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 horatiu radulescu 		there are 11 titles featuring raglani in stock.
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 joe raglani 
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$25.21

new to stock as of
april 25th, 2012

threads:
electro-acoustic-composition
analogue-synth
beat-research
modern-psych
live-electronic
machine-music
minimalism-drones

 best of 2012 !!! 
arbor (usa) #arbor 126 lp

raglani “husk” double long playing record set

  • re-entry with entity
  • llissa says
  • various demises (detail)

  • oneism (detail) / for i.c.
  • empire trilogy (detail)

  • opnyrhry2me
  • vanity well (detail)
  • for a.h.

  • classically sprained
april 2012 release ; ... after something like a 3-year wait (endless delays, manufacturing problems) at long last here’s joe raglani’s epic double-lp “husk” ...

... comprised of materials from joe’s limited, regional releases (there’s a cheat-sheet below) woven into continuous, side-length tapestries, this is something of a catch-all covering his various musical moods & modes, offering an impressive hour+ of subtle, melodic electronic music referencing everything from library music through classic 70’s “ambient” styles (listen to the extremely elegant float of “oneism” by clicking the “play” button of the sound-sample to your left) to squiggly, “minimal synth” burn & more ecclesastic modes ...

... comes in a gorgeous sleeve (courtesy of the ever-amazing robert “three legged race” beatty) w/ printed inner sleeves ... highly recommended !!!
arbor press release...

arbor 126; double lp album
raglani husk

husk, a career-spanning double-lp retrospective marking raglani’s “early period” (2004-2009), is both the artist’s “best-of” collection*, as well as a document of a personal orientation within the canon of electronic music. as a devoted student of e.m. history and synthesis techniques, joseph raglani has spent the past decade in his st. louis studio consuming and refiguring. while highly-informed, these tracks avoid simple derivation, the traces of influence are not easily decipherable ; the common descriptors fall away. the sonic legacies orbiting the ina grm axis cross paths with pop sensibilities more akin to the sensuous pulse of new order. raglani mines the expressiveness of this fertile boundary space. the compositions on husk are dense featuring a palette of analog and digital electronic instruments as well as guitar, voice, pedal steel, organ, melodica. disparate elements find a way to resonate to maximum emotive effect. the sonic energies are not bound to their sources, but are rather utilized for their ability to express.

 one fourth of the material is available here for the first time ; the remainder from private-press and small run releases has been remixed by raglani and re-mastered by greg davis for presentation in this collection. husk is raglani’s second mass-market release following his 2008 cd of sirens born released on kranky records. artwork by robert beatty (three legged race / hair police / resonant hole). in an edition of 500 copies with printed inner-sleeves.

*featuring tracks from the following releases:

pastiche electronic (pegasus farms cs, 2008)
may tour 2009 split with steve hauschildt (pegasus farms cd-r, 2009)
oneism (ides cs, 2007)
empire trilogy (no label / artist’s edition, 2008)
classically sprained (arbor cs, 2009)
vanity well (chondritic sound cs, 2009)
raglani & scenic railroards (gameboy / pegasus farms cd, 2005)

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$6.72

back in stock as of
march 13th, 2012

first in stock on
april 9th, 2010

threads:
analogue-synth
experimental-instruments
electro-acoustic-composition
circuit-bending
modern-psych
minimalism-drones
modern-composition

close/far (usa) #cf 013 cs

raglani / n.n.n. cook “split” c20 cassette

  • raglani - sig. to ether error

  • n.n.n. cook - otherness figments
april 2010 release ; lovely split set from joe raglani and nathan nolan cook, made tangible via nathan’s long-running close/far label ...

joe’s side here shows him at his most pensive, rifling through a series of gestures ranging from sizzling analogue synthesis to floating flute canons ... even an amazing moment of dionysian vocal fury !!! nathan’s is a bit more linear, featuring the constant motor/engine-thrum of detuned square-wave oscillators cut with organ clusters and the occasional gain-bomb ; nicely reigned in with the faint patina of gallery ambience ...

heavy metallic pro-duped tape-affair ; highly recommended !!!
close/far press release...

c/f 013
raglani / n.n.n. cook split
c20 cassette
2010

on the a side is a new track commissioned specifically for close/far recordings. sig. to ether error seems to channel a distant astral oratorio. slowly your mind’s eye is activated and begins to build its own temple. reconciling the synthetic with the organic, raglani coaxes a state of concord between himself and his circuitry.

on the b side the primary sound source is an electronic unit, the meridian box, custom designed and built by joseph kramer. it consists of six oscillators with independent pitch controls and electrodes controlled by body resistance. otherness figments immediately sweeps you into its current, enveloping your body with hum and crackle. punctuated by blasts and tears in time, jarring moments begin to smear and stretch. as you pan across your barren destination, mirages dance across the landscape. abruptly, your dionysian journey ends in repose.

pro-duplication and imprinting in black ink on clear shells with gold foil liners.
edition of 200 on high bias tape.

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$8.32

back in stock as of
november 24th, 2008

first in stock on
july 26th, 2005

threads:
digital-musics
electro-acoustic-improvisation

 best of 2005 !!! 
gameboy (usa) #gb 075 cd
pegasus farms (usa) #peg 003 cd

raglani / scenic railroads “split” compact disc

  • raglani - autumn lights
  • raglani - american grotesque
  • raglani - for a.h.

  • scenic railroads - more inside jokes
  • scenic railroads - conflict of disinterest
  • scenic railroads - now i know why i’m hungry
  • scenic railroads - stop snitchin’
last release on gameboy before mike packed it up and re-located to japan for a year... a split between raglani and mike’s duo with joe panzner, scenic railroads. by now the esp-mind-link between mike and joe has developed into near-mythical proportions, their computerized dronescapery reaching new heights...

hadn’t heard of raglani prior to this, but his half is an eye-opener of crude electronic spuh. definitely the nicest looking gameboy release yet, the blue-violet creep over chipboard is especially lovely ...
gameboy press release...
raglani: sine/square wave generator, electrics and places. dave stone plays saxophone on track 2

scenic railroads is joe panzner and mike shiflet

after both putting in the cdr dues, joe raglani and scenic railroads decided it was time to take it to the pro-pressed level.

raglani's 3 ambient compositions and scenic's 4 digital improvisations play excellently off each other creating a disc with a consistent, organic flow. 52 minutes of noise underground's prettier, lusher underbelly. if these dudes were european they'd be getting 1,000 euro guarantees by now.

an edition of 500. co-released with raglani's pegasus farms records and printed at the infamous thumbprint press.

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$12.61

back in stock as of
march 2nd, 2011

first in stock on
march 6th, 2009

threads:
modern-psych
electro-acoustic-composition
analogue-synth
minimalism-drones
guitar-themed

kranky (usa) #krank 124 cd

raglani “of sirens born” compact disc

  • river in
  • the promise of wood and water
  • perilous straits
  • washed ashore
  • jubilee
september 2008 release ; the mass-market debut of st. louis’ joe raglani, finally in stock !!!

joe’s someone who’s been toiling in the underground for a few years now, with only a handful of attainable recorded appearances (a split w/ scenic railroads on gameboy, a tape on ides, and recently an excellent lp for john tamm-buckle’s kvist, along with a spate of self-released output on pegasus farms) ; so helping get his kranky debut off the ground & into the ears of a much wider audience was something i’m glad to have been a part of ...

despite joe’s name often being mentioned in affiliation with the noise-music wave, i place this set squarely in the canon of “bedroom minimalism” ; long pieces involving static modal drones (often sourced to chord-organs, melodica, and his own voice) coated in endless layers of modular-synth fizzle and flutes, acoustic guitar, etc ... always a festival of micro-detail, with the improvised elements never staying in one place or register for all too long ... unlike much of the music in this loose vein that crosses my desk these days, i get the feeling that nothing here is arbitrary, that each individual component was carefully & cleverly laid in the overall lattice ...

so, in short, this is a really great record ; if you’re feeling the more static end of tim hecker or greg davis’ recent music, and or want to witness a different approach to the contemporary synth-minimalism wave, i urge you to check this out ... highly recommended !!!
kranky press release...
artist: raglani
title: of sirens born
catalog #: krank124
formats available: cd
release date: september 15, 2008

situated in the soundworld of contemporary kosmiche electronica, of sirens born goes several steps further than many retro-focused efforts, rendering audibly literal the traditional metaphor of voyage that has underscored so many synth-driven concept albums. beginning tentatively and uneasily, these five pieces progress through expansive phases of grandeur and menace, shipwrecking before washing ashore on a new world. at the core of the work is the idea of the imaginary vista; high, keening drones issue from the heart of unknown rivers, populated on all sides by fantastically twittering creatures and alien flora, drawing the listener on with the hint of exotic treasure, hidden within forbidding and impossible jungles.

raglani drew the vocabulary of his sonic imagery from film (the new world, aguirre) and the early nonesuch documents of 'world music' (especially peruvian and andean folk music), distilling from these the dreamwork of epic travel and the alien strangeness of other cultures imagined through legend. song forms are dissolved here, but still present; electronic and acoustic sources blend seamlessly into majestically glittering waves. though its indebtedness to the dark romanticism of krautrock is clear, this is not an electronic trip through well-worn evocations of cosmic space. it is rather a story about the submerged memory of mythic voyages, of a time when every far-off destination was alluring, dangerous, and questionably real, envisioned from the perspective of a world well-mapped and conquered by machines.

joseph raglani is a veteran of the experimental sub-underground, having released an lp, tapes, cd-r's, and small-run cds through labels such as gameboy, ides, kvist and his own pegasus farms. this is his first widely distributed release.

"joe's on my short-list of people for whom i have high hopes ..." - keith fullerton whitman, mimaroglu music

"it's enormously comforting in these superficial silly sound bite times to hear an album that works clearly and unambiguously with tonal harmony without sounding fake, plastic, twee or ironic."- paris transatlantic

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$18.48

back in stock as of
october 11th, 2011

first in stock on
september 20th, 2010

threads:
analogue-synth
minimalism-drones
modern-psych

 best of 2010 !!! 
nihilist (usa) #nihil 67 lp

raglani / outer space “split” long playing record

  • raglani - nothing is inevitable
  • raglani - polydream ink
  • raglani - heart of glass

  • outer space - body of light pt.ii
august 2010 release ; ... this particular lp (originally slated as a rags & mike “workbench” bernstein split) has been a long time coming, with perhaps joe raglani’s finest batch of ‘choons in limbo for nigh on four years ...

... good thing john “git ‘er done” elliott stepped out of the bullpen & contributed a positively radiation-oriented ooze of thick analogue slime (culminating into a pretty damn “gone” sect. of resonant pulse-out) allowing joe’s hard-forged (pre theft !!!) suite to finally see the light of day, proving him once & for all the worthy successor to the “outsider” electronic “pop” music lineage that runs from his beloved nik “pascal” raicevic through folks like tom cameron & steve birchall (& even a bit of the ‘ol john bender) ...

gorgeous lp jacket (court. of jeremy “ghost ice” kannapell) hides a detail-oriented insert & the wax itself (a virgin, whisper-quiet affair) ; highly recommended !!!
nihilist press release...

raglani / outer space
split
lp (2010)

an incredible journey into the inner-space of analog synthesis. soothing, pleasant, hypnotic and manic are thoughts of the day. this cosmic oozing mess of layered sequencers as swirling syrupy frequencies come raining down. raglani serves up some sickly sweet synthy songs and outer space forge a thick gooey side long track of psychedelic electronic mind muck. john is in another band called emeralds.

guest appearance by c.spencer yeh on raglani's "heart of glass" adding a slice of nice on the violin. artwork and layout by jeremy kannapell.

edition of 500 copies in pro-press full color jackets and insert. for fans of early tangerine dream, kraftwerk & nik pascal.

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$18.48

back in stock as of
october 11th, 2011

first in stock on
february 9th, 2010

threads:
analogue-synth
electro-acoustic-composition
musique-concrète
machine-music
live-electronic
modern-psych
minimalism-drones

nihilist (usa) #nihil 60 lp

cables “variations on electronic forms” one-sided long playing record

  • variations on electronic forms (18:50)
2008 release ; stellar one-off collaboration between joseph “joe” raglani and andy “panicsville” ortmann, merging their respective (and, frankly, formidable) modular synthesizer chops into a coherent whole that takes in everything from the most prized/alien electronic library sides, pre-synth hacked oscillator sci-fi film score work, and industrial era gristle ...

one-sided lp offers a single, constantly morphing blast of uneasy sonics ; wrapped neatly in a black paste-on jacket (with a full, two-column libretto & concept-through-execution plan that harkens back to the nonesuch layout-aesthetic) inside a striking screen-printed picture-disc sleeve (ala the pan-label lps from a few years back) ...

miniscule edition, of which the last remaining copies are now available via mms ; highly recommended !!!
nihilist press release...

cables
variations on electronic forms
1 sided lp (2008)

collaboration of longtime pals, ortmann & raglani using primarily modular synthesizers.
weblike alien soundscapes make up this foreboding electronic nightmare.

limited to 100 copies only!
silk screened poly vinyl sleeves.


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$8.41

back in stock as of
september 3rd, 2009

first in stock on
november 24th, 2008

threads:
minimalism-drones
modern-psych
guitar-themed
analogue-synth
doom

pegasus farms (usa) #peg 09 cd

raglani “living room” compact disc-recordable

  • outer piece
  • inner piece 1
  • inner piece 2 (core)
... trio of slowly ascending drone creepers from raglani & brent gutzeit ; runs the gamut from theater of eternal music-esque excited-string clarity to moments of almost doom-metal overload ...
pegasus farms press release...

raglani - living room cd-r.

old drone recording revisited with brent gutzeit and modular synth. hand painted and block printed sleeves with printed insert. very limited quantities.

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$8.41

back in stock as of
september 3rd, 2009

first in stock on
november 24th, 2008

threads:
guitar-themed
electro-acoustic-composition
musique-concrète
modern-composition
minimalism-drones

pegasus farms (usa) #peg 08 cd

raglani “man myth magic” compact disc-recordable

  • man myth magic (34:44)
a single 34:00 piece rife with distant guitars/piano, gurgling modular synth, placid electronic/voice-sourced drones, even a bit of schnitzler-esque elektro ...

something of a star-map to joe’s inner-workings, i’d think ...
pegasus farms press release...

raglani - man myth magic cd-r.

one long epic track covering all possible worlds. recorded around the same time as of sirens born. triple block printed and hand painted sleeves with printed inserts. very limited.

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$8.41

back in stock as of
september 3rd, 2009

first in stock on
november 24th, 2008

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
free-jazz
free-improvisation

pegasus farms (usa) #peg 07 cd

brain transplant “turn your shit off” compact disc-recordable

  • sugar free triangulation (8:34)
  • the beard whisperer (11:54)
  • sprockets of destiny (14:27)
... earliest pegasus farms title i was able to grip for mms ; 4-way improv supersession featuring joe raglani, grand ulena’s danny mcclain, dave stone, and chris smentkowski ...

gratifyingly raucous electro-acoustic fire music, with hints of the sort of art-world leaning transgressions mapped out by mev / il gruppo / et.al ...
pegasus farms press release...

brain transplant - "turn your shit off" cd-r.

free improve/free noise group with long history here in the lou. chris smentkowski is the man. brain transplant is his band. here we have chris on guitar, dave stone on sax, danny mcclain on drums and raglani on modular synth. recorded on 4 track tape by raglani in his basement. printed sleeves and inserts. still available in limited numbers.

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$15.54

back in stock as of
april 11th, 2012

first in stock on
february 6th, 2012

threads:
modern-psych
minimalism-drones
analogue-synth
machine-music

students of decay (usa) #sod 93 lp

bryter layter “two lenses” long playing record

  • your verdant skin
  • first light
  • understanding interdependence
  • the shadow of your smile

  • aspect
  • second light
  • closing
december 2011 release ; ... long-awaited debut album (after a micro-run tape back in 2009) by the duo of joe raglani & arbor’s mike pollard, working under the spectre of nick drake ...

... placid, cycling, filtered chord shapes & syncopated sequences are the order-of-the-day here, with both working in a strikingly melodic mould vastly more “approachable” than anything either have laid to tape as of yet ; it’s nice to hear these guys actively embracing harmony and/or “traditional” song form(s) in such a clear way, as both clearly have the inventiveness & compositional chops to make it work ... a very nice record.
students of decay press release...
sod93 bryter layter: “two lenses” lp

comprised of joseph raglani (kranky) and mike pollard (arbor), bryter layter is a collaborative unit that focuses on the lyrical faculties of analog synthesis. for the most part, these recordings find the pair eschewing the at-times unfocused, long-form drone techniques that have become fixtures in the scene in favor of short, melodic compositions that are strikingly rich in detail. listeners familiar with the oeuvres of raglani and pollard will find much to love here. as the pillow-soft, analog tone-clouds that characterize the latter’s work as pale blue sky find themselves wed to the highly structured, dynamic arrangements that one associates with the former’s solo output.”two lenses” is rich and cinematic, rife with evocative motifs which ebb and flow from one piece to the next creating, over the course of the album, a masterfully composed, unified whole.

“your verdant skin,” the opening salvo, brings to mind popul vuh’s work for werner herzog at its most grandiose, as waves of rising, symphonic tones surge and dissolve, carrying us along with them. “first light,” with its startlingly catchy syncopated rhythms, illustrates perfectly those qualities which set bryter layter apart from their synthesist contemporaries, with raglani and pollard channeling wistful, sun-washed pop sensibilities into the cold facades of their machines.

recorded live and meticulously arranged by raglani at his home studio, and mastered by greg davis to supreme effect, “two lenses” builds upon and extends the qualities established on the pair’s 2009 cassette release “imprinted season” in every way. their work here runs the gamut from maudlin and picturesque to profoundly hopeful always with an eye towards the beautiful.

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new to stock as of
march 13th, 2012

threads:
sound-art
free-improvisation
analogue-synth
harsh-noise
guitar-themed
free-jazz
electro-acoustic-improvisation
electro-acoustic-composition
experimental-instruments

 best of 2012 !!! 
close/far (usa) #cf 019 cs

“rhizomatic st. louis • sound art, free improvisation, electronic & electroacoustic music vol. 1” c72 cassette

  • regicide bureau - tainai kuguri / priem (excerpts)
  • rich o'donnell - rolls (live performance of percussion and electronics)
  • raglani - take 1
  • tory starbuck project - tender trap (excerpt)
  • n.n.n. cook - x degrees of synchronicity (mock-up)

  • dr. mabuse - camera flash flood watch
  • dave stone - live at noisefest viii (excerpt)
  • public shallows - live at noisefest vi
  • brain transplant - damage
  • kevin harris - merci
  • dinner music - saphead (kids move fast)
february 2012 release ; ... over the past few years i’ve been invited to travel to saint louis to play music more times than any other place on earth (well, outside of the boston area, i suppose) ... there’s an incredibly rich experimental music community that’s neither ageist nor insular (70’s icons like rich o’donnell are just as comfortable playing alongside younger noise-scene folks) & as such it’s something of a paradise for musical extremes of all stripes - largely fueled by a network of fantastic venues & alternative spaces (above-board, white-cube art galleries like the white flag projects & the luminary regularly host experimental music events put on by groups like the new music circle, as do more open-ended spots like kevin harris’ amazing floating labs & the lemp neighborhood arts center) ...

it’s no surprise then that with this bounty of enthusiasm & sympathetic real estate, a compilation of the scene’s best & brightest would have so much to offer (and i do mean much ; at 72 minutes if your face is still attached by the end, i’ll be impressed) ranging from gilded analogue blow-outs by kevin, joe raglani, regicide bureau, and dr. mabuse (there’s a long, storied history of stl diy electronics, from rich’s work through that of the 4ms guys, now relocated to austin) to the power electronics & improv of josh levi, chris smentowski, dave stone, and the rest ...

... comes as a pro-duped affair inside a proper, pro-printed j-card sandwiched in aside a giant fold-out screen-printed poster by jeremy “ghost ice” kannapell (whose music, somewhat infuriatingly, is not included on the tape itself) ... highly recommended !!!
close/far press release...

rhizomatic st. louis vol. 1

a compilation of sound art, free improvisation, electronic & electroacoustic music from artists currently living and working in the st. louis area.

featuring:

regicide bureau: tom sutter; prolific 80’s tape trader with an electroacoustic infatuation, self-released over 300 cd-r’s and tapes

rich o'donnell: director of the electronic music studio at washington university, st. louis, was principal percussionist with the st. louis symphony orchestra for 40 years, percussion and electronic instrument builder, co-founded hearding cats, a 501(c)(3) arts collective in ’09

raglani: analog synth guru, electronic music history enthusiast, og of the stl experimental music scene

tory starbuck project: tory z. starbuck; avant-garde art rocker, music instructor, adept player of ethnic drums, saxophone, violin, sitar, koto, and electronics

n.n.n. cook: sound artist, improviser, graphic designer, and visual artist, runs the tape side of close/far recordings

dr. mabuse: mike murphy; electronic instrument inventor and builder, i call him the, “harry partch of electronics”, president and co-founder of hearding cats arts collective

dave stone: reeds player par excellence, free jazz hero, seasoned improviser

public shallows: integral promoter, writer, and performer in the local music community, josh levi’s flood yr face blog is the #1 source for underground concert listings in stl

brain transplant: chris smentkowski’s long running solo and collaborative noise project, laptop data warper, guitar mangler

kevin harris: runs the best experimental venue in the city, the floating laboratories, performs with homemade “wind turbine” signal generators diffused through a multi-channel sound system and modular synthesizers

dinner music: rick weaver; experimental renaissance man, restless soul, runs human conduct records

pro-duplication and imprinting with full color double sided j-cards. signed and numbered digital prints and cover art by jeremy "ghost ice" kannapell. edition of 200 on high bias tape.


previous artist:
 horatiu radulescu 		...and that's everything in stock featuring raglani.
(why not take a look at the previous and next artists?)		next artist:
 joe raglani 
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... this page was last updated on thursday, may 24th, 2012 @ 5:56 pm