hey everyone,

WOO! last update of the year and holy crap is it a big one... 2009 has been awesome, but 2010 and all its futuristic glory is going to be even better. MORE VINYL! but before we get on to that, one last drop from the end of the decade:

finally done, this little split guy has been on the books for a while. EAGLE ALTAR offers up a thanksgeever slice of synthed out space. barely methodic, crawling along linear lines we search for hooks in the frozen undergrowth. hypnotic on some level, but always a good time.

bugskull gives us three dishes from the "communication" sessions that had to be cut from the final album to fit it on vinyl. more glowing electronic reverie that fades into the background, turning it into pure, psyched-up magic. good times again. edition of 100, pro-dubbed.

AC brings his bag of toys back to oklahoma, but this time goes back in time and pulls out a total war bomb from the archives. heavy electronics and thick, bleeding walls of synth skronk are just what you need after a long weekend of drinking with the fam. it feels like there's some serious guitar riffing trying to find its way out of this electronic hell, but half the time there's no fucking telling what's going on here. it's everything all at once. coltrane goes to eleven. i don't even know. sax blasts come in from the deep, sourcing new megacreatures that don't just want your blood, they want your fucken soul.

rusted factories breaking down never sounded so damn good. hell, if this isn't cathartic, i don't know what is. edition of 70, pro-dubbed.

ophibre is the main project of benjamin rossignol and "basil forests" is another impressive chapter in an ever-growing collection of killer releases. baseline electronics permeate your skull, ripping open a seam just wide enough for the shimmering guitar drones to sink in. it starts of slow and methodic, but eventually builds into a spiralling mess of sound. this sucker gets pretty fucken heavy even with the high frequencies peeling all that rust off yr brain. thick slabs of molasses will salve your wounds, but rossignol has no interest in letting you off that easy. big, meaty drones bring it all back home and settle you in for a long night of hell. aw yeah. edition of 70, pro-dubbed.

now this, THIS is a junkyard i want to get lost in. america reads was another killer discovery of 2009 and another one to expect some seriously great damage from. "towers open fire" takes the cake so far. solar explorations taken to their prismatic core like drone diamonds shimmering underneath the constant glare. the side-long tracks slowly unfold, puncturing the crystal divide with their metallic sheen. it's definitely in the hypnotic realm.

at times, america reads plays on the more subtle side using delicate sounds that pulse and fall like feathers floating in the air after an attack. it feels a little uneasy, but it's all the better for it. distorted cracks infiltrate adding a layer of harshness to the mess. it's like hearing the synapses of your brain all going off at once, desperately searching for equilibrium. stunning. once you reach the summit, though, you find there's nothing left but ruins. it's an absolute revelation. edition of 72, pro-dubbed.

no better way to end the year with a new tape of washed-out goodness from my favorite new band of the 2009. straight outta smokeland, these cats are making their own waves and doing it right. this isn't more tropical bullshit, but real sunkissed treachery looking for someone to love. NWG's simple synth loops create melodies that are the stuff dreams are made of. there is something so incredibly catchy about what they're doing that it stays with you for days. bright and blissed, each repeating pattern is another nail in your underwater coffin.

everything goes fluorescent in the end. this is music that is a straight line of continous hooks, pulled in tight and thrown off-balance just enough to keep you guessing. "continent gods" plays out like a long-lost opus from the distant past, slightly worn and wholly familiar. i don't want to say it's perfect, but it is damn near close. edition of 72, pro-dubbed.

if anyone's asking, i feel like 2010 is going to be a stellar year for mike pouw's fantastic knit prism project (not to mention his awesome, awesome label: house of sun). but let me step back for a minute... "perception" is a quick, magical exercise. missed opportunities are pushed into sonics and wrapped in a layer of murk and hiss that keeps the final answers shrouded in some semblance of mystery. each tone is stretched to its limit, creating spacious, oddly beautiful spectral pieces. it's an easy place to get lost.

once pouw has you totally enveloped in this aural maze, he hits you with a blast of straight-up cold. there's a smattering of bleeps and bloops that act as a focal point to keep your path in line, but they're constantly being washed over in a dark, dreary storm. it's a great contrast and pulled off beautifully. "perception" will lead you in. edition of 65, pro-dubbed.

a new series of 4-way split tapes of nothing but synth music. no guitars found here. suffice to say, pretty damn excited about these puppies. volume one features a side each from each raven brother, oklahoma flight, and our favorite resident LA goon. in other words, tape one has spare death icon planting sparkling palms and blasting off toward jupiter while charlatan hints at new ground to foray and busts a cold one. tape two, though, smooths things over with sovetskaya gone searching for bliss in bright green clouds and million mists settles the score on a bed of well-composed synthetic syrup. just what you need for these cold winter days. edition of 100, pro-dubbed.

emuul's debut, "the ghostwood estates," was a codeine-drenched feast, and on his latest exploit "egeiro," you are wrapped even tighter in your cellophane blanket. minimal synth drones float lazily through the air creating endless sonic vectors. the brainchild of kyle iman, these sprawling pieces show an incredible restraint all the while sucking the listener deep under their collective spell.

both side-long tracks fit together perfectly. crackling tones deviate from the ghost notes underneath adding texture and references points if you're lost in the fog. this builds into an intense meditation that grows and grows until finally being killed by the sun. flip it over and you've got melancholy on phased waves of glass growing darker by the minute. beautiful. each soundscape is carefully constructed, artfully executed and soaked in the best stuff available. edition of 72, pro-dubbed.

as always, the batch is available for $52 US / $61 CANMEX / $70 INTL while everything's in stock. just get in touch. we also have a very small number of restocks of bugskull’s “communication� and tarentel’s “live edits: italy/switzerland.� jump on those if you’ve been wanting them.

NEXT UP: on the vinyl front, new lps from higuma, roll the dice, & dylan ettinger. the josh hanson and steven r. smith CDs are close too. next tapes from the likes of celer, ALTAR EAGLE, secret colors, pine smoke lodge, & more. 2010 is gonna fucken rule.

much love,

brad