·1/3 Octave Band- 'The System Likes You and Wants to be Your Friend'. At long last P.A gets to release an album by one of my very favourite local bands. Bill Wood and friends explore similar territory to Surface of the Earth with results that may be even more sublime. 3 epic tracks that further develop the 1/3 Octave sound. CDR. NZ$15 ORDER.

·Ben Spiers. 'Cinders'. Ben Spiers (Empty Mirror, Seen Through) presents a new series of (mainly short) solo guitar, violin, saxophone and amplifier improvisations. Like a sheath of letters composed in a series of small rooms, Cinders evokes the solitudes and moods of the netherworld explorer. Subtle and nuanced. CDR. NZ$15. ORDER.

·Claypipe. 'Crescent'. (Split label release with Root Don Lonie For Cash). Finally the 1st Claypipe recordings (the duo of Clayton Noone (cja) and Antony Milton) found themselves transferred to acetate. Its already sold out however but don't despair- the good news is that we decided to do a cdr run as well. (Which will at least be in stereo... (Lathes are a warm textured mono)). These recordings actually pre-date the releases on Jewelled Antler and catch Claypipe engaged in clattery huge epic dronings which were in no small part fuelled by a peculiarly green tinged cake (ahem..). Organ, sampler, violin, guitar and percussion - there are not so many vocals on this one - the instruments sang for themselves, with nuanced and articulate tongues! Lathe Cut LP. Sold Out. CDR NZ$15 ORDER.

·Moglass.- "Pallcast". This is one of those disks that distorts time, everytime I've listened to its 70 odd minutes I've rushed over to my cd player to see whats wrong cos it always seems to have finished WAY too early. One can truely get lost in the sounds these guys make, who knows how many hours could flit by... The Moglass are a trio from the Ukraine who improvise dark and emotive soundscapes from the seemingly simple formula of electronics, bass and guitar. The whole is far greater than the parts however and the labyrinthine journey these guys can take you on has to be heard to be believed. CDR nz$15 ORDER.

· The Wooden Cupboard. "Boiling the Animal in the Sky". One of the most exciting listens I've had this year was the Skaters and Wooden Cupboard releases that have come out on Nature Tape Limb. Based around the core pair of James Ferraro and Spencer Clark (The Wooden Cupboard is Ferraro's solo project) they sure manage to make a hell of a joyous and utterly insane ecstatic racket on their disks. The overall sound they capture is reminiscent of the recordings by Angus MacLise of tripping screaming hippies involved in dodgy rituals in Nepal in the early 70s, with crazy drumming and loops of lo-fi noise, except that rather than hippies it sounds more the ritual is being conducted by a cult of hyperactive and demonic elves... But its GOOD! Extraordinarily energising music and one of my all time faves for the label so far. 3"CDR. NZ$10. ORDER.

· Sunken. "untitled". Sunken is the duo of Stefan (Pumice) Neville and Antony Milton. Their debut release features longplayer drones built from the interplay between 2 reed organs (and various gadgets- tapeloops, intercom, contact mics). The end result is an ecstatically transcendent and strangely luminous hour of music... CDR. NZ$15. ORDER.

· Keijo. "Unfolding Emptiness"/ "Decomposing Dawn and Dew". Celebrating PseudoArcana's 50th release is a new double album by Finlands Keijo Virtanen. Keijo's cdr on LalLalLal last year was one of my favourites of the year, and "Unfolding Emptiness" follows on from where that one left off. Keijo uses harmonic singing, home-made '2 string', chimes, electronics and maultrommel to create a hyper-atmospheric soundworld that somehow manages to convince one that Mt Kailash is perhaps actually in the middle of a forest in Finland, rather than in Central Asia... "Decomposing Dawn and Dew" is, if anything, even better! On this disk Keijo is joined by Juri Joensuu and Sami Virtanen. Where the 1st disk celebrates the chaos of eccentric juxtaposition, the 2nd focusses more resolutely upon 'the drone' itself. All packaged in a 'fancy' gatefold sleeve with art work by Keijo. Double CDR. NZ$20. ORDER.

· Ashtray Navigations - 'Yesterdays Teeth Cast in Gold'. Showing just how far ahead of the game he is, Mr Todd presents a classic 25mins from the vaults... At 1st I didn't realise that this music is 6-7 years old, it sounds so damn CURRENT! Wonderful dronings and guitar scrabblings from the litter strewn glades of the forest of the plastic trees. Very very good indeed! CDR. NZ$12. ORDER.

· Edward Ruchalski - 'Having it Out'. Originally released as Side 1 of a limited edition LP of the same title on Humbug (who have already released the trks on side 2 on a previous disk), the 3 trks on this disk are a set inspired by Ruchalski's reading of Jane Kenyon's poem "Having It Out With Melancholy". With stunningly beautiful slow sad instrumentals (zither, guitar, voice) bearing witness to an evolving 'concrete' core, the music generates (as the title of the poem would suggest) that most poignant of 'art' inspired states; the static and dream like (imagined...) 'channeling' of the dark shrouded memories of another. Edward Ruchalski is based in the US. 3"CDR. NZ$10. ORDER.

·Dead Raven Choir.- 'Goating Shapelessnesses Theatrical Wolves'. "Goating[...] is sort of controversial in its contents - the first track is a manifesto written by a Futurist poet on the beauty of war, which is bad enough, but it was written in the 1930s in Italy which makes it Fascist. (Even if Mussolini himself would think that manifesto goes entirely too far.) Not anything I agree with, but I couldn't pass it up - I came across it in an old book on international relations and found it fascinatingly creepy and bizarre. The last track is even worse, being a jazzy cover of an early 1900s neoclassical song. It's really normal and melodic and all that. Pretty lousy by either jazz or classical standards - It should frighten avant-garde people, though". (Smolken). 3"CDR. NZ$10. ORDER.

·Team Discovery Channel.- 'Nocturnes'. Yet another wondrous offshoot of the Deserted Village 'Collective' out of Ireland (see Murmansk, The Cosmic Nanou, United Bible Studies etc), T.D.C present a collection of improvisations as evocative of trad melancholy folk as discreet contemporary 'noise'. Acoustic guitars and harmonium (?) brush up against controlled feedback and electronics*. Loud, quiet, warm, cold. Makes sense to my 'N.Z' ears - even though its somewhat better recorded...! *(Well- I stand corrected, apparently its all done with electric guitars.) 3"CDR. NZ$10. ORDER.

·Russell Street.- ‘These Cigarettes Will Kill Me’. Russell Street is the solo project of Greg Larking,one 1/2 of the ‘noise’ duo (called confusingly?) Street… A million miles away from the overdriven excess of that band, Russell St. is a much more subtle and introspective affair. ‘These Cigarettes…’ gathers together quiet electronic loops and a series of discreet piano and organ improvisations recorded (quite audibly) in the sunroom at his home on Russell St. This is the sort of music I started the label in order to release. CDR NZ$15. ORDER.

·Seen Through- '2'. Two new improvisations from the duo of Ben Spiers and Antony Milton. Track one is a heady hybrid of ultra distorted guitar noise and ecstatic celestial 'blues', the 2nd trk an extended meditation on 'NZ noise guitar', all buzzing textures and floating tones. NZ$15. ORDER.

·The Stumps.- 'If I Gave You Some Concrete Slippers Would You Wear Them When You Jump Off The Pier?'. Atmospheric reverb rock swell and sprawl. Deep space exploration from James Kirk (percussion), Stephen Clover(bass), and Antony Milton (guitar). Recorded 'live' in Wellingtons biggest garage. 3"CDR. NZ$10. ORDER.

·Del. – ‘Der Lehnstuhl Sagt Alles’. A re-release of the limited edition LP on Ohm, ‘Der Lehnstuhl Sagt Alles’ features 3 epic live tracks from Norway’s Del. Drums, guitars, and electronics create an edgy and exciting racket that is up towards the ecstatic end of the ‘free’ drone-rock spectrum. CDR. NZ$15. ORDER.

· CJA- 'Silent Blood'. New Full length from Armpits CJA. Even though a recurring theme throughout is a reflection upon the amount of time spent on his PC (the same analogue sound as ever, but the use of digital layering tech adds extra depths to the hum) this disk still has that wonderful lofi droniness, and CJA is as resolutely himself as ever. Includes an epic that threatens to rival the incredible 'headache'. Degradation can be a beautiful thing. CDR NZ$15. ORDER.

·seht. -'Communion'. Beautifully stark minimalist drone and edgy shimmerings from Stephen Clovers seht project. Successfully marries analogue synth with 'digital treatments' of found sounds to create subtle ripples in the deep pool mirror of the 'other'. 3"CDR NZ$10. ORDER.

·Various Artists. -'A Lowtides Rising (Explorations around the theme of NZ acoustic music). A year long adventure comes to a close with the release of this compilation. Explore the semantic indeterminancy of the word 'acoustic' alongside such luminaries as: Peter Wright, Sleep, Pumice, CJA, Birchville Cat Motel, Richard Francis, 1/3 Octave Band, Antony Milton, Kunst/Veet (Witcyst), seht, Donald McPherson, Tim Cornelius, James Kirk (Sandoz Lab Techs), Swagger Jack, gFrenzy, and Kieran Monaghan. Includes short sweet 'folk'songs, shrill drone epics, gestural collages and more besides. CDR NZ$15. ORDER.

·Paintings of Windows -'Canvas'. A new project from Antony Milton, Paintings of Windows attempts to light a cosy campfire in the midst of the digital tundra. Field recordings, some capturing spare use of 'trad' instruments, are manipulated and shaped using basic software to produce a peaceful, minimal, and warm electronica. The source tapes for 'Canvas' were recorded in a tent at Paikakareiki during midnight showers and summer dawns. 3"CDR. NZ$10. ORDER.

· Simon Wickham-Smith- 'dyrø'. New release from the English 'underground' hero. Two epic tracks, the first a very skewed take on religious chant which retains a genuine and relevant reverence at the same time as it forges a whole new path through both laptop electronica and devotional music. The second is a huge track characterised by ripping great digitally distorted drones which seem intent on tearing through the bullshit (Maya?) to reveal a clearer world beyond... All recorded on a small island off the coast of Scotland. Dyro CDR. NZ$15. ORDER.

·Peter Wright- 'The Broken Kawai'. Christchurch (now UK) guitar and lap-top (and field-recording, and bicycle playing...) drone maestro Peter Wright seems to be going from strength to strength these days. Quite a bit 'harsher' than some of his other releases, this disk works as a catylist for a 'pointier' contemplation. A drone music designed to stimulate rather than vegetate. CDR NZ$15. ORDER.

· (p.o.w)- 'Northwest Frontier Province'. Always on the lookout for new controversies the P.A. catalogue veers off into cultural appropriation! Of all the field recordings collected during a year in 'Southern Asia' these are the ones I (Antony Milton) have returned to most. Recorded in Pakistan in 1999 these tracks document the sound of (mutiple simultaneous) calls to prayer echoing back from the sheer mountain walls surrounding the town of Gilgit. Incidental sounds abound, not least of all the vagaries arising from blank tapes bought for 30 rupees from a street vendor, but I'm sure most of you will agree that such phenomena often add to the overall aural experience rather than detract. (Subtitled 'how I came to love Islam'). 3" CDR NZ$10. ORDER.

·Witcyst -'Trouble Shooting in a Year'. The ever prolific Witcyst once again illustrates to us all the benefits of daily practice!. Messiah like he points from the tree of gnosis out toward the further reaches of the frontier, in his hidden hand he clasps an orange record, a length of wire, and a broken guitar. CDR. NZ$15. (last copies) ORDER.

·Pumice- 'Sexual'(live). CDR re-release (with new tracks) of the Stabbies and Rocket cassette. Wonderfully shambolic and 'rocking' tracks from Pumice gigs circa 1998-2002. I couldn't really say that its as good as being there but it comes pretty damn close! CDR NZ$15. ORDER.

A.M.-- McLeod-Ganj. My first entirely computer recorded disk (a big deal for an analogue enthusiast…), I am very pleased with this release. All the source sounds come from the 'Tibetan' instruments which were lying around a house I was staying in and were rendered using #indow$ 'sound-recorder32' only. From slow-mo melodic drone, thru' 'sound-collage' to big noise with a few bitty-beats (ye gods!) along the way. Kind of about the hyp(er-realis)ing of all things(?) Tibetan. CDR. N.Z.$10. (last copies). ORDER.

·Dick the Phone. "". Punky damaged rawk and scrawl from Futurians cohorts Dick the Phone. Disk journeys from epic garage guitar histronics through to almost pretty percussive rambling. 3"CDR. NZ$10. ORDER.

·Goh Lee Kwang. - 'Eastern / Concrete'. Goh Lee Kwang is a Malaysian sound-manipulator who is currently based in Germany. This double 3" explores the polar opposites of his investigations into sound. Whilst 'Concrete' focuses on machine hum and is extremely minimal,'Eastern' is a lush beautiful meditation on the tonal qualities of organ music. Double 3"cdr. NZ$15. ORDER.

:	The Seedy R! Label

To order email p-arcana@paradise.net.nz