Skell LLC

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

HSFB/Parashi "Assassins" CDR (Skell 025)

Physical documentation of a blistering session between HSFB and Parashi, recorded in June 2018 at Heron Room North. HSFB and Parashi meld minds over a variety of synths and pedals, weaving a tangled blanket of of electronic scuzz that's sometimes spare, sometimes dense, and endlessly dynamic. Max Hamel (HSFB) is a Hudson Valley electronics shredder who has collaborated with Al Margolis, Crank Sturgeon, and Tongue Depressor. After a chance meeting at a show, Hamel and Griffin realized there was commonality in their respective soundworlds and that a collab was in order. Dig in--the water's poisonous, and filled with plastic refuse and landmines.....email urkaslife@gmail.com for orders/shipping etc. $6.00, edition of 40.

Monday, June 20, 2016

Grab Ass Cowboys/\Parashi--Cosmic Microwave Background collab CDR (Skell 022)

Albany's Grab Ass Cowboys and Parashi go back awhile....having played several shows together over the years, each noise unit was familiar with the other's sounds and idiosyncrasies. Mutual admiration spilled over into plans for a collaborative effort. Brass and wind instruments were abused, metal was scraped and pounded, random vocal lines and synth textures were coaxed out of reluctant equipment. The end result was a product that slithers and hisses at your feet like a loyal rattlesnake. Murmurs give way to searing feedback tones, trumpet bleats are cut up and fed thru distortion, bells chime and dissolve, and the whole mess is as organic as it is twisted. Get it before it's gone. Edition of 50, $5 ppd.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

2015 batch deal

Forgot to mention batch prices: USA people pay $24 ppd. for all 4 new tapes, and it's $42 ppd. for international customers.

SECTION 35/CASE split tape (Skell 021)

Totally stoked to put out this split tape--Nathaniel Brennan has been melting minds with his main project Cruudeuces for a long time, while in recent years Jeff Case has been working out his own brand of slow-burning, dubbed-out menace. SECTION 35's muttering unease will grab you instantly, with dank beats, narcotized vox, and an atmosphere of miasmic dread. Horns bleat, shrill synths oscillate and unwind, and a blanket of tape hiss disfigures even the most recognizable sounds. Beautiful and cryptic stuff, end-time jams for end-time folks.....

CASE's side of things is only slightly less bleak, as rolling waves of slithering noises manifest themselves and decay slowly, creating interlocking patterns of tonality and silence. Far removed from his work behind the drums as one half of Burnt Hills' percussive engine, these sounds are haunted and haunting, best enjoyed in the small hours. Pro-dubbed, edition of 50. $7 ppd. USA, $13 worldwide.

Chapels/Curling Hands split tape (Skell 020)

Very excited about this tape--Buffalo's Adam Richards has been at it for years, both with his excellent label House of Alchemy and his well-documented Chapels project. Tape loops, reverb, broken instrumentation, and carefully arranged, fragmentary bits of sonic debris have characterized his work in the past. "Things I Saw on My Way to the Lake" qualifies as classic Chapels.

Within you will find elements of creeping shadows, forgotten dreams, inexplicable paranoia, and any number of disorienting effects. In short, it's a crusher.....

Liam Rees is a multi-instrumentalist currently residing in London, equally comfortable with raga, psych rock, or noise. His Curling Hands project has a couple of self-released tapes to its name, and on his Skell debut we are happy to say that his dark, noise-inflected viola jams are scratching an itch we didn't even know we had. "The Terminal Object" aches and seethes with care and skill....both sides of this tape will NOT let you down. Pro-dubbed, edition of 50. $7 ppd. USA, $13 ppd. for the rest of the world.

Xanthocephalus/Nodolby split tape (Skell 019)

Two noise dudes who like the bass--that's the idea here, one from Brooklyn, one from Italy. Xanthocephalus has been dropping low-end madness upon the world since 2011, with heavy past releases on labels like Tranquility Tapes and Kendra Steiner Editions. Xantho mainman Russ Alderson utilizes a barrage of noisemakers and synth devices along with his electric bass to create churning megascapes of sound; grab hold of one of these icebergs and let it tow you out into the frigid oceans.

Mic Scariot is Nodolby, an unclassifiable and interesting noisemaker if I've ever heard one. Past efforts have surfaced on such fine imprints as Digitalis, Retrograde Tapes, and Obsolete Units. Years ago I heard a c10 by Nodolby, and was hooked...this particular release showcases some occasionally brutal sounds, all balanced within a framework that hangs together delicately. Mic also runs Italy's Dokuro Records, a label brimming with crucial releases by artists like Antony Milton, Mike Shiflet, as well as Skell Records vets Hering und seine 7 Sachen and Vales. Pro-dubbed, edition of 50. $7 ppd USA, $13 rest of the world.

Insects Waiting--Nonsense Codes Vol. 2 (Skell 018)

Mysterious transatlantic duo Insects Waiting return with the 2nd volume of their "Nonsense Codes", following last year's release of "Vol. 1" on the excellent Tape Drift Records. American Eric Hardiman and Scotsman Euan Currie combine their arsenals of sonic trickery, sharpened over the years in their respective main projects Rambutan and Dead Labour Process. The resulting sounds originate more from tapes and loops rather than synthesizers or stringed instruments, and Currie's edits yield a puzzling and compelling series of tracks. Recorded in Edinburgh in 2013, the vibe is a quieter one, pensive and carefully developed throughout. Pro-dubbed, edition of 50. $7 USA, $13 for the rest of the world.