Necessary Animals

Necessary Animals
The Songs That Brought Us Home
Sloow Tapes - CS 50

Sapphire wine spilling over from the cup of Hastings' Necessary Animals. Multicoloured drops dissolve in multi-refractions of 23 Skidoo, New Jazz Experience, Alabama 3 and Good Missionaries. Crystal stars reflecting on blue-green liquids of origin growing myths of psychedelia from the primordial abyss of inner time. Edition of 70.

sloowtapes · Necessary Animals

David Erdos

David Erdos
Divided By One
Sloow Tapes - CS 60

David Erdos's work has been published and performed around the world and he has collaborated with Harold Pinter, Heathcote Williams, Alan Moore, Malcolm Ritchie, Jan Herman and Iain Sinclair among others. Also active in music Erdos worked with Pete Brown, David Tibet, Joy Payne, Steve Hackett etc. He is also a contributing editor for The International Times. As Heathcote Williams writes 'David Erdos assiduously pulls together each thread in the Great Chain of Being. His poems are terrific, atmospheric and far reaching and the reader soon learns that the writer is well informed on very many levels and that he's in safe hands for what proves to be a rewarding, penetrating and often breath-taking ride.' Edition of 50 copies.

sloowtapes · David Erdos

Mia Kirsi Stageberg

Mia Kirsi Stageberg
After The Promise
Sloow Tapes - CS 45

According to family legend Mia Kirsi Stageberg's name in Norway’s Trøndelag dialect means “stepmountain,” for steps cut into rocks at their home Stågeberget, since even goats found it hard to climb. Stageberg lived in Israel, Canada and several places in America like New Mexico. She was a regular contributer to periodicals like artscanada, New Directions and Caracol in the 1960's and 1970's, published several books of poetry and prose and edited Book of Itzolin: Life and Works of Itzolin Valdemar García and Ronnie Burk's collection of poetry Sky Boat. Edition of 50 copies.

sloowtapes · Mia Kirsi Stageberg

Niko Karlsson

Niko Karlsson
Two Moons for Eyes
Sloow Tapes - CS 50

The sweet night thickens like boiling jam. Two muted moons transmute into silent eyes, its rays glowing through different stages of reality. A path through haze unfolds as Niko Karlsson's gentle guitar unfolds like a twisted flower and recedes back into invisibility under a shower of fern's seeds. Edition of 70 copies.

sloowtapes · Niko Karlsson

Electronic Sound Session

Electronic Sound Session
2018-2022
Zesde Kolonne Records/Pravdada/sloow Tapes Co-release

Selection of live improv sessions from 2018 to 2022 on various synths and other strange electronic devices by Jan d'Hooghe, Luk Sponselee, Bart De Paepe, Edwin van Eck, Jean-Pierre vann Rumste, Youri van Uffelen, Lars Senders and Paul Cornelis. Recorded in exotic under the radar places like Hulst, Terneuzen and Kattendijke. Belgium/Holland collaboration.

sloowtapes · Electronic Sound Session

Tractor

Tractor
S/T
Sloow Tapes - CS 60

Archival release from those hazy early 90s Sint-Niklaas adrenaline soaked days by Tractor, a band that rose out of the ashes of Philadelphia '69 (drummer Jan D'Hooghe and guitarist Jimmy Van Landeghem) and Doodt Illegaal (bassplayer Djackies) with Jan writing most of the songs on a one string acoustic guitar. Garagerock and punk molested by the likes of Slayer, Ministry, Butthole Surfers and especially the drummer Danny Arnold Lommen (Gore, Caspar Brotzmann Massaker). This cassette collects what's left from their short existence (1989-1992): two live shows (JH Clichee and Café Commerce) plus a demo. Edition of 50 copies.

sloowtapes · Tractor

Gary Cummiskey

Gary Cummiskey
I telephoned God
Sloow Tapes - CS 40

Gary Cummiskey is a poet, short story writer and publisher living in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is the author of several poetry chapbooks and collections, the latest being Animal eyeball (with Paul Warren) (Dye Hard Press) and Somewhere else (Graffiti, Kolkata). In 2009 he published Who was Sinclair Beiles?, a compilation of writings about the South African Beat poet, co-edited with Eva Kowalska. A revised and expanded edition was published in 2014. His short fiction collection Off-ramp was a finalist for the 2014 Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award. From 2014 to 2016 he was editor of New Coin, one of South Africa’s oldest and most prestigious poetry journals. Collage by Bruno Sourdin. Edition of 50 copies.

sloowtapes · Gary Cummiskey

Algis Fediajevas

Algis Fediajevas
Po trejų metų
Sloow Tapes - CS 40

An oaken prism clothed in precious gems of labyrinthine fingerpicking totems inscribed with carvings of ancestral druids (John Fahey, Robbie Basho...). Let the ripe fruits of the quivering arrow melt from the Lithuanian bow . Edition of 70.

Algis Fediajevas ‘Po trejṷ metṷ’. Lithuanian native Algis from Vilnius is a new name to me and this is his fourth release, on it he sings and plays guitar, lap steel, harmonica, recorder and percussion and is joined by Emma Reed flute and Mark Elliott Akai sampler. It is in the tradition of American Primitive guitarists like Robbie Basho and John Fahey, the songs are sung in Lithuanian, opener Bgantys Ir Sustingę is fairly labyrinthine, with plenty of attack and decay. It’s an immersive listen, with the guitar being the star of the show, songs underpinned by gentle percussion and ringing creaking acoustic guitar. It’s also firmly in the acid folk genre with songs such as ‘Šešė liai’ and ‘kai pašukei’ inspired largely by nature of natural surroundings, he’s well worth checking out. (Terrascope)

sloowtapes · Algis Fediajevas - Po trejų metų

Mascara Snake

Mascara Snake
Mountain Diary
Sloow Tapes - CS 25

Not to be confused with the sometimes Captain Beefheart clarinetist of the same name, this particular Mascara Snake makes instrumental and atmospheric sound collages, influenced especially by Moondog, Penguin Cafe Orchestra and Luc Ferrari. As the snake sheds its skin Pacôme Genty reveals himself, who you might remember from the just as enigmatic La Non-pareille lp he released last year with his duo Des édens (together with Antoine Cortes). Edition of 60 copies.

sloowtapes · Mascara Snake

Alek Novak

Alek Novak
Pod Vodom
Sloow Tapes - CS 54

Serbian dystopian bedroom psychedelia from the one man band Alek Novak that fits these gnarly times very well. Poetic lyrics (so i've been told, I don't speak Serbian) over a psychedelic rock/noise sauce makes perfect listening while walking through shady corners of Belgrade, tasting the last drops of your bottle rakia. 70 copies.

sloowtapes · Alek Novak

Mike Hovancsek

Mike Hovancsek
Texture Studies
Sloow Tapes - CS 90

Late night atmospheric soundtracks for two short movies. 'Aea' is an acoustic improvisation with tons of illustrious instruments and contributions on shamisen and shakuhachi by Lydia Schneider and slide guitar by Mohonbeena Soumalaya Mukherjee. 'Antroposcene' is a meditation of floating electronics on our disastrous pollution of the world. Mike Hovancsek is a former member of Pointless Orchestra and collaborated with Egyptian composer Halim El-Dabh (who composed some of the earliest tape music in 1944). 70 copies.

He has releases on Pointless Music (and he was a member of the Pointless Orchestra) as early as 1991, and Infinite Number Of Sounds Recording Company, and yet this is his seventh release only. The four lengthy pieces receive some liner notes in which he mentions that he plays all the instruments but doesn't specify these. There are some guest players, such as Lydia Schneider on the shakuhachi and shamisen and Mohonbeena Soumalaya Mukherjee on slide guitar. The first side is all acoustic, and the second is electronic. What ties these sides together is Hovancsek's rather free approach to sound. On the electronic side, with two versions of a piece called 'Anthroposcene', the music is all about modular synthesizers, resembling all things living on this planet but under attack by humans. The sound changes constantly and sounds like a swarm of bees (or ants, but is that a swarm?) and a great piece. The two pieces, on the other side, are quite different. While also constructed freely, from many recordings stuck together, especially in the title piece, the music has a relatively reflective mood and the most in 'Aea - Espiral'. There is a raga-like drone machine, and on top, we hear what seems to be the processed sounds of the wind instruments. With the slide guitar, this free-style, hippie-like element gets more confirmation in the title piece. Maybe a bit too much on the incense side for my taste, but there is a fine touch of experimentalism to each piece, which saved it in the end. (Vital Weekly)

Based on the bits I’d heard from American artist Hovancsek, I was expecting something of a similar tenor. But this release is split into acoustic and electronic sides, the former featuring wood flutes, dreamy percussion and Indian slide guitar, giving it a bit of an acid folk heft in the vein of Daniel De Vore. The electronic suite is pretty spacy, with lots of oscillator-like bloops and the sort of Bading-esque squiggles you might hear in the background of a classic Star Trek episode. Which is, of course, cool by me. (Byron Coley, The Wire)

sloowtapes · Mike Hovancsek

Seirios Savvaidis

Seirios Savvaidis
Mesourania/Wendy's Wedding
Sloow Tapes CS 40

Compiling two EP's (Mesourania (2019) and Wendy's Wedding (2016) by Seirios Savvaidis (who also plays in The Dead Ends), one of Greece's best kept secrets. Some mind expanding songs that reflect deep knowledge of traditional Greek music by way of sixties and seventies pychedelia and cosmic folk troubadours. Savvaidis's relaxed Greek vocals make you float all the way up Mount Paggaio. Edition of 70 copies.


Seirios Savvaidis is a Greek musician whose work borrows liberally from psych rock of the 60s and 70s, complemented by the more cosmically written folk artists of the time. Compiling 2019's in 2016's Γάμος της Γουέντυ, Sloow Tapes gives a radiant look to his music with this double EP cassette. There are overt nods to traditional Greek music here. Gently surging acoustic ruminate comfortably alongside more muscular bits of personal introspection. Through the complex mechanism of these two EPs, we hear how multiple genres occupy the same space within songs. He even brings in some Laurel Canyon vibes to soften the transitions from sound to sound - he contains these living, breathing worlds, which seem to always exist. It's a definitive ride as we are carried on the backs of his inspirations and watch him interpolate their various lineages. (Beats Per Minute)

sloowtapes · Seirios Savvaidis