Please visit the new L'animaux Storefront on our official website for a more graceful shopping experience.
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NEW RELEASES:
[update coming 2.12.13]
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NEW RELEASES:
[update coming 2.12.13]
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RECENT RELEASES:
LTFR-1204: CURSILLISTAS: OBSERVE EMBER WEEKS
Observe Ember Weeks
is the final Cursillistas "studio" album, momentarily lost to time as
Herbcraft took flight, now finally seeing a brief light-of-day. Written,
recorded, and mixed concurrently with Wasp Stings (Digitalis), Joint Chiefs (Digitalis), and several small-run/tour-only releases between 2007-2009, O.E.W.
touches on elements and styles of all these while also marking a return
to a more song-based rural folk psychedelia. Nylon-string minor-key
folk-pop commingles with naive noise experiments, breathless first-take
improvisation, multi-tracked "full band" jams, wah'ed fuzz guitar
abandon, electric slide glide, heavy tom-thumps & tambourine
shakes, all presented with Cursillistas' trademark rich reverb treatment
and multi-layered vocals. This is perhaps the peak Cursillistas
experience in all its bedroom glory, the fitting final chapter to a
project that never stayed still for too long, and the definitive
collection of the tunes that made up much of Cursillistas' live set from
2007-2009. Deluxe 150-gram virgin black vinyl held in a 4-color,
5-layer silkscreened art paper jacket, with two-sided full-color
pro-printed glossy heavy stock insert, hand-numbered to 225.
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LTFR-714-MONO: BRAINSHADOWS: "WILD CHERRY" b/w "RIPE"
BRAINSHADOWS is the new hard-pop duo of M.Lajoie & D.Aquarius, exploring a love of trash cinema, echo-chamber mono 45s, pulp sci-fi paperbacks, adults-only comix, Detroitrock, and Rockers. This debut 7” smothers space-echo pop with the psychedelic technicolor grit and grime of a Bakshi / Corman urban sewer. Wah'ed synths and fuzz guitars lift up heavy basslines and off-kit percussion, with nice & ruff soft-focus vocals appearing like phantoms, all produced in engulfing heavy MONO. A-side "Wild Cherry" brings home some tuff teenage motorcycle love-in vibrations; an intravenous alternate soundtrack to a Beyond the Valley of the Dolls party scene. On the flip, "Ripe" is genuine lovers rock dub-pop, with plenty of wah and hazed & hushed come-ons: an abstracted ode to the magick of early Keith Hudson and Horace Andy sides.” Recycled black vinyl 45rpm 7" held in a pro-printed full-color sleeve. Limited to 200.
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OTHER AVAILABLE L'ANIMAUX ITEMS:
LTFR 027: CONCORD BALLET ORCHESTRA PLAYERS: FIRST ANNUAL NORTH FALMOUTH ORGAN SLAUGHTERFORMAT: 2xCS [CHROME C-49 & C-55] // EDITION: 75 // RELEASED: 01.25.11 // PRICE: $8.00 + SHIPPING
After bearing witness to a couple mind-blowing live sets by these psychedelic truth-seekers, we are complete converts to Concord Ballet Orchestra Players’ cause and are proud to bring their epic analog debut double-cassette audio-tome FANFOS to the physical realm. Concord Ballet gathers together a crew of the Boston-area’s finest kraut-worshipers, space-rock psychonauts, and in-the-moment free-improv experimentalists onto a single sprawling stage, resulting in a wide variety of heady cinemascope-worthy jams. Documenting CBOP relatively early in its existence, FANFOS suggests a particularly wide-open canvas and technicolor palette of possibilities (ghostly theremin, flute, casio banks, electric guitar divinations, grooving basslines and edge-of-seat drums), leading the listener down prismatically-varied paths as the band navigates thru the perpetually-manifesting “now”. Ranging from brief mysterious vignettes to majestic side-long mindscapes, these tracks were recorded with a fly-on-the-wall live quality that doesn’t omit tripped fire alarms, off-mic sneezes, or stumbles, all of which reveal concord ballet to be devout believers in authentic improvisation and psychedelia. Expertly mastered by Greg Davis and pro-duped onto premium chrome tape, FANFOS is limited to 75 copies and packaged “audio-book style” in a white vinyl folder, with pro-printed full-color cover art. Also includes a download code for a complementary digital copy, for easier track-by-track parsing of this massive missive.
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LTFR 1201 / TIME-LAG 046: CURSILLISTAS: LES BICHESFORMAT: CD // EDITION: 700 // CO-RELEASE WITH TIME-LAG RECORDS // PRICE: $8.00 + SHIPPING
DELUXE REISSUE OF THE FIRST-EVER L'ANIMAUX TRYST RELEASE, WITH ALL TRACKS RE-MIXED AND PROFESSIONALLY RE-MASTERED FROM ORIGINAL SOURCE AUDIO, AND FOUR PREVIOUSLY-UNRELEASED BONUS TRACKS FROM THE LES BICHES RECORDING SESSIONS ADDED ON. MORE INFO HERE.
"A magnificent creation, the music primitive yet timeless, bells, string and pipes blended into an ever changing whirl of sound, the rustling of autumn leaves or the wind blowing across the moorland. Opening track "The Snake and the Motor" will reel you in immediately, rich and organic, this is music alive with possibilities, your own imagination adding visuals to the musical landscape , the whole album offering escape from the mundane. Elsewhere "Bag of feathers" has ritual qualities buried deep within its grooves, the chanted (Looped) vocals riding joyfully over the percussion, whilst on "Fawns into Does", one of four tracks not available on the original, a rattling Banjo gives the track a ghostly Appalachian feel. All in all, an album filled with adventure and sonic satisfaction." - Terrascope
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LTFR 1202: TEMPERA: TEMPERA
FORMAT: LP + CD // EDITION: 300 // RELEASED: 06.12.09 // PRICE: $13.00 + SHIPPING
TEMPERA'S OFFICIAL DEBUT LP OF TWO SIDE-LONG, LONG-FORM IMPROVISATIONS, WITH SMOOTH, BLISSED-OUT AMBIENT PASSAGES BUILDING TO CYMBAL-CRASHING CLIMAXES. PRESSED ONTO CRYSTAL CLEAR 12" VINYL AND PACKAGED IN A SILKSCREENED ART-PAPER "POSTER-STYLE" FOLD-OVER SLEEVE, INCLUDES A CD VERSION OF THE ALBUM WITH BONUS TRACK PACKAGED IN A SEPARATE PRO-PRINTED FULL-COLOR CD SLEEVE. MORE INFO HERE.
"Pressed lovingly on clear vinyl, Tempera offer two side long explorations of inner space in the shape of glistening drones that are a must for anyone who has watched a seagull glide across clear blue sky, or the summer drift of dandelion seeds. On side two, chiming bells and the rumble of percussion add a more unsettled vibe to the tranquillity, the fall of night or an impending storm conjured up in the music, the piece building into a percussive led tribal ritual before all is still again." - Terrascope
"Excellent, yet hard to describe, free-drone music that feels timeless in its execution. [A]n exotic blend of acoustic clatter and shimmer... The work creates a hypnotic environment around itself, sucking the listening into a spiral of sound. [D]rum and keyboard patterns floating through space, creating a meditative space for the listener to be brought into. The slowed down pace of the album could go wrong very easily, but the group is able to keep just enough movement going to keep things interesting while still maintaining a very subdued atmosphere. I'm intrigued by their ability to sit on the edge of free-folk and cosmic-synth music in such an intriguing way. This is going to be worth tracking down, and it also comes with a cd version of the album with an additional track. Very well done. 9/10." - Charles Franklin, Foxy Digitalis
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LTH 701-712: THE TRYST HAUNT 7" SERIES
FORMAT: 7" // EDITION: 300 // RELEASED: 2007-2009 // PRICE: $5.00 + SHIPPING FOR EACH 7"
EXCLUSIVE MATERIAL FROM:
701: BAD BUS / TEMPERA
702: CURSILLISTAS
703: LIGHTNING STRIKE LIGHTNING
704: BIRD MICROPHONE
705: WHITE LIGHT / BARRY BURST
706: THE RED F / SARAH RAMEY
707: BIG BLOOD & VISITATIONS
708: PRISMA / DRONA PARVA
709: THE NORTH SEA / CORSICAN PAINTBRUSH
710: GHQ
711: VOLLMAR
712: ELEPHANT MICAH
COMPLETE TRYST HAUNT SET,
TWELVE LIMITED EDITION 7" RECORDS
$50 + SHIPPING
701-703: AUTUMN SET
[BAD BUS / TEMPERA, CURSILLISTAS, LIGHTNING STRIKE LIGHTNING]
$15 + SHIPPING
707-709: SPRING SET
[BIG BLOOD & VISITATIONS, PRISMA / DRONA PARVA, THE NORTH SEA / CORSICAN PAINTBRUSH]
$15 + SHIPPING
710-712: SUMMER SET
[GHQ, VOLLMAR, ELEPHANT MICAH]
$15 + SHIPPING
ORDER JUST A SINGLE:
SELECT ONE AND ADD TO CART,
REPEAT FOR ALL DESIRED 7"S
LTH 701 - 706:
LTH 707-712:
SUPPLIES ARE LIMITED, AND ALL 7"s ARE INDIVIDUALLY PACKAGED BY HAND AS ORDERS COME IN, SO PLEASE ALLOW EXTRA TIME FOR DELIVERY. VISIT THE L'ANIMAUX SITE FOR MORE INFORMATION.
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DISTRIBUTED ITEMS:
ACE 006: CURSILLISTAS: WASP STINGS THE LAST BITTER FLAVOR
ACE 006: CURSILLISTAS: WASP STINGS THE LAST BITTER FLAVOR
FORMAT: CD // EDITION: 1,000 // LABEL: DIGITALIS ARTS & CRAFTS // PRICE: SALE! $8 + SHIPPING
CURSILLISTAS' FIRST WIDELY-AVAILABLE ALBUM, RELEASED ON CD IN 2008 BY DIGITALIS' ARTS & CRAFTS DIVISION. A MOSTLY-SOLO-OUTING BY MATTHEW LAJOIE WITH SOME OVERDUBS BY NEMO & SPARROW. IMPROVISED DIRECT TO 4-TRACK CASSETTE, WITH SONGS FLOWING TOGETHER IN LOOSE, FAR-OUT, LATE-NIGHT ABSTRACT-FOLK MOVEMENTS. CREATED WITH THE INTENT TO SOUND OUT-OF-TIME-AND-PLACE, LIKE AN OLD REEL OF TAPE DUG UP ON A COLD, DESERTED ISLAND.
CURSILLISTAS' FIRST WIDELY-AVAILABLE ALBUM, RELEASED ON CD IN 2008 BY DIGITALIS' ARTS & CRAFTS DIVISION. A MOSTLY-SOLO-OUTING BY MATTHEW LAJOIE WITH SOME OVERDUBS BY NEMO & SPARROW. IMPROVISED DIRECT TO 4-TRACK CASSETTE, WITH SONGS FLOWING TOGETHER IN LOOSE, FAR-OUT, LATE-NIGHT ABSTRACT-FOLK MOVEMENTS. CREATED WITH THE INTENT TO SOUND OUT-OF-TIME-AND-PLACE, LIKE AN OLD REEL OF TAPE DUG UP ON A COLD, DESERTED ISLAND.
"Lajoie's approach here is different. It's as if he's taken the negative space of his previous works and hashed them out and spruced them up until they've become epic, flowing songs whitewashed with a basketfull of analog hiss. The whole thing flows together like magic poured straight from the sky. It's haunting, beautiful music.
Cursillistas' music is often densely populated with a variety of instrumentation and textures. Lajoie is a master at molding sounds from a variety of sources into a cohesive, organic whole. This music, as with past efforts, sounds like an intimate secret whispered in the listener's ear. You feel as though you're being led into a world where very few lucky souls find their way. Lajoie's distinctive voice is the true weapon here, weaving hypnotic melodies over rivers of delicately strummed acoustic guitars. "Wasp Stings the Last Bitter Flavor" is his message in a bottle. It's a love letter to everyone and no one, and there's a lot to love here, that is for damn sure." - DIGITALIS
"A collection of spectacularly warped drone-folk ballads ... this first widely available example of Cursillistas' output is a magnificent sprawl of odd, cavernous percussion interludes, thick vocal nebulae and haunted forest folk guitar plucks. This is set to be an enduring body of work in its own right, capturing sweet, abstract narratives in a lowest-ever-Fi setting, all sounding precariously close to proper songs. After the re-calibration of functionally titled mood piece 'Drone (Groan)', Lajoie sets forth down a path of otherworldly folk and esoteric song warping, with one foot in the outsider undergrowth and the other firmly rooted in more traditional soils. In amongst the musty melodies of snappy pieces like 'Treestain', Cursillistas concoct ten-minute tribal hoedowns like 'Happened In The Sun/Moccasin Stamp', with enjoyable outcomes all round. Capturing Lajoie at his most subdued and contemplative, 'Show Them Love' closes the album in a bath of all-devouring hiss, from which a wonderful, Phosphorescent-style vocally layered song structure emerges. Absolutely gorgeous stuff.." - BOOMKAT Recommendation
"A collection of spectacularly warped drone-folk ballads ... this first widely available example of Cursillistas' output is a magnificent sprawl of odd, cavernous percussion interludes, thick vocal nebulae and haunted forest folk guitar plucks. This is set to be an enduring body of work in its own right, capturing sweet, abstract narratives in a lowest-ever-Fi setting, all sounding precariously close to proper songs. After the re-calibration of functionally titled mood piece 'Drone (Groan)', Lajoie sets forth down a path of otherworldly folk and esoteric song warping, with one foot in the outsider undergrowth and the other firmly rooted in more traditional soils. In amongst the musty melodies of snappy pieces like 'Treestain', Cursillistas concoct ten-minute tribal hoedowns like 'Happened In The Sun/Moccasin Stamp', with enjoyable outcomes all round. Capturing Lajoie at his most subdued and contemplative, 'Show Them Love' closes the album in a bath of all-devouring hiss, from which a wonderful, Phosphorescent-style vocally layered song structure emerges. Absolutely gorgeous stuff.." - BOOMKAT Recommendation
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OUT-OF-PRINT // SOLD-OUT
LTFR 020: WHITE LIGHT & THE AMERICAN DRONE BAND: 4.14.79FORMAT: CD-R // EDITION: 100 // RELEASED: 08.21.09 // SOLD OUT
DARK, DANK, BLISSED AND PISSED JAMS FROM A PORTLAND ALL-STAR CAST. MEMBERS OF WHITE LIGHT, TEMPERA, CURSILLISTAS, VISITATIONS, COMPUTER AT SEA, PLANETS AROUND THE SUN AND MANY MORE CONGREGATING UNDER THE FULL MOON FOR A GOOD OLE FASHION'D HOWLIN'. VOCAL MOANS, ANALOG SYNTH TONES, DUELING CRAZY HORSE-STYLE GUITAR LEADS, AND A CRAZY WASTED DRUM CIRCLE. MIND-MANIFESTING ALL-ENCOMPASSING IMPROV PSYCHEDELIA FOR EAR-TWEAKED FREAKS - THOSE WHO GET DOWN WITH AMON DUUL I, SUN RA, YA HO WA 13, AND OTHER BRINK-OF-SANITY COMMUNE BANDS TAKE NOTE. TWO EXTENDED IMPROVISED PIECES, PRO-RECORDED BY PETE NANORTES AND LOVINGLY PIECED TOGETHER BY YOUR EMCEE, IAN PAIGE. 28-MINUTE MINI-ALBUM ON WHITE-TOP CD-R, WITH PRO-PRINTED INSERT SLEEVE ON TEXTURED ART PAPER AND LIMITED TO 100 UNNUMBERED COPIES.
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FORMAT: CS [C-30] // EDITION: 75 // LABEL: CABIN FLOOR ESOTERICA // SOLD OUT
"Slow riffs flicker in the bedroom and join with the whispers of past lives beneath the floorboards, the fog of the humid summer night bringing it all together into a cassette storybook. Dawn Marna (the other half of 'Joint Chiefs'-era Cursillistas) sings out bewitching sacred seance hymns on her first solo cassette (aside from the fantastic and insanely limited tour split with Cursillistas) and crafts a set ghostly songs for the last midnight of summer. In an edition of 75 water-color labeled tapes in a wrap around sleeve of art from the artist, an insert by the artist, and a water-colored numbered cut out." - Cabin Floor Esoterica
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JDR-001: HERBCRAFT: FLOWERING
FORMAT: CS [c43] + DIGITAL DOWNLOAD // EDITION: 69 // RELEASED: 07.09.12 // SOLD OUT
Very limited number of this first new Herbcraft release since last summer's Ashram To The Stars LP!
Full-length cassette includes a free digital download of the album.
"Flowering represents some of Herbcraft’s most expressive and exploratory
work to date blending psychedelic pop melodies with some of the most
trashed sounding sonic voyages exploring the arc from the US West Coast
to the Tokyo underground. Minds were blown here at Julia Dream when we
first heard Flowering and we are extremely excited that this is our
inaugural release. Keep the crops flowering." - Julia Dream RecordingsFull-length cassette includes a free digital download of the album.
"Mind-blowing tape from the Herbcraft cultus aka Matthew Lajoie of Cursillistas et al: Flowering was briefly non-available as an edition of only 12 copies cassette privately distributed amongst friends but the quality of the sonics so impressed noted Blues scholar and COM correspondent Andrew Ross that he started up his own deluxe tape imprint, Julia Dream Recordings, just to bring it to the world. Issued here in an edition of 69 copies with gorgeous pro-printed sleeves, Flowering represents the absolute apex of the Herbcraft saga thus far, devouring genres and regurgitating them as foggy out-of-focus paeans to oblivion via weeping single note blues delivered with alla the amplified overdrive of Rallizes or the Far Out. The whole deal starts off with a dosed/phased F/X vox and ashram vibes tone-float before tripping over into “Journey To The Center Of Your Hive”, a multi-dimensional transport that pushes the interstellar overdrive to the max. “Magic Carpet Ride Hallucination #4” kicks into a streamlined Krautrock groove before dissolving the whole thing via gate after gate of gloopy F/X while “Flowers Strewn” is a beautifully lucid take on six-string sorcery ala Ben Chasny’s most circuitous outings. But it’s “Psychic Spore Travellin’” that best takes your head off, a totally epic six-string amplifier-worshipping monolith that tears fuzz and confusion from wailing steel with all of the void gobbling force of your favourite Tokyo titan. Throw in a bunch of disconnected downs that sound like they’re beamed from Skip Spence’s weeping third eye and you have the most goddamn potent collection of trips und trauma this side of yesterday. Cassette issue of the year? No question. Comes with a free download. Very highly recommended. " - Volcanic Tongue
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LTFR 028: PETE FOSCO: VACATIONLANDED
FORMAT: CS [c43] // EDITION: 75 // RELEASED: 09.13.11 // SOLD OUT
While electric guitar mangler / vibe-generator Pete Fosco may call Kentucky home, he is nonetheless a man smitten with Maine. After a trip up the coast to Acadia and Belfast last summer (which included a show with MV & EE and Herbcraft at the now-sadly-defunt Roots & Tendrils), Fosco was so inspired that when he returned home he sat down in front of some warm tubes, strapp’d on a six-string, and let rip on some true Vacationland meditations. What we’ve got here are four extended improvisations/compositions for solo electric guitar, with Fosco bending, growling, coaxing, and summoning tones with fingers, slides, and other mystery implements. The sounds evoke dusty winds streaking across the Desert of Maine, Northern Lights shimmering from atop Cadillac Mountain, and vertiginous views from Pemetic. Sometimes sparse (Fosco is a master at the pregnant pause), sometimes as swirling and dense as a January blizzard, the soundtrack Fosco creates is a heavy homage to the dark mystery and latent wonder of exploration in the Maine wilds. Black shell cassettes with hand-painted and typed labels, held in polybox with full-color, pro-printed insert on vellum, enclosed in a piece of a vintage map of Maine. Limited to 75.
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LTFR 034: ORACLE OFFERING: HOWL'S ANGELS
Following last year’s soft-focus stunner Beyond Aquaria on the Cabin Floor Esoterica label, Oracle Offering serves up a full-length cassette steeped in the audio nexus of supernatural horror and Gnostic pagan ritual. An altar built in honor of tape-hiss, vedic synth meditation, and full-moon white witchcraft receives a visitation from a gnarly half-human gang with a taste for female flesh. Lurking behind the sympathetic string reverberation, airy synth atmospheres, and cool-breath choral incantation is the heavy hand here to crash the party: engines rattle, howls are emitted, the coven shrieks, a far-off church bell chimes. A fully-formed VHS [oc]cult classic with all the dialogue removed, this cassette is the last thing you want to meet at the end of a dark alley; a nightmare treasure in the basement of an abandoned cabin in the woods. Recorded, mixed, and dubbed in a 100% analog process from start to finish. Hand-labeled opaque lavender cassettes with full-color pro-printed double-sided j-card, held in a green-tinted case. Limited to 50.
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LTFR 027AE: CONCORD BALLET ORCHESTRA PLAYERS: FIRST ANNUAL NORTH FALMOUTH ORGAN SLAUGHTER ART EDITION
FORMAT: 2xCS [C-49 & C-55] // EDITION: 25 // RELEASED: 01.25.11 // PRICE: SOLD OUTSAME ALBUM AS ABOVE, BUT ALSO INCLUDES FIVE HAND-NUMBERED ART INSERTS: A FILMSTRIP-STYLE COLLECTION OF 24 PHOTOS FROM THE TITULAR "ORGAN SLAUGHTER" ON A COLD BEACH IN NORTH FALMOUTH, MAINE, FULL-COLOR PRO-PRINTED ONTO TEXTURED ART PAPER. HAND NUMBERED LIMITED EDITION OF 25 COPIES. DUE TO EXTREMELY LIMITED NUMBER OF COPIES AVAILABLE, PLEASE EMAIL LANIMAUX@GMAIL.COM TO ORDER THE ART EDITION.
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LTFR 025: JARED FAIRFIELD: MYSTERIES
FORMAT: CS [C-29] // EDITION: 75 // RELEASED: 11.09.10 // SOLD OUT
As humble-yet-impressive in vision and execution as any classic underground album should be, this out-of-nowhere EP from rural Maine’s Jared Fairfield is so on-point that once it crossed our path we knew it had to find a home on L’animaux Tryst. Working a four-way crossroads of pagan ur-folk, Aquarian psych-pop, contemporary underground, and future sounds, Fairfield moves his remarkable voice thru timeless tune after timeless tune, faint vapour trails of past skewed-pop classics on the periphery. Along the way, that voice is joined by deft guitar fingerpicking, autoharp strums, drone/pure sound, a rich tapestry of percussion, and even one Sabbath-worthy fuzz bass breakdown, all composed and arranged with quiet confidence and warm fidelity. The title track is one of the best singles we’ve heard all year, and once you’ve moved past that particular earworm, repeat spins reveal new deep visions like each quarter-turn of a kaleidoscope. Hand-labeled white tapes in an oversized, pro-printed full-color textured art paper sleeve, tied closed with wool yarn, hand-numbered to 75.
. Jared Fairfield- 'Mysteries'
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LTFR 031: PLANETS AROUND THE SUN: WE O WE
FORMAT: CS [c43] // EDITION: 75 // RELEASED: 09.13.11 // SOLD OUT
Ditching the domestic life for a stint of wild-abandon nomad drift, Planets Around the Sun departed from Maine in July to unplug and roll on down the line… WE O WE is their parting gift to the musical community that launched them into new orbits. Drawing from every era of the band’s career and pointing forward to new phases, it is a carefully crafted full-length mixtape of past trysts and future haunts. From the opening acousto-electro instrumental shimmer we move to a stretched-out heavy drone-folk version of the classic White Light side “Saraswati”, here completely re-figured with the addition of guest baritone guitar and cello from local duo South China. The Ian Paige solo excursion “Agnes” follows, with drones and steel strings lulling raga moves into your atmosphere; once the tablas and electric guitar hits, you’re halfway between Demolition Derby and Country Stash, truly a vapor to be savored and returned to often. The B-side hits with “We Owe”, a possession-ceremony standard with netherworld vocal chants circling around watery bass wobbles and wah’ed synth stabs. This flows into “May Day” and its extended doom-dub treatment “Version”, moving from Velvety melodic guitar-scorched psych to a half-tempo high-stepping astral-funk groove. But enough about the past. Planets point to their present/future with the closing track, a cracked lo-fi country-folk tune that serves as their on-the-road calling card. Sure to be a counterculture hit in 22nd-Century America. Hand-written (in white paint) cassettes held in a case with full-color pro-printed art, featuring a reproduction of a totally psychedelic needlepoint by Paige’s grandmother. Limited to 75.
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LTFR 032: ALTERED GEE: EUROPEAN GEES
FORMAT: CS [c69] // EDITION: 75 // RELEASED: 09.13.11 // SOLD OUT
It may be counter-intuitive to think of “G-funk instrumentals” as a possible product of an icy and blizzed-out Maine winter, but holed up at the House of Hits (aka Hit Factory) in Winter 2011 with an array of analog synths (SEIL OR 400 for the highs, Moog Taurus II for the lows) and hip-hop golden-age drum machines (E-mu SP-1200, Drumulator, and Korg DDD-1), Key Jr. Dee Jay and Slouch formed Altered Gee amid a thick cloud of purple smoke and didn’t stop making hits til the tape ran out. Recorded entirely on 8-track cassette(!), the deep-grooved trunk-rattlers on European Gees ride that line between suave Euro electro-futurism and dank, dirty, post-Zapp R&B boogie and G-funk, all stretched out, heavy-lidded and dazed. Weightless, pitch-shifting, portamentoed synth lines arc over and around each other, anchored by heavy-bounce syrupy-thick bass and Slouch’s ace reverbed-out kick’n’clap beats. This is dance music with runtimes long enough (in the case of “Magnum Opus”, 15+minutes of synth-funk ecstasy) to get lost in the transcendence of the groove. The song titles say it all: “Dowsed”, “Funky Airs”, “I Wanna Lay You Down And Feel You Up”… this is some sexy, fonky shit, ideal for sittin low in your Coupe de Ville and gettin scandalous in some sweaty bedsheets. 69-minute white cassettes with individually-chrome-painted and typewriter-engraved labels, held in a case with full-color pro-printed j-card designed by the band. Limited to 75.
Check out the preview on their Bandcamp page.
LTFR 021: ENDLESS CAVERNS: MAGI HYMNALFORMAT: CS [C-32] // EDITION: 70 // RELEASED: 06.15.10 // SOLD OUT
FEW COPIES LEFT! DEBUT RELEASE FROM MATTHEW LAJOIE'S [CURSILLISTAS, HERBCRAFT] FRIPP&;ENO / TERRY RILEY / AMBIENT-KRAUTROCK-INSPIRED MINIMALIST-COMPOSITION-CONCEPTUAL-DRONE GUITAR-HEAVY PROJECT. PRIMARILY RECORDED DIRECT TO MONO REEL-TO-REEL IN AN EMPTY FRANKINCENSE-AND-MYRRH-SMOKED-OUT HOUSE ON CHRISTMAS EVE, CHALICE TOASTED TO THE GREAT NORTH STAR, THIS IS A MEDITATION ON ISOLATION, ASTROLOGICAL VOYAGING, AND BIBLICAL MAGICK. HAND-PAINTED TRANSPARENT VIOLET CASSETTES PACKAGED IN FULL-COLOR PRO-PRINTED VELLUM J-CARDS, HAND-NUMBERED TO 70.
LTFR 023: GORMAN TRIO // SACRED BASIL: UNTITLED SPLITFORMAT: CS [C-25] // EDITION: 60 // RELEASED: 11.09.10 // SOLD OUT
FEW COPIES LEFT! DOCUMENTING THE FIRST OF SEVERAL LIVE COLLABORATIONS BETWEEN SONIC AMBASSADORS FROM GORMAN [J. SPENCER], CURSILLISTAS [M.LAJOIE], & WHITE LIGHT [I. PAIGE] DURING THEIR WEEK-LONG US TOUR IN 2009, "EXALTED (MOST HIGH)" WAS COVERTLY PERFORMED IN THE BASEMENT OF THE CLINIC [BLOOMINGTON, IN] WHILE THE PROSPECTIVE AUDIENCE WAS STILL PORCH-BOUND. THICK TONE-DRONES FOR THE THICK MIDWEST SUMMER EVENING AIR; FREE-DRIFT NOTES FOR THE RECREATIONAL HIGHS OF THOSE "HIT THE ROAD" DAYS. THE FLIP-SIDE IS A PREVIOUSLY-UNRELEASED SNIP FROM THE SACRED BASIL SESSION THAT BIRTH'D THE DAY OF SIX BILLION CASSETTE [CABIN FLOOR ESOTERICA #7], AN OPEN-FIELD / FREE-RANGE JAM OF RECIFEIAN ACOUSTIC STRINGS, BELLS, PRE-LANGUAGE VOX, AND CREAKING FLOORBOARDS. UNSELFCONSCIOUS HOOTS CAPTURED LIVE AT NEW WYRD 33. HAND-LABELED SAPPHIRE-FOIL TAPES PACKAGED IN AN ART PAPER J-CARD SLEEVE, WITH 60 COMPLETELY UNIQUE INDIVIDUALLY HAND-DRAWN/WRITTEN AND COLLAGED COVERS, HAND-NUMBERED TO 60.
LTFR 026: PLANETS AROUND THE SUN: TOWER
FORMAT: CS [C-32] // EDITION: 45 // RELEASED: 01.25.11 // SOLD OUT
WITH AN OUT-OF-PRINT DEBUT CASSETTE [GOLD, DIGITALIS LTD.] UNDER THEIR ASTEROID BELT (AND A DOUBLE-LP WAITING IN THE WINGS), PLANETS AROUND THE SUN EMERGE FROM THEIR PSYCHIC SABBATICAL TO PRESENT THE TOWER CASSETTE. SELECTED FROM NEARLY THREE YEARS OF DOCUMENTED EXPERIMENTATION, THESE FOUR TRACKS PLAY LIKE RADIO TRANSMISSIONS FROM EXTENDED TRIPS INTO A STARLESS VOID, RETURNING WITH THE MESSAGE THAT PSYCHEDELIA ISN'T ALL PAISLEY AND PEPPERMINT SWIRL. THE CURIOUS PSILOCYBIN-NAVIGATING OPENER WINDS INTO THE RITUAL DOOM-MARCH OF LONG-TIME LIVE STAPLE "SLOW HORSE", HERE CAPTURED IN ALL ITS BLOWN-OUT LIVE-FI GLORY. A TAPE-FLIP REVEALS EVEN DARKER ROADS AHEAD: WAILING ECSTATICS PULLED SUBTERRANEAN, SURFACING FOR AIR TO THE OBEAHICALLY-WARPED INNER-GROOVES OF A POSSESSED BLACK ARK DUBPLATE. THE TAPE RUNS OUT ON AN ORGAN-AND-WAH-PEDAL-STOMPING FREE-PSYCH JAM, AMBIENTLY RECORDED AMONGST THE BLIPS AND WHIRS OF THE SPACE VESSEL'S ELECTRONICS RUNNING ON ZERO-GRAVITY AUTOPILOT. A MIXTAPE FOR YOUR NEXT TRIP ALONG INNERSPACE HIGHWAYS, TOWER IS STRICTLY LIMITED TO 45 HAND-NUMBERED HOME-DUBBED BLACK FOIL CASSETTES, PACKAGED IN FULL-COLOR PRO-PRINTED HEAVY STOCK J-CARDS IN NORELCO CASE.
LTFR 1203CS: WHITE LIGHT & CURSILLISTAS: TRAVEL LIGHT
FORMAT: CS [CHROME C-40] // EDITION: 45 // RELEASED: 01.25.11 // SOLD OUT
ORIGINALLY PRESSED AS AN EXTREMELY-LIMITED (150 COPIES) TOUR-ONLY VINYL SPLIT 12" BACK IN JUNE 2009 AND LONG OUT-OF-PRINT, TRAVEL LIGHT MADE A BRIEF RETURN TO CIRCULATION LAST MONTH TO COMMEMORATE A SINGLE WHITE LIGHT REUNION SHOW IN PORTLAND, ME. IT REMAINS A DOCUMENT OF TWO OF L'ANIMAUX'S ORIGINAL FLAGSHIP BANDS DEEP WITHIN TRANSITORY PHASES THAT HAVE--FOR THE MOMENT--FOUND SOME RESOLUTION IN THE REALMS OF PLANETS AROUND THE SUN, HERBCRAFT, AND ENDLESS CAVERNS. HOME-DUBBED NEEDLE-DROP BOOTLEG-STYLE DIRECT FROM THE ORIGINAL VINYL PRESSING, TRAVEL LIGHT IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME TO THE WORLD AT LARGE IN THIS SMALL LIMITED CHROME CASSETTE EDITION.FORMAT: CS [CHROME C-40] // EDITION: 45 // RELEASED: 01.25.11 // SOLD OUT
"[White Light's "We Do True"] somehow manages to capture everything that was great about the golden age of American underground rock: noisy guitars, great melodies, and effortless, disaffected cool. ... Ian Paige is a hell of a songwriter and “We Do True” is one of the best songs I’ve heard this year." - FOXY DIGITALIS
"On "Crutches" [Cursillistas] invoke the spirits of Hapshash or Quintessence, Bells and chants echoing over spacey backing... Centrepiece of side A is "That Great Stone", a glorious example of modern Psychedelia, drifting, spacious and very special, the track containing an ambience that is hard to pin down but beautiful to experience, the guitar flourishes adding depth to the piece. Following on, the music descends into a deep-rooted drone as "Rewa Dokpa" re-wires your soul, the music as cleansing as a mountain spring, just lie back and soak it up. Having recovered sufficiently to turn the disc over, White Light immediately re-align the senses with their particular brand of Psychedelia, the Hapshash vibe in full effect again as "The Root Of All Evil" guides us into their world. On "Five Horses" a mellow bass groove ushers us into a smoky woodland grove, Guitar, Banjo and Percussion weaving together to create a silken tapestry of wonder, possibly my favourite track on the LP." - TERRASCOPE
HS-002: HERBCRAFT: DISCOVERS THE BITTER WATER OF AGARTHAFORMAT: LP [12"] // EDITION: 500 // LABEL: HELLO SUNSHINE // SOLD OUT (order via WOODSIST)
DEBUT LP
Road To Agartha by Herbcraft
No Hope For Mankind by Herbcraft
"A stunning navigation of druggy Matthew Valentine/Spectrasound styled psychedelic folk, with a thick smoke of F/X masking some fantastic rural rock that at points sounds like a 90s underground take on Skip Spence’s Oar or a Dead bootleg on Majora. Either way this is a solid winner. Recommended" - David Keenan
"From the moment this one kicks off it's obvious we are dealing with some blissed out, bonged to the eyeballs, psych-rock of the highest calibre. Real loose, nicely crafted and suitably drifty in it's approach 'Discovers the Bitter Water of Agartha' is an all out San Francisco style, counter culture aping hippy rock record." - A Norman Records Recommendation.
FORMAT: CS [C-48] // EDITION: 50 // RELEASED: 01.10.11 // LABEL: EXISTENTIAL CLOTH RECORDINGS // SOLD OUT
THREE NEW RECORDINGS CAPTURED LIVE DIRECT TO CASSETTE AT STRANGE MAINE AND MOODY LORDS, CONGRESS ST., PORTLAND, ME FALL 2010. SENSEI DEPRIVATION GOES DOWN A PARTICULARLY JAPANESE NOISE-GUITAR PATH IN SOME PASSAGES, WHILE REMAINING DEEP WITHIN GOTTSCHING/FRIPP AMBIENT GUITAR LOOP TERRITORY.
"The
nearly 10 minute epic resonates with beauty throughout. Liquid guitars
fill every open space of the mind with merriment and wonder. It's like
hearing Christmas in space." - Get Off The Coast (review of "Sensei
Deprivation II [Guitars In The Sun]")
"Matt Lajoie (Cursillistas, Herbcraft, Planets Around the Sun) is on an even spacier tip than his other musics with his Endless Caverns project. This is some real nice echoing going on in between my two headphones, hollowing out my skull and replacing it with one of these endless caverns. Just a bit of water trickling through, just enough to keep me and all the new inhabitants of my new head-space alive and well." - Friendship Bracelet
"Matt Lajoie (Cursillistas, Herbcraft, Planets Around the Sun) is on an even spacier tip than his other musics with his Endless Caverns project. This is some real nice echoing going on in between my two headphones, hollowing out my skull and replacing it with one of these endless caverns. Just a bit of water trickling through, just enough to keep me and all the new inhabitants of my new head-space alive and well." - Friendship Bracelet
CFE#23: ENDLESS CAVERNS: CHAKRA LEDGE FORMAT: CS [ONE-SIDED C-40] // EDITION: 75 // LABEL: CABIN FLOOR ESOTERICA // PRICE: $5.00 + SHIPPING
THE 20-MINUTE "CHAKRA LEDGE" WAS COMPOSED AND PERFORMED AS A LIVE SOUNDTRACK TO THE MARCH 5TH SUNSET IN PORTLAND, ME. THE EVER-MORPHING 32-SECOND RECORDING LOOP WAS PROJECTED OUT OF A 4TH-STOREY WINDOW TO MIX WITH THE STREET SOUNDS BELOW, AND THIS RECORDING CAPTURES THE SOUNDS OF BOTH SIDES OF THE WINDOW. A DRONE MEANT TO SHAKE THE AURA FREE FROM THE BODY. PACKAGING AND HAND-PAINTING BY CABIN FLOOR ESOTERICA; INSERT PHOTO BY ALICIA SAMPSON.
Endless Caverns - Chakra Ledge (Excerpt) by Cabin Floor Esoterica
"The buzz of the city is slowly wrapped with the humming body tones of the seven major chakras amplified. Percussion, dilruba, trumpet, heartbeat, vocals, electric guitars and bells join in a mass of energies. Sky high night jams for the sidewalk crowd recorded this past spring by Matt Lajoie (Herbcraft, Cursillistas, etc.) at the Building of Song in Portland, ME. A dense journey through echoing sea port howls and shaken soul tremours. Program repeats on Side B. In an edition of 75 hand-painted tapes with an insert in a sewn fabric pouch." - Cabin Floor Esoterica.
LTFR 024: TEMPERA // ENDLESS CAVERNS: ESTRANGED MANE
FORMAT: CS [C-40] // EDITION: 45 // RELEASED: 11.09.10
TWO IMPROVISATIONAL PORTLAND ACTS PAY TRIBUTE TO A FAVORITE SPOT IN THE LOCAL UNDERGROUND SCENE: STRANGE MAINE. THIS USED RECORD/TAPE/BOOK/CURIO SHOP BY DAY TAKES ON THE OCCASIONAL TRANSFORMATION INTO THE MOST FREEWHEELING VENUE IN TOWN, AND IS THE SITE OF SOME OF THE GREATEST LIVE SETS WE AT THE L'ANIMAUX CAMP HAVE EVER WITNESSED. ON THIS TAPE, TEMPERA DROPS THEIR FIRST NEW RELEASE SINCE 2009'S STELLAR SELF-TITLED 12"; THIS 19-MINUTE SESSION WAS RECORDED LIVE IN MAY 2010 AND WAS PERFORMED USING JUST TWO MICROPHONES AND MORE DELAY/ECHO/LOOP PEDALS THAN BAND MEMBERS. THE RESULT IS OF AN ENVIABLE SUBTLETY, THE SOURCE WHISPERS AND WHISTLES BENT TO UNIMAGINABLE ANGLES AND LENGTHS UNTIL ONLY SPECTERS REMAIN. ENDLESS CAVERNS' CONTRIBUTION FINDS WHISPS OF CRACKLY ELECTRIC GUITAR LEADS MINGLING WITH DUB-INSPIRED BASS, VOCALS, AND PERCUSSION, ALL STRETCHED OUT IN A HALLUCINATORY TIME-ZONE WHERE EACH TWEAK IN THE CHAIN ADDS A NEW LAYER OF HAZE TO YOUR ALREADY-CLOUDY VISION. HAND-LABELED OPAQUE BLOOD-RED TAPES IN NORELCO CASE, WITH PRO-PRINTED FULL-COLOR J-CARDS HAND-NUMBERED TO 45.
FIT066: HERBCRAFT: PAPERS
FORMAT: CS [C-43] // EDITION: 100 // LABEL: FUCK-IT TAPES
THIS 43-MINUTE CASSETTE COMPILES PREVIOUSLY-UNRELEASED MATERIAL RECORDED BETWEEN THE DISCOVERS...AGARTHA LP AND THE FIRST LIVE BAND PERFORMANCES. INCLUDES LIVE REHEARSAL TAPE VERSIONS OF TWO SONGS FROM THE LP, PLUS FIVE BRAND-NEW SONGS AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY ON THIS TAPE. RECORDED AT NEW WYRD 33, FEBRUARY-MARCH 2010, WITH IAN PAIGE [WHITE LIGHT, PLANETS AROUND THE SUN, CURSILLISTAS LIVE BAND] PROVIDING EXTRA GUITAR DIMENSIONS ON A MAJORITY OF THE TAPE. COVER ART BY JEREMY EARL. Papers by Herbcraft
THIS 43-MINUTE CASSETTE COMPILES PREVIOUSLY-UNRELEASED MATERIAL RECORDED BETWEEN THE DISCOVERS...AGARTHA LP AND THE FIRST LIVE BAND PERFORMANCES. INCLUDES LIVE REHEARSAL TAPE VERSIONS OF TWO SONGS FROM THE LP, PLUS FIVE BRAND-NEW SONGS AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY ON THIS TAPE. RECORDED AT NEW WYRD 33, FEBRUARY-MARCH 2010, WITH IAN PAIGE [WHITE LIGHT, PLANETS AROUND THE SUN, CURSILLISTAS LIVE BAND] PROVIDING EXTRA GUITAR DIMENSIONS ON A MAJORITY OF THE TAPE. COVER ART BY JEREMY EARL. Papers by Herbcraft
"The vibe here is a little hazier than on their killer LP, with a cool basement take on west coast psych ala The Dead, Quicksilver et al updated with COM style raga moves and a 90s underground ‘sound’. Highly recommended!" - David Keenan/Volcanic Tongue.
"Whiles Papers may not have the deep seated back story that underpinned Discovers The Bitter World [sic] Of Agartha, it shares its same burnt vibe of 70's psych-folk indulgence that first drew us into Lajoie's world of haze and caverns. The tape is a mixture of five new and two live, rehearsal tunes all imbued with Herbcraft's haunted, spirit shaking nuance." - Raven Sings the Blues.
"The always rad folks over at Woodsist/Fuck-It Tapes sent over these amazing jams from Herbcraft earlier. [...] Just go ahead and hit play so you can slip into an ambient bliss that you may never want to leave." - Get Off The Coast.
"[P]erfectly meandering slow guitar explorations into the depths of folk music, informed by his peers' efforts from the 70s till this day." - nofearofpop.
"[Herbcraft's] vertiginous psych-folk freakouts are exactly the kind of thing one might hope to stumble upon while wandering the forest alone." - Altered Zones.
"Whiles Papers may not have the deep seated back story that underpinned Discovers The Bitter World [sic] Of Agartha, it shares its same burnt vibe of 70's psych-folk indulgence that first drew us into Lajoie's world of haze and caverns. The tape is a mixture of five new and two live, rehearsal tunes all imbued with Herbcraft's haunted, spirit shaking nuance." - Raven Sings the Blues.
"The always rad folks over at Woodsist/Fuck-It Tapes sent over these amazing jams from Herbcraft earlier. [...] Just go ahead and hit play so you can slip into an ambient bliss that you may never want to leave." - Get Off The Coast.
"[P]erfectly meandering slow guitar explorations into the depths of folk music, informed by his peers' efforts from the 70s till this day." - nofearofpop.
"[Herbcraft's] vertiginous psych-folk freakouts are exactly the kind of thing one might hope to stumble upon while wandering the forest alone." - Altered Zones.
LTD 131: PLANETS AROUND THE SUN: GOLDFORMAT: CS [C-46] // EDITION: 80 // LABEL: DIGITALIS //
DEBUT RELEASE FROM PORTLAND, ME BAND FEATURING MEMBERS OF WHITE LIGHT AND CURSILLISTAS/HERBCRAFT/ORACLE OFFERING.
"Planets' sonics feel like religious offerings to a long-forgotten stellar godforms. It's huge, sprawling, and absolutely magickal." - Digitalis
