JOHN DWYER, RYAN SAWYER, PETER KERLIN, TOM DOLAS, BRAD CAULKINS, KYP MALONE, MARCOS RODRIGUEZ, BEN BOYE, JOCE SOUBIRAN, LAENA MYERS-IONITA, & ANDRES RENTERIA - 'MOON-DRENCHED'

Formats

• CF137CD - CD

  733102718404

• CF137NM - LP (COLOURED)

Details

**VINYL REPRESS ON LTD VIOLET VAPOUR COLOURED VINYL** The same crew as the boundary pulsing improvisation record Bent Arcana has made a trajectory shift and picked up Ben Boye along the path. The aptly-named Moon-Drenched is the second installment from these sessions and keeps a heavy-lidded late night perspective on things as it eases from the somewhat familiar liminal twilight of skittering hues of black-blue and snaking street groove, to fizzing off into the ether in pursuit of lunar prism beams heretofore unseen. The more rhythmically dialed bits here have a lysergic halo of strangeness to them, and the wispy bits between are spun of iridescent gossamer. It sounds like a frizzled message from a future just filthy with guitar hoots echoing off of neon-splattered high rises, oil-slicked waterways and skittering digital beasts. For Castle Face’s money this is the strangest slice of this last bunch of John Dwyer and his crew’s improvisations.

Tracks

1. Psychic Liberation
2. X-Cannibal?s Kiss
3. The War Clock
4. Der Todesfall
5. Get Thee To The Rookery
6. Spoofing
7. Terra Incognito

Press

John Dwyer from OSEES and his crew that
made 2020's quickly sold out Bent Arcana,
plus Ben Boye
The strangest of the batch of this run of
Dwyer and crew improv albums

Audio & Video

MAXIMUM JOY - 'STRETCH'

Formats

• 197209 - LP

  0852545003899

Details

Forty years ago, on July 8th and 9th in 1981, a group formed by the splintering of some of Bristol’s essential post punk bands, entered the hallowed studio at Berry Street in London to record their debut single. What would emerge was not only an exuberant post funk classic on the A-side, but also a wildly influential dub workout on the flipside, whose reverberations can still be heard today. Both songs have proven essential in very different ways. A focal point for the unique punk-funk that was coming together in Bristol as the bridge from the ‘70s to the ‘80s arrived, Maximum Joy was formed by Glaxo Babies multi-instrumentalist Tony Wrafter and 18-year old vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Janine Rainforth. Soon they drafted in additional Glaxo Babies in the form of drummer Charlie Llewellin and bassist Dan Catsis, along with guitarist John Waddington, fresh from The Pop Group. The group set about making a one-of-a-kind mix of funk, punk, pop, jazz, dub, soul, afrobeat and reggae; creating a brilliant charge of danceable tunes wrapped around elastic basslines and complex percussion, punctuated by melodic horns and stabs of guitar, all of it highlighting Rainforth’s naturally enthusiastic vocal style. Bursting at the seams, “Stretch” feels like it can barely be contained within the studio walls. Rainforth delivers a vocal performance that can only be found within the freedom of someone recording their first ever single. The group’s love of funk is evident on “Stretch”, but the heavy influence of dub and reggae from their surroundings shapes the moody skitter of “Silent Street”. Here, the sing-song vocals seem to drift across the heavy late night air. The two songs are wildly different, yet both could only have come from this key collection of players. Paired with the likes of The Pop Group, The Slits, The Raincoats and the On-U-Sound collective, Maximum Joy still stands out as a unique voice in the movement. Y Records head Dick O’Dell would join the sessions and give the release a warm home in the UK while legendary 99 Records in New York took on the US release since Maximum Joy made perfect sense being equal parts ESG and Liquid Liquid. This 12-inch has been a staple for DJ’s in the know since day one.

Tracks

1 Stretch
2 Silent Street / Silent Dub

Press

Audio & Video

NEGATIVLAND - 'NO BRAIN'

Formats

• SEELAND035 - 7"

  857661008797

Details

Four songs in just under nine minutes: what do they have incommon? They’ve got No Brain, and they’re the new vinyl EP from your grandparents in Negativland. Just as all those decades of Media Literacy courses finally seemed to be sinking in, along came Social Media to scramble one’s lines of sight on where all these voices are really coming from. Every tactic modern citizens used to resist the one-way feeds of Broadcast Media— from skepticism, to research, to signal jamming—is just as easily used against them in today’s all-way environment. The four songs on this record juxtapose the voices of media experts from the ancient ’90s with voices culled from the modern landscape of Social Media—from the users still operating under the old rules, to the rationalizations of tech CEOs who invented the software that’s eaten them. How does one follow the money on a free platform? Who’s got the megaphone? Can non-sequiturs exist? What takes less time to update: a website’s auction to determine which ads are being loaded onto your page, or your own perceptual mechanism making a call on everything you don’t need to know? All of this and more, made hypnotically catchy through Negativland’s time-honored use of funny noises and weird beats, could be coming soon to a nervous system that is You.

Tracks

1. Megaphone Guy
2. Mr. Nobody
3. No Brain
4. Sequitur

Press

Audio & Video

COLLEEN GREEN - 'COOL'

Formats

• HAR126 - LP

  0098787312614

• HARCD126 - CD

  0098787312621

• HARCS126 - MC

  0098787312645

Details

**Initial run of the LP will be pressed on clear w/black and white smoky swirls**Colleen Green has always been cool, but on 2015’s I Want To Grow Up, she didn’t necessarily feel it. Too young to be free of insecurities but old enough to be sick of them running her life, Green was experiencing an existential crisis. Five years and a new album later, we find her parsing out what it means to be grown-up—and realizing that it’s actually pretty cool. Opener “Someone Else” is a paean to power in which Green lets a lover know that double standards can go both ways. A groovy bass loop and zig-zagging guitar lines underscore her realization that happiness is in her own hands, and the vibe is set. Next up is the witty, catchy “I Wanna Be A Dog,” where Green celebrates the simplicity of a canine life and questions why she’s still overcomplicating her own. Dark and slinky “Highway” uses ruthless driving as a metaphor for a lifestyle that no longer interests her. Burnt out on bad feelings and ready to have fun with melodies and beats, Green enlisted producer Gordon Raphael (The Strokes) to take her songs to higher ground while keeping her lo-fi aesthetic intact. Raphael was already a fan, having caught a show in L.A. and finding himself “struck by how confident and powerful she looked, even though she was the only one onstage.” He agreed to take the gig, and together with drummer Brendan Eder and hip hop producer Aqua over a few weeks in Los Angeles, Cool was created. The album’s themes come together on the anthemic “It’s Nice to Be Nice,” Green’s reminder to herself that you get what you give, so it’s important to try and be the best person you can—a hard-won but essential lesson in the emotional maturity that defines Cool.

Tracks

Someone Else
I Wanna Be a Dog
Posi Vibes
Highway
Natural Chorus
You Don't Exist
It's Nice to Be Nice
How Much Should You Love a Husband?
I Believe in Love
Pressure to Cum

Press

Produced by Gordon Raphael, who produced the first two albums by The Strokes. First new album since 2015?s acclaimed album I Want to Grow Up, which grew her fan base significantly.

Audio & Video