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previous record label: roomtone		there are 10 titles on root strata in stock. they are listed below.		next record label: rossbin

$12.48

new to stock as of
may 16th, 2008

threads:
modern-psych
minimalism-drones

root strata (usa) #rs-33 cd

john davis “the gold hooped nature” compact disc

before & since (2:53)
hudibras (5:50)
queen mab's chariot (7:11)
moral frost (2:11)
difficulty climbing (5:49)
half consumed (1:29)
blood rust (5:21)
the forlorn bookworm (1:09)
naumkeag (3:37)

click the play button to hear an excerpt of "naumkeag"

root strata press release...

john davis
"the gold hooped nature"

rs-33
cd
edition of 300

'the gold hooped nature' is the debut long player by california dreamer john davis. picking up where his 3" cd-r ‘at home and afield’ left off, this disc is a scenic set of audio drift that easily zigzags dense passages of analog crunch as well as blank vistas of crystalline tones via guitars, found sounds, contact microphones, tape speed oscillations, field recordings and a small battery of effects. john's study as a filmmaker & photographer definitely plays some roll here, with any number of landscapes (real or imagined, inner or outer) being brought to mind. way less head than heart though, with plenty of these tracks dipped in a romantic glaze that betrays any tendency to over conceptualize drone / ambient / whatever music. it's more wide-eyed sunset, lost west coast stargazing than that. and i suspect the endless midwest horizons of john's youth are in there as well.

$12.48

new to stock as of
may 16th, 2008

threads:
guitar-themed
modern-psych
minimalism-drones

root strata (usa) #rs-32 cd

taiga remains “ribbons of dust” compact disc

part 1 (14:00)
part 2.a (9:49)
part 2.b (9:15)
part 3 (23:55)

click the play button to hear an excerpt of "part 3"

once again, students of decay’s alex cobb proving that he’s a positive guitar-drone-force to be reckoned with ... the andrew chalk ref. in the press-texts below is spot-on ; fans take note ...

root strata press release...

taiga remains
"ribbons of dust"

rs-32
cd
edition of 300

already released as a series of 3" cd-r's, we're proud to finally drop taiga remains' blazing white-out guitar suite 'ribbons of dust'. although originally conceived as stand-alone pieces, the four tracks that make up this hour long disc can easily be seen as one continuous meditation on total delay emptiness as channeled through the electric six-string drone worship of flying saucer attack and andrew chalk. not at all the overtone distortion that mr. cobb usually trips in, these verses seem to have been written during heavy snowed in nights that lapsed into early morning. vibrating, soothing, disturbing, and completely built for headphone trips to the stratosphere. comes in a chipboard pack with black ink letterpressed artwork.

$12.48

back in stock as of
may 16th, 2008

first in stock on
december 1st, 2007

threads:
electro-acoustic-composition
modern-composition
minimalism-drones

root strata (usa) #rs-27 lp

gregg kowalsky “tendrils in vigne” one-sided long playing record

tendrils in vigne (12:00)

click the play button to hear an excerpt of "tendrils in vine"

kranky artist gregg kowalsky’s masters thesis, as performed live at mills college on april 2nd, 2005 by a large ensemble including fred frith, ben bracken, eric glick rieman, and 23 others ... gorgeous, slow-arc rising sound ...

root strata press release...

gregg kowalsky - tendrils in vigne

rs-24
one sided lp
edition of 300

'tendrils in vigne' is gregg kowalsky's mills collage graduate thesis project, a down right gorgeous slow burner of all acoustic instruments. originally composed for laptop, gregg transcribed and scored his music for an ensemble of 25 people that includes everything from a string section to a shakuhachi player. microcosmic loops expand into complex forms of geometry featuring voices and exploding drum kits. mesmerizing.

$16.38

back in stock as of
may 16th, 2008

first in stock on
october 18th, 2007

threads:
modern-psych
minimalism-drones
electro-acoustic-improvisation

root strata (usa) #rs-25 lp

axolotl / d yellow swans / gerritt “axolotl / d yellow swans / gerritt” long playing record

untitled (7:21)
untitled (12:39)
untitled (17:13)

click the play button to hear an excerpt of "untitled (1)"

fine lp covering a 3-way collaboration between mms perennials axolotl, (d) yellow swans, and gerritt; not the blown-out harsh-noise slugfest that might have occurred under less sympathetic circumstances - but in fact a rather taj-mahal-travellers-esque mantra of string-drones and phased electronics...

root strata press release...

axolotl / d yellow swans / gerritt

rs-25
lp

edition of 500

originally released in 2005 as a limited edition cd-r on yellow swans' jyrk label, this three-way collab now gets a proper run on wax. recorded in oakland at the huffin house before the swans made the retreat back to portland. despite the weight of these players when they rock alone, this jam really never gets into full on white out territory. instead, it's loaded to the brim with wavy neon distortion and soothing low end that occasional drops out into huge washes of emptiness. the opening passage of gms guitar flecks sympathizing with karl's string wash is alone worth the price of admission. red vinyl with lime green splatter.

$12.48

back in stock as of
may 16th, 2008

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)

click the play button to hear an excerpt of "paths in the bower"

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.

$12.48

back in stock as of
may 16th, 2008

first in stock on
october 18th, 2007

threads:
modern-psych
minimalism-drones
free-improvisation

root strata (usa) #rs-23 cd

brothers of the occult sisterhood “preying in circles” compact disc

ornamentum dust raga (3:50)
they're riding a cross hare (5:51)
thought flickering eyes swallow the forest (6:32)
harp fragments drank syrupy blue blood (3:50)
insect orbiting shadows (6:34)
april (3:22)
ragged pyres in the night (11:33)

click the play button to hear an excerpt of "harp fragments drank syrupy blue blood"

root strata press release...

brothers of the occult sisterhood
'preying in circles'

rs-23
cd
edition of 500

another transmission from the australian house of music your mind will love you. this one has been a long time coming. taken from various recordings over a period from 05/06, the core duo of brother and sister michael and kristina donnelly are joined by eon in a killer trio setting. not as psych-acid as some of the recent botos output. not to say the group doesn't kick up a good racket, it's just way spacious and soft sounding at points, like seeing various twinkling stars through hazy fog. lots of dreamy moments of quite acoustic strum and subtle synth weirdness. the usual battery of instruments, toy and otherwise, are in effect. and of course, loads of percussive implosions...but not at all heavy handed. sounds like a sunday morning jam with your best friends outside in a garden just after tea. a joyful noise that's pleasing to the skull.

$12.48

back in stock as of
may 16th, 2008

first in stock on
october 18th, 2007

threads:
modern-psych
minimalism-drones

root strata (usa) #rs-22 cd

rv paintings “trinity rivers” compact disc

river one (11:37)
mad river (13:35)
river two (16:16)

click the play button to hear an excerpt of "river one"

pristine disc of flowing drone-work from this starving weirdos related agglomerate; on par with organum’s “sphyx” in its squeaking-metal / wind-tunnel ambience ...

root strata press release...

rv paintings
'trinity rivers'

rs-22
cd
edition of 500

new nature jams from the northern california peace crew. brian pyle (one half of the core starving weirdos duo) his brother jon, and their bro spencer traverse the twilight moon as rv paintings. 'trinity rivers' is a suite of three nocturnal jams, way heavy on the hypnotic vibe. wine glasses, holographic guitar circles and skittery drum lines unite to form a fantasy world- but not in color - all black and white with smears of metallic sliver. eno circa 'on land' with ellen fullman's long string instrument after a midnight swim on the ocean. this is by far one of the most beautiful and totally dark audio documents out of the weirdos camp.

$12.48

back in stock as of
may 16th, 2008

first in stock on
october 18th, 2007

threads:
modern-psych
minimalism-drones

root strata (usa) #rs-20 cd

starving weirdos “shrine of the post-hypnotic” compact disc

crewell (8:50)
droned and poned (16:04)
shrine of the post-hypnotic (10:35)
from the northwest swells (6:52)
wartime sunrise (17:51)

click the play button to hear an excerpt of "crewell"

most recent full-length by this increasingly excellent west-coast free-float ensemble, recently hitting their stride (there’s a disc on bottrop-boy in the works for the near-future...)

root strata press release...

starving weirdos
'shrine of the post-hypnotic'

rs-20
cd
edition of 1000

more heavy head trips from the weirdos camp. shrine-of the post hypnotic is the second real cd released by the group, and by far the most coherent one to date. flowing like an epic nighttime hike through the damp forest of the northern california cost, it's packed to the brim with acoustic sound worlds and moon beams of electricity. unfolding slowly, it never peaks out, instead drifting along like a dense patch of heavy coastal fog.

$12.48

back in stock as of
may 16th, 2008

first in stock on
october 18th, 2007

threads:
modern-psych
minimalism-drones

root strata (usa) #rs-15 cd

bonus “on earth” compact disc

untitled (12:55)
untitled (9:10)
untitled (15:17)

click the play button to hear an excerpt of "untitled (1)"

root strata press release...

bonus
"on earth"

rs-15
cd
edition of 500

on earth is the first studio document created by the group, recorded with marcelo spinna at the space in may 2006 with production assistance from pete swanson (d. yellow swans). while previous cd-r releases were entirely improvised, on earth is comprised of three untitled pieces composed by the group with elements of restrained improvisation. musically, each piece has a specific concern, ranging from extremely subtle microtonal shifts to distorted crashes of intervals against one another. on earth captures the reductive bonus sound with all the sustained tones and sparkling textures, but with a more focused and succinct delivery.

$16.38

back in stock as of
may 16th, 2008

first in stock on
october 18th, 2007

threads:
modern-psych
minimalism-drones

root strata (usa) #rs-14 lp

zelienople “stone academy” long playing record

plaster dog (7:37)
fuck everything (4:31)
elephant (6:05)
fire machine (3:35)
more mess (4:01)
southside (2:15)
pissing (4:02)
bird's face (7:26)
when you were 9 (5:06)

click the play button to hear an excerpt of "fire machine"

root strata press release...

zelienople
"stone academy"

rs-14
lp
edition of 300

cracked song poems from a basement in chicago with no lights on. zelienople create acoustic improvisations that have as much in common with thuja as they do the late period work of talk talk. slowly drifting guitar tones run head first into blown out harmonium drones and the broken edges of homemade instruments. these songs aren't drifting as much as they are lost at sea. each cover comes with a real photo by bay area photographer dianne jones. six different ones in all. hand numbered as well.

previous record label:
roomtone

...and that's everything on root strata in stock.
(why not take a look at the previous and next labels?)

next record label:
rossbin

.home.

.artists.

.labels.

.new.

.restocks.

.best.

.faq.

.blog.