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Shame File Music is delighted to present these fascinating experiments in micro-percussion and temporal displacement from Astasie-abasie AKA Ian Andrews, he of early-80s Sydney tape fuckery projects like The Horse He’s Sick, Kurt Volentine, Cut with the Kitchen Knife and countless others. “Molecular Gamelan” records the agitation of small metal washers by hand drills/screwdrivers/film winders, and shrinks the listener down to a micro-sonic world.

Download/stream now, CD available in July, pre-order now for this special discounted price.

Two Long Works is the new album from Melbourne sound artist and instrument-maker, Ernie Althoff.

Following the musical rest period triggered by the crazy Covid cataclysm of 2020, I emerged from it with these two overly lengthy tracks. “HRWT” uses two recordings of kinetic music machines, digitally altered in both tempo and pitch. The other two instruments are manually played. One is a cardboard resonator box strung around with three thick and five thin elastic bands. Calling this simple device an instrument is almost flattery. The other is another ‘string’ instrument using the metal wires and frame of an egg-slicer attached to a wooden resonator box.

“Half as” mimics the sonic palette of its longer partner. Again, recordings of two kinetic machines have been digitally altered. The elastic band instrument now has an extra bass string, and the metal wire sounds now come from a three-slicer setup on a single long resonator box. Previously plucked, in this track it’s mainly beaten with sticks.

Available now for free streaming and free/pay-as-you-feel download.

Ernie Althoff is a Melbourne sound artist and instrument maker active in Australian experimental music since the late 1970s. He is unique not only for the original textures and sonic elements he creates, often tempered with wry humour, but also for his practically continuous contribution to and participation in the Melbourne experimental music community for over four decades.

Here’s Undecisive God’s 2003 monolithic ambient/drone guitar album, on Bandcamp for the first time. CDR version also available. Maybe a misstep including a cover of Sonic Youth’s “Mote”, but credit to their influence at the time should be paid, I guess. The rest of the album I still like a lot, and can listen to it now like it came from someone/somewhere else – Clinton.

THIS Ensemble’s “My Umbrella Is Another Word for Community” comes from the apex of the group’s 2014 live activities. It is a companion album to THIS Ensemble’s “Brown Paper Business” double CD/boxset (sham112), recorded in 2016.

Download/stream “My Umbrella…” 

Purchase the CDR

Purchase THIS Ensemble’s “Brown Paper Business” 2CD boxset and get a copy of “My Umbrella…” on CDR free.

THIS Ensemble, Ren Walters’ large-scale improvising group, began around 2006 with the main defining characteristic that the line-up would be different for each performance. Ren worked with various forms of structured improvisation in the Ensemble, such as giving different directions to separate musicians and durational guidelines.

By 2013, Ren’s direct influence on other members had almost completely dissipated, yet his subtle role in bringing and fostering engagement between a range of individuals was pivotal. In 2014, the group broadened to include performers from other disciplines beyond music, such as dancers and actors. This “MKII” version of the group was broadly active from 2014-2016, mostly performing at Moreland City Band Hall, in Cross Street, Brunswick. These sparsely-attended performances played out in increasingly-longer and sprawling durations, often continuing into the early hours of the next morning. The line-up continued to be fluid for each performance, with a group of 5-6 regular participants emerging to form a core.

The first volume of Music Under Lockdown: Melbourne 2020 was released in October 2020, documenting recordings made by artists in Melbourne during the long periods of lockdown due to COVID-19 that year. The response to the call for submissions was overwhelming, and recordings made during lockdown continued to come in after the first volume was released. Volume 2 collects these extra submissions that didn’t make it onto the first volume, continuing to document the response of Melbourne artists to this extraordinary time.

Featuring: David Evans, Mineral Sands, Honeyant, Dale Gorfinkel, Just Read, David Palliser, Timothy K. Brown, Brute Springclean, Caleb Joyce, Adam Simmons, and The Nova Fiends (cover art by Jen Callaway).

Stream or download for free/pay as you feel.

The long-awaited first audio documentation of legendary Melbourne interdisciplinary collective THIS Ensemble is finally here. Digital available now, and the lovingly-assembled-and-scarred double CDR housed in hinged wooden box on it’s way and available now for a special pre-order price (only 50 numbered copies). Shipping mid-February.