Steve Gunn/Shawn David McMillen

End Of The City

ASR045

Co-released with DNT and a new label called Abaddon, this LP finds these two very talented musicians in their prime. Steve's side clearly displays his guitar wizardry, while remaining honest and heartfelt. After several years with GHQ, Steve has sharpened his skills, and it really shows. If you've had the pleasure of seeing him perform live, you know exactly what I mean.

Shawn's recent collaborations with Warmer Milks seep through on his side of the album. Bleaker and darker than Steve's side, Shawn tells his tale through guitar, piano, synth and tape manipulation. It's completely engrossing. With it's many crooked bends and turns, it will lead you to a sort of discomforting fulfillment that gets more intense with each listen.


LP edition of 500

$12 US / email for international rates

Steve Gunn:

Shawn McMillen

Human Adult Band

La-Dee-Frickin-Da

ASR062

Another slice of heaven from the kings of New Brunswick, NJ. Every time I see Human Adult Band I am reminded of how brilliant they are. They hold the key to a parallel universe where everything really matters. Not just some condensed forms of vibrating energy bouncing off one another. Human Adult Band understands things we never will. They know the unknowable. Now, go out and seek the unseekable. Or at least settle for staying in and listening to this tape.


c29 edition of 100

Reverse Mouth

Of The Cloth

ASR061

Greek duo, Panagiotis and Sofia (of Phase!) lay down another legendary recording of earsplitting guitar noise. Dirty as hell, and scuzzy as fuck, these three tracks are something you would hear near the ends of the Earth. Truly desolate squalls of sound. Something your grandchildren will probably be into after they discover the joys of mind-altering substances and sex.


c33 edition of 100

Grasshopper/Twisty Cat

ASR060

Two New York based, wind-instrument-inspired duos team up for their most powerful work to date. Each side is blessed in it's own right, and will stand the test of time.

On their side of the tape, trumpet duo Grasshopper explores new territory by stepping back from their usual angular harsh noise, and instead creates more subdued melodic dronescapes, balancing mournful trumpet obbligatos with walls of crushing feedback inspired by classic zombie films.

Twisty Cat's side is a perfect compliment, matching Grasshopper's brass with woodwind instrumentation. These tracks nearly blend into one another, creating a slow moving vortex that gradually envelopes your psyche. Greg Fox (GDFX, Liturgy, Teeth Mountain) sits in on drums for the second track, and brings out the best in Twisty Cat's exquisite rhythms.


c58 edition of 100

Grasshopper

Twisty Cat

Excepter

STEPS: La Sala Rossa

ASR059

Official bootleg of the live concert on June 23rd, 2006 at the Suoni Per Il Popolo festival, Montreal, Quebec. Features the four-man, Alternation-era band sharing the stage for the first time with current member Lala. Opening with a cover of "Cocaine Blues" and bleeding into recognizable album tracks like "Knock Knock" and "Ice Cream Van" this set overflows with the spectral, slow-burn electro-improv for which they are known. 99% unreleased.



cd-r edition of 100

Mouthus

Eskimo King / Afternoon Penis LP

ASR058

A split offering from two of the baddest dudes on the east coast. Both members of Mouthus, Brian Sullivan (Eskimo King) and Nate Nelson (Afternoon Penis) each take the reigns on their respective sides of the record. Eskimo King churns out three tracks of melancholy-bizarro-skuzz riffs and ethereal wind-chimage. The drum samples on 'Dry Strike' track take me back to earlier Mouthus times, when the world was still young. Keep it close to your turntable after your first listen because you will undoubtedly need to play it again and again.

Afternoon Penis presents us with something entirely off the beaten path. Truly strange and epic, this freaked-out sidelong track sounds like something Bob Dylan would be singing in his head after a week-long ayahuasca binge. Utilizing several instruments, including percussion and the accordion, Nate also blesses us with a rhythmic mantra that should benefit both the mentally-ill and mentally-sound alike.

Limited edition of 400 with plastic outer sleeve and insert

FIRST 100 COME WITH FREE COPY OF BALLADRY MAGAZINE #2

Afternoon Penis

Eskimo King

Chapels

Days of Sleepless Night

ASR056

"Recorded in the dusty corners of an attic, on the edge of West Buffalo. Late Fall and deep Winter sound sessions. Pre-halloween seclusion and noise for a non-existent christmas. There's a phantom chorus in there somewhere from an unlabeled something. Insomnia for real, delirium was running the game at this point. From exhaustion to paranoia to collapse. Floating away on decayed organ sounds and the clanging of cold, empty nights. If I remember correctly."


c38 edition of 50

Balladry Magazine

Issue #2

At long last the second issue of Balladry has finally arrived, and we're really excited about it! Print is nearly dead, but we gathered every possible resource to make this happen and we couldn't be happier with it. The first issue went rather quickly (still available HERE), that's why it was never posted on the site. With some minor adjustments, the second issue looks more polished and has some added content.

Featuring tons of album reviews, artwork by Shawn Reed (Raccoo-oo-oon, Wet Hair, Night People) and Mary Kidd (she did the rad cover), and interviews with Heavy Winged, Jessica Bailiff, and the awesome dudes over at Mutant Sounds, this one is sure to please. I am pricing this as low as humanly possible jut to keep it in print. Where else can you find a high quality, full color publication to fulfill your need for underground music and art? Check out the page samples above!


28 Pages
Full Color, inside and out, magazine-quality stock
Limited to 200 copies

$6.50 US / email for international rates

Time Life

Open To Both Sides

ASR055

In this live performance, recorded in Amsterdam during a 2008 monthlong tour of Germany and Greece, the duo of Heidi Diehl (of Vanishing Voice and Nautilus) and G. Lucas Crane (of Vanishing Voice and Nonhorse) showcase their road-dogged sound visions, approaching a dream synthesis both premeditated and unhinged. This album is beautifully dark and wondrous, terribly serene and introspective. For those of you who know and love Time Life, this album will not disappoint. If you have yet to hear them, this is a great place to start


c38 edition of 150

Vakhchav

Hunting Horns

ASR052

"Recorded mostly in 2007 when most of my dreams consisted of running into a crystalline water mass. Safe to say, usually awoke with no scratch but with ambitions of translation. Lots of florescent drones, stirred briskly into 1 part acoustic + 1 part synth anaesthetic equaling out a hefty mess of sun dogs."

- Nickolas Mohanna


cd-r edition of 50

Antique Brothers

Sons of Winter

ASR047

"This album was conceived in the cold unforgiving days between the end of 2006 and the start of 2007. My brother and I were together in the land we grew up in for the first time in almost a year. We improvised acoustic duets, and over the next year, built a record around them. I like to think the spirit of our Mother was present during these sessions. Our Father was present in body as well as spirit. We thank him for opening his doors and heart to us, as he has done time after time since we have both left home on our own roads."

- Cy Gengras


cd-r edition of 100

Totally Dad

Video For The Snake

ASR043

Three hell-hermits from Middleton Street extra choose to live like field mice. one yea cooks, one ha cleans, and one cuts doh paper. if they notice the night late has begun, they drop their gold duties and fold instruments into towels bang. It has all been full saved. Somebody does it better than.


CD-R edition of 100

Starving Weirdos

Absolute Freedom

ASR024

"Here it is, our first 7" and we're PSYCHED!!! These two sides represent some of the earliest of SW material; culled from old 4 track tapes recorded in long lost living rooms, with friends and on the fly. Two kernels given the royal treatment, thanks to our friends at Abandon Ship! One an ontological cry into the abyss, the other a march in dedication to those forgotten souls who call it home." - Starving Weirdos


7" edition of 500...with pro-printed cover art and insert

Fantastic Magic

Witch Choir (Repress)

ASR033

For anyone who missed out the first time around, or those looking for a higher fidelity version of this release...

"Take a magical trip on a pegasus through a field of LSD. Flowers harmonize and dance among young wizards at the festival of the equinox.", stated a mystical nypmh as he sat perched apon a toadstool, shanai in hand. These thoughts come to mind as a neo-psychedelic journey begins through a field of emerald green grass and a multicolored sky that is Fantastic Magic. Pull up a woven floor mat and enjoy the fruits of the earth as you delve into three young wizards journey through the island forest."

- Orion Ferguson

cd-r edition of 400

Gang Wizard

Live In Paris

ASR021

"We claimed to be touring Europe with just the bare necessities. We claimed that any amp and drum situation would work for us. Paris put this claim to the test. The drum kit was a snare, a kick, and a street sign. The amplification was a single blown out PA. So we ran two guitars, three full electronics set ups and the vocals through the PA, and just went for it. The massive amounts of signal cancellation transformed five musicians into one single Frankenstein. The street sign didn't work as a cymbal, so dump a dump had to do. But somehow this became the most powerful set of the entire tour. Insistent throbbing distortion that somehow is a rock band, except when the PA would overheat and only vocals/drums remained. Rowdy French speaking audience imitating whatever they thought our gibberish lyrics were. Most told us the set was too short, but twenty minutes spent hanging off the edge of chaos felt like ages to us. We're very proud of this performance. This is what music sounds like when you work for it. Too many universal rock bands are just doing it to bring themselves pleasure. Doing it for the pleasure of the audience sometimes means that the performer doesn't have fun at all. Which is 100% ok, since the only thing that matters is how the audience feels."

- Brian Miller

3" CD-R edition of 100

Saints

Umbanda

ASR022

Jarringly intense noise-with-a-purpose from this Californian duo. Hold onto your butts.

"Like pulling the sun with a beast drawn plow through a lush jewel field in wet-diamond South America with Macumban's mambo bassdrum looking for a T. Rex in the moonflood. Bend down low."

C31 edition of 100

Crow Feathers

Imaginary Scores

ASR014

"Pre-dawn bedroom synthesizer and guitar compositions from a North Carolina ex-pat currently exiled to Central Michigan. Imaginary Scores never stagnates in effortless emotionalism; instead melancholy passages trace the horizon for glints of hope, seeking resolution and solace. This collection exhibits my favorite long-form recordings from the past year. While these pieces were not created with the intent to function together as a cohesive album, when paired together in this manner, I found that they illuminate an ethereal, radiant quality for which I always strive."

- Brandon Miller

2 x 3" CD-R Edition of 100

David Newlyn

A Nervous State of Mind

ASR011

Hailing from Durham, UK Newlyn creates an aural landscape of beauty and relaxation. Meditative and ambient sounds will put you in a remarkable mindset of well-being and contentment.

"A Nervous State Of Mind' – 9 tracks recorded over the past few months, usually on a Saturday afternoon when the house is empty. The tracks were recorded on digital 4 track, mini-disc and PC using guitar, keyboard, and various bits and pieces of software. The muffled sounds at the beginning of Just Might Fade Away were recorded on a mobile phone in a supermarket. "

- David Newlyn

C32 Edition of 100.

Nonhorse

Xol Mic

ASR007

"Xol Mic is a double burning cry for help and cleansing. I was moving out of bad trauma and into good trauma after traveling the US and Canada and all was unmoored and wierd. I was scratching at something, and brooding over bad old tapes of long winded effected harp and reeds and good new tapes of pure house sounds at my new diggs, where the only thing i could focus on was wandering around vaguely with a tape recorder. The A side was recorded after a fateful exposure. My mother is a science teacher in Brooklyn where i myself went and was young, and in the thrash of moving boxes full of utter trash i stopped home.

"Xol Mic dissapeared two days ago" she said gravely when i walked in. Xol was one of my favorite of her classroom stories, as him and his brother 'Cruise Mic' had a massive intimadating mother who wore cornrows and team jerzies that matched her Timbalands and boasted of her massive wealth and propensity for violence to the other mothers at every turn. Poor Xol always looked pained and embarrassed. "we called his mothers cell and she's like, 'oh sorry yeah, we all had to go to LA to return a fur coat...i gotta go...' im worried about the kid." 'Torquque binder' was recorded that night.

The B side is for Tony Miller, who's room i moved into. The bass claranet is played by my pal Foxy Pink gloves. During the recording, a smoking brazer cracked in half and the coals fell into my sock drawer, setting it ablaze. Foxy kept playing as i put it out with beer, and we continued for 20 more minutes in the smoke filled room. Thanks Tony.... "
- G. Lucas Crane

C90 Edition of 300.