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NITE LITE - LANDCESTORS 12″ Vinyl LP (SA055/ST138)
Release Date: 05/16/2019
Exquisite
manipulated and arranged field recordings from Myste & Phil French,
the duo behind the legacy avant-garde cassette label STUNNED RECORDS.
Their first new work since 2012, "Landcestors" bears light from time
spent in mineral, fungal, plant, and animal kingdoms. Evidence of
direct contact with the land and that which animates it, it's "good
news." - Sun Ark Records
For more info, to purchase, or to sample a clip:
http://www.sunaraw.com/LANDCESTORS.html
Nite Lite – Megrez 12″ Vinyl LP (Desire Path Recordings)
"A topiary of organic sound. Topos, place. And the ambient surrounds us. The topic: to pick up sounds in your old kit bag for survival; to keep the world alive by clipping and trimming, sculpting shapes out of its sounds. If we can sculpt sound, then we can type on clouds. Clouds are perfect typewriters, the opposite of skin.
Sound is organic even when it’s the artificial reproduction of cricket music. Even in field recordings, when we are recording in the field, the field is also recording us, reminding us that we breathe in its microambience. How else could we copy infinity? Sounds assembled to resemble nothing like the world that comes from where they came from. There are webs and we below know they will always be unmappable mazes.
This music exists somewhere between sci-fi soundtrack and being inside a music box. It’s an aquatic, underwater sound as if the ocean were a seashell (who could lift it?) and through it we could hear the murmurs of invisible whales using sonar to mirror the deeps from our own aquariums. Nite Lite makes us feel safe enough to experience how any night can be a jungle of the possible, and that the experience of listening is a kind of migration from solar to sonar sonata."
– Gregg Biglieri
A1 Mythopoeic Imagination
A2 Amare Videre Est
A3 The Axis of Tao
A4 Equinox reflections
A5 History of the Abyss
B1 Repeater Stations
B2 Springingtime
B3 Fire Walkers
B4 Participation Mystique
Music by Philip and Myste French. Recorded in 2012 on Mt. Tabor, Oregon. Mastered by James Plotkin. Artwork by Myste French. Design by Chris Koelle. Limited to 300 copies on black vinyl.
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reviews:
– Fluid Radio
– Dummy Magazine
– A Closer Listen
– Skeleton Crew Quarterly
– Experimedia
– Textura
– ACL 2012: Year's Best Album Covers (#10)
– Microphones In the Trees
– Upstate Soundscape
– Exclaim
– Tiny Mix Tapes
Plankton Wat / Super Minerals — c40 (Stunned no. 137) —out of stock—You were right — it was impossible for us to stay away for long. So here’s one final tape before Stunned is out the door for good. We’re thrilled to have been unexpectedly given a chance to produce this years-in-the-making split between Portland brothers Plankton Wat and Super Minerals. Side A commences with four season-inspired songs by Plankton Wat that calm the tides of the mind and prepares a scene of tranquil Pangea. Nectar flavored spirals of guitar, flute, percussion, and banjo drip forth as dusk falls, and nocturnal creatures gather to listen from the edges of Dewey Mahood’s glowing camp. Side B finds M. Geddes Gengras & Caitlin C. Mitchell doubling Super Minerals’ size and sound, joining in deep Green Machines Studio icaros-weaving. Winds, guitar, and drums twist into thick vines, fueled by mighty herbal allies and Third-Ear harmonics which plunge the band toward a blazing red dawn. Final edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c40 tapes with double-sided jcard and insert.
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reviews:— KZSU Cassettes
— Weed Temple— Tiny Mix Tapes
— Critical Masses
Warm Climate — Pigeon Brides Weigh In c39 (Stunned no. 136) —out of stock—With Cailtin on drums, Jake on bass, and Seth on guitar, the incomparable Warm Climate takes aim at the center of the target and shoots yet another bullseye of jawdropping outsider-rock. Sounding like nothing that’s come before them, this tightly-rehearsed L.A. group fires one psych groove & infectious hook after another. In a parallel reality where the music industry isn’t steered by tasteless major label trends, Warm Climate would be ringing out on all worldwide hi-fi’s the liberated rush that comes from their marriage of songwriting genius with a gutsy combo of seasoned rockers. As our label’s last cassette release, ‘Pigeon Brides Weigh In’ is firmly perched at Stunned’s summit, a pinnacle experience of music at the end of a trail that can be climbed no higher. Special edition of 222 pro-dubbed & imprinted c39 tapes with double-sided jcard and insert.
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review:
— Honest Bag
M. Geddes Gengras — The Empty Space c93 (Stunned no. 135) —out of stock—Let it spill through you like the peak experience of your choice. In your hands is ‘The Empty Space’ and pouring into your head is Stunned’s most trusted synthesizer medicine man M. Geddes Gengras. This is an album dealing with freefall, the ground suddenly dropping out, the fierce void we rush against that resists our naturally preferred trajectory. The cycles and patterns appear to dominate — yet MGG boldly transcends such conditions with his fearless navigation through an unpredictable modular synth patchwork, taking a plunge into analogue novelty in its most naked state. Roots run deep in a tree bearing aural fruits this sweet. Special edition of 222 pro-dubbed & imprinted c93 tapes with double-sided color jcard.
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review:
— Weed Temple
Nite Lite — Marlene c36 (Stunned no. 134) —out of stock—The boys are cut loose and Myste takes up the solo Nite Lite reins on her new peripatetic audio-tour ‘Marlene’. A tribeswoman from the black time of innocence discovers interdimensional gates within Nature. The sounds of forest animals, machines, and people mingle with subtler sounds welling up from the earth’s very core. All vibrations become indiscriminately suspended in her ear, their energies funneled from hidden brain glands into the alchemical chamber of her heart. It is from this activated place of love that ‘Marlene’ is captured, held for a while, then released back into the wild again. Keep your nite lite burning. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c36 tapes with double-sided jcard and insert.
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review:
— Weed Temple
Pimmon — Lay Down Real Slow c41 (Stunned no. 133) —out of stock—Epic pieces like “Lay Down Real Slow” have contributed to Pimmon’s career being quite an impeccable one over the last decade. It’s no secret that many masters of their craft eventually return to the piano, seeking its raw tactility as a fundamental starting point for new articulations. Pimmon takes this approach here on his second essential release on Stunned Records, and the results are invigorating. Samples from the ivory keys glide beautifully within a patient matrix of laptop manipulations, a technique that draws cosmic gestures from humble origins. A national treasure not only to his homeland of Australia but to all of us around the globe, Pimmon is paired best with a relaxing and carefree listening environment, going down like the finest of red wines. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c41 tapes with double-sided jcard and insert.
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reviews:
— Coreografo del Cerro
— Textura
Social Drag — New Age Healer c39 (Stunned no. 132) —out of stock—One of the most flat-out incendiary debut tapes ever shared with this label, Social Drag’s ‘New Age Healer’ employs wickedly smart noise structures as a necessary remedy for any digital-age depressions. In the hands of this frequency surgeon we are provided a reboot and awaken fresh to what has made the last decades of experimental music worthwhile in the first place — starting with the artist’s scandalizing and unapologetic plunder far beyond all safety zones erected by society. Opening his aperture into this lawless place of awesome possibility, Social Drag directs red hot mutagenic forces through writhing cables and circuits fried to crispy perfection. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c39 tapes with double-sided color jcard.
Parashi / Granitkorridor — Celedon / VI c80 (Stunned no. 131) —out of stock—Parashi returns with his signature branded on forty fresh minutes of amplified turbulence and gnarled electronics. While his “Troika” (Stunned no. 115) ushered in longform pieces of crackling scuzz, the opening side of this split with Granitkorridor reveals Parashi isn’t treading the same ground for long. Listeners behold six distinct scenes that evoke images of malevolent applications of nanotech, wastelands glowing green with radiation, and lab-weaponized parasites slithering their way into flesh. None of these perceived traumas seem to daunt Parashi, however, as he brings the magical powers of a sonic warrior to the fore of his side’s entirety. Germany’s most somber string-puller Granitkorridor knows a thing or two about a warrior’s skills, having spent a half dozen releases now exploring cavernous realms that few else dare to entreat. His time here is split evenly between two huge pieces of pure bass guitar blackout. Amazingly spacious, it possesses everything that has made Granitkorridor’s previous cassettes so repeatable and essential in our psychedelic music collection. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c80 tapes with double-sided jcard and insert.
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review:
— Upstate Soundscape
Berber Ox — The Great Parenthesis c54 (Stunned no. 130) —out of stock—The dream logic Berber Ox weaves throughout ‘The Great Parenthesis’ presents an immersive environment with no orientation to time. It bends linear constructs with duality-erasing fields of lifelike detail and backward flowing sound motions. A beautiful specimen unlike many registered in the books, its astral quality simply eludes classification. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c54 tapes with double-sided color jcard.
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review:
— Textura
Queen Victoria — The Present Tense c60 (Stunned no. 129) —out of stock—Sitting down with a Queen Victoria album proves to be a profound time spent by the stereo, as those who tuned into last year’s “There Will Come Soft Rains” tape can testify. QV’s enigmatic lyricism, graceful guitar composition, and wizened vocals sure can sneak up and take hold of those happily entranced by bandleader Nick Malkin’s mellow delivery. Ageless ways of rock, blues, and folk fluidly channel through this incredibly promising musician from Los Angeles, and “The Present Tense” is his unforgettable calling card. The entire program repeats on the B-Side for a conveniently-looping listening experience. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c60 tapes with double sided jcard and cover photography by the band.
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review:
— Tiny Mix Tapes
Enfer Boreal — Drone Is Dead CDr (Stunned bonus #11) —out of stock—This 11th release concluding Stunned Record’s bonus series finds us resurrecting the formerly mortified CDr for the occasion of the final album to be released by Enfer Boreal. Ever since starting in an obscure corner of France five years ago, this musician has become increasingly recognized as the go-to guy for Drone’s most delicious tones. What a difference half a decade makes. Now with multiple rhythm-based projects in full force and a world tour under his belt, the mysterious man behind Enfer Boreal is declaring “Drone Is Dead” — at least for himself. On the way out the door he delivers this brief and potent eulogy with style. Defiant metallic scrapes and trippy bell clatter occupies the disc’s first half, admirably staving off a totally-inevitable, yet totally-appropriate One Last Uber-drone. Adieu indeed. Complimentary edition of 111 hand-painted CDrs with double-sided color cover in vinyl jacket.
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review:
— Foxy Digitalis
Super Minerals — Contacteer c47 (Stunned no. 128) —out of stock—An invisible, imbedded ecology is accessed through the voltage gyres and electro-therapeutic devices of Super Minerals’ final release for Stunned. The raison d’etre is clear; we are all nearing critical mass and preparing to inherit our sovereign birthright against the wishes of the powers that be. This tape celebrates the ending of their world and the beginning of ours. Here we have landed, walking this planet — we are the Contacteers. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c47 tapes w/ double-sided color jcard.
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reviews:
— KZSU Cassettes
— Weed Temple
— Anti-Gravity Bunny— A Blue Rogue
Andreas Brandal — Then the Strangest Thing Happened c39 (Stunned no. 127) —out of stock—It is our honor to work once again with Andreas Brandal, whose approach to sound-craft & production has gripped our full attention over dozens of releases now. ‘Then the Strangest Thing Happened’ masterfully introduces sensations of aural paradox and paralysis between worlds. It’s simultaneously unsettling and alluring, as the ingression of mechanical pulses with insectile rhythms build to highly memorable points of tension and release. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c39 tapes w/ double-sided jcard and insert.
Millions / Spectrum Tickets — Be Excellent to Each Other / Space–Time c45 (Stunned no. 126) —out of stock—David Suss has tuned his project Millions into a truly cosmic channel since 2006, sculpting a brilliant body of work across labels like Tape Drift, Blackest Rainbow, Peasant Magik, and 2:00AM Tapes. Suss opens his side with dulcet synth swells that evoke a placid sea evaporating into neon gas. Rather than rushing on from his carefully crafted scene, Millions engages each unfolding second with a composer’s patient and subtle touch. Much the same can be said for Mike Haley’s new synthesizer-based project Spectrum Tickets, who follows up his own awesome 905 Tapes label debut with ‘Space–Time’. Laden with crisp arpeggio runs and mega hypnotic pan & fade technique, this is an example of the entrancing – and dare we say melodic – realm Haley enters with Spectrum Tickets in hand. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c45 tapes w/ double-sided jcard and insert.
Voder Deth Squad — “1” c53 (Stunned no. 125) —out of stock—M. Geddes Gengras. Jeremy Kelly. When one catches either of those names on a release, it’s a guaranteed feast for the ears. However, with the collaborative efforts of these two Stunned-alumni as Voder Deth Squad something like a royal banquet is set before the listener. Twin flames of synthesizer shoot through the solar system and back on this VDS debut, every savory minute securely in the hands of these premier moog & modular synth adepts. At times thrillingly full-throttle, and at other times incredibly nuanced and sensitive, this is one that simply has to be heard to be believed. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c53 tapes w/ double-sided jcard and insert.
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reviews:
— WGXC Radio
— KZSU Cassettes
— Critical Masses
A.M. Shiner — Bad Cop c47 (Stunned no. 124) —out of stock—Unnamed experts and compromised authorities have been managing our perception far too long, suggests A.M. Shiner on his last tape ever before early retirement at age 18. He has received all his yearly vaccines and daily fluoride. He’s ingested genetically-modified everything, and he’s been living under the gift of nuclear power since birth. For AMS, the jig is finally up and the coast is clear. He stuck around when they sent in the Good Cop to work us over (Stunned no. 27). But before they send in the Bad Cop, he knows its time to post bail and bounce the hell out. Keep in mind that no matter where and no matter when, assume A.M. Shiner to be in contempt of court — with permission granted to regard him as hostile. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c47 tapes w/ double-sided color jcard.
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reviews:
— Foxy Digitalis— Weed Temple
Ugly Husbands / Gul Bara — split c66 (Stunned no. 123) —out of stock—
We became aware of Stewart Adams’ project Ugly Husbands in 2009 when we received his debut cassette which was released by Roll Over Rover inside a hollowed out vintage book. It was definitely a novel first impression, and the packaging along with the jams inside was a highlight of that year in music. Fast forward to the present, and we find that while Adams has refined his sound, the Husbands’ ethos remains intact. Using his 4-track recorder as a conduit for the unhurried sounds of western America, Ugly Husbands includes all manner of rusty slide guitar, warbling old tape loops, and hazy sunset reverberation. It’s a vibe worth many repeat visits, but not before first traversing the strange lands of Gul Bara. Here we find two familiar members of the Stunned family: Warm Climate’s very own Seth Kasselman & Caitlin C. Mitchell. Gul Bara is essentially an off-hours WC, cigarettes lit on the midnight prowl with dented horns and blackened drums. A true inversion of band dynamics, the duo takes passage through five dank alleys in their own unexpected and mesmerizing way. More evidence that whether it’s disorienting drones or tight rock tunes, the members of Gul Bara ceaselessly push any and all limits aside. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c66 tapes w/ double-sided jcard and insert.
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music video:
— "Holy/Stull Gates"
Remote Islands — Days of Heaven c46 (Stunned no. 122) —out of stock—Remote Islands ringleader Colin Pate joined up with fifteen of his other talented Philadelphian friends and over the course of a year crafted ‘Days of Heaven,’ the leftfield pop masterpiece proudly presented on this c46 cassette. Whether it was unpredictable fate, good karma, or sheer serendipity we don’t know — somehow this crew connected with Stunned Records and shared with us the best unsolicited demo the label has received in three years of operation. Colin’s nimble songwriting turns a dozen numbers into absolute gemstones in the hands of his ensemble who represent themselves on 24 different instruments. Take everything that’s been effective, uncompromised, and lasting about rock & pop music of the past and present. It’ll be found in spades here, and with its own distinctly unique Remote Islands twist. Special edition of 222 pro-dubbed & imprinted c46 tapes w/ double-sided jcard and insert.
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reviews:
— SSG Music— Foxy Digitalis— Foxy Digitalis (interview)— Metaswag
— Indie Rock Mag— R.I. Bandcamp (purchase tape here)
— Tiny Mix Tapes
Mortuus Auris & The Black Hand — The White Paper c40 + c40 (Stunned no. 121) —out of stock—We welcome back our favorite audio raconteur for a fourth round on Stunned in the form of a special double-c40 set. “The White Paper” is Mortuus Auris & The Black Hand’s most thematically-focused work to date, spending four ambitious tape sides in sonic dialog with recent literature published on anthropoeia, or “people-making.” Each of his complex chapters raise up their own ear-catching specter: genetic code gematria, petri dish pranksters, odd effigies crafted & burned, and glimpses into futuristic hive mind hatcheries. It’s clear “The White Paper” is an unmistakable hybrid of the MABH laboratory — fertile with unexpected turns and undeniably scintillating to the core. Limited edition set of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted x2 c40 tapes in butterfly case with double-sided jcards.
Inhibitionists / Afterlife — c63 (Stunned no. 120) —out of stock—Whether he’s running one of Europe’s best underground labels or tearing it up as Inhibitionsists, Christian Kann has always been a guy to look out for. On this split edition with NY synth sons Afterlife, Kann drops some of his most dynamic work yet, which is saying something significant for those aware of past Inhibitionists output. Sequestering every variety of bent and dented tone, this Side A is forward-propulsive antics of the highest order. Schizoid algorithms are interrupted by free-clatter & string passages, deftly bouncing back to form and repeating similar manic cycles a few more times before passing the torch to Afterlife. Within seconds of the handoff, Ryan McGill and Franklin Teagle are snapped to breathless attention, their circuitry poised for astral action. Never failing to astonish with their proprietary flavor of team-synthesizer, the side they offer here can be considered the essential post-script to their recent Stunned cassette (no. 116). Darker in shade and even foreboding at moments, this piece suggests the colored showers of “Hypnautic Rinse” can also be converted to temporary cloudcover. For this reason and many more we turn a closer listen to these skilled musicians of the nebulous realm. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c63 tapes w/ double-sided jcard and insert.
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review:
— Geiger
Inez Lightfoot / Je Suis le Petit Chevalier — c60 (Stunned no. 119) —out of stock—Rare is the chance to work with one of the ladies involved in our cassette-oriented culture; even rarer is the chance to bring two such amazing women together on a single split edition. From the hush of a winter’s midnight, Inez Lightfoot opens this hour-long ceremony evoking animal powers and seasonal forces of nature. Presiding with the intimacy and strength of a curandera, Inez synchronizes the flow of analog electricity with raw expressions of blood & breath. Captivating as the light of a full moon, this is beautiful hyp-gnosis at an earthen altar. French/Belgian artist Felicia Atkinson echoes these sentiments on the following side with her own brand of mysterious music generation. Performing as Je Suis le Petit Chevalier, Felicia unites the energy of synthesizer with her voice into a brew of humid atmospherics. Every sung line and keyboard pulse is like a pebble dropped onto the still surface of a pond, leaving behind distinct after-impressions yet always giving way to the next entrancing note. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c60 tapes w/ double-sided jcard and insert.
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review:
— Sputnik Music
High aura’d / André Foisy — c45 (Stunned no. 118) —out of stock—John Kolodij is the one-man powerhouse known as High aura’d, and lately he’s been gaining a much earned reputation for his six-string style and masterful sense of both studio & live composition. Cutting his teeth last year with an excellent Reverb Worship debut as well as accompanying Barn Owl on their 2010 tour, High aura’d beckons us yet again to journey the guitar-guided serpentine path. Entitled “Dusk Latitudes,” this side is a three-part display of the impressive range High aura’d takes his craft on levels of both amplified frequency and pure human feeling. The wonder and awe conjured here will be necessary anchor-points upon entering André Foisy’s spooked arena of souls on Side B. This member of esteemed Chicago group Locrian presents a grim monolith sculpted by his mighty guitar and dystopic groans. Not a trip for the weak of heart, Foisy invites all courageous initiates into an unforgettable labyrinth where quite anything can happen. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c45 tapes w/ double-sided color jcard.
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reviews:
— Anti-Gravity Bunny— Fluid Radio
— Black Magazine
— Foxy Digitalis— The Inarguable
— Heathen Harvest
— Boy Attractions
M. Geddes Gengras — This Could Be the Last Time c69 (Stunned no. 117) —out of stock—You’re only a moment from pressing play on M. Geddes Gengras’ newest cassette, but nothing can prepare you for the irresistibly lush world that awaits you on the other side of such a simple action. ‘This Could Be the Last Time’ features star-guided tones of gold, silver, and crystal orbiting each other in pure moog magnetism – startling proof of MGG’s commitment to draw listeners to ever-higher elevations of body and mind. A fascinating stage of this maestro’s unfolding synthesizer odyssey. Special edition of 222 pro-dubbed & imprinted c69 tapes w/ double-sided jcard and insert.
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reviews:— KZSU Cassettes
— Agniworld
Afterlife — Hypnautic Rinse c30 (Stunned no. 116) —out of stock—Yes, the blood-brain barrier has been penetrated. Relax. It’s the Afterlife kicking in. Though familiar to many of us, this particular strain produced by the Teagle/McGill duo is a most potent dose. Patiently drawing us far from the shoreline for its first few minutes, soon we are enveloped in a powerful scalar field where beautiful synth alchemy is being conducted. Everything is jettisoned except for the most medicinal bits, concentrated here in this essential half-hour of analog bliss. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c30 tapes w/ double-sided color jcard.
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review:— Zen Effects
Parashi — Troika c54 (Stunned no. 115) —out of stock—Using guitar, synthesizers, metal objects, pieces of wood, kalimba and contact mics, Parashi summons eerie shadows and drops anchor in the underworld. Here, crumbling circuitry hums alongside lone wolf cries and whispers from subterranean ruins. With masterful focus and deliberation, ‘Troika’ finds New York’s Parashi in top form after an impressive three album run-up on his home label Skell LLC. Few are willing to align their ship straight into the gritty unknown, but Parashi does just that with an array of entropic frequencies as his travel companions. When the hammer comes down during Side B’s 18-minute long apex, watch for the white-hot sparks emitting from your electronics. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c54 tapes w/ double-sided jcard and insert.
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review:
— Foxy Digitalis
Garrincha & The Stolen Elk — We Were Wyoming c20 (Stunned no. 114) —out of stock—Following up their recent 905 Tapes burner, Garrincha & The Stolen Elk’s members Davy Bui (Weird Forest Records) and Matt Kretzmann uncork a bottle of straight up rock & roll. It’s pretty damn refreshing having a band like this around, ready to rip through four tremendous songs in twenty minutes and still managing to cover all the right bases along the way. G+SE’s chops are unarguably tight and not a second is wasted as fun house blurt and a wicked sax (!!) spice up the group’s own totally original brand of rock madness. It’ll be hard putting the cork back on this one for a long, long while. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c20 tapes w/ double-sided color jcard.
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review:
— Auxiliary Out
Air Sign — Our Galactic Covered Wagons to the Stars c38 (Stunned no. 113) —out of stock—When reminiscing on the unsung champions of Los Angeles’ underground arts community (and trust us – there are many), one of the figures that most consistently springs to our mind is Justin McInteer. Founder of the seminal Echo Curio performance space, accomplished visual artist & gallery installation wiz, urban gardening expert, and heart-wrenching bard of the harmonium: this is a mere sample of the many roles the guy slips into with equal ease. His debut here under the Air Sign name is a relatively new endeavor in McInteer’s extensive home recording lineage, as he turns to multiple keyboards, drum machines, and samples of nature and pop music ephemera. A thing of complexity springs forth as Air Sign’s altered instrumentation helps him braid nostalgia, catharsis, and celebration into a single alluring strand. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c38 tapes w/ double sided jcard and insert.
Toning — Pitch the Drone c31 (Stunned no. 112) —out of stock—Cody Brant is a man of many talents, known best for his involvement with renowned Portland groups Flaspar and Smegma as well as helming the Meandering Recordings label. Most recently, he’s honed his solo game and has apparently pitched the drone in favor of sounds with a decidedly strange bounce. Cody resumes the unpredictable Toning program here on the heels of his Eggy Records debut. With the help of a handful of buds along the way, nine numbers are stacked end-to-end which forms a chain of wheezing analog electronics and disembodied chant. Acetate patterns are diced and dried in the sun, then spliced and reconstituted from their dehydrated state back into gelatinous electro-tribal tape goo. Sound weird? It is. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c31 tapes w/ double sided jcard and insert.
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reviews:
— Auxiliary Out
— Signal Bruit
— D-Side
Nite Lite / WaterFinder — Marjorie / The Good Heart c57 (Stunned no. 111) —out of stock—Phil & Myste return as Nite Lite along with backing bros Jeffry and William, and their offering ‘Marjorie’ is a year’s worth of free-jamming and field recording around the mountainside they call home. Migratory birds, frogs, parties in the park, synth & guitar trancin’, and riparian wildlife all coalesce in Nite Lite’s ever-evolving audio mosaic. Nite Lite is proud to partner on this split cassette with long-distance friends & free spirits WaterFinder, who’ve been delighting many recently with awesome releases on Peasant Magik and their own Biological Radio imprint. Members Jackie McDowell (Inez Lightfoot) & Matt McDowell (Sagas, Dire Wolves, etc.) explore a fascinating array of angles to folk, drone, homebuilt instrumentation, and nature-oriented sound in under a half-hour. Light a long stick of incense and likewise let your mind – and good heart – waft upward in a single vapor along with WaterFinder’s ritual songs. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c57 tapes w/ double-sided jcard and insert.
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review:— Tome to the Weather Machine
Black Eagle Child / Eureka — c49 (Stunned no. 110) —out of stock—Black Eagle Child has brought his signature sound to an exquisite point of refinement over the last year, and his half of this split edition with Eureka is evidence of that fact. Commencing with a triptych of tunes, BEC entwines field recordings with fluid guitar lines that bloom outward in subtle & seductive fashion. It’s in these rare musical moments that the immediate pressures of space and time are relieved, where both musician and listener coast into pleasant memories and unhurried daydreaming. Eureka similarly gains stride on Side B with his first new material since 2009, giving events a slightly more labyrinthine twist than usual. Sustained pyramidal piano precedes deeper passages of intrigue, where hybrids of free-percussion and mellow six-string peak out behind cobwebs & hashish smoke plumes. Sonic frescoes lining the way suggest the strong influence of wise ancestor guides and transcendent astral myth, which Eureka translates to tape one liberated step after another. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c49 tapes w/ double-sided jcard and insert.
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review:— Agitated Atmosphere
Torture Corpse / Architeuthis Rex — c44 (Stunned no. 109) —out of stock—Back for a third time on Stunned, Torture Corpse delivers a fierce and fire-licked side appropriately titled ‘Ignorance’. Like being herded through a geoengineered tweak of the weather, or standing under a sky checkered with persistent trails of aerosol spray, the consequences of exposure to TC’s guitar-crush has been verified to generate psychic mutation. Our hero from Rotterdam thankfully holds nothing back, and signals with his arsenal of pitch-black electronics the final malfunctioning of all civic and political institutions. Pestilence spills through cracks in the merciless wall of noise erected in Torture Corpse’s anarchic defiance, trickling over to the second side of this split. One can practically hear the vermin scampering underfoot in Architeuthis Rex’s haunted churchyard exploration. What begins as a desolate wind-whipped scene of terrestrial tension ends with something akin to encountering the first of four apocalyptic horsemen, turned loose and swinging low its scythe. Hold on tight. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c44 tapes w/ double-sided jcard and insert.
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review:— Utvær!
Love Cult / Tempera — c46 (Stunned no. 108) —out of stock—Ivan & Anya of Love Cult have a knack for capturing the sense of tranquility that accompanies moments of deep homeostasis, hovering over the fine line between communal music-making and private meditation. This split finds the Russian duo conducting three-part ceremony, where each passage tumbles naturally – and with an increasingly woozy bliss – into a beautiful stew of storm-tempered organ and female vocals. The accompanying side by Portland Maine’s Tempera absolutely locks in the high vibrations, with the troupe caught up in translucent vocal rhythms and cycles of electronic chimes. It’s one of the more magical moments of documented live performance we’ve heard in quite a while, and its dazzling display provides a listening experience that demands frequent revisiting. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c46 tapes w/ double-sided jcard and insert.
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review:
— Pied Paper
summerTales / Knit Prism — c56 (Stunned no. 107) —out of stock—Last year a rather strange tape by Sicilian group Armali Lari surfaced on Stunned (later re-issued on A Beard of Snails), and the response to it was a bit surprising considering it was a debut release. Simply, many of you wanted to hear even more of this unabashedly fun eye-tied weirdness. summerTales comes very near to fulfilling that wish, as it shares Armali Lari’s primary member Nicola Giunta, whose repertoire of effects will be familiar to fans of ‘Ma tu la pasta la vò?’. Here, Nicola is joined by sound artist Guido Broglio, and the two drive summerTales away from the free-electro-spazz of Armali Lari and closer toward head-nodding island dub loops and fractured melodies drifting in on ocean breeze. Not without its own challenging internal logic, it keeps a distinct levity that we’ve come to appreciate not only from Nicola’s work, but from the contemporary Italian improv underground in general. After this engrossing first side, we are greeted by Knit Prism, who needs little introduction for anyone keeping abreast with current cassette culture. The naturescape/ambient dreamchild of Canada’s Mike Pouw (proprietor of the House of Sun imprint), Knit Prism is a consistently refreshing project — poignant with its calming way of drawing in the carefree listener. It’s the kind of soundtrack we want handy for thawing by a fire after a hard day’s work, or for those lazy weekend sunrises we just don’t want to forget. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c56 tapes w/ double-sided jcard and insert.
Charlatan / Spare Death Icon — c42 (Stunned no. 106) —out of stock—When Brad Rose (The North Sea, Digitalis, etc.) and Jason Anderson (Brother Raven, Gift Tapes, etc.) conceived this split together, they agreed that Relaxation was to be the overarching theme of the tape regardless of their distinct synthesizer arrangements. The result is one of the finest examples of the heights Brad’s synth-driven Charlatan and Jason’s SDI solo vehicle can attain with analog circuitry. Charlatan steps right to the business of chilling out proper with a pair of jams that fuse laser-guided arpeggios with angel chorus and heart-aching string pulls. Spare Death Icon follows up this plunge toward heaven’s gate with a balancing tug toward an environment as isolate as some distant preorganic planet. While maintaining a most relaxed flow, the back side of this cassette is also experienced as its dark side — a mysterious sound evoking the first whispers of cellular lifeforms clinging within glacier crevices and cooling fields of lava. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c42 tapes w/ double-sided color jcard.
Minutiae — Plane Sight c42 (Stunned no. 105) —out of stock—
Students of the trickster and servants of the goddess, Minutiae carve a lit path through the nocturnal forest canopy on ‘Plane Sight’. Manifesting a song cycle intending to reflect the harmonious web of plant, animal, and mineral energies, they hypnotize the serpents who guard the gates of celestial imagination. Entering tribemind with vision cleared of physical impurity, the trio simmers until dawn, entranced in resonant tones generated by guitars, percussion, and salvaged electronics. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c42 tapes w/ double-sided jcard and insert.
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review:— Olive Music
Super Minerals — The Hoax c54 (Stunned no. 104) —out of stock—“We took our most recent family vacation to the Year 2020. Thankfully, someone remembered to pack the audio recorder. We documented all that we could in the little time we had, trust us. ‘The Hoax’ is what we escaped with, drug-mule style. Craziest trip ever. America, you have no idea.” — Super Minerals, 2011. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c54 tapes w/ double-sided color jcard.
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reviews:— Foxy Digitalis— Blog Eagle Child
— Tiny Mix Tapes
Rogue Cop — You're About as Romantic as a Pair of Handcuffs c58 (Stunned no. 103) —out of stock—This debut cassette from Seattle’s Rogue Cop rips it up from a hundred different directions with electric guitar being the sole cause of all the excitement. Fusing semi-calculated loops of red hot plink-plonk with agitated riffs dipped in booze, an entirely original stance to the six-string is fleshed out in under an hour. It may blindside you as it did us — totally unprepared for its wild methods and funny way of getting us to root for yet another cop gone rogue. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c58 tapes w/ double-sided jcard and insert.
Xiphiidae — Equal Phesance c36 (Stunned no. 102) —out of stock—When ‘Equal Phesance’ was first issued in 2008 as a Housecraft CDr limited to 60 copies, it’s maker had this to say: "Seemingly hidden in a sedimentary layer of the collective subconscious, is the ever-more-detectable hum of an arriving world, calling for receptive ears and accessible memory banks upon which to unfurl its banner." Stunned Records has always found ‘Equal Phesance’ to be one of the more challenging and unique slices from the sturdy Xiphiidae back catalog. Now re-issued on cassette for the first time in an expanded edition size with all new artwork, it’s high time to give this jewel a closer listen. In the few years since this deep-ambient dream was shared with us, the hum of the arriving world has nearly become a roar. As mere observers to an annihilative Mystery, we joyously invite its unfurling here at the threshold of a new year. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c36 tapes w/ double-sided color jcard.
Xiphiidae — Pisces Muse c45 (Stunned no. 101) —out of stock—Xiphiidae’s newest tape ‘Pisces Muse’ is a mind-clearing alignment in the trance of deep night, beckoning to all edge dwellers & eternal wanderers. It employs psychoelectronic utterance and polyrhythmic forest drums in equal measure — a twinkling chimera at the boundary of our peripheries. Limited edition of 111 pro-dubbed & imprinted c45 tapes w/ double-sided jcard and insert._______________________
review:— Auxiliary Out
