Scavenger Quartet - Whistling For Leftovers

Label : Phonetic Records - PR 0901 SQ / Snowdonia

Year : 2001

Country : US / EU

Format : CD

 

Some soundtracks for imaginary films. This rotating cast of a quartet is headed by the great Frank Pahl who uses his typical exploits (toys and whistling, mostly) to create wild if not incongruent compositions, though the latter could be attributed to this being something of a collection of commissions than a proper album.

An instrumental Only A Mother in some ways, their following album is much more focused. Maybe it will hit these almost dead hallways sometime soon? Breathe a little life into it.

(click the CD)

Harpy - Hot Drive

Label : Self-Released - HP-006

Country : Japan

Year : 1998

Format : CD

Before I start, let me recommend this live performance being offered on Bandcamp by the great itoken. With that giving me a good conscious to share this to you for free, here is a set of tracks recorded in the late 90s by one of my favorite toy/avant/prog groups, a mix of live and studio tracks. 

A zip of this has been floating about the internet for a long while, but only in measly 192 kbps mp3. Today I give to you, in fresh 4K quality, a 96 kbps opus rip!!!!

(FLAC version can be found on slsk if need be)

Here

Reportaż - Reportaż / Muzika

Label : Tonpress - SX-T 129

Year : 1988

Country : Poland

Format : LP

Back from the dead, to give you some stuff to listen to. 

Maybe, if you want.

Two to make up for my absence with excellent, excellent RIO from Poland. An avant-bordello soundtrack, even. You might have heard these releases somewhere else on the internet but you might just like my rips better.

Here

Label : ADN - 25

Country : Italy

Year : 1987

Format : C60

Here

Cool And The Clones - Wrong Time Of Month

Label : Ejaz - 2001

Year : 1985

Country : US

Format : LP

Here

Freed from the clutches of whoever, and free they are. Improvisational jazz interpolated with electronic treatments and experiments. Everything laid bare on the taped on insert. Live shenanigans. what more does an obscuro-avant fan need? Succinctness is key, the music itself paints an expressionist picture that I could only complete with filler text. Enjoy! 

The Plagiarist Trio - Appearance

Label : Wafer Face - WAFER 4

Year : 1992

Country : US

Format : LP

Here's a strange whiplash of a record, from the fine friends of Wafer Face. As expected from the small press, this is a surreal and dadaistic piece of work. Also expected is the reliance of collages from different mediums from tape to vinyl record.

That's not all to it, really. It's hard to get into as every track in this wreckord sorta fades into the next yet clashes all the same. While it is mostly comprised of scattershot samples over a textural electro-acoustic kinda underbelly, some parts are more song-based than what one could anticipate. I haven't heard the groups other project under the alias Absinthe Radio Trio, but I have to imagine it's in the same ballpark in terms of musical surrealism.

[sic]

here

Claus van Bebber - Akustische Werksübersicht 1977-1995

here

Here's something in the cards I've kept to my chest for awhile. Once again, I had been graciously provided a rip of a long awaited object by a certain online friend. Like a needle reaching the run-out groove, the time since this exchange has allowed me the chance to share with all of you.

Bebber is a very interesting in the Improv scene, a turntablist of sorts like the experimental likes of Marclay and Tétreault. Although I would say he is more in line with the latter than the former, but comparisons are comparisons. Surprisingly jazzy in the trifle and noisy, too! Originally encased in a wooden tomb for collectors of limited editions. I guess that is why it costs up to 100 euros to even hear it. Until today!

Looking back on this a bit, I've become very interested in hearing the rest of this boutique's catalog. Some names I never heard of with some delectable style tags.

Ripped by Scramoutcha
Format : CD
Year : 1996
Country : Germany
Label : Edition Vicchi Ravaglia Goch

Somesax - Flapper

Label : Pingo Records - PINGOLP 001

Country : Denmark

Year : 1990

Format : LP

Ripped by Scramoutcha

Danish RIO, who know? My biggest connection to the country is LEGO. Though I'm not sure if the abbreviated form of Rockin' Position is pronounced as one would say river in one or few of the romance languages. Carrying on, this was an old wish of mine. That is, to hear. No big deal, but it's nice to finally be able to hear through the obscurity. And yew, toe.

Here

Michael Vlatkovich & Charles Britt - Transvalue Book I

Label : Thankyou Records - MV-004

Year : 1985

Country : US

Format : LP

Eventful night. The wind was howling and the moon looked right evil, full and peering thru the cloud cover. I was going to wrap up scanning this elpee when I was interjected by the clamors of my domains detritae cluttering about our road. So, I went out and collected as best as I can. To tell the truth, it was a joy. I felt so exuberant; the whole situation felt like an event. The aforementioned lune and the hard blows of the elements only added to it. To peer inside my brain, I was inspired to create. I always keep ideas running in my imagination, compositing what I hold dear to my neurotics. It may come to a surprise, but I would love to make a game. I have so many things in mind, and that's what I meant as an "event", like a scripted one or some emergent thing of those vestiges. It's lovely, in my youth I do feel like it. 

In a brief "review", if one can call it so, I wrote "I'd like to think this is what would result if Zoogz [Rift] went full on gonzo jazz with some decadent poetry of the beat persuasion.". I stand by that short as it may be. Though to expand I'd also like to mention the many moving parts at play here. Tons of interesting ideas in this collaboration recurrent through the christened "transvalue" moniker. At points it takes a third stream approach, another a more rockjazz undercurrent, and a healthy helping of exp. bigband to really draw me in.

Here

IS - IS

Label : Awesome Vistas - AV-08

Country : US

Year : 2009

Format : LP

It's a real shame I can't really give cool anecdotes on these interesting recordings I find and post here, like all those other respectable illegal filesharing joints. Most of the time, I just find wreckords at a local shop and take em home with little in the way of an obstacle. Quite boring. Maybe I should start writing fictitious proseworks to spice things up. Anyway, what IS this? IS is IS, an improvisational grouping centering around Chris Johanson and his merry group of friends, as seen in this insert:

 A bit voyeuristic, an email conversation between the culprits of this work of freefolk ambiance. As I had found later, some of these cats are pretty big luminaries in the once big(?) free impro-folk scene, lotsa Jackie-O Mothereffer alumni. It's nice, an exercise in a now seemingly bygone style in two sides which probably made for a good soundtrack for the exhibition it was created for. Now that I am thinking for the first time in awhile, I never really thought to check which side is which as this information is obfuscated by the fact that each side is marked by a colored label instead of the traditional text laden generic... I suppose it doesn't matter, unless someone is very serious about the archival of late oughts indie-pain-dance in plasticity.

Here

Tome XX - Natura Morta

Label : Jazz Haus Musik - JHM 32 ST

Country : Germany

Year : 1988

Format : LP

I don't know that much about pure jazz, but this is some pretty good avant-jazz with some free inclinations throughout. The copy I got comes with signatures of all the dudes in the band, so that's a plus. Sorry about the pops and clicks, apparently "mint" means something entirely different when imported, at least according to record stores. This also came with an insert in German all about the band itself so I'll be sure to scan that sometime for you all.

Here