Thrill Jockey Rock & Indie 140 Items

Colleen is an aboundingly inventive composer and artist. For two decades Cécile Schott, as Colleen, has crafted welcoming, enchanting, and bewildering music. The multi-instrumentalist and vocalist's timeless compositions make use of carefully selected tools to mold memories into transcendent splendor. The Tunnel and the Clearing finds Schott at her most vulnerable and confident, invoking contemplative and swirling organ processed through analog electronics, steady drum machine syncopations and her distinctive voice. On an album centered on processing the complicated washes of emotion through tribulations and revelations Colleen presents a vision of breathless clarity.

Debut album World Vision Perfect Harmony follows a decade of collaborations starting with The Body and Braveyoung's Nothing Passes. For their debut as a duo, Buford and Jones blend bracing and imaginative takes on rhythmic-centric forms from dub, breakbeats, hip hop and beyond for a phantasmagoria of bristling drumscapes. Manslaughter 777 pulls together a vast array of disparate percussive traditions and patterns into a veil of dark, propulsive energy. Recorded and mixed by Seth Manchester at Machines With Magnets, the album's mélange of live and sampled beats fizzle, splat and rupture with an edge. While there are sounds that could be at home on a record by The Body, Manslaughter 777 inhabits much more open spaces. The duo's music is based primarily on drums and eclectic samples, shifting melodic ideas to the overtones and resonances of their respective percussive thuds or clicks. Buford and Jones incorporate hybridizations of live, sampled, and electronic percussion obscuring their boundaries while highlighting their specific tonal and timbral qualities. An alchemical balance of detailed and dynamic production guides each element to the fore in steady waves of relentless momentum. Taken as a whole, World Vision Perfect Harmony is a cornucopia of rhythmic texture. Manslaughter 777 channels a deluge of kineticism into a web of syncopated grooves that are equally entrancing and provocative. Audacious sound architects, Buford and Jones built an album that passionately revels in the world of rhythm. Manslaughter 777's constructs glide as gracefully as they rumble. Together, they are a monument to the power of percussion.

Terry Gross is an engrossing trio composed of guitarist Phil Manley (Trans Am), bassist Donny Newenhouse, and drummer Phil Becker. The trio are also connected as owners and engineers at Bay Area recording spot El Studio, where they began improvising together as a way to test the boundaries and gear of the studio. Their loose, organic chemistry burgeoned into a deep camaraderie and a sound both expansive and exacting. The three experienced musicians crafted their first fulllength album through the pure joy of playing together with no expectations. With the tapes rolling on their rehearsals, the band captures the exuberance of live performance and elevates those recordings through a deft use of the studio as their collective instrument. On their debut LP Soft Opening, Terry Gross channels their cosmic powers and considerable chops into a gleefully mesmerizing odyssey fit for an arena. Soft Opening took shape over the course of 2016-2019, with Terry Gross writing and refining their songs. "Space Voyage Mission" and "Worm Gear" parallel one another as sinuous jams that pulse with adamantine fervor. Each mountainous epic churns spellbinding repetition and simplicity into dizzying gallops that take hairpin turns into sinewy riffing and elysian vocal melodies. Phil Manley's guitar takes on a constellation of tones across "Space Voyage Mission" with drifting delays soaring over the Newenhouse and Becker's driving rhythm section which all succumb to frothing overdrives that spin the song into entirely new pastures. The hypnotic throb of "Worm Gear" grows all the more enchanting as Newenhouse and Becker add subtle shifts to the single-chord barrage. "Specificity (Or What Have You)" contrasts these two in its more traditionally pop-oriented structure while retaining its predecessors wide-eyed energy and delves further into the album's lightheartedyet-earnest take on sci-fi tropes from space and time travel to the singularity. As Terry Gross, Phil Manley, Donny Newenhouse, and Phil Becker are sonic scientists traversing the borderlands of rock. Soft Opening captures the simple joy of a no-holds-barred trio in stunning detail, transporting the listener into the splendor and freedom of rock.

Over the course of two decades The Body, Lee Buford and Chip King, have consistently challenged assumptions and defied categorization, redefining what it means to be a heavy band. On I've Seen All I Need To See, they test the boundaries of the studio to explore the extremes and microtonality of distortion to find its maximal impact. Their most incisively bleak, a towering monolith of noise, album to date Buford's booming, resolute drums paired with King's obliterated guitar and howl. Course, bristling distortion contorts every instrument, with samples of spoken word, cymbals, toms and King's already noxious tone emerging from layers of feedback. The recording studio remains indelible to The Body's creative process. Together with engineer Seth Manchester of Machines With Magnets, they capture the complexities of distorted sound in stunning detail. The clarity and the cacophony exceed anything they've created before, morphing desolate, festering soundscapes into an exhilarating sonic universe. Buford often lays the framework for songs from the drums up, mirroring hip hop production. I've Seen All I Need To See trades out 808s and The Body's self- sampling for live instruments with a focus on expanding mutations of sound from more limited sources. The results are remarkably rich textural bombardments. Throughout, The Body deliver oppressive noise with potent lucidity, replicating the overwhelming sound of their live performances in revelatory detail. I've Seen All I Need To See demonstrates not only The Body's fearless spirit and vicious edge, but their intellectual musical heft through its explorations of distorted sound and the power of distorted sounds' interplay. Composer Roger Johnson said "Noise is power, but is generally represented as negative, chaotic, dangerous, violent, when it comes... from those marginalized from power. Noise is also an expression of freedom, a 'liberation of sound.'" The Body are sound liberators capable of mining and extracting remarkable details from the most manipulated and distorted sound sources. I've Seen All I Need To See is a groundbreaking work and an ecstatic listen, whether seen as a testament to catharsis in oblivion, an opus of inexorable dread or a wholly liberating adventure.

Sam Prekop's boundless imagination is guided by his strong sense of melody. For more than 25 years, as a solo artist or as part of The Sea and Cake, Prekop creates a singular sound that is both inventive and warm. New album Comma takes Pekop's electronic music experiments in a surprising new direction. Working extensively with beat programming for the first time, Prekop uses rhythm as a narrative tool, tapping into electronic music's romantic and emotional qualities. Comma embraces the analogue synthesizer's often unpredictable nature, imbuing the record with a decidedly organic feel even while working within the relative rigidity of beat architectures. Prekop's creative process is a combination of preparation and improvisation. Writing sessions for Comma began with an open-ended exploration of sounds and textures from which the first fragments of songs would reveal themselves. The introduction of drum machines and additional synthesizer units to his modular setup shifted things in surprising new directions as he worked to bend them into more traditional pop song structures. Drum tracks and emergent rhythms provided the frameworks and narrative sketches to be fleshed out with lustrous widescreen synth pads and ribboning melodies. In approaching his writing with a completely open mind and letting himself be guided by the music, Prekop maintains a delicate balance between composition and chance, control and spontaneity. Prekop's wide-eyed sense of discovery guides his exploration of beat-driven music, pushing him to use rhythm as a narrative tool and to embrace electronic music's romantic and emotional qualities. With Comma, Prekop compiles an incredible breadth of ideas into a surprisingly coherent sound-world. It's a modern minimal pop album that taps into the experimental heritage of the synthesizer. The album places Sam Prekop's work squarely in the tradition of electronic music pioneers like Brian Eno and Yellow Magic Orchestra who brought together the unrestrained ambition of the avant-garde with the immediacy and accessibility of pop music.

Sam Prekop's boundless imagination is guided by his strong sense of melody. For more than 25 years, as a solo artist or as part of The Sea and Cake, Prekop creates a singular sound that is both inventive and warm. New album Comma takes Pekop's electronic music experiments in a surprising new direction. Working extensively with beat programming for the first time, Prekop uses rhythm as a narrative tool, tapping into electronic music's romantic and emotional qualities. Comma embraces the analogue synthesizer's often unpredictable nature, imbuing the record with a decidedly organic feel even while working within the relative rigidity of beat architectures. Prekop's creative process is a combination of preparation and improvisation. Writing sessions for Comma began with an open-ended exploration of sounds and textures from which the first fragments of songs would reveal themselves. The introduction of drum machines and additional synthesizer units to his modular setup shifted things in surprising new directions as he worked to bend them into more traditional pop song structures. Drum tracks and emergent rhythms provided the frameworks and narrative sketches to be fleshed out with lustrous widescreen synth pads and ribboning melodies. In approaching his writing with a completely open mind and letting himself be guided by the music, Prekop maintains a delicate balance between composition and chance, control and spontaneity. Prekop's wide-eyed sense of discovery guides his exploration of beat-driven music, pushing him to use rhythm as a narrative tool and to embrace electronic music's romantic and emotional qualities. With Comma, Prekop compiles an incredible breadth of ideas into a surprisingly coherent sound-world. It's a modern minimal pop album that taps into the experimental heritage of the synthesizer. The album places Sam Prekop's work squarely in the tradition of electronic music pioneers like Brian Eno and Yellow Magic Orchestra who brought together the unrestrained ambition of the avant-garde with the immediacy and accessibility of pop music.

The Soft Pink Truth is Drew Daniel, who also forms one half of acclaimed electronic duo Matmos. Started as an outlet to explore visceral and sublime sounds that fall outside of Matmos' purview, it draws on knowledge of rave, black metal, and crust punk obscurities to subvert and critique genre expectations. On this record Daniel takes a bold and surprising new direction, moving beyond simple plunderphonic sampling and opening up a genuine dialogue with other musicians, Daniel left room in his compositions for moments of genuine surprise, capturing the freeform, communal energy of a DJ set or live improvisation session more than a recording project. It feels ethereal but full, both ambiently hypnotic, and deliciously danceable. Shall We Go On Sinning... began as an emotional response to the creeping rise of fascism around the globe. Daniel explains: "The election of Donald Trump made me feel very angry and sad, but I didn't want to make 'angry white guy' music in a purely reactive mode. I felt that I needed to make music through a different process, and to a different emotional outcome, to get past a private feeling of powerlessness by making musical connections with friends and people I admire, to make something that felt socially extended and affirming." Those musical connections make this record what it is; vocals provided by the chorus of Colin Self, Angel Deradoorian and Jana Hunter form the foundation of most of the tracks, sometimes left unchanged as with opening line ("Shall") or the sensuous R&B refrains on "We", other times shrouded in effects, morphing into new forms. Stately piano melodies written by Daniel's partner M.C. Schmidt as well as Koye Berry alongside entrancing vibraphone and percussion patterns from Sarah Hennies push tracks toward ecstatic and melodic peaks, while rich saxophone textures played by Andrew Bernstein (Horse Lords) and John Berndt are used to add color and texture throughout. The album's overall sound was in part shaped by Daniel hosting Mitchell Brown of GASP during Maryland Deathfest. Daniel borrowed Brown's Roland Space Echo tape unit which he then used extensively throughout to give the album a flickering, ethereal quality. The melodies, jubilance, and meditative nature of album provides a much-needed escape from the contemporary hell-scape. The process of creating Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase?, in and of itself, is the Soft Pink Truth's way of championing creativity and community over rage and nihilism.

The Quickening is an improvised work guided by emotional intuition and an ability to spin collective experience into music of potent and boundless beauty. Jim White and Marisa Anderson instrumental voices' are unmistakable and spellbindingly lyrical. Anderson unravels global guitar traditions into atmospheres all their own through improvisations and transforming melodic lines. While White implements an array of sticks, brushes, and techniques that imbue each rhythmic percussion passage with its own distinct personality. Together their melodic flourishes cascade and twist upon one another, at times trading conversational exchanges, and at others drifting in unison as if lost in the same train of thought. White and Anderson share an abounding appetite for musical exploration. White, as a member of Venom P Stinger, Dirty Three, and Xylouris White, is well known for his creative and idiosyncratic drumming. His singular abilities have also led to collaborations with Cat Power, PJ Harvey, and Bill Callahan among others. Anderson's prolific output as a solo performer, her mastery of traditional folk and blues forms and her abilities to make them entirely her own has established her as one of the most exciting and forward-thinking guitarists of the last decade. White and Anderson's considerable technical skills are used in the most inventive and unconventional manner on their debut duo recording, The Quickening. The duo' friendship and shared explorative nature inform these warm and daring improvisations. Their remarkable performances take the listener on a journey of exuberant discovery. The idea of a collaboration developed while on the road together in 2015, Anderson playing solo and White playing with Xylouris white. The Quickening began at the Portland studio Type Foundry in late 2018, where the duo initially agreed to meet and improvise and record. Happy with the recordings, the duo headed to Mexico City and into Estudios Noviembres, a time capsule of a studio from the 70's that had been largely closed before some young engineers took it over. The "slight disorientation" of working in less familiar environments mirrored their willingness to plunge headfirst into exploring new sonic territory together. Anderson purchased a new nylon string Ramos-Castillo guitar from a Mexican luthier just ahead of recording which leant to the spontaneity of "The Lucky" and "The Quickening". The duo did not rehearse or perform together prior to the recording sessions; as White puts it, "it's good to suspend disbelief at this stage of playing."

Helen Money, composer Alison Chesley, remains one of the most unique and versatile cellists today, her cello playing effortlessly moving from black metal to expansive ambient strings. She uses the cello to access and channel extremes of human emotion, employing extensive sonic manipulation, plucking and bowing techniques to summon an astonishing breadth and depth of sound. On her new album Atomic, Chesley pushes even further out towards the extremes of her output with daring minimalist arrangements that stand as her most intimate, direct, and emotionally bare work to date. The breadth of ideas explored throughout give Atomic a distinctive ebb and flow; an oblique narrative that conjures distinctive and palpable emotions without being prescriptive.
Atomic's title was inspired by Chesley's study of the early Roman Humanists, including Lucretius, who proposed the idea that everything is made up of tiny particles and thus interconnected. Written during a period of transition for Chesley and her family she drew immense strength from this idea of interconnectivity. The experience of recalibrating & reorienting herself in the world came to subconsciously inform Atomic's searching tone, Chesley pushing her music to surprising new places just as she and her family moved into new phases of their lives. Her embracing of minimalist structures reflects her own empathetic shift, collapsing barriers between artist and listener to find power and strength in intimacy. She mused on the implications of interconnectivity for how we should treat each other and our environment. She elaborates: "I've been thinking a lot about how the earth is our home; the universe; and how fragile this world is and how connected we all are to everything." In an increasingly fragmented world, Atomic presents a map for how we might navigate personal and collective trauma through the pursuit of openness, understanding and introspection.

In just over a year since their initial inception, Eye Flys have established themselves as a force beyond reckoning. Their debut full-length Tub of Lard is stunningly potency full of piss and vinegar, scientific in its ability to pulverize everything in its path. Due in part to the considerable pedigree of the band's lineup (including members of Full of Hell, Backslider, Triac), the east coast-based quartet chew through steel-barbed riffs and off-kilter rhythms with exponential force. Their 2019 debut EP Context set an early precedent for just how lean and ruthless they can be. On Tub of Lard, Eye Flys launch that potential into 10 songs of maximum impact that find both raw power and subtlety in their simplicity.
Written during the summer of 2019, in between U.S. tours with the likes of Daughters and Torche, anxiety, agnosticism, distrust, and psychedelics are all invoked to question reality both personally and globally. The album's themes are unified by Jake Smith's search for deeper meaning in the chaos and uncertainty of the world, happy to demolish any opposition along the way.Though the band's members live spread throughout the east coast, Tub of Lard took shape collaboratively. Smith took on laying down the framework with drummer Patrick Forrest, while guitarist Spencer Hazard added riffs of his own, as well as layers of noise and texture that embellish the band's penchant for reckless abandon. The gravelly muck-laden basslines by Kevin Bernstein, who also recorded the album at his Developing Nations studio in Baltimore, are handily interwoven beneath the pummel of Patrick Forrest's drums into buffets that feel almost dizzying. Searing through the ensemble's taut rhythmic fray is Smith's bark, deftly riding the line between infuriated sceptic and maniacal punisher. Across Tub of Lard Eye Flys' merciless sound coalesces through a constant push and pull that leaves every moment thrilling: direct, hypnotic blunt-force grooves that twist and fray into feedback and oblivion

"Hypermagic Mountain is Lightning Bolt's fourth, most well-oiled album: song-by-song it chugs into rockier Van Halen, Fucking Champs, or Orthrelm territory." - Pitchfork
Hypermagic Mountain, Lightning Bolt's 4th album has been unavailable for nearly a decade since it's 2005 release. Back as a double LP including a full drawing by Brian Chippendale as the D side Etching! The package includes a large scale 4-page book (previous pressings included a cd size book). Recorded at Machines with Magnets and Lightning Bolt's home by Dave Auchenbach. Lightning Bolt play with abandon that is unmatched and remarkably undiluted and this album is just one more example of that raw power and sound.
They are often called one of the loudest rock outfits in existence, both on record and on (or famously, off) the stage. Brian Gibson creates sounds that are unexpected and remarkably varied with his virtuosic bass playing and his inventive approach to the instrument, centered around melody rather than rhythm. The dizzying fury of Brian Chippendale's drums twist from primal patterns into disorienting break beats as his distorted, and echoing vocals weave more melody into the mayhem.
"Certain loud guitar rock records serve as brain erasers, a form of shock therapy zapping through aural inputs and (to mix metaphors) cleaning the proverbial clock. Lightning Bolt is one such thing." -LA Times

"Hypermagic Mountain is Lightning Bolt's fourth, most well-oiled album: song-by-song it chugs into rockier Van Halen, Fucking Champs, or Orthrelm territory." - Pitchfork
Hypermagic Mountain, Lightning Bolt's 4th album has been unavailable for nearly a decade since it's 2005 release. Back as a double LP including a full drawing by Brian Chippendale as the D side Etching! The package includes a large scale 4-page book (previous pressings included a cd size book). Recorded at Machines with Magnets and Lightning Bolt's home by Dave Auchenbach. Lightning Bolt play with abandon that is unmatched and remarkably undiluted and this album is just one more example of that raw power and sound.
They are often called one of the loudest rock outfits in existence, both on record and on (or famously, off) the stage. Brian Gibson creates sounds that are unexpected and remarkably varied with his virtuosic bass playing and his inventive approach to the instrument, centered around melody rather than rhythm. The dizzying fury of Brian Chippendale's drums twist from primal patterns into disorienting break beats as his distorted, and echoing vocals weave more melody into the mayhem.
"Certain loud guitar rock records serve as brain erasers, a form of shock therapy zapping through aural inputs and (to mix metaphors) cleaning the proverbial clock. Lightning Bolt is one such thing." -LA Times

Arbouretum's mystic folk-rock uses English folk, country blues, Americana and 70s psychedelia as touchpoints in their singular and distinctive sound and they've perfected the craft of storytelling, using a delicate interplay of melodies and prosaic lyrics. Let It All In is their most accomplished and evocative album yet. Guitarist and vocalist Dave Heumann's melodies and solos remain a central focus bolstered by the hypnotic rhythms of bassist Corey Allender and drummer Brian Carey, enhanced by Matthew Pierce's substantial yet understated keyboard figures. Each song a vivid scene or tale; Heumann's deep sense of spirituality and command of storytelling through myth and metaphor transports the listener to another world and time.
Let It All In is as instantly arresting as it is deeply reflective, with layers of sound and metaphor to unravel and interpret in their own way. It is a beautiful album that lives in and reflects the present moment while sounding as if it were forged in another era. Invoking nature as a backdrop for exploring humanity's relationship to time, history, and the present socio-political climate, often highlighting water as a ubiquitous if often unconscious presence in our lives. It acts as a subtle connecting thread through each piece's imagined landscapes, as well as taking on a symbol for change and spirit. The group has always centered around Heumann's remarkable voice and songwriting. His skill as a vocalist and guitar player have led to playing with artists such as Cass McCombs, Will Oldham, and many others. Let It All In is an invitation to jump into an album rich with timeless elegance. Their live shows and the otherworldliness of their music have made Arbouretum a cultish band. Their profound music endures and rewards fans both old and new. Arbouretum has added another exceptional work to their catalog that will weather changing fashions and reward those who explore their entirely unique world.

Ride the Skies is the 2nd album by Lightning Bolt, and this rerelease makes it available to fans for the first time since it's original release. Compared to their first album it's cleaner, tighter, recorded in studio rather than live. Which is not to say this is boring or sanitized in any way, Lightning Bolt never fail to make magic, filling a space with loud, raw sound. Sounds of synth or guitar turn out to be bass, and riffs become patterns, become a beat in the background, become a wall of noise, become a clear sound above it all. Lightning Bolt are known for the sound that truly comes into it's own in this album. Outside of their 7 acclaimed albums, they're known for frequent & exhilirating live shows, and this reputation has created a market for their older titles. Ride the Skies is rereleased with deluxe packaging featuring jacket art that was designed by Brian Chippendale for the original release but has never been realized until now. Recent Thrill Jockey Lightning Bolt re-releases seem to move as quickly as the Brians playing live, as old and new fans jump at the rare opportunity to finally get an old favorite in a shiny new jacket."

John Parish, the twice Ensor nominated composer and Mercury
Prize winning producer delivers a brand new collection of songs,
including a duet with his longtime musical partner PJ Harvey.
Bird Dog Dante was completed in a busy year for Parish. On top of
being the musical director of the extended PJ Harvey band on their
Hope Six Demolition Project world tour, he produced acclaimed
albums for This is the Kit, Nadine Khouri, and Aldous Harding.
John is an exceptionally skilled artist with a youthful delight and a
creative open mind, as well as the ability to masterfully expand on
those ideas. It is clear why Uncut said that “Parish is one of Britain’s
most resourceful and imaginative studio craftsmen.”
John’s recent solo records were instrumental, and mostly included
works composed for flm. While Bird Dog Dante contains a few
pieces written for flm, it is his frst song oriented album in nearly a
decade. Working while touring allowed him to bounce lyrics off his
long time musical partner PJ Harvey. On “Sorry for Your Loss,” a song
about their close friend Mark Linkous, it seemed only ftting to take it
further and sing the song as a duet. The music is gentle and quiet, not
unlike its creator, and its heft comes through its emotional depth and
its subtle delights from unexpected sound choices and processing.

E, the savagely raw trio of Thalia Zedek (Come, Uzi, Live
Skull), Jason Sanford (Neptune), and Gavin McCarthy (Karate)
make angular, energized, and idiosyncratic rock music. These
accomplished and inventive musicians could not be more
different in the way they express themselves but their egoless
dedication to ensemble playing and writing shapes E’s distinct
sound. Following their self-titled debut which Mojo called
“both thrillingly volatile and touchingly melodic”, their second
album Negative Work is the product of three individuals whose
dedication to the collaborative process may very well be the
source of compelling tension underlying their songs.
Recorded and mixed in 4 days at Machines With Magnets
(Battles, Lightning Bolt, The Body), the album captures the
energy of E’s gripping live shows. E has been touring and
writing together steadily since their debut, at an age when many
musicians are loath to abandon what they are known for and
jump back into the grind of establishing a new band. E’s egoless
dedication, love of playing, and relentless inventiveness are
irresistible qualities making Negative Work an entirely singular
and highly compelling rock record.

Wrekmeister Harmonies’ new album, The Alone Rush, their frst as the core duo of JR Robinson and Esther Shaw, is a hauntingly intense and dark meditation on death and isolation, whose concise compositions carry an emotional heft without the orchestrated bombast of their previous four albums.
The Alone Rush retains Wrekmeister Harmonies’ expansive and ambitious aesthetic, blending waves of ethereal keyboards, haunting string melodies, and crescendos of dissonance, but now turns central focus towards Robinson’s deep, rich, and soothing vocals. The two guests involved in The Alone Rush are longtime friend and
Swans drummer Thor Harris, performing minimal drums and clarinet, as well as acclaimed New York producer/engineer Martin Bisi. Over the course of their fve albums on Thrill Jockey Wrekmeister Harmonies have veered from drone to modern classical, outrock and extreme metal, curating and orchestrating the talents of such varied
underground luminaries as Godspeed! You Black Emperor, David Yow of The Jesus Lizard, Chip King and Lee Buford of The Body, Marissa Nadler, Jef Whitehead of Leviathan, Alexander Hacke of Einstürzende Neubauten, Sanford Parker of Minsk, the freeimprov cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, Chris Brokaw of Come, and jazz composer Ken Vandermark.

After thirteen years as one of the centerpieces of Sweden’s experimental
rock scene The Skull Defekts return with their fnal, self-titled album.
The Skull Defekts are known for merging the coarse vitality of punk with
the ritualism of folk dances to create music that is addictive, wondrously
discordant, and rooted in a belief in the overwhelming power of pure
sound.
Their fnal self-titled album is the band’s most composed effort to date
and features new member Mariam Wallentin (Wildbirds & Peacedrums)
joining core members Joachim Nordwall (founder of groundbreaking
iDEAL Recordings), Daniel Fagge Fagerström (8 Days of Nothing), and
Henrik Rylander (Union Carbide Productions).
The members of The Skull Defekts are singular forces in the European
experimental scene. Nordwall has frequently collaborated with
acclaimed saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, including in his Fire! Orchestra,
alongside Wallentin, who herself has collaborated with Swedish singer
Lykke Li. In addition to The Skull Defekts, Nordwall and Rylander have
worked together on numerous projects, including Orchestra Of Constant
Distress, and Saturn And The Sun. The Defekts have worked with a wide
variety of labels, a testament to their creative energy and the diversity
of their output, including Important, Meudiademorte, Diagonal, Aa,
iDeal, Touch, and Kning Disk. Frequent collaborator and singular artist
in his own right Daniel Higgs again created the album artwork.

Japan’s fearless multi-instrumentalist and cultural provocateur Keiji Haino
has made a career out of his free-form musical improvisations and diverse
collaborations. Whether deconstructing American blues to a few rogue
notes hanging across chasms of empty space in his solo endeavors, sparring
with the nebulous fringes of psychedelia in Fushitsusha, or teaming up with
musicians like Faust, Boris, Jim O’Rourke, Stephen O’Malley, John Zorn,
and Peter Brötzmann for ?eeting aural experiments. Haino’s work is never
pre-planned or structured, but rather a completely spontaneous exploration
of chemistry, texture, and dynamics.
SUMAC’s tenure is much younger than Haino’s, though guitarist/vocalist
Aaron Turner has covered a similarly large swath of musical territory across
numerous projects and collaborations, from the sedated drones of recent
projects with Daniel Menche and William Fowler Collins to the modern
compositions of Mamiffer and all the way back to the restless evolutions of
post-metal stalwarts ISIS. With his cohorts Nick Yacyshyn (Baptists, Erosion)
on drums and Brian Cook (Russian Circles) on bass, Turner has dissolved
the rigid forms of heavy music, searching for a balance between disciplined
precision and unhinged musical barbarism, crafting music that vacillates
between meticulously detailed instrumentation and uninhibited forays into
oblique abstraction.
For American Dollar Bill - Keep Facing Sideways, You’re Too Hideous To Look
At Face On, Keiji Haino and SUMAC met up in Tokyo’s Goksound recording
studio to track a series of unrehearsed, completely non-premeditated
sessions. Captured across several reels of tape, the collaboration harnessed
Haino’s tension-inducing use of empty space on songs like “I’m over 137%
a love junkie, and it’s still not enough” while pushing SUMAC’s dissident
metal vocabulary on “What have I done (I was reeling in something white...)”.
Throughout the course of its hour-plus length, American Dollar Bill pushes
and pulls at the strictures of metal and bends the stylistic formalities of
improvised music to create a sonic purge unencumbered by convention.

Flower of Sulphur is a transfxing piece of continuous improvisation from three experimental luminaries : multi-instrumentalist YoshimiO (Boredoms, OOIOO, SAICOBAB), internationally acclaimed percussionist Susie Ibarra, and artist Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe (Lichens). The trio’s jaw dropping performance was recorded in December 2016 at Roulette in Brooklyn. Flower of Sulphur documents a singular evening of exquisite sound and exceptional performance.
Absolutely an essential album, pristinely recorded, and capturing a rare performance. A must have for any fans of creative innovation and improvistation.