Welcome to the first newsletter of 2012 from The Archipelago Rises!
We’ve got a few new arrivals in the store for your aural enjoyment. Some really exciting stuff too!
EXPO ‘70 / ALTAIR TEMPLE
‘S/T’ 12”
(Radar Swarm)
First up, we’ve got the split LP release between Expo ’70 and Altair Temple, released by Radar Swarm. Expo ’70 contributes a sidelong excursion into the drone mind with the track ‘Land of the Midnight Sun’. This is one of Expo ‘70s more divergent recordings as it moves from vision to vision across its 20-minute length. The track originally appeared on the ‘Paralyzed’ cassette, which came with initial pre-orders of the ‘Death Voyage’ release. It features some lightly manipulated percussive work on top of Justin’s psyche guitar. At 5 minutes in, the subtlety is suddenly drowned under waves of heaving bass drones. The drones cascade across your aural plain like huge crashing craft from the outer reaches – only to be supplanted by some more of Jw’s more intense, hypnotic guitar work. And we’re only half way through the track.
Saying that Expo ’70 takes you on a journey is understatement personified. Perfectly suited to the vinyl format and to headphone listening, the track gains advantage from the vinyl medium as the world-within-the-world undercurrents are exposed to the listener without the listener having to dredge through the hum of the original cassette release. Or; maybe, I need a better cassette deck. Or; maybe I need to embrace the hum….
Altair Temple continues the precedent set by Expo ’70 on the previous side by contributing 3 more tracks of wondrous drones. Deep resonance abounds. Large, heavy speakers essential. Or ruddy good headphones. I have a pair of Bose headphones and they just handled the listen. Did I have it up too loud? Well, really, that’s the only way to listen to drone.
“Exconjuration…” builds an increasingly menacing wall of sound across its length. Imagine yourself moving slowly towards the event horizon (of the Laurence Fishburne type) with the trepidation slowly building in your mind. The radiation increases, the noise thickens and you’ve found yourself pulverized under the weight of the ‘Mountain Drone’. Claustrophobic wall of low frequency. As ‘Ars Theurgia’ begins, the cathartic release is profound as you find yourself drifting effortlessly through the clouds. The sound of waves crashing against a distant beach echo through the cloud chamber as you drift towards the sun. It’s all over, in that most inexplicably intense and euphoric way.
Limited to only 300 copies, all on white vinyl, don’t expect these to hang around very long.
Essential movies for the mind.
HIGHGATE
‘S/T’ LP
(Psychic Assault)
Second new release is the latest slab of monolithic heaviness from Psychic Assault. Back in 2007, an undiscovered band by the name of Highgate released an hour-long track that would forever change the landscape of heavy music…if you ever heard it. Going largely unnoticed by the masses, the select few that were lucky enough (or astute enough) to find this track were onto something rare and special. And completely crippling. Total annihilation. Intense.
So, fast-forward to 2012 and Psychic Assault, along with Vendetta, have released this doom masterpiece on vinyl. 300 copies, all hand numbered. The perfect medium for total destruction.
’You know what to do’
MICHAEL SCOTT TAPSCOTT
‘GOOD MORNING, AFRICA’ LP
(Bookmaker Records)
Coming very soon is the brand new release from Bookmaker Records. Rapidly becoming a favourite label for The Archipelago Rises, Bookmaker is now venturing into the vinyl ether with their very first LP release. Michael Tapscott, better known for being the main man in Odawas, has continued his exploration into his ambient, dark folk, cosmic leanings with ‘Good Morning, Africa’, a stunning document demonstrating his gift for the sublime.
The album deftly flits between manipulated field recordings, indie folk tunes and ambient drones. Bringing to mind the more laid-back Flaming Lips indie rock, Six Organs of Admittance acoustic meanderings and label-mates Henryspenncer’s dark-ambience, ‘Good Morning, Africa’ is a tonally blissful encounter. Those of you who have purchased or listened to any of Gustav Franklin’s material recently will also find elements within this album to savor.
The Archipelago Rises is very proud to be helping distribute this record in Australia for Bookmaker Records. Limited to 300 copies, this album will take you on a trip – one that you may never return from.
As an added bonus for this very special release, The Archipelago Rises will be offering a very limited pack including ALL of the Bookmaker Records releases thus far released. For a heavily discounted price, naturally. Included are said vinyl LP, Seabuckthorn’s ‘In Nightfall’ CD, Henryspenncer’s ‘To The Timeless Valley’ CD and the Henryspenncer / Among the Bones split CD.
Links will follow, as soon as ‘Good Morning, Africa’ arrives. Get in touch if you want me to hold an LP or the pack for you.
SOME SLIGHTLY LESS RECENT ARRIVALS WORTH MENTIONING/REMEMBERING. …AGAIN
ZZ: Pig Cycle II & III (Self Released)
Unsettling, dark sounds from Andy of ZZ (Persistence of Mourning, Winters in Osaka, Witch Sermon). File under dark ambient/drone.
Whilst yr checking out the drone ZZ material, definitely check out the Stanridge collaboration for something completely different.
THE HOUSE OF CAPRICORN: Sign of the Cloven Hood & In The Devil’s Days (Swamps of One Tree Hill)
Quite obvious overtures here with these two CDs. The titles say it all. But I’m tellin’ ya, these are hell good (pardon the pun) to listen to! ‘Sign’ is more of a classic stoner/doom record. Sabbath-y, Kyuss-y. ‘Devil’s’ has a more expansive sound that brings to mind Type O Negative and Life of Agony.
fragment.: Home (OPN Records)
Beautiful, expansive shoegaze drones in the vein of Jesu, taken to the outer limits. Only $10 a pop.
PIG HEART TRANSPLANT / THE ENDLESS BLOCKADE: Split (Superfi Records)
6-panel 7” split between these two mental, mental bands. Powerviolence vs noise vs powerviolence. Superfi Records have planted another evil seed to punish, corrupt and reduce the soul. Awesome.
THIS WILL DESTROY YOU – Tunnel Blanket (Hobbledehoy)
It is still with great pleasure that we continue to stock and sell this absolutely wonderful record. We have them on both double LP and CD, pressed and manufactured by our most gracious Hobbledehoy friends. If you’ve been under a rock since this records’ release, let me tell you this is one of THE most anticipated releases of last year, and it fails to disappoint. In a big way. TWDY have moved on from their EITS-influenced ‘Young Mountain’ and ‘S/T’ releases, onto something so much deeper and inspiring with ‘Tunnel Blanket’. An album of light and flowers this is not. It’s bleak, dark, cinematic in scope and executed with perfection by the players. Fantastic press too from Hobbledehoy. In The Archipelago Rises’ opinion, the Hobble vinyl captures the sleeve art to a T, moreso than the standard black vinyl of the Sargent House release. It is truly incredible and demands repeated listens for full exposure and immersion. Like all classic albums. And this will surely be seen as classic given time.
FUTURE DEALINGS
The Archipelago Rises will be getting the last of Gustav Franklin’s available releases. Once these are gone, they be gone forever. We’ll be getting the Pages CDr full length, Found Tapes Vol II CDr and the Landstormen cassette so if you want one of these unheralded ambient/drone masterpieces (if I do say so myself), I’ll happily reserve a copy for you until their arrival.
We are finalizing an order with Antithetic Records. Some avant black metal making its way here, including the latest Book of Sand release ‘The Face of the Waters’, Terzij de Horde’s ‘A Rage of Rapture Against the Dying of the Light’ 12″ and the new release from those South African new powerhouses, Wildernessking ‘The Writing of Gods in the Sand’.
We’ve got a huge box of goodies waiting for The Archipelago Rises at Witch Sermon HQ. All it needs is for me to finalise the deal and Witch’ll be sending this box of mega-darkness to our shores.
The discogs site is just about complete. Added a lot of releases to the database so most of everything The Archipelago Rises stocks, is on the discogs site.
MYLENE SHEATH
We’ve got a couple of Mylene Sheath releases in stock that are now unavailable at Sheath HQ. We have only very limited quantities ourselves.
Beware of Safety – ‘dogs’ 2LP
Gifts from Enola – Loyal Eyes Betrayed the Mind 2LP
Gifts from Enola – S/T LP
Get in quick and buy. Or cry into your beer.
Cry cry cry.
