Most manic solo album from Thurston to date, with a grab-bag of assorted fucked-up sonic stratagems including a buncha lost noise B sides, a basement jam with John Moloney of Sunburned Hand Of The Man on drums and Mark Ibold on bass, a demo for an HSBC ad with Steve Shelley on drums, acoustic jammers, wonky percussive guitar instrumentals that sound like a No Wave take on the melodic minimalism of Kraftwerk or Harmonia, hyper-sexed porn video cut-ups and a swanky picture disc that matches a swinging chick with a porky Lou Reed. What more could you ask for? Edition of 500 copies and already completely sold out at source.

Five track album from the Sunburned line-up of Moloney, Bohill, MJK, Thomas and Franklin, recorded live at the Sunburned loft in 2005. Classic SBHOTM outer space percussion, electronics, Xhol-style rhythms and caveman visions. Edition of 100 copies with full colour sleeves in plastic cases.

Solo album from Matt Krefting, a member of Duck, Idea Fire Company, Face/Ass, Son Of Earth, The Believers et al. All cover versions, with tracks by Richard Thompson, Jerry Garcia, Rick Danko and more cut with the help of J. Masics and members of Sunburned Hand Of The Man and The Believers. "My "career" in music is about to enter its 13th year. Lucky 13! I've performed in at least 15 groups (probably more on the order of 20 if you count guest spots) over the years, the most prominent being the long-running "quiet music" combo Son of Earth and the short-lived-but-much hyped Believers. Historically more of an experimental man, the Believers project showcased my always right-below-the-surface interest and passion for all things rock, and so, a couple of years after the demise of that group, I was approached by Ecstatic Peace, who asked me to produce a solo record. For the better part of a year I conceptualized, recruited, and eventually came up with I Couldn't Love You More. An early attempt to marry electronics, field recordings, and song was scrapped in favor of the personal and perhaps obvious choice of producing a covers record. It was the perfect idea, the realization of a dream. Years of singing in the shower and on long car trips had given way to the stuff of fantasy. Why stick to what you know when you can reach for what you've always desired? I asked friends to help with the realization. John Moloney, Phil Franklin, Ron Schneiderman, and Rob Thomas (all of Sunburned Hand of the Man), I've known for years. Same with J Mascis. Old friends John Shaw (who I've done more music with than anyone) and Lynn Myers provide some vocals here and there, as does my wife, Jamie Jo Oltmans. The Wild Card here is John Townsend. Andrew Kesin of Ecstatic Peace introduced me to him, and he was a jack-of-all-trades. He plays on most of the tracks, sometimes exclusively, and co-produced. I chose songs from all over the map, from Rick Danko to John Martyn to the great Bill Fay. Not exactly lightweights, and quite intimidating when their full historical weight is taken into account. However, I attacked each piece with the intensity of one who truly loves these songs. I didn't concern myself with being overly arty or inventive in my interpretations (there are no truly radical re-workings of anything here), instead allowing my own emotional investment in the material to guide me and inform the other players. These are songs of love and longing. The themes are eternal. It's an honor to have had the chance to play them. Enjoy the music." - Matt Krefting, December 2008

Self-released hand-numbered edition of 100 copies, with an audio collage of a 2008 Birmingham show, a blow-out from Mick Flower’s house, a London gig and a set from Greenfield, MA. Features a buncha heads: Moloney, Thomas, Schneiderman, Sarah O' Shea, Paul Labrecque, Mick Flower, Conrad Capistran, Phil Franklin, Taylor Richardson, and Adam Nodelman (Borbetomagus).

Deluxe 180g vinyl in heavy Stoughton gatefold sleeves from this offshoot from the No-Neck mothership led by David Shuford and featuring Marc Orleans (Sunburned Hand Of The Man), Hans Chew (Jack Rose et al) and Rob Gregory (The Suntanama). Distillation is an even deeper countrified pass through classic Americana given the kind of psychedelic nudie suit edge of The Byrds circa Sweetheart/Notorious or the first Flying Burrito Brothers album. Shuford’s vocals have an uncommon weigh that gives the songs a Biblical/basement tapes feel while the arrangements are weirdly sophisticated in a way that rewards repeated deep listening. Edition of 891 copies, bundled with a bonus CD that features a live set from the group and an MP3 download coupon.

New instalment of Wabana's limited to 200 CD-R series is a big band collaborative shot from these two North American psych/drug units, with Kohoutek go up against a Soil Sing Through Me line-up that features Paul Labrecque and Ron Schneiderman of Sunburned Hand Of The Man. Some of the backwoods garage style of the attack has a nice Crazy Horse/Savage Sons Of Ya Ho Wha meets ballroom Kosmiche feel, with plenty of serpentine string action and upper atmosphere analogue tweaking. There's even some shots of Miles 70s electro/brass confusion, albeit transmuted in a similar style to Sunburned Hand's acid funk. All laid down with a great recorded-through-a-cheap-stereo feel.

Edition of 120 copies CD-R documenting a live performance from Paul Labrecque (Sunburned Hand Of The Man/Trees Chants And Hollers/The Other Method et al). Labrecque’s string work makes reference to the lonesome sound of Sandy Bull and John Fahey while connecting with the experiments in contemporary American Primitive drone of Paul Metzger and Matthew Valentine. Quietly psychedelic and spellbindingly intimate. In full colour gatefold card sleeve. 

Duo project from Tom Carter of Charalambides and Marc Orleans of Sunburned Hand Of The Man. If you’ve caught any of the recent solo blats from Tom Carter since his relocation to NYC then you’ll know that that these days his guitar is fully set to shred and this is a stunning document of two string-thinkers working with maximal freedom and organic rhythms. The opening “Eyes Of Jewels, Mirrored Bodies” marries Orleans great fingerpicking style – which comes from a similar place to Glenn Jones – to Tom’s wild west coast style. Later tracks explode the blueprint even further, marring a 90s underground feel for squeal with an immolating post-Sonny Sharrock aesthetic. Easily one of the wildest sides either of these guys have cut. 150g vinyl with download. 

Second release from the label that brought us the phenomenally popular Trees, Chants & Hollers from Valerie Webb and Paul Labrecque. The Other Method is that duo’s electric/horns group and No Bridges No Walls gathers recordings that date from the same time as their previous release, One Eye Love Is and also features Michael Kay from Sunburned Hand Of The Man. This is electronics, horns, vocals and drums bent with the same kind of elastic ferocity as yr favourite brass-devouring free jazz duo. Also touches on some nice zones of chattering delay that summon up visions of small constellations melting into slow blobs of tone somewhere in the throat of Marshall Allen midway through Phil Niblock’s Sun Ra film The Magic Sun as well as some subtle, almost modal trance pieces that will please fans of Trees, Chants…Limited to only 150 copies.

Wild side of freaked psych rock, psychotic almost-sound poetry, brokedown drones, Basil Kirchin-style tape manipulation and wayward Ubu-styled avant garage from a big band led by David Russell on vocals and electronics and featuring John Moloney of Sunburned Hand Of The Man on drums, electronics and guitar and a bunch of North East heads including guest appearances by Matthew Valentine and Conrad Capistran. Can’t quite get my head around it, is this like a free-folk Gary Wilson with a penchant for homemade psychedelic concrete? A puzzlingly beautiful release, edition of 500 copies.

All proceeds from the sale of this release will go to Tom Carter. Read more about the appeal here: http://www.volcanictongue.com/tomcarterappeal

Excellent new jukebox 7” from the duo of Tom Carter (Charalambides) and Marc Orleans (Sunburned Hand Of The Man), here joined by Betsy Nichols (Michael Hurley) on vocals and Michael Evans on drums for a full-band sound: very different in tone and attack from their Northern Spy LP, this is fantastic set of vaguely country-tinged hunch and European psychedelic volk. The a side is a gorgeous composition by Tom with his and Betsy’s vocals intertwining with alla the beauty of Gila’s classic Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee before Tom makes with a wild psychedelic fuzz solo. Orleans’ track on the flip has a fantastic sepia-toned early SF feel that’s somewhere between the original Charlatans, the International Submarine Band and early Dead. Totally great. More please!

Fantastic looking/sounding LP that upgrades what was originally a self-released Heroine CD-R: live from-the-pit ringside action from Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder with highlights from their winter 2006 UK tour. This one features the full set from their 31/1/07 in Sheffield, in the UK . The line-up here is stripped to just MV and EE and it’s a particularly luminous set, with a track listing that runs “Cold Rain”, “Tea Devil”, “Boo Woe”, “Anthem Of The Cocola Y&T”, “Suspended In The Sky”, “Mine All Troubled Blues” and “Freight Train”. Edition of 500 copies with full colour sleeves, insert and liners from MV and EE. Highly recommended.

Self-released COM in a numbered run of only 99 copies packaged with full colour sleeves and inserts from the duo of Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder. Long OOP. A collection of massively dosed studio recordings, Liberty Rose opens with beams of elegiac solo guitar before dropping into a classic slow-burning jag with puffs of echo/delay damaged vocals melting into hallucinatory afterimages while Erika slides quicksilver runs all the way down your spine. “Crow Jane Environs” has a deep desert feel that could almost be Mu if it wasn’t for Erika’s oracular vocals and MV’s post-Takayanagi soloing. The stark, stripped down version of “Death Is My Friend” features a stunning/chilling vocal performance from Erika and Doc Dunn joins the duo for the last two tracks, with “Out In Space” as dazed and lonely as anything on Skip Spence’s Oar and “Streams” featuring clouds of lucid unison vocals that you could disappear inside. I guess at this stage Child Of Microtones has the same relationship to the Ecstatic Peace releases that Richard Youngs’ No Fans imprint has to his releases on Jagjaguwar, functioning as a repository for some of the most psychedelic, experimental and personal music to escape from the personal stash. And this is a major instalment. Dedicated to Dr Ragtime. Highly recommended.

“Fantastic set by Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder from the recent UK tour in February 2010 recorded at the Brudenell Social Club, Leeds.  On this one the duo are joined by local resident Mick Flower on bass for the whole set and the Doozer provides blues harp on a couple of tracks.  Whilst this is the same line-up and a similar set as those played in Manchester and Coventry a few days later (captured on recent Heroine releases "(Bad) Blood on the Doozer's Guitar" and "Electric Wharf (Conventrian)") this is well worth checking out as it has quite a different sound: more agressive, bit faster and really good mix on the sonics.  Firstly, this 'bootleg' comes from two composite mixes to get it right and it shows with a much clearer recording than some of the other Heroine releases.  The set opens with "Cold Rain" which sounds sublime this time around; Mick's bass is less distorted, you can hear those melodic bass runs properly this time, and this is clearest I have heard Erika's firebird mandolin and lap steel outside of a spectrasound recording.  About four minutes in MV drops a beautiful solo with single melting notes ringing out, great version.  Next up is "Get Right Church" which is the only performance from the set which does not have such a hard edge.  Instead it is a much more authentic blues rendition which reminds me of the electric blues recordings from Chess Studios circa 1950s.  The Doozer's blues harp is simple 3-note riffs but with effective note bending in the style of Junior Wells or Little Watler, and MV's clean, single note solos sound like Hubert Sumlin.  Midway through MV produces some delicate clean wah-wah reminiscent of Hendrix's "Up from the Skies" before bursting into a fuller onslaught for the song's close.  If the versions of this song from the No Floor Tour were blues rock at their finest, then this version is simply electric blues at its finest.  Dedicated to Jo Ann Kelly who I'm sure would have approved.  "Summer Magic" returns to the more frazzled playing on this set with the opening chords being laden in wah-wah and hammered out relentlessly throughout.  Really like the version of "Environments" on this set of shows with the sitar-sounding meanderings going into waves of raga induced chord-like crescendos which whip up a frenzy.  Sounds a bit like a live take on "Jook Enthusiast", the opening track from the latest COM release "Bollywoe". Finally, a few seconds of fuzz signals the descent from "Environments" into one of the heavier versions of "Canned Happiness" I have heard, even without drums.  Not much canned boogie, only a full-on feedback onslaught just to prove they can melt guitars better than Courtis / Moore, yeah right! Only question remains, did Mick Flower's house feature in the top ten middens? Great sonics.  Highly recommended.” – Andrew Ross

“Deep, dark-edged sounding duo set from Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder recorded back in November 2010. With so many sets released recently with various augmented line-ups I’d almost forgotten how much I enjoy these duo exchanges. Around this time there were a few acoustic duo shows with Woods but here we are treated to a sublime electric duo version. Opener “Cold Rain” has an extended four minute intro with slightly alternative opening chords and some lucid guitar playing before the familiar finger-picked chords emerge. There’s a nice echoey feel to the vocals which give the track a bit of haunted feel. Slightly different sounding version that is well worth checking out.  Next up is a really trashed version of “I Got Caves In There”. Previous versions with light finger-picked acoustic guitar are replaced by heavy strumming of the chords laden thick with overdrive. MV attacks the strumming guitar almost relentlessly, even when mouth harp is added, giving this quite a dark edge and maybe reminding me of Lou Reed or some loner biker psych record like Purling Hiss.  Again Erika’s vocals sound excellent in the mix laden with vocal FX. This is followed by the recorded live debut of “Crow Jane” originally from “Liberty Rose” (COM34). The picked melancholy guitar chords with the addition of Erika’s almost weeping slide guitar, the eerie sounding vocals combined with the traditional lyrics, give this a real haunting feel reminiscent of traditional dark folk ballads. This segues into a really different version of “Environments” which employs the raga banjo but the initial improvised lines have a real celtic or traditional folk melody to them reminding me of Davy Graham or even Robbie Basho. This then erupts into frantically strummed raga chords creating walls of pure sound. This segues into the set closer of “Huna Cosm” which was one of the highlights of the recent “Steal Yr Slice” tour. That version is played here but with the absence of Mick’s bassline the strummed guitars are replaced by gently picked delicate chords. The result being a sublime fragile version with a real late night loner psych feel to it; Erika’s weeping slide guitar drawing heavy on the soul.
Overall, a set which runs “Cold Rain”, “I Got Caves In There” and “Crow Jane” into “Environments” into “Huna Cosm”. A set which has a real dark or melancholic undercurrent to it –always great to hear how MV&EE can interpret and rework their material in radically different ways – a real keeper for sure. It’s blasted wavelength, it’s alternative frequencies. It’s highly recommended.” – Andrew Ross. 

“Alternative version of what was originally the Home Comfort LP on Woodsist. Initially this version was only available direct at the shows on the “April Flower” tour. The idea was that this would be the same tracks and running order as the original live compilation Home Comfort LP but with the selected versions chosen from completely different sources. Although all the alternative versions have previously been available as part of their respective shows this compilation has been carefully pieced together with great packaging replicating the original. All versions feature the core line-up of Matthew Valentine, Erika Elder and Mick Flower. Listening to these tracks again out of their original shows or next to tracks from other shows put these into a completely new context and thus a completely different experience for the listener. It’s fascinating to hear another set of three versions of environments sitting alongside each other and comparing the radically different interpretations on different performances. The version from “Hot Breezer” (which was previously un-credited) is a transcendental raga pinned by a high-sounding tabla with eastern blues infused lucid meanderings.  This sounds radically different from the wild version played at the Shambala festival (Hit The Midway (Laser Prosody)) which featured the full deployment of environ drums and space FX.  Another highlight of this compilation is the version of “Get Right Church” from Econoline Natives.  This was initially only available as a super-limited Heroine release and also on last year’s “No Floor Tour” cassette box set on Blackest Rainbow. If you did not manage to secure a copy of either of these then this is reason alone you should check this out as it remains my hands-down favourite version of the track. The compilation has been carefully put together with all tracks being phased together despite coming from different live sources. On the original Home Comfort the versions of “Environments” were edited before being phased together but the full alternative versions are made available here. The cover has also been carefully restored. The original Home Comfort LP was also available in a very limited edition on Woodsist offshoot label Hello Sunshine (HS-001). Compared to the original cover sleeve this was a black and white paste on photocopy. It is this rarer version that has been replicated for the Alt Hardcore cover right down to the detail of the record label address on the back. The compilation also comes with a fold-out printed sheet of all the performances, alternative source and players replicating the sheet of the original. Printed and packaged in a plastic slipcase in the usual Heroine style.  Overall, a worthwhile compilation that works in its own right. It’s alternative home comfort, it’s alternative hardcore.” – Andrew Ross.

“Delightful archival release from the duo of Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder from the Village Tavern, Mount Pleasant from back in January 2009.  Part of the 20 plus date tour from January 2009 to support the then new Drone Trailer album tentatively titled the Drone Trails tour. Not surprisingly the sets from this tour draw heavily from that album’s material with at least four or five songs included in the setlist. This tour has been fairly well represented so far by previous releases Space, Bill Lee Versus Powerman Or King Tubby’s Homestead, Expo 1 and a personal favourite, the live on air radio show of Mutron Lovers. These sets are all particularly memorable for me as they demonstrate the sonic dynamics of both sounds of the duo format; and this set is no exception. From the stripped, raw, almost primitive sounding numbers of two guitars and vocals next to the numbers where they really push the ‘possibilities’ of the duo format to its extreme with some really exploratory sounds, like two sonic alchemists, trying to recreate the psychedelic sounds of tracks like “Huna Cosm” and “Weatherhead Hollow”. In fact these sets are notable, with the exception of some trio performances with Willie Lane later in the year, as the only recorded live performances of the psychedelic opus that is “Weatherhead Hollow” – a major cause for celebration round these parts. If that wasn’t enough this is a strange recording with, at times, a bit of background noise that seems to add to the occasion including a game of pool. You can even hear the clinking of the balls giving this its Gene Pool title. That said, this is an incredibly clear sounding recording with the vocals really high in the mix and Erika’s pedal steel never sounding better.
The set opens with “The Hungry Stones” played as a delicately finger-picked country folk blues.  The dual vocals sound particularly beautiful on this one mixed with some heart rendering pedal steel guitar and some fat bends on the blues harp; a real treat. Next up is one of the set’s highlights with a sublime version of “Huna Cosm” which can best be described as fragmented deconstructed psychedelic space blues. This is played super slow, like the original studio version, almost collapsing at times and loosely held together by single gently plucked chords laced in space FX. Erika’s pedal steel at times sounds like some kind of electronic oscillator. At 1m phased space vocals appear with echo FX to add to the occasion. Also a great guitar solo on this around 3m with looped backward guitar sounds and delay FX. Compared to recent live versions that sound like some kind of Mississippi swamp blues this is more PK Dick than Howlin’ Wolf. This segues into a real primitive sounding version of Drone Trailer opener “Anyway”, stripped here of its full Golden Road treatment compared to the studio version.  An acoustic driven country rocker with Erika delivering a vocal reminiscent of that one from “Death Is My Friend” (from Liberty Rose - COM34) or even “Freight Train” (from Lunar Blues – COM16).  There are a couple of great frazzled garage fuzz sounding guitar solos from MV at 2m12s and again at 3m50s. Next up is “Cold Rain” with the ‘gene pool’ in full effect adding some strange percussion over the delicately finger-picked chords at the start. There is a really lucid psychedelic solo at 2m53s on this one with backward guitar which is a real treat. The set closes with the other major highlight which is the psychedelic opus known as “Weatherhead Hollow”. Following the dark sounding opening verses at 3m22s, stabs of whiplashing wah-wah guitar appear interspersed with lucid meanderings. This develops into a really loose jam. Towards the end about 8m or so the song breaks into a passage almost solely built around feedback with some really explorative sounds. This is not unlike some of the moments from the guitar triptych from Herbcraft’s recent Ashram To The Stars LP.  At about 11m or so this descends further into strange space guitar, pulsating feedback and the sound of roaring rocket engines. Forget phasers, set sonics to stun. Overall, a set which runs: “The Hungry Stones”, “Huna Cosm”, “Anyway”, “Crowd Control Rap”, “Cold Rain”, “Uranian Ray Request” and “Weatherhead Hollow”. Great mix of dynamics on this one from a great run of shows.  Personal highlights include the real explorative sounds and jams pushing the duo format on numbers like “Huna Cosm” and “Weatherhead Hollow”. It’s deeeep and it’s highly recommended.” – Andrew Ross. 

“Totally killer set from the duo of Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder joined by Canadian Mike ‘Muscox’ Smith. Really recent set recorded at Casa del Popolo, Montreal, QC from April 2011 from a run of three random shows following the April Flower Tour. Been really admiring the bass playing of Muscox lately ever since hearing those bass runs from the archival Double Double Raw set which were pure Jack Casady. Combined with his recent contributions to the Country Stash LP and his acoustic bass playing on “Ease My Eyes” from MV’s solo LP which was so pure and organic I was almost salivating for this one to arrive. And the resounding conclusion is that it is does not disappoint on any level.
Opener “Cold Rain” is simply sublime with the most beautiful interplay between MV’s guitar and Muscox’s bass that is pure Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh. If “Dark Star”-era Dead is your kinda thing then you have got to check this out. The extended four minute intro with the art of weaving between guitar, bass and slide (even incorporating the use of some harmonics) gets me every time. Following the verse this splits into a super psychedelic lucid jam in the middle. So many live versions of “Cold Rain” exist but each time they seem to find a slightly different arrangement that never disappoints – a great version that’s a real keeper for sure. Next up is “Tea Devil” which borrows the Country Stash arrangement but interesting to hear it played slightly differently without Mick Flower. It is mixed up a bit here with more of a start-stop version between stanzas with Erika at times almost whispering the vocals. There is some great guitar with one of those Takashi Mizutani sounding solos at 5m55s as well as those high-end chords mixed with some backward guitar. At about eight minutes or so the song breaks into a fairly lucid jam; there is a great new extended bass lead passageway at the end that is laced with some pretty psychedelic guitar that finally segues into “Crash Palace of Records”. With the exception of “Tea Devil” this is the first live recording of the new material from “Country Stash”.  With Muscox having already applied his trade to the original studio version this is a sweet sounding live version with a great backward guitar solo. If it couldn’t get any better there is a re-worked version of “Environments” which sounds dramatically different to some of the recent live arrangements. It opens with some lucid meanderings on the banjo, but slightly less like the strong eastern raga versions of late, with a slight celtic edge sounding somewhere between Davy Graham and Paul Metzger. This is combined with some space FX sounding slide guitar and subtle walls of intermittent feedback that sound like pulsating orbs. This breaks into some slowly plucked melodic chords which are looped before returning to the banjo. The banjo passages sound much more carefully considered with as much respect for space as flurries of notes, repeating certain passages as if chanced upon. There is also some kosmische flute added courtesy of Muscox which seals the deal, coming over like a cross between Traffic and some meditation jam. At about 7m more frantically strummed raga passages appear accompanied by jazz-like runs on the flute. The addition of percussion at 10 minutes then gives way to the introduction of Muscox’s bass and some beautiful high-end melodies. The frantically strummed walls of raga chords and feedback appear at 11 minutes with MV then swapping banjo for guitar.  The song closes with some light sounding tabla drums, a real organic bass groove and some further wild atonal electric guitar! - this version is really that good. This segues into a real transcendental version of “Drone Trailer” with some delightfully melodic solo expressions from MV mixed with Erika’s pedal steel as part of the song’s extended intro. This is a beautifully restrained version with some heart-breaking harp and Muscox pinning it down throughout. The set closes with the road anthem of “Feelin’ Fine”.
Overall, a set which runs: “Cold Rain”, “Tea Devil” into “Crash Palace Of Records”, “Musk Atom Heart Shout Out”, “Environments” into “Drone Trailer”, and finally “Feelin’ Fine”. This is a great set with personal highlights including the guitar weaving on “Cold Rain”, the lucid jam at the end of “Tea Devil” and a radically different sounding version of “Environments” which works a number of new ideas and themes. For me there’s always something new in each Heroine release but this one feels a bit special. It’s highly recommended.” – Andrew Ross.

Stunning new LP from the duo of Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder with a revolving cast of guest players that includes Mick Flower (Vibracathedral Orchestra/Flower-Corsano et al), Doc Dunn, Coot Moon, Asa Irons, Jeremy Earl (Woods), John Moloney (Sunburned), Rafi Bookstaber (Aswara et al), Willie Lane and J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr). Space Homestead feels like the ultimate pulling-together of a buncha conceptual threads that have run through recent MV sides, with a mix of atmospheres and production styles that best showcase the range and depth of the duo’s vision. There are haunting feedback/choralse scored for twin lap steels that mix Kraut drones with the pointillist kosmische of Scorces, acoustic barn-burners with vocals that are as narcoleptic and F/X dosed as anything on Spacemen 3’s Perfect Prescription, harmonica/jug band stomps and hollers and a buncha massively extended jams that trade rhythmic confusion for the feel of laminal environments that confuse live jams with brain-boggling studio/tape creations. Indeed, some of the heaviest tracks – “Sweet Sure Gone”, “Porchlight>Leaves” – are credited as being recorded across several studios and several time periods, giving the set a parallel Anthem Of The Sun feel, with a sidereal production style that blends hallucinatory studio spectra with bandstand rocking live jams. Best of all, MV gets plenty of solo space and by this point the arc of his trails lead all the way to a re-formulation of fuzz that owes as much to Sonny Sharrock, Ray Russell and Masayuki Takayanagi as it does to Crazy Horse and Quicksilver Messenger Service. Space Homestead feels like the apex of the MV trip to date and is very highly recommended!

“Totally killer new cassette box set compilation from Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder in an edition of only 180 copies with a bunch of line-ups which brings the MV&EE live archive right up to date: the set functions as a ‘best-of’ with four complete shows from the period between where last year’s Suub Duub Tour left off to the current Spacetime~Spacemind Tour.  The recordings themselves have been done via matrix mixes and the quality is as good as the best Heroine recordings.  The line-ups are suitably varied, featuring the Toasted Clam (Rongoose and John Mo’lo) on one set and various Golden Road line-ups including two with the Home Comfort wing (Rongoose and Smokehound) and one with the Herb Comfort wing (Matt Lajoie and Smokehound).  In fact these sets are notable for the recorded debut of Smokehound Carson on drums which is a masterful addition to the Golden Road sound.  There’s a subtle deftness of touch to his playing which brings a great energy to the performances.  At times the interplay of the rhythm section (whether with Rongoose or Herbcraft) is so fluid and organic in a real tight but loose type style that it touches on electric 70s Miles in places, underpinning some massively extended jams of wildman psychedelic blues from MV who sounds like he’s possessed by the ghost of “Wobbly Hall”.  There are some serious improvised passages on this one with the sets running from 48 to 79 minutes.  There is considerable variation in the choice of tracks making this feel like your desert discs of your 4 favourite Heroines.  Combined with a fantastic booklet and the usual great presentation from Blackest Rainbow this is a seriously great set.  Perhaps it’s because there haven’t been any Heroines for a while but I can’t remember enjoying listening to a bunch of MV&EE sets in as long and it’s definitely my favourite MV&EE tape box set on Blackest Rainbow so far.  For the COMpletists the set highlights, rare tracks, etc. covered briefly below in chronological order:

Meals Pot Amia (Highlawn House Party, Brattleboro, VT 22/9/11)

Set from a random run of shows between the Suub Duub and Number of Number tours in the fall / winter of 2011: picking up where from the Suub Duub Box Set (COM 37) left off, this one features the Toasted Clam.  Set opens with “Flow My Ray” with the highlight being the extended guitar solo from MV featuring some beautiful phrasing in his playing.  Throughout the set there are some really intricately phrased passages from MV offset against monoliths of Hunter S. Thompson Benzedrine-fuelled walls of Tokyo-style guitar shredding later in the sets.  Next up is “Crash Palace of Records” which features a great extended space FX guitar solo which gives way to “Crash Space” – an amazing Dark Star-era atmospheric jam with some great jazz-like bass runs from Rongoose.  This segues into “Jam” which sounds like your favourite interstellar space guitar jam and will have you reaching for the stratosphere.   The remainder of the set is a massive passage around “Tea Devil” (featuring the uncredited “Tea Jam”) into “Environments”, with the sort of elongated jams of dysfunctional blues that seem to turn themselves inside out that only the Toasted Clam are capable of delivering.  Set finishes with “Fire on the Mountain” into house party closer “Freight Train”.

Vegas Booyah (First Unitarian Church, Burlington, VT 29/1/12)

Following the 3-weekend residency at the Zebulon Sessions this was the first show proper of the year and is notable as the recorded live debut of Smokehound Carson on drums: set opens with “Crash Palace of Records” with again, an amazing electro space FX guitar solo from MV.  Next up is “Crow Jane Environs” with another beautifully phrased solo mixed with eerie oscillating atmospherics courtesy of Smokehound who drops some serious space FX, vibes and traps on this one. This has really developed from the more Albion-folk version from the April Flower tour.  Next is a version of “The Burden” – previous versions had a country flavour but with Smokehound’s drumming this is re-invented a folk-rock stomp which could have come off Fifth Dimension.  Next is the set’s opus, a mind-blowing passage which goes “Tea Devil > Hammer > Jam > Easy Livin’”.  This is the sort of jam with MV guitar shredding over a sort of 70s Miles groove that will have you salivating and coming back to time and time again – you need to hear this.  Set closes with “Get Right Church”.

Townie Tumbleweeds (Headroom Stages, Brattleboro, VT 10/3/12)

Another random show from during the period of rehearsals for the upcoming Spacetime~Spacemind tour and just before the release of Space Homestead: this one features the Home Comfort wing again and is a massive set clocking in at around 79 minutes.  This one opens with “Flow My Ray” and “Crash Palace of Records” with more of those space FX atmospherics during the uncredited “Crash Space”.  The set’s highlight is again two massive passages which go “Hammer > Space Blues > Crow Jane Environs” and “Environments > Sublime Jam > Tea Devil > Jam  > Common Ground”.  This is absolutely mind-blowing and again worth the entry fee alone.  Far too many highlights from the epic lysergic possessed guitar shredding on “Hammer” to the crazy Dark Star-era psychedelic blues of “Space Blues” to the cosmic space FX intro of “Crow Jane” to the atmospheric vibes and tabla drums on “Environments” – you need to hear this!  Notable for the first inclusion of material from Space Homestead with a real transcendental version of “Common Ground” during the come down.  Set closes again with “Get Right Church”.

Jettison Awareness (The Whitehaus, Jamaica Plain, MA 12/5/12)

Bringing us right up to date with a set from the Spacetime~Spacemind tour: this one features a line-up with Herbcraft on bass and Smokehound on drums.  The combination of the rhythm section on this is just as electrifying and overall this set has a real kinda basement jam feel to it – again clocking in at 66 minutes. Set starts with “Crash Palace of Records” but is then notably different with a significant amount of material from the latest album, running through “Shit’s Creek” and “Leaves” into “Common Ground”.  The highlight being the Crazy Horse-style epic slow blues of “Leaves” with a monolithic guitar jam that will have you peeling yourself from the walls.  “Common Ground” again has that transcendental quality with some delightful wah-wah infused playing from MV.  The material from Space Homestead was always going to lend itself to some extended live jams and this is no more notable than on this set with some amazing variation and phrasing in MV’s playing.   A further jam of “Tea Devil > Environments > Wandering Nomad” seals the deal.  This features an incredible four-way vocal passage on Tea Devil with Smokehound laying down some tom-infused tribal drums as the mojo is rising.  Also notable for never before live version of “Wandering Nomad” from Barn Nova which has a real trashed basement / garage feel landing somewhere between The Standells and Crazy Horse.  Set closes with a hilarious shout out for “Best It Ever Was” (GPS33 7”) which somehow results in a primitive cover version of the Beatles “I’m Only Sleeping”.  

Overall, a mind-blowing box set covering four really varied sets.  Dig the reference to the Grateful Dead Europe Tour ’72 maestro in the title.  With all the shows played ‘locally’ in or around Brattleboro something about the cover art which I imagine to be the sun rising over the hills of Vermont seems to typify the ‘Home Comfort’ vibe perfectly.  This is a great one from Blackest Rainbow, it comes with a free download and is highly recommended.” – Andrew Ross. 

Stunning vinyl upgrade for what was originally a series of ultra-limited ‘Compendium Discs/Digital 78s’ released as companion volumes to Dredd’s Kissing The Contemporary Bliss album by Heroine Celestial Agriculture: Blues Sermon With Congregation is basically a trio set, with Dredd Foole aka Dan Ireton on vocals and guitar backed by Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder in full-on Spectrasound head-fuck mode. Christina Carter also guests on one track, here credited as Christiina Madoniia. Dredd’s 1994 album, In Quest Of Tense remains one of the key founding free folk documents and over the years his personal vision of freak has made for some of the most sublime reconciliations with folk form, song, free improvisation and ecstatic body soundings. Blues Sermon... represents his furthest pass through the realm of unknown tongue, with dense string environments that combine the kind of wood and wire vortices of Alan Silva and the Revolutionary Ensemble with *those* amazing post-Starsailor/Buckley vocal flights, keening in a high cosmo style that is just impossibly beautiful. With free folk the emphasis was always on the free part of the equation, an improvisatory stance that was lost on most beards but this is the absolute apex of that approach, think Robbie Basho’s spine-tingling take on “Salangadou” as played by Don Cherry’s Organic Music Society and with Pat Kilroy on form-destroying raga guitar and feedback visions. MV & EE generate some of their most F/X heavy sonic environments, Christina Carter ascends through visions of atonal vocal/guitar bliss and the trio rip through a take on Robert Johnson’s “Stones In My Pathway” that sounds like it is being broadcast over centuries via Sun Ra’s vision of tomorrow in yesterday. A stunning avant/folk/psych private press masterpiece in an edition of only 400 copies. Highest possible recommendation!

Stunningly rendered deluxe vinyl upgrade for what was originally Willie Lane’s debut 2006 solo album released as a limited CD-R on MV&EE’s Child Of Microtones imprint: Willie Lane’s guitar stylings orbit a similar blues cosmos to Matt Valentine, with string concepts that draw as much from Loren Mazzacane, Pat Kilroy and Conny Veit as they do from late Fahey. Lane is a record hound of considerable renown and has osmosed a whole raft of backwards alphabets in his time, meaning that the arc of his various instrumental compositions is never as straightforward as your average folk-toking guitar slinger. The atmosphere here is as spectral as a your favourite worn through 78, albeit tarred with a muzz of deep-space gloop, and the way he navigates cold, bleak space with nothing but thin breaths of silver makes for a pretty unique throatful of gum. Totally great. Features a guest appearance from Erika Elder on cumbus and flute. Produced by Matt Valentine in MV Spectrasound and with classy liner notes from MV too. Highly recommended!

Fantastic live recording from Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder’s recent 2012 UK tour: massively extended form here, with stretch-out versions of album tracks that confuse notions of time and space with all of the cold, dark majesty of Sandy Bull-plays-Taj Mahal Travellers. A version of “Workingman’s Smile” that is pure desert/country/soul, an epic take on “Shit’s Creek”, a massive “Too Far To See>Too Far Jam>Tea Devil” and, especially, an internally explosive finale “Environments>Feelin’ Fine”. Recorded in Bristol 9/23/12. Highly recommended!

A very special duo set with an inspired, one-off track listing from a particularly euphoric and open-ended show at Zebulon, Brooklyn, NY 10/20/11: this is an absolute blast and a real fan pay-off with a great Dylan ’65/early Airplane reading of “Flow My Ray” giving way to a mind-boggling jam that runs through “I Got Caves In There” into “Space Caves” and into Dylan’s “Simple Twist Of Fate” which in turn gives way to an amazing version of “Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie”. From there we get a dynamic “Feedback” into a particularly dosed “Environments” into “Tea Jam”. This one has hardly been off the table and is classic ‘good feelin’’ set from this always inspired duo. Highly recommended!

Massively-heavy duo set from Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder: recorded 10/26/09 at The Elevens, Northampton, MA in dazzling Spectrasound this one has a raggedy avant country edge with acoustic zoners that explode into fuzz and some super-downer acoustic improvisations that have a hillbilly Incus edge illuminated by very intimate vocals and some of their most hushed space environments. Great set list that runs from “Home Comfort” into a stunning “Jacked Up>Jacked Jam>Mine All Troubled Blues>In The Mines Jam>Feelin’ Jam>Environments>Feelin’ Fine” motherlode jam. Highly recommended! 

Amazing deep-space pristine live recording from Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder with Smokehound on drums: this was recorded at PJ’s Lager House in Detroit, MI on 8/6/12 and it’s a spectacular stone. The sound quality is simply fantastic, super clear but with enough smoke to smudge the sonics. Some of the environments are massively dislocated, with looped space drums and the kinda elemental atmospherics of Angus MacLise-plays-Takehisa Kosugi. The slide guitars are particularly lucid and the way MV and EE’s vocals twine around each other is fairly exhilarating. Fantastic set list too, with inspired raps and definitive rips through core material like “Workingman’s Smile”, “Shit’s Creek”, an amazing “Too Far To See>Too Far Jam>Common Ground” jam and a final “Wandering Nomad>Environments>Feelin’ Fine.” Highly recommended! 

Ultimate deluxe box set of live material from Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder, documenting their entire three-weekend residence at The Zebulon in New York City that took place in January 2012 in a stunning self-released edition of only 99 copies: the set-up in January was that every Sunday night MV & EE would present three sets with massively different configurations, all drawn from the Golden Road inner circle: Rongoose, Smokehound, Steve Gunn, Herbcraft, Willie Lane, Jeremy Earl & Jarvis Tavenier (Woods) and P.G. Six. So across this seven CD-R set, packaged in a large hard card fold-out book ala the Suub Duub and April Flower sets, there are acoustic shows, all-instrumental Environment-al blow-outs, full-on guitar army ‘septuplet’ bombs, nifty garage band rave-ups and deliriously extended jams. The set lists are particularly choice, drawing heavily on Drone Trailer material (which seems like a particularly endless font of potential reinvention at this point) while reaching deep into the back catalogue for some inspired re-toolings.
But the big news here is the presence of multi-track recorders, sound boards and room mics, meaning that the entire residency was captured in ultra hi-fi and skullfuck-deep Spectrasound. While Heroine-fi speaks in the kinda tongue that is undeniably volcanic, it is nothing short of a blast to hear this amazing music rendered with such clarity and magnificence.
“East Mountain Joint” is, for me, rapidly becoming MV & EE’s “Playing In The Band”, in the way it celebrates something that might initially seem kinda hokey by using it as a launching pad for the kind of inspired jams that the song was talking about in the goddamn first place. The version on “Skullbong/Pudding Tone” here, taken from the electric set on the second weekend w/Smokehound and Herbcraft, is an absolute revelation, poised on the perfect axis between endless riff-roll euphorics and sensual dissolve in F/X bliss. Indeed, the whole set is a peach and perfectly demonstrates the way that MV & EE can sail the void – and make you feel like you’re sailing it too – with nothing but the sound of one note and the next.
The ‘Beyond’ set from the first weekend – appropriately titled “See Ya” - presents a single 26 minute long ‘Environment’ from MV, EE, Rongoose, Smokehound and Gunn that sounds like the goddamn sun coming up over the Hudson-as-Ganges with the kind of constantly peaking modal string action that would give Kalacakra the bends.
The electric set from week three has a particularly celebratory feel, with the dream-team line-up of MV, EE, Willie Lane, Jeremy Earl, Jarvis Tavenier and P.G. Six played in a hyped-up teen garage band style that pretty much explodes classics like “Canned Happiness”, “Tea Devil > Powderfinger”, “Get Right Church” and more.
The ‘acoustic’ set from week three might be the most fractured and puzzlingly ‘Corwood’ of the box, with MV & EE joined by Willie Lane who is on particularly unfathomable form, working entry and exit points through amazing versions of “Drone Trailer” and “Feelin’ Fine” with alla the individual precision of a ballistics expert.
Erika’s vocal are at their disembodied, calling-over-time best while MV makes with the kinda vocoder blues that confuses man/machine like no one this side of Klaus Dinger.
Barley able to touch on the many highlights and surprises on this endlessly great set but suffice it to say that this functions as the ultimate MV & EE live box to date and stands as perhaps the greatest articulation of the many tentacles they have sprouted over the years. Expect to spend the best part of 2013 in here. All individually hand-assembled in the usual OTT/deluxe COM style, complete with a full-size booklet featuring in-depth commentary, full track details and liners from MV and Coot Moon. Highest possible recommendation.