Revolver USA Exclusive Label
New Release Schedule:

June/July 2000

Releases are listed as chronologically as possible. Dates subject to change.

Released the week of June 12th, 2000

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At a pub in Melbourne, Australia, Steve Shelley and Luc Suer caught a trio of Rowland S. Howard protŽgŽs-- Tim Howden, John Brooks and Jason G. Boneham, collectively known as Hungry Ghost-- blowing the doors off the place with a wild storm of flickering Fender sparkle, Jaguar growl, bass drum boom, and minimal martial snare. That show and their self-released EP were impressive enough to prompt an invitation to come up from down under and make a new record. In June '99 The trio set up shop at Tribeca Recording, with Steve producing and Luc engineering, and cut 15 tracks of sweet, outback soul and dusty red ballads that drip, curl, and spark.

The 'Ghosts have expertly absorbed the rough, wailing waltzes and swooping, tidal minor movements of their countrymen the Dirty Three (not to mention the barroom baroque of the Boys Next Door brood: Birthday Party, Bad Seeds, These Immortal Souls), but Alone, Alone yields grander rewards-- they've significantly expanded the palette by using equal measures of conventional chops and avant technical antics; liberally rotating instruments including electric and acoustic guitars, a wide range of tuned percussion, trap kit, fiddle, accordion, organ; and deftly deploying elements of Spanish, Eastern European, Middle Eastern, Southeast Asian and American idioms. The result is a unique brand of combustive folk music, where primitive punk roots patrol a more mature Morricone/Badalamenti beat.

Yet this is no cliche "soundtrack without a film." Alone, Alone's tracks stand alone. Divided into three programs - Before Then, Alone Alone, and No Wake - the album's standout cuts include "No Prior Conviction," a bold Morriconian lament that would surely make Clint cry; the title track's tremolo-tumbling ur-chords and silky Loren Mazzacane-isms dissolving into SY-style rumblings; "Float," a delicate chiming lullaby sliced by fiddle cascading over metallic dronage; and "Come," with its gamelan goofin' reminiscent of Oval, underlaying more serpentine leads and subtle slide.

• Produced by Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth

• Fans of The Dirty Three are sure to be pleased. Mmm, Australian instrumentals of a soundtrack nature. . .

  Track Listing:

  BEFORE THEN
  1. back for more i go
  2. trying to lift a rock with a bottle on your head
  3. interlude

  ALONE ALONE
  4. reading your mail
  5. no prior convictions
  6. ( )
  7. alone alone
  8. i don't think about you anymore but, i don't think about you any less
  9. interlude

  NO WAKE
  10. float
  11. coma
  12. remember what it was like to float
  13. nothing has to happen
  14. interlude
  15. ( ) blackout

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SECRET CHIEFS 3 Second Grand Consitutiion and Bylaws
(WEB OF MIMICRY WOM005) CD

Released the week of July 17th, 2000

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Midheaven/Revolver USA's newest addition to the exclusive talent barn is Mimicry Records, who will reissue two CDs by Secret Chiefs 3 with previously unreleased bonus tracks, First Grand Constitution and Bylaws and Second Grand Constitution and Bylaws, originally released by Amarillo, currently out of print. Taking their cue from medieval esoteric Shi'ism and the Ismaili gnostics, the SC3 weave sound tapestries strangely consistent with their unorthodox worldview. The music so passionately pits itself against the banal shit-world of the Apparent, refusing to be pinned down, gentrified or co-opted into any consistent format it can't help but exude that other, more controversial side of mysticism: holy war. No mere ignorant blunder into militant experimental darkness, Secret Chiefs' music is a heroic and Herculean effort that brings real excitement into the world of sound. Go into the light!

• Shameless but glorious Mr. Bungle connection
  
• Meta-players include Trey Spruance and Danny Heifitz
  
• Completist fanbase will gratefully benefit from wider distribution of these in-demand chestnuts...right?
  
• Cover art denotes addition of bonus tracks and remastering

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Released the week of July 17th, 2000

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Poison Idea may be the "Kings of Punk," Merzbow and Hijokaidan, the "King(s) of Noise," and Michael Jackson the "King of Pop," but HELLNATION are undoubtedly the "Kings of Thrash." This 29-song piledriver is the crown jewel in the discography of one of the most firmly established extreme hardcore bands in the world. The Mid-South combo recorded Cheerleaders For Imperialism with the help of SPAZZ stringman Chris Dodge, a week before launching 1999's infamous "At War With Europe" tour. HELLNATION deals 'em out faster and more chaotic than junkie poker players hopped up on goofballs. Lyrically they blow gaping holes in the hypocrisy of the punk scene itself by attacking everyone from drunken crusties to phony emo crybabies (redundancy acknowledged). After more than 10 years of dominating the hyperspeed hardcore arena, the boys still stick to the basics of delivering the shortest, fastest, and loudest message possible. War with the scene has been declared and HELLNATION heralds the battle cry.

• Hellnation means S-A-L-E-S, thanks in no small part to their huge Sound Pollution discography
  
• Other hyperspeed hardcore contenders to the throne don't even come close
  
• Studio assistance from Chris Dodge of Spazz
  
• War with the scene has never sounded this good

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Released the week of July 17th, 2000

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Versatile Arab Chord Chart is the second full-length outing by the quintet of Neil Campbell, Michael Flower, Julian Bradley, Bridget Hayden and Adam Davenport. Like their UK cousins and fellow VHF recording artists Sunroof!, Vibracathedral Orchestra usually works from a base of modal improvisation. Led by Campbell's sawing violin, tracks like "Wearing Quid Frock" and the epic "Japan Banjo" build up arcs of lingering overtones beneath an undercurrent of melody. They cut the drones in their life with extremely effective bursts of near rock, in a style reminiscient of the pre-Nico Velvet Underground (circa 1966 or so). The band's combination of clattering percussion, droning strings, and considerable sense of where to put the "groove" on tracks like "Catching Loners With Blank Arms" makes them unique among their peers. Versatile Arab Chord Chart follows the band's previous Lino Hi outing on Giardia and a series of intriguing and extremely limited self-released titles, including the currently available Filling Sacks With Leaves 10-inch. New work for VHF and live work around the UK are planned for the near future, if there is one.

"... a nebulous cloud of tinkling tones and rough sawing bows É slowly levitating on darkly droning strings..."
- The Wire

• Pre-Nico Velvet-een stylings sure to enthrall hard-to-impress drone snobs
  
• New signings to the elite VHF stable aren't exactly coal to Newcastle; celebrate accordingly
  
• Features Neil Campbell, gentleman and hero of solo improv and hyper-dissonance circles

  30-second RealAudio excerpts:

  Wearing Quid Frock
  The Least Painful Earrings
  Aeolian Cistern
  Catching Loners with Blank Arms
  Still Leaking/Breaking
  Ordinary Babies
  Japan Banjo
  Caked
  Sound of Sleat

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