Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Do Piano - Again


Here is a really, really nice French tune from 1985. The gentleman that sold it to me said it was a minor hit in his country back then. Imagine living in a world where this is popular music... The production is top quality and on the shorter side lengthwise- so the link is to a WAV file instead of the usual 320mp3.

Do Piano - Again

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Pacific Horizons 12"


The second Potion Lord affiliated record has been released. Two new songs wrapped in a sleeve featuring a painting by Jay Nelson. The first piece is The Forest Electric and, according to Piccadilly Records, is "hinting at that mid - late 70s dreamy soft rock sound." The second is Jack Parsons' Laboratory. A tune that the Spanish website Counting 9 describes as "hypnotic inner movement from the triangular form that warns you about the flood of feelings of this more acoustic piece... MAGIC AND SPECIAL." The Japanese record shop JetSet sums up the release as "chivalrous spirit Balearic fore the sorrow" So there you go.

You can buy the vinyl here in the USA and at various shops in the rest of world...

Or the MP3 or WAV files are for sale dirt cheap here.

Thank you for your support.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Ethereal Beat - Underboard (Remix)


Here we have an absolutely beautiful Italian obscurity from 1985. This is the remix version, there is another version called Underboard (Samba Olec) which sounds almost identical. I think the only difference is this version is a little longer with a more pronounced kick drum. There is little to no information about Ethereal Beat online so I don't have much to write other than this song is friggin' awesome. Enjoy.

Ethereal Beat - Underboard (Remix)

Friday, October 1, 2010

Film Review : Enter The Void


Gaspar Noe’s groundbreaking visionary masterpiece takes us where no film has gone before. The film centers around the heavy psychotropic chemical Dimethyptamine, a drug used ritually for ages world wide by everyone from curious intellectuals to South American tribesmen. The fact that Gaspar is putting such an important yet underground practice on the world stage for the first time is a monumental achievement in itself. DMT can be extracted from naturally growing plants or made in a lab. When you smoke it, it is one of the most powerful encounters of any sort one can have- just ask anyone who has done it. It's indescribable but something like a serious dimensional trip to the inner realms of consciousness- all ecstatically displayed in fractal beings growing around you as you melt through them. The drug also is stored in the frontal lob of the human brain, and it released a little when you sleep and a lot when you die. That is why it has such mystical qualities. Many say the DMT is trip the death experience. And that is what Mr. Noe’s film is about, among other things, - the relationship between the psychedelic experience and death. Enter the Void. Is the Void life? Is the Void death?

The story contains two major DMT trips: In the first, already high on acid, the main character, Oscar, smokes some alone in his room and for a good five minutes the film drops into the most incredibly realistic hallucinogenic visuals I have ever seen- outside actually smoking DMT or dropping acid. An extremely deep song by Coil plays over this sequence. Note: This film demands to been seen in a theater for the full effect. The second trip is later when Oscar dies and DMT is released from his brain. That is a very disturbing scene as we hear Oscar thinking his last thoughts as he dies. Here, as he has the DMT death trip, Noe launches the cinema into blinding and blinking white lights slowly morphing into unrecognizable forms..... really, really, far out shit. From then on we follow Oscar around as he flashes back to what led up to his killing- up until he sees himself die again. He then becomes a spirit or god or ghost floating above the neon lights of his seedy Tokyo neighborhood where he looks down upon the aftermath of his death. The ghost/spirit POV technique allows for some seriously mental camera work- soaring over the city, swooping into and out of rooms full of psychedelic lighting that the characters inhabit. As we travel through the wormholes of his mind we also peer into defining moments of his past, which after a while creates a otherworldly yet somehow personal cinema. And because this may possibly be the DMT trip he is having before he dies, there are all sorts of subtle and not so subtle tripped out flourishes in every detail- that I, personally, found mind blowing. This is stuff we have never seen in cinema before. I won’t go into too many more details but there are stories within all this, and the end brings things full circle yet keeps the themes open to interpretation.

There are some great dance party scenes when the characters are on MDMA that really evoke what it can be like to be high as fuck in an intense club. If you’re thinking this sounds like a trippy hippie movie, think again- there are some seriously dark hellish moments in this film. We get abortion, exploitation, grief, agony, car accidents, senseless killing, and one seriously bad trip. While all this is obviously not for everyone, this film really spoke to me at a deep level.

Noe has created an entirely original film, a near impossible task these days. I think those of us that have had similar experiences to what Gaspar is communicating in the film will have their brain blown open and any one else with artistic sensibilities and a stomach for experiential experiments will love this too. Oh yeah, the credit sequence is the most bad ass you will ever see. And the soundtrack is one long experiment ambient masterwork with music by the aforementioned Coil, as well as Zbigneiw Karkowski, Alvin Lucier, and Throbbing Gristle. Not only is Enter the Void the first film to deal with psychedelia in a serious manner but it is also a beautiful and relevant meditation on the greatest of all mysteries, death.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Jr Reid- Bank Clerk


My brother is a collector of reggae tapes and records, especially 7" dubs. He's been dropping this tune at parties forever and I finally borrowed it and ripped this rarity. This is a tune from 1985 by Junior Reid, produced by Errol John Marshall and Errol Myris Lewis for Feel the Beat. At first I was only going to post the masterful dub version, but the original is just too good to pass up, so here we have both side A and side B. Enjoy.

Steam below or click the title to download:

Jr Reid - Bank Clerk



Jr Reid - Bank Clerk (Version)

Album Review: Hard Boiled Wonderland




Vijay Anderson is an Oakland based drummer that has been a staple of the Bay Area new music and jazz scenes for the better part of 15 years. He continuously gigs, performing multiple shows a week for years on end. He often performs with legends like John Tchicai and Vinnie Golia, as well as his well worn posse of jazz cats that includes John Finkbinder and Darren Johnston. I have had the privilege of hearing him play numerous times- sounds ranging from all out improvised noise chaos (with the short-lived project Musical Genius with Lynn Johnston) to a set of tender and faithfully rendered jazz standards. After performing on countless albums as a side man, Anderson has just released his first album under his own name. The album is improvised; the instrumentation: drums, clarinet, sax, guitar, and vibraphone. The music is straight from the heart and is pretty damn far out. These guys aren’t afraid of any sound, any direction, any feeling: Drums rumble as horns squeak. Feedback reverberates through amped up souls. Spiraling lines march in circles of mania. Melodies form shapelessly and wander in to the realms of pure thought as sound. The record is Hard Boiled Wonderland. Buy it here.

A selection from the album:

March at the End of the World

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

MIke Francis - Survivor



Here is a bit of Italian Balearic music courtesy of Mike Francis aka Francesco Puccioni.
It was a big hit over there in 1984. Enjoy.

Mike Francis - Survivor

Friday, July 23, 2010

War in Peacetime


Please enjoy this tune at loud volumes. It's a track by South African political singer Johnny Clegg with his band at the time Juluka. The song has been slowed and edited by some fools in the UK- Leo Zero and Roof Rack. I haven't heard the OG so I'm not sure what they did but this is an ANTHEM. Ripped from my vinyl collection.


Johnny Clegg & Juluka - Two Humans on the Run (Rat Salad 33 Edit)

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Spirit Resisiter: A Mix



Recorded a mix for Filter Magazine, all old industrial jams...

Spirit Resister

Monday, May 10, 2010

Batwings (A Liminal Hymn)


Here we have one of the deeper, heavier tunes that I'm aware of- Batwings (A Liminal Hymn) by Coil from 2000. The first half of the song is about Sir Thomas Browns 16th Century tract Musaeum Clausum, which is, from what I understand, a catalog of different books and objects that never existed. Appropriately, the second half finds John Balance in his world, singing in a language all his own. A song so serious it was played in part near the end of Balance's funeral, a man whose artistic life was essentially a mediation on death and otherness. Ripped from the LP by Musick to Play in the Dark 2.

Coil - Batwings (A Liminal Hymn)


"There is no guilt, there is no shame."

Monday, April 5, 2010

The Flat Earth


Here is a weepingly beautiful electronic masterpiece by Thomas Dolby, from his 2nd LP- The Flat Earth. 1984. Vinyl recorded from my collection.

Thomas Dolby- The Flat Earth

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Balearic Vol. 1


A mix inspired by the musics of The White Island, Ibiza, in the 1980's. Mixed by James, February 2010.

Balearic Mix

Friday, February 19, 2010

Thoughts on Salo



When I was a teenager in the early 90's this film was difficult to see. It was banned most everywhere or simply not available. Somehow my friends and I got a hold of some clips or maybe the whole film, I don't remember. What I do remember is that they were of the torture scenes and they disturbed me to the point that I stayed away from this movie... Until now. Now, not only do I not find it disturbing, I find it beautiful: An absolutely insightful and unaffected observation of depravity, perversion and the limits of power (there are none). There seems to be an intentional lack of close-ups and the exquisite framed wide angle takes are nothing short of astonishing.

The scene depicted on the cover of the DVD above is one of the most demented I have ever come across- it is truly outstanding in its emotional repugnance. It concerns a young girl grieving for her dead mother forced to eat the shit of the man responsible for her death.

For those not familiar, the story is about Fascists in 1940's Italy abducting, humiliating, abusing, and probably killing eighteen young men and women. It was the last film by Italian master Pier Pasolini- made in 1976, the year he was murdered by a young prostitute. There is some proof that the rent boy that killed him was paid by right wing groups wanting to silence his long standing leftist views. Nevertheless, Salo or The 120 Days of Sodom is a pinnacle in cinematic achievement and is widely considered one of the most important films ever created. As difficult as the subject matter may be for some, I think any intellectually sane adult will enjoy this film.

"Mange, Mange!!!"

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Thoughts on a Phenomenon, A Negative Perspective: Avatar


I saw it. I bowed down to the hype and went and saw the almighty Avatar in 3D IMAX. I know I am supposed to like this movie. Well, the first hour was great, the 3D effects were super trippy and the film contained the only convincing CGI I have ever seen. Up until now I have found CGI, for the most part, laughable. Once I got used to it and then the hardcore corniness kicked in- I found the experience almost unbearable. I know Cameron is making a film to appeal to the lowest common denominator- but some of that dialogue was inexcusably bad. Sure, dumb it down for the masses- but not that far down! The repeated love affirmation “I see you” being an example. I’m guessing he had to use terms a simpleton would use because he was already counting his dollars, as knew he would eventually have to dub the movie in every real language out there.

Another complaint: Even though the supposed bad guys in the movie were American military and mercenaries- I still thought they managed to glorify imperialist violence with all the “kick-ass” bravado and the subtle inspirational music during the attack on the big tree. I’m imagine most dumb kids and meatheads in the audience were thinking “yeah, burn that hippie tree down and kill those Blue Man Group cat kooks.”

Also, I can’t help but wonder if people truly enjoyed the barrage of quantum psycho-babble that infected the movie like a Pandora spirit-virus. I admit that Sigourney Weavers little speech to Giovanni Ribisi about the network of energy being alive was mildly interesting- especially when found in a blockbuster. But were people really feeling the Na’vi’s cross-legged arm to arm spiritual rejuvenation dance? I found it silly. Did you not?

To a certain degree, I did enjoy exploring the Na’vi world and, of course, the psychedelic colors of the forest and dragons were amazing to look at. But as the minutes wore on and the film became yet another hour long good vs. evil battle sequence… I had had enough. Been there, done that, don’t need to see it again. The nail in the coffin of me basically disliking the film was the god-awful emo forest spirit song playing as the credits rolled. Did they still have to try and shove the quasi new age ideology down our throats even after the movie was over??????? I think not. I found it offensive.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Excepter - Stretch (J.G Thirlwell Mix)


Mind bogglingly amazing heavy track! Gotta be one of the best in years. The Foetus master returns remixing a NYC noise band. This is truly futuristic music. The power of the tune gets somewhat lost in the compressed MP3 format but it's still worth sharing.
Play loud, or better yet buy the record. Ripped from my vinyl collection.

Excepter - Stretch (J.G Thirwell Mix)

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Universal Horizons music video

Tim Hicks, director of the psychological horror masterpiece, The Aphrikan has created a music video for our song Universal Horizons by Pacific Horizons.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

P-Lords Music Mix #10: Olivia & James



A new mix that was recorded for a website in Spain but I guess they never posted it. So here it is. Recorded with decks, records, and a cheap mixer. North Hollywood December 2009.

"People Don't Believe"

Lectroluv – People Don’t Believe (The Nylon Mix)
Laj & Quakerman – Bikini Endurance
DoublePlusGood – Conga Te (Mood II Swing Jungle Mix)
Wild Rumpus – Musical Blaze-Up (Cosmo’s Tele-Tubby Mix)
Idjut Boys – Droid 1 & 4
Quando Quango – Love Tempo (Mix)
Johnny Clegg & Juluka – Two Humans on the Run (Rat Salad 33 Edit)
Magazine 60 – Don Quichotte
Man Like Me – Oh My Gosh (Ed Laliq Hoi Polloi Mix)
Style – My Kind of Woman
E-Zee Posse Feat. M.C. Kinky – Everything Starts With an ‘E’ (Renegade Soundwave Mix)
Patrice Rushen – Forget Me Nots (Out in the Sticks Edit)
The Style Council – The Big Boss Groove
Joe Jackson – You Can’t Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Best Movies of 2009: Our Picks

Here is our annual homage to modern cinema. 3 lists. Enjoy the read and check out these movies.


James:

1. The White Ribbon- Haneke takes a stance against conformity, tradition, religion and hate. The film is a layered and complex story on many levels but, at its core, is a study in the effects of systematic repression. A major work from one of cinemas contemporary masters.

2. Martyrs- An uncompromised masterpiece. An artful and seriously twisted vision of human depravity and evil. Contains the most disturbing visuals I’ve ever seen on film. Truly nightmarish.

3. Inglorious Basterds- What can I say that hasn’t already been said? The funnest filmmaker around takes us on a ride through movie history. Loved every minute.

4. Antichrist- Too heavy of a film to fully absorb in one viewing. Between the whole thing about The Three Beggars and all the psycho-analytical talk- this one had the wheels turning almost as much as The White Ribbon. It will probably climb this list with repeated viewings.

5. Julia- I watched this without knowing anything about it and it kept me guessing as to what would happen next the entire time- a rare feat in films these days. I loved everything about it- the weird characters, the plot, the tone, and of course, Tilda Swindon is mesmerizing. You can stream it on Netflix now.

6. Lorna’s Silence- A beautiful and unassuming study of guilt. What starts out as a cold portrait of the life of an Albanian immigrant in Belgium slowly unfolds in unexpected ways until the last few beautiful scenes drift into magical realism. Features an extremely realistic performance by Jeremie Renier as a pathetic junkie.

7. Bruno- Funny stuff, man, funny stuff.

8. The Road- A refreshingly bleak film from Hollywood. I don’t think Viggo really picks bad material. Loved the depressing ideas, the washed out colors, the amazing sets, the fucked up situations…

9. Collapse- A convincing argument for the end of the world that had me "glued to my seat."

10. Che- Good enough that I watched both parts consecutively without stopping. The action scenes were shot beautifully- especially the one with the rocket propelled grenade.

Worth mentioning:

Silent Light- Carlos Reygadas is an unheralded genius from Mexico. His previous film Battle in Heaven is pretty mind blowing and must have been pretty damn controversial upon release. Here we have a meditation on faith and love based around a group of weird looking Mennonites living in Mexico. Reygadas uses non-professional actors and whoever does his cinematography is extremely talented. The film is book ended with some of the finest nature photography I’ve seen.



T.I.M.:

My Son My Son, What Have Ye Done
Werner Herzog

This film makes the list because of its originality and overall dream like wierdness. Imagine if David Lynch (who produced) and Werner Herzog had a kid and he made a thriller. No other film that I saw this year came close to this unprecedented vision of style and substance packaged within a surreal nightmare depicting one mans descent into insanity.

Antichrist
Lars Von Trier

Had audiences walking out at Cannes and all over the world. Another almost perfect example of originality. Von Trier takes the thriller/horror devices and layers in surreal moments transforming the film into a true visual nightmare. The acting and cinematography are exquisite. This was the most shocking film of the year I saw.

The White Ribbon
Michael Haneke

Haneke steps up to another level with this one. His vision of modern society and its failings depicted with mirror like authenticity in much of his French and earlier Austrian work is perfected in this film, which won the Palm d'Or at Cannes. The story is described as a parable of the rising German Facism preceding World War I. By withholding information both visual and narrative, Haneke blends the story of the societal psyche of the time with the style of his visual storytelling. What you don't know and don't see is more powerful than by what you do see and know. Cinematography... breathtaking. Acting... superb. A true masterpiece.

AVATAR
James Cameron

This film take top honors in technology. The 3D IMAX experience was pretty mind blowing. His subtle use of drawing you in the frame and creating depth in the environment brought the viewer one step closer to feeling like you were really in the story. One could be extra critical and point out some flaws here and there (like the story), but when you are pioneering, there is bound to be some trial and error and compromise. 3D is the future and this movie is helping to pave the way.

A Serious Man
Coen Brothers

A Hollywood masterpiece. They take all the conventions of a classic Hollywood narrative and flip them. Lots of questions asked, plot points developed, but none answered and none resolved. There is no resolution, no ending. Like a story told by a rabbi in the film, sometimes life has no answers. This film expresses the unsure quality of reality which we call life.

The Limits of Control
Jim Jarmusch

A minimalist tale of a man's solitary existence in the world. Of a thinking man's experience with people and environments. And then a plot twist at the end to tie in a political message. A unique offering about a unique character from a unique director.

Inglorious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino

A hilarious look at Nazi hunting. I know a film is entertaining when 3 and a half hours feel like half an hour. I laughed a lot and actually didn't mind looking at Brad Pitt for the first time in years. This is a classic film about a film about a film. And when done by the master, a highly entertaining romp through history, both real and reel.

Bruno
Larry Charles

The funniest man on the planet pushing buttons no one wants pushed. I laughed so hard I almost cried. This was the comedy of the year, smart humor that blurs the lines of performance and reality. In my humble opinion, better than Borat.

Martyrs
Pascal Laugier

A brutal movie. Visually stunning, and extremely disturbing. Great concept that holds no punches. This movie will imprint your brain, be warned. Images were burned into my mind forever, like a vivid dream. Filled with more substance than most of the horror junk that comes out of the states.

Taken
Pierre Morel

Phenomenal script written by the French master Luc Besson. A story told so tightly and seamlessly like this, makes the act of suspending disbelief effortless. Liam Neeson is in top form, and the camera work is crisp. Best script of the year executed by a great director.



Chris Scotten:

2009 was an interesting year for cinema, I have missed a lot of films: Nine, Broken Embraces, both of the Herzogs, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Where the Wild Things Are, A Serious Man but I do feel incredibly passionate about the ones I did see. They build a fairly strong canon for the year.

1. Antichrist - Lars Von Trier's best film to date. It is multi-faceted, layered, hauntingly beautiful, controversial, poignant, and an interesting look at the inherent problems with gender roles. It's complexity demands multiple viewing and while I unfortunately only had one chance to see it, I firmly believe that it will hold up in subsequent viewings. Charlotte Gainsborogh and Willem Defoe are the only actors in the film and give the year's best performances.

2. Avatar: The 3-D IMAX Experience - Despite poor casting choices (with the exception of the brilliant work of Zoe Saldana's CGI manifestation), a mediocre and familiar storyline (John Smith and Pocohantas with a happy ending), there is no denying the technical artistry or sheer imagination of Pandora's world. This film will leave a greater imprint now than Star Wars did in 1979. Cameron's work is unparalleled in cinema, it draws the viewer inside of the world engulfing them in a world of striking beauty and imagination. I include the post-title for the disclaimer that the conditions of 3-D and IMAX necessitate the film's position on my top ten. For those who complain about the plot I argue that the film doesn't need a plot to justify it's achievement - the exploration of the world of Pandora and the Na'vi race is enough. The rest of the film (the part with the less impressive live actors) feels like waking up woozy after a lucid and beautiful dream, grumpily you face the real world only to wrap yourself back up in the covers and return to blissful sleep.

3. The White Ribbon - A fascinating study of a small German village pre-world war one. Much like the assassination of the archduke Ferdinand, small tragedies begat larger and more terrifying implications. Haneke is less interested in the cause but rather the effects of these events. The tapestry of a small town unravels before our eyes, and a lot is left unsaid and undiscovered. Despite the fact that the audience knows more than any one character we, like them, are left in the dark and subject our minds to rumor, innuendo, and our own prejudices towards others.

4. The Hurt Locker - A potent character study of the quintessential soldier, heroic to the point of dangerous and reckless, effective, efficient, an adrenaline addicted sociopath. Jeremy Renner and company develop very complex portraits of different archetypes of soldiers brought together in the most dire of situations for very different reasons. Jeremy Renner's return to civilian life, his speech to his son, and the final image encapsulates the film perfectly.

5. The Headless Woman - After my first viewing of this film I condemned it as tedious, plodding, underacted, boring and mostly pointless. Bothered it's universal critical acclaim I gave it another shot. What I discovered was our generation's Blow Up (Antonioni). The film's plot, themes, mystery, and brilliance are hidden in Maria Onetto's flawless and prefectly understated performance. They are hidden in the little details just outside of the foreground, in the heads cut off by the camera's framing. This is a very delicate and nuanced film that without exception requires repeat viewings. Director Lucretia Martel covers up the implications of the car accident the same way the characters do and allows the tension to mount and boil inside of it's protagonist letting it seep out in her expressions, affectations, and even through her hair. Much like Antonioni's masterpiece details will pour out with every studied viewing.

6. Munyurangnabo - Made as a classroom project by a 28 year old Korean-American film teacher and his students in Rwanda. The entire shoot took eleven days and it is the first film in the Rwandan language Kinyarwanda. It concerns the unlikely friendship between a Hutu and a Tutsis after the Rwandan genocide. One of them an orphan travels across the country with his friend on a mission to murder the one responsible for his parent's death during the genocide. Family and friendship is strained and we get an amazing sense of the country's culture, lifestyle, politics and history. Along the way Gnabo meets Eduordo B. Uwayo, Rwanda's poet laureate who recites for him his most famous poem. This is by far the most powerful scene as it informs both the story and the country's brutal history and hopeful future. Despite it's humble origins this movie shines as one of the year's best.

7. Inglorious Bastards - Tarantino's best film since Pulp Fiction. A well crafted story that is as fun as any war film should be allowed to be, funny, tense and irresistible. Impeccable casting and indelible performances.

8. Thirst - Chan Wook Park's return to form is a brilliantly realized slapstick vampire film. A clever, sophisticated, and fun take on the genre.

9. Summer Hours - I've been fairly lukewarm towards Oliver Assayas but this is by far his best film to date. A sad and poignant rumination on the fetishistic value of items that carry the sentimental, historical, or biographical weight of the people who owned and created them. After the death of the family matriarch the children are left to contemplate and mull over the physical remnants of their childhood, only to sell off their cherished memories as they watch their childhood home dismantled before their eyes. The final tracking shot is incredible.

10. Observe and Report - Part of me wants to put this one up here just to piss you off. The other part of me actually believes that this is a great film. If Judd Apatow did a modern day adaptation of Taxi Driver, this would be the result. There is something damned entertaining in it's sheer unbridled insanity. It moves beyond the it's so bad it's good into the realm of it's a bad film that so well executed it's brilliant and needs to be in my top ten. Seth Rogan's best role to date, and amazing performances all around, it's inherently flawed but ultimately entertaining and finely realized. It occupies a spot a gap film will surely take over but I can't help but look back and realize that I loved this film. A hilarious send up of my favorite Scorsese film and the perfect antidote to crap like Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

Honorable Mention: Public Enemies, The Limits of Control, The Hangover, Taken, Martyrs

Friday, January 8, 2010

Johnny Bristol - Love No Longer Has A Hold On Me


I came across this tune. It's Johnny Bristol. Re-edit by the Idjut Boys. The original is one of the best break-up songs I've ever heard. The Idjuts extend the instrumental parts and cut out some bits, therefore emphasizing certain lyrical phrases. It's an unreleased monster by them. Thanks to Bill Brewster for turning me on to this.

Play it Loud & think of Freedom.

Johnny Bristol - Love No Longer Has A Hold On Me (Idjut Boys edit)

Pacific Horizons


The first P-Lord affiliated record has been released. After working on the music and figuring out distribution for the last year it is finally hitting the streets. Here is what the London record shop Phonica has to say about it: "Pacific Horizons is a new band straight out of Los Angeles and this is their first release. Featuring a lush screen-printed and individually numbered cover (just 200 of these 12's) - the chaps definitely know what they're doing. On to the music though. The a-side "Universal Horizons", is a laid-back epic that's got 'balearic' written all over it and a psychedelic soaring guitar lead designed for hedonistic sunrises by the beach. On the flip, "The Amulet" ups the ante on the general balearic-ness of the record. A slowly-building journey into guitar-penned mysticism."

Hear samples and buy it here.

or here.