A Number Of Small Things/Newest shop articles

Radio People - Radio People 15,99 €

Radio People is the latest project from Ohio-stalwart, Sam
Goldberg. For his debut vinyl, Goldberg has compiled the best
elements of three, long-gone cassettes. This Dubplates &
Mastering cut slab of wax is the strongest statement Goldberg
has made, proving his talent lies far beyond ambient
soundscapes and well into the world of pop-infused synthesizer
chaos and kraut-inspired composition. Major hooks sit
alongside dense planetary drones. Goldberg pairs rivers of
polysynth tracery with deep shards of droning organs, minimal
live percussion and a whole host of drum machine backbone.
This really is the best of both worlds. Melodies suck you in,
beats get your head bobbing and then you're sucked down a
complex tonal wormhole of introspective loops and ambient
synthscapes.

Various Artists - Yes We Can – Songs About Leaving Africa 10,79 €

‘Barca mba Mbarzak’ - ‘Barcelona or hell’ - is the sentence every kid in Dakar grows up with: leave or die trying. Life is tough for many people in Africa, especially in the ever-expanding mega-cities like Dakar, Lagos and Nairobi where work is shared between millions and life is a hundred times more expensive than it was in the village. Getting to the west and the promise of a life with well-paid work is what is occupying everyone’s mind. With visas virtually impossible for the ordinary person to get and the internet and TV showing the life in Europe and the US, the image of Western life presses hard on the African mind. Paradise is just a canoe journey across the Atlantic away or a mad trek across the Sahara. Many thousands have died along the way, but thousands more have followed, even more determined to make it. Some have never been to school, don’t speak English, can’t swim, and do not know anyone where they are going. The thing that unites them is their determination: “Yes we can”, we can make it, get out, and live the life we have always dreamed of.
This compilation presents 15 artists from Africa and the Diaspora who share their perspective on migration. The CD starts with ‘(Still on a) Money Talk’ by Nigerian rapper Rapturous from Berlin: “Gimme the glitz, the glamour, the fame, the fortune, that euro, that dollar, that Dolce & Gabbana …” dreaming of what it could be like “if I follow my dreams”. Senegalese Hip Hop stars Daara J Family are present with the exclusive track ‘Unité 75’, named after the 75 Cfa that a phone call to Europe costs in Senegal. It addresses a problem many immigrants face: the pressure to send money back home, money they often do not have. Another well-known Senegalese rapper, Matador, talks about the growing alienation the youth feel towards their home country Senegal: “The youth protest, kids organise a petition. The police catch them and beat them till they’re silent … if they don’t smoke ganja or drink wine, I don’t know what they’ll do to forget the pain.”
The freestyle rappers of CAPSI revolution, also from Dakar, are even more cynical: “Illegal immigration … I know that you’re destroying my continent, you empty us of the best people, to feed the depths of the Atlantic.” In ‘Green card’ Wanlov from Ghana talks about getting to the USA by marrying an older white woman from Texas.
Martin Pecheur from Cameroon sheds light on another perspective behind migration: he is infected by the ‘virus des sapeurs’, a movement originally from Congo that worships western designer clothes. They embody the power of having made it. Celebrating one’s riches is also in the heart of the Coupe Decalé movement from Ivory Coast that has brought Africa a dance craze which consists of displaying the designer clothes acquired in Europe. Coupe Decalé is represented here by one of the stars of the movement: Kedjevara. Izé from Cape Verde sings about going home for a different reason: he feels homesick in Paris and wants to go back to his home country to party with a funana dance.
These 15 songs reflect some of the many different perspectives on migration. Each one tells a different story that is confusing and complex but one that is ultimately shared by many Africans all over the world.

Panda Bear - Tomboy 6,99 €

Donna Regina - The Decline Of Female Happiness 10,79 €

It's the way it's always been with electronica. To begin with it wasn't a genre at all, just like "Indie". It simply stood for all the electronic music that wasn't techno. That is, for a great deal of music. The absence of (straight) beats made this vague categorisation into a genre in its own right, and to put it simply, it became the music for mousy, introverted shoegazers and nerds. And so clear relations were set up: there are rockers, with and without guitars. And there are songwriters, with and without guitars. Let's call the rest electronica. That went on for so long until the word "electronica" was rightfully banished and locked into the broom cupboard of musical history.
Donna Regina have been around longer than electronica and the term never really fitted their music that well. After all, the duo from Cologne are really all about writing songs, not just producing tracks, and certainly not electronica. But you can't take such categorisation so literally. And if there's any band that can recite the A to Z of electronica in a song format, then its Donna Regina. They fit all the characteristics that we attribute to withdrawn and playful electronic music with all its nuances. Donna Regina are masters of reservation, allusion and vagueness. Only they are capable of keeping listeners in suspense in the way that they do. For example, the piece „Vague“ (Nomen est Omen!) with its really stunning Giorgio Moroder bass-line creates expectation right from the first note. They are knowingly building up tension and consistently holding that level right through to the end without ever letting up. For Donna Regina don't do anything that's too obvious. They make outlines, suggestions and fill in colours. But they avoid the obvious.
Donna Regina would rather play one note briefly than two for two long. They deliver a wonderful production that is sonically varied and full of ideas. Their sound and their songs are elegant and melancholy, in varying degrees. And for as long as anyone can remember Regina Janssen has been singing like the great Nico, who after all was also from the Rhein area. And yet „The Decline Of Female Happiness“ is somehow different. But Donna Regina wouldn't be Donna Regina if this difference was noticeable at first glance. It seems as if the band, or at least its front woman, is taking stock with this album. Not only in the title track does „The Decline Of Female Happiness“ deal with womanly situatedness and self-reflection. Loneliness, growing old and everyday life are used as topics. These songs speak of experience and perhaps also disillusionment. It's this sublime aloofness, which should be credited to the very under-appreciated Kinks, which makes „The Decline Of Female Happiness“ such a special album. This sober view of doubt and self-image ennobles the lyrics. And the music sounds equally at ease and experienced. A kind of unity of music and lyrics in song-writing that many strive towards, though few achieve. Continuity does pay off in the end.

F.S.Blumm & Nils Frahm - Music For Lovers, Music Versus Time 8,79 €

Music for lovers, music versus time. Isn't love the opposite of time? Time can seem to go on forever when you are in love, but the moment you begin to grasp at the passing days, hours, minutes, then love is already beginning to decay. 'You can't hurry love', as they say.
On this album, F.S.Blumm and Nils Frahm took the time to appreciate all the tiny details in a sound that many would never take the time to notice at all. Taking recordings culled from previous sessions of friends playing cellos, trumpets, vibraphones and more, the two Berliners began to improvise around these recordings and craft them into something far more abstract and expressive. Unleashed from the constraints of a 'pop song', these recordings began to take on a life of their own and whereas once they existed simply to serve the song, here they develop their own language where hair brushing against string or air vibrating across reed speaks volumes. To call this album a remix-album-in-disguise wouldn't do it justice, but somewhere in there, remnants of some of Blumm's 'pop' work with Old Splendifolia and Bobby & Blumm can be discovered.
For those people out there who categorise their record collection by genre, this album may cause difficulties. From one minute to the next, you can be thrown from the off-kilter midnight jazz of 'Heber' into the Ali Farka Toure-esque space lullaby of closing track, 'Wanda Marimba'. Blumm & Frahm's use of subtle processing and manipulation of the sound may at times remind listeners of Sweden's Tape: a comparison not given lightly. Both Blumm's expertise on guitar and Frahm's on piano are shown through restraint rather than through unnecessary 'overplaying', and ultimately their restraint is echoed through the other the aspects of this album.
There is an uncanny depth here which goes beyond what might first appear as simple arrangements. Even though stripped to their core, each songs holds enough goodness to continue to surprise with every listen. To unlock every hidden asset of these short stories in song form, you must let your thoughts wander through the annals created by the musical musings of two musicians putting love into every note. Take your time.

Geoff Mullen - Bongo Closet 5,79 €

Vinyl-only release, cut at dubplates & mastering

Limited to 500 copies only

Providence, Rhode Island operative Geoff Mullen has been working beneath the popular music radar for some time now, putting his name to a number of limited cassettes, cdrs and vinyl albums. It is hardly surprising that in that time he has developed something of a cult following in the New England scene, with live performances (solo and together with Keith Fullerton Whitman) and his own Rare Youth label garnering him a loyal throng of rabid fans.

Using the guitar, synthesizer and a selection of well-developed processes, Mullen has come up with a unique sound difficult to pigeonhole. Throughout the album the sounds feel so effortlessly unified that one can completely forget the individual instruments themselves. It is hard to believe that the synthesizer used (the legendary Yamaha CS50) is the baby brother of the CS80, heard so distinctively piped into Deckard’s electric dreams in Blade Runner. The distant, dusty tones and pulsating rhythms bring to mind instead memories of early Popol Vuh or something altogether more defiant. As a veteran guitarist, writing ‘Bongo Closet’ was Mullen’s search for different ways of playing music, and these weathered, deeply personal songs are the result. Rich with emotion and surprisingly detailed, there is the sense that the technology never informs the creative process. Mullen is using his chosen instruments without a care for what they can and can’t do – they are tools in the creation of his music, never the other way around.

‘Bongo Closet’ is an intensely human listening experience. Teeming with life and breathing as it coughs and splutters, there is an unavoidable attachment felt almost instantly as a listener. This is music that drags you in and simply refuses to let go.

Morr Music - Color Chains 25,00 €

Chronomad - Sayeh 2,79 €

Saam Schlamminger is Chronomad and Chronomad has a new record, that is a truly wild journey in three parts through an Middle Eastern sound cosmos. This is haunting music, a work packed with field recordings, ambiguous & ambitious.

Merge - Penguin Tote Bag 12,00 €

B: 46cm, H: 36 cm - unusual format!

Morr Music - Morr Woods 25,00 €

A Number Of Small Things - Cat 25,00 €

Altar Eagle - Mechanical Gardens 8,79 €

Brad Rose (aka The North Sea) is probably the last person you’d expect to see at the helm of a pop album. A folk record - maybe, a noise record – sure, but pop? Probably not. Yet that’s exactly what he and his wife Eden Hemming have done with ‘Mechanical Gardens’. The ALTAR EAGLE sound might not come as much of a shock for those cassette collectors who have managed to source copies of the duo’s now rare debut EPs, but for the rest of the world it should serve as a radical change in direction for one of experimental music’s most valuable sons.
The ear-splitting noise that enticed listeners on ‘Bloodlines’ is all but forgotten as Brad and Eden pick through shimmering dream-pop and cold-wave electronics with the greatest of ease. The quality is assured within minutes of the gorgeous Slowdive-esque opener ‘Battlegrounds’. Anchored by Eden’s humming, ethereal vocal tones, the song is a glorious statement of intent and while the band go into clubbier directions on the second half, this song is a gateway to their sound.
Possibly the biggest surprise on ‘Mechanical Gardens’ is the sound shift which occurs mid-way through the record, as the bubbling bliss of ‘B’Nai B’Rith Girls’ gives way to the abrasive electro growl of ‘Monsters’. Influenced in part by Eden’s long-time love affair with techno and Brad’s recent obsession with synthesizers, the duo strike a perfect middle ground between crumbling experimentation and pop excess. This is rarely better explored than on ‘Spy Movie’, a track that somehow combines the supposedly warring sounds of Juan Atkins and early My Bloody Valentine.
On ‘Mechanical Gardens’ Brad and Eden have created an album that revels in its grab-bag of influences, but somehow they have managed to emerge with a sound that is totally singular. It’s pop music for sure, but un-cynical, atypical and hugely enjoyable.

Norman Palm - Shore To Shore 14,99 €

Aslope - A Helping Hand - EP 5,79 €

Having not had an official release for some years, Hobby Industries is now back with a series of releases, with the first batch concentrating on new local Danish producers who inspires us with their take on electronic sounds in 2010.
Hobby was never dead or sleeping … just taking time off to concentrate on other parts of life, but still listening and experiencing the world of sound constantly delivering new exciting music to enjoy and find inspiration in. Especially the ever expanding UK bass sounds and the more hip hop influenced wonky ideas has giving us a new outlook which should be audible in the new releases, all wearing the Oh Boy! banner.
First up in the Oh Boy! series is new kid on the block, Aslope.
Aslope is the alias for 24 years old design student, Torsten Lindsø Andersen. As a freshman in electronic music, the resumee of Torsten is not a long bragging one. A few local remixes and concerts and that´s it… but don’t be fooled by this. Aslope knows his way with beats, bass and samples all produced with the Battery sampler.
Alongside forthcoming Hobby debutant, Nabo, Torsten is also a member of New Folder, a Copenhagen based DJ and producer collective who takes part in creating a healthy, vibrant and young scene of genre bending productions and ideas within club music.
Mark Pritchard, Nosaj Thing, and Gold Panda (who´s mix of Close, we are very proud to feature on this release), are all big names in the book of Aslope. The more reduced and smoked out Techno House productions from Border Community, Kompakt and the likes, are also a strong influence with it´s simple, yet well functioning productions for both club and headphones. All this should be audible in the music of Aslope.
Hobby Industries has always worked as a helping hand to artists we believed would be able to continue producing and releasing interesting music after the important first vinyl release. Most of them seem to have build careers from this, starting own labels or found more established ones to help them find a bigger audience. Our feeling is it could also happen to Aslope in the nearest future if he continues like this.
Watch out for forthcoming Ep´s by the likes of Nabo and Eloq, and ......

The North Sea - Bloodlines 5,79 €

Limited Vinyl Edition: Red Vinyl as long as stock lasts.

Brad Rose is an artist who is notoriously hard to pigeonhole. He might spend his days running the esteemed Digitalis imprint (sidelining the wonderful Foxy Digitalis webzine) but his nights are wiled away chiselling at the petrified corpse of experimental music. Donating sounds to Ajilvsga, Altar Eagle, Sea Zombies and Ossining (among many, many others) he has somehow found time to fashion a new solo work for Type and it could hardly be further removed from his last outing.
‘Bloodlines’ is an album rooted in synthesis – the kind of busted power electronics that emerged in the early 80s with Ramleh, Throbbing Gristle and Whitehouse. This is not however simply a noise album – Brad has anchored his sound in this explorative mode, but uses his expertise to take it far beyond murk, grit and fractured teeth. With the help of Zelienople drummer Mike Weis (who accompanies the entire record on percussion) the record is a gloriously spacious excursion, with the fizzing Radiophonic blips, drones and tones set against gongs, scrapes and clanks. The sounds are dark and often punishing – torturous and occasionally frightening, but Brad somehow manages to offset it with an occasional flourish of beauty or calm.
The record is cut into two distinct acts (split lovingly for vinyl listening) and each ‘song’ blends into the next giving a true album experience. ‘Bloodlines’ is not a simple collection of pieces but a distinct narrative from beginning to end. As it tumbles from 50s sci fi synth tones into haunting off-world terror there is a sense of purpose and most of all, place. Brad has created a record that might not be an easy listening experience, but is one which grows on every successive play. It is truly deep and intensely troubling music.

A Number Of Small Things - Cat 25,00 €

Thomas Köner - Nunatak, Teimo, Permafrost 15,79 €

Following on from three limited vinyl editions, Type now proudly presents a triple CD package including the first three, long unavailable and newly mastered albums from influential drone sounscapist Thomas Köner.
Since the release of these three albums in the early 90’s Köner has gone on to enjoy something akin to a cult status among musicians of all dispositions. His CV boasts not only a series of seminal albums under his own name but also membership of acclaimed Chain Reaction duo ‘Porter Ricks’ and, more recently, a number of works that have seen him occupy a respected position in the installation and sound art worlds.
Through the careful and measured use of gongs (recorded in different rooms and underwater) as well as homemade wind instruments, Köner’s early work would become a cornerstone of the genre and part of a tryptich of records which have never been bettered.
After far too many years in the out-of-print wilderness, it’s a source of immense satisfaction to finally be able to share this incredibly dark, immersive music with the world once again.

Pablo Mandelbrot - Hot Swap 1,79 €

Pablo Mandelbrot claims to be from Bar Harbor, Maine on the North-Eastern coast of the U.S.A. When asked about his upbringing he mentions various occupations including sardine canner and quota negotiator as well as hinting at some dark years spent working in the aqua-culture industry. About his music he says little, summing up his productions with the cryptic declaration: "Disco is a deep sea". We are not entirely sure where or when the two tracks on this 12" were recorded and the only information from Mandelbrot himself is that he has sometimes collaborated with the late Conny Plankton(who also engineered these two tracks), a legendary figure of the Maine/Nova Scotia electronic music scene. Pablo also insists that both tracks are "under exclusive license from Lob-Starr records", although we have never heard of this label and their representatives have yet to contact us.
We hope you enjoy these two slices of hypnoboogie disco, smoked, cured and de-boned for your convenience.

On (Reworked by Fennesz) - Something That Has Form And Something That Does Not 4,79 €

‘Something That Has Form And Something That Does Not’ is the third album from Sylvain Chauveau and Steven Hess under their On moniker, and continues their excavation of abstracted experimental sounds.
As with the previous records, improvisations were recorded in a studio in Chicago and then handed to a guest musician to rework in whichever way they saw fit.
This time around the guest musician is none other than experimental pioneer Christian Fennesz. Christian’s association with the band goes way back – he performed with them in 2004 as a trio so it seemed almost inevitable that a collaboration would emerge at some point, but this treatment truly takes the notion of collaboration to another place entirely.
Unlike ‘Your Naked Ghost Comes Back At Night’ (which was handled by dark-ambient master Deathprod), Fennesz has treated the source sounds with a distinct lightness, allowing them to creak and breathe. Occasionally you can hear the room itself ticking in the foreground – hands on drumsticks and feet on pedals. The sounds become the backbone of the intense, slow-building dronescapes that Fennesz pulls from the original recordings. We are treated to piercing noise as the album opens with a choir of feedback, but the cacophony gradually disperses to allow pulsing harmony and Steven Hess’s propulsive, metronomic drumming.
When we close on the blissful near 20-minute ‘The Sound Of White’, echoes of Fennesz’s best work drifts through the crackle and pulse of Chauveau’s prepared guitar and Hess’ distant percussion. These hypnotic patterns slowly rise and fall, giving the listener time to truly hear each subtle shift. This is not an exercise in easy listening – rather here is an album that demands close attention, and one where the beauty truly is in the details.

Hjaltalín - Terminal 10,79 €