* THE SKATERS *

>>>BIO
THE SKATERS SAY THAT THE SUBSTANCE OF THEIR MUSIC IS
DEFINED BY THE INTERPLAY OF IDEAS AND THE TRANSFORMATION
OF THEMSELVES INTO CHARACTERS WHILE PLAYING AND WHILE
LIVING AND USING THE INNER DIALOGUE THAT COMES WITH
COGNIZING THE SYMBOLS OF THE OUTSIDE WORLD AS A GROUND
FOR THE MUSIC TO STAND. THE MUSIC FOR THEM BECOMES DEEPLY
PSYCOLOGICAL BECAUSE WE ARE EXPERIENCING ALL THESE HALLUCENAGENIC
SENSATIONS WHILE PLAYING. THE "THING" THAT WE THINK IS A
PHENOMENON CAN ONLY BE EXPERIENCED THROUGH PLAYING. THE SKATERS
ARE FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND CONSIST OF SPENCER CLARK AND
JAMES FERRARO, THEY MET IN 2002. WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE PURPOSE
OF THIER MUSIC JAMES FERRARO REPLIED " MY LIFE HAS BEEN
A SERIOUS JOURNEY TO SPREAD GNARLY VIBES. I OFTEN THINK ABOUT
THE SENSATION OF CATCHING A FRISBEE AND I THINK THIS SENSATION
IS THE INTERSECTION FOR THE FOURTH DEMENSION. THE FOURTH
DEMENSIONAL SPACE NOT CLEARLY SEEN STICKING IT'S FACE THROUGH
FROM A SECTION OF SPACE WE CANNOT PERCIEVE. AND THE SENSATION
POINTS ME IN THE DIRECTION TOWARDS SEEING THE TRUE RELATION OF
THINGS". THE OTHER ADDS: THE SEARCH FOR INTAKE-OUT CAN FLOOD WITH
THE IMAGINING OF ANOTHER PLANE; WITH THIS SECOND IMAGINATION
A DESTINATION IS NOT DETERMINED BUT THOUGHT OF AS POSSIBLE, AND
THE WILL THAT COMES FROM IMAGINING THIS WHOLE EXPERIENCE TO
EXIST IS LIMITLESS

>>>REVIEWS

"Staggering low-grade psychedelic murk and splintered free jazz
soul from this new American duo (James Ferraro & Spencer Clark)
who deal in the same kind of densely populated occult space as
Double Leopards, using destroyed vocal loops, cracked stomp-boxes
and endless layers of accumulated fug. a technicolour vortex of
strangulated vocals, teeth-mashing chant and DIY trephining matched
with some the most beautifully hypnotic noise/drone alchemy."
- David Keenan / The Wire & Volcanic Tongue

"They exploded into the consciousness in early 2004 with 'Dark Rye
Bread' (an album about to get a vinyl reissue courtesy of Norways
Humbug imprint) and blew minds everywhere with their exceptionally
'JOYOUS' music. For those who haven't heard them yet The Skaters
are the duo of James Ferraro and Spencer Clark. The main instrument
used by these 2 genius's is voice, but not voice as we're used to it.
Ecstatic chants are looped live through archaic delay units and played
at a monstrous volume through old and broken amplifiers. Occasionally
a broken-leaded guitar is strummed, or a very bent tribal sounding
percussion looms into the mix, but overall its those crazy gnostic-gnomic
voices that dominate. As with James Ferraro's solo 'Wooden Cupboard'
project the immediate comparison that springs to mind is that of Angus
MacLises Kathmandu recordings. Not everything is so chaotic on this disk,
there are poignant moments of relative calm, but overall it is a remarkably
distorted, energising - and joyous - affair."
- Anthony Milton / Pseudo Arcana Records

>>>SOUNDS

part 4 from Pavilionous Miracles of Circular Facet Dice CD-r (Chocolate Monk)
untitled from Crowned Purple Gowns CS (Lal lal lal)
"Mister Cabin" from Dark Rye Bread CD-r / LP (Nature Tape Limb / Humbug)

>>>HIGH RES IMAGE

>>>LINKS

"ETERNAL NOW" BY MATTHEW BOWER
A VIDEO OF THE SKATERS PLAYING LIVE
NATURE TAPE LIMB

* AXOLOTL *

>>>BIO
Though at times an ensemble, AXOLOTL is more often than not the deeply dream-like
explorations of Karl Marx Bauer. Using his voice and an battered acoustic violin
sent through a web of electronics, Bauer creates transcendent drones and melodies
that are both frighteningly beutiful and seductively eerie. Axolotl has released
records from Psych-o-path (Mouthus, Jane, Terrestrial Tones), 23 Productions (Home
of Wisconsin's Davenport) and Collective Jyrk (Imprint of California duo Yellow Swans)
with upcoming releases from Catsup Plate (Animal Collective, Black Dice, Ivy Tree),
Spirit of Orr (Imprint of Ron Schneiderman of Sunburned Hand of the Man) and a new
full length for Psych-O-Path. Axolotl has shared the stage with the likes of Animal
Collective, Black Dice, Charlambides, Comets on Fire, Double Leopards, Excepter,
Sightings, the Skaters, Terrestrial Tones, Thuja, and Yellow Swans.

>>>REVIEWS

"(a) shimmering, often painfully beautiful stringed buzz-quake"
- Pitchfork

"swirling, heady psych-drone jams... a meditative, minimal, microcosmic swell of
acoustic crunch and technological finesse that has stealth on its side. (Axolotl)
plug you into unsettling soundscapes that make you feel like you're sinking in a
cotton candy haze too goopy to climb out of, but why would you want to?"
- San Francisco Guardian

"Abstract, dense and slowly evolving, (Axolotl)'s sound evokes the warm electronic
fields of Fennesz(but without the glitchy rhythms or melodic structures) and the
fiery violin peaks of Tony Conrad(but with added layers of aural debris and processed
atmosphere)... Throughout, an elusive but undeniable internal logic guides Axolotl's
patient, diverse attack."
- Marc Masters / The WIRE magazine

"A swirling mess of drones and clatter and deconstructed melodies and propulsive almost
rhythms and weird snatches of sonic detritus, all muddled up into a totally listenable,
surprisingly catchy, really fucking good burst of avant/free/folk/noise/rock! ...
The drones are just one of the many elements of Axolotl's otherworldly miasma of sonic
muddle and seemingly random sound. Occasionally a machine like rrrroooaaarr emerges
from the murk, but manages to remain somehow pleasingly but not at all obviously melodic
(a la the Dead C) like an anvil dipped in tar and wrapped in feathers."
- Aquarius Records, San Francisco

"butterfly bows of pure folk grain, illuminated electronics and moments of staring-at-the-sun
trance into wild devotional rituals."
- Volcanic Tongue

>>>SOUNDS

track 4
track 6
track 7 from Sad Hotel 3"CD-r (23 Productions)

>>>HIGH RES IMAGE

>>>LINKS

PSYCH-O-PATH

* TOMUTONTTU *

>>>BIO
Tomutonttu is Jan Anderzén, the leading clown of Kemialliset Ystävät. Toy reed streams,
mutilated vocals and groovy loops of animal noise are some of the colors used to create
the whirling mess that is the lonely song of Tomutonttu. It is like a confusing detail from
the KY freedom flow, a microcosmos of strange sound creatures and dirt flying around
and interacting with a logic all their own.

Tomutonttu has collaborated live with Mike Bernstein (Double Leopards), Joshua Burkett,
Tara Burke (Fursaxa), The Skaters, Glenn Donaldson (Jewelled Antler), Endless (Davenport)
and Clay Ruby (Davenport). Two thousand and six will be the year of Tomutonttu with the
release of two LPs and two 7"EPs.

>>>REVIEWS

>>>SOUNDS

"Ihmisen ääni" from TBA LP (Ultra Eczema)
"Koirrrat" from TBA LP (Ultra Eczema)
Live in Portland, Maine with Clay Ruby

>>>HIGH RES IMAGE

>>>LINKS

TT1
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KYY LIST