matthew bower / mattin “a new form of beauty (1975)” compact disc

• a new form of beauty (1975) (48:26)

skullflower “tribulation” compact disc

• lost in the blackened gardens of some vast star
  
• black wind
  
• saragossa
  
• dying venice
  
• tribulation
  
• void of roses
  
• dwarf thunderbolt
  
• silver stars rot mindlessly...
  
• in the depths of the stagnant pond

skullflower “orange canyon mind” compact disc

• starry wisdom
  
• orange canyon mind
  
• annihilating angel
  
• vampires breath
  
• ghosts ice aliens
  
• goat of a thousand young
  
• star hill
  
• forked lightning

kemialliset ystävät / sunroof! “split series #19” long playing record

• kemialliset ystävät - taivaassa on loivemmat mäet
  
• kemialliset ystävät - hyvällisen tähdellistä
  
• kemialliset ystävät - yöllä tulen ja raapasen tulen karvoihin!
  
• kemialliset ystävät - pirtua raamatun kansissa
  
• kemialliset ystävät - tässä maassa kun näin makailen
  
  
• sunroof! - little ornamental lake of death
  
• sunroof! - spiritual forgery
  
• sunroof! - extinction fantasy

fatcat press release...

kemialliset ystävät / sunroof! split series #19 format: 12” ep release date: 10/21/08 highly-anticipated next installment in fatcat’s acclaimed split 12” series limited-edition vinyl-only release with handmade jackets. kemialliset ystävät (it translates as ‘chemical friends’) are a loose collective from tampere in southern finland. existing in dialogue amongst (and beyond) the hugely creative, diverse microcosm of the finnish scene including artists like avarus, lau nau, es, paavoharju, islaja, anaksimandros, and labels like fonal, 267 laatijaa, and lal lal lal, kemialliset ystävät has become an influential node on the outsider noise/folk/ psych underground, finding international acclaim. almost entirely self-taught and using a bewildering array of instruments and approaches, their sonic arsenal includes detuned guitars, bass, traditional / vernacular instrumentation (mandolins, balalaikas, etc.) hand percussion, all manner of electronic instruments, effects, toys and circuit-bent items, treated samples and vinyl manipulation. playfully taking their own unique and unpredictable path, they have layered and fused together traditional finnish (at times almost medieval-sounding) instrumentation and melodies with avant-garde electronics, psychedelic folk/rock, noise, electro-acoustic, and percussive tribal rhythms, creating a sense of ritualistic magic and flexible, group-mind improvisation, with the whole often subjected to brutal and precise editing. the five tracks they’ve contributed to this 12” flow together as sections of one whole to form a fluid, simmering and restless journey through woozy loops, blurred harmonies and vocal contortions. with occassional jump-cuts, and all manner of spluttering, splattering electronics, its shimmering sense of tension eventually resolves as forms emerge – sometimes fleetingly, sometimes with a longer, more coherent rhythmic and melodic pull. sunroof! is the work of prolific, bradford, england-based guitar-abuse legend matthew bower. best known for his work with skullflower, bower has been active on the experimental/ post-punk/noise underground for over 25 years, releasing over 60 albums under a variety of pseudonyms. bower’s vast discography of visceral, free drone-rock is one of the most formidable of its kind - a monumental, labyrinthine effort to get your head around, with continual shifts and dynamic reverses between - and even within - his various projects rendering it virtually impossible to pin down. sunroof!’s trajectory has shifted from bubbling, transcendental pulse to coruscating feedback, jerky freeform soloing to sweet-shimmering dream-haze with traces of acid-damaged british folk, and brain-blitzing high-pitched psychedelic drone. stepping between varying pressures and weights, the three tracks provided here offer a dazzling confirmation of sunroof!’s quality. “little ornamental lake of death” and “extinction fantasy” blow out a beatless, fizzing, coruscating, hyper-energetic scrawl/sprawl of guitar – a swirling mass of sound that’s blissfully immersive and hyper-coloured. wedged in between, the far briefer “spiritual forgery” hangs a frayed line of quavering guitar tone.

hototogisu “sculpture built upon the graves” compact disc recordable

• storm (7:42)
  
• tropical malady (13:09)
  
• paris, no harm (13:43)
  
• vanished beams (9:37)

hototogisu “prayer rug exorcism” compact disc

• untitled (1) (18:01)
  
• untitled (2) (7:49)
  
• untitled (3) (15:23)
  
• untitled (4) (18:52

heavy blossom press release...

most barbaric installment yet in the blood n groan saga initiated with ghost from the sun; prayer rug exorcism is a monolithic single disc in four parts. opening with a brooding nocturnal labyrinth, and ascending through a dark power-drone into sky-high ribbons of blasphemous feedback traceries, and the annihilating ghostly machine clank of part 4, like tgs old analog set up, running freeform and haunted in a hermetically sealed bunker.  recorded: the black chapel, leeds; cca, glasgow; holy trinity church, leeds, and brudenell social club, leeds in 2005.  full color deluxe artwork delineates the unusual arcana, and some new clues for the pictorially fetishistic.  edition of 1000 copies.

skullflower “strange keys to untune gods' firmament” double compact disc set

• shivering aurora (9:19)
  
• starlit mire (9:27)
  
• enochian tapestries (8:09)
  
• city of dis (8:07)
  
• gateway to blasphemous light (14:20)
  
• basement of an impure universe (11:07)
  
  
• nibelungen (7:38)
  
• blood mirror streams (7:02)
  
• blackened angelwings scythe the billowing void (8:37)
  
• chaotic demons fly in to my eyes (8:41)
  
• skar konstellation (9:14)
  
• rheingold (7:33)

neurot press release...

skullflower / strange keys to untune gods' firmament neurot recordings 2xcd nr067 street date: february 2nd, 2010 “all must bow before the pagan wall of drone..."  so reads the opening line of skullflower's website. hearing their tortured, distorted, and eerily shamanic sounds emanate from the stereo for the first time in the early '90s was truly a revelation. iiird gatekeeper and obsidian shaking codex are two of my all-time favorite albums and have been extremely influential on the way my brothers and i approach guitar-based heavy music. to grab an instrument, drive a loud amplifier to its physical limit, and ride the drone into oblivion is ecstasy, and matthew bower has been showing us all how it is done for 20-odd years.  strange keys to untune gods' firmament evokes wagnerian sonic bombast, a nietzchean worldview, and a warlike cry of rebellion against the false, encased in a whirlwind both psychotropic and psychoacoustic. each spin brings new themes to the forefront. not easy listening by anyone's standards, strange keys is not for the faint of heart--but those willing to submit and immerse themselves in the deep, thick waters of self-transformation will be greatly rewarded.  -- steve von till (neurosis / neurot recordings) new double-album features some of the band's most intensely dark music to date follows up where orange canyon mind and tribulation leave off mastering by james plotkin brings psychoacoustics into three-dimensional experience

skullflower “obsidian shaking codex” compact disc recordable

• sir bendalot (9:12)
  
• circular temple (12:37)
  
• crashing silver ghost phallus (11:15)
  
• diamond bullet (15:34)
  
• smoke jaguar (24:56)

skullflower “malediction” compact disc

• a'arab zaraq - ravens of the burning of god (24:16)
  
• ghost bitch of black flame (10:02)
  
• drenched in moonsblood (waxing gibbous) (17:45)

skullflower “pure imperial reform” compact disc

• pure imperial reform (42:06)

turgid animal press release...

skullflower - "pure imperial reform" cd new skullflower cd now available on turgid animal records. recorded last year live on an antwerpen radio station comes this new guitar wall "composition" from matthew bower and lee stokoe. this is a real cd (a first for turgid animal) limited to 1000 copies with artwork desinged by mb himself and pro-printed on quality grey paper in standard jewel cases. this is a seriously solid release and is for fans of modern skullflower recordings and anyone who just loves a good harsh racket!

skullflower “desire for a holy war” compact disc

• your cities, your tombs (7:01)
  
• moses conjured a blood niagra (7:26)
  
• eves dream (8:26)
  
• frozen spectres (7:08)
  
• serbonian bog (9:42)
  
• unholy inhuman (8:06)divinus deus (7:28)

utech press release...

skullflower > desire for a holy war > ursk1 desire for a holy war is mayhem piled on top of mayhem piled on top of squalls of caustic feedback. furies spitting oaths of shrouded vengeance from ancient tongues. plague riders dealing death on mounts of venomous ether, hooves pounding the wild earth. matthew bower may have reached a watershed with last year's abyssic lowland hiss (heavy blossom) but it is with desire for a holy war that he has come to conquer. never has skullflower sounded so severe or remorseless. utech records and stephen kasner collaborate on fine art series utech records will invoke a connate soul next year in visual artist stephen kasner to develop a second fine art series of cd releases for the label. the series, as yet unnamed, will comprise nine volumes of 750 copies each over the course of 2008 beginning in april. kasner has committed the bulk of his next year's output to painting original and exclusive canvases. his subject matter has yet to be disclosed, but the artist has spoken in general terms of a new direction he wants to explore in his work. a package unique to the series has been designed to highlight kasner's residuum and the accompanying music. the foundation of the series is the belief that a visual device can bind a disparate body of music in a meaningful way. the genesis of this idea was first explored with photographer max aguilera-hellweg in 2007 and the result was utech record's acclaimed arc series. fruit borne from that venture has led to this stab at further examination. kasner immediately saw value in the theory and agreed to help cultivate and refine it. artistic study aside, the guts of this series is the music and the conviction that it alone will give rise to its life. utech and kasner discussed at length the curatorial undertaking and a virulent battery of musicians was selected. skullflower, heavensore, runhild gammelsaeter, fuyuki yamakawa, aluk todolo and final with more to be announced at a later date. sure to be an archetype for the music/art proposition in the coming year, the series has been intentionally left open ended. the two have agreed to let ideas evolve naturally and it will remain to be seen just how far things will go. there is a lot on the table and not all of it is being revealed at this point.

youngsbower “relayer” compact disc

• eagle like a fly (5:59)
  
• pink sky blossom (3:17)
  
• iridescent hosedown (5:49)
  
• welding the sea (3:23)
  
• moonlight ice rink (4:29)
  
• stream entrant (3:29)
  
• new martian sun tunnel (5:10)
  
• helicopter kachina (3:39)
  
• hoedown modulation (2:32)
  
• opaline retrieval (3:17)
  
• fly like an eagle (7:26)