Malcolm has developed a unique solo style often involving playing multiple guitars simultaneously to generate both drones and rhythms. This has culminated in the design of his own, multi-output 'adapted guitar'. This five-pickup beast, featuring extra harmonically resonating sympathetic strings and independent tuning at both ends can be heard on three tracks here. At times Malcolm becomes a veritable one man Velvet Underground one foot playing drone guitar, the other plays percussion like Mo Tucker crawling up a hill, leaving his hands to ring out 'tunes' on his main guitar. Ten tracks , fifty nine minutes. CD £9.00.

L.Marchetti/J.Noetinger/M.Werchowski - S/t. (France, Corpus Hermeticum). Two 30 minute live performances from November '98 of hardcore electroacoustic improvisation from a well established duo, Noetinger and Marchetti, set against 'New Guy' Werchowski's rasping violin. I guess Noetinger and Marchetti whip up a fairly typical electroacoustic set full of radio interference, whipping radar lashes, sine-wave squealing, and bristling electronic washes. Ebbing between loud and near silence where their 'instruments' are sometimes reduced to simply chirping like crickets. The edge that this trio have comes from Werchowski's dynamic interplay with his scratching violin playing against the textures from the other two. Occasionally bursting into barrages of ear splitting high end from squealing electronics Vs tense strings. CD £9.00.

Lasse Marhaug/Ring - split CD. (Norway, Krank). Fifteen minutes each from Noise-nik Marhaug and kitchen sink soloist Ring. Marhaug, as you may have heard before, whips up an uncomfortable electric storm of white noise and burbling brooks of static rumble. Ring takes his psychedelic improvisations to the same bedroom as Jandek, Suicide and maybe even the Flaming Lips. CD £4.00.

Mark – Chocolate Covered Bad Things. (US, Catsup Plate). Maybe you remember the promise of Mark’s solo debut cassette, ‘Regressing’ (Union Pole), showed or the number of pop-perfect ditties that Good Horsey, that he fronted, knocked out. And there’s no disappointment to be found here. Aided by a selection of friends and instruments, Mark stretches his song and stories across a plethora of sounds, pinning the whole thing down with his distinctive quivery voiced delivery. Not a bad thing at all. Seventeen tracks, fifty five minutes. CD £3.00.

The Marinernine - s/t. (USA, Miner St). A background of ambience ala Musique Concrete. Improvised over the top with additional found sounds and some occasional lyrics. A band that has existed for seven years and boast the membership of Jason Knight (Azusa Plane) amongst it's ranks. Marinernine's Brian McTear also produced the excellent Eletro debut CD. CD £5.00.

Mattin/Rosy Parlane - agur (Spain/NZ,absurd). Minimal 20 minute piece recorded live at "Oligarch Shit Transfusion", London 26th October 2002 on computer, computer feedback and some occasional percussion. Minimal packaging to fit the sound. 3"CD-R £2.75.

deano merino - baby crocodiles. (Australia, Dual Plover).  A solo guy playing anything from just guitar (electric or acoustic) to electronics, programmed sounds, etc. With songs about flies, golf, Buick's and killing a Tamagotchi. Somewhere between Beck's genius, Inca Eyeball's humour using WCKR SPGT's technology. Packed in a felt-lined full colour, printed card wallet with Velcro seal. Ten tracks, twenty three minutes.  CD £2.00.

eric Metronome - The Two-Eared Man. (US, Blackbean & Placenta). The full length follow up to Metronome's debut CD "Invisible Friends". Thirteen songs here of more melancholy enchanted pop with vocal harmonies kicking around everywhere. Eric also fronts the rock band Tiara and moonlights as half of Yesteryear. Comparisons to fine song-smiths like Elliot Smith are fair, but the distinct Metronome sound is still as fresh and apparent now as it was five years ago. And this time the production stretches far beyond the four track. CD £3.00.

Mirza - Last Clouds. (US, Ba Da Bing!). "Mirza was a San Francisco improv group whose members went on to be in Thuja and Steven R. Smith, both of whom now record for Emperor Jones. The band carried out a stunning assortment of psychedelic compositions which led tangential melodies to the most unexpected places. This release collects their astounding first EP, long out of print, and over thirty minutes never before released, which shows how they could take the abrasive and make it transcendental." - Forced Exposure. CD £8.00.

D. Mobius - Blotch. (Switzerland, Scratch). Kluster/Cluster founding member's 2nd solo album, the first being "Tonspuren" way back in 1983. Recorded over March and April of 1999 in Moebius' minimal studio in Berlin. Using a Korg Prophecy, a EMU Orbit and a Yamaha 8 track cassette recorder. The final track is a duet with Tim Story. Seven tracks, fifty four minutes. CD £7.50.

MonAural - Monitor Interference. (US, Ba Da Bing!). Another winner from the Ba Da Bing! Camp. A full length debut that follows up their, now sold out, Burnt Hair 12". Essentially left field electronica taking in weird dance beats, dub, jazz and ambience along the way. I guess you could use UI (without the progressive pretence) and/or Trans Am type comparisons if you wanted to but this is really in a world of it’s own. Nine tracks, forty eight minutes. CD £8.00.

Jason Morphew - Not For the Faint of Heart! (US, BaDaBing!). Brooding country songs, combining tradition and innovation. "calls up many musical genres without limit or hesitation He takes from Abba as fast as he steals from fellow Arkansan Sleepy LaBeef, and he combines the two in a jointed way that makes you think Jimmie Rodgers before you think of Beck" - Oxford American. Twenty tracks, sixty one minutes. CD £8.00.

Moth - Kodak Ghost Poem. (Aus., Rhizome). A 16 minute drone on harmonium. Very much the best Moth thing 'out there', and possibly, the last. "['Kodak Ghost Poem'] is clearly a densely layered work, though each harmonium tone is so unpronounced, and movement so linear that dual interpretations emerge. This is both one thing and everything at once" - Mark Groves, Ujaku CD-R £5.00

Murmer - Definition. (UK, Absurd). Excellent soundscape works which evolve into complex, atmospheric compositions. Based mainly around found sounds and field recordings such as a freezer, bicycle wheel, a water bottle and other household objects and the odd synth loop. Three tracks, fifty nine minutes. Another CD housed in Absurd's excellent circular sleeves. CD-R £4.75.

Ninety Nine - 767. (Aus., Chapter). Incredible Melbourne pop band featuring Laura MacFarlane (ex-Sleater Kinney, Cold Cold Hearts, Sea Haggs…), beautifully crafted songs played on every instrument under the sun, including vibraphone, xylophone, keyboards, guitar, and so on.   LP £5.00.

nixilx.nijilx (Greece, Absurd). Impressive soundscapes from the Greek underground. One beautiful 20 minute track plus two more, of which one was used as a soundtrack to a recent installation at the events of chondros/katsiani's 'hyperdwthe' in thessaloniki, Northern Greece. A delicate universe of intense electro-acoustic sounds and lowercase drones. Comes in the usual Absurd card sleeve with some nice 'infant' like artwork by nixilx.nijilx himself. CD-R £4.75.

Nod - I'm Around. (USA, Baby Music). Follows on nicely from their number of 7"s, the last two of which are also featured on here. More of that Verlaine guitar and vocal styling. Set off on occasions, I found, by a warm Beefheartian bluesy twang. Again those lackadaisical guitar sounds can be drawn upon and further comparisons to the Twisted Village camp of Lux Bags and Crystallized Movements can be made. Even a couple of tracks really, erm, rock out using a thunderous 3Ds rhythm and some distorted guitar noise that could even pass for David Mitchell. A disc that has certainly passed the Fisheye time test, I've lost count of the number of plays it's had and the number of sounds I've discovered on each encounter. Thirteen songs, sixty minutes. CD £6.00.

Noggin - Space Needle. (USA, Trackshun). Their debut CD is still one of my favourite and frequently played noise records. The combination of wild violin thrashing though electronics, excessively amplified and duelling with a guitar that is being treated in a similar fashion is such a gratifying sound. They offer more space and texture than say, Borbetomagus (that's gonna get me some mail), while still ripping your head off. There's still copies of the debut CD in stock too. Hand made sleeve. LP £5.00.

Old Bombs - Zero (Belgium, Veglia). Excellent rip and slice sound collages. It seems like the, what would appear to be mainly home-made, sounds on here just come out of nowhere and don't fit in with each other. Which works really well. I think you've got to go back to the pre-Boredoms Boretronix tapes or Otomo Yoshihide's 'Sampling Virus' to really appreciate where these folks are coming from. Insert's printed on old magazine pages. Five tracks, thirty minutes. CDR £4.50.

Omit - Interior Desolation. (NZ, Corpus Hermeticum). The first CD release of new and unreleased material from Blenheim's bedroom based sound sculptor. "From the first moments, as the field recordings of snorting pigs begin to assault your mind, you know you are in for one long strange trip. Just when the listener has come to terms with being shut into an aural pigsty, the first moans of synthesised sound begin to approach from the far distances of a tape delay-induced vacuum that seems to extend beyond the boundaries of our solar system. Seventy-odd minutes later you'll touch down on earth again, if you've managed to survive the journey with your mind intact", Bruce Russell, Corpus Hermeticum press release, I don't think I can say more than that. CD £8.00.

Orange Cake Mix - A Shadow of Eclipse and Other Phases of the Moon (US, Blackbean & Placenta). CD £5.00.
Orange Cake Mix - Lovecloud and Secret Tape. (US, Blackbean & Placenta). CD sold out
A Shadow of Eclipse is the tenth full length by Jim Rao, CT 4 track wunderkind, following brilliant releases of subtle varied home made pop on Elefant, Darla, Clover, and Blackbean. This sixteen song collection features the strongest elements of his vocal and instrumental stylings, from synthy casio pop to mellow guitar arrangements to clingy drone chill outs. Many great albums have revolved around the Moon and its inspiration, add this one to your spaceout collection too. Lovecloud and Secret Tape was the fifth full length recording from this one man pop machine. Eighteen timeless pop numbers about innocence, love, heartache, depression, and the weather, this album is one pleasant three minute hit after another.

Outerdrive - Hallucinations.  (US, Elsie and Jack/Marino Recordings).  Improvised psychedelic rock that heads just where the title suggests.  Not too far removed from Can, Pink Floyd’s Interstella Overdrive circa Syd or how I imagine Hawkwind’s nicer space jams sound, I can’t claim to of actually hearing any decent Hawkwind but if I did this is how I would imagine it to sound.  Also for some bizarre reason this also reminds me of Massive Attack too. Comes in a splendid card folder with a booklet. Eight tracks, sixty seven minutes. CD £8.00.

Palau Beams - Dirt Tracks. (UK, Encaustic). Four lovely tracks of intricate interplay between electric guitar and electric bass. This isn't your typical duo running off trying to out play each other. Using a play quietly record loudly recording technique brings subtle textures to the forefront instead of submersing the recording in feedback and speaker hum. Picture this as a sort of found sound or sound-concrete recording of guitars. Every blemish and pimple becomes exaggerated and then an integral part of the final result. You can almost see the strings vibrate as the duo pluck, touch, and scraping those strings. Handsomely packaged in a hand sprayed fold out card sleeve. 4 tracks, 39 minutes. CD £7.50.

PD - Inweglos. (Germany, Absurd). Seems like Absurd have picked up the Ralf Wehowsky/RLW reissue torch, following 'EaRLyW 4' with this obscure 80's classic from this P16.D4 predecsor. "In some of these tracks PD is shown as a typical Neue Deutsche Welle band: finding their own form within rock music based on punk and new wave but in a more alternative form and as always with German lyrics. PD use to quite an extensive part synthesizers and rhythm boxes, along with bass guitars, guitars and vocals. At times they sound like a very free form improv band and at other times a more rock version of the early Der Plan, but without so much of humor involved in Der Plan. PD is much more political (see 'Ayatollah Carter') and also more dark in their lyrics - save for some hints towards disco in 'Progressive Disco'. Some of the material forecasts the later P16.D4 work, such as in the semi cut-up of 'Kurzzug Nach Frankfurt', but in general fits the 1980 sound very well: distorted, free form music, taking punk and new wave in a much wider field of music. Maybe I didn't play the LP in many years, but the renewed appearance is for sure a good one. It was indeed one of those more obscure classics waiting to be re-issued". (FdW). CD £7.00.

The Pickle Factory - Our Pledge. (USA, Swill Radio). According to some folks who write well to do magazines about a lot of folks who make so called experimental music this latest release from Scott Foust and friends is nothing more than an Idea Fire Co. out takes record. Which is a dangerous mistake to make in public, and in print. Sure compared to IFCo's complex textures this may seem a little too minimal, but isn't that the point. Simplistic repetitive tunes that last around the 4-5 minute mark not really going to anywhere much. Some are up tempo some are down. Fuck if Eno stayed with Roxy Music jamming his electronics and the bands sound back into those continuos loops where would we be now? CD £4.00.

Pieters/Russell/Stapleton - Sex/Machine. (NZ, Metonymic). The much anticipated follow up to this trio’s Corpus Hermeticum debut ‘Last Glass’.  Ambient whispers of bass, guitar, amplifier hum and AM radio drift between the rapid bursts of tense percussion Stapleton, as always, provides.  A worthy sequel.  Six tracks, forty one minutes.  CD £8.00.

Points of Friction - Sackcloth and Ashes. (US, Anomalous). "Los Angeles based sonic obscurist Joseph Hammer has claimed that one of his primary musical influences was an episode of the 70s TV programme Land of the Giants, in which the protagonists used tape loops to thwart alien tyrants. This trivial piece of history neatly encapsulates the homebrewed explorations of consumer electronics, cheap instruments and general weirdness found in Hammer's work within Points of Friction back in the early 80s. Skirting the fringes of the LA Free Music Society, POF emerged from a handful of art school misfits. Sackcloth And Ashes, originally released as a cassette in 1984 on Solid Eye, is undergirded by keyboards and primitive electronics, providing tense atmospheres through sustained tones and ample minor chord progressions which could have been lifted from any number of Hollywood B movies and horror films. Lo-fi field recordings, guitar fuzz and proto-Matmos amplifications of things like snapping shrimp and a diseased lung add a creepy, 'mad scientist' aura to the basic electronics."- Jim Haynes, The Wire. CD £8.00

Pop - Work Hard Play Harder. (Int, absurd). Live documentation of the memorable live set that Zbigniew Karkowski and Pita gave last year during the electrograph 02 festival and the track's remixes by karkowski & pita. CDR £4.50.

Prolapse - backsaturday. (UK, Lissy's). An intermediate, time out LP while Prolapse are between labels and various A & R folks struggle to get them to sign their lives away. Not very representative of the Prolapse sound I'm lead to believe by Lissy's press department. Here we get one side long piece of indulgence taking in some krautrock groove along the way. The more song styled side splits up into some ambient dub trips, with more kraut leanings, and a couple of real pop gems. The rhythms being rather reminiscent of New Zealand's Puddle but of course with some Scot mumbling in the back ground. CD £2.50.

Pumice - White. (NZ, Stabbies Etc.). Wonderfully primitive, skeletal works. Sometimes sounding so fragile as if they were merely held together by thread and could drift apart at any moment. Running along similar lines as some of my Fisheye favourites; Galbraith, Scaredy Cat, Jandek and Iceland's Sanndreymi/Blek Ink. You're going to find some heavy riffing and scorching guitar solos along side beautiful acoustic pieces that take full advantage of poor quality leads and recording equipment (some wonderful crackles), we even hear vocals on one piece. Pumice often employs the technique of playing multiple instruments at once so everything is captured as its played while still allowing some space for over dubbing if required. Eight tracks thirty eight minutes. CD £7.00

The Receptionists - The Last Letter. (US, Ba Da Bing!). Cast your mind back to the Ba Da Bing! Compilation, Follow the Bouncing Ball from some years ago. The Receptionists contributed an outstanding track.  And here they return with more songs from that same session and more besides.  A female three piece armed with guitar, accordion, mandolin and xylophone sounding like a Slampt version of Look Blue Go Purple.  Seventeen tracks, 31 minutes. CD £6.00.

Ring - Incense, spice and late late nights. (Norway, Darjeeling). I’m totally taken in by this guys blend of lo-fi pop come bedroom ambience. Acoustic guitars, low voices meet spooky Moog drones and loads of other unsettling background noise. A reissue of a cassette on Krank with three extra tracks and full colour artwork. Ten tracks, thirty one minutes. CD £5.00.

RLW - eaRLy W 4. (Germany, Absurd). Running at a slightly different tangent to the other 'eaRLy W' reissues (swill radio) which are actually reissues of previously issued tapes from the early 80's. eaRLy W 4 is a compilation of un-issued and very rare material providing 'a brief pocket encyclopedia of the unknown German experimental/post punk scene of the early 80's'. Included here are recordings of the PD project from which p16.d4 emerged. Limited to just 444 copies. CD £7.00.

Robot Vs Rabbit - Trading The Witch For The Devil. (USA, Mandragora Records). Full-length Mandragora debut from these North Carolina psychonauts. Filthy buckets of dark, sludge infested feedback from detuned guitars and heavier than thou bass together with swirling synthetic white noise. Smothering slurred under water vocals, b-movie snippets, chants, chiming strings and stolen extracts of traditional folk recordings (of oriental origin). Corralled between tranquil vignettes of folksy drone and alien chatter. You could try looking for clues in later day Skullflower or Total, The Negative Kite, Dead C circa Runway, Sunn and maybe Earth too. Fourteen tracks, fifty six minutes. CD £6.00.

R.O.T. - r.o.t.2. (Belgium, Veglia). Another fine selection of homebrewed drone, clatter and general no-fi nonsense from one of Belgium's better kept secrets. Plenty of accordion, guitar drone, synth-warbles and speaker hum keep this disk busy. Six tracks, forty five minutes CDR £2.50.

R.O.T. - Et Erir. (Belgium, Veglia). Belgium fried amp, noise and drone exponents captured live and in various other locations. Stirring up an unhealthy storm of feedback, guitar scrawl and epileptic percussive bursts. People who shop with Fisheye tend to like this stuff. Sealed in a nice hand made sleeve. Five tracks, forty six minutes. CD-R £3.50.

RST - Warm Planes.  (NZ, Corpus Hermeticum). Not counting the self released lathe-cut LP, ‘Event Horizon’ this is the second full length release from this solo sound sculptor.  The first being R136a on Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace! Label. Drone ebbs beautifully and paints solid blocks of background where a single electric guitar flicks sound details across the aural canvas. "Guaranteed to pin your head to the floor with calm, carefully abraded and composed blocks of unrelenting noise. Nothing here is accidental, every sound-event has a purpose and the result is a festival of physically-impacting soundworks in the now-classic NZ style." - Bruce Russell’s Corpus Hermeticum press release.  Eight tracks, fifty seven minutes.  CD £8.00.

Bruce Russell - Maximalist Mantra Music. (NZ, Crank Automotive). CD £6.00.
Bruce Russell - Painting the Passport Brown. (NZ, Corpus Hermeticum). CD sold out
Solo albums two and three, respectively, from Mr. Russell. Both feature Bruce's instrumental improvisations over prerecorded tape loops that he's been playing around with for the past few years.

Sandoz Lab Technicians - Let Me Lose My Mind Gracefully. (NZ, Corpus Hermeticum). Recorded live at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery during a support slot to none other than Tony Conrad on his brief New Zealand visit during August, 1997. This is the first full length release, their 3rd to date, that catches the trio in full stretched out mode. During this 37 minute piece they manage to simultaneously evoke the spirit of AMM, gamelan orchestras, John Cage and the Residents, and employ the mighty reverb of the venue's sixty foot ceiling almost as an extra instrument. CD £7.50.

Sanndreymi. (Iceland, nano). The instruments behind the fantastic Blek Ink 7", twisted and out of tune. Making some marvellous noises along the way. Rolls along, again, sub-Galbraith with a bit of the Master Musicians of Joujouka going at it with the Shadow Ring's tunings. I also found some rather lavish trance inducing pieces on what sounds like a harp. This is nice stuff. Thirteen tracks. CD £7.00.

Scaredy Cat - Remixes 12". (UK, Plankton Lo-fi Junk). Three tracks lifted from the excellent Feather Collector LP, given the old cut and splice treatment. Re-workings from Rosa Lee State, Rarb Terb sound like Pram, Nibbles period Residents and the Erazerhead soundtrack. While Juicy Eurika play for a spacerock epic. 12" £3.50.

September Plateau - Occasional Light. (USA, elsie + jack Recordings). C. Jeely, maybe better know through his releases on Enraptured, Endorphin and Rocket Racer as acceleradeck, offers us 'Guitar Excursions from Acceleradeck'. Translucent guitar washes and a scattering of dance beats. Sounding something like Flying Saucer Attack when they started to include melody and song into their sound. Other names plucked from the press release include Windy & Carl, The Durutti Column and My Bloody Valentine which probably refers to the Glider EP and Loveless end of their career. This is really rather nice. Ten tracks, seventy three minutes. CD £8.00.

Will Simmons - In So Many Words. (USA, Toothpick, Catsup Plate, etc.). The rather prolific Mr Simmons, some 60 odd tapes under his belt, has only found time to record half an LP of instrumentals. Fairly acoustic in execution but with an electrifying ethnic edge. Some weird 60's Velvets trip meets the Crayola on their way to Joujouka. Pretty nice stuff as you may gather. LP £5.00.

The Sonic Catering Band - Live from the Canteens of Atlantis. (UK, absurd). Spanning their very brief live career from 1998 to 2001, these two CDs convey all that was exciting, frustrating, ridiculous and ultimately nourishing about a Sonic Catering performance. CD 1 begins at the beginning: w/ the first carrot chop at London's 333 nightclub, 27th September 1998 and ends at the end: Geneva's Moloko restaurant, 9th November 2001. In between lies a lean collage mix of culinary overdrive, assembled from every gig the project ever performed, capturing the various moods and atmospheres that were created during their live sets. Extracts of their 5 hour shift at The Moloko are manipulated and included between tracks 1,3,5 and present the dense atmosphere at the restaurant. Giving you a great example of their sound, showing nearly all of the project's sides, full of various bizarre moods and atmospheres, sometimes a bit rhythmic or on others harsh or obscure. The second disc is the documentation of their last proper performance at Geneva's forde gallery. An hour's recording full of meditative, abstract, spacious soundscapes. This is sonic catering bands definitive live document, minus the food of course. The CDs come in a gatefold package with sleeve notes by the band and a list of live dates and venues. Double CD £7.50.

Spazmodics - Vermin Perm. (Aus., Dual Plover). "Sydney based duo's debut album from a where they torment and distort, strange burst of lo-fi shards of sound, off kilter drum machines and weird samples. Much of it doesn't make sense, much of it is uncomfortable and wrong, much of it is gruelling and makes you want to wash afterwards. But then again they are operating with such humour and wrongness that you kind of want to give them a go. There are actually song structures here mashed together in frantic diseased attention span, A.D.D. infused flurries of activity. It's all proudly lo-fi, a crazed broken carnival ride melding Venetian Snares with Faxed Head, then giggling hysterically at the confused torment it dishes out." - Bob Baker Fish. "Strangest musical sandwiches ever likely to get stuck in your windpipe" - Blunt Magazine. CD £6.00.

Spiny Anteaters - Well Laid Plans. (US, Ba Da Bing!). It's taken the Anteaters a sloth like three years to record this album. The careful attention to detail taken moves their beautiful guitar and organ driven space rock into the world of song craft. Sounding somewhere between Galaxie 500 and Mercury Rev with the experimental gusto of Hood. Twenty tracks, sixty minutes. CD £8.00.

The Spiney Anteaters' - Last Supper. (USA, Ba Da Bing !). I’m totally taken aback by this bands use of organ drone, slightly out of kilter open chordings and use of decaying noise. For an American band associated with Kranky, they're kind of good. Full colour insert too. CD £7.00.

Splintered - Moraine. (UK, Suggestion). Splintered finally submerge themselves in new wave ambience as the opening side of this one tracked LP kicks in. A moog floats around the background while small machines clatter away and a piano's keys are slowly struck in a fairly random manner. Eventually a guitar shows it's ugly face pummelling at the same hypnotic riff as the drums start to crack. The noises are still knocking about all over the place while you're trying to make out some deeply buried and delayed vocals. This same riff slowly builds in momentum until it eventually out runs it's self and we're left with the same drone and clatter from where we came in. Side two stays with the guitars and drums, swirling the noise around with no remorse. The best I can come up with is Circle (Loop) meets some sort of Pork Queen/CWT hybrid. A break from the norm none the less. Gorgeous full colour Lambkin sleeve. LP £5.00.

Splintered - Noumena. (UK, Fourth Dimension/Amanita/Suggestion). Reissue of the long out of press third LP originally released by Dirter in 1994. That LP itself was only really intended as an accompaniment to this fully fledged release, which failed to actually make it out into the world at that point in time. "Chokes on the dust of an apocalyptic rock nature while crawling through iridescent electronic tunnels, broken skylines and the kinda personal desolation hard to imagine coming from Kent, England". - Press release. Sleeve work comes courtesy of G. Lambkin. CD £5.00.

Strapping Field Hands - In The Pineys. (USA, Siltbreeze). A reissue on the format of the future for all you mini system owners out there. Soft Boys playing Pavement's Slanted LP with home made instruments in a barn ? Sing alongs, weep alongs and dance alongs, champion stuff. The best selection to date from Siltbreeze's first and only pop band. Nice digi-pack and graphics too. Six tracks, nineteen minutes. CD £2.50.

Stray Light - Careers. (UK, Doubtful Sound). I'm still searching the dark and dank corridors of my memory trying to find the prefect comparison for this delectable female led ensemble. Their guitar driven melancholy flirts around the borders of experimental English pop; Hood, Movietone, Empress, etc and their Kiwi cousins; Plagal Grind, Marie and the Atom, Sandra Bell, Look Blue Go Purple, 3Ds (Fish Tales and Swarthy Songs, for sure), et al. But I still can't quite put my finger right on top of that sound. Reviews tend to lazily mention Sonic Youth, but Stray Light's sound is more complex than any SY recording that I recall. For example very few people have really managed to successfully pitch violin against a back drop of slow guitars. I can think of Galbraith and Graeme Jefferies' Cakekitchen or the Liverpudlian folksters Gone to Earth (the strings on the opener really hits the spot). 10 tracks.CD £5.00.

Steward - I Was the Only Boy on the Netball Team. (UK,Blackbean & Placenta). CD £4.00
Steward - Bang! There Goes My Youth. (UK, Blackbean & Placenta). CD ep £2.50.
Ex-Boyracer "stewie" steward has assumed the role of a later day travelling minstrel. Taking it upon himself to travel the globe and record with whoever he happens to bump into or recording simply for the fun of it. Here essentially solo he fuses brittle hip-hop drum n bass beats with scorching electric guitar and a voice unlike any other. I Was the Only Boy ... compiles unreleased re-mixes of other projects (Aube, Stadium, One Star, Acetate Zero), re-mixes others have done of Steward's work (Figurine, Accelera Deck, Kid 606) and new unreleased tracks by Steward himself. Plus something Steward calls Bonus Beatz (basically 12 minutes of awesome bootlegged 70's porn pop). A very curious and consistently pleasing release. Bang! There Goes My Youth is more of an album than an e.p. with it's 17 tracks clocking in at just over 40 minutes. Featuring a couple alternate versions of songs from his fourth full length, several new songs, a remix of his collaboration with Transistor 6, several tracks of beguiling found sounds from junk shop cassettes and the like. Well worth the entry fee!

Stuntbike - Gone. (Norway, Smalltown Supersound). Critically acclaimed Norwegian sensation. The sound is obviously a result of these three youngsters growing up listening to bands like Codeine, Seam, Pavement and Sonic Youth. In other words, minimalistic and melancholic guitar pop. See the entry for the Sometimes 7" elsewhere for a better picture. Superb. Thirteen tracks. CD £5.50.

Stylus - Mynydd Preseli. (UK, Mar/ino). The sounds of Stylus are pretty new to my ears and after hearing this lovely disk I'm really not too sure as to why I've not heard the work of Dafydd Morgan before. 'Mynydd Preseli' (the Preseli Mountains) is the third and final part of a Pembrokeshire influenced trilogy. Throbbing, tribal, rhythms and oscillating soundscapes produced by a number of electrical devices (keyboards, samplers, etc.), that apparently 'attempt to portray the feel of the mountains at their highest point, the ancient tracks, the wildlife, igneous rock outcrops, raw material through to the vegetation'. To me this recalls some elements of Omit if you take away the found sounds and the sinister edge and maybe add a little bit of musical content/melody. Eight tracks, fifty minutes. CD £8.00

SubArachnoid Space with Walking Timebombs - The Sleeping Sickness. (USA, elsie + jack Recordings). Mason Jones & chums team up with Scott Ayres for this co., if not split release. Big, interstellar, guitar explorations that tend to head for the sun. Somewhere between Jaworzyn’s Skullflower, Loop and most of that PSF crowd. Again wrapped in some sublime photography from e+j’s in house team. Eight tracks, sixty nine minutes. CD £8.00.

Summum Bonum - David Donson. (UK, Freek). Further on from the pure pop joy of their debut 7" this covers just about as much musical dexterity and more. They sound so familiar but unique and refreshing at the same time. As I said with the 'Gary' 7" there's plenty of NZ influence on here too, plus more healthy hints of Pavement, Sebadoh, Good Horsey, and something quintessentially English. Song writing leans heavily in that unrequited love direction ala David Gedge. Peter Solowka from The Ukranians/Wedding Present guests on a track. CD £4.00.

Swandive - Formally Known as Seasaw. (USA, Imp). Imp come up trumps again with another excellent 'unknown'. Classic US underground rock rolling along nicely from say Bitch Magnet to Slint taking in their 90's contemporaries along the way. You know Palace, Smog, 3D's, Adickdid, Babes in Toyland and Hole. Dead good. CD £4.00.

10th Floor Orchestra - s/t. (Norway, Krank). Full time album from this duo. Guitars, Organs, hushed vocals floating around that bedroom psychadelia. See Syd Barrett, Electroscope, Tindersticks, Palace, Smog, etc. Ten tracks, 28 minutes. CD £4.00.

Theme - On Parallel Shores Removed. (UK, Tremor/ Fourth Dimension). Challenging sounds incorporating ‘space’ or ‘ambient’ music, Cutting it up with dub, fractured beats, samples, loops and textured sounds. Kind of a late-night downbeat soundtrack music for your mind. Fits in with the likes of Portishead, Bjork, Tricky, Delphium, Massive Attack, Goldfrapp mixing with the likes of Project Dark and Merzbow with a little ranting and a fake locked groove thrown in for good measure. Ten tracks, sixty minutes. CD £4.00.

Velvolino - Tango. (Finland, Fonal). Debut long player from this basic guitar, bass and drums finish trio. Using very few effects they lay down thirteen charged instrumentals, and one song. A royal collision of instrumental Fugazi, Shellac, Fuehler and the Beefheart surf of the Kenny Process Team. I love it! CD £8.00.

Vuk - Exile! (Finland, Verdura). Stunning debut from the new diva of the Finnish underground. Larger than life vocals, sometimes sung, sometimes spoken. Backed by a unique blend of minimalist electro beats, tape loops, metallic percussion and droning organ. Comparisons could be drawn with Lydia Lunch, Diamanda Galas, Einstürzende Neubauten, PJ Harvey, Liz Frazer and even Jello Biafra ('Quebec'). There are other occasional treats in the form of songs of a more traditional structure. Here Vuk is joined by a drummer and sings the blues (Polly Harvey again) and something authentically French, in French of course! I fear a duet with Mr Cave could be on the way. Twelve tracks, forty seven minutes. CD £7.50.

W.O.O. Revelator - The Theory of Reversed Effort. (US, Evolving Ear). The fourth release from the free form trio of Saxophonist Bonnie Kane, guitarist Christ Forsyth and drummer Ray Sage. Sifting their way through five tracks of spacey rhythms that glide by on their own ethereal plane of jazz. "In many instances this powerful little band prompts one into thinking that there are more than three performers going at it, via an enticingly chaotic web of modern jazz-improvisation, elements of psycho grunge rock and an altogether protean group methodology. Essentially, the music is all about jagged, fragmented motifs and polytonal sequences meshed together for a series of abstract pieces spanning imageries of mystical enchantment, surrealistic environs and three folks indulging in passionate dialogue.", Glenn Astarita. "… wailing saxophone with a nod to Ayler … Sage drums like a clockwork shamen … Forsyth is adept at the maelstrom thing …", the wire. Forty five minutes. CD £5.00.

Wallpaper - Honing the Spectacular. (US, Blackbean & Placenta). A Sexalicious Romp Through The Sprawling Death Maze of Modern Times Featuring Low Fidelity Ramblings and Beat Buttering by Pacific Northwest Miscreants, Wallpaper! Ex-New Bad Thing w/ a Steward meets Elephant 6 sensibility. Swirly guitar with backwards beats CD £2.50.

Greg Weeks - Fire in the Arms of the Sun.  (US, Ba Da Bing!). This is mainly solo acoustic song-craft, with additional guitar, synth, etc. added by Greg or various friends.  Running along the same lines of Simon Joyner but with a much cheerier outlook on life with perhaps the fragility of the first Supreme Dicks LP.  You know sometimes Greg’s voice just sounds like he’s going to break down or it’s going to disintegrate into nothing-ness. Sixteen tracks, fifty seven minutes. CD £7.50.

Simon Wickham-Smith - Murrinh Kulerrkkurrk. (UK, Rhizome). Documenting the live performances that S!!! made on his Australian tour of 2000, the five tracks on "Murrinh Kulerrkkurrk" trace out a large and singular map of dense sonics: from rhythmic stormers that sound like religious techno, to gorgeously hued drone piece, to one all-out noise blast which knocked the socks off of an unsuspecting Adelaide audience - definitely the fiercest piece that S!!! has been responsible for yet. Double CD-R £8.00.

Julian Williams - Leaf Rain. (Aus., Rhizome). Hopefully Mr Williams is better known to you as the nucleus of Melbourne based bands Solids, Above Ground Pool, Bamboo Sel, and of course Hi-God People. Leaf Rain collects together a number of his solo works between 1995 and 2000. A series of oracular noise and drone masterpieces. Drawing on self-released titles including 'Makara Dhwaja', 'Effecting Pylons and Medallions' and 'Invisible Soundtracks for Kinetic LSA Lands'. Touching on the likes of Suicide, Gate (certainly Morley's earlier cassette releases and equally the pre-Dead C outfit Wreak Small Speakers On Expensive Stereos), outsider rock hermeticism and an interesting blend of industrial, electronica and ethnic drone. Extensive sleeve notes by Chapter's Greg Wadley. Eleven tracks, 73 minutes. CD-R £6.00.

Wio Vs Köhn. (Belgium, (K-RAA-K)³ ). A premier example of what happens when two artists, and friends, express their respect for each others respective works. By recording a couple of tracks just so that the other can then remix it beyond all recognition. Given that Wio is a pop genius and Köhn some sort of electronica wizard. The results here are quite startling. I’m sure journalists at the Wire will get very moist about such a concept. 10" £3.00.

Wrong - In the Wrong. (USA, BWCD/SunShip/etc.). Some few years in the making so they say. Featuring three years of live performances and a variety of personnel that have served under the Wrong improv. moniker. Swings quite freely between genres including free-jazz, post-rock, noise and non-beat elect-ronica, sometimes during the same piece. Never a dull moment to be had. Thirty live tracks plus three studio recordings wrapped in a full colour insert and a gatefold plastic pouch. Double CD £6.00.

The Yips - Blue Flannel Bathrobe Butterfly. (USA, Siltbreeze). Another fine selection of minimal rock 'n' pop from this drums, guitar and hollering duo. From simple distortion and female vocal pieces to poetry set to an ebbing of noise. Runs all the way from Beat Happening to Sabbath, running into Mecca Normal, The Spinanes and Pattie smith along the way. Eleven tracks in 40 minutes. CD £4.00.