Follow-up to the first volume of this on-going series that joins the dots between an earlier generation of American Primitive guitarists and contemporary intuitive sound-as-thought players. Once again Jack Rose is featured (with an absolutely gorgeous 6 string re-think of "Cross The North Fork 2") but every other player puts in a first-time appearance on this volume. The inclusion of Christina Carter is a particularly inspired move and one that speaks of the liberated range of the series in general and her track is a beauty, a stubby acoustic guitar miniature. Nice cover snap too. Other tracks include a particularly mesmeric recording from UK guitarist James Blackshaw and contributions from Peter Lang, Jesse Sparhawk, Michael Chapman, Sean Smith, Fred Gerlach, Billy Faier, Sharron Kraus, Robbie Basho and...uh...Jose Gonzalez. Another rich, far-sighted assortment from this great label.

"Long-, long-, long-, loooooong-awaited and singular entry in the Charalambides and Klang Industries discographies; one of those does it really exist? items thats finally seeing daylight, or moonlight. A stark, unsettling and beautiful slice of duo Charalambides invocation/incantation, taken from the period between Jason Bill and Heather Leigh's tenures with the band and featuring extraordinary chord organ and vocal work from Christina and some signature lap steel mastery from Tom. Fans of the bands most recent, more song-based work will find this revelatory, long-time listeners will say ahhhh and settle in for the flight. Heavy vinyl, limited pressing, covers handiwork by Tom, the first release in years from Klang and a sign perhaps of a truly epic revival." "Long-awaited Klang debut of Charalambides. This record has been brewing since 2000, and is now finally available under the auspices of Eclipse/Klang. Two side-long improvisations in much the same vein as IN CR EA SE, a bit more topographical perhaps, but still horizontally serene and horizonless. Chord organ, lap steel, vocals." --Wholly Other.

Much requested CD reissue of this hard-to-score Charalambides release, originally issued as a Peter King lathe LP on Eclipse in an edition of only 100 copies. Dedicated to Bruce Connor, it features inkblot artwork by Heather Leigh. The sonics are supremely dilated and fully orbit the kinda late-90s/early ‘00s mystery zone that would combine extended improvisatory modes ala FMP/Incus with F/X clouded dreamtone works, gorgeous otherworldly vocals from Christina and sudden surges of volume pedal gliss from Tom. This is still one of their most beautifully fucked recordings and speaks of their ability to inhabit the furthest edges of form while still sounding like the best rock band of your life. Can’t think of anyone today who could pull off the same kind of seamless psychedelic schizophrenia with such fucking aplomb. A great record from a great group, highly recommended.

"Incredible archival set by Christina Carter from a solo performance in London on 26 October 2004.  This art edition comes in a run of only 122 signed and hand-numbered copies with a variety of art paper sleeves in the usual Many Breaths style and is available exclusively from Volcanic Tongue.  Described by Christina as her ‘most broken and expressionist performance to date' this set features radically reworked interpretations of early solo and Charalambides material in a style that can be best described as deconstructed Texas blues by attempting to combine the voice, rhythm and slide guitar of these complex songs via a single solo performance.  Here Christina seems to be taking direct inspiration from original country blues slide players like Blind Willie Johnson and Bukka White while translating them to the present via a variety of aggressive playing styles filtered through the psychedelic blues of Jandek and Keiji Haino.  At times the playing reminds me of Bill Orcutt, not necessarily in terms of technique or sonics, but more in approach, the way the guitar is attacked furiously combining both lead and rhythm techniques simultaneously. She launches frantic flurries of slide notes while always returning to the root chord’s open tuning in the same way that Orcutt's playing always returns to that de-tuned bottom C-string.  The rhythm playing itself is anything but straight-forward with syncopated and staccato-styled playing of slashed chords.  You could imagine this as being a very physical performance with Christina moving and contorting between playing high-end slide and off-beat open chords that seem to continually resonate providing the songs' wayward rhythms and building intensity.
 On the opening track "Namaste" the slide playing gets particularly aggressive towards the end, with flurries of improvised notes sounding almost like Christina's interpretation of Heather Leigh’s wilder pedal steel work transposed to slide guitar.  The song is offset by a vocal melody that sounds as connected to traditional Celtic folk as much as country or gospel blues, giving the track a strange balance that reflects the inner conflict perfectly. One of the highlights is her interpretation of two classic early Charalambides tracks from Joy Shapes and Unknown Spin: "Here, Not Here" and "Voice Within".  The guitar playing moves seamlessly between delicate finger-picked melodies and crashing chords laden in reverb and echo providing a permanent wall of sound.  Slightly reminiscent of the atmosphere on Keiji Haino's classic Affection album and with a similar use of overlapping repetitive rhythms as on his recent Seijaku recordings.  This also really demonstrates Christina's ability as an accomplished guitar player with at times some slightly more eastern or Malian blues-sounding scales being used.  The more aggressive wailing vocals often heard on her Scorces recordings is also evident.  There is a wonderful moment where Christina moves between one of her falsetto screams and her softer tone when her voice breaks reminding us of the fragility of the performer herself. 
With so many of the recent Many Breaths releases focusing on voice and melody such as A Blossom Fell or even poetry as on Seals, it’s great to hear this other dimension of such an important artist. This is Christina as a blues-influenced solo performer jamming wild interpretations of the form in a psychedelic outlaw style that could only come from Texas. Highly recommended." - Andrew Ross

Edition of 300 copies 7” on Metal Rouge’s own private imprint, the first instalment of their Alone Together series of solo performances. Using nothing but bells and vocals Christina casts a frozen spell over space and time, the sound of her breath expanding via phantom doses of reverb into an abyss of floating tone, singing in a heartbreak style that would reconcile Suzanne Langille with the outer space poetics of Amy Sheffer. These tracks wouldn’t have been out of place on one of her classic Many Breaths side like Human As Guitar or I Am All The Same Song. Highly recommended.

Brand new limited art edition CD-R from Christina Carter, initially issued as a subscriber-only edition and now made (slightly!) more available. Trickster... may be the most intense solo recording from Christina yet, with a  single hour-long track that is almost oppressively heavy despite never making any overt fuzz/volume moves towards explicable ‘weight’. Rather, it’s hypnotically subdued and feels uncannily ‘directed’, as close to a live channelling as Christina has come yet. The lyrics are amazing, ruminating on archetypal aspects of the trickster god/the fool while spinning delicate webs of single note guitar that are as devastatingly articulate and space-blues perfect as Loren Connors or Keiji Haino. Her vocal is particularly powerful, illuminated in a tiny ball of reverb with occasional double-track touches that suggest angelic harmonies and hallucinatory sonic equivalence. As the tracks builds – ever so subliminally – she falls into a very delicate three chord movement that floats you all the way to the end of the track, suspending notions of time and explication in favour of a profound, eternally-shifting form of almost stasis that is truly gripping and that will have you hanging on every overtone. A masterpiece from Christina, easily one of her most affecting and otherworldly releases. Comes packaged in art paper sleeves with a tracing paper insert that’s hand-written and features all-original art, every one different. Very magical and highly recommended.

Finally got a bunch of copies of this inspired collection of poetry, sex memoirs, paeans to post-rock poon and subcultural subterfuge by one of the most consistently savvy wordsmiths of the post-literate underground, Mr Byron Coley. Printed back in 2003 in an edition of 100 copies by Tom and Christina Carter of Charalambides, this one went precisely nowhere for reasons that are buried beneath many, many hangovers but here it is, finally. Stapled, A4 format with a buncha poems that touch on subjects as close to your heart as Jayne Mansfield's corpse, Barbara Bush's puke, Touch & Go Records, Lester Young and Albert Einstein, early-60s glamour, shaven versus unshaven armpits, Genesis P-Orridge and Jordi Valls, the art of the money shot, Alice Coltrane and a whole bunch more worthwhile musings on lady hair from a guy who does little else but. Highly recommended.

Edition of 214 one-sided LP with blood red silkscreened flip. Looped and live collaged ritual atmospherics and crude guitar/drum psych stand-offs that orbit a similar zone to early NNCK from a group that feature Tom Carter of Charalambides, Shawn McMillen (Ash Castles On The Ghost Coast), Brian Smith (Iron Kite et al) and Blake Carlisle. Less drone-focussed than previous releases and deeper into a kind of savant ESP Disk Godz/Fugs séance style.

Deluxe vinyl edition of this classic solo album from Heather Leigh (Jailbreak/Scorces/Jandek et al) originally released in a tiny edition on cassette by Fag Tapes. Two fully-extended high metal masses for amplified pedal steel and vocals that blow all notions of form, fidelity and frilly fucking folk-picking fops to the kinda sweet metallic ribbons previously worn as crowns by Keiji Haino, Jojo Hiroshige and Teenage Jesus & The Jerks. Very different in tone and attack from the recent Jailbreak LP, Jailhouse Rock has a more amorphous sound, with muzzy smears of guitar caked in NZ-style fuzz and clouds of high string tone that conjure the miasmic electronics of Maurizio Bianchi. One of Heather’s most blasted sides with all-new nuts artwork by Heath Moreland. “Jailhouse Rock is in fact a wax reissue of a long OOP 2006 cassette classic on Michigan crud factory Fag Tapes. It was a fave of ours that year (and every year), so it feels extra celebratory to be able to offer up a freshly remastered (by Pete Swanson) LP edition of the album for global re-appreciation. Sprawling, long-form descents/ascents into mythic electric disorientation, powered by her trademark recipe of FX-soaked pedal steel and voice. Jailhouse feels loosely more aligned with a mid-aughts drone/noise aesthetic than the outsider dirt road Americana of her Devil If You Can Hear Me LP (also on NNF), but the distinction is a slight one. Side A swims in swooping sheets of vox and tempestuous wind tunnel dynamics before slowly dying away to wheezing disembodied harmonica. The B piece begins in a more overtly beautiful mode, a trinity of crystalline notes picked and stretched until they’re transformed into a rapturous sky of textural distortion. Sensual and vertigo-inducing in equal measure. Black vinyl LPs in jackets with brand new paint/collage artwork by Heath Moerland (of Sick Llama, Slither, Odd Clouds, etc). Edition of 400.” – NNF. Highly recommended!

Latest broadcast from Rob Fisk’s Common Eider, King Eider sees the group expanded to a four-piece with guest appearances from Liz Harris (Grouper) and Tom Carter (Charalambides) playing austere rural drone that owes as much to Arvo Part as it does to Popol Vuh. Piano, bowed strings and soaring psychedelic guitar combine in dark cinematic madrigals that move in orchestral sweeps to euphoric crescendos before dispersing into clouds of foggy tone. The closing track, featuring both Harris and Carter, revisits the autumnal drone style of Grouper’s Way Their Crept via hazy choral sonics and non-corporeal guitar. An impressive, ambitious set. Comes with a fold-out poster sleeve and a free download. 

New duo project from Tom Carter of Charalambides and Marc Orleans of Sunburned Hand Of The Man. If you’ve caught any of the recent solo blats from Tom Carter since his relocation to NYC then you’ll know that that these days his guitar is fully set to shred and this is a stunning document of two string-thinkers working with maximal freedom and organic rhythms. The opening “Eyes Of Jewels, Mirrored Bodies” marries Orleans great fingerpicking style – which comes from a similar place to Glenn Jones – to Tom’s wild west coast style. Later tracks explode the blueprint even further, marring a 90s underground feel for squeal with an immolating post-Sonny Sharrock aesthetic. Easily one of the wildest sides either of these guys have cut and if you’re into bloodied six string euphoria then you’ll even be able to forgive them their ‘poem’ to Jack Rose. Stick to the string-slinging, brothers! 150g vinyl with download. 

New duo project from Tom Carter of Charalambides and Marc Orleans of Sunburned Hand Of The Man. If you’ve caught any of the recent solo blats from Tom Carter since his relocation to NYC then you’ll know that that these days his guitar is fully set to shred and this is a stunning document of two string-thinkers working with maximal freedom and organic rhythms. The opening “Eyes Of Jewels, Mirrored Bodies” marries Orleans great fingerpicking style – which comes from a similar place to Glenn Jones – to Tom’s wild west coast style. Later tracks explode the blueprint even further, marring a 90s underground feel for squeal with an immolating post-Sonny Sharrock aesthetic. Easily one of the wildest sides either of these guys have cut and if you’re into bloodied six string euphoria then you’ll even be able to forgive them their ‘poem’ to Jack Rose. Stick to the string-slinging, brothers!

Great glob of profound solo thought by this confirmed margin walker. A dose more fractured than his Charalambides work, Root King makes for a perfect late-night listen as Carter scrambles chords and brain cells via electric and lap steel guitar while choruses of far-off bells rattle like the bones of tiny fish dancing in yr veins. Real rock bottom blues.