400 LONELY THINGS - 'Mother Moon'- out 24th March. £10.50

      

The new album from 400 LONELY THINGS, produced by WILLIAM BASINSKI, is a dark ambient, sample-based séance to the Banning Mill - a real-life decaying "mansion" and haven for artists, freaks and misfits in the backwoods of the American Deep South in the 1970s-1990s - and an extraordinary piece of art that lived there.

An archaeological excursion in found sound - wandering through the art and memory of a real place, "Mother Moon" is an origin story for 400 Lonely Things. In the 90's, Craig Varian was fortunate enough to frequent the Mill in the years before it closed. It was here that he was exposed to the artwork of Richard Scott Hill, whose artwork "Minotauress" graces the album cover. His work both captured and fed into the Mill's sinister yet playful undercurrents of mania and depression. This album, born out of that first visit to the Mill, is an imaginary soundtrack to the many years of solitude the Minotauress spent hanging in the musty, secret winding halls of Banning Mill.

Since the days of the Mill (and Varian's subsequent purchase of "Minotauress" shortly before the Mill closed), Craig Varian, along with best friend and late musical partner Jonathan McCall, found a thread of music they'd been consistently making yet had previously failed to notice - melancholic instrumentals with weathered sampling at its core - going back to their earliest recordings in the late 1980's. Eventually, this music was called 400 Lonely Things.

Presented in a 6-panel spot-varnished digipak.

Read the full story behind the release here or order via Bandcamp to receive a bonus 44-page supplemental digital book with lots of extra stories and photographs.

SLEEP RESEARCH FACILITY / LLYN Y CWN - 'Sargo / Posidonia' - out 7 April 23
Ltd LP £17 | CD £9

        

The ultimate deep listening experience from two masters of dark ambient. A slow descent into the blackened watery abyss, where light cannot reach.

The first release from Sleep Research Facility since 2012's "Stealth" (Cold Spring) is inspired by the deep sea ocean floor. The Canadian-based composer explores notions of awareness and perception in the sub/unconscious listener. Focusing primarily on sound bereft of rhythm based energies, SRF provides an environments wherein the music adds texture to the silence. Using form without structure and concentrating on space as opposed to narrative, SRF entertains the idea that music can reside in the very fabric of sound itself. The brand new material here was created specifically for this split release.

Taking inspiration from the beautiful, but often harsh landscapes and environments of his home on Anglesey, North Wales, Llyn Y Cwn has built on the nautical theme of "Du Y Moroedd" (Cold Spring). These tracks are based on field recordings relating to the ocean, and could be seen as a companion piece to the album. 'Dale Dawn' features a recording of the dawn chorus made from the floating pontoon at Dale, Pembrokeshire. 'Pebble' includes the sound of waves crashing on a Dorset cobble beach, thousands of rocks colliding in chorus. 'Doppler Current Profiler' is based on the sound of an ADCP, an acoustic sonar instrument used to measure water currents - a 600Khz ping slowed to a heartbeat.

Limited Edition LP on audiophile black vinyl for best sound presentation. CD in mini-LP sleeve, replicating the vinyl design. The artwork features a separate front cover design with individual art for each side, making this a true split release.

B.E.F. (post-HUMAN LEAGUE / pre-HEAVEN 17) - 'Music For Stowaways'- out 21 April 23
LP Yellow £20 | LP Black £20 | CD £10

   

The first reissue of seminal early 1980's electronic recordings from the British Electric Foundation (B.E.F.), aka HEAVEN 17 / ex-THE HUMAN LEAGUE's Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, with Adi Newton (CLOCK DVA / THE FUTURE), and John Wilson (HEAVEN 17), originally a cassette-only release (1981).

• Ltd x 500 copies on 180g Yellow vinyl (via Cold Spring only)
• 180g Black vinyl
• CD in digipak

Following two groundbreaking albums ('Reproduction' and 'Travelogue'), the original line-up of Sheffield-based The Human League split in half in late 1980. The two primary musicians in the group, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, formed a new production company - the British Electric Foundation (B.E.F.) - and signed a deal with Virgin Records to write and produce up to six albums a year. The artists they were to produce would include Heaven 17, their own new band formed with vocalist Glenn Gregory.

B.E.F. would also release their own material, commencing with the music on this collection, which was issued in various permutations in 1981-82. Its initial release in March 1981 was a limited edition numbered eight song cassette entitled 'Music for Stowaways', with 'Stowaways' being a reference to the original name for the then-new Sony portable cassette player - later renamed the Walkman - of which B.E.F. were great fans. 'Music for Stowaways' was intended to be listened to on such a device. The cassette was followed by a seven song LP, 'Music For Listening To', which had a slightly different tracklisting, while other B.E.F. music was utilised for B-sides of early singles by Heaven 17.

This music was among the first recorded by Martyn and Ian directly after their departure from The Human League. Some tracks had evolved from other recordings they were working on at the time, such as 'Groove Thang' - an instrumental version of the debut single by Heaven 17 - and 'The Old At Rest', which derived from a version of 'Wichita Lineman' by Jimmy Webb, their very first recording with Glenn that would subsequently appear on B.E.F.'s 'Music of Quality and Distinction, Volume One' covers album in 1982.

Supporting musicians on 'Music For Stowaways' included Adi Newton of Clock DVA (who had been a member of The Future with Martyn and Ian pre-Human League) on the track 'Uptown Apocalyse', with John Wilson (who provided incredible guitar and bass for Heaven 17) appearing on 'Groove Thang'.

The innovative sounds heard on 'Music For Stowaways' were an inspiration to many aspiring electronic artists. In 2015, Uncut magazine included it in a list of the '50 Greatest Lost Albums of All Time'.

COIL - 'Love's Secret Domain (30th Anniversary Edition)' CD (Infinite Fog Productions) - £13

In 1991 Coil released the third of their early classic full-length albums, "Love's Secret Domain", seemingly casting aside the gloom and funereal beauty of its predecessors in favour of a painstakingly multi-layered hallucinogenic electronic beast. Unlike some of their fellow ex-industrial contemporaries' releases of the time, this wasn't an attempt at easy accessibility or (the-gods-forbid) danceability, but a vibrating psychedelic masterpiece unrivalled in their discography and still a landmark album today. "Love's Secret Domain" contains among its many highlights the Lynchian William Blake tribute of its title track and the intoxicating single 'Windowpane', original versions of the later Coil live staple 'Teenage Lightning' and the majestically warped classicisms of 'Chaostrophy'. Marc Almond guests on the typhonian 'Titan Arch' and This Heat's Charles Hayward provides some amazing drum stylings. This album produced by Coil & Danny Hyde pushed their sound ideas and probably their sanity to their very limits. Beyond the iconic Steven Stapleton (Nurse With Wound) cover art here reproduced in unseen definition the doors of perception still open wide for both long-term Coil aficionados and new-comers to this supremely innovative release to explore unknown depths. The long-overdue re-release illustrates how far ahead of the curve Coil were with the sounds on this album, which still sounds as fresh and mind-blowing as it did back in the early 90's. Fully remastered official re-release of this fan favourite with its original tracklisting. Digipak.

LUIGI TURRA - 'Enso' CD (Small Voices) - £7

With "Enso", Luigi Turra has conjured up an organic and contemplative three-track (48mins) epic, that resonates on subsequent listenings. Infused with Japanese sonic architectures and rigorous reductionist principles, this is a deeply meditative world of gently plucked instruments, and faded atmospherics, peppered with closely focused tinkling and crystalline shards to add texture. Best appreciated in a solitary environment, these restful pieces will bring calm to an engaged listener. A warm ambience with a delicate substrata of drifting tones with elegantly plucked and struck instrumentation. Turra deploys the Japanese instrumentation of Enso with the deft production skills of Gianluca Becuzzi (Kinetix, Limbo, ex-Pankow). A gracefully nuanced set of pieces. Gatefold digisleeve.

RUNES ORDER - 'Il Sonno Del Sogno' CD (Fragole Records) - £7

Italian act Runes Order (Claudio Dondo) started in 1988, and have released more than 30 releases in 3 decades. Here they present an evocative mixture of cold beauty and melancholic grace. Introspective, meditative, deep-hidden emotions, resulting in a classic Darkwave / Dark Ambient album. "Il Sonno Del Sogno" (the sleep of a dream) is the music from a performance of Element/i - Trapobana, which premiered in in a short and experimental version at the Teatro dell'Acquario of Cosenza during the Eventi d' Arte festival.

SLUMBERWOOD - 'Yawling Night Songs' CD (A Silent Place) - £7

The debut album from Italian collective Slumberwood, recorded after a long apprenticeship in the deepest crannies of the Italian underground. Drawing inspiration from artists as diverse as Werner Herzog, Nurse With Wound, Coil, Big Star, and This Heat, Slumberwood came to life years ago as a techno-industrial outfit before morphing into a completely different kind of beast. From laptops to treetops, Slumberwood slowly developed their own musical language, brewing a weird amalgamation of experimental / psych-rock-folk sounds that immediately set them apart from the sleepy Italian music scene. Recorded and produced by Jennifer Gentle's Marco Fasolo (who also features on drums) in his own Ectoplasmic Studio, "Yawling Night Songs is the best introduction possible to their Technicolor musical micro-cosmos. Gatefold digisleeve.

EDWARD KA-SPEL (THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS) - 'Permission To Leave The Temple' 10" (Lumberton Trading Company) - £16

"A note from the future to prove it exists". The brand new mini-album from the prolific stalwart of experimental music, cut from those many folds where avant-garde abstraction locks horns with molten psychedelia, kosmische sounds, electronica and an approach to songwriting never afraid to go wherever the mood takes. Attached to all of this are Edward Ka-Spel's words, where wry everyday observations can mutate or be twisted into new forms given a distinctive surrealist slant. "Ka-spel tells his story/poetry and packs it with psychedelic coloured sounds. Joyful, over the top, reflective and personal... However grim the world may be, there is always a ray of light in the music... a display of Ka-spel's talent to paint stories with sound and words... another great one" (Vital Weekly). Five tracks (27 mins), mastered by Sion Orgon. Ltd x 500 copies in full-colour sleeve.

TERRY FOX - 'Labyrinth Of The Inner Ear' CD (Auf Abwegen) - £14

"Labyrinth Of The Inner Ear" is an audio produced for the exhibition "Sonambiente". It was recorded in Berlin, April 2006 with the CD produced directly after the recording process and presented during Sonambiente, in the former Polish Embassy. This "drone" work consists of the repetitive tapping of a sightless person (artist Siegfried Saerberg) navigating his way through an urban environment. The sound of the cane, tapping or sweeping back and forth, is a constant in the composition; it ceases only when Siegfried stops, e.g. at an interesting acoustical space, for a ride in a public transport. Location interpretations can be ascertained by the sounds surrounding the steady central position of the cane; an alley, a busy shopping district, the relative quietness of a back street, a park etc. Terry Fox (1943-2008) was one of the leading pioneers of American Body Art and Conceptual art. He became famous in the 70's with performances in which he used his own body as a medium for exploring often extreme physical and psychological experiences. With his lifelong, innovative exploration of sound and space he was also one of the seminal figures in contemporary Sound Art. In his later years quiet sounds at the limit of audibility and silence became more and more prominent, using the elemental forms of human existence to explore the possibilities of sculpture and extend its limits. Ltd x 300 copies in a Braille-embossed, 6-panel DVD-size digipak, with liner notes and photographs documenting the piece.

IKON - 'On The Edge Of Forever - 20th Anniversary Edition' 2 x CD (Dark Vinyl) - £16

Ikon are one of the oldest members of the Gothic / New Wave scene; inspired by bands like Joy Division and New Order. Founded in 1993 in Melbourne from the ashes of Death In The Dark, their mixture of Goth Rock, Post-Punk, Darkwave and Neofolk is as versatile as it is consistent. This special edition release celebrates the 20th anniversary of their 4th album "On The Edge Of Forever". It contains the studio album in a newly remixed and remastered version, plus a massive bonus CD, featuring a lot of unreleased material and rare B-sides. Lineup: Chris McCarter, Dino Molinaro (Chiron), Anthony Griffiths and David Burns. Ltd x 400 copies in a 6-panel digisleeve.

STRAFE F.R. - 'Octagon Sphere' LP (Auf Abwegen) - £19

The new album by Strafe F.R. (Strafe Für Rebellion), the avant-garde veterans hailing from Düsseldorf. "Octagon Sphere" is comprised of four pieces recorded 2020-2021 at the group's own studio. The work features heavily-treated female vocals and includes rhythmic patterns and electronic sounds contributed by Detlef Klepsch (Keit). The overall atmosphere is tense and moody, both dark and uplifting at the same time. "Octagon Sphere" is the sister release to last year's "Soundless Sphere" - both albums are tied together by rhythmic alchemy and sound manipulation in highest detail. Mastered by Kai Blankenberg at Skyline Tonfabrik. Ltd x 300 copies in a full colour sleeve designed by Jon Wozencroft (Touch). Comes with download card.