RELEASES I RELEASES II RELEASES III ARC URSK SHOKYO ONTEI DISCOGRAPHY MAILORDER CONTACT			Locrian/Mamiffer > Bless Them That Curse You > Sige/Utech Records > Sige013/URLP069 2xLP AVAILABLE FEBRUARY 27 Bless Them That Curse You captures an unprecedented balance of claustrophobia and solace. It’s a strange alchemy to render something both inviting and alienating; it requires a special kind of skill to create music that sounds like it’s rattling apart at its seams, unraveling in a torturous but compelling fashion. It demands an acknowledgement of the fine line between noise and racket, between tension and tedium. Finding an interpersonal chemistry to pull it off can take years of searching and refinement. Initiated by a history of record swapping and mutual admiration, Chicago’s Locrian and Seattle’s Mamiffer managed to accomplish such a feat. Since their inception, Locrian’s sound has thrived on harnessing emotional resonance through texture and space. Highlighting a specific melody or beat in their music is unnecessary; their ability to trigger unease, fear, despair, and paranoia by playing with dynamics in timbre and timing is the central fixture in their work. While the Chicago trio’s approach is certainly unorthodox, they are not without sonic peers. Seattle duo Mamiffer similarly explores new territories in sound by marrying fragmented elements of neoclassical, drone, and proto-industrial dirge into compositions that are beguiling, haunting, and occasionally violent. Originating as a solo project for pianist Faith Coloccia, the project grew to encompass husband Aaron Turner and a rotating cast of guest musicians. Coloccia’s work, by nature, is malleable and suited towards the collaborative process. The collaboration between the two groups yielded some of the most beautiful material Locrian has ever recorded, and inversely pushed Mamiffer into the most caustic of new territories. Composed and recorded in Chicago at the renowned Electrical Audio studio, the album is the result of two disparate approaches arriving at one cohesive voice. It’s at turns contemplative and reserved, unnerving and unsettling, thunderous and feral. Aided by the engineering prowess of Greg Norman, the mixing skill of Randall Dunn, and the auxiliary instrumentation of Alex Barnett (Oakeater) and Brian Cook (Russian Circles), Bless Them That Curse You is a richly textured study in an unconventional creative process, blending fine-tuned synchronicity with spontaneous brute force. Limited to 550 copies, packaged in deluxe LP fold out designed by Faith Coloccia. In Fulminic Blaze - Ural Umbo > Delusion of Hope > Utech Records > URLP070 BUY HERE With an eldritch terror that could just as easily be from another dimension as the darkest ocean comes the latest release from Ural Umbo, Delusion of Hope. Feedback and melody barely escape from the murky crevices, tinged with a sense of grinding tension. Sharp, acidic percussion slices through the blackness with violent urgency, while electronic blasts and organic drones entwine and ensnare. Some dim instinctive memory vaguely resurrects a shadowy scene wherein black drums roar madly, and monstrous beings squat loathsomely in inexplicable rituals rooted in the black dawn of the universe. Limited to 300 copies on clear vinyl. Comes with cd version of the album. Photography by Alexander Binder. Sych--Thermal Layering - Sky Burial > Aegri Somnia > Utech Records > URCD064 BUY HERE The vastness of space is a frightening concept. Sky Burial, with astral navigation from Nik Turner (Hawkwind), leads a cosmogonic caravan through layered passages of sound. The result is Kosmiche Musik for the modern space age. Aegri Somnia apposes delicate melodies with vacuous drones creating a world ghastly and unhinged. In space no one can hear you dream. Presented in a heavy letterpress sleeve with fold out poster. Mastered by Justin K Broadrick. Art by Thomas Hooper. The Synaesthete's Lament--Within and Without - Architeuthis Rex > Urania > Utech Records > URCD062 BUY HERE From the opening pulse through the flourish of its conclusion, Urania is an auditory capsulization of outer space. Like the magazine it draws its title from, strains of evil, surrealism, and technological grandeur exist in an oxygenless environment. Urania is the sound of various futures, from modular analog synth textures to bizarre, unidentifiable soundtracks created with alien technology. From idyllic utopian societies to scorched, apocalyptic lands, Architeuthis Rex examine the mysteries of the universe and futures that lie ahead. Presented in a heavy black/black package with green poster. Art by Reuben Sawyer. Spacemetal #1--Anfitrite - Adrian Aniol > It All Falls Apart > Utech Records > URCS065 BUY HERE The debut release from Polish composer Adrian Aniol, It All Falls Apart, is a slow, fog-enshrouded journey upriver into the mouth of madness. Slow, frigid waves of sound seep in from the misty distance.  White noise clashes with subsonic percussive crashes piling on the unease and tension that builds to an appropriately lunatic conclusion. The B-side features a remix of the entire piece by Steven Hess (Locrian, Ural Umbo). No computers were used on the remix. The piece was literally done by hand, using cd Walkman, desktop cassette player, phone taping microphone, looper/sampler with three altered loops, drums, and a cinder block with contact mic. Black cassette. It All Falls Apart--It All Falls Apart (Remix) -