January 2012

Happy New Year!

Richard Youngs- Core To The Brave - LP

With scores of releases both solo & in collaboration that stretch back for more than 20 years, Richard Youngs perhaps needs the least amount of introduction of any of the artists Root Strata has worked with. We're extremely excited to help Richard add another singular entry into his discography. 'Core To The Brave' hits with a shock and never lets up. Composed of what appears to be blown out bass & spastic drum rhythms, these tracks cascade into shimmering loops of distortion, their weight reaching a critical mass that often feels likes it's on the verge of ecstatic collapse. Everything is elevated further in & up by that one and only voice, floating over top like a lush wind come down from the mountains. Edition of 500.

In Other News:

Portraits

LP on Important records out January 24th! The first official document of the massive group mind project, recorded in Oakland California in 2010 with Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Evan Caminiti & Jon Porras from Barn Owl, Lisa McGee (Higuma, Vestals), Gregg Kowalsky & Marielle Jakobsons of Date Palms, Maxwell August Croy (Root Strata/En), Steven Dye & Tony Cross (Tarentel alum) and Michel Elrod, who plays tambura with Date Palms, Barn Owl & The Alps among others. Three tracks of long form in the zone drone. Edition of 500 with lovely screen printed jackets. Head over to Root Blog to hear some clips of the music.

Grouper with Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Circular Veil

Grouper & Jefre Cantu-Ledesma will give two performances of Circular Veil in Germany in February. Circular Veil is the fourth in an ongoing ambient tape collages series by Grouper/Liz Harris. This is a new duration performance which creates a customized sonic/visual environment designed to lull participants into a sort of waking sleep – a collective dreaming room in which audience and performers may experience this paradox collectively.The first is performance is part of the CTM 12 Festival in Berlin and will take place on Saturday the 4th at HAU2. This will be a non stop 7 hour performance. The second performance will be on Tuesday the 7th in Cologne at Alte Feuerwache. This will be a non stop 4 hour performance.

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma & Daan Van Golden - EN/Of Edition LP

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma was asked by the Berlin based EN/Of label to contribut to it's lovely ongoing series of musician/visual artist collaboration LP's. His contribution is entitled 'Visiting This World' and is in collaboration with Dutch artist Daan Van Golden. The edition is released in conjunction with a current retrospective of EN/Of editions at the De Hallen Museum in Haarlem, The Netherlands, which is also currently exhibiting a retrospective of the work of Van Golden. Their will be a free performance in the gallery by Cantu-Ledesma on Thursday 23 February, which will also be the official release date of the LP, which is in an edition of 100. Swing by Jefre's website to see the art & hear a clip.

Higuma - Pacific Fog Dreams - Damaged Stock

We received copies of Higuma's 'Pacific Fog Dreams' back from Thrill Jockey whose covers are slightly frayed at one edge, damage is extremely minimal and doesn't affect the record itself. Please find them slightly discounted here.