To whom it may interest,  A few announcements for fans of the box: Engine Kid Everything Left Inside Southern Lord Released: 6.12.21 (RSD 2021-Drop 1 — Yes, this is late) Appreciators of sunn O))) and Goatsnake know Greg Anderson. Prior to the release of their new 6-LP box set, Everything Left Inside , I'm embarrassed to admit that I had no idea about Engine Kid , a Seattle-based post-hardcore trio whose initial make-up had been composed of Anderson (vocals/guitar), Chris Vandebrooke (drummer) and Art Behrman (bassist). From the promo selections that I've been able to listen through, Engine Kid's Everything Left Inside fits nicely alongside the audibly distraught and naturally abrasive sounds of Unwound, and would've been an obsession of mine during their days of activity had I been aware of them.   Treated for now as a Record Store Day release, which occurred 6/12, a later version of the box set meant for international distribution will be issued at a later date.  In t...

Florian Schneider  (4/7/47 – 5/6/20) In 2009, I wrote a piece about Kraftwerk 's reissued discography, The Catalogue: Four Decades of Masterworks . Without delving into each album individually and distilling every seminal and necessary fiber, the goal at the time was to articulate the group's impact on modernity, which, in my mind, put them in the daunting position of having to constantly evolve alongside technology. Citing the group's 1991 LP The Mix , I wrote the following: "I look at 1991’s The Mix , their re-imagined or updated selection of songs that had, up to that point, been their best known. As both a response to the availability of new technology, and as an alternative to putting out some staid 'best of' compilation, The Mix was Kraftwerk appealing to a new era when guitars were back in vogue and hip-hop had reached its golden age. The Mix comes off as attempt to harness the present, confessing that, even in as primitive a digital era as 199...

Weather Report Black Market Columbia Records Released: 1976 Van Halen s/t Warner Brothers Records Released: 1978 A Place To Bury Strangers Onwards to the Wall EP Dead Oceans Released: 2012 J Dilla Ruff Draft Stones Throw Released: 2007 Tangerine Dream Firestarter (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) MCA Records Released: 1984 Tom Waits Real Gone Anti Released: 2004 Cabaret Voltaire Code EMI-MANHATTEN Released: 1987 The Fall Dragnet Superior Viaduct Reissued: 2016 John Coltrane & Alice Coltrane Cosmic Music Superior Viaduct Reissued: 2017 Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

If reading or hearing the name Conrad Schnitzler garners sudden and inescapable interest, it's likely that you'll want to check out the Con-Struct series.  Schnitzler was a founding member of Kluster , (before they were renamed Cluster ), co-owner of the Zodiak Free Arts Lab, (which was a haven for the artistic and experimentally minded people of Berlin in the late 60s), and an early member of Tangerine Dream .  The man was directly responsible for the facilitation of a very prolific and creatively rich period of musical exploration, a period that he himself contributed to in various functions as either collaborator or composer. With all that said, the Con-Struct series was conceived by Jens Strüver , half of the electronic group, Borngräber & Strüver .  After gaining access to an extensive sound archive that Schnitzler had built, Strüver proposed that new music be developed utilizing this archive and that musicians of a similar ilk helm each installment in the s...

Cluster Cluster 1971-1981 Bureau B Released: 4.8.16 No Ripcord review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

I'm finally on board with something Neutral Milk Hotel related . Dietrich & Barnes is the work of John Dieterich ( Deerhoof ) and Jeremy Barnes (the aforementioned Neutral Milk Hotel and A Hawk & a Hacksaw ).  A new single from the duo's upcoming LP, The Coral Casino, was just issued today called "Out and About." It's a jovial experiment, a combination of Samba-inspired rhythms met with a hyper melody and repetition akin to a group like Can . Listen below: The Coral Casino is scheduled to release via LM Duplication on May 6th.  The track and info were provided by Kinsman and Meng. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Chelsea Wolfe : "Iron Moon" (via Rarely Unable PR/Sargent House/ Rolling Stone /Soundcloud) OVER : "Gone Are The Days" (via OVER/Soundcloud) Amber Edgar : "Good Will Rise" (via Amber Edgar /Soundcloud) Sons of Huns : "An Evil Unseen (w/ Scott "Wino" Weinrich )" (via Us-Them Group/ RidingEasy Records /Soundcloud) Grounders : "No Ringer" (via Force Field PR/ Stereogum /Soundcloud) Lonnie in the Garden : "Song 3" (via Lonnie in the Garden /YouTube) Cavalry : "An Understanding" (via Ask Me PR/Soundcloud) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

2015 is weeks away and with that obviously come January releases.  First point of interest so far is this track from Disappears called "Halcyon Days," a minimalist, repetitious and spacy mutation.  In the simplest of comparisons, one could consider it a Bauhaus 'ian attempt at something Neu! might've composed, a very cyclical, cold and immersive derivation.  Kranky will release Disappears' new album, Irreal , on January 19th.  The album was produced by John Congleton at Steve Albini 's Electrical Audio in Chicago.    You can hear the track here: All info was brought to you courtesy of Rarely Unable.  "Halcyon Days" had premiered at The Quietus on December 5th and their assessment of the track is a much more eloquent interpretation than mine.  You can also sample "Another Thought," which is another single from Irreal that surfaced a few weeks ago.   LISTEN TO DISAPPEARS' NEW TRACK 'HALCYON DAYS', TAKEN FROM THEIR ...

Rhyton : "California Black Box Vapors" (via Thrill Jockey Records/YouTube) tētēma : "Tenz" (via Speakeasy PR/Ipecac Recordings/ Wondering Sound /YouTube) Unsacred : "Plague" (via Earsplit PR/ CVLT Nation /Soundcloud) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

The Real American Cream.  A few weeks ago, I received an email from a rep at Old Blackberryway Records about this group and its debut double-LP, Nathan .  Inspired by an ever-changing line-up of musical participants, Nathan works in improvised bass-propped drones and tripped out Neu! 'ish repetition.  The group's lead member, Nate Nelson , (also of STNNNG ) apparently worked with a total of 24 musicians by the time recording was finished. Nice Wire homage. The only other musician I can think of that comes close to pursuing this level of collaboration would be Josh Homme , both Queens of the Stone Age and his past Desert Sessions output the result of revolving line-ups and the varied ideas such an environment can provide and inspire.  Here are three tracks for your enjoyment.  I'd recommend checking them out. You can purchase the album here . Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Fans of Neu! and 70s jazz fusion will appreciate the rhythmic dialogue happening between the members of CAVE in this track, "Shikaakwa," for which a video has been produced.  Necessarily minimal and repetitious while nuanced with woodwind, keys and strings, "Shikaakwa" is worth the five minutes it takes to listen.  This single is from the band's upcoming new album, Threace , which will be out on October 14 via Drag City.  All info comes courtesy of Rarely Unable. CAVE RELEASE MESMERISING NEW MUSIC VIDEO FOR 'SHIKAAKWA'; AND PREPARE TO PERFORM THEIR NEW ALBUM THREACE ON A BOAT! Be mesmerised by the latest CAVE video. Watch and share via this direct link: http://youtu.be/eLrofQRFQ6k CAVE have been honing their form of guitar driven, rhythmic, hypnotic psych/krautrock since 2006, and with each release they have pushed their sound into pastures new. On their new album Threace ( Drag City , 14 Oct) the guitars remain heavy and thick to provide...

The video is cool, but the song is better. This new single from Lumerians ' upcoming album, The High Frontier , ably generates the nervous energy that the video is attempting to match visually, its repetition, noir-ish narration and sudden changes in tempo, not to mention the theremin-like buzz that travels through its every melody (the song is riddled with science fiction), enough to heighten the senses.  Post-punk still manages to sound fresh well over thirty years past its point of origin, so long as it's done well. Check out the video, listen to the song and then read the info that was happily provided by Life or Death PR. Lumerians - Life without Skin from m m on Vimeo . LUMERIANS SHARE NEW VIDEO FOR "LIFE WITHOUT SKIN" VIA NOISEY THE HIGH FRONTIER AVAILABLE AUGUST 27TH VIA PARTISAN RECORDS WATCH: "Life Without Skin" - https://vimeo.com/69453198   In advance of the release of their new album The High Frontier , Lumerians are shar...

Can The Lost Tapes Spoon Released: 6.12 A.K.A. Music , Philadelphia, PA: In June of 2012, Krautrock superheroes Can issued a three CD collection of unreleased material appropriately dubbed, The Lost Tapes .  I found a copy resting against the new releases wall at A.K.A. Music and figured I'd cross it off my wish list.  Plus, being that I'm not very well versed when it comes to Can, I thought the set would make a good primer.  (The only other Can release I own is their 1979 self-titled album , which I consider hit and miss). Apparently, the material herein was culled from 50 hours' worth of tapes that had been recorded from 1968 'til 1975, an arduous and likely frustrating task taken on by band member Irmin Schmidt , producer Daniel Miller and musician Jono Podmore .  With a retrospective of this size, there is an immediate and mostly automatic desire to positively assess the release before it's even been completely considered, quality or not.  Ha...