5.23.2009

Stunned no. 42


Silver BulletsFree Radical c48 (Stunned no. 42) — out of stock

William Giacchi of Magic Lantern/Super Minerals reports: "While visiting family in southern Sicily last December, I caught up with an old friend who has shared a very similar trajectory with me in interests of psychedelic music both newer and vintage, local and global. Much to my elated surprise, he has been equally busy producing new sounds of his own, having lately assembled a mysterious psychedelic groove ensemble known as Silver Bullets. I sat in on a recording session and realized I was in the presence of psychic brethren, and that Stunned Records would be the perfect platform to introduce their brand of tonal gyration. Both the Silver Bullets and Phil & Myste were thrilled about the partnership, and thus we present ‘Free Radical’ — two sides, eleven tracks of kraut-funk, coned-out drone rock, and assorted experiments with space and time. Wade through bluesy head-nodders, Italian fuzz contests, interplanetary bleeps and blips, and liberated dance songs for anti-environments. Taking spiritual cues from Don Cherry's Eternal Rhythm, ‘Free Radical’ is a statement of unity through musical expression and an ecstatic celebration of existence. Play this tape at full moon and brace yourself for the unforeseen happenings." Limited & hand numbered edition of 100 pro-dubbed & imprinted c48 tapes in oversized single-cassette vinyl album.
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reviews:

Digitalis
Raven Sings the Blues
Tiny Mix Tapes

Stunned no. 41


VakhchavIn Embers (Stunned no. 41) — out of stock

Sophomore release by Vakhchav after his ’08 debut on Abandoned Ship, and there are no signs of a slump in sight. NY city artist Nickolas Mohanna has been self-releasing his guitar/electronics work in mini-editions since ’05. Now this deliberation in refining an entirely original voice over the years pays off in a big way. ‘In Embers’ is trim and to-the-point, conveying strange symmetrical realms & whole worlds of weird in half the time most musicians might take. This is a journey into the direct center of the strobe, white and black crackles and hums form the absorptive blanket in which to lay out our gray matter and drift headlong into sidereal expanses of sound. The Vakhchav orb is bound to continue cresting our horizon – watch the dark skies. Hand numbered edition of 100 painted cdrs with transparent sleeve & insert card in vinyl jacket.
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reviews:

Digitalis
ECN

Stunned no. 40


ALTAR EAGLE / Pillars of Heaven / Caligine / High WolfEssential Elements c35 + c52 (Stunned no. 40) — out of stock

Four heavy-hitters converge here in totally complimentary energies on Stunned’s 40th release and 1st double cassette edition.

TAPE 1: Things start off right with FIRE as can only be thrown by the Digitalis dynasty’s duo of Brad & Eden Rose. ALTAR EAGLE retains the warm tactility of their previous Corsican Paintbrush project while also bumping it into wildly higher dimensional states. Hot waves of alien electronics, guitars, and voice layer like magma into a thick mix, retaining an admirable delicacy to such chemically volatile process. Countering this initial heat-swell, Sal Giorgi’s solo endeavor blows in some seriously fresh AIR on the c35’s flipside. Many are familiar with Sal’s exquisitely curated & designed Peasant Magik label, but fewer seem privy to the mega dreamscape weaving enterprise that his Pillars of Heaven project serves. This piece is for those devoted to pure lateral synth-escape. A heavy pleasant dream we don’t want to wake from ever, and another good reason why they invented rewind. TAPE 2: According to Gabriele of the Rome-based Monstres par Excès label, the pieces that comprise his Caligine projects’ half of this c52 were improvised “with the aid of fingernails, iron strings, tough woods and the eternal flow of Every-Thing above our horizons.” The perfect approach for such visionary skeletal raag which deftly spins in and out of synchromystic EARTH orbit — an unfolk matrix that’s rich as the best soil around. By the final side of this double tape set, we have certainly been primed for High Wolf’s contribution of cultural boundary dissolution. Following up his Not Not Fun debut jammer, the question lingers on the origins of this Amazonian/African/French/?/? electro-maverick. Meanwhile, as we’re scratching our heads, he’s continuing to summon the musical equivalent of Gaia’s clearest WATER & lights of her aurora borealis. Under amorphous forms of guitar, angel choir, and synthesizer emerges the pulse of a hidden heartbeat, the only identity necessary for apprehending High Wolf’s true nature.

Many thanks to these four artists of unique distinction who, for the very reason of their differences, united as unlikely Essential Elements. Limited & hand numbered edition of 100 c35 + c52 silver tapes in double-cassette vinyl album with transparent covers and insert.
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review:

ECN

Stunned no. 39


Black Eagle ChildSeeds That Sprout In Summer c50 (Stunned no. 39) — out of stock

This follow-up full length to editions on such labels as Blackest Rainbow and Housecraft finds Black Eagle Child rowing his boat ashore and sparking the campfire wide and bright. Let’s stretch out our legs, because we have a nearly hour long psychfolk excursion of delight on our hands here. Once BEC’s Michael Jantz starts dronin’ and fingerpicking his acoustic around the flames, things chill way out and the ears get a good cleanse. Just crack a brew and mind you don’t get sick on the s’mores. This release happily marks Black Eagle Child having created a child of his own. Along with Mike & Celeste, we welcome Mary Jantz into the world, the newest and most special sprout of summer. Hand numbered edition of 100 pro-dubbed & imprinted c50 yellow tapes with matching jcard.
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review:

ECN

Stunned no. 38


RambutanBroken Infinity (Stunned no. 38) — out of stock

Sometimes an album comes along that just sweeps us right to those endless summer nights where lying back on the still-warm grass, we realize the scope of inverted abyss in the sky above and breathe deep in awe. Rambutan’s ‘Broken Infinity’ is just such a listening experience. Crafted by the hands of the poly-talented Eric Hardiman of the Tape Drift label & Century Plants/Burnt Hills fame, this solo release is filled with aching intention and eye opening wanderlust. Past Rambutan releases tend toward carving out crushing scoops of night-tinged tones with his nimbly-processed six string. That wall-of-guitar power is also found here, but additionally Eric investigates stretches of glassy vibrato downpour & spooked twilight sustain. It’s relieving to find compositions willing to breathe like this, balancing dark and dominant outer forces with the levity of an inner infinite impulse, broken as it may temporarily be. Hand numbered edition of 100 painted cdrs with full color sleeve & insert card in vinyl jacket.
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reviews:

Digitalis
ECN

Stunned no. 37


Bjerga / IversenMagnetic Colours of the Electric Rainbow (Stunned no. 37) — out of stock

Sindre Bjerga & Jan-Morten Iversen give the impression that they could just as easily be suited in some futuristic medical lab as they are in the venues and galleries they’ve ceaselessly toured since '04 as a duo. We’re on the job here with Norway’s serious nano-sculptors of the aural. These guys open their scalpel sets over tape spools & modular panels and go for the daring micro incisions that make the junior techs gasp. As fans of such heroic sound operation, Stunned is proud to present this official release of Bjerga / Iversen’s epic live 2007 performance at La Generale, captured in pristine fidelity by Radio WNE, Paris. It’s a determined procedure, nearly causing all attendants to faint in the sweaty focus of high register nerve-splicing and infrared plasma spurt. Thank God for the experts. Hand numbered edition of 120 painted cdrs with full color sleeve & insert card in vinyl jacket.
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review:

ECN

4.13.2009

Stunned no. 36


M. Geddes GengrasSmoke Blower c44 (Stunned no. 36) — out of stock

SIDE A: The come-up. A flick too many of the bic lighter perhaps, and then it’s a red-eyed night prowling the east side of town in pursuit of a burrito and more ganja. Or maybe a ganja-burrito? Someone should invent that so we could eat it. Rounding the corner now and –oh crap– it’s the cops. Sirens, dogs barking, the choppers start following, dropped the burrito back there somewhere (yet to score any ganj…). And suddenly a snap-to after 22 minutes of this modular synth-sourced hallucination, and the realization that we’ve been listening to ‘Smoke Blower’ by M. Geddes Gengras. Yes, L.A.’s own Renaissance Man: part Antique Brothers guitar wiz, part Green Machines uberstudio founder, part drummer for the mighty Robedoor, etc. Ged’s rap sheet goes on and on. It’s starting to make sense now. Or is it? SIDE B: re-ignite. You thought shit was crazy back there? Goodness gracious, son. Until we’ve actually stood under a dozen hydrogen blimps erupting in unified concert, this is the closest document on our hands approaching such levels of up-your-guts bass frequency experience. Fried, fried, fried. A psychic plunge upward, only to watch as a scythe the size of Florida rakes down the redwood forests. Tree trunks and rattlesnake ribcages all eventually clipped and neatly bundled with patch cord, piled miles upon miles high... 'ew' & 'whew'. Hand numbered edition of 100 pro-dubbed & imprinted c44 tapes in clear shells with green foil liner w/ double-sided color jcard.
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review:

ECN

Stunned no. 35


Nodolby — c32 (Stunned no. 35) — out of stock

Nodolby is one of the few acts of recent times that can still give us a remarkable thrill, harkening back to days earlier in this decade when ‘noise’ meant the gloves coming off and all you could do was brace yourself for the impending shockwaves. Dokuro Records boss Mic Scariot has been refining his Nodolby circuits to the side of his long-running group Ent, and lately this solo show seems to be surging ahead with an unexpected bumper harvest of psychoactive sizzlers. The untitled c32 proudly presented here has been marinated in acid rain and tastes nasty when it wants to be. But at moments it pauses its wild sensory-max'd climbing entirely to siphon streams of irradiated drone glory into our midst. Of all Nodolby’s output we’ve heard, this cassette shows a particular devotion to the neon awe that accompanies a mind existing fully outside of time, surging where it wills at the speed of sound. A thrill indeed. Hand numbered edition of 100 pro-dubbed & imprinted c32 tapes in light blue shells w/ double-sided color jcard.
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review:

Animal Psi

Stunned no. 34


Sean McCannFrame of Mind c38 (Stunned no. 34) — out of stock

Sean McCann hardly needs introduction around here after having delivered his breathtaking album ‘Sway’ on Stunned in summer ‘08. One might initially assume ‘Frame of Mind’ to be a simple continuation of last year’s highwater mark. But mere seconds into this c38, we’re affirmed that these freshest of Sean’s crops are in the grip of a holy orbit unconcerned with what has come before. This is his transition from occupying a seat in the symphony to tapping the conductor’s wand at the podium. Opening night’s hush and poise is palpable as the framework’s magnitude is unfurled against a hazed rainbow canopy. Then, the presentation of some massive whirling chrysanthemum emitting gold-flecked clouds of brass vibrato, chamber orchestra drone, bowed strings, and vast fields of guitar & synth sun worship. Every time Sean dips his ladle into the pool of higher soundstates we pay attention. On ‘Frame of Mind’ he seems to have dropped in the deepest bucket he could find. Let’s drink up. Hand numbered edition of 120 pro-dubbed & imprinted c38 tapes in melon shells with double-sided color jcard.
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reviews:

Animal Psi
ECN

Stunned no. 33


Kabyzdoh ObtruhamchiEstcho x2 cdr (Stunned no. 33) — out of stock

When Kabyzdoh Obtruhamchi’s self-titled c50 debuted late last year (Stunned no. 18), it sent a jolt through those of us who might have been unaware Russia had such a tempest brewing in its belly. Like some hyper-elastic one man jam-band oblivious to anything but perpetual motion, his sound simply shredded. And now after mere months, Sergey Kozlov is back to kick our butts permanently into the future. The trouble is doubled and so are the discs on this one-two ‘K.O.’ punch. As this is some of the most untethered sound being spun on either of the globe’s hemispheres right now, it goes without saying that ‘Estcho’ is a soundtrack of the yet-to-be. Like dropping by the year 4000 when a race of tattooed cyborgs throb in dionysian telepathy under guitar-guided biochemical tent party beats. Raveup til’ sundown and back again. Who knows where this celebration/liberation will take us? Hand numbered edition of 100 painted x2 cdr sets in oversized case w/ full color art.
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reviews:

Brainwashed
Tiny Mix Tapes
Agitated Atmosphere

Stunned no. 32


throuRoofThrought the Book of Lambspring (Stunned no. 32) —out of stock

From vial to vial pass the sonic fluids necessary to produce throuRoof’s second chapter here in his Sacred Art of Alchemy series, which began with 2008’s much-discussed ‘Emerald Tablet of Hermes’ on Housecraft, and is set to conclude in its third & final part later this year on Thors’ Rubber Hammer. Like an ancient alchemist, throuRoof’s Antonio Gallucci synthesizes mantric sound effects with metaphysical drones, marking combinations once thought impossible. As second parts go, ‘Throught the Book of Lambspring’ is where the action settles in enough for the series’ bigger themes to emerge. Mysterious consequences take hold with this brazen elixir-brewing; before one knows it, all is a stew of indiscernible tones, guitar plucks, and haunted hums. As the piece closes on high notes of a bloomed confusion, we’re left hanging but not dissatisfied – the storyteller having led us to a most strange crest of the narrative. Limited edition of 80 hand numbered & painted 3” cdrs in case w/ double-sided color insert card.
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review:

ECN

4.10.2009

Stunned bonus #6


The Doglands — EP (Stunned bonus #6) — out of stock

Hard to believe it’s been exactly a year ago since we re-issued The Doglands’ self titled album (Stunned no. 6). It seems appropriate then to have The Doglands back to put the cap on his groggy blend of guitar-n-synth mellowtimes for the return of our bonus release series. Unconcerned with the timing or schedule of anything but the sentient spring sun, our man in Oregon traces an arc that might amble but always returns to the same spot on the horizon. Morning’s comedown isn’t necessarily a letdown. Breathe deep again under the brief pleasure of this special edition EP. Hand numbered and limited to 40 painted cdrs in royal blue Tibetan rice paper sleeve.
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review:

ECN

3.05.2009

Stunned no. 31


Warm ClimateEdible Homes c42 (Stunned no. 31) — out of stock

With an unmatchable tenacity that depends on little much else than a power source, guitar and clarinet, Seth Kasselman has spent over a decade making some of the more truly idiosyncratic music we’ve had the pleasure of being hit with. The mere range of styles his Warm Climate project has taken on would be enough to daunt any four-piece band of fulltime songwriters. But ‘Edible Homes’ is proof that it only takes one Seth to take the piss out of a dozen genres at a swipe on these two 20-minute rollercoaster tape sides. It’s nearly impossible to describe just where exactly this ride takes the listener except that it’s a rich amalgamation of rock, classic pop, free jazz, dance, drone, tribal noise, broken toys, and psych riffing that testifies to Warm Climate’s versed knowledge of sound in its myriad of cultural forms. Like twisting the dial through the whole range of A.M./F.M. channels, not because any are tiresome, but because each one is enrapturing. All we can do is let the accumulation scoop us toward a nexus that wipes the cultural palate clean, and indispensably so. Hand numbered edition of 120 pro-dubbed & imprinted c42 tapes in lime shells w/ extended length double-sided color jcard; designed in energy of FIRE.
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reviews:

"Los Angeles’ Warm Climate is kind of like the Heisenberg uncertainty principle: it’s impossible to measure it as drone because avant jazz horns will suddenly come into focus, and when you’re about to pin it down Marc Bolan glam-folk subsumes into jingling bells and the sound of geese raping and pillaging. Maybe it’s what Guided by Voices was for rock fans fifteen or twenty years ago, except way weirder. And it’s incredibly refreshing: so many cassette releases seem hung up on presenting a unified front (often one that caters in a few varieties of static), but the man behind this project, Seth Kasselman, doesn’t seem to carry any of those preoccupations. Plus he sings like David Bowie without an ego. The tape came out on Stunned but it’s since sold out. Bum out." - Impose
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"From getting this in a batch of unsolicited cassettes to wondering if the first track was a parody of Tyrannosaurus Rex, once this pup kicked in, and upon repeated listens, I remained a bit shocked. Though Warm Climate (one Seth Kasselman) has released about a dozen CDRs and cassettes since 2000, I haven’t heard of it ‘til now. And now this great blend of psych-glam, DIY experimentalism, and Tangerine Dream/Sorcerer style prog comes into my hands and I don’t know what to say other than, “Where is the vinyl?” - Z Gun
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"I got totally blind-sided by this one. I don’t know where Stunned label head Phil found Seth Kasselman, but he cranks out some epic songs on this release. Opening with an acid-fried folk song that explodes into into a guitar-heavy rock track only to dissolve into layer organ drone, “Lost Teeth/Organ Donor” is a great hint at the extreme weirdness found on Edible Homes. The church organ, acoustic strums, feedback-drenched guitar, and Kasselman’s vocals reemerge throughout the tape, but they are augmented with bizarre percussion, warped tape loops, and electronic squiggles. This is tape is incredibly varied and makes for a really fun ride!" - c60 Radio

Stunned no. 30


Super MineralsClusters c47 (Stunned no. 30) — out of stock

Finally breaching the surface of the sea after a 3-year deep dive, Super Minerals now gulp in lungfuls of oxygen only to notice its quality has changed quite a bit in the time they’ve been submerged. Fins and gills are sloughed — wings are needed now. Perched high on coastal cliffs in the fog of a polygon sunrise, ‘Clusters’ celebrates with upright piano & bells that spirit which commingles prepared herbs with the purity of raw Pacific light. For fans of Charlemagne Palestine, early Keith Jarrett, Vangelis dipped in vaseline, or John Tesh in flames. Hand numbered edition of 111 pro-dubbed & gold ink imprinted c47 tapes w/ double-sided color jcard; designed in energy of AIR.
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reviews:

"...an astonishing cassette of moody piano emanations... 'Clusters' is a great little tape that showcases Super Minerals stretching themselves in an impressive manner." - Auxiliary Out
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"Clusters provides two anthems for those of you looking to bridge the gap between the precision of classical works and the boundless freedom of modern avant composition. “Oxygen Bombs” occupies the width of Side A. For much of its runtime, the track takes on a “Chariots of Fire” attitude: prideful, bombastic piano fills as much space as allowed by the low-end production, while fingers transform into the pitter-patter of feet racing to an uncertain goal. The track’s final three minutes transition the thrill of the race into the heated pants of tired runners clumsily looking to catch their breath, as syncopated bells and twisted strings replace the twinkle of ivory. The B-side is filled by the cassette’s namesake, which dazzles with raindrops of piano keys that often blend to mimic the tone of a harp. Around the 14-minute mark, the track begins to strip away the layers, first unveiling a whirling dervish of buzzes and bends. It never finishes its second thought before leaping into a lo-fi music box, melding together the first half with the middle interruption." - Tiny Mix Tapes
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"The whole thing lilts beautifully in a yellow haze of sun-drenched clairvoyance. I'm not sure who's playing here but it's wonderful. Fragments of minute and lush melodies present themselves before dissolving once more into the overtone swell of the work... Soon enough though, the whole thing fades out and is replaced by tape loops that seep across some skeleton gamelan moves. Total bleak situation in some Cambodian forest, Skaters-style even but with way less momentum. Just sit back and sip the spiked cocoa water... "Clusters" makes up side two and is as filled out and spacious as the first side. Piano trickles out of some small forest spring while tape loops and bells tingle outward, careening in and around each falling note. The duo's really on point with this one, and builds up to hold it, restful, exactly where it's gotta be... upwards but not all there. The tension is ridiculous before it slips away into another haze of piano drift. Absolutely gorgeous, they really took it up and out on this one. Absurd that this is the same group that put out 'The Piss', but their ability to do each with such confident poise blows me away. One of the best of the year so far for sure..." - Foxy Digitalis