Available
Ordering Instructions:
All prices are postpaid for shipping within the United States. Canadian orders should add $2 for the first item and $1 for each additional item. International orders should add $3 for the first item and $2 for each additional item.
To order, send paypal to obsolete.units at gmail dot com.
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Controlled Bleeding – Body Samples: The second of two reissues on Obsolete Units documenting Controlled Bleeding’s paramount early 80′s work in the field of American harsh noise and post-industrial electronics. Following a similar collage aesthetic to Knees And Bones, the group’s second album from 1985 finds the staggeringly impetuous and rapturous pandemonium the group had been perfecting around this period advancing ahead diligently without much concern for any sort of repose. Perhaps a more diverse array of resonances are on display, but the mania is all masterfully regulated under the watch of founder Paul Lemos and late longtime members Chris Moriarty and Joe Papa. Another fundamental piece in the history of the American avant underground. Obsolete Units is enormously proud to be bringing this essential work back into print, with this being the first time it has seen release on cassette. This issue includes the original vinyl artwork as well as the bonus material included with the 1990 CD reissue. Pro-dubbed/pro-printed edition of 100.
C70 – $7 ppd.
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Controlled Bleeding – Knees And Bones: The first of two reissues on Obsolete Units of the singular early noise work from Paul Lemos’s chameleon-like project Controlled Bleeding, who have over the past 30 years excelled at styles as diverse as harsh noise, dub, free jazz, prog rock, and dark ambient. Knees And Bones though is unequivocally an important work of American industrial, harsh noise, and power electronics, with this inimitable collage of violence from 1985 finding Controlled Bleeding at its most cacophonous and outright ecstatic. Congealing together many disparate renderings of perplexing and unsettling improvisations, Knees alternates between near-contemplative states of raucous inspection to unhinged tantrums of hysterical frenzy. Much of your favorite harsh noise and power electronics starts here; think early Einsturzende Neubauten and the New Blockaders forcing forth a healthy regiment of pure aural punishment. Obsolete Units is enormously proud to be bringing this essential work back into print, with this marking the first time it has seen release on cassette. Pro-dubbed/pro-printed edition of 100.
C64 – $7 ppd.
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Lea Bertucci – Carillon: An dexterous exploration of modern day tape music and woodwind composition, Carillon is the solo recording debut of TwistyCat member Lea Bertucci. A compendium of principles both familiar and unforeseen in Bertucci’s work, this cassette consists of two long pieces both similarly sharing a distinct fondness for the potency of tape as a musical means. The title piece superimposes Bertucci’s celebrated bass clarinet playing over found recorded sounds and amplified room textures, thus generating a sparsely oscillating work woven tightly within the warm confines of the cassette format. Her second composition represents a rather radical departure from her recordings with TwistyCat, this piece existing as a collage of sonics falling on deeply atonal and discordant planes. Here she reigns in her auditory tools until all sounds are gestated into a distinctly eerie and delicately beguiling essence. As a whole, Carillon is a powerfully visionary and penetrating statement that is to be expected from an artist of Bertucci’s talent. Highly recommended for fans of the work of Christina Kubisch, Luc Ferrari, and Pauline Oliveros. Pro-dubbed/pro-printed edition of 100.
C38 – $7 ppd.
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Phil Julian – Transcript: Under both the Cheapmachines alias and his own name, England’s Phil Julian has been venturing across various strains of unorthodox sound over the past decade or so, with his prolific output encompassing sonic textures that run the gamut from harsh squalls of decaying cacophony to humming spectral tapestries of melodic drone to patiently constructed compositions of hyper-minimalistic timbres. On Transcript, Julian sources tones and reverberation from blank cassettes as well as the actual cassette decks used in this particular process. Allowing the hissing, fuzzy, and clicking mechanics at work in this aural realm to traverse effortlessly across a half hour of ethereal space, Transcript stands as a remarkable work of foreboding and atonal constitution that stands confidently alongside the best works of similarly inclined sound sculptors such as Francisco Lopez and Joe Colley. This is warmly eerie listening that sounds especially exquisite coming from a cassette itself. Pro-dubbed/pro-printed edition of 100.
C30 – $7 ppd.
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TwistyCat – Solar Plexus: When last we saw Brooklyn-based bass clarinet/baritone saxophone duo TwistyCat on Obsolete Units, they provided a deeply hypnotic and extremely limited loop cassette showcasing three immaculate minutes of their beautifully stark and patiently composed agglomeration of drone-infused improvisation. Taking noticeable cues from this previous release, Ed Bear and Lea Bertucci erupt on Solar Plexus both with pieces of meticulously realized minimalism as well as more comparatively dissonant waves of contemplative and ominous themes. The first side distinctively adds a veneer of found sound (from radio and elsewhere) to the mix, building upon these unfamiliar modes into a great wash of unrest before giving way to their distinctive command of woodwind-derived subterranean melodicism, whereas the flip presents in explicitly unblemished detail two pieces of slow-burning improvisation where the loops and electronic manipulations wavering in and out of the mix controlled with the utmost subtlety for further bewilderment. Includes special transparent liner-notes. Pro-dubbed/pro-printed edition of 100.
C34 – $7 ppd.
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Whales – Seibutsu Shigen: A blistering set of impressively reckless and spastic hardcore, Kyoto, Japan’s Whales craft an attack exhibiting forces both distinctively ferocious and ardently uncompromising. Drawing significant influence from numerous legendary purveyors of power-violence (Spazz, Dropdead), the trio shoot through 6 minutes of absurdly accelerated blasts of song before ending this treat with another 6 minutes of the most blistering Incapacitants/MSBR-style walls of noise. The same program runs on both sides, and you’ll probably need to listen to both in one-sitting just to catch-up with what you’ve just heard. Seibutsu Shigen strips bare this expeditious punk template to its most cathartic core; this is no muss, no fuss, and no bullshit. Whales includes on guitar Takahiro Yorifuji, who has released numerous ambient/drone releases as Hakobune on a variety of different labels (Install, Ghetto Naturalist, Tobira). Pro-dubbed/pro-printed edition of 100.
C26 – $7 ppd.
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The Noise From Ridgewood – A Benefit Compilation For The Silent Barn: The Silent Barn was a D.I.Y. venue that acted as an invaluable resource for New York City’s underground music and arts communities. Since its inception in the mid-2000′s, it developed into a beloved institution in the city, acting as an extremely inviting and supportive space for musical acts of numerous stripes and genres, whether local, national, and international. In addition, the space also acted as an outlet to many local artists in the visual/performance fields, among them the independent video game collective Babycastles. In July of this year, their space, which resided in the Ridgewood neighborhood, was robbed and vandalized days after being subsequently shut down by the authorities. As the Barn was also the place of residence for the folks who helped operate it, these setbacks were especially distressing. This huge blow to the arts community in New York couldn’t come during a more bleak period for artists operating outside of the suffocating spectre of mainstream/corporate outlets, with most other underground venues in the city being shut down in recent years. Though most other D.I.Y. spaces in the area had brief lifespans, the Barn was one of the longest-running, which can no doubt be attributed to their welcoming demeanor and undying passion and motivation for the music and art they helped provide an outlet for. Current plans for the Silent Barn include procurring a permanent space in the region and continuing on with the diligence and enthusiasm that they’re known for. Obsolete Units presents this compilation to help them rebuild and start anew. All proceeds made from the sale of this album will go directly to The Silent Barn. Featuring new and exclusive tracks from Aaron Dilloway, Telecult Powers, Andy Ortmann (Panicsville), Ben Miller, Phil Julian (cheapmachines), Millions, MV Carbon, Tom Smith (To Live And Shave In L.A.), Bunnybrains, C. Spencer Yeh, Excepter, The Tenses (members of Smegma), Pregnant Spore, Chapels, Cellular Chaos, Mike Shiflet, Derek Rogers, Long Distance Poison, Id M Theft Able, WZT Hearts, Fossils, and many more.
2x CDR – $15 ppd.
Digital Download – $12
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Illusion Of Safety – Live @ No Fun 2008: Dan Burke is one of those consistently brilliant, insanely prolific, and unquestionably irreproachable artists that deservedly wears the handle of legend. Since 1983, Burke and his conspirators under the Illusion Of Safety banner have traversed and conquered most every facet of the avant sound plane, from early industrial pop deconstruction to blindingly minimal sound art to densely surreal found-sound collage, each unique approach bending and reconstituting the expectations and possibilities of each realm. This solo performance at the 2008 edition of the infamous No Fun Fest in NYC is one of Burke’s most singular missives, melding the patient field drones of past releases like Probe and Water Seeks Its Own Level with the powerfully stark melencholia of 2008′s Sedation & Quell 10″ and In Session CD. Rumbling, nebulous drones collide with pastoral field recordings and various unidentifiable factions of percolatting sound, all guided with ease at Burke’s hand. Pro-dubbed/pro-printed edition of 100.
C36 – $7 ppd.
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OPPONENTS – Ambivalent Cloud Designs: This Brooklyn-based gang of roving synth junkies have established quite the catalog since the release of their first Obsolete Units missive I Swarm With A Thousand Bees. They’ve expanded to a trio, blown minds with walls of pulsating force both meditative and confrontational around Brooklyn and elsewhere, released a slew of essential recordings on such labels as Prison Tatt, Baked Tapes, and The Comic Beyond, and are further extending their reach to various other vectors and projects throughout the rest of the year. This nearly-lost companion piece to I Swarm With A Thousand Bees, however, reaches back to OPPONENTS as the Slusher-Feinstein duo, a more caustic permutation that nevertheless tossed out the ripe seedlings of what this project would soon become. Ambivalent Cloud Designs rings with the vilest of synth howls giving way to full blown riots of garbled sonic refuse, the electronic exorcisms of mangled vocals become lost in the torrents of circuitry invading the ether. Remastered by Jesse DeRosa of Grasshopper for optimal malevolence. Pro-dubbed/pro-printed edition of 100.
C62 – $7 ppd.
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Rodent – Dully Pop: Garrett W. Anderson is Rodent, a former Ypsilanti sound constructor recently transplanted to Chicago who sent this masterpiece to me last year wrapped in intriguingly cryptic art with the most scant of information. What I experienced sonically was a singularly odd and ominous statement of collaged wonderment, an electro-acoustic/drone/un-pop series of pieces that magnificently complement and meld into one another with the utmost craft. Having spent time as part of improv-obscurities Puberty, Anderson’s Rodent takes a more attentive approach, crafting layers of patchworked guitar drones, synth studies, field recordings, and unverified sound shards into a patiently impassioned conceptual excursion. Regarding the concept at hand, every piece on Dully Pop is 2 minutes and 42 seconds, based on the notion that this span of time supposedly elicits the perfect pop song. But Dully Pop is definitely not pop as you, I, or anyone knows it; Anderson’s soundscapes of ambiguous form peak with a density unknown to such brevity. If these nuggets ever found their way onto terrestrial airwaves, our world will surely find itself in a better state. Pro-dubbed/pro-printed edition of 100.
C44 – $7 ppd.
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Other Vultures – Carrion/Campbeltown: From this proudly elusive duo comes Carrion/Campbeltown, two separate releases sitting side-by-side; not a double album, mind you, but two distinct entities forging for their individual ground in spite of their sonic comradery. Delayed for too long due in great part to the industries’ war on dual-cassette storage, this nihilistically perplexing and gleefully frustrating noise-rock opus has finally manifested as intended with both cassettes featuring unrehearsed no-wave improvisations from two established and studious vets of the sound-art and academic avant netherworld. Hearing them regress into pure anti-rock primitivism is quite a wonder to behold, but I’ll let the boys describe it themselves: “Other Vultures describe their aesthetic as ‘proudly-inept noisecore’ and the work that emerges aptly seems a continual failure of aggression: wavering intensity, relenting beats, and lyrics more likely to be about going out dancing than beating people up.” You’re either for against this one. No in-betweens. Delve in, my savages. Edition of 40.
2x C30 – $10 ppd.
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Nodolby – Untitled: A title-less missive from Italy’s Nodolby, the solo personage of Dokuro label mind Michele Scariot, this particular cassette brusquely fortifies two sides of gnawing scrape and sibilation. The four pieces manage to etch a natural approximation of early industrial’s rhythmic churn and the mangled feedback fetishization of harsh noise as this quartet of discharges obeys a certain amorphous structure that nevertheless remains unrelenting in its ability to menace. A beautifully conceived album of unbridled disorder. Edition of 60.
C28 – $6 ppd.
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Ben Miller/degeneration – Polar Shifts: Five distinct pieces of prepared guitar from this veteran erupt impulsively on Polar Shifts, each digging out its own medium in ranges from subliminally minimal silence and sustainment to off-kilter “songs” comparable to the more entracingly sparse and industrial ventures of This Heat. Miller, who’s appeared in projects ranging from the infamous Destroy All Monsters to M3 to GKW to Dirty Old Man River, initiates a stark boldness pertaining to his meticulously modified instrument, forgoing easy novelty for a demanding and rousing execution of pleasantly cryptic resonance. An exceptionally obscure venture into immaculate and subtle clamor. Edition of 60.
C34 – $6 ppd.
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Slasher Risk – スラシア リスク: A long time in the making, Obsolete Units is immensely pleased to be bringing you its second silver CD, this time from everyone’s favorite Brooklyn destructionists Slasher Risk. On their first full-length CD, the duo provide an exquisitely diverse and confident set that focuses on the disparate strains of sonics the two are infamous for operating among., Here we’re allowed access to a garage-punk nugget of an opener, a clean-driven psych guitar mantra, an unforgiving blast into harsh electronics, and a 20-minute live assault aptly capturing the id-driven physicality of the band’s performance aesthetic. A powerfully comprehensive overview of Slasher Risk’s growing forcefulness in the past couple years. Comes in beautiful color digipack artwork. Edition of 300.
CD – $12 ppd.
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Fluorescent Vibes – Possibilities: Drone can be a tricky style to tend to without falling prey to monotony and regression, but like fellow Brooklyn master Millions, the Vibes make an exquisite case for the style’s encompassing authority and its continuing evolution into unheard, thrilling entities. The first half documents one of the band’s breakout performances taken from last year’s New York Eye & Ear Fest, with the then trio of Heliotaxis/Arcanode instrumentalist and Cryptic Carousel label-head Corey Bauer and former Miami Beach members Phillip Gerson and Matt Kimmel (he of Acid Marshmellow and Melted Mailbox fame) emitting a consolatory and illusory pastiche of submerged synths and fleeting found sound. A Silent Barn action fills out the second side, finding the Bauer-Gerson duo trudging through notably spare and slightly sinister forms, all the calming surreality in tact. A gorgeous head trip. Edition of 60.
C34 – $6 ppd.
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Towering Heroic Dudes – Bad Old Daze: The Brooklyn merchants of behemoth, messy, surreal drone present a late 08/early 09 live report of sorts: three untampered audio missives reaching beneath the concrete spaces of standard sonics and melding into something warm, murky, and powerful all the same. An apt summary of the second phase of THD that was birthed unexpectedly early last year. Responsible parties include the folks behind killyrboss, Abandon Ship Records, Rust Worship, Sweaty Bullets, and Obsolete Units. Edition of 60.
CDR – $6 ppd.
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Millions – Static & Distance: David Suss is the sole party behind Millions, and his monstrously dense and overpoweringly gorgeous take on the peaks and valleys of drone is remarkable for a solo project. Overseeing a complex set-up of guitar, synths, and electronics, Suss uses this mini-CD-R as the platform for a 20-minute composition that puts emphasis on the brighter tonalities and absorbing euphoria that inhibits his oeuvre. Layers of unending haze and blissful noise hold power for the whole of this piece; followers of Matthew Bower and the VHF imprint need keep close watch. Edition of 100.
3″ CDR – $4 ppd.
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Skeleton Warrior – Pornographic Hologram: One of the more secretive acts in the strange terrain of Florida-based noise makers, the always enigmatic Skeleton Warrior allow some more presence to take hold with this epic tape of bewildering glee. Pornographic Hologram very literally veers from speaker-damaging scuzz rock to amphetamine-ruined industrial pop to analog synth caterwauling to everything else in between. No spaces left untouched, and yet a distinct linking thread holds it all in place. A diverse and vigorous long-player made perfect for the adventurous. Edition of 100.
C70 – $6 ppd.
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Wet Fur – Chimeric: Wet Fur is the solo alias of noise/sound generator Reed Evan Rosenberg. Having already made a name for himself in collaboration with sound artist Richard Kamerman as Tandem Electrics and as part of improv-jazz-noise monster The Groits, Chimeric distills Rosenberg’s single-person digital havoc into 20 minutes of unnerving and relentless laptop destitution. Dynamically diverse and fulfillingly dense, Chimeric crunches disorienting clusters of mechanized fury alongside moments of disquieting extreme minimalism and ominous gaps. Two side-long pieces carefully crafted for the cassette format; a welcome and satisfying audio document of Rosenberg’s acclaimed solo creations. Edition of 100.
C20 – $6 ppd.
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Boy + Girl – Untitled: A.G. Davis is the oracular personage behind Boy + Girl, a foursome of sorts operating in the deceptively peculiar lab of abnormality developing in Florida. This untitled endeavor finds the group’s material mercilessly diced and pummeled into a gory sludge of speed-freaked hallucination. Like all the best bits of those Sissy Spacek albums entering the fore-front and allowing the reprieves of found-sound chatter, evil music machines, and possible ambience. Even ends with a quasi-danceable entity. One of our most brain-gelatinating releases yet. Edition of 75.
CDR – $6 ppd.
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Totally Dad – Two Hearts: Here it is. The first Obsolete Units silver, factory-made, real-life CD. Two Hearts is a 32-minute document of Totally Dad’s transformation from the filth-punk rabble-rousers on Dad’s Fucked into demented Americana noise rogues of gargantuan hysterical disposition. The guitars battle off into scattered forests while primal screams, toms, and by the end a violin hoot from the treetops. The apt agglomeration of Beefheart, Sun City Girls, U.S. Maple, Harry Pussy, and Warmer Milks sprinkled in the top-soil, and out grows this. Very recommended. Edition of 300.
CD – $10 ppd.
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