Snakes And Ladders

There's so much new music getting released every minute that at the end of each month we're basically bursting at the seams. It can get pretty ugly so we have gone into solution mode and decided to patch together a regular column to highlight some of these albums and artists. New, old, re-issue; all kinds of things will get a rinse but mainly on the Indonesian psych, grime and homosexual cowboy guy tip. Here's what we've got for you this month. Former Sub Pop doom kings, Earth, have been super busy lately releasing a new live record, 070796, as well as a re-hash of live and old material called Living In The Gleam Of An Unleashed Sword on new Troubleman Unlimited imprint, Megablade. If that isn't enough to keep you satisfied until their first studio album in over five years comes out, you can sink your teeth into Legacy Of Dissolution, a brand new remix album featuring contributions from Mogwai, Autechre, Jim O'Rourke and Earth disciples, Sun 0))) who also have a new CD of early, raw, ultra-heaviness in the form of The Grimm Robe Demos on the omnipresent and ever reliable Southern Lord. Fellow exponents of long song jam epics, Double Leopards, have also found time to throw last year's Halve Maen LP on the digital format so you can listen to their blissed out drone darkness in the car and fall asleep at the wheel. Bummer. Their Eclipse label mates, Spires That In The Sunset Rise, have also released a CD version of their debut, while a second full-length of Wicker Man wig-outs will be coming out on Secret Eye before you can say "Where are my bongos?". Sticking on the folk tip, there's a great new John Fahey live album doing the rounds. The Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick (Revenant) from a couple of late 60s concerts features the lithe, country/bluegrass finger picking of Fahey in all its beauty and glory—almost essential. Recorded around the same period was a totally bizarre, yet sweet album by The Family Jams—a bunch of Charlie Manson's mates who he used to play with. They recorded a couple of discs worth of his songs with acoustic guitar and acid-chants and sent them to the poor dear when he was feeling lonely in prison. Disconcerting commune folk that would definitely put a smile on my dial if I was spending the rest of my days in the big house. As far as ‘hippy shit' goes though, that's totally destroyed by a couple of other new records. The spacey, forest folk of Avarus pretty much out-psyches everyone else everywhere. From spastic jams of stumbling, mesmerising kraut drones to druggy, distorted noise soundscapes and intense rock workouts, this fucker has it all and you can even enjoy it if you wear shoes. Basically, Ruskea Tumanttian is a collection of their earlier albums and EPs that has been put together by San Francisco's Tumult label. Another label going from strength to strength is Animal Collective's Paw-Tracks. They're gearing up for another big year with a new Ariel Pink album, Worn Copy, and yet another Panda Bear side project with the throbbing electronic trance (not of the cheesy dance variety) of his new two-man band, Jane. The most exciting record coming up is Wolf Eyes, Fuck The New Miami, which features an etching on the flip that you can actually play. Apparently the needle just jumps all over the records and it makes the most brutal noise. I can only imagine that they are thrilled with the results. Wolf Eyes' Aaron Dilloway has also recently released a collection of his hard to find CD-Rs as an official CD, Boggs:Pt2 on his own Hanson Records as well as Death Tone, a slab of psychotic ear-drum destruction by bleak, ambient-noise duo Hive Mind. Finally, new Australian label, Tip Top have put out a 3 LP recording of Damo Suzuki and friends. Damo has been living in Melbourne for the summer and performed a series of mind-blowing shows. One of those improvised sessions was documented at Corduroy Records' pressing plant specifically for this release and contains a bunch of locals including Oren Ambarchi, Emil Sarlija and Davey Williams. It's available at Metropolis in Melbourne. Damo is heading to Europe for a while. Hopefully he'll be back soon. That's all. EVA WATSON