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 sean smith 		there are 7 titles featuring steven r. smith in stock.
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$12.08

back in stock as of
october 31st, 2008

first in stock on
september 29th, 2005

file under:
rock-etc...
lo-fi
sound-research
catsup plate (usa) #cpr 722 cd

steven r. smith “crowns of marches” compact disc

  • crown of marches (40:37)
late summer 2005 release from jewelled antler co-co-head steven r. smith, working under his xian given. can’t get enough of this jewelled antler stuff; poking out from the ashes of so many fumbled, inept bedroom psych “experiences” like the gold-plated wrought-iron 9-foot spires they are... i’ve only listened to this one twice as of yet & so far it’s one of my favorites. can’t recommend it enough...
catsup plate press release...
recorded january 2005, worstward studios

instruments, electric and baritone guitars, xaphoon, fretted hurdy gurdy, baritone psaltery, noah bells, organ, electric piano, bowed cymbals, tympani

steven r. smith is best known for his participation in thuja and hala strana as well as his contribution to many jewelled antler projects. until now, however, his recordings under his own name have remained somewhat under the radar.

in thuja, smith and his compatriots built up delicate soundscapes by improvising on whatever happened to be nearby—traditional musical instruments, hand-built sound makers, and ordinary objects. in hala strana, on the other hand, smith focused more on existing compositions—usually evoking eastern european folk melodies—and employed more traditional set of instruments. crown of marches—his debut for catsup plate—is a single, epic, forty-minute track: smith balances the composed and the improvisational and the result is as ecstatic, beautiful and compelling as music can get.

in the spirit of keiji haino, popol vuh, dead c, and flying saucer attack, crown of marches takes the possibilities of the basement psychedelic guitar excursion and fashions something very new and inspiring—a piece alternately beautiful and overwhelming.

crown of marches begins with a low rumble of feedback and speaker hum; a lazy eastern melody pokes through the haze and establishes a strong contrast with the rumbling. this is the basis upon which the piece will expand and contract over the next 40 minutes. at times the feedback rumble drops away and relatively bright guitar lines come to the fore. at other times faint keyboard lines or bowed cymbals add texture and additional gravitas to the proceedings, only to be pushed away with the wail of distant guitars and more distortion—like the heaviest rock with the skeleton removed. the feedback eventually drops away, leaving moments of only bells and the warmth of roomtone. and so the piece goes, rising and falling, until, at the end, we are left with the initial set of rumble and lazy melodies peaking through the haze. in the end, smith brings us full-circle through chaos, melody and intensity and deposits us back into the world.

edition of 1000 copies in hand assembled, black over white on black silkscreened digipaks. catsup plate's most inscrutable packaging scheme yet.

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$15.76

back in stock as of
november 23rd, 2009

first in stock on
april 17th, 2008

threads:
jewelled-antler
modern-psych
free-improvisation
concert-recordings
minimalism-drones

important (usa) #imprec 173 lp

thuja “thuja” long playing record

  • oaklandish (16:27)
  • hemlock (2:29)

  • pehr space (5:21)
  • kains greenhouse (3:00)
  • pehr space (3:29)
  • kains basement (8:08)
killer set of flowing acoustic psychedelia from an augmented lineup of this once-yearly-meeting jewelled antler group thuja, here counting glenn donaldson, keith evans, loren chasse, steven r. smith, christine beopple, and rob reger amongst the ranks ...
important press release...
thuja - thuja - lp
imprec173 - lp

this is a limited edition of 500 copies on lp.

improvisational bay area quartet thuja create aural landscapes that capture the reverberations of wood and wire, the sounds of breaking sticks and scraping stones, and the ambience of their surroundings into a shifting, dynamic musical framework. the members of thuja play off each other and the space they inhabit with a natural instinct, succeeding in conjuring spectral compositions which are at once abstract yet inviting.

for this self-titled release, their sixth full-length and first for important records, thuja have assembled recordings from various live performance spaces (the hemlock, the oaklandish gallery, pehr space, kains greenhouse) and have welcomed a variety of guests into the fold to help assist and expand their microscopic psychedelia toward a new plateau. after eight years, the semi-annual gathering of the members of thuja is almost traditional, but new clearings are still to be discovered in its thickets of sound.

this self-titled release is yet another essential artifact from thuja's ongoing explorations.

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$13.44

back in stock as of
september 15th, 2010

first in stock on
february 9th, 2008

threads:
modern-psych
folk
guitar-themed
minimalism-drones
jewelled-antler

root strata (usa) #rs-24 cd

steven r. smith “the anchorite” compact disc

  • stars heaped up like grain (3:52)
  • procession (3:22)
  • paths in the bower (3:34)
  • the anchorite (2:41)
  • vine (4:35)
  • ampulla (2:50)
  • moss landing (3:13)
  • anastasis (4:02)
  • closing (3:40)
  • ascension (5:52)
february 2008 release ; the reissue of jewelled antler mainstay steven r. smith’s “the anchorite” - previously available for a blink on vinyl via important (i’ve been trying to track down a copy for myself for a year now...) - now thankfully reissued thanks to jefre cantu & co.’s root strata ...

moving in somewhere between lamonte young’s theatre of eternal music (everything’s there, from the static string-based drones right on down to the challenged, warm fidelity) & loren mazzacane connors’ epic bedroom guitar paeans, this is one of smith’s finer moments. highly recommended !!!
root strata press release...
steven r. smith
"the anchorite"

rs-24
cd
edition of 500

originally released in 2006 on important records as a limited run lp in their ongoing arts & crafts series, root strata is proud to present the reissue of the anchorite, a dazzling jewel in smiths substantial discography.

performed live to two track with the aide of tape loops and prerecorded takes, the music maintains a drifting, painterly quality that easily evokes the american west as much as the european east which smith so lovingly mines for his hala strana recordings. sepia toned and tinged with a luminous distortion, the anchorite, as the name suggests, is reserved, pulled back and solemn, some kind of hermetic prayer for the end of the world.

beautifully repackaged with new artwork in a heavy black & white gatefold cd case with offset printing.

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$6.55

new to stock as of
march 26th, 2009

threads:
jewelled-antler
modern-psych
folk
guitar-themed

ruralfaune (france) #rur 050 cd

james bloodbeard “james bloodbeard” three inch compact disc-recordable

  • blank noose (5:19)
  • nvr mnt it (3:51)
  • fruit basket (3:34)
  • my hands that see (4:02)
... lovely set of low-key room recordings from this jewelled-antler affiliated quartet (including steven r smith, jason honea, mark williams, and brian lucas) ...
ruralfaune press release...
rur050 james bloodbeard "james bloodbeard" 3"cdr ltd101

four-piece featuring steven r smith (thuja, hala strana, etc), jason honea (child readers) and mark williams and brian lucas, both of father beard. free strumming, the insistent wheeze of melodica and spaced-out vocals.

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$13.44

new to stock as of
april 2nd, 2009

threads:
modern-psych
jewelled-antler
guitar-themed

soft abuse (usa) #sab 032 cd

ulaan khol “ii” compact disc

  • untitled (1)
  • untitled (2)
  • untitled (3)
  • untitled (4)
  • untitled (5)
  • untitled (6)
  • untitled (7)
  • untitled (8)
... second disc by steven r. smith under his ulaan khol guise ; really loving this wave of warm, bedroom-guitar lineage transmissions, in league with the output of roy montgomery, azusa plane, et.al in decades prior ...
soft abuse press release...
ulaan khol ii cd · sab 032

all heavy with warmth & mystery, ulaan khol returns with another round of vertical incantations aimed at the heavens.  as ulaan khol, steven r. smith (hala strana, thuja, mirza) creates dense tapestries that revel in the eternal and infinite.  the bursts of tones & grip on formal structures can compare to the best of hototogisu or handful of dust, though filtered through an ample dose of ash ra tempel.

supreme while discreet, these songs carry a sense of unnerving calm and optimistic gloom, often within a single composition.  swaths of heavy feedback cascade against sinister organ workouts & varied percussion that’s at times pounding, and at others distant.  throughout, smith’s works emerge as vessels of possibility, exploratory rituals of hope.

under the ulaan khol banner, smith has planned a maximalist three-part suite, 'ceremony.' following the cryptic  first installment, ii shines with hazy, rolling atmospheric works that drift and shift with ease. riding a crumbling riff into oblivion, ulaan khol's ii emanates with the gleam of pure white light. 

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$13.44

new to stock as of
april 2nd, 2009

threads:
guitar-themed
modern-psych
minimalism-drones
jewelled-antler

soft abuse (usa) #sab 026 cd

ulaan khol “i” compact disc

  • untitled (1)
  • untitled (2)
  • untitled (3)
  • untitled (4)
  • untitled (5)
  • untitled (6)
  • untitled (7)
  • untitled (8)
  • untitled (9)
... endlessly moody psych-guitar burners from jewelled antler’s steven r. smith ; the first in a proposed trilogy of said ...
soft abuse press release...
ulaan khol i cd · sab 026

throughout his career as a solo artist, and through membership with the celebrated ensembles thuja and mirza, steven r. smith has had a hand in creating some of the most compelling and singular instrumental psychedelic music of the past ten years. smith's latest project, ulaan khol, moves beyond the eastern european-inspired sources and scales employed by his work as hala strana towards an approach alternately true to his personal musical lineage and in a realm beyond any pre-existing work. as ulaan khol, smith digs in deep with a palette of drums/guitar/organ to craft a monolithic & expansive free form, feedback-heavy atmospheric din that bonds the disparate realms of fushitsusha and high rise with popul vuh and flying saucer attack.

as ulaan khol, smith has planned a maximalist three-part suite, 'ceremony.' in the first installment of the trilogy, i, the tone is overwhelming bleak as the pieces (all untitled) caterwaul, moan and crumble. dripping with basement doom, ulaan khol's cosmic histrionics emanate with the raw essence of white light/white heat jettisoned by harmonia's amorphous drifts.

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$47.04

back in stock as of
april 26th, 2011

first in stock on
december 1st, 2008

threads:
jewelled-antler
field-recordings
guitar-themed
folk
modern-psych
lo-fi

 best of 2008 !!! 
porter (usa) #pr 4010-13 cd

“the jewelled antler library” quadruple compact disc boxed set

  • loren chasse - green laughter (18:11)
  • loren chasse - footpath 1 (1:02)
  • tomes - part 1 (10:04)
  • tomes - part 2 (10:38)
  • loren chasse - footpath 2 (1:11)
  • the ivytree - the withering year (2:53)
  • the ivytree - inner groves (6:13)
  • the ivytree - white sun (5:41)
  • the ivytree - lake of fire (3:29)
  • loren chasse - footpath 3 (0:47)
  • hala strana - cutting durmast (3:13)
  • hala strana - karst (5:12)
  • hala strana - sztajer (trad. polish) (3:13)
  • hala strana - cantecul miresei (trad. romanian) (3:08)
  • hala strana - nettles (3:14)

  • dead raven choir - night scene (8:29)
  • dead raven choir - the horn's sound in the wood ... (5:45)
  • dead raven choir - the shepherd's hour (6:50)
  • loren chasse - footpath 4 (2:01)
  • the famous boating party - white butterfly (3:37)
  • the famous boating party - the orange bears (3:36)
  • the famous boating party - albion moonlight (3:37)
  • the famous boating party - the great sled-makers (3:20)
  • the famous boating party - the deer is humble (2:40)
  • the famous boating party - follies of summer (2:33)
  • loren chasse - footpath 5 (1:27)
  • uton - zwuij 1 (5:35)
  • uton - zwuij 2 (8:06)
  • uton - zwuij 3 (5:29)
  • loren chasse - footpath 6 (0:37)

  • claypipe - wayside (1:38)
  • claypipe - constant (1:50)
  • claypipe - industry (the provision of cairns) (1:37)
  • claypipe - the math of random fractures (3:59)
  • claypipe - crouching (4:09)
  • claypipe - midnight at mangawhai beach (skeleton) (4:57)
  • claypipe - ~~~ (1:47)
  • loren chasse - footpath 7 (1:13)
  • the muons - green man (4:03)
  • the muons - space man (4:22)
  • the muons - flowers (3:33)
  • the muons - land's end (5:32)
  • the muons - fishes (2:14)
  • loren chasse - footpath 8 (1:27)
  • thuja - fable 1 (9:39)
  • thuja - fable 2 (12:17)
  • loren chasse - footpath 9 (2:49)

  • fursaxa - harbinger of spring (17:50)
  • loren chasse - footpath 10 (2:26)
  • kemialliset ystavat - kyy2 (4:01)
  • kemialliset ystavat - kyy1 (5:37)
  • kemialliset ystavat - kw (4:19)
  • kemialliset ystavat - kyy4 (2:35)
  • kemialliset ystavat - kx (3:13)
  • loren chasse - footpath 11 (1:13)
  • the ways of god to man - nothing (11:27)
  • the ways of god to man - everything (7:18)
  • the ways of god to man - anything (9:37)
  • loren chasse - footpath 12 (1:52)
december 2008 release ; holy grail time here folks ...

by the time i was made aware of just what a treasure trove the “jewelled antler cd-r library” series (released, one a month, during 2003) was, the discs in question were long unavailable, banished to the realm of myth & mystery, their hand-drawn artwork(s) relegated to .jpg files on assorted discography pages ...

lo and behold, the wise ones over at porter records (a young label, known primarily for their free jazz releases by the likes of henry grimes, odean pope, and khan jamal) saw some unjustice in this inavailability & set out to once again make this series, largely responsible for launching the career(s) of kemialliset ystävät, fursaxa, uton, dead raven choir, claypipe, and any number of the various combinations of the key jewelled antler players (loren chasse, glenn donaldson, steven r. smith, and rob reger) available to the discerning connoisseur who, like me, was largely unaware of this music as it was unfolding ...

the label has done a bang-up job, squeezing the entire contents of all 12 mini-cdrs onto four discs (with bonus material(s) from the shadowy the ways of god to man exclusive to this set) and housing everything inside a foil-stamped box along with a series of 14 double-sided, full-color cards (detailed below) reprinting the original designs and themes ...

easily one of my top releases of 2008, a life-saver for the latter-day jewelled antler fanatic ; highest recommendation !!!
porter press release...

the jewelled antler libary 

with 13 groups, 59 tracks and over 4 hours and 40 minutes of music and sounds, the jewelled antler library 4 cd box-set brings together experimental music from the u.s., finland and new zealand that ranges from psychedelic, abstract drone, soft psych, noise, folk and field recordings, to the outright strange and bizarre.  four cds that collect together the entire 12 volume set of the limited edition jewelled antler cd-r library, plus the limited edition recording of the ways of god to man and also 12 new field recordings by loren chasse.

musicians include: fursaxa, uton, loren chasse, tomes, the ivytree, hala strana, dead raven choir, the famous boating party, claypipe, muons, thuja, kemialliset ystavat, the ways of god to man.  this is a 1000 limited edition box-set.  the box-set is made of chip board stock with the jewelled antler logo debossed in metal foil, includes 14 heavy stock panels with original artwork, cd faces have printed photos by loren chasse.

previous artist:
 sean smith 		...and that's everything in stock featuring steven r. smith.
(why not take a look at the previous and next artists?)		next artist:
 stuart smith 
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... this page was last updated on saturday, february 11th, 2012 @ 6:06 pm