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Artist: AXOLOTL/THE SKATERS Title: Split Format: LP Label: Catsup Plate Country: USA Price: $18.00 |
| "Both Axolotl and The Skaters (the "The" is essential, by the way) have been smoking peoples brain stems around the bay area for some time, releasing the occasional audio document that, more often than not, disappears almost immediately upon release. After cobbling together a woefully incomplete selection of their musics--both as individual entities and, on occasion, as collaborators--we knew we needed to get more of both bands stuff out to the "masses." For this split LP release (not a collaboration, mind you) we present "Holon" by Axolotl and "Bodydoor Procession" by The Skaters. Though the band has been at times a two- and three-piece, on this record Axolotl is just Karl Bauer. "Holon" is a three part suite of some of the most beautiful crush and drone youre likely to hear. Specific instrumentation is tough to nail down, though most all of the Axolotl stuff is based on violin lines, which are twisted and warped using electronics and other effects. The result nods to folks like Tony Conrad and the Theater of Eternal Music, but also evokes some of the cascading liquid drone that underpinned the more progressive shoegaze acts of the early 90s, though freed from the twee song structure and launched into the stratosphere. "Holon pt2" is a particular favorite around here, wherein Axolotl manages to create a drone piece with real soul and emotional content to it, something that most contemporary experimental acts cant seem to muster. The Skaters are Spencer Clark and James Ferraro. Their "Bodydoor Procession" begins with a vaguely east-Asian vibe, an urgent distorted piano line and a wordless vocal line that alternately sounds like moaning, choking or a prayer in a heretofore discovered language. The Skaters have always been about building up their pieces with layers of sound and initial simplicity of "Bodydoor" soon grows and mutates, grounded by an insistent (and distorted) piano, with payer upon layer of vocal cries and moans, amongst other unidentified sound sources. By the time their side concludes, almost twenty minutes later, youve either been taken to a deeply meditative and psychedelic part of inner space or been subjected to the cries of the damned in hell, depending on your taste in these things. Edition of 500 copies in generic black LP jackets with metallic gold screenprinted art and DIY-style photocopied insert." - Catsup Plate. |
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Artist: BLACK DICE Title: Chocolate Cherry Format: 7" Label: Catsup Plate Country: USA Price: $7.00 |
| "Black Dices "Chocolate Cherry" seven inch comes hot on the heels of their album Repo (which is Catsup Plates favorite Black Dice record) and finds the band pushing themselves further "out" and paradoxically making some of the poppiest sounds to come from their camp in some time. If Repo was the sound of Black Dice making a funk record then "Chocolate Cherry" veers more towards soul, if you can believe that. The title track is all clipped ecstatic vocals and stuttering disco soul. "POP STD" pins a laconic guitar line and backmasked vocals onto a plodding drum line. And the record closes with the amazingly titled "Bob" which somehow merges insect like buzzing, an incessantly lazy rhythm and what this writer likes to think is a sitar drone (but probably isnt) into a piece of druggy brilliance. Silkscreened on heavy chipboard in four colors by the fine folks at VG Kids. Single edition of 500 copies only." - Catsup Plate. |
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Artist: COPELAND, ERIC Title: Al Anon Format: LP Label: Catsup Plate Country: USA Price: $14.00 |
| "_Al Anon_ concludes Eric Copelands two part album entitled _Alien In A Garbage Dump_. Where the first half offered a discombobulated collection of radio cross-signaling, here the alien finds its groove for a minute and tidies up the frequencies. There is still something outsiderish here, but with more of an effort to get inside, to play by the rules even? Or maybe the motivation is to sneak something subversive into the norms hideout? Since _Al Anon_ was recorded at the same time as two Black Dice albums, there are obvious parallels in the results; an uncompromised sonic landscape. But outside the group setting, Copeland has found places one can only find alone: small inner dialogues and isolated mind caves where an idea may only last a moment. He captures and tweaks these ideas into fragments of many memories; a déjà vu record déjà vu record. Funny characters drop in and out. Songs come and go. Al Anon proves to be a strangely curated time capsule of OUR time right NOW; music where birds beat-box with car-stereo subwoofers and the neighbors Espanol sings on top the Sabbath siren. With all this going on, Copeland sometimes disappears into the anonymity, playing a behind-the-scenes role, pushing cords and pulling buttons, laughing because the batteries are dying. Here the familiar becomes mysterious and the unknown feels normal and we can listen to this one all day trying to make those distinctions. Edition of 500 copies with jaw-droppingly amazing black and white collage artwork by Copeland, screenprinted by VG Kids." - Catsup Plate. Eric Copeland = 1/3 of BLACK DICE. |
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Artist: DOUBLE, THE Title: Palm Fronds Format: CD Label: Catsup Plate Country: USA Price: $12.00 |
| "The Double that you hear on Palm Fronds is very different than what founding members David Greenhill and Jeff McLeod originally conceived. The band began as a guitar/drum math-rock-cum-outre-blues duo replete with intricate time signatures, multiple song sections, and an overall sense of angular complexity. After time, the two decided to focus on simplified musical structures and a more fleshed-out instrumentation and added two new members, Donald Beaman and Jacob Morris. But prior to recording what would be called Palm Fronds, Jeff hurt his hand⿿preventing him from drumming while it healed. Instead of postponing the recording, the band opted regroup and reconceive of the songs without the traditional drum kit. They experimented with drum machines and other electronic textures, learning as they went along. ⿿Mistakes that sounded good were left in (the band has a deep respect for Eno⿿s approach to music making a la Oblique Strategies, etc.) and discoveries used in one song influenced the sound palette in the others. The songs quickly took on a unique sound that was reminiscent of⿿but ultimately distinct from⿿the band⿿s live shows. Because of this, Palm Fronds is a compelling listen on a number of levels. The songs themselves could be described as singer-songwriter in scope; I hear echoes of mid-to-late period Smog and even ⿿Horse With No Name-era America (especially on ⿿Standing on a Levee, though some folks disagree). But the production, drum machines, and general vibe have a wonderfully overmodulated digital crunch, plenty of echo, broken electronics and all sorts of whatsit thrown into the mix. Which is to say that all that songwriter stuff, when The Double finally let you hear it, owes a lot to a bunch of digital dub and experimental electronic types. But through all this Palm Fronds has an impeccable balance; the production never overwhelms or obscures the essential song. So with Palm Fronds you⿿ve got ear candy AND brain candy when you get right down to it⿿lucky you." - Catsup Plate. |
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Artist: FRENCH PADDLEBOAT Title: Rome Loves Tan Format: LP Label: Catsup Plate Country: USA Price: $11.00 |
| "Rome Loves Tan," though just now getting a vinyl release, was originally released in 1996 as a small-edition cassette on the esteemed Union Pole label. F.P. was never quite happy with some of the idiosyncrasies of the record, but later Paddleboat recordings and his work as one-half of Vote Robot commanded his attention and the songs were left as-is until now. This new version of Rome represents a more fully realized vision than the original tape did: F.P. tightened up and reworked the songs and loops. One song was replaced with a more fully realized piece ("Indication of Motion," track 3, side 2). In a sense, this version offers insight into both the earlier work of French Paddleboat, as well as what hes up to now. Edition of 300 copies in "paint-by-number" silkscreened jackets." - Catsup Plate. |
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Artist: JOYNER, SIMON & DENNIS CALLACI Title: Stranger Blues Format: One Sided LP Label: Catsup Plate Country: USA Price: $10.00 |
| "Dennis Callaci and Simon Joyner are two of the foremost channelers of "the song." Simon is known for his solo recordings, with releases on Jagjaguwar, Truckstop, Shrimper, and Sing Eunuchs!, among others. Dennis plays in Refrigerator and was the sole voice behind the criminally underheard Paste. They are singer-songwriters in that they write songs and sing them, but that appellation dumbs down and sanitizes what they do. I think it is more accurate to say that both have a way of tapping into the stream of collective creativity that flows from God-knows-when through to the present and beyond. Their songs have a gravity to them, an old soul, as it were, that cannot be mistaken. There are a few stylistic precursors to their work -- precursors that have been well-documented previously -- but the songs they write and sing tap into something more ineffable, timeless, and grave. The Stranger Blues set comprises three of Simons songs and two by Dennis, all recorded live in the Callaci living room to what seems to be a single microphone. The nontraditional (or better: non-studio) setting adds a palpable sensation of space to the recordings -- by space I do not simply mean the warmth of the room tone, but actual space: backing vocals and spare piano or guitar lines arise in such a way that you are aware of the physical geography of the room. You can hear Simon singing along with Dennis from an actual distance away; his voice is (literally) distant and all the more forlorn. The guitar lines that Dennis adds to flesh-out Simons songs have the same eerie effect. This sense of space underscores two seemingly contradictory strengths about Stranger Blues. On one hand, these songs are beautifully lonely and spare, highlighted by the echoes and distance in the room. At the same time, it is clear that two songwriters who know and love the others work, who are very much working in tandem to build upon each others strengths. Single edition of 500 one-sided LPs. Silkscreened and hand assembled chipboard jackets in a "traditional" Catsup Plate brown butchers tape design scheme." - Catsup Plate. |
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Artist: LETTUCE PREY Title: Atlatl Format: LP Label: Catsup Plate Country: USA Price: $13.00 |
| "Edition of 300 copies. Chipboard covers silkscreened with a Sufi-inspired design. Block printed titles in blue paint." -Catsup Plate |
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Artist: SMITH, STEVEN R. Title: Crown of Marches Format: CD Label: Catsup Plate Country: USA Price: $14.00 |
| "Steven R. Smith is best known for his participation in Thuja and Hala Strana as well as his contribution to many Jewelled Antler projects. In the spirit of Keiji Haino, Popol Vuh, Dead C, and Flying Saucer Attack, Crown of Marches takes the possibilities of the basement psychedelic guitar excursion and fashions something very new and inspiring - a piece alternately beautiful and overwhelming. Crown of Marches begins with a low rumble of feedback and speaker hum; a lazy Eastern melody pokes through the haze and establishes a strong contrast with the rumbling. This is the basis upon which the piece will expand and contract over the next 40 minutes. At times the feedback rumble drops away and relatively bright guitar lines come to the fore. At other times faint keyboard lines or bowed cymbals add texture and additional gravitas to the proceedings, only to be pushed away with the wail of distant guitars and more distortion - like the heaviest rock with the skeleton removed." - Catsup Plate. |