October 9 street date. Amish is pleased to announce a new release featuring work from two American noise and sound artists, the Ohio-based MIKE SHIFLET and the recent Portland-to-New York transplant PETE SWANSON. The fifth installment in the label's Required Wreckers series features side-long compositions that borrow as much from the worlds of noise and power electronics that Swanson and Shiflet were affiliated with in the early parts of their careers, as from techno and modern composition. Mike Shiflet's "Bedside" utilizes disparate sources-guitar, field recordings, abstract electronic textures and white noise-to create a composition that's both warmly pastoral and defamiliar. This is one of Shiflet's most beautiful works to date.
June 23 street date. "The Beggar" was written and produced by Michael Gira and features contributions from recent and former Swans, members of Angels Of Light, as well as guest Swan Ben Frost. "After numerous pandemic-induced cancellations of tours for the previous Swans album "leaving meaning", and an apparent bottomless pit of waiting, waiting, waiting, and the strange disorientation that came with this sudden but interminable forced isolation I decided it was time to write songs for a new Swans album and forget about everything else. They came relatively easily, always informed by the suspicion that these could be my last. When I finally was able to travel, songs in hand, to Berlin to work with my friends recording this record, the feeling was akin to the moment in "The Wizard of Oz" when the film changes from black and white to colour. Now I'm feeling quite optimistic. My favourite color is pink. I hope you enjoy the album" - Michael Gira.
June 23 street date. "The Beggar" was written and produced by Michael Gira and features contributions from recent and former Swans, members of Angels Of Light, as well as guest Swan Ben Frost. "After numerous pandemic-induced cancellations of tours for the previous Swans album "leaving meaning", and an apparent bottomless pit of waiting, waiting, waiting, and the strange disorientation that came with this sudden but interminable forced isolation I decided it was time to write songs for a new Swans album and forget about everything else. They came relatively easily, always informed by the suspicion that these could be my last. When I finally was able to travel, songs in hand, to Berlin to work with my friends recording this record, the feeling was akin to the moment in "The Wizard of Oz" when the film changes from black and white to colour. Now I'm feeling quite optimistic. My favourite color is pink. I hope you enjoy the album" - Michael Gira.
November 19 street date. New pressing of Swans 1996 classic "Soundtracks For The Blind". Remastered in 2018, this edition does not include all the extras in the box set edition. Limited quantities available.
November 26 street date. Swansea Sound started in the middle of lockdown. They realised that fast, loud, joyous, angry indie-pop punk was the answer to being stuck indoors. Who needs introspection? Hue Williams is reunited with Pooh Sticks partner Amelia Fletcher (ex-Talulah Gosh, Heavenly). Rob Pursey (also ex-Heavenly) and Ian Button (Wreckless Eric's live collaborator) provide the noise. Swansea Sound are the fast, acerbic and joyous past, present and future of indie. Four of the tracks were released as singles, all of them now impossible to obtain.
November 26 street date. Swansea Sound started in the middle of lockdown. They realised that fast, loud, joyous, angry indie-pop punk was the answer to being stuck indoors. Who needs introspection? Hue Williams is reunited with Pooh Sticks partner Amelia Fletcher (ex-Talulah Gosh, Heavenly). Rob Pursey (also ex-Heavenly) and Ian Button (Wreckless Eric's live collaborator) provide the noise. Swansea Sound are the fast, acerbic and joyous past, present and future of indie. Four of the tracks were released as singles, all of them now impossible to obtain. Vinyl edition limited to 1000 copies.
March 26 street date. Sparkling acoustic guitar, audible vocals, audible room tone-a PETE SWANSON no one has ever heard before-although his signature degradation systems are still in place (both sides end with a blown-out acoustic guitar emulating dirty-needled distortion). Acoustic strings, four walls and a voice dominate dusty interpretations of Dadamah's "High Time," and Gate's "Trees," both redolent of the darkest, coldest Dunedin winter as imagined from half a world away. Volume five in Emerald Cocoon's Alone Together series. Edition of 300.
May 5 street date. The British post-punk band the Wild Swans ventured into U2 territory on their 1988 debut album Bringing Home The Ashes. The haunting voice of Paul Simpson injects every track with emotional weight; whether he tries to convey joy or sorrow, his icy baritone chills to the bone. The album is about somebody coming of age, growing up in an age of war and trying to find comfort from God and love. The Wild Swans were never promoted as a Christian group, but Simpson's uses his spirituality to express hope or despair. The Wild Swans paint indelible images: Simpson's sparkling voice and Kelly's ethereal guitars provide the album with an undeniably romantic feel. Bringing Home The Ashes is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on 180 gram translucent green coloured vinyl and includes an insert.
May 27 street date. Part of The Optic Sevens 4.0 reissue series. This version is a brand new band approved stereo mix of the only single by Liverpool cult legends The Wild Swans . Due to studio inexperience, the single originally ended up being perhaps the only 12" in history with the A-side recorded in mono and the B-side, "God Forbid", in stereo. Despite this, the 12" received rave reviews, becoming single of the week in numerous music papers. John Peel played it to death and it quickly gained cult status by ending up as the last record ever released on Bill Drummond 's cult label Zoo Records (Drummond himself went on to proclaim it "the best single we put out on Zoo"). Blue vinyl; includes postcard and poster.
September 18 street date. Known for his uncompromising tape and synthesizer work, Pete Swanson has pushed the limits of electronic music since the early 2000s. Since stepping down as half of formative underground duo Yellow Swans, he has subverted the genres of noise and electronic dance music as a solo artist. For Eliminated Artist, the third LP release from ISSUE Project Room's Distributed Objects imprint, Swanson ventures into new territories with two works at the intersection of electronic and acoustic sound, created in collaboration with New York instrumental quartet Yarn/Wire. Combining electronics, tape loops, and modular synthesizer with Yarn/Wire's unique ensemble of two pianists and two percussionists, both works were recorded live at ISSUE Project Room, initiated as part of the ensemble's 2011 residency at the Brooklyn venue and presenting organization. For the title-track, "Eliminated Artist" (2012), Swanson recorded improvised rehearsals by Yarn/Wire, from which he crafted an exacting, repeatable framework for live performance. A combination of live signal and rehearsal recordings were then constructed by Swanson into a live electronic mix, ranging from tranquil chromatic textures to unhinged distortion. "Corrections" (2014) emerged from a series of recorded fragments Swanson made using "the Putney," an early EMS VCS3 modular synthesizer, at Rotterdam's WORM studios in 2013. Over two days of rehearsal, Yarn/Wire and Swanson developed acoustic arrangements to integrate with the earlier recordings. Clattering, intricate rhythms combine with soaring synthesizer-pitches and heavy, percussive beats; the result is atmospheric, physical, and precise. Yarn/Wire: Ning Yu, Laura Barger: piano; Russell Greenberg, Ian Antonio: percussion. Pete Swanson: EMS VCS3, electronics, and tape. "Corrections" recorded live at ISSUE Project Room on May 1, 2014; EMS VCS3 for Corrections recorded at WORM Studios, Rotterdam, December 2013. "Eliminated Artist" recorded live at ISSUE Project Room March 22, 2012. Mastered by Rashad Becker. Limited edition of 500 on 150-gram vinyl.
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2023/06/23
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