Follow-up to the first volume of this on-going series that joins the dots between an earlier generation of American Primitive guitarists and contemporary intuitive sound-as-thought players. Once again Jack Rose is featured (with an absolutely gorgeous 6 string re-think of "Cross The North Fork 2") but every other player puts in a first-time appearance on this volume. The inclusion of Christina Carter is a particularly inspired move and one that speaks of the liberated range of the series in general and her track is a beauty, a stubby acoustic guitar miniature. Nice cover snap too. Other tracks include a particularly mesmeric recording from UK guitarist James Blackshaw and contributions from Peter Lang, Jesse Sparhawk, Michael Chapman, Sean Smith, Fred Gerlach, Billy Faier, Sharron Kraus, Robbie Basho and...uh...Jose Gonzalez. Another rich, far-sighted assortment from this great label.

"Long-, long-, long-, loooooong-awaited and singular entry in the Charalambides and Klang Industries discographies; one of those does it really exist? items thats finally seeing daylight, or moonlight. A stark, unsettling and beautiful slice of duo Charalambides invocation/incantation, taken from the period between Jason Bill and Heather Leigh's tenures with the band and featuring extraordinary chord organ and vocal work from Christina and some signature lap steel mastery from Tom. Fans of the bands most recent, more song-based work will find this revelatory, long-time listeners will say ahhhh and settle in for the flight. Heavy vinyl, limited pressing, covers handiwork by Tom, the first release in years from Klang and a sign perhaps of a truly epic revival." "Long-awaited Klang debut of Charalambides. This record has been brewing since 2000, and is now finally available under the auspices of Eclipse/Klang. Two side-long improvisations in much the same vein as IN CR EA SE, a bit more topographical perhaps, but still horizontally serene and horizonless. Chord organ, lap steel, vocals." --Wholly Other.

Much requested CD reissue of this hard-to-score Charalambides release, originally issued as a Peter King lathe LP on Eclipse in an edition of only 100 copies. Dedicated to Bruce Connor, it features inkblot artwork by Heather Leigh. The sonics are supremely dilated and fully orbit the kinda late-90s/early ‘00s mystery zone that would combine extended improvisatory modes ala FMP/Incus with F/X clouded dreamtone works, gorgeous otherworldly vocals from Christina and sudden surges of volume pedal gliss from Tom. This is still one of their most beautifully fucked recordings and speaks of their ability to inhabit the furthest edges of form while still sounding like the best rock band of your life. Can’t think of anyone today who could pull off the same kind of seamless psychedelic schizophrenia with such fucking aplomb. A great record from a great group, highly recommended.

"Incredible archival set by Christina Carter from a solo performance in London on 26 October 2004.  This art edition comes in a run of only 122 signed and hand-numbered copies with a variety of art paper sleeves in the usual Many Breaths style and is available exclusively from Volcanic Tongue.  Described by Christina as her ‘most broken and expressionist performance to date' this set features radically reworked interpretations of early solo and Charalambides material in a style that can be best described as deconstructed Texas blues by attempting to combine the voice, rhythm and slide guitar of these complex songs via a single solo performance.  Here Christina seems to be taking direct inspiration from original country blues slide players like Blind Willie Johnson and Bukka White while translating them to the present via a variety of aggressive playing styles filtered through the psychedelic blues of Jandek and Keiji Haino.  At times the playing reminds me of Bill Orcutt, not necessarily in terms of technique or sonics, but more in approach, the way the guitar is attacked furiously combining both lead and rhythm techniques simultaneously. She launches frantic flurries of slide notes while always returning to the root chord’s open tuning in the same way that Orcutt's playing always returns to that de-tuned bottom C-string.  The rhythm playing itself is anything but straight-forward with syncopated and staccato-styled playing of slashed chords.  You could imagine this as being a very physical performance with Christina moving and contorting between playing high-end slide and off-beat open chords that seem to continually resonate providing the songs' wayward rhythms and building intensity.
 On the opening track "Namaste" the slide playing gets particularly aggressive towards the end, with flurries of improvised notes sounding almost like Christina's interpretation of Heather Leigh’s wilder pedal steel work transposed to slide guitar.  The song is offset by a vocal melody that sounds as connected to traditional Celtic folk as much as country or gospel blues, giving the track a strange balance that reflects the inner conflict perfectly. One of the highlights is her interpretation of two classic early Charalambides tracks from Joy Shapes and Unknown Spin: "Here, Not Here" and "Voice Within".  The guitar playing moves seamlessly between delicate finger-picked melodies and crashing chords laden in reverb and echo providing a permanent wall of sound.  Slightly reminiscent of the atmosphere on Keiji Haino's classic Affection album and with a similar use of overlapping repetitive rhythms as on his recent Seijaku recordings.  This also really demonstrates Christina's ability as an accomplished guitar player with at times some slightly more eastern or Malian blues-sounding scales being used.  The more aggressive wailing vocals often heard on her Scorces recordings is also evident.  There is a wonderful moment where Christina moves between one of her falsetto screams and her softer tone when her voice breaks reminding us of the fragility of the performer herself. 
With so many of the recent Many Breaths releases focusing on voice and melody such as A Blossom Fell or even poetry as on Seals, it’s great to hear this other dimension of such an important artist. This is Christina as a blues-influenced solo performer jamming wild interpretations of the form in a psychedelic outlaw style that could only come from Texas. Highly recommended." - Andrew Ross

Edition of 300 copies 7” on Metal Rouge’s own private imprint, the first instalment of their Alone Together series of solo performances. Using nothing but bells and vocals Christina casts a frozen spell over space and time, the sound of her breath expanding via phantom doses of reverb into an abyss of floating tone, singing in a heartbreak style that would reconcile Suzanne Langille with the outer space poetics of Amy Sheffer. These tracks wouldn’t have been out of place on one of her classic Many Breaths side like Human As Guitar or I Am All The Same Song. Highly recommended.

Brand new limited art edition CD-R from Christina Carter, initially issued as a subscriber-only edition and now made (slightly!) more available. Trickster... may be the most intense solo recording from Christina yet, with a  single hour-long track that is almost oppressively heavy despite never making any overt fuzz/volume moves towards explicable ‘weight’. Rather, it’s hypnotically subdued and feels uncannily ‘directed’, as close to a live channelling as Christina has come yet. The lyrics are amazing, ruminating on archetypal aspects of the trickster god/the fool while spinning delicate webs of single note guitar that are as devastatingly articulate and space-blues perfect as Loren Connors or Keiji Haino. Her vocal is particularly powerful, illuminated in a tiny ball of reverb with occasional double-track touches that suggest angelic harmonies and hallucinatory sonic equivalence. As the tracks builds – ever so subliminally – she falls into a very delicate three chord movement that floats you all the way to the end of the track, suspending notions of time and explication in favour of a profound, eternally-shifting form of almost stasis that is truly gripping and that will have you hanging on every overtone. A masterpiece from Christina, easily one of her most affecting and otherworldly releases. Comes packaged in art paper sleeves with a tracing paper insert that’s hand-written and features all-original art, every one different. Very magical and highly recommended.

Beautiful vinyl edition from Merja Kokkonen aka Islaja. First track sounds like a take on Yoko Ono doing "Mrs Lennon" from Fly while Jandek jams along on guitar. The rest of the album is dominated by swarms of organ drones in a hypnotic Euro surrealist style that reflects on the classic Bridget Fontaine/Areski sides topped off with those evocative, just slightly out of phase double-tracked vocals, all navigating with a zagged, fractured almost free jazz logic and weird hints of primitive dub damage that provide glimpses of the kinda parallel universe where a phantom Nina Simone might front Can. Certainly her most dramatic and evocatively arranged piece of the puzzle to date. Recommended.

Brand new split 7” from zonked Finnish folk spirit Merja Kokkonen of Avarus/Kemialliset Ystävät et al and fellow subterranean basement wowzers, TV-Resistori, covering each other’s songs. Very personal/handmade feel, zoned atmosphere, great use of the format.

New LP by this Finnish electro-pop unit on Fonal who had a previous split 7” with Islaja. Printed inner sleeves. “TV-Resistori's debut album came out in 2004. With their childlike melodies and cheezy synthesizer tunes names like Stereolab, Raymond Scott, Karkkiautomaatti and Mouse On Mars might pop up. If Fonal ever has a hit single it might very well come from Tv-Resistori. Yrjö's and Päivi's male/female vocal duets have become more and more the center of the songs. Now with the apt record engineering skills of the drummer Aleksi they have truly found their own sound Tv-resistori will release their follow up “Serkut rakastaa paremmin” (translates as Cousins Love Better).”

OOP 2004 release, limited to 400 copies, from this Finnish behemoth featuring Islaja.

Latest album from Merja aka Islaja with a classic bats Euro-chanteuse sleeve ala Brigitte Fontaine and more of an experimental electro-pop feel that internalises her recent experiments with Blevin Blechdom and Samara Lubelski. “Islaja has left the forests and moss-covered paths behind. Through an underground tunnel, she wandered off towards the city and found you again. She came in through the door as you were taking out the rubbish. Or through the window you opened on a summer’s night. Do you feel as though you’re not alone, even if there’s no one else in the house? Look around you and you’ll see – Islaja, petrified into a ceramic head on your window sill, on your television set.” – Fonal.

Latest album from Merja aka Islaja with a classic bats Euro-chanteuse sleeve ala Brigitte Fontaine and more of an experimental electro-pop feel that internalises her recent experiments with Blevin Blechdom and Samara Lubelski. “Islaja has left the forests and moss-covered paths behind. Through an underground tunnel, she wandered off towards the city and found you again. She came in through the door as you were taking out the rubbish. Or through the window you opened on a summer’s night. Do you feel as though you’re not alone, even if there’s no one else in the house? Look around you and you’ll see – Islaja, petrified into a ceramic head on your window sill, on your television set.” – Fonal.

First saw this all-female trio that features Lau Nau, Islaja and Kuupuu back in the day when they toured the UK with Taurpis Tula and Virgin Eye Blood Brothers but this is the first official document of their existence. Hertta Lussu Assa feel like the central transmission point for a bunch of diverse Finnish modes, using toy instruments and keyboards that are as surreal as anything from Tomuttontu but cut with an eerie nocturnal aspect that comes out of the deep forest folk of Kuupuu or even Paivansade. At points the three voices combine in choral wraiths that float above bubbling microtonally-detailed drone in a way that is deeply narcotic. Melancholy music box melodies are situated in the middle-distance above small percussion sounds and subtly bent strings. If you like your femme-fronted folk cut w/dilated drones, broken down piano and wheezing loops then this is pretty much your dream trip.