Available Tapes

Bird People - Water Buffalo
Valery Oisteanu - Perks in Purgatory
Itasca - Proto
Roberto Valenza - Impermanence is Beautiful
Hartmut Geerken -burned beyond recognition/orgie mit mir selber
Metal Rouge -Thunder Woods
Allen Ginsberg/Peter Orlovsky/Steven Taylor/Harry Hoogstraten - De Leeuwerik 1979


contact:
sloowtapes 'at' gmail 'dot' com

Bird People

Bird People
Water Buffalo
Sloow Tapes – CS 40

Uli Rois’ Bird People celestial meditations on the recurring image of the water buffalo in eastern mythology. The animal plays an important role in the myths surrounding the Hindu god of Death Yama, Oya, the goddess of change, and Lao Tsu who left China over the Han Gu Pass on the back of a water buffalo. Abstract guitars and electronics drowning in tanpura drones. 70 copies.

New tape from Uli Rois’ (Feathered Coyote Records et al) solo/communal psych/drone unit: here Rois uses guitar, electronics and tanpura to float a series of meditations on the recurring image of the water buffalo in eastern mythology, moving from the kind of hallucinatory American raga that is as ‘lunar’ as anything from the fists of Matthew ‘Doc’ Dunn while giving the nod to Kraut monsters like Yatha Sidhra/Emtidi et al.

Valery Oisteanu

Valery Oisteanu
Perks in Purgatory
Sloow Tapes – CS 50

Valery Oisteanu is a Soviet-born Romanian/American poet, a former DJ and rock and roll-poet who traveled around Eastern Europe (Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia) in buses inspired by the likes of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters. As his work grew more and more critical of the communist regime he managed to immigrate to New York in the early seventies. Valery has been called the lovechild of Wilhelm Reich and André Breton and his poetry is a wild stream-of-consciousness of extravagant dada, surrealist and beat images. On these recordings Oisteanu reads from his latest book ‘Perks in Purgatory’. Edition of 100 copies.

Latest instalment in Sloow Tapes’ necessary beat/spoken word cassette series: Valery Oisteanu is a Soviet-born Romanian/American poet who was also known as a DJ and a rock and roll outlaw who travelled across Eastern Europe in buses inspired by the Further>>> aesthetic of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters. As his work grew more and more critical of the communist regime he moved to New York in the early seventies. Valery has been called “the lovechild of Wilhelm Reich and André Breton” and his poetry has a wild energy and an insistent musicality, with aspects of the kind of hysteric delivery of Alan Bishop married to bardic Ginsberg-isms and a feel for surrealist juxtaposition. Here he reads from his latest work, Perks In Purgatory. Edition of 100 copies.

Itasca

Itasca
Proto
Sloow Tapes – CS 40

Inspired acid folk visions by Kayla Cohen: solo guitar with lonesome vocals calling up the spirits of Nico or Judee Sill. Amazing songwriting spacing out in timeless metaphysical acoustics. 80 copies.

Great new set of haunting acid folk from Kayla Cohen aka Itasca: we were all pretty much blown away by Kayla’s CD-R debut that we stocked at VT and this is another mesmerising set of acoustic guitar and vocal reveries, with great overdubbed backing vox and an atmosphere to compare to Linda Perhacs or These Trails. Her vocals are fantastic, a moody/high-flying hybrid of Judee Sill and Kendra Smith and her guitar work is just as dazzling, combing the kind of homeblown string work of the early Six Organs recordings with a flowing, arpeggiated style that is pure Stone Angel. Edition of 80 copies.

Metabolismus

Metabolismus
Brimborium
Sloow Tapes – CS 40

Acid-folk- jazz jams by the legendary Metabolismus, this tape has a deep sixties communal hippie vibe to it. Mostly acoustic instruments, with some electronics thrown in for a nice fried kraut feel. Features an extended version of The Fugs’ ‘Nothing’. 100 copies.

SOLD OUT

Edition of 100 copies from this long-running mysterious communal folk/kraut unit: Metabolismus take on the kind of ethno-flux style of groups like Embryo and marry it to endless acoustic jams with oracular vocals and microtonal raga detail, somehow tying up NYC and Cologne w/a commitment to group mind dynamics that gives the nod to Crass and Siloah, The Fugs and Yatha Sidhra. Indeed, Brimborium features a suitably slum goddess rendering of The Fugs paean to nada, “Nothing”, alongside endless acoustic ritual and lumbering cultic rhythms. (Volcanic Tongue)

Metal Rouge

Metal Rouge
Thunder Woods
Sloow Tapes – CS 42

Thunderous riffs of devastating free-rock squall soaked up in extended intuitive solos of endless distortion. These jams drown in hazy echo’s of art rock, noise psychedelia and the darkest corners of acidic free jazz. 80 copies.

Edition of 80 copies steel string blow-out from this monolithic psychedelic blues/drone group: Metal Rouge take off on the clanging desert hysteria of Joy Shapes-era Charalambides while channelling avant garage moves as diverse as Teenage Jesus, Pere Ubu and The Dead C, navigating zones of levitating feedback and singing amplifier damage with sliding tones, crunching minor chords and an assaultive style that would relocate the broken bottleneck blues of Blind Willie Johnson downwind of the Silence-era titans cut with beautifully excessive female vocals. Recommended, as is everything by this group. (Volcanic Tongue)

Roberto Valenza

Roberto Valenza
Impermanence is Beautiful
Sloow Tapes – CS 60

Roberto Valenza (1943 – 2010) was a poet of the crazy wisdom school, influenced by the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of spontaneous realization poetry of Doha songs. He spent most of the seventies living on Swayambhu Hill in Katmandu, where he attended ceremonies and initiations and was part of the international poetry scene which also included Angus MacLise and Ira Cohen, who published two classic books by Valenza under his Bardo Matrix imprint. Upon returning to the States, Roberto went to Seattle where he co-founded Red Sky Poetry Theatre and collaborated with poet margareta waterman on several chapbooks and a full-length volume of poetry, drawings and photographs from his time in Katmandu. ‘Impermanence is Beautiful’ collects home recordings from 2002, plus contains a further five tracks recorded live in San Francisco in 1980 and excerpted (compliments of Eddie Woods) from a forthcoming live-performance album entitled “Ins & Outs at the Grand Piano.” In the liner notes Ralph La Charity writes about the recordings: “Our triple-threat magic man to the max, a Cosmic Giggle sort of wise guy artist/poet ever in motion who most feared standing pat, a whirlybird with glittery eyes all itchy with Else; he painted visions hilarious sacred and profane, his songs likewise rapt bawdy and Grand, & once he sat down on his flute, bent it, & that was that.” 100 copies.

Another incredible underground poetry unearthing for what has become the premier source for spontaneous 20th century gnosis and post-Dreamweapon visions of is-ness: Impermanence Is Beautiful collects some profoundly affecting and haiku-sharp home-recorded readings by the ‘crazy wisdom’ practitioner, the late Roberto Valenza. Valenza was heavily involved in Tibetan Buddhist traditions and lived for a time in Kathmandu alongside Angus MacLise and Ira Cohen, where he attended rituals and initiations and had his poetry published via Cohen’s important Bardo Matrix imprint. On his return to the States he founded the Red Sky Poetry Theatre and published several chapbooks of poetry, visual art and memoir. As well as the beautiful sing-song poetics, spontaneous musings on the dharma and mind-bending jams, Impermanence... also includes five hypnotic tracks recorded live in San Francisco courtesy of fellow poet Eddie Woods, all excerpted from a forthcoming live performance album entitled Ins & Outs At The Grand Piano. Another amazing instalment in Sloow Tapes uncovering of the Dreamweapon Diaspora. Edition of 100 copies, highly recommended! (Volcanic Tongue)

Hartmut Geerken

Hartmut Geerken
burned beyond recognition/orgie mit mir selber
Sloow Tapes – CS 60

Archival recordings by Hartmut Geerken. German author, poet, composer, musician, film-maker, performer, actor, mycologist, archivist, stager of exhibitions, lumberjack and bumble-bee-keeper who published countless books of poetry and prose, edited the collected works of the exiled German philosopher Salomo Friedlaender/Mynona and worked with Amercan poet Robert Lax. As a musician he collaborated with John Tchicai, Sun Ra (he was the first to bring Sun Ra over to Egypt in 1971), Embryo, Michael Ranta, Art Ensemble Of Chicago etc etc.
In the seventies Hartmut lived in Afghanistan organizing the annual Indo-Afghan-European music weeks and broadcasting the first jazz program on Radio Afghanistan together with Wahab Madadi. The two soundpoetry pieces on this tape were recorded in 1979 while living in Kabul. 100 copies.

Astounding archival uncovering of sound/poetry recordings from Hartmut Geerken, long-time Sun Ra confidante and collaborator with the Art Ensemble, Embryo, Michael Ranta et al in an edition of 100 copies: in the 1970s Geerken lived in Afghanistan, where he broadcast the first ever jazz program on Radio Afghanistan. These recordings are drawn from the same period, cut in Kabul in 1979, with Geerken reading prophetic poetry and memorials of the wandering poets of the counter culture over some raging post-Coltrane free jazz, incorporating visions of injustice and historical atrocity with all of the guerrilla smarts of Sunny Murray’s Sonny’s Time Now. A fantastic, unlikely unearthing, can’t believe this is its first release, highly recommended! (Volcanic Tongue)

Ira Cohen

Ira Cohen
The Bearded Iris
Sloow Tapes - CS 45

This is the last recording of Ira Cohen (1935-2011) reading at his New York apartment, made by poet, friend and collaborator Louise Landes Levi who was staying with him at the time. A very intense reading spanning his early work ‘Poems from the Cosmic Crypt’ up to his last collection ‘Everything You Say May Be Held Against You’. Cohen’s visionary surrealist poetry transforms Asian shamanism, the Sufi poetry of Rumi, Cendrars' great travelogues and Lorca's duende into multi-dimensional phantasmagorical incantations. Jack Micheline called him ‘Allen Ginsberg on stilts’. His written work is as ecstatic intoxicating as his legendary mylar photographs and classic ‘The Invasion of Thunderbolt Pagoda’ movie from the sixties. Includes insert. 100 copies.

SOLD OUT

Another major instalment in Sloow Tapes’ on-going documentation of the Dreamweapon Diaspora: this is a profoundly affecting samizdat recording of the late digital shaman/filmmaker/poet/mystic Ira Cohen, his last ever recorded work as two weeks later he stopped speaking altogether and passed away shortly afterwards. Recorded at home in a very intimate documentarian/non-performative style by fellow visionary/poet/musician Louise Landis Levi whose notes put the whole deal in fairly devastating context in the liners: “...this is a last reading of his own work – I think he understood that – it is NOT a performance as are the other recordings – unless you consider the lord of death & his retinue an interesting ‘public’.” This is the sound of Cohen booming into the void and the way it’s rendered on cassette, with Levi stopping and starting the tape and providing a running commentary, complete with a sometimes touching, sometimes funny, sometimes argumentative back-and-forths, only adds to the atmosphere of a postcard from the very lip of oblivion. Indeed, only Jandek’s harrowingly personal Put My Dream On This Planet comes close in terms of unadorned/needs-must documentation. Cohen’s was a life lived on the very margins of consensus, with a commitment to his own bliss and to coming to an understanding of reality on its own terms that is more truly ‘magical’ than any retreat into simple ritual. Indeed, what is most inspiring about the Dreamweapon Diaspora (Cohen, Levi, the MacLises et al) was their understanding of the efficacy of ritual as refracted via tiny, mind-altering acts and moments of everyday/every minute epiphany. The way they lived their lives answered directly to the demands of their art and their example is more necessary than ever in these increasingly conservative world-corporate times. And there’s plenty of life in here, from his earliest work to his final writings, with memories of Angus MacLise, constant re-thinks of himself, as a moment, as a vision, as a solitary figure, with Louise gasping or calling him on or shouting her approval. I love his memories of George Clinton, his style, his joie de vivre, an exultation of spirit that reflects just as much on Cohen’s own life-as-lived. A profound document, perfectly rendered by Levi, beautifully presented with snaps and liners and edited by Paul Labrecque and Bart De Paepe. For me, this is the poetry event of the year. Edition of only 100 copies, massively potent and highly recommended! (Volcanic Tongue)

Raajmahal

Raajmahal
Tishna
Sloow Tapes - CS 40

Two spaced-out tracks by Pat Murano (Decimus/NNCK) and Carla Baker (Baba Yaga/Flower Orgy), a trip beyond Cartesian dualism into dark waters of other-consciousness scented with Eastern spiritualism and quiet contemplation. Floating bodies of restrained guitar and ethereal vocal chants summon Apsaras bearing cups of psychedelic nectar. 100 copies.

SOLD OUT

Beautiful new recordings, the follow-up to their VT Tip LP, from the heavenly duo of Pat Murano (Decimus/NNCK et al) and Carla Baker: this one sounds even hazier than the LP and is the perfect soundtrack to drizzly fall afternoons, with Baker sighing her way through luminous zones of comedown psych guitar and slow sunsets of organ tone. Still an ethereal Japanese psych edge to what these two do (orbiting the more spectral Shizuka/Suishou No Fune end of the scale) but with a classic lost-in-time Bruno Nicolai Euro soundtrack atmosphere along with shades of mid-period Loren Mazzacane Connors. Probably the most overtly ‘beautiful’ recording from Murano to date. Edition of 100 copies. Highly recommended. (Volcanic Tongue)

Grapefruit

Grapefruit
Twin Reflections
Sloow Tapes – CS 40

Grapefruit is layers of analogue synths, subtle pulses and polyrhythms in sprawling myriad-dimensional Kosmische kraut universes. Shape-shifting Schulze, Vangelis and Spacemen 3 into mutant arpeggios of aleatoric tones. 60 copies.

SOLD OUT

Mysterious Euro-zone organ-led psych stylings that combine late period Spacemen 3-style laser-guided melodies with the timeless circuitry of Harmonia: a world away from alla the new age synth currently blocking the gutters, this is a beautiful set of outer space meditations from the other side of lonely with an out-of-focus aspect and a wintery, melancholy feel that feels like Christmas with Asmus Tietchens. Edition of 60 copies. (Volcanic Tongue)

Graag Traag #3

MV & EE with THE HOME COMFORT SOUND SYSTEM

Matt Valentine en Erika Elder creëren een eigen diep psychedelisch universum van folk, blues, psych, raga en wah wah gitaren. Echo's van Neil Young, Gene Clark, Grateful Dead en Quicksilver Messenger Service in een kaleidoscopische lichtshow en astrale projecties.

mvandee.blogspot.be



BILL ORCUTT

Bill Orcutt maakte in de jaren negentig samen met Adris Hoyos deel uit van de cult noiserock groep Harry Pussy die een aantal platen afleverde op Siltbreeze. Na jarenlange stilte bracht Orcutt in 2009 een solo plaat uit boordevol uitgerafelde, met haken en ogen aan elkaar hangende, atonale oermuziek. Orcutts solowerk is vol van ruwe en rauwe klanken: agressieve parels gehakt uit toegetakelde akoestische gitaren die vaak een snaar of twee missen.

palilalia.com/tagged/media



EXPO '70

Synth drones, gefragmenteerde gitaarmelodieën en drummachine die vibreren aan gene zijde van een eindeloze pulserende kosmische nevel is waar Expo '70 ons keer op keer mee verbaasd. Expo 70 is het project van Justin Wright, beïnvloed door epische abstracte krautrockpioniers als Schulze en Tangerine Dream. Wright bracht albums uit op labels als Beta-Lactam Ring, Aguirre en Sloow Tapes.

www.exposeventy.com


ANCIENT OCEAN

Ancient Ocean is het solo project van John Bohannon: meditatieve soundscapes van delicate drones voor innerlijke exploratie. Doet soms denken aan het solo werk van Kawabata Makoto (Acid Mothers Temple). Bohannon bracht onlangs zijn debuut uit op Sonic Meditations, het label van Expo '70.

soundcloud.com/ancient-ocean


DAGORA feat. MIK QUANTIUS, THOMAS HOPF & CITY HANDS

Met twee drums, percussie, speelgoed- en zelfgemaakte instrumenten en keyboards creëert het Nederlandse trio Dagora een heerlijk wazig klankenspectrum. Met extra gasten als Embryo-boegbeeld Mik Quantius, Thomas Hopf van Frankensteins Ballet en Manuel Padding aka City Hands groeit dit gezelschap spontaan uit tot een soort van Tibetaanse krautnoiseprogband. Perfect dus om u in de juiste sfeer te krijgen voor een nieuw rondje Graag Traag.

dagoramusic.com

HARRY HOOGSTRATEN

De Amsterdamse dichter Harry Hoogstraten was in de jaren zeventig een van de mensen achter het wereldwijd beruchte underground poëzie festival One World Poetry, waar zowat iedereen het podium beklom van Dick Higgens over Ira Cohen tot William Burroughs. Zelf publiceerde hij verscheidene dichtbundels en gaf het literaire magazine Mandala uit. Hij werkte samen met Steve Lacy, James Koller, Franco Beltrametti e.a. Onlangs bracht Sloow Tapes een tape uit met opnames van Hoogstraten samen met Allen Ginsberg en Peter Orlovsky.

KUNSTENCENTRUM BELGIE, HASSELT
VRIJDAG 14 SEPTEMBER 2012
Deuren: 19.00 u.

http://www.kunstencentrumbelgie.com/open%20circuit/extendedpart2.html

Allen Ginsberg/Peter Orlovsky/Steven Taylor/Harry Hoogstraten

Allen Ginsberg/Peter Orlovsky/Steven Taylor/Harry Hoogstraten
De Leeuwerik 1979
CS 95

1979 performance of Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, Steven Taylor and Harry Hoogstraten recorded live at De Leeuwerik, a small bar in Eindhoven (Holland). Everyone takes turn reading poems and singing songs accompanied by harmonium, percussion and guitar. The set starts with Ginsberg’s ‘Plutonian Ode’ and ends with a wasted ‘Copulation Blues’. Orlovsky reads extracts from ‘Clean Asshole Poems and Smiling Vegetable Songs’, Hoogstraten from his book ‘Boxing Days’. Awesome archival find that has been gathering dust on Hoogstraten’s shelf for more than 30 years. Hoogstraten is a Dutch poet and visual artist who was one of the people behind the One World Poetry festivals and editor of the literary underground magazine Mandala. 200 copies.

Major archival edition of a previously unheard Beat summit featuring Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, Steven Taylor and Harry Hoogstraten reading live in Europe in ’79: discovered only recently after reportedly gathering dust on Hoogstraten’s shelf for thirty years, this is an amazing presentation from Sloow Tapes and represents the apex of their recent turn to presenting 20th century underground poetics in cassette form. The group jam on harmonium, percussion and guitar, making a joyous noise while Ginsberg reads “Plutonium Ode” and “Copulation Blues”, Orlovsky reads from “Clean Asshole Poems...” and Hoogstraten takes on excerpts from his book “Boxing Days”. Recorded at a small bar in Holland, this is a major coup for Sloow Tapes and a heavyweight addition to the Ginsberg shelf. Recommended.(Volcanic Tongue)

Innercity

Innercity
A Minor Prince
CS 66

Mind-altering trip of utopian electronics: a joyous lofi wormhole of kraut and new age fractals reflecting in the multi-dimensional waters of No Mind Pond. Weird loops and minimal synth as the alpha and omega of hallucinating dreamtime bliss. 60 copies.


SOLD OUT

Edition of only 60 copies cassette from this always intriguing Euro synth project: A Minor Prince adds a heady cultic edge to Innercity’s dystopian sci-fi renderings of future-now, with a cracked early Amon Duul-feel, complete with Cro-magnon percussion and the kinda repeat-keyboard violence of your favourite Industrial refuseniks. Still much more interesting than your average new age/minimal synth USA doughball. (Volcanic Tongue)

The conjurer of copious tangential states of being and levels of awareness promulgates the total mind trip. A Minor Prince, from Innercity on Sloow, is a variegated nug to say the least. Illuminated in the light - the crystals glistening - it manifests as a labyrinth of lo-fi synth/electronics trips. If one walks down the nearest corridor, they are greeted with sonic waves of effervescent, new age beauty. In the distance, industrial vibrations and percussion exhibit another facet of this multidimensional wonder. There is a capriciousness to the flow of the tape, which is absolutely a good thing. One is left wondering that which will come next. If one peers in another direction, they are greeted by the ambient beauty of ethereal and poignant tones. The mysterious synth ruminations of 'Farewell to Kitten Island' lead to No Mind Pond. 'No Mind Pond', a ritualistic burner, could be that which happens when Sylvester Anfang ii and Silver Bullets burn hash oil until sunrise. Otherworldly vibrations abound as 'Theme From A Minor Prince' permeates your head. However, the closer may be the best track. 'Woken Up in Blood' has these brooding, pernicious groans, synth, and trippy sounds reminiscent of Thurston Moore. Pack lightly fellow travelers!

2012 was such a prolific year for music. In retrospect, this would make my list of Tasty Trichomes. Here is a link to what is likely one of the last copies - if not the last - floating around: Plus Tapes. (Honest Bag)

Bul-Bul Tarang Gang

Bul-Bul Tarang Gang
Kali
CS 60

Spiritual charged improvisations on dholak, harmonium, bass, lots of percussion and Ravi Padmanabha on bul-bul tarang. Padmanabha might be best known as percussionist in his post-Interstellar Space duo with Steve Baczkowski, but he also played with the likes of Willam Parker, Peter Kowald, Pauline Oliveros and Daniel Carter. The recordings on ‘Kali’ are dreamlike raga infused meditations on the wild Indian goddess who roams the cremation grounds at night surrounded by jackals and goblins. 100 copies.

SOLD OUT

Edition of 100 copies cassette from a wild ethno/rock/jazz unit that features Ravi Padmanabha on bul-bul tarang: Padmanabha is perhaps best known for his synapse-splitting duo with saxophonist Steve Baczkowski but this is a whole other deal, with fantastic free ranging raga jams that combine the zoned middle eastern moves of Sun City Girls, Derek Monypenny et al with the kinda zonked cultic environs of Don Cherry’s Organic Music Society and the more psych orientated releases on Sublime Frequencies. The group improvise on harmonium, bass, walls of percussion and bul-bul tarang, generated spontaneous fourth world melodies from straight out of the air. Sloow Tapes has a unique knack for chasing down these amazing one-shots and this is another supreme fist outta nowhere. (Volcanic Tongue)

Bul-Bul Tarang Gang packs a punch. Their Kali cassette released under the Sloow Tapes label symphonically channels the creator and destroyer, Indian Goddess Kali, the “black night.” Kali blurs together the sounds of harmonium, bass, dholak, emphatic percussion, and the bul-bul tarang. The bul-bul tarang is played by Buffalo’s Ravi Padmanabha, who is known for his collaborations with saxophonist Steve Baczkowski and also his brotherly trio, the Family FUNKtion and the Sitar Jams. The gang here—which features FUNKtion brothers Naryan and Aneal Padmanabha on percussion (along with Bill Conroy), Micheal McNeill on harmonium, and Ed Kalvoon on bass—takes the listeners on an exotic set of raga-infused meditations from the otherworld which yield an incredibly unique, stimulating experience.

There is a constant meditative thread that runs throughout each piece. The melodies are stirred, allowed to rise, and then simmered back down, all collaborating nicely off one another. Ravi’s sound on the bul-bul-tarang is likely to impress and is something that many may have not encountered before.

Albums that have a concept and stimulus are fascinating, and I believe that Kali captures a wide-range of the goddess’ forms and emotions. “Kali Part I” warms up with a lingering introduction to all the instruments one will hear throughout the album. A few minutes in, they begin to crash and meld into one another, as the image of Kali stepping onto the battle ground, rattling up the army, is conjured in the listener. The percussion glides swiftly. Around five minutes in, the harmonium and percussion create a steady, entrancing, andante beat. In the foreground, the bul-bul tarang is sharp and spirited, while the percussion provides spacious support, lifting the harmony from the darkness. The sounds of the bul-bul-tarang–which translates to “a wave of nightengales”–lives up to its name and leads the listener through sonic chaos, crooning for Kali and singing her praises. Toward nine minutes in, the pace runs and intensifies becoming more stilted and frenzied. After a few minutes, the bass splinters out, the bul-bul tarang quiets as “Kali Part I” ends. The blood has been spilled.

“Kali Part II” picks up with the tarang playing a steady raga. The pace is controlled, no stray elements linger. Perhaps Kali has stepped on Shiva, her consort, and her tongue has flicked out in shame. The tarang rumbles on and the drums become stronger, eerie, and seductive. As the song progresses, it becomes more meditative; the harmony appears nostalgic, as it returns to the dark from whence it came. The tarang softens as the bass bounces, calming the music, dampening into the mist.

Out of the darkness must come light, of course. Sarasvati, the river goddess whose knowledge Brahma used to create the universe, is a great contrast to Kali. As we know, energy is neither created nor destroyed. Chaos brings creation. The track invokes Sarasvati’s flow. McNeill’s harmonium strums along as Klavoon’s bass plops steadily, like a water’s ebb. Each component is patient, trickling. This is a refreshing, relaxing ride between journeys. We aren’t peaceful for very long, though. “Nagin A” and “Nagin B” channel Naga’s, the snake spirits, half serpent and half man, who are harbingers of drought and famine, and also contain the fluid of immortality. In the opening, the tarang slithers through the pensive, enchanting beat. Toward the climax of the album, the drums created by the trio of percussionists gives off an intense heat. A great wisdom is subtlety being imparted—the flux of life is ever-changing. At the climax, the tarang jumps octaves, ending with the fluctuating, wavering harmonium, decresendoing into silence.

It is said that to be a child of Kali is to be denied of earthly delights and pleasures. Kali refrains from giving that which is expected. This very refusal to do so enables her devotees to reflect on dimensions of themselves and of a reality that goes beyond the material world. The Bul-Bul Tarang Gang establishes a medium to convey the transience of this message, a seamless, wavering, powerful album that reflects on many aspects of the self, while providing an entertaining and spirited symphony. (Upstate Soundscape)

Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore

Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore
The Ecstatic Exchange
CS 50

A rare chance to hear Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore reading (and accompanying himself on zither) from his classic collection of shamanic poetry ‘Dawn Visions’, originally published by City Lights back in 1964, when the author was in his early twenties. The poems were written during explorations of mind and space in Mexico and California. As Moore describes it, a period of “immersion on the ocean of poetic inspiration, my near drowning in a sudden flood of imagery and pushing further and further, almost under water in it, surfacing to sing.” From a similar well sprung The Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company, which Moore founded in 1966, blending Zen Buddhism, music and dance of eastern folk theatre and Antonin Artaud into higher dimensions, performing their plays at night, in an amphitheater in North Berkeley, by torchlight.
In 1970 he renounced written poetry and became a sufi, traveling widely in Morocco, Spain, Algeria and Nigeria. Moore broke his silence in the early eighties and has since published numerous spiritually informed books, from which a couple recent poems are here included as well. 100 copies.

SOLD OUT

Another massive public service release from Sloow Tapes’ underground poetry wing, this time from Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore, reading from his classic text, Dawn Visions, originally published by City Lights in 1964 when the author was in his early-twenties: Moore accompanies himself on zither throughout, creating the kind of miasmic psychedelic atmosphere associated with The Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company which Moore founded in 1966, incorporating Zen, world volk music and dance and the theories of Antonin Artaud alongside collaborators like Angus MacLise and Louise Landes Levi. In 1970 Moore renounced written poetry and became a Sufi and set out to travel the world, only breaking his silence in the early-80s when he went on to publish many works of poetry and prose. The Ecstatic Exchange also includes some more recent material, making it the perfect career-spanning work of one of the central figures in to come out of the multi-disciplinary tumult of the 1960s. Edition of 100 copies, recommended! (Volcanic Tongue)

Den Stora Vilan

Den Stora Vilan
LiveGrodor
CS 40

We had been talking about this tape for a couple years now: a buncha killer livejams by the great Swedish band Den Stora Vilan (which supposedly translates something as ‘The Great Rest’). Long mellow West Coast influenced psych jams (think ‘American Beauty’ era Gratefuld Dead) meets Neil Young with a bit of Trad Gras Och Stenar thrown in. 200 copies.

SOLD OUT0

Det här är ett sådant tillfälle som ens unga ålder är till ens nackdel. Och det faktum att man inte växte upp med ett vettigt musikkapital som barn. Det är nämligen så att vid den första lyssningen av Livegrodor tänkte jag osökt på att låtarna måste vara tagna från diverse Youtube-klipp, inte att grundtanken var att skivan skulle låta som en bootleg. Typiskt 90-talist, my bad. Men det stämmer, Livegrodor är ett kasettband i digitalt format (tydligen ska det även släppas kasetter), oprentetiöst och spontant där livekänslan är maximal. I detta inkluderas även skavanker som ojämn volym och sång som stundtals drunknar i trummor och bas.

Det är intressant att man väljer att paketera nya låtar i den här typen av ljudbild. Lite vågat, rent av. Å andra sidan är det såhär, i liveformatet, som man har introducerats till dem och skivan framkallar varma familjära minnen från de kvällar som man varit på ett DSV-gig. För är det något som det sju man starka bandet är bäst på så är det att skapa en vibrerande och intim atmosfär, och att få varje nummer att låta som unika utsvävande jammanden. (Gaffa)

Fantastic cassette from this contemporary Swedish psych rock group who sound so completely out of time that they might’ve washed up on a deluxe Little Wing issue back in the day: Den Stora Vilan combine west coast guitar psych with a heavy organ sound and a vocalist who comes over like a hypnotic Bryan Ferry backed by The Dead’s Donna Godchaux. The guitar comes straight out of the Cippolina/Kurihara school, with massively extended bouts of tremolo-wrought string confusion over the kind of doomy keyboard work that’s somewhere between German teen punks Ainigma and the apocalyptic gospel of D.R. Hooker. Throw in some of the monolithic weight of Scandinavian freak orchestras like Trad Gras Och Stenar and International Harvester and some great Dead-styled navigations of freedom volk and you have another aces-up side of classic extended psych rock from a label that consistently turns up peerless weirdo sides. Edition of 200 copies. Recommended. (Volcanic Tongue)

Planets Around The Sun

Planets Around The Sun
Ram of Heart and The Earthen Chariot
CS 75

Planets Around The Sun have been pushing their chariot across the USA for close to a year now, exploring many inner and outer spaces inebriated with fluid acid folk/drone/psych improvisations. Prior to this indefinite tour, they collected these recordings made in various barns, on boats and in bedrooms. An epic collection by these traveling wizards who are also part of the extended Cursillistas, Herbcraft, Tempera, White Light etc. family. 70 copies.

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Viele Infos über PLANETS AROUND THE SUN gibt es nicht – ist aber auch nicht nötig, um diese Kassette ins Herz zu schließen. Die junge Band bezeichnet sich selbst als 'far-out folk' und vermeidet damit dankenswerterweise das Modewörtchen 'weird'. Obwohl in diesem Fall tatsächlich einiges sonderbar zu sein scheint. Zum Beispiel tuckern die PLANETS seit einem Jahr quer durch ihren Kontinent (USA) – da werden zumindest an diesem Punkt Erinnerungen an BEE von IN GOWAN RING wach – und spielen an ungewöhnlichen Orten wie Planetarien, Scheunen, auf Booten und sogar privat in Schlafzimmern. Die Gruppe setzt sich zusammen aus Klang- und bildenden Künstlern aus dem Bundesstaat Maine, Neuengland. Auf diesem Tape sind Aufnahmen versammelt, welche an erwähnten Orten entstanden sind und mitgeschnitten wurden, was den ungeheuer organischen, lebendigen Charakter der Musik sicher teilweise erklärt. Musikalische Querverbindungen durch deckungsgleiches Personal bestehen übrigens nach Angaben des Labels (SLOOW TAPES aus Belgien) zu CURSILLISTAS oder HERBCRAFT.

Die erste Seite beginnt mit Musik, die mich an ein Begleitthema für Attraktionen eines spannenden Themenparks erinnert: sehr exotisch, mit viel Flair. Trommeln und andere Schlaginstrumente steigen ein, im Hintergrund grüßen freundliche Drones. Diese Passage bekommt sehr schnell einen rituellen Charakter durch ihre gleichbleibende Intensität und die wiederkehrenden Melodiefragmente. Langsam mischen sich weitere, vereinzelte Sounds dazu, eine Art sanfte E-Gitarre, auch die Intensität der Percussion verändert sich, die Taktung wird insgesamt leicht schneller. Es ist aber schon genaues Zuhören erforderlich, um das wahrzunehmen.
Spätestens mit dem einsetzenden männlichen, langgezogenen Silbengesang gewinnt das Schamanische die Oberhand, zusätzlich spielt die tranceartige E-Gitarre als Begleitung eine größere Rolle. Zarter Psychrock, wobei vor allem die Gitarre zwischendurch den Charakter einer Jamsession vermittelt. Der Gesang – nun mit richtigen Lyrics – wechselt ins Verträumt-Bluesige, könnte von WILL OLDHAM beeinflusst sein. Auch hier wirken lange instrumentelle Wiederholungen immer wieder sehr rituell. Überraschungen sind bei PLANETS AROUND THE SUN aber nie ausgeschlossen: Plötzlich ist die Singstimme kosmisch, weil elektronisch verfremdet, was erneut den Charakter der Musik verändert. Außerdem entsteht mit Basstrommel und hölzernem Klappern ein sogartiger Rhythmus, plötzlich wird ein Stück zu einem Abbild des GORILLAZ-Hits "Clint Eastwood".
Die B-Seite knüpft nahtlos an: eine dumpfe Trommel, die jammende E-Gitarre und schamanische Drones, dazu passt die beschwörende Wiederholung eines Wortes. Gleich das erste Stück ist enorm lang, die Passagen mit Gesang formen sich zu schwebendem, psychedelischem Countryblues. Auch die Drones bleiben langfristig erhalten, Flötentöne spielen eine größere Rolle (was mehr und mehr an Improvisationsmusik erinnert), teilweise klingen Stücke nach erdigem Stoner Rock. Die Tracks auf der zweiten Seite sind zwar oft melodiöser, aber insgesamt nicht mehr ganz so abwechslungsreich und bunt.

Um nochmal auf die Selbstbeschreibung von PLANETS AROUND THE SUN zurückzugreifen: 'fluid acid folk/ drone/ psych improvisations' trifft es ganz gut. Ich habe die Kassette ohne Erwartungen angehört und bin ziemlich begeistert, wie variantenreich, bunt, schillernd und an vielen Stellen richtig mitreißend diese Melange aus allen möglichen Stilen ist. Vom krautigen Schamanen über Improvisation der 1970er-Jahre bis hin zum Stoner Rock, da dürfte für jeden was dabei sein. Selten war eine Einladung zum mehrfachen Hören so charmant. (Nonpop.de)

Coming home produces some special moments/feelings: smiles, laughs, tears, nostalgia about the process. Planets Around the Sun have been orbiting this constellation of states for approximately one year, unleashing their style of folk/noise/psych jams on the awaiting denizens. In the process, they have been disseminating Herbcraft/Cursillistas/Tempera/White Light seeds and watching their love bloom in the rear-view mirror.

Bring your bong, spaceheads - and an extra nug or two! One needs proper fuel for this journey. And what a journey: 75 minutes of distilled psych beauty, bathed in the aesthetic of Sloow, with new artwork. Prior to commencing the indefinite tour, they culled these glistening nugs that were birthed in various barns, bedrooms and boats. The overall vibe on this tape is analogous to the feeling of hash oil expanding in your lungs. One aspect of that condition is the smoke, expanding slowly in your lungs, begins to envelop you. Ram of Heart and The Earthen Chariot has the same quality. This one is nicely experienced in its entirety - one big jam. Bursting with psych flavor, there are earthy, hazy jams; ritualistic zoners; variegated guitar freakouts; hypnotic, percussion devotionals; and ubiquitous, floating incantations. (Honest Bag)

Excellent cassette album from this communal free folk/avant drone unit who come out of the whole Herbcraft/Cursillistas/ Tempera/White Light cultus: track titles like “In The Cave Of Krau” underline the kinda mythic/occult jam band style on display here, with fantastic repeating gamelan-tone hypnotics and zoned female vocalese giving way to Godz-play-Jandek downer guitar blues. Some of the guitar playing is as out as Matthew Valentine’s post-Takayanagi navigations of folk/blues but when the rest of the commune start hunching like Amon Duul it’ll have you reaching for your Siloah albums to make sense of the levels of brain-erasing boo that these heads bring to the table. Edition of 70 copies, recommended. (Volcanic Tongue)

Peter Lamborn Wilson

Peter Lamborn Wilson
Ec(o)logues
CS 60

During the seventies writer/poet/essayist Peter Lamborn Wilson traveled extensively in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal. He spent several years in Iran where he translated Persian Sufi poetry and worked for the Shiraz Festival of Arts. In the early eighties Wilson went to Southeast Asia studying Javanese mysticism, Kebatinan. He published numerous books on topics as pirate utopia’s, Irish soma and Islamic heresy and his philosophy is influenced by anarchism, situationism, heterodox Sufism and neo-paganism.

Wilson’s ‘Ec(o)logues’ is a collection of bucolic poetry proposing an anarcho-surrealist Temporary Pastoral Zone abolishing monetary, electrical and other mediations in favor of a direct experiencing of Paracelsan tantra practices with sylphs and faeries. Visions of vibrant Neolithic pastures in company of Charles Fourier, William Blake, Edmund Spencer, Swedenborg, Erasmus Darwin and others. Poetic swamps dense with arcane references, alchemy and celtic lore. These readings were recorded at various in- and outdoor locations around the Hudson Valley. Handpainted covers, each one different. 100 copies.


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Another fantastic instalment in Sloow Tapes’ on-going documentation of off-the-map counter cultural poetry, this time from Peter Lamborn Wilson, an itinerant essayist/poet/writer who travelled extensively in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal in the 1970s, translating Sufi poetry in Iran and studying Javanese mysticism while publishing on subjects as diverse as Irish soma, Islamic heresy and pirate utopias: Wilson’s aesthetic is described as being influenced by the situationists, anarchism, heterodox Sufism and neo-paganism and here he presents a series of recitations with a heady Ginsberg rhythm and feel, all recorded out of doors in various locations across the Hudson Valley. Wilson conjures the revenant forms of William Blake, Swedenborg, John Clare and Charles Fourier with an inspired Bardic aspect while “proposing an anarcho-surrealist Temporary Pastoral Zone abolishing monetary, electrical and other mediations in favor of a direct experiencing of Paracelsan tantra practices with sylphs and faeries.” Sloow Tapes’ under the radar poetry series has been one of the great cassette highlights of the past 12 months and this is another striking instalment rendered with individually hand-painted sleeves in a run of 100 copies. In years to come these cassettes will be super-desirable. Recommended! (Volcanic Tongue)

Hands of Hydra and Janina Angel Bath Duo

Hands of Hydra and Janina Angel Bath Duo
Stargazer
CS 30

Janina Angel Bath’s voice feels like celestial nectar dripping from astral spheres ready to awaken the inner kundalini serpent from its slumber. With Hands of Hydra on sitar this is a deep eastern psychedelic meditation with slow motion tambura strings unfolding universal consciousness. 100 copies.


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The latest batch from Sloow tapes is among the finest they have released. This new batch is comprised of 3 tapes: Peter Lamborn Wilson; Hands of Hydra and Janina Angel Bath Duo; and The Lone Garage Massacre. Whereas the Wilson tape presents bucolic poetry, mellifluous sitar and vocals are prominent aspects of the other two. Eclipse records is incredible! Buy these tapes from Ed at Eclipse - one of the nicest guys in the biz. As always, beautiful artwork adorns each Sloow cassette.

Hands of Hydra is Adam Krakow, who is also a member of Plastic Crimewave Sound. Adam's command of the sitar is conspicuously heard throughout Stargazer, a 30 minute meditation that combines his adept, devoted playing with the sweet, gentle, awe-inspiring voice and tambura playing of Janina Angel Bath. Janina Angel is worthy of high praise. The Sloow description referred to her voice as, "celestial nectar dripping from astral spheres ready to awake the inner kundalini serpent from its slumber." - the most accurate description I can imagine. Her angelic voice radiates sunlight, nourishing areas which have been blighted by neglect. An extremely talented woman, this precocious multi-instrumentalist and vocalist has studied North Indian Classical Vocal Music with Sri Karunamayee, Joan Allekotte, Michael Stirling and Terry Riley - all are disciples/students of Pandit Pran Nath of the Kirana Gharana. Also, she appeared on the psyched, baked out grooves of Eternal Tapestry's 2008 NNF opus, Mystic Induction. Her latest release is Gypsy Woman, available here.

As the sitar strings reverberate, Janina Angel's majestic voice illuminates the room with spiritual smoke - a haze that engulfs all who travel through. She is a goddess and her voice resonates with fidelity. Illnesses and pain can dissipate in the face of such illuminating beauty. The shift in tone of her voice and the reverberations of the sitar represents legs of a ladder, climbing higher until we have fused with the august sun. Her vocals have a unique depth that echo in the mind.


As Blake once wrote, "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite". Janina Angel's voice provides a refuge to the horrific realities of life in this world. Her voice is like a magic carpet, allowing one to perceive life from above, promoting peace and lucidity. I trust in her voice... see you on the other side. (Honest Bag)

The Lone Garage Massacre

The Lone Garage Massacre
Nag-Khung-Sa-Cha
CS 54

Healing music to change your head space by way of trance induced astral traveling and devic beings. Ethereal psychedelic folk music channeling spirits from the dark land and influenced by Native American rituals, shamanism and Americana. 80 copies.

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