New Releases From ImpRec and Archive

Both Important Records and Archive CD have recently been two of the more consistent labels when it comes to quality releases. In the last month or so, Important has released two albums from Steven Wilson under his Bass Communion banner. The first was a full length CD and the latest is a live collaboration with Pig (who I know nothing about) on vinyl. It's been awhile since they have released a full-length but Conifer also have a new record out that contains some excellent instru-metal with special guest Eugene Robinson of Oxbow contributing vocals on the last track.

Archive has already released two DVDs and with the latest release group have added another four to the discography. The one and only live performance by Khlyst was captured for a short but sweet DVD with more fantastic artwork by Stephen Kasner. Enough footage of Mick Barr, both solo and part of his various duos, was recorded for a double DVD release. Live footage of Suishou No Fune at various shows and jam session at Bardo Pond's Lemur House and a live show from Ai Aso round out the new releases. I also picked up the remaster of Corrupted's long out print CD 'Paso Inferior'.

A New Axe

Since around January I've been on the lookout for a left-handed Rickenbacker 4003 bass. A few have popped up on ebay for ridiculous amounts of money and I've yet to find an online shop that had one in. They seem to constantly going to those on wait lists that can be over a year long.

So when I found one in stock at an online shop and just couldn't pass up the opportunity to own one. My Carvin 5-string is very versatile but there's one sound it can't get and that's the famous sound of a Rickenbacker.

I had to make some adjustments so the pickup cover has been removed. I'm not sure if I will put it back on, but I like the look of it with it attached. My GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) have been heavily relieved by this bass now that have a really nice 4 string to learn, practice and record with.

New 7" Club Releases And A Trade

I'm currently subscribed to two 7" vinyl clubs, one from Volcom Entertainment and one from Sub Pop. Volcom is now on it's fourth volume, a split between Red Fang and Tweak Bird, two bands I know nothing about. Upon first listen I liked the Tweak Bird track a lot and thought Red Fang's contribution was solid. It's always great in a series to hear some good music from bands you've never heard of. Sup Pop's first entry comes from Om, their first recording with new drummer Emil Amos of Grails. I like the new track, especially the b-side dub version. Hopefull this is sign of things to come from Om.

In trade plus money I acquired Earth's "tour only" live CD called Radio Earth that features live versions of songs from the new album plus a previously unreleased track.

Order From All That Is Heavy

Colour Haze's latest album All has finally arrived on double vinyl. Elektrohasch does a great job with their vinyl, making sure that the original analogue recording stays analog. I've been enjoying the album on CD and can't wait to hear it on their best format.

CDs that came included the latest from Peru's La Ira de Dios, Elektrohasch's reissue of Josiah's self-titled album (with two bonus tracks) and Wall Of Sleep's Sun Faced Apostles (as the freebie).

A Pair Of New Releases

As part of the URSK series from Utech Records, Runhild Gammelsæter has released her first solo album. The former vocalist of Thorr's Hammer and contributor to Sunn O))) and Khlyst, Runhild shows off her vocal range throughout the album. Musically it's much mellower than her other work and she has a much different approach as the sole musician. There's a good variety of songs throughout which keeps the listener interested.

20 Buck Spin has released yet another album from Black Boned Angel, this time a hour plus single track that starts very minimal and builds and builds til the end. Campbell Kneale is apparently retiring the Birchville Cat Motel project so hopefully this will mean more BBA works for the future.

Trading In The Old For The New

Went down to Lou's Records to trade in some CDs that I'll never listen to again. With the credit for the CDs I was able to pick up some new releases. They had the latest releases from Jandek which I never ordered through Corwood for cheaper so I picked up the lastest live album CD and the double DVD release that includes rehearsal footage that sounds very interesting. The other new releases included a new one from the Melvins, their second with Big Business as the rhythm section. Kayo Dot, despite loosing most of their members have released a jazz-tinged modern prog-rock album - all the metal in their music is finally gone. The lone older release was Ghost's 2004 epic album that I've been meaning to pickup for awhile now.

Jandek - Ready For The House LP Reissue

Jackpot Records has licensed the first Jandek album, originally called The Units, for reissue on vinyl. The original goes for hundreds of dollars on eBay so the reissue is a huge welcome for someone who has never heard a Jandek album on vinyl. They've done a great job with the release - it sounds and looks great. Apparently on request of Corwood Industries, this is a different version than what was originally released and from the 2005 CD remaster. So the track lengths are different as a result.

I'm curious to see if more of the early Jandek material will get reissued on vinyl in the near future.

Out Of Town Arrivals

It's been a long time coming but I finally put in order to VHF Records for some CDs. The newer releases included the softmore album from Stephen O'Malley's project Aethenor and the latest from acoustic drone quartet Pelt (who includes the great acoustic guitar player Jack Rose). The older CDs all come from Pelt's back catalog.

Archive CD has done a first and released two new CDs that come with 7" lathe cut records containing edits of the material featured on the CDs. Both Paul Metzger and Michael Gibbons (as 500mg) have two track albums of instrumental music. The lathe cuts sound fantastic and have a different sound from the CD versions. A successful experiment from Archive.

It always seems when I put in an order to All That's Heavy that soon after they'll stock more releases that I want. So I ordered from them the softmore release from Ten East and Gary Arce's new project called Dark Tooth Encounter. A CD from Oak's Mary was thrown in as a freebie.

Some 2008 New Releases

A couple of packages arrived yesterday with some new releases.

Germany's Colour Haze have released a monster of an album appropriately titled "All". It's lengthy album with quite a few tracks to show their range as a band. It's an album that will take several spins before it sinks in. The debut album from The Freeks has finally arrived. The Freeks are the "all-star" collective of Ruben Romano (Nebula / Fu Manchu), Scott Reeder (Kyuss / Across the River), John McBain (Monster Magnet / Wellwater Conspiracy), Isaiah Mitchell (Earthless), Lorenzo Woodrose (Baby Woodrose / On Trial), Jack Endino (Skin Yard / Earthworm), Jason Corbin (Bartenders Bible / The Casbah), John Cobett (Hammers of Misfortune / Ludicra) and Bernie Worell (Wizard of Woo & Woo Warriors / Funkadelic / Parliament). Should be interesting to hear what they come up with.

Another new release from Three Lobed Recordings is out. Matt Valentine and Erica Elder have a strickly duo LP that features songs with a heavy influence from India and surrounding areas. With the help of some non-Western instruments and a couple of Electro-Harmonix effects pedals, they create some interesting sounds. As a bonus, there's a full length CD that contains a collection of unreleased material from MV&EE with The Golden Road appearing on some of the tracks. As always the final is on 180g black vinyl and this time housed in a thick single pocket sleeve. The CD comes in it's own plastic sleeve with artwork. I'm not a huge fan of the duo but this a solid release.

Another One For The Board

I've been reading a bunch of the TalkBass forums recently and it seems everyone has a SansAmp Bass DI pedal or similar pedal on their board or use it as a pre-amp with a power amp setup. It sounded like a box that would give me that tube amp sound without having to buy a tube amp. So I gave it a spin to see/hear what the hype was all about. Playing into a solid state amp you could definitely dial in that tube sound and then some. Being able to use it for some dirt in your signal chain, as a pre-amp or DI box really seems to give the pedal value for the price.

Having only used the stock strings on my Carvin bass, I decided to try some new strings and picked up a set of DR high beams to see how much different the bass might sound with some aftermarket strings.