□□□□□□ recording club » Releases http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com Tue, 13 Jul 2010 00:50:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 MANTLER/MONODY http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/uncategorized/2010/06/mantlermonody/ http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/uncategorized/2010/06/mantlermonody/#comments Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:37:09 +0000 admin http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/?p=449

Mantler/Monody

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Mantler, Toronto’s answer to Shuggie Otis and best kept secret has found the pocket again with the smooth, soulful and thoughtful Monody. Its far too engaging to call easy listening, but its easy to love. Look no further for your summer jams than the soul scorching In Stride  and the electro funk delights Fresh and Fair and Breaking Past the Day. I could go on. Every track is a treat. Junior Boy Jeremy Greenspan produces a few tracks, Owen Pallett arranges.

This is a limited edition 12″ vinyl run. ORDER IT HERE!

(Of course, the vinyl comes with a free digital download.)

]]> http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/uncategorized/2010/06/mantlermonody/feed/ 0 □□□057 Picastro- “Become Secret” LP/Digital Download http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/06/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1057-picastro-%e2%80%9cbecome-secret%e2%80%9d-lpdigital-download/ http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/06/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1057-picastro-%e2%80%9cbecome-secret%e2%80%9d-lpdigital-download/#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:49:12 +0000 admin http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/?p=376 “They mine music from the most extreme intersection of beauty and melancholy.” Pitchfork

“This is paranoid music that’s utterly original and incredibly beautiful.” Exclaim

Well, what can I add? It’s Picastro and they’re back with a stripped down collection of hymns and nocturnes about the collapse of everything you know. Listen to this album all the way through while staring at a candle and you will see your future.

ORDER NOW

]]> http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/06/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1057-picastro-%e2%80%9cbecome-secret%e2%80%9d-lpdigital-download/feed/ 0 □□□056 Nadja- “The Bungled and the Botched” LP/Digital http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/06/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1056-nadja-%e2%80%9cthe-bungled-and-the-botched%e2%80%9d-lpdigital/ http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/06/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1056-nadja-%e2%80%9cthe-bungled-and-the-botched%e2%80%9d-lpdigital/#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:37:33 +0000 admin http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/?p=374 The Bungled and the Botched is Nadja’s most scorching and most achingly beautiful set yet, pushing the boundaries into ever greater washes of distortion and crystalline silences.  Originally available as a limited CDR, Blocks now presents a re-edited version of The Bungled and the Botched in a deluxe vinyl edition and (with over an hour of extra material) as extended digital files via iTunes.

ORDER VINYL HERE

Itunes as of October 1st

]]> http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/06/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1056-nadja-%e2%80%9cthe-bungled-and-the-botched%e2%80%9d-lpdigital/feed/ 0 □□□058 Brian Joseph Davis “Intro, And Other Instrumental Works” Digital Download http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/06/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1058-brian-joseph-davis-%e2%80%9cintro-and-other-instrumental-works%e2%80%9d-digital-download/ http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/06/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1058-brian-joseph-davis-%e2%80%9cintro-and-other-instrumental-works%e2%80%9d-digital-download/#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:20:50 +0000 admin http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/?p=371 A free live album of electrocoustic-sound art-minimalist-hardcore-ear-ecstasy that will save the lagging marriage between your brain and auditory canal. Includes “Intro: Work for 10 Boom Boxes and Hardcore Punk loops.” On  10 boomboxes arranged in a semi circle are cassettes with 30-minute loops of intros from hardcore punk songs of the 1980s: 8 guitar parts, 1 bass part and 1 drum drop out.  These are brought in and out of the mix using the volume faders on the tape players, creating something that is sometimes almost a hardcore song, sometimes beat-less and vague. Selections include various shreds and feedback hums from: Discharge, Negative Approach, Black Flag, Bad Brains, Poison Idea, Rudimentary Peni, and Raw Power.

Also includes “Piano For 17.6 Hands” as performed by The New York Miniaturist Ensemble, who perform a repertoire of works consisting of one hundred notes or less. Piano For 17.6 Hands calls for every key on a piano to be struck one hundred times for the duration of a whole note, with sustain pedal down. The first fifty times, the players must strike as hard possible, the final fifty, dynamics are up to each performer.

Available for free at the Free Music Archive here.

…You’re welcome.

]]> http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/06/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1058-brian-joseph-davis-%e2%80%9cintro-and-other-instrumental-works%e2%80%9d-digital-download/feed/ 0 □□□055 The Torrent- “Leonora Moreno” CD http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/05/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1054-the-torrent-%e2%80%9cleonora-moreno%e2%80%9d-cd/ http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/05/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1054-the-torrent-%e2%80%9cleonora-moreno%e2%80%9d-cd/#comments Wed, 13 May 2009 15:21:16 +0000 admin http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/?p=355 The Torrent is not named after a download protocol. Mike Barry plays guitar and sings, and Cameron Groves sings, plays violin and deals with the machines. Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star said, and I quote, “[Leonora Moreno]is a sexy/nasty slab of droning electro-pop sleaze, and my new favourite thing. Imagine Beat Happening, A Place to Bury Strangers and the Neon Judgement doing lots of drugs together in a Hamburg fetish bar and you’ll get the gist of this dour gem. Acidic monotone vocals, battering drum-machine beats and a whole lotta art-house style caught in a radioactive glow of sawing violin and over-cranked guitar. “

We’re distro-ing this release to record stores. For mail order and digital, see the band’s site at: http://thetorrent.net

]]> http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/05/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1054-the-torrent-%e2%80%9cleonora-moreno%e2%80%9d-cd/feed/ 0 □□□052 HANK- “The Luck Of The Singers” LP http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/02/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1052-hank-the-luck-of-the-singers-lp/ http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/02/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1052-hank-the-luck-of-the-singers-lp/#comments Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:57:08 +0000 admin http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/?p=320 Four years in the making, produced by Jesse Laine and CW, with artwork by Tara Azzopardi, and featuring 14 sparkling pop gems ranging in style and subject matter, from Burt Lancaster to dead goldfish via hermetic paranoia.

Exclaim also called Hank’s music “sensual.” Sensuality AND hermetic paranoia. Why aren’t you buying this album right now?

]]> http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/02/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1052-hank-the-luck-of-the-singers-lp/feed/ 0 □□□053 ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS- “Fourteenth Floor” 7 inch EP http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/02/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1053-one-hundred-dollars-fourteenth-floor-7-inch-ep/ http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/02/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1053-one-hundred-dollars-fourteenth-floor-7-inch-ep/#comments Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:38:39 +0000 admin http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/?p=296 $100’s gut-hard and honey-sweet country will break your heart then make you want to occupy a government building. First in their series of regional 7-inches. ORDER NOW

]]> http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/02/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1053-one-hundred-dollars-fourteenth-floor-7-inch-ep/feed/ 0 □□□051 FINAL FANTASY- “Plays to Please” 10 inch EP http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/02/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1051-final-fantasy-plays-to-please-10-inch-ep/ http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/02/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1051-final-fantasy-plays-to-please-10-inch-ep/#comments Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:30:48 +0000 admin http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/?p=129 On Plays to Please Owen Pallett pays tribute to the songs of Toronto’s Alex Lukashevsky and Deep Dark United.

Deep Dark United’s music can be described as…indescribable but under its waves of hazy unease lay perfectly made songs that Pallett had dreamed of giving a big band treatment to ever since he and Lukashevsky bonded on tour over their mutual love of Louis Prima and Marvin Gaye. Working with The St. Kitts Orchestra, Pallett gives the songs a huge stage to strut around on and—were it not for the mordant and contemporary wit in the lyrics—you could mistake Lukashevsky’s songs for being Tin Pan Alley standards.

Given that, why not try dropping “I Saved a Junkie Once” at your grandmother’s birthday this year?

ORDER NOW

]]> http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/02/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1051-final-fantasy-plays-to-please-10-inch-ep/feed/ 0 □□□050 The Blankket – “Pegatively Nositive” CD/LP http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/02/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1050-the-blankket-pegatively-nositive-cdlp/ http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/02/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1050-the-blankket-pegatively-nositive-cdlp/#comments Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:00:49 +0000 admin http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/?p=303 Beats as heavy as the weight of modern life. Hardcore chants as unintelligible as the middle class masses screaming for kitsch fixes. Steve Kado’s first full length album sets the ideas of Theodor Adorno to a discofied despair that’s like Mark Stewart run through a spell check.

ORDER CD

ORDER LP

]]> http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2009/02/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1050-the-blankket-pegatively-nositive-cdlp/feed/ 0 □□□049 FINAL FANTASY – “Spectrum, 14th Century” CD-EP/Vinyl http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2008/08/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1049-final-fantasy-spectrum-14th-century-cd-epvinyl/ http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/posts/releases/2008/08/%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1%e2%96%a1049-final-fantasy-spectrum-14th-century-cd-epvinyl/#comments Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:34:22 +0000 admin http://www.blocksblocksblocks.com/?p=127 Last spring, Final Fantasy and members of Beirut went outdoors with instruments, microphones, and Alan Lomax’s headphones for an ethnomusicological exercise in fake field recordings that captures the culture of the fictional land of Spectrum.

If you’re expecting dulcimers, Tibetan thigh bones, and fertility prayers, you’ll be surprised by the avant pop, birdsong, and hardcore chanson contained within.

ORDER LP

ORDER CD

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