Friday 28 October 2022

New Release: Brutalust - The Waste Land (CVC025) Limited-Edition Cassette & Digital Download

 


Brutalust
The Waste Land
(CVC025)
Limited-Edition cassette & digital download



Crow Versus Crow is honoured to present The Waste Land, the fourth body of sonic exploration from Brutalust, the Huddersfield, West Yorkshire-based duo of Maria Sappho (USA) and Colin Frank (CAN).

We made noise that day, and this was what was most important. Putting forth sound with intermittent interjections. A heap of broken images.

These seven pieces are composed primarily for piano and percussion, accompanied by musical saw, theremin, synthesizers, and voice, and layered with distortion and live electronic manipulations.

Bricolage, in essence, layers of references to high Modernist poetry, masterful works of contemporary solo piano, and esoteric philosophies, shift within expansive juxtapositions of harsh discordance, delicate contrapuntal melody, structured rhythmic pattern, and open, wild improvisation, to form tactile, textural whorls of episodic flux.

From deconstructing Russian composer Galina Ustvolskaya’s 6th Piano Sonata, to mangling doctrines that prize verifiable statements and ego-motivated pleasure, The Waste Land articulates ideas of struggle with saturation, order, and clarity.

...long after time had ceased to be noticed… we shared what we had found and then lost


The Waste Land is released as a Limited Edition of 50 hand-numbered, professionally dubbed, white shell cassettes, with full colour artwork by Andrew Wild, housed in a white-backed clear case, and digital download. 

Tape / £7
Download / Name Your Price

Available now from the Crow Versus Crow Bandcamp

 

As always with Crow Versus Crow releases, digital downloads are set at 'Name Your Price'. Please pay what you feel this record is worth, or what you can afford. All digital sales are split 50/50 between the artist and Crow Versus Crow. If you can't afford to pay anything for this record, please download it at no cost to yourself and just dig those golden sounds!



Friday 6 May 2022

New Release: Sophie Sleigh-Johnson - Nuncio Ref! (CVC024) Limited Edition Cassette & Digital Download




Sophie Sleigh-Johnson
Nuncio Ref!
(CVC024)
Limited Edition Cassette & Digital Download


Crow Versus Crow is honoured to present the debuttttttttttt///tttxxxxyryttzzkrr///////////////xxtNuncio Ref!

First-baked tape works of one Sophie Sleigh-Johnson.

A collection of tele-vision canticles and psychic reportage from the bleary shores of Southend, featuring hotly anticipated fragments from the unearthed transcript of Leonard Rossiter’s lost Mystery Play.

As Rogation Ceremonies became obligatory again, the main technical problem was Bishop Ooze tracing time on damp walls: so, might these same tracks yet index the whereabouts of Mr. Prance, DJ?

And lo, from the rumblings of this grim chorale, you’ll get your fair share of the Reel Artikel, as much an inflammatory Kelp Pit Synod as the apostate’s mandate to walk in Big News.

Holsten?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ble as a limited edition of 50 cassettes and digital download via the Crow Versus Crow Bandcamp.

Tape / £6
Download / Name Your Price





Friday 3 December 2021

New Release: Posset - 'Elvis Died and Everyone Is...' (CVC023) Limited Edition Cassette & Digital Download

 


Posset
Elvis Died and Everyone Is...
(CVC023)
Limited Edition of 50 cassettes & digital download


Crow Versus Crow is delighted to present for your aural-spiritual consumption ‘Elvis Died and Everyone Is…’, from high-priest of vox-mung dicta-jaxx, Posset. Two threads of ‘vocals’ and ‘tape’ seem to run through much Posset’s work, each often abstracted to pure texture, to pure concrete, each overlapping and blurring the others’ boundaries. Elvis Died and Everyone Is… further pushes these threads, weaving absurdist skit, deep croak throat drone, sludged free verse, layers of clipped skittering utterances, and writhing whorls of golden dicta scree into a fevered patchwork of dreamy hiss and fluttering treble.

“For fans of losing your train of thought in an important conversation, de-tuned longwave radio stations, fake Electronic Voice Phenomena, half-formed words dissolving on the tongue, lethargy, being too hot and itchy in an unfamiliar building, the intimate electric breath of damaged heater, overheard conversations on the bus, that faint tinkle, a relaxed confusion, nostalgic plimsoll squeak, getting lost in Leicester town centre, the wet crinkle of someone else’s leather jacket, watching the shopping channel with the sound off, cumin scented smoke, letting the wind take your breath away, not realising how long you’ve been staring into space, finding an old letter from an old friend, shopping list poems, dreams of drowning, DJ Screw mixtapes left out in the sun.

Thanks for listening.”


Tape / £6
Digital Download / Name Your Price




Friday 29 October 2021

New Release: yol - viral dogs and cats (CVC022) Limited Edition Cassette & Digital Download

 


yol
viral dogs and cats
(CVC022)
Limited Edition of 50 cassettes & digital download






Found objects / mouth noise / mangled language.

That’s it.

All of it.
 
And yet… lo! There’s real GOLD here, conjured from within these looping, twisting, writhing incantations. GOLD, y’hear?!

Primark bags and dog shit; they were the prima materia of yond alchemists, right?

viral dogs and cats was recorded in a vacant retail premises on Brook Street, Hull, made available as a project space through the facilitation of Red Contemporary, Hull – an artist-led organisation, and former gallery space, displaced in the wake of Hull’s ‘City Of Culture’ redevelopments. It was recorded during a period of lockdown, with all the practical and technical restrictions that lockdown precipitates, but it’s not a ‘Lockdown Album’, per se.

Yol’s approach seems to be to absorb that which is around him, the fragmentary, the minutiae, and regurgitate it through distending, absurdist ritualistic cantillations. Yol invokes sonic transmutations from gathered detritus, from the grimy scrapings from between the cushions of society’s (fly-tipped, piss-stained) settee. Gold! Hear!

Tape / £6

Friday 14 May 2021

New Release: Amy Cutler - 'the ends (also end) of (the) earth and variants' (CVC021) Limited Edition Cassette & Digital Download

 


Amy Cutler
the ends (also end) of (the) earth and variants
(CVC021)
Limited Edition of 50 cassettes and digital download




Crow Versus Crow is honoured to present the ends (also end) of (the) earth and variants, a new body of work from polymath artist and educator Dr Amy Cutler, available as a limited-edition of fifty cassettes and near-infinite digital download from Friday 14th May 2021.

These recordings spring from a strange medieval English riddle, the Harley lyric, Erthe toc of erthe:

 Erthe toc of erthe erthe wyth woh; Erthe other erthe to the erthe droh; Erthe leyde erthe in erthene throh; Tho hevede erthe of erthe erthe ynoh.

(Ms. Harley 2553).

The tiny lament or puzzle is impossible to translate, since in its four short lines the word earth appears twelve times. Like ‘ashes to ashes, dust to dust’, these identical words have different meanings – transitioning between soil, world, burial, cultivation, decay, earthly possessions, and our own bodies. The device of repeating earth so many times in such a short space creates an unsolvable lyric which, riddle-like, ‘only makes sense when we are prepared to hold several meanings of the word in our minds simultaneously’. How does one sing this tiny piece, or give it a tune?

This is an album of sonic variants, settings, and radio covers of Erthe toc of erthe, including those by invited guest artists and friends, Ecka Mordecai, Layla Legard (Hawthonn), Ceylan Hey (Bell Lungs, Mark S. Williamson (Spaceship) and Drew Mulholland. The modified field recordings, chants, twilight hums, nonsense riddles and layered repetitions are each inspired by the variant meanings of ‘earth’, in the ultimate group sonic field trip.

Cutler’s recordings were made in Luds Church, a naturally resonant mossy chasm in Staffordshire where Lollard ceremonies were held, including their alternative death chants. Combining guitar, voice, processed electronics, record hiss, and field recordings, these tracks (and the album as a whole) are each titled with phrases from the dictionary definitions of ‘earth’. Some of these meanings are undigestible by each other, whether scientific, metaphorical, or allegorical: e.g., the ground as a surface on which humans and animals move; the inhabitants of the world collectively; ‘earthing’ a conductive electrical circuit or terminal; to ‘go to earth’ meaning to take refuge as in an animal’s lair or burrow. Combining this mix of opposites – doom and refuge, sin and innocence – and playing on the end of the world-ness of elegy, this camper-van tape release becomes a sort of muted lullaby for earth itself.

the ends (also end) of (the) earth and variants is released as a limited-edition of 50 hand-numbered, professionally dubbed C70 cassettes (made from recycled materials) and digital download via the Crow Versus Crow Bandcamp. The cassette features full-colour artwork by Crow Versus Crow and Dr Amy Cutler.

Tape -  £8

Download - Name Your Price. All proceeds from digital sales will be split between Crow Versus Crow, and will directly (and solely) fund future releases, and the artist.




Friday 26 February 2021

New Release: Brandstifter & Diurnal Burdens - Miraculous Seepage (CVC020) Limited Edition Cassette & Digital Download

 


Brandstifter & Diurnal Burdens
Miraculous Seepage
(CVC020)
Limited Edition of 50 cassettes & digital download




Peep box shadow play.

Spliced scenes on a carousel looping.
                                                                                                                                            Vinegar stink.

                                                        Two figures in a parasomniac waltz click mesmeric. The slumped marionette nods in cadaveric spasm. Glimmering fish-scales fall in soft violet pirouette. Hummed shanties leak from neon fissures. The Jolly Chimp claps in amnesiac glee.

Projections slip and stutter.

Goose stepping armies march by writhing strings.                          Silver light static flicker.

                                                                         
        Sulphuric miasma.
                                           
                                                                                            Miraculous seepage.

Crow Versus Crow is honoured to present Miraculous Seepage, a new body of collaborative tape loop bunraku from Brandstifter (Flux on Demand, Psych.KG, Chocolate Monk...) and Diurnal Burdens (Falt, Matching Head, More Mars, Invisible City Records...).

Across two sides of tape, the duo present seven surrealist dioramas, part Herman Hesse fairy tale, part Lynchian hypnagogia. With whirring spool clicks and visible strings, slewed transmissions break through the ferric void; miasmic zoetropes in varispeed.

Miraculous Seepage is released as a limited-edition of 50 hand-numbered, professionally dubbed cassettes (made from recycled materials) and digital download via the Crow Versus Crow Bandcamp on Friday 26th February 2021. The cassette features full-colour collaborative artwork by Brandstifter and Ross Scott-Buccleuch/Diurnal Burdens.

Cassette £6

Digital Download - Name Your Price





Tuesday 17 November 2020

New Release: Trouble Tracer - Autofahrt (CVC019) Limited Edition Cassette & Digital Download

 

Trouble Tracer
Autofahrt
(CVC019)
Limited Edition of 50 cassettes & digital download



Facing ignition issues? Looking to identify the symptoms to understand where the problem lies?


Our handy Trouble Tracer® guide offers clear audio examples that will help you diagnose the problem. Whether it be Corona Discharge Stains, Cold/Carbon Fouling, Pad Contamination, Flash Over, Ash Deposits or Detonation we are here to help!

At Trouble Tracer® we know one thing: quality is in the details. And what is true for technological developments is true for adequately identifying issues and matching them with the appropriate solution.

At Trouble Tracer® we also believe that accuracy is best attained by working together. That's why we openly share solutions and lay out in a to-the-point and concise manner a reliable way to diagnose contamination, wear, damage and other potential issues, and how to best return to the ideal standards of performance and efficiency we work with dedication to maintain.

The Trouble Tracer® guide doesn't always give you enough information for you to know exactly what's wrong, but it does mean that you can eliminate everything from the input to the point where the signal changes. It is important to understand that when fault finding, any anomalous voltage is a symptom of the fault, and is not the fault itself.

With its unique patented technology, Trouble Tracer® produces audio and visual signals that technicians easily catch when they tap the target. But nevertheless, it does not require bending, cutting, freezing or any other actions that can damage cables.

Autofahrt is ideal for individuals that have difficulty in differentiating between static and leak noise on an electronic listening stick!

“…there are other noises that can spell trouble, are just irritating, or that can be expensive. How can we tell the difference? It’s certainly not easy. It obviously helps if you can identify the sound and where it’s coming from.”
Sarah H. Sanders

“All of these noises you heard were recorded in the Meagre Resource Workshop and have since been cured. Regular listeners will find out how all these jobs and repairs can be tackled in a way that’s easily understood. Everybody should know these sounds.”
Big Jack Hay

Thanks for listening! And remember: Cause – Remedy – Solution!

And now a word from our sponsors:

Trouble Tracer is a collaborative work of Mark Vernon and Fritz Welch

Mark Vernon is a Glasgow based sound artist who works with found tapes and acousmatic presence. His work explores themes of magnetic memory, audio archaeology, voyeurism, and nostalgia. His solo music projects have been published through labels including Kye, Glistening Examples, Flaming Pines, Misanthropic Agenda, Entr’acte and Canti Magnetici. He co-runs and curates Glasgow art radio station, Radiophrenia and has produced programmes for stations internationally.

http://meagreresource.com

Fritz Welch is a drummer, percussionist and vocalist determined to stretch the escalator of possibilities into the bloodshot eye of results. He was a founding member of Asparagus Piss Raindrop, Peeesseye and Lambs Gamble. He currently plays in EGO DEPLETION (with Adam Campbell), Dome Riders (with Armin Sturm, Ailbhe Nic Oireachtaigh and Mike Parr Burman), Zoming Flakes (with Iain Findlay Walsh and Louise Ahl), and has ongoing duo collaborations with Olivier Di Placido, Mariam Rezaei and Aniela Piasecka. A long-time Brooklynite of Texas origins, Welch is now based in Glasgow Scotland.

http://www.humansacrifice.net


Autofahrt is released as a limited edition of 50 hand-numbered, professionally dubbed cassettes and digital download via the Crow Versus Crow Bandcamp on Friday 13th November 2020.

Cassette £6

In order to be as inclusive as possible, the digital download is available on a 'Name Your Price' basis. If you would like the record but can't afford to pay for it, then please do download the record for free and please consider sharing the record via social media or recommending the record to a friend. If you can afford to contribute financially, please pay what you can, or what you think is appropriate, and know that all proceeds go directly in to enabling future Crow Versus Crow releases.