For the label's 50th release, Emotional Rescue returns to the music of Woo to close a trilogy of reissue collaboration albums, in A La Luna. Following Whichever Way You Are Going (1982) and Into The Heart Of Love (1990), their opus A La Luna (1991) was the last of the bands song based albums and represents a wonderful way to close this association. Reworked, re-ordered and remastered especially for this first time vinyl release, brothers Mark and Clive Ives again present their unique, ground-breaking and at the time, heart-wrenchingly overlooked music, that seems to fit the folk-new age-electronics of today as well, if not better, than when first released. Across 20 plus songs Mark's guitar, clarinet and vocals are as ever drenched in Clive's mixing desk mastery. Echo and reverb shimmer as the short pieces rise and fall like the wind blowing across nighttime trees. With no song going much beyond three minutes, A La Luna flows as one piece. The unmistaken sound of Woo wraps itself around you in an essence, warmth and glow that is addictive, meditative and uplifting. Featuring the original vocal performance of Mark's love ode, Magic In The Dark stands as a centerpiece where, as with all their albums, vocals appear at a minimum, as part of the musical journey. The underlying somber nature of the album comes as the band ended more than a decade of recording with little critical or commercial success. The fact they did not release a full album again and moved towards a more meditation outlook was a loss, however, their recent rediscovery and the excellent releases by Drag City and Palto Flats included, has finally given the Ive's brothers not just a place in appreciation, but has shown that there really is no one like Woo. Enjoy the magic.
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Emotional Rescue and Woo once again come together, this time to reissue their masterpiece, the previously cassette-only album Into The Heart Of Love. A joyous, uplifting ode to love in all it's forms, the trials and tribulations and ultimately the triumphs are all encapsulted in Woo's unique soundscapes. Of all the myriad of released and unreleased Woo recordings, Into The Heart Of Love is without a doubt their most complete and cohesive body of work. Full of Woo's quirky analogue dub electronics, there is also a very English sense of folk. With more vocals then their other albums, the structure and softness of mood quintessentially comes from the Mother Isle. Mark's guitar craft is at its most expressive, entwined with subtle bass, a breadth of clarinet and touches of piano. This is all mixed and merged beautifully with Clive's now recognisable desk and synthesiser mastery. As individual as anything you'd hear coming from the Black Ark. More peaceful and uplifting than Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong and encompassing than It's Cosy Inside, the album presented as Into The Heart Of Love is exactly that. Drawing you into it's swirls and layers upon layers, slowly wrapping you in it's own special, spectral soundcape. It is love indeed that permeates throughout. Again and again the titles lead the way, but it's more than that. The lilting hopes, joy, optimism and peace expressed in songs like When Your Find Your Love, Sarah and The Heart Of Love show Woo in all their glory. Of all Woo's songs and craft, their best is all included. The simplicity but detailed interplay between the two brothers is as telepathic as imagined. Pushing and pulling together to represent a wondrous album. Of course, it had to be. It's Love.
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For the first time ever, the ive’s brothers cult debut album is reissued, here in remastered format. Spread across 13 folk electro-acoustic pieces, an english love ode mixed with a melonconic darkness that transcends any simple happy-hippy pigeon-holing to offer much more. Emotional Rescue is delighted to announce welcoming the enigmatic, electo-acoustic duo Woo to the roster. Consisting of brothers Mark and Clive Ives, Woo will be releasing no less than three albums with the label, Whichever Way You Are Going being the first. Hard to catagorise, their personal folktronica is the result of Mark’s melodic guitar, clavinet, bass and vocals running through Clive’s array of synthesisers. filters and effects, creatingsomething unique and sadly still, an largely unknown genius.Described as sounding like the music the Durutti Column would of made with Penguin CafeOrchestra if produced by Brian Eno, Woo have recorded over 1,500 tracks, however here for the first time is the remastered reissue of their cult and cryptically titled debut album. With percussion that echoes elements of Kosmiche’s rolling rhythms, the subtle and often brooding textures and moods hint at fully formed songs that are in reality a series of instrumental vignettes which together create a cinematic whole.More than simple ambient minimalism, the liquid sounds seep in to your brain to offer a particular take of the English new age meditative mindset - the green and pleasant land maybe but with a twist of darkness not expected across 13 laconic pieces.Released on both screen printed vinyl and CD, Whichever Way will be followed by what could be their masterpiece, Into The Heart Of Love. Previously only available on cassette this will be a collectors dream, while an in production third album promises further intrigue, bringing together the Ives brothers and fellow space travellers the Seahawks. Close your eyes.
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Reverse board tip on with silver pantone print. The first ever reissue of Dorothy Carter's 1978 folk/psych/drone masterpiece. A truly unique album in Dorothy's catalog of otherwise traditional psaltery folk music, Waillee Waillee's essence sits in the confluence of Dorothy's mastery of the dulcimer; its shimmering notes fully enmeshed with the tremulous, cavernous drones of Bob Rutman's bowed steel cello. The core of this album, Dorothy's only with a full band, lies in the contradiction of traditional psych-folk idioms and the minimal avant-garde, referencing Henry Flynt and Laraaji as much as Karen Dalton. This LP version includes 12 page booklet with unpublished manuscripts, drawings, photographs, and songbooks of the songs from the album, as well as extended liner notes from friends and family of Dorothy Carter, including notable musicians such as Laraaji, Bob Rutman, and Alexander Hacke (of Einstürzende Neubauten). Drops soon - a joint release between Palto Flats & Putojefe Records.

Dorothy Carter was many things - a virtuoso player, storyteller, historian of Celtic and Appalachian folk music, avid lifelong busker, avant-garde musician, and itinerant troubadour, laying a framework for music that existed both within and outside of standard folk idioms - never better represented than on her 1978 masterwork, Waillee Waillee. Underscored by Bob Rutman’s cavernous bowing of the steel cello, the richness of Waillee Waillee’s sound produces an album unlike any other in her discography. In particular, its two side-ending pieces, “Summer Rhapsody” and “Tree of Life,’’ glide with the shimmering filigree of hammered dulcimer and Dorothy Carter’s ephemeral voice floating over Rutman’s droning buzz of the steel cello. The elements of these two tracks suggest something akin to a transcendental Appalachian raga or whirling cosmic folk music, an effortless combination that serves to add additional substance to the remaining tracks on the album.

The title track is one of her most enduring compositions, often performed in stripped down versions throughout her career, and one of her sole recordings featuring a full band, with the contrapuntal interplay of tremulous flute, vibrating steel cello, bass and drums. Lyrically and tonally, her voice would never sound as stirring and refi ned as on this, her most outwardly accessible song.

She counted musical colleagues as diverse as Constance Demby, Einstu¨rzende Neubauten and Laraaji, as well as her lifelong artistic partner and friend Bob Rutman, whose imprint is felt throughout the grooves of this record. The master tapes for this recording were fortuitously discovered in Rutman’s Berlin studio, many, many years later. As recounted in Laraaji’s contribution to the liner notes, Dorothy was “someone who really influenced my early zither exploration and vocabulary and inspired my shift toward hammered zither performance and recording,” after encountering him busking on the sidewalk one day in the 1970s. Later, when living in Berlin in the early 1990s, Dorothy would begin work on manuscripts detailing the history of the dulcimer family and providing extensive sheet music, selected material of which is reproduced in the twelve page booklet included with this release. Dorothy would find later success touring and performing in the late 90s with the ensemble Mediæval Bæbes, which she led with British musician Katherine Blake, playing a prominent role on their first four albums. More

The first release on Palto Flats' PFF series for contemporary electronic / experimental / dance releases in limited format. Conga Square - Secada Mondatta treads similar musical territories as Toulouse Low Trax, Burnt Friedman & Holger Czukay. Featuring Jimy Seitang, Brian Close (Georgia) Andrew Felix & Ross Menuez. First track, 'Fifth Season' spends its 9'+ duration locked in a downtempo groove, 'Raiders' is cavernous electronic jazz, and 'Secada Mondatta' is minimal dubby electro with propulsive rhythmic patterns. Conga Square was recorded and mixed by Davey Jewell in NYC & LA, and mastered/cut by Helmut Erler at Dubplates & Mastering. Artwork & design by Brian Close. More

Re-issued again, with new liner notes. A wonderful, rare record wrapped in a mysterious yet playful ambiance. Or maybe it's just the impression that the Japanese language often gives me. ''Suiren'' is an odd jazz-fusion-wave tune that sounds like its boiling, waiting to burst but somehow manages to stay in control. Like the nervous tick of a leg fidgeting under the table of a restaurant on a first date.
Yasuaki Shimizu is a Japanese composer, producer and saxophone player born in 1954. He worked with Ryuchi Sakimoto on certain arrangements, with the South Korean artist Nam June Paik on art+sound installation pieces and even DJ Towa Tei (of Deee-Lite fame). ''Suiren'' was released in 1981 and is the opening title on the sought-after ''Kakashi'' album and is my personal favorite on this overall brilliant record. It weaves behind new wave, jazz, fusion, ambient and experimental music. Repetitive and hypnotizing, punctuated by exclamation marks on most first mesures, the muted triangle percussion hits me straight in the heart. About 90 seconds into the song, the saxophone makes its appearance and the song goes from ''this is cute'' to ''oh, this is some serious shit!''. Shimizu's saxophone frees the song from the rest of the elements which are more calculated and repetitive. A joyful, mysterious slow-moving train ride led by the artist's mellow voice that rocks us with this calming but funky lullaby. Every phrase is punctuated by the xylophone there to energize the piece, albeit very subtely. More