Weve recently stocked a large portion of the Mountain Collective For Independent Artists (Mountain C.I.A.) back catalog. This was a non-profit DIY organization dedicated to promoting art made for community and not commodity, motivated by passion and not profit. Over the past few years, the collective members have become involved in other endeavors, and the Mountain label is sadly being laid to rest.
Mountain CIA have released a slew of phenomenal records, many of which have been largely overlooked due to lack of promotion, lack of touring, or the recurring curse of bands breaking up immediately following the release of their record. Some of the more successful Mountain releases are now out of print (i.e Saetia, Closure, etc), but the available ones Ive been able to get.
* Halo Perfecto Hospitals in Other Countries LP
The band existed to write this record. This is all their songs. To avoid pretension, lets just say this: its good music. Not in the sense of any one person preferring these songs over other songs, but in the more qualitative sense of good. Well articulated and well performed. Not, however, overstated, perverse, ostentatious or discommodious. As for the sounds youll hear upon putting the needle to the record, you know its rock music. Members did time in former hardcore-punk outfits such as Anton Bordman and Palatka, if that helps. Multicolor silk-screened covers round out this stellar release.
* Ire I Discern An Overtone of Tragedy In Your Voice LP/CD
Ire creates monstrous, desolate slow-motion nightmares out of drastically down-tuned guitars, roaring vocals, and painfully dragged tempos. These songs are genuinely eerie. A little double bass and even a blastbeat. And just how slow is Ire, you ask? Well, this LP is a half-hour long, and that's just four songs.
* Kites Superior Moon Mini CD
Follow me now into the forest of noise where Kites are busy playing their latest offering the nine songs in twenty minutes 3" CDEP "Superior Moon", bouncing sounds around the atmosphere, and sounding like an old episode of Dr Who gone mad. Played on home-made instruments, this is the work of comic artist Christopher Forgues, who creates music with intensity and depth, working with frequency rather than notes, and occasionally annihilating everything in great swathes of white noise that are paranoid in their effect, especially when they arrive unexpectedly in the headphones causing the reviewer to jump several feet in the air and rush for the volume knob. Investigate with caution, but do investigate.
* Seein Red / The Judas Iscariot LP
The Netherlands' Seein' Red are back at it again with twelve more lightning fast hardcore songs complete with revolutionary political messages. New York's Judas Iscariot offer up eight songs on their side. They also play great hardcore with a political message, but they bring in a sort of emotive experimental flavor.
* Iceburn Land of Wind and Ghosts CD
The Iceburn Collective's new CD is ready for all you experimental music fans. This CD pushes their crazy experiment in free-jazz-noise to chaotic new extremes and comes in an elaborate envelope package with various hallucinogenic drugs
* Silencio Dead Kings CD
Instrumental. Silencio (from Columbus, OH) combines many different styles including harcore, noise, metal, jazz and others to craft very precise and explosive songs. Silencio shares some common ground with the Flying Luttenbachers (longer, more composition oriented racket), Naked City (genre switching, mind boggling, manic intensity), and late Iceburn (unbelievably good musicianship used to make totally innovative music). Silencio are truly forging new ground in music.
* The Flying Luttenbachers Retrospektiw IV CD
This CD collects non-LP tracks recorded between 1996 and 2000 including remastered versions of rare compilation tracks and 11 previously unreleased tracks. Over the years the Luttenbachers have changed their sound after each release adding and subtracting members and instruments. Sometimes they improvise freely with horns, upright bass and drums, sometimes they play something dubbed "neo no-wave", other times it's something else entirely. This is an extremely talented and creative group of musicians who play fast, tight, heavy, well-constructed and smart music. If you haven't heard of The Flying Luttenbachers yet, you will shortly.
* V/A Farm Sanctuary CD
A solid compilation featuring the likes of Antiproduct, Seven Days of Samsara, Atom & His Package, A Smile For Weakness, Fermented Reptile, Bloodpact, Dave Awl, A Satellite Crash, Countdown To Putsch, Remus & Romulus Nation, Submission Hold, Bumble Bee, & Staircase. Artwork by Sue Coe and tons of pertinent writings as well.
* V/A Decide on Change LP
After much delay, the latest Mountain benefit comp is finally out. Decide on Change is a hardcore punk compilation featuring 20 songs by 12 bands. The bands are: Straight to Hell, Scholastic Deth, Esperanza, Cockroach, Self Defense, Something in the Water, Totalitar, Balance of Terror, Melee, Vuur, Last Security, and Diallo. All proceeds from the record will go to the NYC More Gardens Coaltion, who fight to save community gardens and public greenspace from destruction. Along with all the ripping hardcore on this record, there are also some words about public space activism and info on More Gardens Coalition's history. This is a great record for a great cause - there's no way you can lose!