From their native St. Petersburg, Square Fauna evoke a score for imaginary protoplasmic oceans, surreal, sepia-tinged space operas and Russian sci-fi folk tales; lush, green landscapes littered with the burned out husks of automobiles, military vehicles, and askew telephone poles no longer in use though marked by pools of water in which can be found the debris of modern society.

Primitive kosmische electronics and vintage spacescapes cascade around complex polyrhythmic percussion. Ethereal mists of gaseous reverb are scattered by windswept synths and white-noise striations.

‘Meet The Fauna’ is as much of a cheeky nod to The Residents and Coil (or even Haroumi Hosono and John Hassell) as it is to the likes of B12, Black Dog, Richard H Kirk.

A completely singular, modern sci-fi soundtrack for the discerning sofanaut.

Produced by Dices & Flaty.
Artwork by Al White aka Crud.

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Consisting neither of one lone woman, nor hailing from either the Eurasian country or the North American state, this Georgia is in fact comprised of two human males working out of China Town, N.Y.C., namely Brian Close and Justin Tripp. Together they form a creative partnership responsible for not just a slew of output upon such highly regarded imprints as Meakusma, Palto Flats and Emotional Response, but also for a kaleidoscopic variety of multimedia work with a whole host of clients, from the corporate to the counter cultural. With an all embracing, freeform and in some ways contradictory approach to production, their sound is at turns stimulating, terrifying, comforting and confounding. Separated from any visual representation, the audio on its own becomes a soundtrack for the listeners' own intense internal projection screen.
With 'Time', Georgia's vision is especially well realised as here, in collaboration with fellow intuitionists Firecracker Recordings, they release into this world an album which, with any luck, shall help you unlock your inner portals - should they need assistance in that regard anyway. Unquantisable polyrhythms knock against one another in an uncannily externalised, conflicting collage of half remembered dance ritual memories. Fragmented melodies, disembodied vocal snippets, a hint of ethnomusicality in places all give deep nods simultaneously to ancient experience and to post human intelligence, condensing past present and future into one eternal instant.
'Time' the album asks us: what happens when one removes ones expectations of where in time a piece of music or art must sit? And what of time itself as a construct, now that we have myriad ways of measuring it, even at the atomic level; but still its passing is completely relative according to the observer, and indeed may all be in our minds anyway? Equally, you can always just put it on - again, and again - empty your mind of such thoughts completely, and allow all of your particles to move around freely to this joyful noise... after all, that's the point, isn't it? We're gonna have to stop asking questions eventually.

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Our favourite bothy botherers Mac-Talla Nan Creag (comprised of Hoch Ma Toch, Other Lands and Lord Of The Isles) return to Firecracker Recordings, channeling ancient rites, the mysteries of the Scottish landscape and its elements through technologies both old and new for your listening pleasure.
This time round the archaeological work of Forestry Commission Scotland at Dun Deardail in Glen Nevis, and the links between that site and the ancient Celtic myth ‘The Sorrow Of Derdriu’ provided fertile ground for new exploration and response. Accompanying the music once again will be a lush booklet containing some of the stunning imagery that results from the work FCS have done there, all packaged and silk-screened with the usual finesse we've come to expect from Firecracker Recordings and their chief visionary House Of Traps, in conjunction with 12th Isle's Al White.
Captured in part in a high vaulted medieval church, then in home studios, bouncing ideas back and forth over the internet, MTNC have once again drawn on field recordings, traditional instrumentation, analogue electronics and the simple power of the human voice to create a shimmering and expansive song cycle.
Whereas the first album was borne out of an intense period of field trips and whisky fuelled jam sessions in brochs and had a loose approach overall, the second is perhaps more focussed in its themes relating to the ancient tale - love, war, beauty and tragedy all intertwined - and they arguably go deeper this time, conjuring up something of the Fourth World feel, by way of the Firth Of Forth.
With additional contributions from Professor John Kenny - whose primal Zummoesque playing on a range of horns including a giant conch shell and a replica of the ancient Deskford carynx underpins several tracks on the album - and Eva Sutherland (daughter of Other Lands) who provides a reading from the myth at the very beginning, this is an album that not only carries the heaviness of history but also looks to the light of the future.'

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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
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Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Our favourite bothy botherers Mac-Talla Nan Creag (comprised of Hoch Ma Toch, Other Lands and Lord Of The Isles) return to Firecracker Recordings, channeling ancient rites, the mysteries of the Scottish landscape and its elements through technologies both old and new for your listening pleasure.
This time round the archaeological work of Forestry Commission Scotland at Dun Deardail in Glen Nevis, and the links between that site and the ancient Celtic myth ‘The Sorrow Of Derdriu’ provided fertile ground for new exploration and response. Accompanying the music once again will be a lush booklet containing some of the stunning imagery that results from the work FCS have done there, all packaged and silk-screened with the usual finesse we've come to expect from Firecracker Recordings and their chief visionary House Of Traps, in conjunction with 12th Isle's Al White.
Captured in part in a high vaulted medieval church, then in home studios, bouncing ideas back and forth over the internet, MTNC have once again drawn on field recordings, traditional instrumentation, analogue electronics and the simple power of the human voice to create a shimmering and expansive song cycle.
Whereas the first album was borne out of an intense period of field trips and whisky fuelled jam sessions in brochs and had a loose approach overall, the second is perhaps more focussed in its themes relating to the ancient tale - love, war, beauty and tragedy all intertwined - and they arguably go deeper this time, conjuring up something of the Fourth World feel, by way of the Firth Of Forth.
With additional contributions from Professor John Kenny - whose primal Zummoesque playing on a range of horns including a giant conch shell and a replica of the ancient Deskford carynx underpins several tracks on the album - and Eva Sutherland (daughter of Other Lands) who provides a reading from the myth at the very beginning, this is an album that not only carries the heaviness of history but also looks to the light of the future.'

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Germany
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One of Firecracker’s Founding Fathers returns once more, this time shoving two fingers up to current DJ conventions smashing out a 150 BPM electrofunk hybrid. On the flip, two deeper cuts traversing ambient wormholes and reflecting that classic Linkwood sound.
Ultimately, a miscellany of unique, syncopated weirdo sounds, barely orbiting the outer regions of dance music; or, depending on how you look at it, three timeless cuts designed for the dance floor, the sofa and all points in between.


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Abandon all expectations ye who enter here, Other Lands (previous, druid-like incantations on FIREC015 Mac-Talla Nan Creag) got you covered with a truly compelling assortment of jazz snaz and post-armaggedon cosmo-disco oddities; occupying the space between alien-revisited exotica, classic jacking house workouts and a BoC 'Chromakey Dreamcoat' kinda vibe, seemingly elusive at first but definitely familiar to the ears of uncool survivors like you and I. One thing's sure, Other Lands could throw a balearic party at one of Berghain's most secret leather-friendly backrooms that it wouldn't feel out of place. Never mind the weird, inverse sun-tan lines.

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Periodica Records family member Filippo Colonna Romano aka Modula (Naples, IT) drops a weirdo, tropical, G’d up Yamaha PSS 780 fonk EP. RIYL Dam Funk, Prince B-sides, twisted dancers and cosmic oddities. First 10" format on Firecracker for some time!


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Whacked out from the whisky soaked bristles of Firecracker HQ, the Danish DonDaDa DJ Sports (he of Regelbau and Help Recordings fame) offers up a maiden LP of vast and varied sonic states. Get set for solid rave aesthetics aplenty - the double pack’s journey trudges over a musical milieu of broke-beaten, ambient driven house and techno, melancholy junglist and dubwise downtempo. One foot in the past, one foot in the future and killing the present - a perfect and timely addition to the Firecracker canon.

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McDonald’s long-standing relationship with Firecracker boss Lindsay Todd – dating back a decade to their joint residency in Edinburgh – has seen Lord Of The Isles records appear on both UNTHANK and Shevchenko, whilst he also contributed to the Scotch and field recording shenanigans of last year’s Mac-talla Nan Creag album. Now, McDonald will now graduate to the main Firecracker label for a full Lord Of The Isles debut due in December under the name Parabolas Of Neon. Taking shape as a six-track 12'', the record features glacial techno and downtempo, cinematic melancholia; a fitting tribute to peaks conquered, whisky-drenched travelogues, warehouse parties, long drives and fried afters.



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Les Graciés is a collaboration in the truest sense between Paris-based sound artist Gaël Segalen and Deepblak co-founder Afrikan Sciences.
Segalen’s experiments in electroacoustic sound met the wider world this year via a debut LP for Erratum, an arresting work that showcases her ability to merge hypnotic murk ala Angus MacLise with the hard concréte of Parmegiani & Reibel. Segalen’s IHearU imprint / organisation is a platform for her various doings, including psychogeographical audio works and multi-media collaborations, as well as servicing as a reference point for other contemporary female artists working across various mediums. Eric Douglas Porter aka African Sciences has been deconstructing and re-building forms of contemporary Black music since the mid-2000’s, through releases on Deepblak (the label he co-runs with Aybee) and PAN. His musical universe is one of warping cadences and celestial melody, referencing the bold work of percussionists like Milford Graves & Art Jenkins, the dissonant chords of Motor City Techno and stripped back essence of early Chicago House matched with broken Hard Bop sentiments: all tied together with an aesthetic that sits somewhere between Sun Ra’s omniverse, Jean Giraud Mœbius and Dogon cosmology. Together as Le Graciés, Segalen and Porter make a wholly unclassifiable strain of music that, while containing recognisable elements of each individual's work, also creates a third entity in the process, which can be heard to stunning effect on their forthcoming debut LP ‘Low Doses’ for Firecracker Recordings.



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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore

Les Graciés is a collaboration in the truest sense between Paris-based sound artist Gaël Segalen and Deepblak co-founder Afrikan Sciences.
Segalen’s experiments in electroacoustic sound met the wider world this year via a debut LP for Erratum, an arresting work that showcases her ability to merge hypnotic murk ala Angus MacLise with the hard concréte of Parmegiani & Reibel. Segalen’s IHearU imprint / organisation is a platform for her various doings, including psychogeographical audio works and multi-media collaborations, as well as servicing as a reference point for other contemporary female artists working across various mediums. Eric Douglas Porter aka African Sciences has been deconstructing and re-building forms of contemporary Black music since the mid-2000’s, through releases on Deepblak (the label he co-runs with Aybee) and PAN. His musical universe is one of warping cadences and celestial melody, referencing the bold work of percussionists like Milford Graves & Art Jenkins, the dissonant chords of Motor City Techno and stripped back essence of early Chicago House matched with broken Hard Bop sentiments: all tied together with an aesthetic that sits somewhere between Sun Ra’s omniverse, Jean Giraud Mœbius and Dogon cosmology. Together as Le Graciés, Segalen and Porter make a wholly unclassifiable strain of music that, while containing recognisable elements of each individual's work, also creates a third entity in the process, which can be heard to stunning effect on their forthcoming debut LP ‘Low Doses’ for Firecracker Recordings.



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When commissioning remixes, the best labels think outside the box. That's exactly what Firecracker's Lindsay Todd did when seeking out producers to rework tracks from Linkwood's excellent Expressions album. On this second 12" in an ongoing series, that faith has paid dividends. Whereas the original version of "Ignorance Is Bliss" was a warm, woozy, sun-kissed deep house affair, Healing Force Project has reinvented it as a stargazing chunk of 21st century space jazz, complete with twinkling chords, low-slung double bass and reverb-laden drum solos. The Musephased interpretation of "Love Lost" by Kimochi label head Area sticks closer to the ultra-deep, melancholic vibe of Linkwood's original, but adds a frisson of excitement via bubbling, Detroit-influenced electronics and hypnotic rhythms.


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Over 10,000 years ago, after the last Ice Age, humans began to explore and settle the place now known as Scotland. Evidence of our ancestors can be found in the various rock carvings, standing stones, tombs and dwellings still scattered throughout the lands today. Modern archaeological techniques can offer ever more detailed suggestions as to what these monuments might have meant, but it is still largely left to our imaginations to discern just what these spaces were used for. In this spirit, Firecracker Recordings were approached by Forestry Commission Scotland to make something that might capture the feel of these places. They assembled a crack squad of artists (Lord Of The Isles, Other Lands, House Of Traps, Wounded Knee) whom they felt would embrace the challenge, thanks to their shared interest in their own Highland ancestries. Visiting a handful of sites in an intense period of exploration late in 2014, they took field recordings, drank whisky, jammed in the ruins of brochs, studied rock art, sat in iron age forts, drank whisky, drove for many miles and generally began the process of channelling the shamanic forces (drank whisky) whose presence can still be felt all around. This album is the result of that brief adventure. The artists worked both together and in isolation, quickly and effortlessly, manipulating the recordings taken from the source and combining them with their own compositions, inspired by both the sights they saw in this time and those they have imagined from another. Here, they merge modern technologies with traditional instruments and the human voice to conjure up these ancient rites of celebration, ritual, offerings to long forgotten gods, changes in the features of the earth and the universe and the cycles of time. Accompanying the music is a booklet of archaeological images created by Forestry Commission Scotland, detailing some of the sites around which the music is based, again utilising modern laser scanning technology to see these mysterious relics in a different light.
• 2x12” LP & CD
• Ltd to 300 copies only
• Screen print and sleeve design by House Of Traps
• Bonus full colour booklet detailing laser scan techniques and ongoing archeological work by Forestry Commission Scotland


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Tears of Love began coursing through a crevice in the wall, dissolving the old mortar which had been so firm. From the realm beyond our interstice, the Lacrima of Yearning was met by a coruscating light, heavy with air. This luminance seemed to generate in a distant source, yet had always been present - as illusion hides eternity. In this New Open Channel, a possibility was forged. A golden opportunity for the future and a resting place for the past. Leonard Campbell's Much Less Normal was originally released as a tape on 1080p last spring, and has since become one of the Vancouver label's definitive releases. This welcome vinyl reissue on Firecracker is an invitation to see this remarkable album in a new light for those who already know it, and its new format should help it earn the attention it deserved the first time around. It's a record that sounds like the city that birthed it: overcast and maritime, gloomy and gorgeous in equal measure. Campbell's songs develop and grow with the steady pace of the tides, as if his sounds and melodies are being washed ashore.


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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
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Tears of Love began coursing through a crevice in the wall, dissolving the old mortar which had been so firm. From the realm beyond our interstice, the Lacrima of Yearning was met by a coruscating light, heavy with air. This luminance seemed to generate in a distant source, yet had always been present - as illusion hides eternity. In this New Open Channel, a possibility was forged. A golden opportunity for the future and a resting place for the past. Leonard Campbell's Much Less Normal was originally released as a tape on 1080p last spring, and has since become one of the Vancouver label's definitive releases. This welcome vinyl reissue on Firecracker is an invitation to see this remarkable album in a new light for those who already know it, and its new format should help it earn the attention it deserved the first time around. It's a record that sounds like the city that birthed it: overcast and maritime, gloomy and gorgeous in equal measure. Campbell's songs develop and grow with the steady pace of the tides, as if his sounds and melodies are being washed ashore.



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Ah, yes! Finally some real flavours to sink our teeth into. The nose is truly a work of art. First the classic peaty smoke but so distinctly understated. Confident in it's maturity. The salty pineapple citrus is next coupled with a refined lemon- lime toffee tartness. And finally a whiff of fresh cucumber sprinkled with the loveliest of white pepper. Oh, yes. This is what we’ve been waiting for! The creamy mouthfeel is laced with intense black peppers but then mellows out to give you honey, lemon and chocolate with a dash of tobacco. The long peppery finish is fruity with a hint of limestone. These are the classic flavours that made Linkwood one of the top distilleries and Expressions should be on your list of malts to try before you die.



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Completely unique music in it's own cosmos, the first long player from the sibylline Panoram. Experiments in evocative soundscapes, minimal rhythms and mood. Hand printed sleeves.


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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
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Germany
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Completely unique music in it's own cosmos, the first long player from the sibylline Panoram. Experiments in evocative soundscapes, minimal rhythms and mood. Hand printed sleeves.




Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: gpsr@wordandsound.netMore