11.11.2008
It's all happening!

20.10.2008
Attention artists and labels!

Further to last week's update regarding the addition of Glacial Avatar and An Out's catalogues to the shop, we'd like to send out a call to any labels or artists interested in having us flog their wares to send us their stuff.

Ever since we closed the doors on sound&fury mk.1, there's been a niggling itch in the back of my head. Obviously, the label has been a great way to keep at least some of the original dream alive - so much so that even after multiple instances of "That's it, I quit, I've had enough of this crap!" I always come crawling back - but what I miss is being able to help all those other amazing labels around the world (and particularly those in Australia) to get their stuff out there.

Trades are actively encouraged as part of this endeavour - if the barter system was good enough for the middle ages, it's good enough for us.

So if you've got some stuff you'd like me to sell on your behalf, get in touch and we'll nut out the finer details.

18.10.2008
New stuff in the shop

Glacial Avatar Archives and An Out Recordings are two labels that are very close to our heart, so we're very happy to be able to offer their catalogues for sale through the Shop.

Glacial Avatar is based in Lismore, on New South Wales' northern rivers. Their releases' elaborate packaging - including features like stitched seams, tracing paper, and eerie collage art - immediately appeals to our aesthetic sensibilities. The following Glacial Avatar titles are now available through us:

Heil Spirits: Sketching the Irritability of Panopticism Through Tombs of Blue Ice, a.k.a Mike Parr as a Hat Rack CD-R
Heil Spirits: Tests for New Swords CD-R
Heil Spirits / Onani: Omniprescence / Ancient Skull, Ancient Wind CD-R
Moonmilk / Heil Spirits: Moonmilk / Heil Spirits CD-R
Heil Spirits / Festive Jackyls: Septic Venom CD-R
Vestigial Limb: Apportioned for Wolves CS
Festive Jackyls: Currumbin Necktie CD-R

An Out is a new label out of Sydney, which again puts enormous amounts of care into its visual presentation. These three releases are available now, with more promised in the near future:

Bleakwood: Bleakwood CD-R
Orodruin: Orodruin CD-R
Heil Spirits: Alarmed But Not Alert CD-R

Lastly, we want to send out a quick thank you to everybody involved in the Birchville Cat Motel / A.M show a couple of weeks back. By all accounts (we didn't make it up, unfortunately) it was a roaring success.

02.10.2008
Mirrored Silver Sea's Continual Ascension out monday!

Continual Ascension is the debut release from Melbourne musician Tim Condon, aka Mirrored Silver Sea. This CD-R spans multiple genres and moods across its nine tracks, inviting comparisons to everyone from Burning Star Core and Bleeding Heart Narrative to Liars and Library Tapes. It's probably the most eclectic release in the sound&fury catalogue yet: on it, you'll find shoegaze guitars nestling comfortably alongside experimental electronica, tinkling piano underlaid with pure noise, and abstract soundscapes brushing shoulders with impeccably composed songs.

Limited to 75 copies and packaged in the usual way (wax-sealed envelopes, hand-numbered, silkscreened inner sleeves), Continual Ascension is available to pre-order now, and will begin shipping on Monday 6 October.

18.09.2008
Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow: Here at last!

We forgot to mention this earlier in the week, but the finished copies of Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow, Vol. 1 arrived here at S&F HQ this week. The first in an ongoing series of compilations, it features fifteen tracks from artists such as Machinefabriek, Part Timer, Because of Ghosts. Jasper TX, Seaworthy, Anonymeye, Gareth Hardwick and Aaron Martin. Pressed in a one-time edition of 500 copies and packaged in recycled gatefold sleeves, Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow, Vol. 1 is available now for AU$15 (plus postage).

For more information, click here.

While we've got your attention, we should point out that the debut album from Mirrored Silver Sea, entitled Continual Ascension, is due out in early October. Combining shoegazing ambience with experimental electronica, light modern classical flourishes and much more besides, it's probably the most eclectic release in our catalogue to date. Limited to 75 copies (packaged in the usual way), this little gem can be pre-ordered by visiting its release page here.

13.09.2008
Birchville Cat Motel / A.M in Sydney

Although we swore never to put on another show in our entire existence, preferring to spend our days cutting, folding, screenprinting and the like, this was an opportunity too good to let just slip by.

After ten years scuplting enormous dronescapes under the name Birchville Cat Motel, Campbell Kneale is finally laying the project to rest. Far from giving up on music, Kneale will continue on with Our Love Will Destroy The World after shedding the iconic Birchville carapace. The last ever Birchville Cat Motel show takes place in Christchurch on October 9. But for those of us on our side of the Tasman, you can witness the end of an era at Serial Space on October 7.

Joining Campbell will be Antony Milton, aka A.M, whose biography reads like a Cliff's Notes version of the whole improv/freenoise/folk/drone scene. Besides running the amazing PseudoArcana label, Milton has released dozens of albums, in both solo and collaborative modes, under monikers like The Nether Dawn, Mrtyu, Glory Fckn Sun and Clay Man in the Well, exploring everything from blues-folk to improv drone to screeching guitar feedback.

On the local front, Seaworthy, Brassskulls and Inappropriate Tough Guy Behaviour will round out the evening. Lovely Sydney folks Seaworthy should be well know to you by now - their fluttering drones and sparse guitar explorations have long been appreciated around here at S&F HQ. Brassskulls are a Newcastle trio who use guitars, broken drums, radios, modified turntables, and a tangled mess of electronics to create a nightmarish wall of dense sound and psychedelic noise that is easier to listen to than describe. Inappropriate Tough Guy Behaviour is the new project from Patto and Jem, formerly of Melbourne sludge/noise juggernaut Fire Witch. In keeping with their desire to maintain momentum by avoiding burdensome preconceptions about genres and such, ITGB will be performing a collaborative set with some as-yet-unannounced guests.

The whole shebang will take place, as mentioned, on Tuesday 7 October at Serial Space, which is located at 33 Wellington St, Chippendale (it's off Regent St, right near Central Station), and starts at 7pm (sharp!).

For the ADD-afflicted amongst you, here's all the above information presented as a concise, convenient list:

Tuesday 7 October
7pm sharp
Serial Space
33 Wellington St, Chippendale (off Regent St, near Central Station)

Presented by sound&fury and An Out Recordings.

Aaaaand, here it is in poster form:

Hope to see you there! (Yes, we're breaking our legendary hermitude and venturing back into Sdney's urban landscapes just to see this show. That's how excited we are!)

01.09.2008
Shoeb Ahmad's Sea Songs... available now!

As promised, Shoeb Ahmad's Sea Songs, Dead Ends and Sleeping Pills is out today. This nine-track follow-up to Sonar love Songs (released last year on Cook An Egg) is a collection of bedroom recordings that date from Shoeb's year-long stay in Wolongong in 2006. From barely-audible microsound to hazy, static-drenched pop, Sea Songs... encapsulates the twin feelings of displacement and wonder that come from proximity to the ocean and distance from loved ones.

With musical contributions from M.Rösner, William Ryan Fritch (Sole and the Skyrider Band), Machinefabriek, Plinth and Felicity Mangan (Function), Sea Songs... is limited to just 75 hand-numbered copies, packaged in wax-sealed envelopes and silkscreened inner sleeves.

For more information, or to download the track "Headlights in My Eyes", click here.

29.08.2008
Massive shop update & sale

It's time to clear some space. There are boxes and boxes of out-of-print CD-Rs, records and tapes sitting on the floor here at S&F Towers, and we want them out of here. So over the next few weeks, we'll be adding stacks of new titles to the shop (stuff that, if we're honest with ourselves, should have gone up there months ago), as well as cutting the price of everything that was already there.

Actually, that second part is already done: we've discounted long-deleted titles from labels like JYRK, Foxglove, Utech and Root Strata. New additions to the shop today include CD-Rs by Lasse Marhaug, Infinitesimal and Stuart Busby, with many more to come very soon.

24.08.2008
New Shoeb Ahmad CD-R coming soon

Usually, when we say 'soon,' we mean 'sometime before the next lunar eclipse.' But this time, when we say that there's a new CD-R from our favourite Canberran Shoeb Ahmad coming soon, we really mean soon. As in, next week.

Sea Songs, Dead Ends and Sleeping Pills is a nine track follow-up to Shoeb's last release Sonar Love Songs and features bedroom sketches recorded during a year-long stay in Wollongong in 2006. With guitars processed through layers of static and vocal takes from the dead air of night, Sea Songs, Dead Ends and Sleeping Pills encapsulates the space afforded by the coast and the distance between home and loved ones.

Limited to 75 hand-numbered copies, Sea Songs... features contributions by M.Rösner, William Ryan Fritch (Sole and the Skyrider Band), Machinefabriek, Plinth and Felicity Mangan (Function).

Click here to download the track "Headlights in My Eyes", or click here for more information.

Oh, and just quickly, www.soundandfury.com.au should be up and running again within the next couple of days. This 'dot-net' alternative will remain current, though, so if you've gone and updated your bookmarks and don't want to un-update (downdate?) them, you won't have to.

18.08.08
Codes Adrift promo video

This short promo video for Codes Adrift was made by Seaworthy's Cameron Webb, and features the photography of Anwyn Crawford. For more information on Codes Adrift, click here.

08.08.2008
New website

Well, kind of. It's the same website, it just has a new home. The story as to why soundandfury.com.au is currently offline is long and boring, so we'll just stick with what you need to know: for the time being, the sound&fury website can be found residing at www.soundandfury.net.au. It should work just the same - at the moment, some of the MP3s aren't available, but that's on its way towards being fixed.

And, just to remind you, Scissor Lock's Thawing Voices will begin shipping monday, as will Seaworthy's Codes Adrift. The complete tracklisting for Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow has been confirmed - you can take a peek here. This will be out later in the month, along with Adrian Klumpes & Machinefabriek's contribution to the Passeridae series.

19.07.2008
Passeridae series coming soon - for real this time!

After altogether too many delays, false starts, broken promises and shattered hearts, the masters for the first single in the Passeridae series have been sent to the pressing plant, where they'll be transformed from a series of 1s and 0s into glorious analogue sound.

Actually, the masters for the second single have been sent, the first (featuring Moonmilk and My Cat Is An Alien) having proven a tad shy at the last minute. So, what you subscribers will be receiving first (in August, we absolutely promise) is the very special second volume, which sees Adrian Klumpes and Machinefabriek putting their heads together - figuratively speaking, of course - to collaborate on two brand new and completely exclusive tracks. In Stillness His Shadow Moved was recorded by Klumpes at home in Sydney before being sent to Rotterdam, where it was edited and overdubbed by Machinefabriek (aka Rutger Zuydervelt). The same process (only in reverse), led to the single's other track, Second Dew.

This very exciting news will mark the beginning of a flurry of activity we have planned for winter's end and beyond. Besides Passeridae and (of course) Codes Adrift, we're looking forward to releasing CD-Rs by Scissor Lock, Pause/Record and Shoeb Ahmad. There's talk of doing a DEL / Burning Star Core split before the end of the year, and vague whispers of forthcoming releases by Pefkin, Rob Fisk, Heil Spirits and more.

As well, the first volume of Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow - featuring exclusive tracks by Gareth Hardwick, Jasper TX, Pretty Boy Crossover, Machinefabriek, Morning Stalker, Part Timer, Scissor Lock, Spartak, Aaron Martin and Panoptique Electrical, as well as a sneak peak at the new Because of Ghosts record - will be out before springtime comes and leaves us waiting another nine months for the promise of snow to be fulfilled.

Information about most of these forthcoming releases can be found by clicking here.

15.06.2008
S&F = Not Dead

Hey. So, uh, we've been pretty quiet of late. And since nobody's received the first Passeridae single yet, we figured we'd best break our silence with something of an explanation. Or, an apology.

Or, both.

The Moonmilk / My Cat Is An Alien split was supposed to be out now. But there have been some delays. Lots of delays. And so, it's still in the works.

It is coming, though. So is the rest of the series. Don't give up. Once we iron out these wrinkles, the whole set will flow forth just like the blood elevator scene in The Shining. Or perhaps like something that's a little less gross.

Seaworthy's Codes Adrift is still in the wings, too. Yes, it fell victim to the same endless delays that have kept Passeridae from your hot little hands.

Thanks for your patience. At the very least, we're consistent. To date, not a single sound&fury release has arrived on (or even close to) schedule.

20.04.2008
Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow

As if we didn't have enough to occupy ourselves, what with the imminent arrival of Seaworthy's Codes Adrift and the massively time-consuming Passeridae series, we've now added a compilation - several compilations, actually - to our release schedule (if a label as haphazardly run as this one can be said to have a such a thing).

Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow will be an ongoing series of CD compilations featuring exclusive tracks from friends both old and new, local and international. We've cast a wide net with this thing - expect a sizable dose of out our usual noisy/droney stuff, a lot of folk (both 'free' and, err, 'not-so-free') as well as a fair amount of rock. The actual artists involved are, for now, a secret; we'll announce the lineup of the first volume (due sometime around August, hopefully) very shortly. If you think you might want to be on one of these, then either send us an email or pop some of your tunes in an envelope and mail them to the address on the contact page.