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News:
THE STAR OF THE KING OF THE DEAD
9:06pm EST 2008/06/30
This month at SSR we're
happy to finally unveil a record that was recorded as far back as late
2006: VCV's hourlong space-doom opus The Star Of The King Of The Dead.
Long kept in the cool shadowy vault at SSR HQ, "Star King" has arrived
in the form of 100 CD-Rs, continuing the minimal yet striking design
aesthetic of the two previous VCV albums. The music documents VCV at
their most minimal yet - two statuesque guitars stay their positions in
each end of the stereo field, like soldiers at a castle gate, and slowly
but certainly the sound that grows from your speakers begins to swell
into an epic mass of distorted harmonies. Chunks of liquid-cement chords
give way to glimpses of melodies that move at the speed of planets, and
in the space of an hour, VCV have built a towering monolith of
improvisational guitar work. This is the band at their most majestic,
and the next chapter in their macrocosmic oeuvre.
Order
Here.
On a more down-to-earth
note, Brian Grainger's new 21MG Series issue is here as well. Kerguelen
Plateau, named for a continent-size landmass that remains completely
underwater, embodies the perfect complement to David's Bathymetry piece.
Melodic guitars weave in and out of a warm-water drone, and a bit of Roy
Montgomery influence can be traced here. This piece is filled with
bright blue and orange tones and accurately conveys the over-100-degree
temperatures active in Brian's southern home this summer.
Order
Here.
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Guided By Leaves
10:03am EST 2008/04/30
Brian Grainger's 21MG
Series installment for April is here at last! Guided By Leaves is a
moody wash of crackly drones surfacing from some distant space-ether.
Recorded entirely with Brian's voice, this piece begins
tonally but eventually warps into a warm haunted fog. Lonesome ghosts of
trees along an empty highway, singing to no one.
Order
Here.
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PILL BOX, Obscurist Comp., New Pill
6:23pm EST 2008/03/30
Greetings once again from
the SSR bunker - this time around we have more updates than I think
we've ever had since the start of this site!
First, we have made a
number of changes to the 21MG Series; the packaging itself has been
reworked to be more minimal and eco-friendly, without a raise in the
price! We're also happy to announce the 21MG Series A-G box: a very cool
handmade plastic box that is built to comfortably contain all 12
Pill-discs from 2007. If you have all 12 discs already, you can buy the
box for only $20, or if you'd just like to buy them all at once, for $80
you get all 12 Pill-discs and the box comes free, which is a total
steal! Check it out
here.
With that said, from now on we are no longer selling individual copies
of Pills A-G. Apologies to any of you who have not yet completed your
collections, but we just can't keep infinitely restocking the series
considering the sheer amount of pieces within it. The good news is that
our friends at Norman Records in the UK are going to be soon
carrying all 12 of the A-G discs, so if you have any you need to fill in
your collection with, they should have them in stock very soon.
*If
anyone knows of any other US or central Europe distributors that would
be willing to carry our 21MG Series, please get in touch with us! We'd
love to hear from you!*
This months 21MG Series disc is David Tagg's brilliant and bright
improvisation called The Bearded Dragon. Composed using only a snake
charmer and manipulated reel-to-reels, this release sees David at his
most Eastern-sounding yet. Shimmering oranges and reds pulse in a foggy
opium-den haze, and you'll find yourself floating on a bamboo raft
through exotic Pacific waters with the smell of incense all over your
clothes. Sun-baked and hot, The Bearded Dragon is a perfect aural
companion to your sunny Spring days. Order
Here.
Finally, at long last, the Exercises In Obscurism compilation is here!
Our first-ever compilation at SSR, boasting impressive pieces by Ourson,
The Caretaker, Heptangular, Seht, Adam Pacione, Ophibre, Eluder, The
White Star Line, Dan Crall and our very own Brian Grainger and David
Tagg. A curious museum of sound-design and evocative experimental music
that works effectively to define the Obscurist ethos, with beautiful
photography by Jason Adams. This compilation works more like an album
rather than a collection of tracks by different people, suffusing
together the academic approach of obscuring all sounds beyond
recognition with each artist's own interpretation of what the musical
focus really is. We're honored to be able to work with all of these
incredibly talented people and bring this to you here! Limited to 100
copies! Order
Here.
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New Pill
7:06pm EST 2008/02/24
For February at SSR,
we've got a very special post Valentines Day push on the swing: Brian
Grainger's newest 21MG Series recording Sun Trails. Quite possibly the
most melodic pill-disc yet, Sun Trails is a warm solitary guitar
improvisation that depicts a cool blue landscape being gradually covered
with pure orange heat and light. A pretty swell of chords that is
eventually taken over by the longing drones of sadness, where you can
almost hear Spring calling after Old Man Winter has passed out asleep in
the woods.
Order
Here.
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New Pill
6:30pm EST 2008/01/30
2008 is here, and kicking
SSR off proper is David Tagg's first 21MG Series disc of the new year:
Thawed In Low Light. Thawed sounds just like you'd expect, with David
improvising on dulcimer and reel-to-reel tape to build a slowly warming
wall of light that will erode the cold outside and massage your
inner-ear with the most comfortable tones you can imagine. Musically
close to David's remix work on the Milieu track "Starview", from the Our
Blue Remixes CD, and the very best way to inaugurate our second year as
a label. Now in the shop!
Order
Here.
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Last Update of 2007!
4:48pm EST 2007/12/21
With our last update for
2007, we at SSR would like to thank everyone who listens, downloads,
buys and supports our creative processes. We couldn't have made it a
full year without you all, so here's to another year of great music and
art in 2008! Of course, it wouldn't be the same without something new to
end the year on a good note, so here are two more SSR issues to send you
off with!
David Tagg's second album, Waist Deep Seas Of Milk, is finally here.
Recorded right around this time in 2006, David showcases some of the
most intricate and gentle guitar playing, equally faithful to
traditional ambient composition and his own personal style. Performed
completely live on two reel-to-reels at David's cozy home in New York,
Waist Deep is totally deserving of it's title - slow-steeping chords ebb
and flow at the speed of clouds, with the most harmonious, swooping
leads that are just as soft and white. More evocative and sedating than
all of his 21MG Series discs combined, and notably the next phase of
Tagg's guitar-exploration after his Colors That Vibrate EP. Achingly
beautiful and still, David has painted a panoramic scene of motionless,
milky white surfaces with no ending or beginning, only comforting,
ever-present and white, with beautiful photography by Luke Hazard and
David himself. Limited to 100 copies.
Order
Here.
In keeping with the white of the winter and Waist Deep Seas, Brian
Grainger's new 21MG Series disc Milk Plus closes this year's catalog.
Not only a thematic-companion to David's previous White Opium disc, Milk
Plus is also an improvised ambient counterpart to Brian's track "Milk"
from his Silver Surfaces Washed White album at Install. As the title
might indicate, you can expect soft tonal guitar-drones that will warm
your ears before sending you to sleep like a steady drug, of course
keeping in line with Brian's style of subtle sound-evolving over twenty
minutes. Now in the shop.
Order
Here.
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