Upcoming Concerts: Fullman and Niblock January 18 2016

Ellen Fullman: Resonance Is Harmony
with Kyle Bruckmann (oboe) and Luciano Chessa (dan bau)
Saturday January 23rd, 8pm
at The Lab, San Francisco

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Ellen Fullman: Harbors and Past the Angels
with Theresa Wong (cello)
Sunday January 31st, 8pm
at The Lab, San Francisco

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Ellen Fullman began developing her installation The Long String Instrument in 1981, in search of tonalities that could not be achieved with traditional instruments. For the month of January 2016, the composer will be artist-in-residence at The Lab where she has installed an expanded version of her instrument – over one hundred strings, spanning 53 feet in length. Last year Superior Viaduct reissued The Long String Instrument album, the first document of Fullman's acoustic explorations.

Phill Niblock
Saturday February 13th, 8pm

at The Lab, San Francisco

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Phill Niblock is a New York-based minimalist composer, multi-media musician, and director of Experimental Intermedia Foundation. Since the mid-1960's he has performed at venues around the world from the Museum of Modern Art to Akademie der Kunste, Berlin. His densely layered drones have inspired a younger generation including Glenn Branca and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo. Niblock says, "What I am doing with my music is to produce something without rhythm or melody, by using many microtones that cause movements very, very slowly." His landmark debut album, Nothin To Look At Just A Record, was reissued by Superior Viaduct in 2013.

For this special performance at The Lab, Niblock will perform recent compositions and screen footage from his breathtaking "Movement of People Working" series. Co-sponsored by Stranded and The Lab.

Photo by Robert Szkolnicki.

Photo by Katherine Liberovskaya.


Now Shipping: Our Fall Releases (Part 1) October 02 2015

Shipping this week, an overlooked minimalist masterpiece and a trio of outsider pop essentials.

Ellen Fullman's debut LP is the first document of her self-made instrument. The Long String Instrument conjures an enchanting drone and dissolves into organ-like overtones and otherworldly textures. This first-time reissue is recommended for fans of Pauline Oliveros, Charlemagne Palestine and Harry Bertoia.

L. Voag recorded his 1979 solo debut during the waning days of his time in The Homosexuals. As Steven Stapleton from Nurse With Wound states perfectly, The Way Out is "a classic of bric-a-brac nonconformity." This first-time vinyl reissue is recommended for fans of Desperate Bicycles, This Heat and Mark Perry.

Milk From Cheltenham released their sole album on famed UK DIY imprint It's War Boys in 1983. Drawing from basement tapes and studio sessions, A Triptych Of Poisoners runs the gamut from jerky post-punk to cut-up collage. This first-time vinyl reissue is recommended for fans of Swell Maps, The Faust Tapes, and LAFMS.

Departmentstore Santas' only release is an elusive '80s cult classic. Originally pressed in just 500 copies, At The Medieval Castle Nineteen 100-Year Lifetimes Since features quirky sing-alongs, wide-eyed lyrics and echoey instrumentals. This first-time reissue is recommended for fans of Television Personalities, Guided By Voices and Cleaners From Venus.


Fall 2015 Releases (Part 2) September 18 2015

Our last batch of releases for the year is our most diverse yet! Spanning minimalism, dub, noise, electronics and punk.

Recorded during Ellen Fullman's 1985 residency at Het Apollohuis, The Long String Instrument LP documents the composer's self-made instrument of long strings and remains a major contribution to the histories of sound sculpture and minimalist composition. Recommended for fans of Pauline Oliveros, Charlemagne Palestine and Harry Bertoia. Pre-order here.

Scientist's 1980 debut LP, Introducing Scientist - The Best Dub Album in the World, lives up to its boastful title. Recorded with Sly & Robbie at Channel One Studio and mixed at King Tubby's, the album features hypnotic basslines, reverb-drenched keyboards, and fluid, start-stop rhythms. Ten classic tracks showcasing the very best of the dub form. Pre-order here.

Obliterating the lines between hardcore, noise and free jazz, the unclassifiable Harry Pussy were at once all of those things and none of them. Originally released on Siltbreeze in 1993, their self-titled debut LP reveals an antagonistic and visceral approach to music: Adris Hoyos' self-taught, wild-style drums and shrouded screams tangling with Bill Orcutt's high tension blues guitar. Pre-order here.

In the mid-1970s Parisian composer and multi-instrumentalist Thierry Muller began operating primarily under the Ilitch moniker. His debut album, Periodikmindtrouble, features gritty tape-loops, analog synth swells and angst-ridden guitars, while 10 Suicides explores a more art-damaged pop sensibility. These first-time vinyl reissues are recommended for fans of Fripp/Eno, Heldon and Chris & Cosey. Pre-order the first album here and the second album here.

San Francisco's The Avengers are classic '77 punk. As Byron Coley writes, "The Avengers were a no-hyphen-required punk band of the most basic and brilliant variety." Their first and only LP (better known as The Pink Album) remains their definitive statement – collecting their Dangerhouse EP, sessions recorded with Sex Pistols' Steve Jones and a half-dozen revelatory demos. Pre-order here.