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LOREN DENT - Anthropology Extras FLASH DRIVE (Infraction) U.S. $18.00 [INFX 032 FD]
Pre-order for release July 7th!
Flash drive format. This is a compendium release to the Anthropology Vol. 1 CD. 35 tracks of outtakes, extras and unreleased material (!!) that came about during the Anthropology sessions. This is a run of 100 copies on a flash drive, housed in a metal tin.
LOREN DENT - Anthropology Vol. 1 CD (Infraction) U.S. $12.00 [INFX 034]
Pre-order for release July 7th!
Listen here.
More information soonish...
LOREN DENT - Anthropology Vol. 1 CD + Anthropology Extras FLASH DRIVE (Infraction) U.S. $26.00
U.S. & Canadian customers combination value pack. Shipping included!
Buy both of the Loren Dent Anthropology titles together and get a heckuva deal.
LOREN DENT - Anthropology Vol. 1 CD + Anthropology Extras FLASH DRIVE (Infraction) U.S. $33.00
Overseas (outside U.S. & Canada) customers combination value pack. Shipping included!
Buy both of the Loren Dent Anthropology titles together and get a heckuva deal.
DRAFTED BY MINOTAURS - Aversion Therapy LP (Infraction) U.S. [INFX 038 LP]
All prices are postage paid in the U.S. and Canada.
*Overseas & Rest of World*
please add $3.00 per title for the first 4 titles - if you purchase 5 titles or more, shipping is FREE!*(Add shipping charges at the bottom of the page.)
We accept paypal at : riouxs@aol.com
Pre-order Infraction
LOREN DENT - Anthropology Extras FLASH DRIVE (Infraction) U.S. $18.00 [INFX 032 FD]
Pre-order for release July 7th!
Flash drive format. This is a compendium release to the Anthropology Vol. 1 CD. 35 tracks of outtakes, extras and unreleased material (!!) that came about during the Anthropology sessions. This is a run of 100 copies on a flash drive, housed in a metal tin.
LOREN DENT - Anthropology Vol. 1 CD (Infraction) U.S. $12.00 [INFX 034]
Pre-order for release July 7th!
Listen here.
More information soonish...
LOREN DENT - Anthropology Vol. 1 CD + Anthropology Extras FLASH DRIVE (Infraction) U.S. $26.00
U.S. & Canadian customers combination value pack. Shipping included!
Buy both of the Loren Dent Anthropology titles together and get a heckuva deal.
LOREN DENT - Anthropology Vol. 1 CD + Anthropology Extras FLASH DRIVE (Infraction) U.S. $33.00
Overseas (outside U.S. & Canada) customers combination value pack. Shipping included!
Buy both of the Loren Dent Anthropology titles together and get a heckuva deal.
All items below are in stock :
DRAFTED BY MINOTAURS - Aversion Therapy LP (Infraction) U.S. [INFX 038 LP]
Finally, our first vinyl release! Release date Tuesday, May 26th!! "Drafted by Minotaurs mainstays are guitarist Ryan Wilson and Ian Fulcher, who contributes trumpet and glockenspiel. Meanwhile members of a floating cast chip in with added textures from cello and violin. Opener "Blueprints for Sunbuilding" spools out a hail of plucked and bowed strings, webs of sound solidifying then melting into steely flow, stall set out somewhere around cultivated Constellation post-rockeries, a mood and sound that may feel familiar to those acquainted with the new backwoods chamberisms and neo-folk drone of UK cottage industrialites such as Richard Skelton (aka A Broken Consort/Clouwbeck) and Seasons (Pre-din). "Sault Locks" proposes cyclical patterns of stringed things that seem to hover shyly apart, before swarming to swell and billow over the listener - not so much a Storm of Drones as a squall of tones. "Skin the Night and Fog," a more veiled sister of the previous pluckings and bowings, plays out a psych-infused dream sequence. These three tracks forming Side A work with their own distinct harmonic and textural patterns, while seeming like movements of something overarching. Miasmic minor chord tidal flow abounds, the music's motion determined by languorous bow-strokes, its textures by warm-prickly needles of guitar pizzicatos. Side B's single extended track, "Sunday's Morning Ghost," is wrought from similar materials, but aspires to more transcendant levels, led by the celestial harmonics of Fulcher's treated trumpet. It takes on atavistic echoes redolent of some distant Miles Davis or Jon Hassell blowback, as if viewing In a Silent Way through a post-Kosmische kaleidoscope, or channeled through Eno/Budd cathedrals to meet today's psych-drone and ambient trajectories.
Overall, Aversion Therapy thrives on such productive tensions between genres and eras, as it does between live and recorded, spontaneous and pre-structured, making for engaging, at times thrillingly psychotropic, listening." - alan lockett
I recognize the cost factor. The details...the outer sleeve is a Stoughton printing tip-on style gatefold. 'Tip-on' is a separate matte sheet that is applied to thick board stock. Like LPs from the '70's, only thicker. Or 'old school' if you prefer. There is also a sort of OBI strip, or j-card that lies on the spine of the gatefold sleeves. Similar to the Japanese import vinyls - which is a nice touch (I'm biased) that gives some additional info. Then there is the vinyl itself - a slab of 180 gram virgin vinyl pressed at the vinyl pressing mecca that is RTI. The inner sleeves are audiophile grade anti-static triple layer sleeves. Lastly, the outer sleeves are resealable 4 mil plastic sleeves with flap...and they actually reseal. This LP pressing is limited to 489 copies.
Listen here.
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$24 for post-paid U.S. MEDIA mail.
$27 for post-paid U.S. PRIORITY mail (or to Canada)
$35 for post-paid OVERSEAS airmail
ALIO DIE & AGLAIA - Private History of the Clouds CD (Infraction) U.S. $14.00 [INFX 037]
In stock - out now! This has been in the works for almost 1.5 years. Is there finer ambience (save Oophoi perhaps) coming from Italy outside of these two acts? And a collaboration to boot. Nice. 900 copies in the Japanese style mini-lp matte gatefold sleeve. Beautiful layout courtesy of the ever-impressive designwork of Pyhai.
Infraction Records curates this new entry to the already considerable body of collaborations involving Alio Die. There have already been communings with the likes of Robert Rich, Mathias Grassow, and Vidna Obmana. Here, though, Stefano Musso's fellow-travellers are lesser known but closer to home. Aglaia is an Italian duo with a trio of albums on his Hic Sunt Leones label; Gino Fioravanti and Gianluigi Toso come trailing credentials in therapy, writing, painting, and teaching, to say nothing of alchemy and ortho-bionomy. In contrast with Musso, who has fully two decades of musical endeavors behind him, they're comparative novices. But you wouldn't have thought it. Theirs is a music whose apparent stasis enfolds within it endless subtle micro-variations. They bring with them from previous HSL releases an appealing aquatic/amniotic sound dimension, characterized by a combination of electronic sounds (analogies as the sleeve notes would have it) and processed acoustica moving as if in virtual circular breathing. Slow waves of soundflow suggestive of psycho-acoustic energy (if you're a believer, otherwise just go with the flow) come with peripheral fragments of sonorities, carried on the wind, drifting as if at the edges of sleep, recalling the way echo plays in open landscapes.
That's part of the method of this animist collective's historical unfolding of its subjects' textures and trajectories, yielding a series of luminous aerated tracts. Animists see a spiritual force residing in every element of the physical world. Nature is believed to be alive, imputing an inner life to leaves, lakes and the like. Dwelling on Private History of the Clouds brings this to mind before even entering its audio world, particularly in light of Alio Die's predilection for "passion, nature and awakening" and Aglaia's for worlds of feeling ("mondi sensibili," as a previous album was called). But, lest this kind of talk scare off those averse to nature-hugging, note that the musical Grace inspiring this project is more a familiar of Pandit Prath Nan and Brian Eno than of Wyndham Hill and Hearts of Space.
From opener "Cumulus Congestus" (heaps of cloud masses) to "Cirrus" (wispy curls) the history unfolds couched in way-up-high, pure aetherial tonefloat, with odd bold blares of Fioravanti's analogies, swathed in showers and sundry susurrations of the lower earth and skies released from capture within his accomplices' arcane devices. There's a sense of holism across the album's six movements, though variations are clearly discernible. "Stratus" (blanket-like layers), for example, bears the characteristic medievo-gothic stamp of works in Musso's recent Castles sonorisation series - the familiar drones and loops and field recordings providing a subtly evolving canvas for trails of elegiac psaltery. While "Radiatus" (broad parallel bands converging towards the horizon) takes more from the airy/aqueous elementalism of Aglaia's Three Organic Experiences and Sacred Waters. "Nimbus" (generating precipitation) is serenity itself, albeit drenched. And "Perlucidus" (a layer with small spaces through which clear sky is visible) extends itself into 13+ minutes of freefloat, hanging oneirically in a light mist of treatments. At its more initimate, listening to the chronostatic electro-acoustic-glides in blue of Private History of the Clouds feels a little like watching dust particles in a room illuminated by light rays - variously filtered by alterations in shutter angles - now suspended almost immobile, now gently agitated by soft breeze.
Finally, in describing Alio Die's work, it's hard to avoid reaching for the meditative or devotional, invoking the sacral or incantatory. That's only part of the resonance here, though, and Private History is notably less solemn than the Alio Die signature style, perhaps borne elsewhere by Aglaia's energies. These will be labeled drone works, but there's a weightless delicate quality about them that's a far cry from the leaden pall of much generic ambient of the darker persuasion that typically taps into the Drone-zone. And usual suspect signifiers like spacey and pastoral would be better cast as stately and aerial (cf. An Aerial View, a similarly-inclined recent work by Oophoi). Ultimately this is genuinely Ambient music in the purist sense, in that the ear may pass blithely over the diverse cloud formations' apparently static exteriors, or dive in to uncover micro-motions and subtle substrata in further archaeologies." - a. lockett
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BEEQUEEN - Ownliness CD (Infraction) U.S. $10.00 [INFX 003]
Available once again - 2nd edition repress. Out now.
This is a reissue of one of the first Infraction releases. Slightly different artwork than the 1st edition.
It was the debut of the reconfigured Beequeen, orignally released in 2002. Gone (well not entirely) was the drone based Beequeen, and in exchange was a bit more of an experimental pop outfit. "For a short while, the future looked bleak for Beequeen fans. Was their single "Dovidzdane Vanja (The Death of Beequeen)" an omen for an imminent end of Beequeen? Not so it turned out. Beequeen was more eager than ever to develop a new future for the band. Their single "White Tusk" was merely a taste of things to come. More melodic, with a driven beat and soaring guitars, "White Tusk" proved that Beequeen could master more than the ambient drone. Their latest studio work "Ownliness", which was recorded in 2000, is now available (again) on Infraction Records. In it's attractive cover, "Ownliness" offers trip-hop rhythms, guitar-ambient, beautiful roadmovie-music, strange samples and loops deliver with a twist only the Beequeens can master. From the opener "Clockwise" to the long melancholic piece "Beam Ends" (featuring a ticking clock, atmospherically guitarwork, environmental recordings and cellos) this new CD offers the most musical product Beequeen has released so far. It will certainly appeal to Beequeen fans old and new, offering an album full of beautiful tracks. "Ownliness" proves Beequeen more alive than ever, willing to take on new challenges in their music."
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CELER - The Everything and the Nothing CD (Infraction) U.S. $12.00 [INFX 036]
Available again. 2nd edition.
Celer is a husband (Will) and wife (Danielle) duo from California that use a variety of strings as the basis for their sound. Cello, viola, violin and the sounds are mixed in with field recordings, choir, live theremin and then tape spliced and re-assembled in varying lengths to create a loop base. Those sounds are then sampled, layered and processed. The result is a shimmering orchestra. Periods of silence between the notes only enhance the sound. Though at times very haunting, it's brightly hazy ambient. Initially "Discourses..." was to be 1 full-length CD with a bonus CDR ("The Everything and the Nothing") to accompany the first 100 copies. When Celer presented the bonus material, with field recordings mixed in obtained by Danielle over several months in India, the quality of the material was so high that it was suggested and agreed to instead be a concurrent release of two full-length discs. 2nd Edition of several hundred.
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"13 tracks of pure ambient bliss with silky tones lighting the air then gently retreating until the next wave. The sounds of field recordings and unidentifiable sound sources lurk in the distance among the detailed layers of sound. Gorgeous stuff and a pretty essential partner if you got the first disc." - Norman Records
"There's something infinitely comforting about this music and for those that enjoy the relaxed and beautiful it's an absolute must. Highest possible recommendation for this. Utterly divine." - Smallfish Records U.K.
"The Everything and The Nothing is a glimpse into the world of the sublime, a cavernous dronescape that maintains a steady discourse with the spiritual and etheric world, shimmering and sparkling with a rich and rare beauty. Absolutely Essential listening." - BGN @ White Line
SLEEPY TOWN MANUFACTURE & UNIT 21 - No Traces CD (Infraction) U.S. $15.00 [INFX 027]
Out now! Long awaited full-length from this Beautumn side project, Sleepy Town Manufacture, in collaboration with Russian artist, Unit 21.
This is a full-length travelogue into the hills and dales of a lush Russian landscape. A.M. radio crackles distantly with beatless waves permeating the still air. Alexander (STM) worked with Stanislavs' (Unit 21) library of sounds, he sampled some old vinyl records, pitch-shifted them down to a slow crawl, and then delved into a myriad of slow sounds, with an array of careful layers emerging.
Deluxe packaging edition of 800 copies - mini-lp Japanese style gatefold cover printed by California's own Stoughton printing, 5 separate art prints on 20 point chipboard stock.
Beautifully designed by graphic wunderkind Pyhai. Sound clips located here!
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ELUDER - The Most Beautiful Blue CD (Infraction) U.S. $13.00 [INFX 033]
Now available! "The careful choreography of retreat and remotion is what Patrick Benolkin is about. So you won’t be surprised when walls within and without come down, dissolved by the drift inside The Most Beautiful Blue. The spectral soundfields of grey dimly charted by (free netlabel) debut Warm Warning’s doleful drones and wan washes are opened up into miles-deep inner-zones, as under Infraction’s curation true textural colours come through. Of the label’s fellow-drifters, Eluder’s discreet field work and timbral questing place him closest to the “grex” methodologies of Adam Pacione, or perhaps a more abstract carpenter in an annexe to the sawdust and smoke-rooms frequented by Milieu. But Eluder music is characterised not by the sound of the bucolic or sylvan, or even the underground, but rather the submarine. The will-to-escape finds an effective scenographer in Eluder, who offers here a sonic solution in which thoughts, mirroring the music’s mood movements, may dissolve, float free, and finally submerge, without fear of being taken down." - Alan Lockett
Edition of 485. [INFX 033]
CELER - Discourses of the Withered CD (Infraction) U.S. $13.00 [INFX 028]
Out now. Celer is a husband (Will) and wife (Danielle) duo from California that use a variety of strings as the basis for their sound. Cello, viola, violin and the sounds are mixed in with field recordings, choir. live theremin and then tape spliced and re-assembled in varying lengths to create a loop base. Those sounds are then sampled, layered and processed. The result is a shimmering orchestra. Periods of silence between the notes only enhance the sound. Though at times very haunting, it's brightly hazy ambient. Initially "Discourses..." was to be 1 full-length CD with a bonus CDR ("The Everything and the Nothing") to accompany the first 100 copies. When Celer presented the bonus material, with field recordings mixed in obtained by Danielle over several months in India, the quality of the material was so high that it was suggested and agreed to instead be a concurrent release of two full-length discs. Edition of 500.
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KILN - Thermals CD (Infraction) U.S. $12.00 [INFX 017]
Back in stock - repressed, 2nd edition.
Music is the same as the first edition, but the artwork has been altered just a bit. Easily, one of our most popular releases. Infraction Records is very thrilled to release this disc from Kiln. One staffer remarked “It’s like having 23 different takes on the emotive quality that Eno’s “an ending (descent)” (from Apollo : Atmospheres) provided. The 4 minute mini-film soundtrack that actually lives up to that description.”
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CRAIG BETHELL - A Day Full of You, A Night Tired of Me CD (Infraction) U.S. $12.00 [INFX 026]
Out Now.
A Day Full Of You, A Night Tired Of Me is the debut album by ex-Locust vocalist, Craig Bethell. The album displays a plaintive song-writing style that unashamedly croons its way through a set of eleven varied tracks - influenced as much by avant-pop baritones Scott Walker and David Sylvian as it is by a troubled and melancholic Chet Baker. Bethell’s vocals are late night deliveries, a haunting idiom of the post-modern torch song.
Mark Van Hoen (Locust, Mojave 3, Sing Sing) lends production duties and evokes an atmosphere of ‘low’-era Bowie, (as on the instrumental overture of ‘December’), employs a careful use of Rhodes piano & subtle strings (‘Bad Blood’), as well as vintage synthesizer, distant harp motifs and brushed drums (‘Finding The Light’ & ‘History Repeats Itself’).
London based songwriter/singer Craig Bethell has sporadically written, recorded and performed his songs since 1983. His working life has largely been devoted to magazine publishing. Through demand from different quarters (die-hard Locust fans, new fans via MySpace etc.), Craig was encouraged to revisit the best of hitherto unreleased material from past sessions with Van Hoen. These works were revised, rerecorded, remixed and revamped, along with some completely new material, to make up A Day Full Of You, A Night Tired Of Me, an album many years in the making.
6 panel digipak, cover (‘Bundled’ 1925) courtesy of the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation.
ALOOF PROOF - Piano Text CD (Infraction) U.S. $14.00 [INFX 030]
Out Now!
"There is no ambient record greater than Aloof Proof's Piano Text. I'm not the type of person given to grand, insupportable claims; this is simply a statement of fact. The album has equals, but no betters, and it is a tragedy that so few listeners have had the chance to hear this album in its entirety, let alone own a copy for themselves. It is the kind of album that becomes essential after just the first listen.
Since it was quietly released in 1994—a time, remember, dominated by the ambient-techno boom of such artists as the Orb and Future Sound of London—it has achieved a kind of cult status among fans of the genre. This is largely due to the edited versions of the album's two tracks that appeared on Asphodel's sprawling drone compilations, opening the world of Aloof Proof to thousands of eager listeners in the mid-nineties.
The overall sound of "The Ghost Ship" and "The Last Leaf" is simple to describe—the tones of a piano are stretched to the horizon line; long, lingering sounds, the fluttering threads of them in the wind, drifting like subtle perfumes, a dream language culled from a very familiar instrument. In its way, it is also a kind of Mandelbrot image—the briefest segments of the tracks can be listened to (like Eno's Neroli or Thursday Afternoon) to get an accurate idea of the whole. However, the magic of Piano Text is that, when taken as a duo of suites, the larger forms of the piece are revealed to be a classical composition of the utmost drama, suspense, nuance. It is, indeed, the music of the inexplicable dreamworlds we all travel to during sleep.
This is an album that must be listened to—no words can adequately describe how spellbinding the music is, how staggeringly elegant it is." B. Bieniowski
Remastered by Michael Fibe in 2006. This will be a 6 panel full color digipak release in an edition of 900.
ADAM PACIONE - From Stills to Motion CD (Infraction) U.S. $9.00 [INFX 023]
Highly anticipated new release from Adam Pacione. Deluxe packaging. Stoughton style mini-gatefold with 16 page full-color booklet. Design and layout by Pacione.
"An age of virtual audio saturation, of pre-articulated sound. Expressivity, once an array of possible voices, is ever more probabilized. Originality, once primary criterion, is cast from the platform, problematized. Wondering, late in modernity’s day, what does it take to make a noise that matters? A keen-eared recontextualizer, an alchemist who can make sound, found or unfound, to walk its own way, outside the ready-made parade. Adam Pacione is one such - new recruit to a group of like-minded musicians, kindred-spirits Brian Grainger (Milieu), Mike Bennett (Zimiamvian Night), and Kiln, who have brought the ferment from their sound stills to the Infraction table. That label is now streaming a vital strain of New Backwoods Ambient, this latest from deep in the heart of (Hurst) Texas – experimental, but harmonically-inclined, apparently lo-tech, but substantially audio-cratic."(A.Lockett)
NORTHERN - Drawn CD (Infraction) U.S. $9.00 [INFX 024]
New Release!
Debut release from Canada's Northern. Northern is all about clean digital samples and warm tones. northern is all about lovely guitar meanderings and skittering textures. Perhaps it is the frozen nature of Canada's landscape or the endearing dismay of the season's discontent that has transformed us. Winter reminds us all of polaroid pictures and places that exist only in dreams.
ZIMIAMVIAN NIGHT - Zimiamvian Night 2 CD (Infraction) U.S. $15.00 [INFX 014]
2.27.07. Limited to 300 copies.
2nd installment in the ever-lasting Zimiamvian Night series. Mike Bennett draws from the harmonium work of New Zealander Christopher Orczy's October release and configures an entirely new piece of ambient drone. A silent sky illuminated by northern lights. All the world is indeed frozen music.
TETSU INOUE - World Receiver CD (Infraction) U.S. $12.50 [INFX 015]
Nothing less than an ambient classic! World Receiver has been out of print for far too long. A damn near perfect blend of environmental recordings from literally all over the world with Inoue's nuanced atmospheres surrounding them. This will be an edition of 800 copies, featuring a 6 panel digipak. This is not remastered, retouched or remixed. It is superb as is, it needed no updating - only to be available again.
BEAUTUMN - Northing CD (Infraction) U.S. $14.00 [INFX 020]
Edition of 790.
This is a beautiful yet serious record. It is ambience, but not simply ambient. These are cinematic tracks begging for a narrative, often invoking the skeletons of stories with sounds of footsteps, rain, winds, waves, fire and animal life (birds?) alongside metals and the odd machine. The sound is almost always a bit grand and roomy, as if reverbing off of the sky and thickly layered with varied-pitch tones and drones which often become so much a part of the soundscape that they become the foundation of its lushness, sometimes building tension, sometimes delivering an other-worldy, floating quality. As I listen to some of these tracks, I am reminded of times in my childhood during weather warnings when I stared at a dark sky, both menacing and terribly compelling, watching it roil too close to the ground where I stood. The debut Beautumn, "white coffee" is nearly sold out. We have this new full-length to keep us company.
MILIEU - Beyond the Sea Lies the Stars CD (Infraction) U.S. $12.50
Contemplative ambient. Out now. Edition of 505. [INFX 018]
”The rather profoundly titled 'Beyond The Sea Lies The Stars' from Milieu. This sounds well cinematic and is absolute chilled, floaty, spacey ambient bliss. This will make you feel like your floating in embryonic fluid and is absolutley gorgeous. This is produced by Brian Grainger and is on Infraction Records. This is my release of the week and if you don't buy it then you must be a bit chicken oriental. Stunning.” Norman records
ANDREW LILES - New York Doll 2xCD (Infraction) U.S. $16.00
Easily the most ambitious and cohesive Liles to date. A recording involving hundreds and spanning continents.
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ULTRA MILKMAIDS & AIDAN BAKER - At home with... CD (Infraction) U.S. $12.00
Canadian Aidan Baker's pastoral guitar work shredded to glorious bits by the French. Environmental recordings paint the background with various voices and distant church bells.
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BEEQUEEN - Music for the Head Ballet CD (Infraction) U.S. $12.00
Reissue, remastered with bonus track. The bonus track is quite possibly the most blissful excerpt of music by Beequeen ever. No kidding. Edition of 500.
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POTTER, COLIN- See CD (Infraction) U.S. $12.00
2nd edition. Limited to 200 numbered copies.
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ZAMMUTO - Solutiore of Stareau : Disc One CD (Infraction) U.S. $10.00
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Non-Infraction / Infraction related :
ALIO DIE & FESTINA LENTE - Il Sogno Di Un Piano Veneziano A Parigi CD (Hic Sunt Leones) ITY $15.00 [HSL030]
ALIO DIE & JACK OR JIVE - Mei-Jyu CD (Projekt) U.S. $15.00 [PRO 167]
ALIO DIE & WERNER DURAND - Aqua Planing CD (Hic Sunt Leones) ITY $15.00 [HSL 029]
CELER - Sieline 4x3"CDR (Celer) U.S. $20.00 [CELER 011]
New 6.29.09 2007 release in stock for the first time. Odd packaging alert...the four 3"CDRs here are housed in 2 pyramid shaped boxes tethered together with a bit of string. Hand-assembled and hand-painted. Limited stock and a bit difficult to pack up, but it's worth it. Price includes shipping for U.S. and Canada.
Overseas Sieline orders are $26.00 postage paid.
CELER - Engaged Touches CDR (Home Normal) U.K. $14.00 [home n002]
New 6.5.09 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! "For the second release on Home Normal Will and Dani, aka Celer, have delivered another utterly superb piece of work. Split into two halves the tracks have several distinct movements within each part. It's lovely to hear them using field recordings prominently as well and they slot into and become an essential part of these tracks. Part 1 has a classical, string-laden theme combined with the sounds of textures of travel - trains rumbling along, disembodied voices and the general chatter of being amongst other people. Almost spiritual sounding at times, it moves serenely through its 26 minute duration. Part 2 clocks in at 40 minutes and begins with a continuation of the string theme before reducing the sound back to a lovely resonant drone. Gentle, enticing and always subtle, it drifts along, flowing & meandering as it goes before shifting back into the soaring, uplifting strings again for the finale. A beautifully realised and themed album, this is a deeply impressive second release from Home Normal and another awesome release for Celer. Do not hesitate as these are limited and, I believe, have already sold out." - smallfish
These are sold out from Home Normal and most retailers. Amazing that they zipped through this pressing of 500.
CELER - Breeze of Roses CDR (Dragon's Eye) U.S. $13.00 [de5021]
New 6.5.09 "Dragon's Eye is a tremendous label so it's a real pleasure to be able to bring you this 50 minute work - and it's a beauty in every way. Celer's ability to subtly shift their sound from release to release is a skill that I admire. Dragon's Eye is much more of a minimalist imprint than some of their recent labels and her you get to enjoy at quite possibly their deepest and most stripped back. The resonant atmospheres within Breeze of Roses are superb and it's one of those pieces of music that gradually builds and flows into several distinct parts. As ever there's a sense of melody that pervades every moment of this work, but it's joined by a creeping dissonance that brings into stark relief. Over the course of the album you'll be gently massaged, lightly challenged and totally invigorated. Another brilliant release from this exceptional duo." - smallfish
Edition of 250
CELER - Nacreous Clouds CD (And/Oar) U.S. $12.00 [and/33]
Restock 4.11.09 This beautiful release features 37 short tracks of raw iridescent ambience (total time exceeding 78 minutes) reflecting the hyper-temporal nature of what are known as "nacreous clouds". And like the clouds, the tracks are quick to appear and disappear. Playback using the random shuffle mode of your CD player is highly recommended.
While this is undoubtedly an ambient release, it is unusual in that there are many short tracks instead of one or two long ones, and each of the tracks is notably "raw" in that they do not use additional processing like reverb to enhance the initial processed sound sources further.
CELER - Capri CD (Humming Conch) GER $13.00 [Conch 001]
New 4.14.09 Limited to 400 copies. Recorded in Capri, Italy. Packaged in tri-fold cardboard sheet inside plastic sleeve. “Capri” is an album in the fine tradition of long, ambient, textured recordings that you might find on the 12k or Spekk labels, except spread across 29 short pieces that somehow compress immersive ideas into much shorter segments. Instead of the hour-long recordings that so often define this sound, Celer tempers longform ambitions into short pieces of utter wonder. Drawing on elements you might recognise if you’re into Shuttle 358, Marsen Jules, Gas, Mountains et al, the shortened parameters imbue each track with an unexpected sense of transience and loss, instead of the extended contemplative listening experience you expect, you find yourself attached, removed and funnelled from each 2-3 minute track to the next with captivating results. - boomkat.com
CHALK, ANDREW - Goldfall CD (Faraway Press) U.K. $23.00 [FP 06]
Restock 3.27.09 Repressed in classic Faraway Press style. This features a die cut sleeve with 2 crossed ribbon OBI strips with Japanese text. I have no idea what it says. I can tell you that 'Goldfall' is a highly recommended recording, and that it's been quite some time since it has been in stock.
CHALK, ANDREW - The River that Flows into the Sands I CD (Faraway Press) U.K. $23.00 [FP 02]
Restock 12.8.08 The 2nd release on Faraway Press is the extraordinary River I CD. Pressed CD, handmade mini-lp sleeve, Faraway magic dust sprinkled on top. 1st in the potentially never-ending 'river that flows' series.
CHALK, ANDREW - Blue Eyes of the March CD (Faraway Press) U.K. $23.00 [No Cat. #]
11.24.08 Restock.
These new editions of 'blue eyes' are now in a moss green cover, gatefold sleeve with OBI strip in Japanese text. Fantastic! Faraway press. Stunning handmade packaging w/ onion skin OBI. Worth every single pence.
CHALK, ANDREW - Shadows from the Album Skies CD (Faraway Press) U.K. $23.00 [FP 01]
Restock 12.8.08
Faraway press. FP 01. Chalk's initial release on his boutique label.
CHALK, ANDREW & DAISUKE SUZUKI - The Days After CD (Faraway Press) U.K. $23.00 [FP 11]
Restock 12.8.08
An earlier collab. with Daisuke Suzuki originally on Three Poplars. Reissued in glorious packaging on Faraway Press.
CHALK, ANDREW & DAISUKE SUZUKI - Senshu CD (Faraway Press) U.K. $23.00 [FP 04]
Restock 12.8.08
Faraway press. New Andrew Chalk...kind of! An earlier collab. with Daisuke Suzuki under the nom 'Ghosts on Water', this was originally a super limited CDR back in '04 or so in this very deluxe hardback booklet. It's a great recording that Chalk decided to give the repress/reissue treatment and this 2nd edition is no less stunning. First 250 copies or so come in a gatefold FP sleeve. Fantastic.
CHALK, ANDREW, DAISUKE SUZUKI, NAOKO SUZUKI - Ghosts on Water CD (Faraway Press) U.K. $19.00 [FP 12]
Restock! 1.16.08
Chalk collabs. again with Suzuki & Suzuki. A sort of follow-up to the ridiculously ltd. Senshou that came out a year or so ago for 15 minutes or so and then was gone. This is another in what has to be patented (by now) lovely packaging from the Faraway Press clan. It's more of a mini-lp clocking in at around 20 minutes, thus the slightly lower price. But it's a CD and the $19 is still alot for a disc when you could just illegally download it. Right. Your conscious shouldn't mind and either should Chalk and the amazing Suzuki duo's livelihood either.
CHALK, ANDREW & DAISUKE SUZUKI - The Days After CD (Faraway Press) U.K. $23.00 [FP 11]
New 10.10.07
An older Chalk collab. again with Suzuki. This was originally released on three poplars (r.i.p. uber kollektor Mirror label) a few years back in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it limited CDR in handmade packaging. This is another in what has to be patented (by now) lovely packaging from the Faraway Press clan. It's pressed in a factory-made silver CD of audio magic and delight. Guitar drones and low-lying ground clutter along with chiming bells and singing bowls.
LOREN DENT - Empires and Milk CD (Contract Killers) U.S. $12.00 [no cat #]
New Infraction signee Loren Dent with his debut disc. Those with a predilection for Stars of the Lid will embrace 'Work Song: Holmes Mill', and admirers of the New Melancholy's poster-boy Eluvium will likely take "Masters and Slaves"¯ to their hearts. The more ambient domain of post-rock acts like Mogwai and Marconi Union could easily host "Love Song: Kinetics and Hope". Ultimately, though, sound all mapped, sources traced, what "Loren Dent" might be "about" is ineffable. But Dent is covered by his forebears: "It's too difficult to sum it up in a statement about our message. The message is like the music, maybe you have to drown in it before you can understand it." alan lockett/furthernoise.org
DOROSOTO - Sounds Look Similar 3"CDR (i, absentee) U.S. $8.00 [IA015]
New 6.28.09 "Limited to 25 copies initially. Repressed at an additional 25. Each copy is hand-made by Dorosoto and features a unique transparency from the original artwork. One of two possible designs were used on the disc prints. All music brought to life by Dorosoto April - October 2008. Equipment used: Roland Juno-60, Roland SP-808, Tascam digital 8-track, effects pedals, Roland CR-8000." This is the first edition.
KILN - Twinewheel : Lost-Sides and Dusty-Gems 1994-2005 LP (Division Sound) U.S. $15.00
Another Restock! 9.24.07 Limited to 500 numbered copies [DVS-02]
LILES, ANDREW & WANDER - The Astronomical Entomologist PIC 7" (Beta-Lactam Ring Records) U.S. $14.00
3.4.07 $14 for a 7inch??! Yep, but it's a picture 7inch and it's as heavy as a brick and thick as a dinner plate. Wander is Beequeen and so now Wander is doing what Beequeen used to do (ambient drone) and Liles does whatev the f*ck he wants, which in this case is a krautrock diddy. Fantastic. Limited to 150, I have a mere 3...tis been out for awhile, this will be all I get though. [mt 106]
THE WARDROBE (ANDREW LILES & TONY WAKEFORD) - Cups in Cupboards CD (Tursa) U.K. $16.00
Collaboration between Sol Invictus' Wakeford and Mr. Liles. 2005. [TURSA 033]
THE WARDROBE (ANDREW LILES & TONY WAKEFORD) - A Sandwich Short CD (Tursa) U.K. $16.00
12.15.06New collaboration between Sol Invictus' Wakeford and Mr. Liles. 2006. [TE 002]
TOR LUNDVALL - Insect Wings, Leaf Matter & Broken Twigs CD (Eternal Autumn Editions) U.S. $15.00
New 5.27.09 "I've also released a CD privately called "Insect Wings, Leaf Matter & Broken Twigs". An odd but fitting title, this album gathers together some of my earliest ambient recordings from 1991-1994. The CD comes in a matte digipak and is limited to 300 copies." - tor lundvall
Each digipak is hand-numbered. 27 tracks total! [EAE 006]
TOR LUNDVALL - Empty City CD (Strange Fortune) U.S. $14.00
In stock 5.27.09 "Tor Lundvall’s latest release “Empty City” has clearly reached an even higher plane than his previous works. Just 45 seconds into this record and I knew it was special. The description “Ghost Ambient” is an appropriate description. The music is flowing, soothing yet interesting. This is a composition that expands the boundaries of ambient music when it would seem that such limits have already been reached. Only a truly creative mind can accomplish such a feat. “Empty City” is a perfect medium to relax and meditate to; a marvelous and engaging sound that firmly holds one’s interest. While it is most definitely ambient in nature, there’s a complex character throughout that is hard to describe. This disc can be played over and over while maintaining a secure embrace on the listeners senses. An undeniably exotic, superb listen." - Sombunya (discogs.com) [SF 3]
TOR LUNDVALL - Yule CD (Strange Fortune) U.S. $10.00
In stock 5.27.09 Composed and recorded between November - December 2004, except track 10 , which is recorded on the night of 24th January, 1998. [SF 4]
ADAM PACIONE - Still Life #3: Drzewo 3"CDR (Bee Eater Recordings) U.S. $8.00
1st release in the monthly "STILL LIFE" series. 3" CD-R Limited to 100 sequentially numbered and signed copies. Packaged in heavy clear vinyl sleeve with 2 folded inserts. Layout by A.M. Pacione. Ultraviolet photography by A.M. Pacione circa 1993. [bet: 05]
ADAM PACIONE - Still Life #4: Split at the Core 3"CDR (Bee Eater Recordings) U.S. $8.00
2nd release in the monthly "STILL LIFE" series. 3" CD-R Limited to 100 sequentially numbered and signed copies. Packaged in heavy clear vinyl sleeve with 2 folded inserts. Recorded during 2006-2007. [bet: 06]
DAVID TAGG - Bell Island 3"CDR (Second-Sun Recordings) U.S. $8.00
"Second Sun Recordings is proud to introduce the 21MG Series. For the ambient die-hards out there who may not want to take any chances on our regular CD catalog being too varied and experimental, this is for you. An ongoing series of three-inch "white sleeping pills" that is guaranteed to be 100% ambient, for maximum aural sedation. Our recommended dosage is one 21MG per month, as the substances contained are in a "time-release" format for your ease and pleasure." [Pill - B1]
DARREN TATE - Organ of Sight CDR (Fungal) U.K. $17.00 [Fungal 027]
Another new Tate!1st edition with photograph and black insert. CDR only release in clear sleeve. Tate, the see-through organ and Fungal in it's 27th form.
DARREN TATE - Small Worlds CDR (Quiet World) U.K. $17.00 [SW two]
New Tate! CDR only release in clear sleeve with full color printed inserts. Tate, the lions and small worlds on quiet world.
DARREN TATE - The Elves are Coming CDR (Twenty Hertz) U.K. $17.00 [TH 013]
Restock. CDR only release in jewel case with full color printed inserts. Tate and the elves.
The fine details of shipping :
If you're shopping from outside of the U.S.A. or Canada, please add $3.00 per title for the first 4 CD selections...if you buy 5 titles or more your shipping is entirely free! *The only exception to this is LP's. We do not carry many vinyls, but they are much heavier and cost a bit more to ship - so for those vinyls, please write for shipping.
1 title postage for overseas & Rest of World ($3.00)
2 titles postage for overseas & Rest of World ($6.00)
3 titles postage for overseas & Rest of World ($9.00)
4 titles postage for overseas & Rest of World ($12.00)
I recognize the cost factor. The details...the outer sleeve is a Stoughton printing tip-on style gatefold. 'Tip-on' is a separate matte sheet that is applied to thick board stock. Like LPs from the '70's, only thicker. Or 'old school' if you prefer. There is also a sort of OBI strip, or j-card that lies on the spine of the gatefold sleeves. Similar to the Japanese import vinyls - which is a nice touch (I'm biased) that gives some additional info. Then there is the vinyl itself - a slab of 180 gram virgin vinyl pressed at the vinyl pressing mecca that is RTI. The inner sleeves are audiophile grade anti-static triple layer sleeves. Lastly, the outer sleeves are resealable 4 mil plastic sleeves with flap...and they actually reseal. This LP pressing is limited to 489 copies.
Listen here.
[INFX 038 LP]
$24 for post-paid U.S. MEDIA mail.
$27 for post-paid U.S. PRIORITY mail (or to Canada)
$35 for post-paid OVERSEAS airmail
ALIO DIE & AGLAIA - Private History of the Clouds CD (Infraction) U.S. $14.00 [INFX 037]
In stock - out now! This has been in the works for almost 1.5 years. Is there finer ambience (save Oophoi perhaps) coming from Italy outside of these two acts? And a collaboration to boot. Nice. 900 copies in the Japanese style mini-lp matte gatefold sleeve. Beautiful layout courtesy of the ever-impressive designwork of Pyhai.
Infraction Records curates this new entry to the already considerable body of collaborations involving Alio Die. There have already been communings with the likes of Robert Rich, Mathias Grassow, and Vidna Obmana. Here, though, Stefano Musso's fellow-travellers are lesser known but closer to home. Aglaia is an Italian duo with a trio of albums on his Hic Sunt Leones label; Gino Fioravanti and Gianluigi Toso come trailing credentials in therapy, writing, painting, and teaching, to say nothing of alchemy and ortho-bionomy. In contrast with Musso, who has fully two decades of musical endeavors behind him, they're comparative novices. But you wouldn't have thought it. Theirs is a music whose apparent stasis enfolds within it endless subtle micro-variations. They bring with them from previous HSL releases an appealing aquatic/amniotic sound dimension, characterized by a combination of electronic sounds (analogies as the sleeve notes would have it) and processed acoustica moving as if in virtual circular breathing. Slow waves of soundflow suggestive of psycho-acoustic energy (if you're a believer, otherwise just go with the flow) come with peripheral fragments of sonorities, carried on the wind, drifting as if at the edges of sleep, recalling the way echo plays in open landscapes.
That's part of the method of this animist collective's historical unfolding of its subjects' textures and trajectories, yielding a series of luminous aerated tracts. Animists see a spiritual force residing in every element of the physical world. Nature is believed to be alive, imputing an inner life to leaves, lakes and the like. Dwelling on Private History of the Clouds brings this to mind before even entering its audio world, particularly in light of Alio Die's predilection for "passion, nature and awakening" and Aglaia's for worlds of feeling ("mondi sensibili," as a previous album was called). But, lest this kind of talk scare off those averse to nature-hugging, note that the musical Grace inspiring this project is more a familiar of Pandit Prath Nan and Brian Eno than of Wyndham Hill and Hearts of Space.
From opener "Cumulus Congestus" (heaps of cloud masses) to "Cirrus" (wispy curls) the history unfolds couched in way-up-high, pure aetherial tonefloat, with odd bold blares of Fioravanti's analogies, swathed in showers and sundry susurrations of the lower earth and skies released from capture within his accomplices' arcane devices. There's a sense of holism across the album's six movements, though variations are clearly discernible. "Stratus" (blanket-like layers), for example, bears the characteristic medievo-gothic stamp of works in Musso's recent Castles sonorisation series - the familiar drones and loops and field recordings providing a subtly evolving canvas for trails of elegiac psaltery. While "Radiatus" (broad parallel bands converging towards the horizon) takes more from the airy/aqueous elementalism of Aglaia's Three Organic Experiences and Sacred Waters. "Nimbus" (generating precipitation) is serenity itself, albeit drenched. And "Perlucidus" (a layer with small spaces through which clear sky is visible) extends itself into 13+ minutes of freefloat, hanging oneirically in a light mist of treatments. At its more initimate, listening to the chronostatic electro-acoustic-glides in blue of Private History of the Clouds feels a little like watching dust particles in a room illuminated by light rays - variously filtered by alterations in shutter angles - now suspended almost immobile, now gently agitated by soft breeze.
Finally, in describing Alio Die's work, it's hard to avoid reaching for the meditative or devotional, invoking the sacral or incantatory. That's only part of the resonance here, though, and Private History is notably less solemn than the Alio Die signature style, perhaps borne elsewhere by Aglaia's energies. These will be labeled drone works, but there's a weightless delicate quality about them that's a far cry from the leaden pall of much generic ambient of the darker persuasion that typically taps into the Drone-zone. And usual suspect signifiers like spacey and pastoral would be better cast as stately and aerial (cf. An Aerial View, a similarly-inclined recent work by Oophoi). Ultimately this is genuinely Ambient music in the purist sense, in that the ear may pass blithely over the diverse cloud formations' apparently static exteriors, or dive in to uncover micro-motions and subtle substrata in further archaeologies." - a. lockett
[INFX 037]
BEEQUEEN - Ownliness CD (Infraction) U.S. $10.00 [INFX 003]Available once again - 2nd edition repress. Out now.
This is a reissue of one of the first Infraction releases. Slightly different artwork than the 1st edition.
It was the debut of the reconfigured Beequeen, orignally released in 2002. Gone (well not entirely) was the drone based Beequeen, and in exchange was a bit more of an experimental pop outfit. "For a short while, the future looked bleak for Beequeen fans. Was their single "Dovidzdane Vanja (The Death of Beequeen)" an omen for an imminent end of Beequeen? Not so it turned out. Beequeen was more eager than ever to develop a new future for the band. Their single "White Tusk" was merely a taste of things to come. More melodic, with a driven beat and soaring guitars, "White Tusk" proved that Beequeen could master more than the ambient drone. Their latest studio work "Ownliness", which was recorded in 2000, is now available (again) on Infraction Records. In it's attractive cover, "Ownliness" offers trip-hop rhythms, guitar-ambient, beautiful roadmovie-music, strange samples and loops deliver with a twist only the Beequeens can master. From the opener "Clockwise" to the long melancholic piece "Beam Ends" (featuring a ticking clock, atmospherically guitarwork, environmental recordings and cellos) this new CD offers the most musical product Beequeen has released so far. It will certainly appeal to Beequeen fans old and new, offering an album full of beautiful tracks. "Ownliness" proves Beequeen more alive than ever, willing to take on new challenges in their music."
[INFX 003]
CELER - The Everything and the Nothing CD (Infraction) U.S. $12.00 [INFX 036]
Available again. 2nd edition.
Celer is a husband (Will) and wife (Danielle) duo from California that use a variety of strings as the basis for their sound. Cello, viola, violin and the sounds are mixed in with field recordings, choir, live theremin and then tape spliced and re-assembled in varying lengths to create a loop base. Those sounds are then sampled, layered and processed. The result is a shimmering orchestra. Periods of silence between the notes only enhance the sound. Though at times very haunting, it's brightly hazy ambient. Initially "Discourses..." was to be 1 full-length CD with a bonus CDR ("The Everything and the Nothing") to accompany the first 100 copies. When Celer presented the bonus material, with field recordings mixed in obtained by Danielle over several months in India, the quality of the material was so high that it was suggested and agreed to instead be a concurrent release of two full-length discs. 2nd Edition of several hundred.
[INFX 036]
"13 tracks of pure ambient bliss with silky tones lighting the air then gently retreating until the next wave. The sounds of field recordings and unidentifiable sound sources lurk in the distance among the detailed layers of sound. Gorgeous stuff and a pretty essential partner if you got the first disc." - Norman Records
"There's something infinitely comforting about this music and for those that enjoy the relaxed and beautiful it's an absolute must. Highest possible recommendation for this. Utterly divine." - Smallfish Records U.K.
"The Everything and The Nothing is a glimpse into the world of the sublime, a cavernous dronescape that maintains a steady discourse with the spiritual and etheric world, shimmering and sparkling with a rich and rare beauty. Absolutely Essential listening." - BGN @ White Line
SLEEPY TOWN MANUFACTURE & UNIT 21 - No Traces CD (Infraction) U.S. $15.00 [INFX 027]
Out now! Long awaited full-length from this Beautumn side project, Sleepy Town Manufacture, in collaboration with Russian artist, Unit 21.
This is a full-length travelogue into the hills and dales of a lush Russian landscape. A.M. radio crackles distantly with beatless waves permeating the still air. Alexander (STM) worked with Stanislavs' (Unit 21) library of sounds, he sampled some old vinyl records, pitch-shifted them down to a slow crawl, and then delved into a myriad of slow sounds, with an array of careful layers emerging.
Deluxe packaging edition of 800 copies - mini-lp Japanese style gatefold cover printed by California's own Stoughton printing, 5 separate art prints on 20 point chipboard stock.
Beautifully designed by graphic wunderkind Pyhai. Sound clips located here!
[INFX 027]
ELUDER - The Most Beautiful Blue CD (Infraction) U.S. $13.00 [INFX 033]
Now available! "The careful choreography of retreat and remotion is what Patrick Benolkin is about. So you won’t be surprised when walls within and without come down, dissolved by the drift inside The Most Beautiful Blue. The spectral soundfields of grey dimly charted by (free netlabel) debut Warm Warning’s doleful drones and wan washes are opened up into miles-deep inner-zones, as under Infraction’s curation true textural colours come through. Of the label’s fellow-drifters, Eluder’s discreet field work and timbral questing place him closest to the “grex” methodologies of Adam Pacione, or perhaps a more abstract carpenter in an annexe to the sawdust and smoke-rooms frequented by Milieu. But Eluder music is characterised not by the sound of the bucolic or sylvan, or even the underground, but rather the submarine. The will-to-escape finds an effective scenographer in Eluder, who offers here a sonic solution in which thoughts, mirroring the music’s mood movements, may dissolve, float free, and finally submerge, without fear of being taken down." - Alan Lockett
Edition of 485. [INFX 033]
CELER - Discourses of the Withered CD (Infraction) U.S. $13.00 [INFX 028]
Out now. Celer is a husband (Will) and wife (Danielle) duo from California that use a variety of strings as the basis for their sound. Cello, viola, violin and the sounds are mixed in with field recordings, choir. live theremin and then tape spliced and re-assembled in varying lengths to create a loop base. Those sounds are then sampled, layered and processed. The result is a shimmering orchestra. Periods of silence between the notes only enhance the sound. Though at times very haunting, it's brightly hazy ambient. Initially "Discourses..." was to be 1 full-length CD with a bonus CDR ("The Everything and the Nothing") to accompany the first 100 copies. When Celer presented the bonus material, with field recordings mixed in obtained by Danielle over several months in India, the quality of the material was so high that it was suggested and agreed to instead be a concurrent release of two full-length discs. Edition of 500.
[INFX 028]
KILN - Thermals CD (Infraction) U.S. $12.00 [INFX 017]
Back in stock - repressed, 2nd edition.
Music is the same as the first edition, but the artwork has been altered just a bit. Easily, one of our most popular releases. Infraction Records is very thrilled to release this disc from Kiln. One staffer remarked “It’s like having 23 different takes on the emotive quality that Eno’s “an ending (descent)” (from Apollo : Atmospheres) provided. The 4 minute mini-film soundtrack that actually lives up to that description.”
[INFX 017]
CRAIG BETHELL - A Day Full of You, A Night Tired of Me CD (Infraction) U.S. $12.00 [INFX 026] Out Now.
A Day Full Of You, A Night Tired Of Me is the debut album by ex-Locust vocalist, Craig Bethell. The album displays a plaintive song-writing style that unashamedly croons its way through a set of eleven varied tracks - influenced as much by avant-pop baritones Scott Walker and David Sylvian as it is by a troubled and melancholic Chet Baker. Bethell’s vocals are late night deliveries, a haunting idiom of the post-modern torch song.
Mark Van Hoen (Locust, Mojave 3, Sing Sing) lends production duties and evokes an atmosphere of ‘low’-era Bowie, (as on the instrumental overture of ‘December’), employs a careful use of Rhodes piano & subtle strings (‘Bad Blood’), as well as vintage synthesizer, distant harp motifs and brushed drums (‘Finding The Light’ & ‘History Repeats Itself’).
London based songwriter/singer Craig Bethell has sporadically written, recorded and performed his songs since 1983. His working life has largely been devoted to magazine publishing. Through demand from different quarters (die-hard Locust fans, new fans via MySpace etc.), Craig was encouraged to revisit the best of hitherto unreleased material from past sessions with Van Hoen. These works were revised, rerecorded, remixed and revamped, along with some completely new material, to make up A Day Full Of You, A Night Tired Of Me, an album many years in the making.
6 panel digipak, cover (‘Bundled’ 1925) courtesy of the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation.
ALOOF PROOF - Piano Text CD (Infraction) U.S. $14.00 [INFX 030] Out Now!
"There is no ambient record greater than Aloof Proof's Piano Text. I'm not the type of person given to grand, insupportable claims; this is simply a statement of fact. The album has equals, but no betters, and it is a tragedy that so few listeners have had the chance to hear this album in its entirety, let alone own a copy for themselves. It is the kind of album that becomes essential after just the first listen.
Since it was quietly released in 1994—a time, remember, dominated by the ambient-techno boom of such artists as the Orb and Future Sound of London—it has achieved a kind of cult status among fans of the genre. This is largely due to the edited versions of the album's two tracks that appeared on Asphodel's sprawling drone compilations, opening the world of Aloof Proof to thousands of eager listeners in the mid-nineties.
The overall sound of "The Ghost Ship" and "The Last Leaf" is simple to describe—the tones of a piano are stretched to the horizon line; long, lingering sounds, the fluttering threads of them in the wind, drifting like subtle perfumes, a dream language culled from a very familiar instrument. In its way, it is also a kind of Mandelbrot image—the briefest segments of the tracks can be listened to (like Eno's Neroli or Thursday Afternoon) to get an accurate idea of the whole. However, the magic of Piano Text is that, when taken as a duo of suites, the larger forms of the piece are revealed to be a classical composition of the utmost drama, suspense, nuance. It is, indeed, the music of the inexplicable dreamworlds we all travel to during sleep.
This is an album that must be listened to—no words can adequately describe how spellbinding the music is, how staggeringly elegant it is." B. Bieniowski
Remastered by Michael Fibe in 2006. This will be a 6 panel full color digipak release in an edition of 900.
ADAM PACIONE - From Stills to Motion CD (Infraction) U.S. $9.00 [INFX 023] Highly anticipated new release from Adam Pacione. Deluxe packaging. Stoughton style mini-gatefold with 16 page full-color booklet. Design and layout by Pacione.
"An age of virtual audio saturation, of pre-articulated sound. Expressivity, once an array of possible voices, is ever more probabilized. Originality, once primary criterion, is cast from the platform, problematized. Wondering, late in modernity’s day, what does it take to make a noise that matters? A keen-eared recontextualizer, an alchemist who can make sound, found or unfound, to walk its own way, outside the ready-made parade. Adam Pacione is one such - new recruit to a group of like-minded musicians, kindred-spirits Brian Grainger (Milieu), Mike Bennett (Zimiamvian Night), and Kiln, who have brought the ferment from their sound stills to the Infraction table. That label is now streaming a vital strain of New Backwoods Ambient, this latest from deep in the heart of (Hurst) Texas – experimental, but harmonically-inclined, apparently lo-tech, but substantially audio-cratic."(A.Lockett)
NORTHERN - Drawn CD (Infraction) U.S. $9.00 [INFX 024] New Release!
Debut release from Canada's Northern. Northern is all about clean digital samples and warm tones. northern is all about lovely guitar meanderings and skittering textures. Perhaps it is the frozen nature of Canada's landscape or the endearing dismay of the season's discontent that has transformed us. Winter reminds us all of polaroid pictures and places that exist only in dreams.
ZIMIAMVIAN NIGHT - Zimiamvian Night 2 CD (Infraction) U.S. $15.00 [INFX 014] 2.27.07. Limited to 300 copies.
2nd installment in the ever-lasting Zimiamvian Night series. Mike Bennett draws from the harmonium work of New Zealander Christopher Orczy's October release and configures an entirely new piece of ambient drone. A silent sky illuminated by northern lights. All the world is indeed frozen music.
TETSU INOUE - World Receiver CD (Infraction) U.S. $12.50 [INFX 015] Nothing less than an ambient classic! World Receiver has been out of print for far too long. A damn near perfect blend of environmental recordings from literally all over the world with Inoue's nuanced atmospheres surrounding them. This will be an edition of 800 copies, featuring a 6 panel digipak. This is not remastered, retouched or remixed. It is superb as is, it needed no updating - only to be available again.
BEAUTUMN - Northing CD (Infraction) U.S. $14.00 [INFX 020] Edition of 790.
This is a beautiful yet serious record. It is ambience, but not simply ambient. These are cinematic tracks begging for a narrative, often invoking the skeletons of stories with sounds of footsteps, rain, winds, waves, fire and animal life (birds?) alongside metals and the odd machine. The sound is almost always a bit grand and roomy, as if reverbing off of the sky and thickly layered with varied-pitch tones and drones which often become so much a part of the soundscape that they become the foundation of its lushness, sometimes building tension, sometimes delivering an other-worldy, floating quality. As I listen to some of these tracks, I am reminded of times in my childhood during weather warnings when I stared at a dark sky, both menacing and terribly compelling, watching it roil too close to the ground where I stood. The debut Beautumn, "white coffee" is nearly sold out. We have this new full-length to keep us company.
MILIEU - Beyond the Sea Lies the Stars CD (Infraction) U.S. $12.50
Contemplative ambient. Out now. Edition of 505. [INFX 018]
”The rather profoundly titled 'Beyond The Sea Lies The Stars' from Milieu. This sounds well cinematic and is absolute chilled, floaty, spacey ambient bliss. This will make you feel like your floating in embryonic fluid and is absolutley gorgeous. This is produced by Brian Grainger and is on Infraction Records. This is my release of the week and if you don't buy it then you must be a bit chicken oriental. Stunning.” Norman records
ANDREW LILES - New York Doll 2xCD (Infraction) U.S. $16.00Easily the most ambitious and cohesive Liles to date. A recording involving hundreds and spanning continents.
[INFX 013]
ULTRA MILKMAIDS & AIDAN BAKER - At home with... CD (Infraction) U.S. $12.00
Canadian Aidan Baker's pastoral guitar work shredded to glorious bits by the French. Environmental recordings paint the background with various voices and distant church bells.
[INFX 010]
BEEQUEEN - Music for the Head Ballet CD (Infraction) U.S. $12.00
Reissue, remastered with bonus track. The bonus track is quite possibly the most blissful excerpt of music by Beequeen ever. No kidding. Edition of 500.
[INFX 009]
POTTER, COLIN- See CD (Infraction) U.S. $12.002nd edition. Limited to 200 numbered copies.
[INFX 005]
ZAMMUTO - Solutiore of Stareau : Disc One CD (Infraction) U.S. $10.00
[INFX 002]
Non-Infraction / Infraction related :
ALIO DIE & FESTINA LENTE - Il Sogno Di Un Piano Veneziano A Parigi CD (Hic Sunt Leones) ITY $15.00 [HSL030] ALIO DIE & JACK OR JIVE - Mei-Jyu CD (Projekt) U.S. $15.00 [PRO 167] ALIO DIE & WERNER DURAND - Aqua Planing CD (Hic Sunt Leones) ITY $15.00 [HSL 029] CELER - Sieline 4x3"CDR (Celer) U.S. $20.00 [CELER 011]
New 6.29.09 2007 release in stock for the first time. Odd packaging alert...the four 3"CDRs here are housed in 2 pyramid shaped boxes tethered together with a bit of string. Hand-assembled and hand-painted. Limited stock and a bit difficult to pack up, but it's worth it. Price includes shipping for U.S. and Canada.
Overseas Sieline orders are $26.00 postage paid.
CELER - Engaged Touches CDR (Home Normal) U.K. $14.00 [home n002]
New 6.5.09 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! "For the second release on Home Normal Will and Dani, aka Celer, have delivered another utterly superb piece of work. Split into two halves the tracks have several distinct movements within each part. It's lovely to hear them using field recordings prominently as well and they slot into and become an essential part of these tracks. Part 1 has a classical, string-laden theme combined with the sounds of textures of travel - trains rumbling along, disembodied voices and the general chatter of being amongst other people. Almost spiritual sounding at times, it moves serenely through its 26 minute duration. Part 2 clocks in at 40 minutes and begins with a continuation of the string theme before reducing the sound back to a lovely resonant drone. Gentle, enticing and always subtle, it drifts along, flowing & meandering as it goes before shifting back into the soaring, uplifting strings again for the finale. A beautifully realised and themed album, this is a deeply impressive second release from Home Normal and another awesome release for Celer. Do not hesitate as these are limited and, I believe, have already sold out." - smallfish
These are sold out from Home Normal and most retailers. Amazing that they zipped through this pressing of 500.
CELER - Breeze of Roses CDR (Dragon's Eye) U.S. $13.00 [de5021]
New 6.5.09 "Dragon's Eye is a tremendous label so it's a real pleasure to be able to bring you this 50 minute work - and it's a beauty in every way. Celer's ability to subtly shift their sound from release to release is a skill that I admire. Dragon's Eye is much more of a minimalist imprint than some of their recent labels and her you get to enjoy at quite possibly their deepest and most stripped back. The resonant atmospheres within Breeze of Roses are superb and it's one of those pieces of music that gradually builds and flows into several distinct parts. As ever there's a sense of melody that pervades every moment of this work, but it's joined by a creeping dissonance that brings into stark relief. Over the course of the album you'll be gently massaged, lightly challenged and totally invigorated. Another brilliant release from this exceptional duo." - smallfish
Edition of 250
CELER - Nacreous Clouds CD (And/Oar) U.S. $12.00 [and/33]
Restock 4.11.09 This beautiful release features 37 short tracks of raw iridescent ambience (total time exceeding 78 minutes) reflecting the hyper-temporal nature of what are known as "nacreous clouds". And like the clouds, the tracks are quick to appear and disappear. Playback using the random shuffle mode of your CD player is highly recommended.
While this is undoubtedly an ambient release, it is unusual in that there are many short tracks instead of one or two long ones, and each of the tracks is notably "raw" in that they do not use additional processing like reverb to enhance the initial processed sound sources further.
CELER - Capri CD (Humming Conch) GER $13.00 [Conch 001]
New 4.14.09 Limited to 400 copies. Recorded in Capri, Italy. Packaged in tri-fold cardboard sheet inside plastic sleeve. “Capri” is an album in the fine tradition of long, ambient, textured recordings that you might find on the 12k or Spekk labels, except spread across 29 short pieces that somehow compress immersive ideas into much shorter segments. Instead of the hour-long recordings that so often define this sound, Celer tempers longform ambitions into short pieces of utter wonder. Drawing on elements you might recognise if you’re into Shuttle 358, Marsen Jules, Gas, Mountains et al, the shortened parameters imbue each track with an unexpected sense of transience and loss, instead of the extended contemplative listening experience you expect, you find yourself attached, removed and funnelled from each 2-3 minute track to the next with captivating results. - boomkat.com
CHALK, ANDREW - Goldfall CD (Faraway Press) U.K. $23.00 [FP 06]
Restock 3.27.09 Repressed in classic Faraway Press style. This features a die cut sleeve with 2 crossed ribbon OBI strips with Japanese text. I have no idea what it says. I can tell you that 'Goldfall' is a highly recommended recording, and that it's been quite some time since it has been in stock.
CHALK, ANDREW - The River that Flows into the Sands I CD (Faraway Press) U.K. $23.00 [FP 02]
Restock 12.8.08 The 2nd release on Faraway Press is the extraordinary River I CD. Pressed CD, handmade mini-lp sleeve, Faraway magic dust sprinkled on top. 1st in the potentially never-ending 'river that flows' series.
CHALK, ANDREW - Blue Eyes of the March CD (Faraway Press) U.K. $23.00 [No Cat. #]
11.24.08 Restock.
These new editions of 'blue eyes' are now in a moss green cover, gatefold sleeve with OBI strip in Japanese text. Fantastic! Faraway press. Stunning handmade packaging w/ onion skin OBI. Worth every single pence.
CHALK, ANDREW - Shadows from the Album Skies CD (Faraway Press) U.K. $23.00 [FP 01]
Restock 12.8.08
Faraway press. FP 01. Chalk's initial release on his boutique label.
CHALK, ANDREW & DAISUKE SUZUKI - The Days After CD (Faraway Press) U.K. $23.00 [FP 11]
Restock 12.8.08
An earlier collab. with Daisuke Suzuki originally on Three Poplars. Reissued in glorious packaging on Faraway Press.
CHALK, ANDREW & DAISUKE SUZUKI - Senshu CD (Faraway Press) U.K. $23.00 [FP 04]
Restock 12.8.08
Faraway press. New Andrew Chalk...kind of! An earlier collab. with Daisuke Suzuki under the nom 'Ghosts on Water', this was originally a super limited CDR back in '04 or so in this very deluxe hardback booklet. It's a great recording that Chalk decided to give the repress/reissue treatment and this 2nd edition is no less stunning. First 250 copies or so come in a gatefold FP sleeve. Fantastic.
CHALK, ANDREW, DAISUKE SUZUKI, NAOKO SUZUKI - Ghosts on Water CD (Faraway Press) U.K. $19.00 [FP 12]
Restock! 1.16.08
Chalk collabs. again with Suzuki & Suzuki. A sort of follow-up to the ridiculously ltd. Senshou that came out a year or so ago for 15 minutes or so and then was gone. This is another in what has to be patented (by now) lovely packaging from the Faraway Press clan. It's more of a mini-lp clocking in at around 20 minutes, thus the slightly lower price. But it's a CD and the $19 is still alot for a disc when you could just illegally download it. Right. Your conscious shouldn't mind and either should Chalk and the amazing Suzuki duo's livelihood either.
CHALK, ANDREW & DAISUKE SUZUKI - The Days After CD (Faraway Press) U.K. $23.00 [FP 11]
New 10.10.07
An older Chalk collab. again with Suzuki. This was originally released on three poplars (r.i.p. uber kollektor Mirror label) a few years back in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it limited CDR in handmade packaging. This is another in what has to be patented (by now) lovely packaging from the Faraway Press clan. It's pressed in a factory-made silver CD of audio magic and delight. Guitar drones and low-lying ground clutter along with chiming bells and singing bowls.
LOREN DENT - Empires and Milk CD (Contract Killers) U.S. $12.00 [no cat #]
New Infraction signee Loren Dent with his debut disc. Those with a predilection for Stars of the Lid will embrace 'Work Song: Holmes Mill', and admirers of the New Melancholy's poster-boy Eluvium will likely take "Masters and Slaves"¯ to their hearts. The more ambient domain of post-rock acts like Mogwai and Marconi Union could easily host "Love Song: Kinetics and Hope". Ultimately, though, sound all mapped, sources traced, what "Loren Dent" might be "about" is ineffable. But Dent is covered by his forebears: "It's too difficult to sum it up in a statement about our message. The message is like the music, maybe you have to drown in it before you can understand it." alan lockett/furthernoise.org
DOROSOTO - Sounds Look Similar 3"CDR (i, absentee) U.S. $8.00 [IA015]
New 6.28.09 "Limited to 25 copies initially. Repressed at an additional 25. Each copy is hand-made by Dorosoto and features a unique transparency from the original artwork. One of two possible designs were used on the disc prints. All music brought to life by Dorosoto April - October 2008. Equipment used: Roland Juno-60, Roland SP-808, Tascam digital 8-track, effects pedals, Roland CR-8000." This is the first edition.
KILN - Twinewheel : Lost-Sides and Dusty-Gems 1994-2005 LP (Division Sound) U.S. $15.00 Another Restock! 9.24.07 Limited to 500 numbered copies [DVS-02]
LILES, ANDREW & WANDER - The Astronomical Entomologist PIC 7" (Beta-Lactam Ring Records) U.S. $14.003.4.07 $14 for a 7inch??! Yep, but it's a picture 7inch and it's as heavy as a brick and thick as a dinner plate. Wander is Beequeen and so now Wander is doing what Beequeen used to do (ambient drone) and Liles does whatev the f*ck he wants, which in this case is a krautrock diddy. Fantastic. Limited to 150, I have a mere 3...tis been out for awhile, this will be all I get though. [mt 106]
THE WARDROBE (ANDREW LILES & TONY WAKEFORD) - Cups in Cupboards CD (Tursa) U.K. $16.00Collaboration between Sol Invictus' Wakeford and Mr. Liles. 2005. [TURSA 033]
THE WARDROBE (ANDREW LILES & TONY WAKEFORD) - A Sandwich Short CD (Tursa) U.K. $16.0012.15.06New collaboration between Sol Invictus' Wakeford and Mr. Liles. 2006. [TE 002]
TOR LUNDVALL - Insect Wings, Leaf Matter & Broken Twigs CD (Eternal Autumn Editions) U.S. $15.00New 5.27.09 "I've also released a CD privately called "Insect Wings, Leaf Matter & Broken Twigs". An odd but fitting title, this album gathers together some of my earliest ambient recordings from 1991-1994. The CD comes in a matte digipak and is limited to 300 copies." - tor lundvall
Each digipak is hand-numbered. 27 tracks total! [EAE 006]
TOR LUNDVALL - Empty City CD (Strange Fortune) U.S. $14.00In stock 5.27.09 "Tor Lundvall’s latest release “Empty City” has clearly reached an even higher plane than his previous works. Just 45 seconds into this record and I knew it was special. The description “Ghost Ambient” is an appropriate description. The music is flowing, soothing yet interesting. This is a composition that expands the boundaries of ambient music when it would seem that such limits have already been reached. Only a truly creative mind can accomplish such a feat. “Empty City” is a perfect medium to relax and meditate to; a marvelous and engaging sound that firmly holds one’s interest. While it is most definitely ambient in nature, there’s a complex character throughout that is hard to describe. This disc can be played over and over while maintaining a secure embrace on the listeners senses. An undeniably exotic, superb listen." - Sombunya (discogs.com) [SF 3]
TOR LUNDVALL - Yule CD (Strange Fortune) U.S. $10.00In stock 5.27.09 Composed and recorded between November - December 2004, except track 10 , which is recorded on the night of 24th January, 1998. [SF 4]
ADAM PACIONE - Still Life #3: Drzewo 3"CDR (Bee Eater Recordings) U.S. $8.001st release in the monthly "STILL LIFE" series. 3" CD-R Limited to 100 sequentially numbered and signed copies. Packaged in heavy clear vinyl sleeve with 2 folded inserts. Layout by A.M. Pacione. Ultraviolet photography by A.M. Pacione circa 1993. [bet: 05]
ADAM PACIONE - Still Life #4: Split at the Core 3"CDR (Bee Eater Recordings) U.S. $8.002nd release in the monthly "STILL LIFE" series. 3" CD-R Limited to 100 sequentially numbered and signed copies. Packaged in heavy clear vinyl sleeve with 2 folded inserts. Recorded during 2006-2007. [bet: 06]
DAVID TAGG - Bell Island 3"CDR (Second-Sun Recordings) U.S. $8.00"Second Sun Recordings is proud to introduce the 21MG Series. For the ambient die-hards out there who may not want to take any chances on our regular CD catalog being too varied and experimental, this is for you. An ongoing series of three-inch "white sleeping pills" that is guaranteed to be 100% ambient, for maximum aural sedation. Our recommended dosage is one 21MG per month, as the substances contained are in a "time-release" format for your ease and pleasure." [Pill - B1]
DARREN TATE - Organ of Sight CDR (Fungal) U.K. $17.00 [Fungal 027] Another new Tate!1st edition with photograph and black insert. CDR only release in clear sleeve. Tate, the see-through organ and Fungal in it's 27th form.
DARREN TATE - Small Worlds CDR (Quiet World) U.K. $17.00 [SW two] New Tate! CDR only release in clear sleeve with full color printed inserts. Tate, the lions and small worlds on quiet world.
DARREN TATE - The Elves are Coming CDR (Twenty Hertz) U.K. $17.00 [TH 013] Restock. CDR only release in jewel case with full color printed inserts. Tate and the elves.
The fine details of shipping :
If you're shopping from outside of the U.S.A. or Canada, please add $3.00 per title for the first 4 CD selections...if you buy 5 titles or more your shipping is entirely free! *The only exception to this is LP's. We do not carry many vinyls, but they are much heavier and cost a bit more to ship - so for those vinyls, please write for shipping.
1 title postage for overseas & Rest of World ($3.00)
2 titles postage for overseas & Rest of World ($6.00)
3 titles postage for overseas & Rest of World ($9.00)
4 titles postage for overseas & Rest of World ($12.00)