Just Announced: CRIME and The Avengers October 21 2019
Next month, we're going back to where it all began for us ... Coming out on Black Friday are two releases from the Bay Area's first wave punk scene.
In 1978, San Francisco punk legends CRIME were captured in their natural habitat, the dimly-lit Mabuhay Gardens. The footage sat dormant for decades, until now! San Francisco's First And Only Rock 'N' Roll Band: Live 1978 features a searing live set and unruly behind-the-scenes straight from the original 16mm color film. DVD and double 7" on limited edition translucent blue vinyl.
The Avengers' unmistakable anthem "The American In Me" was produced by Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and originally released in late 1979, a few months after the group broke up. This great lost-single remains some of the most pivotal sounds of punk's formative era. Limited edition translucent red vinyl.
Now Shipping: The Mekons and William Hooker June 21 2019
Shipping this week, two stellar debuts – reissued for the first time – from across the musical spectrum.
The Mekons made their first album The Quality Of Mercy Is Not Strnen in 1979. Forty years later, these post-punk pioneers are still performing. As Jon Langford quipped, "the secret of our success is our lack of success."
Drummer, composer and poet William Hooker released ... Is Eternal Life on his own Reality Unit Concepts imprint in the late '70s. Featuring David Murray on sax, this free jazz double LP is nothing short of visionary.
Now Shipping: Sarah Davachi's Pale Bloom June 07 2019
Shipping this week, Sarah Davachi's new album Pale Bloom on our W.25TH imprint.
"On Pale Bloom, Davachi returns to her hometown without luggage and pays a heartfelt homage to the revered teacher who enlightened her. She doesn’t do it with an ambitious postmodern masterpiece nor a grand symphonic tribute, but alone on the vast emptiness of the stage. Just a soul and a piano." – The Quietus
In Stores Today: Marion Brown and This Kind Of Punishment May 31 2019
Out now! Marion Brown's debut album, originally released in 1967 on Impulse! Featuring Grachan Moncur III, Dave Burrell and Sirone, Three For Shepp remains a vital statement of jazz's past, present and future.
Also, we have the final LP from New Zealand's This Kind Of Punishment. Originally released on Flying Nun, In The Same Room expertly pairs jagged guitars with wrathful vocals. "Immigration Song," the undeniable proof.
Memorial Day Sale May 24 2019
For this holiday weekend, we have 20% off our catalogue as well as some of our favorite titles on other labels.
Use discount code MemorialDay2019 during check-out. (Sorry, offer does not apply to pre-order items.)
Offer ends Monday May 27th at midnight, Pacific.
Now Shipping: Alice Coltrane's Warner Bros. Albums April 29 2019
Shipping this week, Alice Coltrane's four extraordinary Warner Bros. albums: Eternity, Radha-Krsna Nama Sankirtana, Transcendence and Transfiguration. Come with liner notes by Mark Richardson and rare photos.
Just Announced: Marion Brown and This Kind Of Punishment April 19 2019
We're excited to announce the addition of legendary free jazz saxophonist Marion Brown to our roster. Originally released in 1967 on Impulse!, his debut Three For Shepp lays down three startling originals and three tunes by Shepp – echoing his mentor's 1964 homage to Coltrane, Four For Trane.
Also, we have another long overdue reissue from NZ legends This Kind Of Punishment. 1987's In The Same Room, the band's final album, was originally released on Flying Nun and offers spiraling riffs, frenzied rhythms and antagonistic lyrics.
Now Shipping: Herbie Hancock April 05 2019
Shipping this week, Herbie Hancock's three Warner Bros. albums. Fat Albert Rotunda (1969), Mwandishi (1971) and Crossings (1972) have long remained bold statements in post-bop jazz, yet the composer's expansive approach to sound and the Sextet's increasingly intense playing would reveal this trilogy to be indeed revolutionary.
Just Announced: Sarah Davachi March 28 2019
We're excited to be working with one of our favorite artists making music right now, Sarah Davachi.
Pale Bloom finds Davachi coming full circle. After abandoning the piano studies of her youth for a series of albums utilizing everything from pipe and reed organs to analog synthesizers, this prolific Los Angeles-based composer returns to her first instrument for a radiant work of quiet minimalism and poetic rumination.
Now Shipping: Cube and Kevin Harrison March 22 2019
Shipping this week, we have the second album from left-field electronic artist Cube. Featuring layers of heavily treated vocals and guitar, Decoy Street is recommended for fans of Prurient, Puce Mary and Alan Vega.
We also have the first-time reissue of Kevin Harrison's sole LP, originally released in 1981 on Cherry Red. Inscrutably Obvious remains a lost gem of Britain's '80s cassette culture and DIY bedroom aesthetics.
Just Announced: Nivhek March 13 2019
Opaque assemblages of Mellotron, guitar, field recordings, tapes and broken FX pedals by Pacific Northwest artist Liz Harris. After its own death / Walking in a spiral towards the house ranks among Harris' most stark, primordial work – in pacing, palette and poignancy. Vibrations and voices gliding dimly out of the void.
Initially released in a private edition that vanished almost as quickly as it was announced.
Just Announced: Alice Coltrane's Warner Bros. Albums February 25 2019
After many years on Impulse!, Alice Coltrane moved to Warner Bros. in the mid-'70s and made four extraordinary albums: Eternity, Radha-Krsna Nama Sankirtana, Transcendence and Transfiguration.
We are honored to reissue them all at once. Available in our special-priced bundle with a FREE T-SHIRT until Sunday March 3rd at midnight, Pacific (while supplies last).
Photo by Gary Heery
Just Announced: Cube and Kevin Harrison January 25 2019
First part of 2019 is already off to a great start ... This week, we're announcing two post-punk LPs separated by nearly 40 years. Decoy Street is the latest from contemporary artist Cube, while pioneer of '80s British cassette culture Kevin Harrison's sole album, Inscrutably Obvious, gets its first-time reissue.
Just Announced: Herbie Hancock January 18 2019
Excited to finally announce our reissues of Herbie Hancock's three classic albums on Warner Bros.
Fat Albert Rotunda (1969) redirects the post-bop jazz Hancock honed in the Miles Davis Quintet towards R&B and funk styles with which the pianist was becoming enamored. In the early '70s, Hancock's band would undergo a major transformation, and the resulting Mwandishi (1971) remains some of the best forward-thinking jazz/rock fusion of the era. Crossings (1972), his final album on Warner Bros., furthers Hancock's use of advanced studio techniques and even features the otherworldly sounds of Moog synthesizer.
Now Shipping: Joe McPhee, Richard Pinhas and The Kingstonians January 14 2019
2019 is already shaping up to be another great year. We're excited to have three records in stores this Friday.
First up, Joe McPhee's Nation Time is (simply put) incredible – a pivotal moment in the free jazz canon, filtering James Brown groove through Archie Shepp. It doesn't get much better than this.
We also just got in Richard Pinhas' Iceland (his first solo album following the breakup of Heldon) and The Kingstonians' Sufferer (their sole LP, originally released on Trojan and produced by Derrick Harriott).
Together these titles draw a marvellously oblique line (from USA to France and Jamaica), always the best kind.
Cyber Monday 2018 November 25 2018
Thanks everyone for supporting us this year, both in the shop and through our label. We can't wait for 2019!
To show our appreciation, we have 20% off all Superior Viaduct releases and everything on Stranded's site. If you want records from both sites, go ahead and place separate orders and then email us to have them combined.
Use discount code CyberMonday2018 during check-out. (Sorry, offer does not apply to pre-order items.)
Offer ends November 26th at midnight, Pacific.
Now Shipping: ASH Initial Releases November 09 2018
Shipping this week, the first set of Antarctica Starts Here titles. We have the sole LP from legendary singer-songwriter Jackson C. Frank, the outsider folk brilliance of Simon Finn's Pass The Distance, Curtis Mayfield's classic live album Curtis/Live! and finally The Upsetters infectious Double Seven.
Now Shipping: Takehisa Kosugi's Catch-Wave and The Fall's Rough Trade Singles October 25 2018
Shipping this week, we have the first solo album by seminal Japanese composer and The Taj Mahal Travellers founder Takehisa Kosugi (R.I.P.). Originally released in 1975, Catch-Wave features improvised violin drones and voice with various oscillators, echo delays and layered tape experiments.
Also, literally just coming in the door, The Rough Trade Singles collects The Fall's four singles recorded for this influential label in 1980 and 1983 including "How I Wrote 'Elastic Man'" and "Totally Wired." This first-time compilation contains some of the absolute best material Mark E. Smith and crew would ever release.
Now Shipping: EXEK's A Casual Assembly October 05 2018
Now shipping the latest from Melbourne's post-punk neophytes EXEK. A Casual Assembly echoes like the lost soundtrack to a Kubrick or Jarman film, with even more stripped-down, dreamlike tones than on their last LP.
Also, don't miss EXEK on tour right now. Here is the full list of dates.
Now Shipping: Alvin Curran and Phill Niblock September 24 2018
Shipping this week, we have the 1975 solo debut album from Alvin Curran, co-founder of Musica Elettronica Viva. Canti E Vedute Del Giardino Magnetico stands as a crucial bridge between American and European avant-garde traditions – interweaving eerie field recordings with voice, brass and sublime keyboards.
Also shipping is Phill Niblock's second LP, Niblock For Celli / Celli Plays Niblock. Originally released in 1984 on India Navigation, the album features reed player Joseph Celli (who has collaborated with John Cage, Pauline Oliveros and Ornette Coleman). Enchanting drones that the composer says should be played loud.
Both first-time vinyl reissues hit stores this Friday.
Antarctica Starts Here September 14 2018
Excited to finally announce our new imprint Antarctica Starts Here ... Superior Viaduct's third sub-label (along with W.25TH and États-Unis), ASH celebrates the beautiful, strange and essential music of the '60s and '70s.
The first set of releases includes Jackson C. Frank's devastating self-titled LP, Simon Finn's psychedelic folk masterpiece Pass The Distance, Lee "Scratch" Perry and The Upsetters' frenetic Scratch The Upsetter Again and Double Seven, and last but not least, Curtis Mayfield's classic Curtis/Live!
Now Shipping: John Bender's Pop Surgery September 05 2018
Now shipping Pop Surgery, originally released in 1983 and delving further into John Bender's unique brand of bedroom electronics with layers of distorted keyboards, disjointed drum machines and dubbed-out vocals.
"When I was making Pop Surgery, I was absorbed in Prince Far-I, Slapp Happy / Henry Cow, David Cunningham and the machinations of Adrian Sherwood's On-U Sound label. For my own music, I became focused less on harnessing my machines into song-like structures and more on stretching the boundaries of their sound."
This first-time standalone reissue comes with liner notes by the artist.
Labor Day Sale September 01 2018
We have several great records coming out this fall. More announcements coming soon. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, we have a couple special-priced bundles for Labor Day Weekend.
A dizzying selection of singles and CDs – punk, avant-garde and beyond – all from our catalogue.
Offer ends Tuesday September 4th at midnight, Pacific Time (while supplies last).
Just Announced: EXEK's A Casual Assembly August 29 2018
Right on the heels of their Ahead Of Two Thoughts LP released earlier this year, A Casual Assembly is the latest offering from Melbourne's EXEK. The EP coalesces around a stirring theme for synthesizer, trumpet and bass, bringing together reference points to Laurie Spiegel, Jah Wobble and The Velvet Underground's "The Gift."
Frontman Albert Wolski's disembodied narration – at times reminiscent of Samuel Beckett or Robert Ashley – unfolds over a series of dark vignettes set in a dystopian near-future. Autotune has been banned, secret police patrol the redoubts of the wealthy, and world beaches have been cleared of their sand for the construction of enormous urban prisons. As these events turn more fraught and absurd, Wolski reveals just how much is gained through EXEK's stripped-down arrangements and dreamlike tones.
A Casual Assembly echoes like the lost soundtrack to a Kubrick or Jarman film.
Recommended for fans of Normil Hawaiians, Jenny Hval and Harmonia.
Also, be sure to check out EXEK on tour in the US this fall in a rock n' roll club near you.
Just Announced: The Fall's Totale's Turns and The Rough Trade Singles August 28 2018
This week we're making a bunch of announcements, and the first is for The Fall because simply put, there will never be another band like them. We should all be eternally grateful ... May you rest in peace, Mr. Smith.
While Totale's Turns (It's Now Or Never), recorded live in 1979 and 1980, remains a gripping exhibit of The Fall en masse, The Rough Trade Singles collects the four singles recorded for this influential British label in 1980 and 1983. Absolutely some of the best material the band would ever release.
Just Announced: Takehisa Kosugi's Catch-Wave August 24 2018
Composer, multi-instrumentalist and mixed-media artist, Takehisa Kosugi has stood on the forefront of the Japanese avant-garde for over six decades. In the 1960s, he was part of Japan's first improvisational music collective, Group Ongaku, and contributed to Fluxus in New York. In 1969, he founded the influential, experimental ensemble The Taj Mahal Travellers, and in 1975 he would release his first solo album, Catch-Wave.
"Mano-Dharma '74" features improvised violin drones and voice with various oscillators, echo delays and layered tape experiments that the artist made in New York in 1967. While Kosugi's continuously changing spectrum of sound shifts gradually (almost imperceptibly), photocell synthesizers create ultra-low frequencies to disturb the crestless sound waves. The brighter the light is, the harsher the noise becomes.
Catch-Wave's second sidelong piece, "Wave Code #E-1," is a three-part performance for solo vocalist. As Kosugi describes in the liner notes (translated into English for this edition), the concept of onomatopoeia played an essential role in the type of sounds he generates with his voice, manipulated through customized electronic circuits and at times recalling Gregorian chant, throat singing and cosmic soundscapes.
This first-time vinyl reissue is recommended for fans of Tony Conrad, Eliane Radigue and Fennesz.
Photo by Shigeo Anzai
Now Shipping: Faust and Lovisoni / Messina August 17 2018
Shipping this week, Faust's classic third album and Lovisoni / Messina's seminal LP originally on Cramps.
The Faust Tapes is a sardonic collage of outtakes from their secluded Wümme studio, featuring the band's best-known songs ("Flashback Caruso" and "J'ai Mal Aux Dents"), while Prati Bagnati Del Monte Analogo falls somewhere between meditative avant-garde and radical new age, yet with a singular beauty.
Just Announced: Alvin Curran and Phill Niblock July 27 2018
Coming this September, we have Alvin Curran's solo debut Canti E Vedute Del Giardino Magnetico and Phill Niblock's spellbinding Niblock For Celli / Celli Plays Niblock – two essential LPs in the avant-garde canon.
EXEK First-Ever US Tour July 25 2018
Soon after the release of Ahead Of Two Thoughts, Melbourne's EXEK are making a highly anticipated run across the US.
Following in the footprints of bands such as This Heat, Swell Maps and early PiL, the band is truly something to experience live. Highlights include appearances at Gonerfest and Cropped Out, as well as a West Coast swing with Exploded View and a massive Halloween blow out with Thee Oh Sees.
Tour Dates:
- Sept. 29th Gonerfest, Memphis
- Oct. 1st at RKDE, St. Louis (with Sick Thoughts and Trampoline Team)
- Oct. 3rd at Empty Bottle, Chicago (with Gentle Leader and Brian Case (FACS/Disappears))
- Oct. 4th at State Street, Indianapolis (with The Research Network)
- Oct. 5th Cropped Out, Louisville
- Oct. 7th at Outer Limits, Detroit (with Lost System and Werewolf Jones)
- Oct. 8th at Now That’s Class, Cleveland (with Glass Traps)
- Oct. 10th at Saint Vitus, NYC (with Richard Papiercuts and Orion)
- Oct. 12th at Ceremony, Brooklyn (with Lake Ruth and Marbled Eye)
- Oct. 14th at TBA, Philadelphia (with Honey Radar)
- Oct. 15th at TBA, Baltimore
- Oct. 16th at Gallery House, Richmond (with Fried Egg)
- Oct. 18th at The Earl, Atlanta (with Night Cleaner and Uniform)
- Oct. 19th at Circle, New Orleans (with Pscience)
- Oct. 20th at The Parish, Austin (with Exploded View)
- Oct. 21st at TBA, El Paso
- Oct. 22nd at Club Congress, Tucson (with Exploded View)
- Oct. 24th at The Whistle Stop, San Diego (with Exploded View)
- Oct. 25th at The Glass House, Pomona (with Exploded View)
- Oct. 26th at The Echo, Los Angeles (with Exploded View)
- Oct. 27th at White Horse, Oakland (with The World and Preening)
- Oct. 28th San Francisco (with Exploded View and Marbled Eye)
- Oct. 31st at Teragram Ballroom, Los Angeles (Halloween with Thee Oh Sees)
Now Shipping: Alice Coltrane's Lord Of Lords July 20 2018
Now shipping Alice Coltrane's Lord Of Lords. Originally released in 1972, her final album for Impulse!
Shining a vital light on the devotional path that Coltrane would follow for the rest of her career.
This first-time reissue has been carefully remastered from the original master tapes.
July 4th Sale July 02 2018
Only halfway through 2018 and already quite a year! We're proud to have added Spacemen 3, The Mekons and EXEK to our roster as well as finally reissuing This Kind Of Punishment's first two albums. More news soon!
To celebrate July 4th, we're offering 20% off our catalogue. Now's your chance to catch up, tune in, drop out.
(Sorry, offer does not apply to pre-orders nor Steve Reich's Drumming 2xLP which hits stores this Friday.)
Simply apply discount code July4th2018 during check-out.
Offer ends Wednesday July 4th at midnight, Pacific Time.
Just Announced: The Faust Tapes and Pop Surgery June 29 2018
Coming out this August, we have Faust's seminal third album, The Faust Tapes, and John Bender's most ambitious title to date, Pop Surgery. Two incredible records from 1973 and 1983, respectively.
Also, by a strange twist of fate, Faust and Bender will be performing on the same bill next month in Ohio.
Now Shipping: Steve Reich's Drumming 2xLP June 22 2018
Now shipping 2xLP version of Steve Reich's Drumming, originally released in 1972 in a small private edition and written for eight small tuned drums, three marimbas, three glockenspiels, piccolo and voice.
With Drumming, Reich sculpts a new sonic territory to illuminate the radical potential of Minimalism.
This first-time reissue has been carefully remastered from the original master tapes.
Just Announced: Lovisoni / Messina's Prati Bagnati Del Monte Analogo June 18 2018
Of all the releases on Italy's legendary Cramps Records, Raul Lovisoni and Francesco Messina's seminal LP from 1979 has long remained among the most beloved. Prati Bagnati Del Monte Analogo not only introduced the world to the work of two gifted composers, but also is notable for being produced by electronic pioneer Franco Battiato. A sister album to Prati Bagnati would be Giusto Pio's breathtaking Motore Immobile, likewise graced with the maestro's gentle hand around the same time.
Lovisoni and Messina are both central figures within the Italian avant-garde. Part of a generation of artists who contributed to a radical rethinking of musical practices and composition, they reveal Minimalism as it's rarely known: delicate melodies, subtle harmonic interplay, incorporating diverse creative traditions and slowly giving way to an ever-expanding open space.
Prati Bagnati Del Monte Analogo's meditative title track, inspired by René Daumal's surrealist novel Le Mont Analogue, features Messina on synthesizer and Michele Fedrigotti's impressionistic piano, while on Lovisoni's "Hula Om" and "Amon Ra," solo harp, crystal glasses and Juri Camisasca's radiant vocal drones further ascend into the stratosphere. Skirting the outer edges of ambient, new age and experimental music, Prati Bagnati has a transformative beauty unlike anything else.
Superior Viaduct's edition reproduces the original sleeve design and is recommended for fans of Jon Hassell, Luciano Cilio and Popol Vuh.
Now Shipping: Steve Reich's Drumming 2CD June 04 2018
Now shipping 2CD version of Steve Reich's polyrhythmic masterpiece, Drumming. (Vinyl coming in July.)
Originally released in 1972 on John Gibson + Multiples in an edition of 500 copies, this early realization of Drumming was recorded at its premier performance at Town Hall, New York in 1971.
First-time CD release features Steve Reich, Art Murphy, Steve Chambers, Jon Gibson and Joan La Barbara.
Includes liner notes by the composer and photographs by Peter Moore.
Now Shipping: Spacemen 3's First-Ever Recording Session June 01 2018
Shipping this week, Spacemen 3's first-ever recording session from 1984. These early demos feature the band's three-piece line up with Jason Pierce, Pete Kember and Natty Brooker.
For All The Fucked-Up Children remains the perfect introduction to Spacemen 3, paying homage to their psychedelic/blues roots and offering compelling clues that point toward the evolution of their signature sound.
