Musical lovers of the obscure and the otherworldly, throw your hands in the dark air and rejoice: experimental, Besançon and London-based imprint Hands in the Dark has returned with two new releases that’ll keep your brain and ears buzzing this summer.
First up: Brian Case — band member of rock bands Disappears, 90 Day Men, The Ponys and Acteur — is known for going way leftfield for his solo stuff. For his forthcoming record Plays Paradise Artificial, Case digs into the elements of his sound that resonated with his first two outings Tense Nature and Spirit Design. These include trance-inducing repetition, lots of synthesizers, and spoken-word vocals that sound like they were recorded in a tight bathroom.
Plays Paradise Artificial will come packaged with a yellow transparent vinyl in an ultra-limited run of 300 and is due June 22.
A second release comes from Aaron Moore (Volcano The Bear, Gospel of Mars) and Erik K Skodvin (Deaf Center, Svarte Greiner). Their Dada-inspired Instead of Rain I Bring a Hat was developed over the course of six years. Expect atmospheric timbres played in freeform with a helluva lot of instruments. Instead of Rain will also come out on the tiny run of 300 (although on regular old black vinyl). Nab it July 6.
While you wait for the albums’ arrival later this summer, check out the cover art and tracklistings for both releases, accompanied by a couple of the artists’ previous efforts to help you while the month of May away.
Paradise Plays Artifician tracklisting:
01. Plays Artificial
02. RU?
03. Titanics
04. Paradise
05. Undone
06. Too Old To Die Young Now
Instead of rain i bring a hat tracklisting:
01. Instead of rain i bring a hat
02. Furland
03. The fountain
04. Grown horse
05. Voice of an angle
06. Hibiscus in a glass owl
More about: Aaron Moore, Brian Case, Erik K Skodvin
