18 January 2008

winter 2008 pre-orders for kelly nesbitt, robert stillman's horses, and the tryst haunt 7" series volume 2.

Available for pre-order, immediately, to ship February 19th:


l-t-(f)-r 016: Kelly Nesbitt's Beaks That Could Smile CD-R
in which the dust settled on the antique photo album is blown, revealing all manner and layers of americana therein. kelly nesbitt has been known around town for years as a performance artist and folksinger with one ear in the frontier gothic folk/country ballad tradition and the other in a delightfully skewed avant-garde psychedelic realm, and on this album--her official debut--the two sides harmonize on a dusty spacetrip to places both hauntingly familiar and invitingly alien. it's a stunningly humble, graceful lo-fi world where a kazoo solo is a fine replacement for a guitar solo, and where perfectly-left answering machine messages deserve just as much appreciation as perfectly-delivered gospel-voiced folk songs.




running time: 60 minutes
tracklist:

01. wishy washy
02. glorified renter
03. kelly goes country
04. yes yes
05. gracias a la vida
06. think with your eyebrows
07. earbait #4
08. earbait #3
09. squeeze me calm
10. four track messages
11. beaks that could smile
12. dracula frizzi
13. tabloids
14. this island
15. earbait #1

16. yo yo ma

016 - "Beaks That Could Smile " cdr - $10
5"cdr: white-top cdr with handstamped bird.
packaging: full-color copy of collage and hand-drawn art, pasted onto chipboard arigato pak and sanded till soft.
insert: fold-out 8x10" xeroxed sheet with typed and handwritten text, and bird stamp
edition: limited, 50 copies.





l-t-(f)-r 017: Robert Stillman's Horses' Three Early Maine Films
in which nostalgia is gleaned from the parlour and the ocean; the fairground and the midnight air, in the form of moving postcards and one-man piano rags. using just two hands and two feet to play electric piano, a complete drumkit, nylon-stringed guitar, and tape fragments as though he were a full whiskey-soaked turn-of-the-20th-century band, robert stillman's music is transportive and transformative in any setting, but perhaps most effective as presented here: as the thoughtful soundtrack to archival silent documentary film footage of early 1900's maine loggers, fishermen, and lobstermen. the films and musical accompaniment are suspenseful, reverent, and playful - stillman's score perfectly matching the documentation of maine worklives with a veritable documentary of the american parlour sound.

cd running time: 28 min.
cd tracklist:
01 - 08. logging in maine
09. trout fishing, rangeley lakes
10. glorious (drawing a lobster pot)
11. fox n me
12. dmp chorale

dvd running time: 22 min.
dvd tracklist:
01. logging in maine
02. trout fishing, rangeley lakes
03. drawing a lobster pot


017 - "3 Early Maine Films" DVD-R / CDR - $12
5"cdr: white-top cdr with handcut stamp in red ink.
dvdr: white-top dvdr with handcut stamp in red ink.
packaging: cream-colored heavy cotton paper gatefold sleeve, with black ink linoleum-cut print on the cover and typed liner notes on the inside and back cover.
edition: limited, 50 copies.



and mailing #2 of the Tryst Haunt Series, Winter 2008:

LTH 704: bird microphone's "memory songs ep"

bird microphone follows up last year's paper mines split with cursillistas with this collection of original songs and appalachian child ballads. fitting six songs onto this 45rpm 7" record, bird mic. mixes her trademark dulcimer plucks and cut-up bell percussion clacks with a new focus on voice. love songs that aren't afraid to expose the dissonance; traditionals on the a-side, originals on the b. preview here. black 7" vinyl record with center labels hand-stamped on the A and hand-drawn/colored on the B-side, held in a heavy off-white cotton paper sleeve, with double-vision two-color screenprinted covers and an offset-printed back. hand-numbered to 300, and embossed.



LTH 705: white light's "saraswati" b/w barry burst's "rabies"

ian paige's white light project turns in a graceful, drony and jangly piece of classic lo-fi psych-pop, with a subtle galloping rhythm track keeping the good vibes in line. swirls of phasing synth quietly sneak up on the sweet vocals and lead guitars until all ride off on the figurative elephant in the sky. meanwhile, perennial favorite barry burst crashes that elephant back to the earth dirt and kicks up a party that could only be described as bollywood on acid. tablas and a host of handclaps provide the rhythmic thrust, while eastern strings and a chorus of singers (a multi-tracked barry) parade the blissfully gone love-fest through town. black 7" vinyl record with hand-stamped center labels held in a tri-fold die-cut chipboard sleeve, letterpressed and screenprinted in a multicolor design, with screenprinted chipboard insert. hand-numbered to 300.




LTH 706: the red f's "fingers" b/w sarah ramey's "magic" & "jane"

here we have a couple names new to the l'animaux tryst family, but no doubt familiar to those in the southern-maine know, here presented in split-single form as the official solo debut for both artists. the red f is the solo project of phantom buffalo guitarist tim burns, and there are shadows of his group's gentle and sweetly skewed indie-pop on "fingers". but pared down to just a voice, a creaky acoustic guitar, and the reverbed ghosts in the room, burns turns out one of the most affecting folk ballads we've heard in some time. on the b-side, sarah ramey (lead vocals and guitar for seekonk) presents two similarly pared-down tracks of acoustic strings and double-tracked vocals. the incredible intimacy with which she delivers each half-whispered word and melody alludes to warmth like the crackle of a woodfire on the coldest night. black 7" vinyl record with hand-stamped center labels, held in a heavy white cotton paper sleeve, with offset-printed art with watercolor washes applied by tim burns' hand. hand-numbered to 300 and embossed.


Again, as you know, these three records are available as a set for $24 in the US or $28 overseas, or as part of the Tryst Haunt Series year-long subscription (twelve 7" records total, three with the change of every season) for $75 US or $90 worldwide.

Remember, all CD-R prices include shipping to the US, so worldwide customers will add a couple bucks and we'll knock a couple bucks off for multiple orders.

And in other news, L'animaux Tryst now has a bit of a mailorder distro. This is for items released by other labels that feature L'animaux-related artists. So, as you can imagine, this update includes:

CURSILLISTAS' WASP STINGS THE LAST BITTER FLAVOR CD (Digitalis) $12
CURSILLISTAS' FLEECE FACE Cassette (30 min.) (Open Range Records) $7

Fleece Face is sold out at Open Range, and I've only got a few copies left, so get in touch soon. As always, email lanimaux(at)gmail(dot)com to inquire about availability before sending funds.

update: all but tassel cd-r and tryst haunt 7" series are sold out. new releases in a couple weeks, pre-orders begin next week with new kelly nesbitt cdr and robert stillman dvdr/cdr releases, as well as info on the winter 2008 set of tryst haunt 7"s from bird microphone, white light/barry burst, and the red f/sarah ramey.