tUMULt { o l d n e w s }

o l d n e w s

03/19/09

Hail once again tUMULtuous ones!

I usually start these WAY too infrequent updates with some mention of the insane amount of time that has passed since the last one, and apologies for failing to deliver a steady stream of peritnent tUMULt news, so consider this that. Yep, another year and change has passed, and the dearth of news on the tUMULt site is no way indicitive of what's been going on around these parts, which is as always A LOT.

Most fans of the label realize that i also own and run aQuarius recOrds, so anyone who subscribes to the aQ new arrivals list has no doubt been privvy to all the exciting tUMULt action and all the new tUMULt stuff that's come out over the last year. But just in case, here's a recap and a quick rundown for folks who may have somehow missed out. One new development of note, is an in-the-works redisign of the website, which will hopefully make updating and adding stuff WAY easier, incorportaing all that new fangled crap like blogs and twitters and myspaces... i know i know... but i also know how important it is for you to get your tUMULt, in every way, shape and form imaginable.

It always seems to me that these news transmissions need to be looooooong, mostly cuz i'm making up for a year plus of near silence, but besides a couple important items, and a list of new releases, everything you need can be found on the just fully updated tUMULt site. So no need to ramble, let's get right to it, here's what's BRAND new:

OUT RIGHT NOW!!

OVENS "s/t"
SF based grind pop wunderkinds. Minute long bursts of total perfect power pop genius. Heavy and shredding and hook filled and melodic, easily one of the two best pop records you'll here this year (or any year). Weezer meets Guided By Voices meets The Beatles meets old Bee Gees meets the Fucking Champs, with a singer who sounds like the skinny guy from They Might Be Giants, catchy and funny and crunchy and punky and totally insanely addictive. 44 songs (3 albums) packed onto one cd, maybe my moist listened to record recently, and for good reason, check it out HERE.

THE MEMORIES ATTACK "s/t"
What's with all this pop?!?! What can I say, tUMULt may get pegged as a black metal label, but long before there was BM, there was pop, and few do it better than these guys, the OTHER of the two best pop records you'll here this year or any year, hailing from the pop mecca Halifax, Nova Scotia, and featuring one member of Eric's Trip, TMA are buzzy, catchy, lo-fi pop straight out of 1995, big crushing choruses, lots of jangle, hooks hooks hooks, all tripped out and blissy and druggy and slightly psychedelic, but so goddamn catchy, a total thrill and an honor to be able to put this out. A split release with Canadian label NoYEs Records, read more about it HERE.

HABSYLL "MMVIII"
Crushing slow motion, abstract ultra mega doooooooom from France. Khanate, Moss, Monarch, Bunkur, take those bands and slooooow the sound down even further, pull it apart, spread it out like some fucked up exapanse of plodding, barely propulsive heaviness, some sort of 21st century doomic minimalism, lumbering, pummeling and incredibly HEAVY, but somehow sort of beuatiful as well. Difficult listening for sure, but everything truly great is. Featuring members of one of my OTHER favorite bands THE FANTASTIKOL HOLE. A co-release with FIVE other labels: At War With False Noise, Obscure Sombre, PsycheDOOMelic, Skyr and Odio Sonoro! Submit HERE.

OUT SINCE THE LAST UPDATE!!

CREBAIN "night of stormcrow"
SF one man black metal outfit. Shared a split with Leviathan. The first demo finally available on cd, remastered, with all new artwork, and bonus tracks in the form of rehearsals from a pre-Crebain Gauderon Dherg. Where as lots of tUMULt black metal is freaked out and bizarre, Crebain is buzzing and furious, intense and technical. It's a crime this guy doesn't rule the BM underground. Check it out HERE.

PYHA "The Haunted House "
The debut recording from this Korean one man black metal band. Who just so happened to be a 14 year old seventh grader when this was recorded. Unbelievably grim Burzumic buzz. The demo received a TEN in terrorizer and you'll understand why. Burzum meets Abruptum but even more harsh and atmospheric. Anti war, anti military outsider individualistic blackness that destroys any other BM you've heard. What the fuck were YOU doing when you were 14 years old?! And three more records in the can, hopefully coming soon... More HERE.

LIKE A KIND OF MATADOR "Halfway To Dangerous "
A mysterious doom prog juggernaut from the UK. Epic, crushing ambience, flutes and gongs and sleigh bells and of course soul crushing riffs. Long overdue but well worth the wait. Go HERE.

VARGHKOGHARGASMAL "Drowned In Lakes "
Wooden metal from Germany. Stumbling and confusional. Not so much metal as some strange woodland surf flecked krautrock, but wrapped in blackness and stange FX. Still haven't quite figured out how to accurately describe this, other than to say it fucking destroys. Read about it HERE.

AND STILL COMING SOON!! (LOTS OF NEW ADDITIONS!!)

AMOCOMA "go to hell "
Reissue of this out of print cd-r, murky and muddy washed out WOLD like black metal from this SF one man horde. Blurred and bleary and shoegazey and shimmery, a gloriously washed out hypnotic buzz, more entrancing and mesmerizing than blasting and thrashing, still plenty black and buzzy. New artwork and two bonus tracks, more HERE.

DIAMATREGON "crossroad "
Record number three from this French black metal horde. A concept record of sorts, influenced heavily by THE BLUES, hence, Crossroad. Buzzing, blasting, blurred black metal fury, but with a strange melodic undercurrent, close listening does in fact reveal some blues, but those blues are buried beneath a roiling black sea of furious guitars, wild drum blasts and howled vokills, gloriously grim, noise drenched and black. Whow ould have thought that members of distorto psych rockers the Gunslingers and avant alchemical post rockers Aluk Todolo were capable of such black brutality... IT'S HERE.

TOMB OF... "...the first funeral "
Piano driven blackened doom, like Windham Hill meets ultra depressive doom, hard to explain but this stuff is so dark and haunting and heavy with no guitars, just voice, piano and synthesizers, two long out of print cassettes compiled on once cd, with extra tracks, all remastered and with extra tracks, lots more HERE.

MASTERY "Barbaric Usurpation Of The Hypereonic Black Metal Throne "
Still more blackness oozes forth from the fertile blood saoked soil beneath the Bay Area. First there was Leviathan, Crebain, Draugar, now comes the one horde known simply as Mastery, who, when not supplying bass and vocals for local black metallers Horn Of Dagoth, spews forth a dizzying, blasting, ultra brutal, ultra raw, old school, frenzied and frenetic blackness, buzzing and Burzumic, thrashing and chaotic, pounding and primitive. Prepare yourself for Mastery's Barbaric Usurpation Of The Hypereonic Black Metal Throne. Two discs collecting every Mastery recording to date! BOW DOWN.

SMORZANDO "Smrad "
Gorgeous haunting depressive blackness from Switzerland. Twisted and creepy and beautiful and otherworldly. Another out of print tape reissued with extra tracks and all sorts of new stuff, check out more here.

TERMINAL CHEESECAKE "box "
Heavy, druggy, tripped out, fucked up, dubby, spacey, far out weirdness, Terminal Cheesecake have no peers when it comes to creating damaged psych rock metal dub space rock. Or whatever you want to call it. These guys make some of the most unique, head spinning sounds you've ever heard. Spawned from the same scene that spit out Godflesh, Head Of David, Napalm Death, Skullflower and the like, these guys took the same sort of elements, got super baked, and proceeded to weave some of the most gloriously psychedelic heaviness EVER. A long in the works box set containing EVERYTHING ever released by these guys, as well as tons of extras, live tracks, unreleased jams and whatever else we can dig up... that's all here.

OVSKUM "s/t "
Breathtaking, mysterious, shoegazey, slowcore-d black metal from Italy, first proper cd, imagine a black metal Mazzy Star and you might be getting close, lots more here.

HAVE A NICE LIFE "deathconcsiousnes "
Beautiful, weird as fuck and mysterious, heavy and doomy and creepy and a bit blackened... some of the most fucked up far out sounds i've ever heard, Have A Nice Life... Two discs, jam packed with dark blissed out shoegazey, new wave-y, slightly metallic nearly perfect pop flecked black metal abstract beauty. WAY more here.

NEMO "discography "
Head spinning, confusional, ultra fast, speaker shredding 8bit hyper grind. Lightning speed drum machines, video game samples, crushing riffage, shrieked vokills and all sorts of bizarre bleeps and blips and buzzing, turn Nemo's metallic grind into some sort of grindmetal alien video game soundtrack. This stuff is so nuts it's kind of hard to even describe. If I was making a horror/alien invasion/splatter flick, the is the music I would want as the soundtrack. Think some fucked up mix of the Locust, Orthrelm, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Crom Tech, Man Is The Bastard, Space Invaders, Galaga, Missle Command, Joust and Rastan. Or the best death metal video game they never made for the Commodore 64! Fucking great! Cd compilation collecting everything they ever recorded... that too can be found here.

BERKOWITZ LAKE AND DAHMER " MDP "
Finally to see the light of day, latest from these electronic experimentalists, drone and buzz, glitch and warble, swoon and shriek, all woven into some organic frightening beautiful thing. Lots more HERE.

DEAD REPTILE SHRINE "tbd 2cd "
Brand new double disc from these Finnish misanthropes. Bizarre blackness from the forests of Finland. A sprawling confusional epic. You have been warned. Follow the dark path HERE.

TIERMES "tbd "
The newest release from this mysterious, mystical, magickal, industrial ambient drone outift from Finland, unfurling a gloriously blackened world of glistening shimmer and Krautrock dirge, nestled amidst breathtaking expanses of crystalline drone and hypnotically buzzing rumble. Dark sonic rituals, ceremonies of drifting tribal minimalism, abstract dronefolk sacraments and shamanic explorations of shadowed and starless otherworlds. Fall freely into a swirling, soul swallowing black oblivion... Discover much more HERE.

V/A "Unblack and Blessed "
A killer compilation of UN-black metal, WHITE metal, Christian black metal, whatever you want to call it, it's twisted and fucked up and buzzy and baffling and amazing. Two discs, the best UNblack metal we've heard in the last few years... HERE.

V/A "I'm Sorry And I Miss You... "
A black metal reinterpretaion of SLint's SPiderland, Leviathan, Draugar, Nachtmystium and 3 more... read all about it HERE.

And yeah, there's some other stuff brewing, but gotta have something to write about next time...

Gonna have to cut this short as i'm leaving in about 2 hours for texas, for south by southwest, where aQuarius is having out very first showcase, partnering up with WFMU in new jersey, 14 bands, two stages, including the first ABSU show in nearly 8 years, and an ACTUAL tUMULt band performing live!!! That's right, OVENS!! Who will destroy. Along with Absu and Ovens, we have Obits, Woven Hand, Wildildlife, Elm, Prizehog, Slough Feg, Renderers, Major Stars, Gunslingers, Gary War, XYX and mayyors!! Should be amazing. It's at Spiro's, 611 Red River Street, starting at 7 pm, tomorrow, Friday, March 20th. If you're in Austin definitely come by, and if not, you can listen to it live at WFMU.org!

So that's about it for now. Keep an eye out for a revamped tUMULt site,tons of amazing new music, more news and more regular updates (the site is 90% up to date, just the sound page is yet to be updated, but all the tUMULt stuff can be heard here, just do a label search on tUMULt) and some awesome surprises. Thanks for sticking with me, and us, the label loves you, the bands love you, and you know we would be nothing without all of you.!

All hail the tM faithful.

More soon. I Promise!

xoxoxo

...andee
tUMULt OverlOrd

09/22/07

Hail once again tUMULtuous ones!

Looking back over the last few news updates, I'm feeling a bit foolish, and embarrassed, pretty much every one begins with something like "I can't believe it's been a year since the last update!" or something to that effect, and it's true, every time... and again, we find ourselves in a similar situation, this time it's been almost two years since this little old news pages has been dusted off and gussied up, and for that I do apologize. It wasn't for lack of trying... okay, well maybe a little bit for lack of trying, but a lot of it had to do with all the craziness that has been going on. And while they may not have been reflected on the news page, or in the non-existent email updates, it is definitely reflected elsewhere on the site, and in all the amazing music that has been oozing out of tUMULt HQ these last many months.

Most of you are probably hip to the fact that I also run a record store called aQuarius here in San Francisco. And if you're not, check it out, not just for tUMULt stuff, but all kinds of weird and wonderful music. But if you have been checking the AQ site or receiving the updates, you probably know all about the tUMULt stuff that has been going on over the last couple years. If not, we'll get you all caught up right here right now.

Way back when, I proclaimed 2005 to be the year of the Anus, but as with most things tUMULt related, things move a little slower than normal (5 years in this case, from beginning to glorious end), so it wasn't until 2006 that my glorious proclamation was in fact proven quite prescient, with the release of the massive and mindblowing complete collected works of Japan's damaged doomlords Solar Anus. All three albums, plus an unreleased bonus track, on two cds, with eye popping collaged artwork and a super deluxe diecut slip cover. And inside, some of the heaviest, spaciest, most far out space rock acid doom groove sludge you've ever heard, from the primitve thud of the first record, to the tranced out freakiness of the third, this is pretty much an utterly untouchable slab of monumental heaviness and glorious fucked-up-ness.

The other BIG release, another one that was in the works for years, was the two cd DRONE RECORDS compilation, collecting a bunch of gorgeous, previously vinyl only, and long out of print 7" recordings from one of our favorite labels in the world. Just have a look at the lineup: Maeror Tri, Alio Die, Dual, Reynols, Spear, Yen Pox, Aube, Inade, Tarkatak, Toy Bizarre, Francisco Lopez, Osso Exotico, Ultra United and more. An amazing assemblage of muted minimalism, packaged in a super striking, ultra minimal mini gatefold sleeve....

And as if that weren't enough, recently, again after some unforseen delays, the latest from Nordvargr / Drakh, the men who were once partners in black ambient dronelords MZ412. Together again, weaving elaborate and ornate doomscapes of drone and riff, a record rejected by a handful of dark ambient labels for having too much guitar and being too heavy. Need I say more... In a gorgeous 6 panel digipak designed by badass artist / graphic designer Paul Mccarroll (who also does time in outsider ambient metal horde Scald!)

There might have been more, but some releases got delayed a bit cuz lots of tUMULt classics sold out and needed to be re-pressed (which means all kinds of action on deck!), and are thus available again:

Leviathan's Verrater, the release that started it all, a 2cd collection of all the best tracks from the 15 or so full length demos, no longer $80 on ebay we're happy to report...

Another eBay outrage is also available again at a nice price, Leviathan's split with fellow Bay Area black metal misanthrope Crebain...

And still more out of print goodies back in print:

Circle's legendary US debut, the ultra hypnotic Andexelt.

The damaged freaked out blackness of Draugar's From Which Hatred Grows

The double cd odds and ends collection from Finland's forest freaks Avarus.

Dead As Dreams, one of the greatest black metal records EVER, from defunct SF horde Weakling

Some other news of note, the tUMULt version of Harvey Milk's Courtesy And Good Will Toward Men, in the super deluxe mini lp gatefold style sleeve is no longer, the record was snapped up by Relapse, and reissued as a double cd with a bonus live disc. The packaging is not quite as cool, but it's still one of the weirdest and most beautiful heavy records ever made. So if you don't own it, for god's sake man TRACK IT DOWN, BUY IT. LISTEN TO IT. AND BOW BEFORE THE MAJESTY OF THE MILK!!

Also, the Brainbombs 7" Stigma Of The Ripper is out of print, but is now available on a cd collection of singles (the second volume) on Polly Maggoo records. And need I tell you, a Brainbombs singles comp is like a velvet wrapped, gore soaked anvil to the head. Amazing.

So that's what's been going on in a nutshell. Check elsewhere on the tUMULt site for more on all of those releases, new sound samples, the usual Bush bashing and whatever else I've had time to stick up there. Oh and of course, an unbelievable list of upcoming releases. I'm still in the process of getting them all posted, but will try to soon. Here are some of the highlights:

OUT ANY DAY NOW!!

CREBAIN "Night Of Stormcrow"
SF one man black metal outfit. Shared a split with Leviathan. The first demo finally available on cd, remastered, with all new artwork, and bonus tracks in the form of rehearsals from a pre-Crebain Gauderon Dherg. Where as lots of tUMULt black metal is freaked out and bizarre, Crebain is buzzing and furious, intense and technical. It's a crime this guy doesn't rule the BM underground. Check it out HERE.

OUT SOON!!

PYHA "The Haunted House "
The debut recording from this Korean one man black metal band. Who just so happened to be a 12 year old seventh grader when this was recorded. Unbelievably grim Burzumic buzz. The demo received a TEN in terrorizer and you'll understand why. Burzum meets Abruptum but even more harsh and atmospheric. Anti war, anti military outsider individualistic blackness that destroys any other BM you've heard. What the fuck were YOU doing when you were 12 years old?! More HERE.

V/A "Unblack And Blessed "
A massive double disc collection of some of the most crucial and essential unblack metal of the last few years. That's right, Christian black metal. Makes no sense, but it might once you lay your ears on some of this stuff. Absolutely some of the most individual, abstract, experimental black brilliance I've ever heard. More HERE.

And if you can believe it, lots more still to come after all that madness... but you'll just have to wait and see.

Sorry this is so long but lots has been going on.
I'll be opening a new wing of tUMULt, a sublabel maybe you'd call it, to release lost eighties metal classics. HEAVY RESCUE will be the new home for some of the most amazing metal you've never heard, rescuing classics that have permanently burned themselves into our ears, and hearts and souls. Hopefully this will be a joint endeavor with my partner in AQ (although he was pushing to call the label HAIR SPRAINED...).

We had our hearts set on two specific bands, one, the UK's Rogue Male, but we just discovered that both the Rogue Male records are already being re-issued. The other, is my ALL TIME favorite eighties metal band, which is saying a lot since that's what i grew up on and still love. That band is Pandemonium from Alaska. Three pretty much perfect records on Metal Blade, all out of print for WAY TOO LONG. I've already talked to one of the guys in the band, and it looks like it could happen. But you know what, I almost don't even care if it comes out on HR/tUMULt (although I would be honored and ecstatic), I just want people to hear those records, so even if I don't end up doing them, I'm sure as shit gonna help those guys make it happen. When you hear these records you'll totally understand....

And just cuz some folks have asked, here's some stuff that's been constantly in the headphones pretty much nonstop lately (and in some cases for YEARS!):

Leaving Trains - Kill Tunes
Leaving Trains - Fuck
Lee Harvey Oswald Band - A Taste Of Prison
Editors - An End Has A Start
Redd Kross - Third Eye
Strangulated Beatoffs - Days Of Our Lives
Strangulated Beatoffs - s/t
Strangulated Beatoffs - Greatest Hits
Strangulated Beatoffs - Reverse CHild Psychology
Vorak - Rhetoric Of The Supermen
Acrimony - Bong On- Live Long!
Pandemonium - Heavy Metal Soldiers
Pandemonium - Hole In The Sky
Pandemonium - The Kill

Finally on a more personal note, the wedding compilation. Most of you probably don't even remember, but yes, it's been sequenced, and mastered. I'm still working on the artwork. But no, Heather and I are not yet married. We're working on it though. I swear. And the comp and the wedding will both happen soonish. Doing everything in my power. Thanks again to the bands, now not for just getting us songs, but for being so patient. Check out the lineup:

BERKOWITZ LAKE & DAHMER - Wedding March
LESSER - When It Comes To Fidelity, Birds Beat Out Mammals Nearly 10 to 1
JCHURCH - Trehouse Of Love
DIAMATREGON - I Drank The Blood OF The Black Snake
MATMOS - A Handfast
THE QUAILS - Easy (live)
EIKENSKADEN - Heather Wearing A Wedding Dress...
BURMESE - Babysitter
REEKS AND THE WRECKS - Cha Cha
STEVE VON TILL - Can I Sleep In Your Arms Tonight
THE AUSTERITY PROGRAM - Song 15
OCS - I Guess We Can't Hang Out
MOUNTAIN GOATS - You And Your Latin Jazz
NOISEGATE - Modoc Plateau
ALGER HISS - Mason Jar
HALE ZUKAS - Forest Fantasy
BYRAM ABBOTT - Bell
SUNBURNED HAND OF THE MAN - Soft Hustle
THE HUSBANDS - Ain't That Lovin Ya Baby
THE ANAKSIMANDROS - Anaksimandros Love Theme
KAWABATA MAKOTO - Pledge Of Love
IRR. APP. (EXT.) - A Marriage Processional
BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL - Second Shining Earth
MYLES OF DESTRUCTION - Ghost
AUTODIDACT - Meditations On A Series Of Anotomically Explicit Drawings By Phobe Gloeckner
DRAUGAR - Conversations Between Time And Death
THE INDIGNATERIES - Blank/Pain Lullaby
ANTONY MILTON - Saline
HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE - Vexation
LOREN CHASSE - Fantasy Emanation 1-4
TRACK STAR - The Party
THUJA - Red Branches
JIM HAYNES - Castor And Pollux
7000 DYING RATS - Mechanized Reaping (Burning Farm)
HWYL NOFIO - Surreal Cathedral
CASTRO - Talk To Me
SKULLFLOWER - Whipping Post (A wedding Song)
GREG WEEKS - Summer Burns Away
SOLAR ANUS - Fuzakerunjyane
TROUM - Dat Du Mien Leevsten Buest
NOXAGT - Wounded Pride: All My Love (I'm Gonna Make You Know)
REYNOLS - Ornivo Romantico Surido
HATEWAVE - Face-fucked
BERKOWITZ LAKE & DAHMER - Beast With Two Backs
DIE ELEKTRISCHEN - Hochzeit
DJ JESTER - Matriphony
GUAPO - Socrates Drank The Conium
GOLDEN HOTEL - Judah
LEVIATHAN - Withered Upon Her Kingdom Of Was
SOULED AMERICAN - Ringside Suite
WORMS - Heaven
YOUNG PEOPLE - Lifting Again
CIRCLE - Aarniometsa
I AM SPOONBENDER - Secret Everything (Feel Spectre Mono Marriage Mix)
THE FUCKING CHAMPS - All The Kids With Stereovision Pt. 1 + 2
HRVATSKI - Dom
ROB CROW - Unrelated
PAINE - Inhale-on
OXBOW - The Valley

Not sure I could've imagined a more amazing group of musicians. And while these comps are meant for friends and family, and for the bands of course. When they're done, we'll figure out a way to make them available here. Maybe not for sale, but we'll see...

Okay, I hate to jinx myself, but here's to more regular updates and lots more new music!

Thanks to everyone for digging tUMULt, and all the amazing bands that sail with her.

I love you all.

xoxoxo

...andee
tUMULt OverlOrd

01/18/05

Hail once again tUMULtuous ones!

Holy crap, it's been a year and a half since this website / news page was last updated. Not sure how that happened. Well, actually I am. Let me explain briefly.

It's been a rough couple years. Lots of good stuff, but LOTS of bad. Last Christmas my Dad passed away after years of being sick and even after a kidney transplant. It wasn't a surprise exactly, but that doesn't make it any less difficult to go through. And then not soon after that my Mom had a stroke. Happy to report that my Mom is doing a whole lot better and as seems to often be the case with those sorts of things, tragedy does indeed bring the best out in people and has definitely helped us as a family.

But a few good things did happen since we last... um ... spoke. I became the proud owner of aQuarius Records, the store I have worked at for a decade now. Pretty exciting, but a whole lot of work, which leads me to....

The fact that the label was a huge stress, and an extra bunch of stuff to worry about on top of the store and all the other aspects of my life. I decided the best thing to do was to probably just fold the label and move on. But the more people I told, the more those people bugged me and badgered me and basically foced me to reconsider. SO... tUMULt is alive and well. For now. But with a much more limited release schedule. And I had to make a few tough decisions.

The main thing being the cancellation of the picture disc series. My apologies to all the bands. I had a super good connection for having picture discs made, but they disappeared and suddenly the discs were going to cost triple what I had planned. But if I do figure out a way, I may try to make it happen. I do after all, have 4000 sleeves piled precariously above my head at work.

So anyway, thanks for being so patient. A lot of long-in-the-works projects are finally seeing the light of day this year, including a few new surprises. So again, thanks to all the bands and everybody for being so patient with me. I love you all.

Okay, enough of that, let's get to the goods!

out in a few weeks!!!!

REEKS AND THE WRECKS "Knfe Hits"
An old drum kit. Homemade amps. A dented old trombone. A bucket and a handful of firecrackers. The Reeks make a sound that is otherworldly. Dark and stumbling, folk-flecked basement blues. A mix of woozy slide guitar, swampy trombone, sparse and erratic percussion, tape hiss, amp buzz, shortwave interference and dark doomy brilliance. Like a ghostly, indie rock New Orleans funeral jazz band or Roland S. Howard fronting the Dead C. Haunting, mesmerizing, gorgeously raucous, dreamily creepy and absolutely unlike anything you have ever heard. You can read all about the new record HERE.

AVARUS "ruskea timantti"
This double cd collects the early recorded works of the mysterious Finnish free folk collective Avarus. Previously released as limted run cd-r's and 7"s (in tiny runs of 50-200 copies), these tracks are a tantalizing glimpse into the mist shrouded musical world of Finnish underground music, equal parts the hypno rock of fellow countrymen Circle, the pagan ritualism of The Wicker Man, the droning throb of Faust, the propulsive rhythm of Can, and the lo-fi clatter and skree of the Dead C... Check it out HERE.

Recent releases!!!!
(check the catalog page)

PROFESSOR "The ACADEMIZER ep"
Fierce and furious, stumbling and blasting drunkenly like a grinding blackened metallic juggernaut. Four tracks of crushing grind, pummelling crush and grinding pummel. Heavy and noisy and fucking great! Rumour was, that Professor was maybe a joke. But if that's true, this is some sick joke. Fans of Carcass, Drop Dead, grindcore, black metal, and all things heavy owe it to themselves to enter the auditorium, and bow before the Professor!! Read all about it HERE.

DRAUGAR "...From Which Hatred Grows"
More malevolent and hateful black metal from right here in SF. Continuing San Francisco's legacy of grim and true black metal (WEAKLING, LEVIATHAN, etc...), Draugar spews Burzumic mayhem and droning, buzzing evil, but with his unique melodic bent and penchant for acoustic guitars, but fear not, it doesn't get much more grim than this! Look HERE.

EIKENSKADEN "665.999"
Thick and fuzzy and ultra distorted black metal weirdness from France. Totally maniacal, quirky and frenzied, but with gorgeous melodies, classical piano, baroque sounding keyboards, frantic, violent drum programming and ragged gasping vocals. More info HERE.

Later this year!

LIKE A KIND OF MATADOR

Huge crushing, pounding prog drone doom, with flutes! Heavy and lovely at the same time, Pulverizing yet pretty, pummelling yet precious. The best new band in the world right now. Fans of Boris, Corrupted, Earth, Sunn 0))) will be in dirge heaven! Read more here

And this year for sure!!!! It's the YEAR OF THE ANUS
(look here)

SOLAR ANUS
"Skull Alcoholic: The Complete Solar Anus"

Crushing, stumbling, space-trance doom....You have been warned.

And remember you can hear all this stuff, new, old, and soon to come right here.

Oh yeah, and if you care, I AM still getting married. Really. Maybe even this year. And the wedding comp is nearing completion. 4 discs! I am so moved and honored. Thanks to everyone for contributing. Means so much to me. Sorry to keep you waiting.

So, that's it for now. Thanks again for being patient, and thanks to everyone who bought records or emailed me or is in any way doing their part to keep music interesting and intense.

Hope all is well. More soon. And by soon, THIS TIME I actually mean soon, and not a year or two. Promise. Really. I do.

xoxoxo

...andee
tUMULt overlord

07/27/03

Hail once again tUMULtuous ones!

Boy has it been a long time. A really long time. My apologies. Besides a slight bit of laziness and a whole lot of too-much-work, a lot of crazy stuff has been going on. Some of this is personal, so if you don't give a shit, and all you really care about is the rock, then skip down a little and check out all the amazing new stuff that's out now or will be coming out soon...

I was completely devastated to hear about the death of my friend Orion, who plays guitar for the amazing THE REEKS AND THE WRECKS (coming soon on tUMULt). He and his girlfriend were struck and killed by a drunk driver. Not only are the Reeks one of the most amazing bands I have ever heard, but Orion is absolutely one of the nicest, sweetest people I have ever known. My condolences go to his family and friends. And my undying hatred and loathing to the motherfucker responsible. At this point, after years of ads, and discussion, and needless deaths, drunk driving is absolutely unforgivable, and ANYONE who leaves a party and gets in their car drunk, deserves to fucking die or rot in prison forever. On a simiarly sad note, Scott, the drummer for the mighty Karp and more recently the Whip, was also the victim of a drunk driver and was killed. Totally tragic. Makes me really sad.

As I mentioned a while back, probably the last time I sent out this newsletter/updated the website, I spent a couple weeks in Finland, hanging out and recording with CIRCLE, eating Finnish pizza, seeing Satyricon and Khold, and buying lots and lots of records. There are lots of photos and good stories and even some pretty cool music. The music is already on the sounds page to check out, but as soon as I can, I will get the photos and trip diary stuff up on the website. Promise. Thanks for being patient.

Also had a bit of surgery on my nose. To help me breathe better (and consequently sleep better and feel better) and darned if it didn't do the trick. Highly recommended. Even made me snore less!!!

And finally, thanks to everyone for their patience. And for all the orders and all the support. My response time has been a bit slower lately with mailorder, and website updates, email questions and some other stuff, due to a massively increased workload due mostly to some exciting new developments at my job. I'm actually in the process of buying the store I've worked at for the last 10 years! Should be awesome, but for now, it has me running around like crazy and trying to get everything sorted out and taken care of. So thanks. A ton!

Okay, enough of all that crap, on to the rock.

OUT NOW!!!!

SKULLFLOWER "Exquisite Fucking Boredom"
I've said it before, but I will say it again. I am so completely honored and utterly psyched to be releasing the new Skullflower! One of my all time favorite bands, and one of the few bands I am an obsessive completist about. And for good reason. Everything they have released is completely essential and totally godlike! And this new one is no different. The first Skullflower record in 7 years! SF mainman Matthew Bower has been recording as Sunroof! these last few years, exploring fuzzed out drones and extended psychedelic ragas, but it was only a matter of time before Skullflower would rise from the dead, wieilding crushing riffs in clenched fists and take up like they never even left. The devastating Skullflower pummel you know and love, but tempered with Bower's more recent experiments in fuzzed out bliss. You can read all about the new record HERE. Also keep an eye here, and on the tour page, 'cause Sunroof! is coming to the US with brothers in drone Vibracathedral Orchestra. Haven't gotten the itinerary yet, but I do know they will be playing on Tuesday, September 16th from 3pm-6pm, live on tUMULT pal Brian Turner's show On WFMU. See http://www.WFMU.org for more information.

BURMESE "A Mere Shadow And Reminiscence Of Humanity"
San Francisco's grinding masters of club smashing, instrument torturing, crowd baiting, ass kicking sludge return with a brand new full length. Slower, meaner and even scarier than their last record, which is saying something! Since -that- record was a huge head caving chunk of crushing, fearsome, bass heavy musical brutality. Now a four piece, with two bass players and TWO drummers, and an unhealthy obsession with Whitehouse, Burmese rule the Bay Area, and soon the world, with an iron fist, and balls of steel, obliterating all in their path. Check it out HERE. CD is available now. LP version will be here soon. Also we have copies of the -other- new Burmese record, "White", a tribute/homage to Whitehouse. So difficult, and so good.

BRAINBOMBS "Stigma Of The Ripper"
The final blast of noisy, swampy garage-sludge frome these ultraviolent, misanthropic musical legends. Quite possibly the BEST band to ever come out of Sweden! Two tracks that totally destroy. A glorious swansong. On UNBELIEVABLY THICK white vinyl. Limited to 500! Read more about it HERE. BRAINBOMBS R.I.P..

COMING SOON!!!!
(check the future page)

HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE "The August Engine"
The new Hammers Of Misfortune LP will be ready in a few weeks. The CD is coming out on an Italian label called Cruz Del Sur, and we'll have those when they're finally ready. But the LP's will get here first and they will be amazing. Not only is the new Hammers record utterly fantastic, the sleeves are gorgeous, 3 color printed chipboard. So nice. Should have 'em in a few weeks.

THE REEKS AND THE WRECKS "Knife Hits"
Finally, the first and sadly final recording from this amazing Northwestern ramshackle ensemble. Rickety, stumbling, punk rock, funereal, dirge-y basement blues splatter with clattery percussion and moaning trombone. That's right, fucking trombone! First 500 will come in hand-branded wooden sleeves.

SOLAR ANUS "Skull Alcoholic: The Complete Solar Anus"
Yes. You will finally know. And understand. Stumbling space-trance-doom godliness from Japan.

LEVIATHAN / CREBAIN - Split
tUMULt is now home to the unholy trinity of San Francisco true black metal. Two thirds of that trinity team up here to bring you this unholy blast of utter grimness and cult blackness. The double disc LEVIATHAN collection "Verräter" came out not too long ago. Since then, Leviathan has a new record on Moribund, with more on the way. This is all new material including a Von cover! This is Crebain's first official release and it's a brutal and hateful, buzzing and crushing, completely brilliant debut.

SORE THROAT
A collection of (almost) everything released by these grinding, thrashing, irreverent, snot-nosed crusty punk rock miscreants. Lots of songs (as in hundreds), all of them great!

PROFESSOR "Academizer"
This mysterious, legendary death metal/grind artifact, released on CD for the first time EVER!

DRONE RECORDS singles compilation
A 2CD collection sampling some of the wondrous sounds from this ongoing series of limited, lovingly hand assembled 7" singles. Featuring Maeror Tri, Alio Die, Aube, Reynols, Spear, Francisco Lopez, Yen Pox and more...

OK, let's talk about PICTURE DISCS...

There's been some hang ups with the picture discs. The place that was making them went out of business, and the only other manufacturers charge about twice as much. The other option involves dealing with customs, which was a total nightmare last time. I am working on sorting stuff out. SO fear not, they will finally happen, it all just depends on how quickly we can get the pressing plant situation figured out. L/R, REYNOLS, CIRCLE are first up. Then maybe DEAD C, ANGELBLOOD, SUNBURNED HAND OF THE MAN and maybe even others...

Also, WEAKLING's epic black metal masterpiece "Dead As Dreams" is in the process of being repressed! And I discovered a stash of the double LP's which will NEVER be repressed. So don't miss out. Check the mailorder section.

Finally, keep an eye on the website. There will soon be an Other Folks' Stuff section where we'll have records for sale that are somehow related to tUMULt or just stuff I dig and may be tough to find otherwise. We'll have the -other- new Burmese record "White" as well as the My Malady comp that features tracks by Iran, Berkowitz Lake And Dahmer, Burmese, 7000 Dying Rats and more!

Speaking of 7000 DYING RATS, they have sadly called it a day. Here's what they had to say:
"Hey folks, That's right. After ten years of dick jokes and power metal, 7000 Dying Rats = finished. We still love each other and all that bullshit, but we figured enough was enough. Weasel moved to San Francisco in February and we didn't feel like finding drummer #352. Don't be sad. We're not.".

Oh yeah, and if you care, I AM still getting married. Just not for a little while. And the wedding comp much as I feared, has turned into a ridiculous and overwhelming undertaking. But in a good way!

So, I guess that's it. Thanks for being patient, and thanks to everyone who bought records or emailed me or is in any way doing their part to keep music interesting and intense.

Hope all is well. More soon. And by soon I actually mean soon, and not six or seven months. Promise.

xoxoxo

...andee
tUMULt overlord

2002/10/02

Okay, so it's been a while once again. Sorry. But I have excuses, man do I have excuses!!! Been sorting out mess after mess after fucked up CD after misprinted booklet after pink-instead-of-red after brown-instead-of-grey after everything going wrong, pressing plant going out of business after... well, you get the idea.... Here's where we stand:

The new, totally breathtaking, heart breaking, ear shredding IRAN record The Moon Boys is done. Looks great. Sounds great. So order it. Also here, and just waiting to be listened to, heard and loved, is the debut cd from Finland's WORMS, a punishing My Bloody Valentine versus Godflesh tempered with some Swans-ish melancholia blast of beautiful brutality! Here by the end of the week, the double CD LEVIATHAN record, compiling tracks from WREST's self released cassettes/cd-r's, 2 hours plus of dark primitive, buzzing , droning, hateful black metal.

And, hard to believe, but it's true, the 5 years in the works PAINTED BLACK compilation, will be done any day now. AND the artwork is red, NOT PINK. And it sound sooooooo good. Totally worth the wait. Not that I wouldn't have preferred to skip the whole wait thing entirely, but now that it's almost here, I feel less of an urge to leap from a bridge. Or a moving Car. Or a plane. PAINTED BLACK. A song I hate transformed/mutated/destroyed/turned into perfect 70 minutes of droning hypnotica. Painters include CIRCLE, ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE, HRVATSKI, KIT CLAYTON, LOREN CHASSE, MIESKUORO HUUTAJAAT, THE TAPE-BEATLES, FENNESZ, TROUM, STILLUPPSTEYPA, JAMES PLOTKIN'S JOY OF DISEASE.

But because of the craziness, some upcoming releases, had to sit patiently while we sorted out all this crap. So apologies to the bands. And to the folks who were psyched for all these records!! We're back on track. So in the VERY near future you can expect the completion/release/unleashing of:

SKULLFLOWER "Exquisite Fucking Boredom"
What to say?! One of my all time favorite bands! A new record! You will be blown away.

BRAINBOMBS
Their final release, a blistering 2 song 7". A head pounding, rib-cage-collapsing farewell from these Swedish misanthropes. R.I.P.

BURMESE
A new full length. So goddamn scary, I'm amazed they are allowed to play anywhere. Their Whitehouse fixation gets WAY out of hand, and we are all the luckier.

THE REEKS AND THE WRECKS
Finally, a CD from these Washington purveyors of rickety, stumbling, punk rock, funereal, dirge-y basement blues. First 500 will come in hand-branded wooden sleeves.

PICTURE DISCS
The next three volumes in the picture disc series: L/R, REYNOLS, and CIRCLE.
All beautiful to look at AND listen to. And the CIRCLE will come out as a CD later with extra tracks, but it's not a picture disc. That's the trade off.

Also, soon to be released is a comp called MALADIES, where bands interpret their favorite sickness or disease. And tUMULt is well represented with BURMESE, 7000 DYING RATS, BERKOWITZ LAKE and DAHMER (a new member of the tUMULt family, with a record out next year) and IRAN spreading some sweet sickness. Get in touch with Mogel at mogel@rotten.com or keep your eyes peeled on the tUMULt order page 'cause we'll hopefully have a bunch for sale. The track list looks like this:

01. bomb20 - bipolar depression/cancer
02. bran flakes - gonorrhea
03. burmese - trichotillomania
04. change! - paisley fingers toppling into sleeply hands lowering loudly
05. xszi - scoliosis
06. zipperspy - epilepsy
07. morceaux_de_machines - flubru
08. eddie the rat - involvulus-ritual
09. 8=====D - priapism
10. prion - bovine spongiforn enciphalopathy
11. the ecc - costello kids in the hood
12. 7000 dying rats - alzheimers
13. berkowitz lake & dahmer - gangrene
14. cussycat - hypocondria
15. travis bickle's mohawk - vaginal yeast infection
16. karlheinz - starvation disease
17. books on tape - hemophelia
18. phroq - arthritis
19. spin laden - bad bug
20. giant robot solutions - john cage never had gout
21. ifihadahifi - you're no pirate
22. kazumoto endo - hernia
23. jazzkammer - anencephaly
24. brutum fulmen - rickets
25. mr mixel pixel - hoof in mouth
26. deerhoof - weak in the knees
27. box patrol - beat of anal(fistule)
28. can't - schizophonia
29. illusion of safety - ascariasis
30. persona - tinnitus
31. v/vm - gingivitis
32. iran - narcolepsy

I am gonna be gone from October 7th to October 21st. I will be in FINLAND hanging out with WORMS, CIRCLE, AVARUS (a soon to be tUMULt band), THE ANAKSIMANDROS (another soon to be tUMULt band hopefully), freezing my ass off, fishing?, eating reindeer, playing drums on a CIRCLE record, recording a METAL record with JUSSI from CIRCLE, seeing SATYRICON in Helsinki (!!!!), seeing WORMS live, and finally getting to see, in person, a place of mythical status in my heart and mind! I am gonna keep a good journal and I just bought a wicked digital camera, so there should be some stuff up on the site when I return. Needless to say, if you order stuff while I'm gone, you'll have to wait until I return, since nobody works here but me...

This is more personal, so if you don't give a shit you can stop reading right here....
I am getting married (sorry ladies....) in April to my special lady friend of 10 YEARS/love of my life HEATHER. She is a complete fox and has blue hair and a blue tattoo and looks like a gelfling from the Dark Crystal. I am quite pleased. To celebrate our wedding/10 years together, we are putting together a compilation of tUMULt bands, friends' bands, bands that have meant a lot to one or both of us... it should be amazing. So far folks contributing songs include ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE, CIRCLE, SOLAR ANUS, BURMESE, LEVIATHAN, BERKOWITZ LAKE and DAHMER, HATEWAVE, GREG WEEKS, LESSER, SOULED AMERICAN, MOUNTAIN GOATS, TRACK STAR, HUSBANDS, COELACANTH, LOREN CHASSE, DJ JESTER, MATMOS, BIRCHVILLE CAT MOTEL, NOXAGT (Kjetil Brandsal), GOLDEN HOTEL, GUAPO, REEKS AND THE WRECKS, DRAUGAR, IRAN, and more and more and more. All the songs are exclusive and special and AMAZING. Looks like it could end up being a triple CD!!! I am so proud to know so many amazing musicians and have them be a part of this special project. If you are a band/friend/fan of tUMULt, and I have neglected to invite you to participate, please get in touch. It's hard for me to get everything done/remember everything/remeber ANYthing, so all the help and gentle reminders and elbows in the ribs are greatly appreciated!

THIS CD/2CD/3CD WILL NOT BE FOR SALE!!!! It is only for friends, family, and the bands....

BUT...

There will be a bunch available via the website ONLY in exchange for creative, thoughtful and cool wedding gifts. Not expensive or fancy or extravagant, just cool or funny or neat or special or personal or unique or just nice (but of course fancy and expensive is fine too....hahaahahaahaaaaa). Seriously. This is gonna be really cool and personal and special, so it seems shitty to sell them. So if you want one, it's trades only. Wish everything was like that....

Anyway, I'm leaving in a few days for Finland, and I am freaking out trying to get everything done, so I'm gonna wrap it up. I should be able to check my email while I'm away, but not sure how much computer time I'll be able to manage. So be patient. Thanks to everyone who ordered stuff or emailed just to say hi and to all the bands who continue to blow my fucking mind. Nothing I'd rather spend all my time and lose all my money on.

xoxoxoxox...

...andee
tUMULt overlord

2002/07/16

Okay. This time I mean it. I promise to update this news section on a regular basis. Really. For all the upcoming releases see the last bit of news (below) and check the sounds page for samples of all the stuff on the way (as well as all of the stuff already out).

One upcoming release I neglected to mention last time was the first (and only?) record by OCS, who some of you might know as John Dwyer, and who some of you might know as Pink of Pink and Brown, the guitarist for Dig That Body Up It's Alive, or the leader of garage rockers the Coach Whips. This double (!) CD is a whole different beast. Disc one is gorgeous bedroom psych-folk ala Fahey, Tower Recordings, that sort of thing. Disc two is noisier with all sorts of bleeargh and bluuurg, hiss and skree, hum and buzz, but it somehow manages to be totally beautiful.

Also on deck is the first release from French black metallers DIAMATREGON. tUMULt will be handling the US end of things while Infernal Waves [http://perso.wanadoo.fr/infernal.waves] will be handling things over in Europe. Raw, brutal, hateful, primitive black metal that will destroy any faith you had left. Good stuff!

And speaking of black metal, the LEVIATHAN double disc should be back from the plant any day now. It will destroy! Check out the samples on the sounds page if you don't believe me.

So a while ago I was interviewed on Swedish public radio and I finally got around to listening to it and chopping out the pertinent bits for ya'll to hear. It's a little embarassing, but keep in mind it was 5 in the morning or something (and I had already slept through the interview twice) and I was a little nervous 'cause I didn't want to sound like a complete idiot on Swedish Radio!!! So anyway, check out the sound bite from the first half of the show, and the actual interview from the second half.

Also my friend Chuck who makes those fucked up radio spots for WILD 97 or KISS FM with all those 'crazy' special effects and 'wacky' voices graciously made a tUMULt spot and it's pretty funny, especially the fact that he got a 50 year old man to say the line 'And completely fucked'.

Also we are setting up a mailing list. It won't be all the frequent, but it will feature new releases, tour dates, and random ephemera that is somehow (or not) tUMULt related. To sign up (or unsign up) just click the box on the tUMULt home page.

I'm leaving in 6 hours for Painesville, Ohio for a much deserved vacation. A week in the woods by a river with no computer, no music, no phones, and no TV. Needless to say, if you email or order, I won't be around until next week. So have a great week. I'll be a new man when I return...

2002/02/24

man, has it been a long time since the news section was updated. sorry about that. if you really need to know why and all kinds of other personal crap you can check the ABOUT section. but let's get to the news!

so the ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE picture disc is finally out. almost 2 years in the works. and it looks and sounds great. the first batch is gone. but the second batch arrives in a few days. after that though... there are no more batches. so don't dawdle. i don't want anyone to have to buy any of my releases on ebay. and that's what will happen if you don't act fast! for more info check the AMT page elsewhere on this site.

other big news: a brand new SOULED AMERICAN! never thought it would happen (those boys truly work at a glacial pace, but it's always worth it). and never thought tUMULt would be putting it out. it's still being recorded as we speak, so no definite release date, let's just say fall. and you've waited this long, what's 6 more months? rumor is there might even be a bob marley cover on there...

and more i-can't-believe-it's-true news, one of my all time favorite 'groups' will have one or two (or even three?) releases on tUMULt in the next little while and i am so excited. i'm talking about the godlike SKULLFLOWER. matthew bower's earthshaking, rib cage rattling free rock ensemble. a super limited picture disc and a 2cd (or maybe 3cd?) singles/rarities collection. lots of amazing out of print stuff, some old album tracks, and maybe an unreleased tidbit or two. depending on what we can dig up. those of you who have been digging SUNROOF! (bower's new ensemble), VIBRACATHEDRAL ORCHESTRA, ASHTRAY NAVIGATIONS and all that sort of stuff, need to hear where it all started (and where it continues unabated!).

HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE news: the HAMMERS have been finishing record number two at tim green's studio in san francisco and it's gonna be amazing. but bass player/vocalist janis has taken off and joined PINK (that's right PINK, as in MTV, that PINK) so live HAMMERS shows have not been happening at all. but in the meantime, HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE were voted one of 2001's 40 best records by the writers of TERRORIZER magazine! pretty amazing when the other records were all on huge labels and were bands like OPETH, CATHEDRAL, NEUROSIS, GODFLESH, SLAYER, TOOL, EMPEROR, ABSU, and MY DYING BRIDE! here's what they had to say:

"a delightfully incongruous coming-together of traditional heavy metal values and a liberal 'anything goes' approach to music making. HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE are up there with CELTIC FROST in terms of sheer creativity. unusually, equal amounts of energy had gone into both music and lyrics, making 'THE BASTARD' a wonderfully one-off exercise in demented genius."

also the zine LAMENTATIONS OF THE FLAME PRINCESS declared 2001 'year of the hammers' and voted 'THE BASTARD' best album, best overall packaging and best concept record. janis was one of the top female vocalists in the poll and HAMMERS got best lyrics, just behind SOLEFALD! i'm very proud. i hope some big metal label wakes the fuck up and signs these guys.

here's a quick run down of all the new stuff on deck, roughly in chronological order (more detailed info on the appropriate pages on this here website). it's gonna be a big year, so i'd appreciate it if everybody bought lots of records. thanks. here goes:

v/a painted black
god, has this been a nightmare. my coworker jim started working on this almost 4 years ago. then his label folded. we ditched about half the tracks, got a bunch more. but then had all these wild ideas for the sleeves, which we couldn't seem to get made. so after all that, here it is. a song i hate, transformed by eleven different groups, into a droning, buzzing dream. eleven separate interpretations coalesce into an amazingly cohesive whole. some of the best groups around participated: STILLUPPSTEYPA (Iceland), ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE (Japan), CIRCLE (Finland), TROUM (Germany), HRVATSKI (USA), KIT CLAYTON (USA), MIESKUORO HUUTAJAAT (Finland), JAMES PLOTKIN'S JOY OF DISEASE (USA), LOREN CHASSE (USA), THE TAPE-BEATLES (USA) and FENNESZ (Austria). this is one of the best sounding records i've heard. if i don't say so myself.

iran - the moon boys
the first IRAN record got off to a slow start due to some band/ex-member/distributor drama. but a few people noticed the beautifully ungodly racket these boys were making, and they told two friends and they told two friends and ...well, you know. so it's record number two. recorded a year or so ago, and on the moon boys, IRAN pulls back the wall of skree just a bit to let more melodies shine through. it's still rough and raw and not right. but this time you can sing along. IRAN mainman has spent the past 15 months in norway working on a film about black metal and all its sociopolitical (and musical) ramifications. not that that has anything to do with the record. just thought it was kind of interesting. and the next IRAN might feature yours truly on drums or guitar or something. i hope.

circle - taantumus
the newest CIRCLE, out for a while in finland, will finally get released here. first as a part of our limited picture disc series, and then a little later on cd with an extra track not on the finnish version. everything you love about circle: hypnotic grooves, endlessly repetetive riffs, motorik CAN-like rhythms, but this time with some seriously freaked out vocals and FLUTES (you know how i love flutes). so so good. we can't wait.

burmese - tba
BURMESE record number two and it is fucking scary. the pace has slowed down some, but the ferocity is like nothing you can imagine. somewhere between WHITEHOUSE, THE BRAINBOMBS, and DROP DEAD. this stuff is so heavy and dark and intense. if you dare, see them live, where the audience and band are encircled by a wall of amps so there can be no escape!

solar anus - skull alcoholic: the complete solar anus
japan's mighty SOLAR ANUS. crushing, stumbling, space-trance doom. their first three cds collected on 2 discs, along with a new track 'skull alcoholic'. crushing, droning stoner psych ala ST. VITUS, ETERNAL ELYSIUM. BLACK SABBATH, but way more fucked up. one of the guys from bizarre avant metallers SIGH guests on a handful of tracks. this is the release of the year!!

worms - pelican songs
finally after over a decade of helping define finlands underground rock scene, and only a handful of singles, WORMS gets it's first full length release. a glorious and furious mix of GODFLESH, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, THE TERMINALS/THE CLEAN and dutch rockers GORE. all mixed into beautifully melodic, droning dirgey, slowly shifitng, melancholic sub-popsong soundscapes. you have to hear it to believe it.

leviathan - verrätter
san francisco's best black metal band (after the demise of the almighty WEAKLING) finally releases a real record. 2 cd collection culled from 12 self released cassettes. dark and buzzing, evil, misanthropic, soul crushing black metal, all created by WREST, the only member of LEVIATHAN. not sure how metal bands as great as WEAKLING, LEVIATHAN, and HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE can not be snapped up by bigger metal labels, when those labels are constantly releasing utter shit. oh well. maybe this will prick some ears and someone 'up there' will take notice. probably not.

as for other picture discs, there is a LESSER disc on the way. i think it's gonna be hip hop, with LESSER doing to hip hop what he's been doing to electronica. FIXING IT. maybe some surprise bay are rappers too. keep you posted. also a disc from argentinean out-rock/avant-noise geniuses REYNOLS, a scraping shuffling dronescape from l/r (l chasse of THUJA) and SKULLFLOWER and some other stuff. ISN'T THAT ENOUGH?!?!?

also a 7" from those swedish misanthropes, the BRAINBOMBS. pummelling STOOGES-ish
sludge, pounding drums, grinding garage guitars and howling tales of ultra violence, misanthropy and misogyny.

more soon!!

...andee

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