throw up in the sky!

Ashtray Navigations is/are a project of one Phil Todd and his friends when he feels like incorporating them, playing with the likes of Alex Neilson, Neil Campbell, and Ben Reynolds. he crafts a style of drone music that stays very close to the grounds his contemporaries do, but it stays strictly unique and his own. coming from a noisier side of things (think west coast noise bands like Noggin or yellow swans (even though they aren't similar really)), but still sticking to the drone, he crafts lush fields of drone that are spacious and immense, with loads of little details that keep shifting in and out. very dynamic for drone, and usually the quality control is on "high."

this is his Qbico album "Throw Up In The Sky / With Fine Clinking Magnets." two shimmering pieces of processed guitar and tapes and other such jingle-jangle. i like this record a lot, it sounds awesome at 33 or 45.

just ripped at 33 though. sorry.

Ashtray Navigations - Throw Up In The Sky / With Fine Clinking Magnets
http://www.mediafire.com/?fiqzmdln4dr

get slap happy, humphrey.

Slap Happy Humphrey were an interesting little idea of a band from japan. they played covers of songs by japanese folk singer Morita Doji, but they didn't do just straight up covers. they took the songs, and played them as straight as they could except for the inclusion of hyper-distorted ultra-destruction guitar that comes in and makes noise more than solos every once in a while. it's incredible how it comes off, the juxtaposition of harsh guitar noise and the crystalline voice of Mineko Itakura (also singer for Angel In Heavy Syrup). it works quite well, though the entire album is a tough one to sit through at once. there is, however, a standout track entitled Chiheisen (which also was the single released for this album) that is staggering.

this cd is a tough one to find. the band forgot to get permission to do these songs from Morita Doji, so she threatened to sue them unless they stopped selling the cds. so they did. sucks.


Slap Happy Humphrey - S/T
http://www.mediafire.com/?mbhzgxzwt0e

heat, birds, and jewelled antlers

here's the other Jewelled Antler Collective compilation entitled "Heat and Birds." this one is a bit different than the other comp. firstly, there are bands on here outside of the immediate Jewelled Antler family of members, before this the label had been pretty much solidly only side projects and friends bands. now it had grown to encapsulate bands of a similar spirit and global friends. the lineup is awesome. my two favorites are the MCMS track and, of course, the Golden Hotel track, but really there are no stinkers here, though it is a much slower and droneier affair than the other comp. lots more to do with feild recordings. very peaceful, really.

tracklist:
Track Duration
1 Jewelled Antler Collective - 'heat and birds'...and frogs 2:15
2 Hala Strana - Kanasztancok Ket Hegedun 3:02
3 The Floating Birthday Children - Swan On A Black Lake 1:30
4 The Muons - Little Star 3:51
5 Of - Aerial Cisterns 4:12
6 Kemialliset Ystävät - Juurakkotukka 2:49
7 The Blithe Sons & Daughters - Death In The Woods 3:01
8 Dead Raven Choir - Red Rocking Chair 3:28
9 Markus - King Of Black Leaves 2:35
10 Byram Abbott - 'doves rehabilitating at fort cronkhite, 2001' 1:01
11 The Family Of Apostolic - Mabel's Umbrage 3:52
12 The Franciscan Hobbies - The Horned Ibexes 3:21
13 Avarus - Hessu Se Tässä Vann, Ei Mikki 1:58
14 Golden Hotel - The Blame 1:38
15 MCMS - Live In Brooklyn, 8-24-2002 8:23
16 Thuja - Opaque Reeds 8:23
17 Yasmomati-Nandana - Gill's Pier, 6am, 07-07-2002 Krsna Meditation 14:27


hop on pop.

Jewelled Antler Collective - V/A - Heat and Birds
http://www.mediafire.com/?jwzzmm2kmmz