Rvng Int'l US Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Written and recorded between 1972 and 1982 in Western Oregon, Back to the Woodlands is a previously unreleased, and nearly lost, album made by Ernest Hood during the same era as his near mythical album Neighborhoods. A visionary combination of field recordings, zithers, and synthesizers, Back to the Woodlands offers an unprecedented depth of access to this singular artistic mind.

Review: A concept album in the truest sense, not that you'd necessarily assume that from the outset, Kate NV has quite literally thrown her toys out of the pram for this one. Taking the bits and pieces, sounds and sonics from her 2020 album, Room For The Moon, Wow feels like she might have scattered the parts on the carpet like an eager child emptying a chest of fun they've not opened in years, then started to see what might be made anew from those once-familiar elements.

Fittingly, the result of that approach is very, very fun, but also pretty serious. There's plenty of innovation at work here - leftfield, alternative electronica messing around with assumptions we make about structure and order, at times almost sounding like a cut and paste project. In other moments, we step from staccato rhythms and percussion into rich brass movements. Quite unlike a lot you'll buy this week.

Review: There's clearly something in the water in Colorado: a hotbed for alternative electronic tones. The obvious answer would be all the weed the place is now famous for, but we prefer to think it's the stunning and seemingly-never ending natural landscape that hits you the moment you look up. No stranger to music making, local one M. Sage presents his latest interpretation of those surrounds, with Paradise Crick a deep dive into sounds at once manmade and natural. A gentile trip through floating noises and hypnotic fragments of time, it's blissful, instantly captivating stuff, quickly locating the part of the brain that makes you feel immersed and making itself at home. Meandering through the lot feels like time well spent, outside, listening to babbling brooks and gazing out on lakes reflecting beams of sunlight back into the world.

Review: Multi-disciplinary British artist Wayne Phoenix unveils his much anticipated debut album Soaring Wayne Phoenix Story The Earth and Sky after originally having the idea for it more than a decade ago. It was imagined as a project that encompassed music, film, and performance and is a record that is deeply personal and full of vulnerable expression. Phoenix's unbound creative mind explores with a real sense of mystery as he looks to break down the imaginary borders between us all and connect with his own voice. It comes in fragments, mutterings and musings with sparse synth melodies and grainy pads tho make for an experimental work of hazy ambient provocation.