FREE Listen/Download

of an old cassette released

through Friends & Relatives!!!

featuring cover artwork by Chelsea Dee Rhody

 (the 4th release on the label?!?  2002!?!?)

The MEAN-AGERS  -  "s/t"

www.fmsmprc.bandcamp.com/album/the-mean-agers

(D)(B)(H)  /  Seeded Plain & Hal Rammel - split LP

 

(Two sub-underground acts from the Midwest U.S. split sides on this LP, creating a coin-flip encrusted venture into the thrills of deep listening & free improvisation with leanings towards futurism and organically based lowercase compositions...  (D)(B)(H) is a free wheeling ensemble with a rotating cast and fluctuating approach/sound. This time in a quartet formation, we're offered a 21 minute piece entitled "Bad For Business" that equally embraces minimalist percussion, mangled tape manipulation, fluent fire-breathing saxophone, reductive guitars and spittle trumpet. Recorded live in the studio of a radio station, this presents the group within their most hi-fi documentation to date with a special presence put upon the dynamics of volume and space...  Seeded Plain is the duo of Bryan Day and Jay Kreimer, both of whom design, build and perform upon otherworldly instruments constructed using practical composite designs, combining everyday objects with finished wood and metal forms ("alchemists of hardware stores, surplus catalogs, and discarded objects.") Teaming up with the underground legend Hal Rammel and his "amplified palette", the trio presents 4 tracks of energy filled sound reminiscent of "wind chime cheese slicers, bed springs and lengths of rope." Adventurous listening...  Cover paintings by Peter Shear and Brad Krieger screen printed onto recycled LP jackets with a slight splattering of gold paint worked into the subtlety. Double sided full sized insert and hand stamped (golden) center labels created with custom cut 3" circular rubber stamps. 

Pressed in a limited edition of 300 copies.)

$12 (ppd in the u.s.a.)
paypal: friendsandrelativesrecords@yahoo.com
cash in envelope: 114 S. Huron St. #4, Ypsilanti, MI 48197

NEW CASSETTE now available!!!
CHURCHBURNERS - "already done did" (c60)

(Churchburners has been the long running moniker of Rockford, Illinois' prolific home-taper Zach Ippen.  This cassette is his "greatest hits" of sorts, a collection of tracks spanning the first decade of the 21st century, selected by Justin Rhody.  Humorous a cappella and spoken word tracks, cut alongside over-driven 4 track explosions of degraded rhythmic noise - interspersed between mouth-sound layerings and beautiful cinematic oddball meanderings.  Variety and adventure are the name of the game here, and "we're a winner"!  For fans of lo-fi home recordings as known by early-Sebadoh/Sentridoh, Avocado Baby, Half Japanese/Jad Fair, etc...  Tired of that huge pile of tapes and cd-r's clogging up the bachelor pad?  Well no need to fret, cause now all your favorite Churchburner tracks are available on one compact cassette!!!)

 

$4 (ppd in the U.S.)
paypal:  friendsandrelativesrecords@yahoo.com
cash in envelope:  114 S. Huron St. #4, Ypsilanti, MI 48197

 

 

 

 

recent review for the
(D)(B)(H) / Seeded Plain & Hal Rammel - split LP

 
 "Two Midwestern outfits get active. (D)(B)(H) side = Euro free improvisation, the type with a saxophone spastically/gingerly blurting while three guys clatter metal and percussive objects in restless fashion. Takes a whole side to resolve... Seeded Plain team up with Hal Rammel on their side for some even more abstract, noisome improvisation on homemade instruments and amplified palette... unpredictable, as the listener can neither see nor determine the makeup of the tools at play here – part windchime, part cheese slicer? Who had six thumbs and fingers that are all cut up and mutilated? THESE GUYS. Adventurous listening, particularly the latter, in a homemade looking sleeve. One has to wonder if the economic nightmare of Europe circa now is putting a damper on guys like these, and their ability to make a living through their art; after all, this is where such music seemed to thrive for decades on end. Then again, is that even a concern for such groups? The ivy-covered walls of academia and the rebellion that brews within each individual trapped inside informs the scrappy, unsettling sounds found here." --Doug Mosurock, Still Single

Recent review for the new

MILLION BRAZILIANS  "Dygnia Salon"  Cassette

"This was a little unexpected but a totally amazing find. Man, Friends and Relatives Records has definitely carved out their own interesting niche in experimental music. This is the second release and the third artist of theirs that works in the experimental jazz genre. Two long instrumental jams are encoded on this cassette that both somehow move between free jazz, middle eastern classical, drone, and tribal music. The first side of this tape sounds like a Curtis Mayfield jam meets a Raga. It's super good. Maybe something Herbie Hancock might have explored had he not gone into the electro jazz direction that I was never able to get into. The second side is more of a drone track with a middle eastern/indian feel before swirling into a tribal trance. I love the canned/lo-fi sound on this cassette. It's like listening to this band practice through your bedroom wall. Excellent release. Limited to 50 copies. Good luck on this one."  --Dead Formats

recent review for the new

LOUGOW  "king conversion"  Cassette

"I am finding this tape a little hard to pin down. It's eclectic and interesting. It leans towards the drone side of things but it's not. It has moments of electro acoustical sounding instrumentation and some bit of noise but it feels more preplanned than noise. It's kinda beautiful in general but also hard to make out the edges. Like a beautiful woman preserved under ice. This has been compared to John Cage and I think I can hear that. I have listened to it five times today both actively and passively and I keep noticing different things about it. It's good. The artwork is both naive and understated but it's also very nicely drawn. All around it's a worthwhile cassette to own. Limited to 50 copies."  --Dead Formats

A recent review for the

 (D)(B)(H) / SEEDED PLAIN & HAL RAMMEL

 split 12" LP

 

"This may be the smartest record I have put on in a while. I don't mean in a pretentious way just in the way where I feel like it is actually good for my brain to hear this. (D)(B)(H) starts off the split with a whole side of minimal abstract jazz (even typing their name gives you a little song in keyboard rhythm.) There is a bit Peter Brotzmann and a touch of John Coltrane coming through my speakers right now. The four musicians on this recording, Justin Rhody, Kray Korbella, Marty Belcher and Daniel Wick are mostly multi-instrumentalists on this record. Trumpet, tapes, guitar, harmonica, radios, saxophones and a wide array of drums and percussion creates a huge, sprawling piece of free, although very restrained, jazz. It's really quite good. It was recorded live on the radio and there is a little bit of sound that seems lost. The recording sounds really great and has a sort of lo-fi vintage quality but I would like to hear these players record with someone like Randall Dunn. Seeded Plain & Hal Rammel is a collaboration that also really exceeds in abstract minimalism. The instruments listed here are: Homemade instruments and amplified palette. I wish I could have seen this being recorded so I could really get a grasp on what exactly is going on her. Bed Springs, metal trays, lengths of rope, broken guitars, plastic drums? I have no idea what exactly is going on but it sounds awesome. This is an excellent example of electroacoustic music or maybe musique concrete. Simple screen printed reclaimed record covers with xeroxed inserts. I seriously feel like I could destroy Sunday's NYT crossword after having heard this." --dead formats

devdformats.blogspot.com/2012/01/dbhseeded-plain-hal-rammel-split-12.html

Review for the MAN-0-GRAM FOR A MAA'M cd, "sorry sorry sorry"
(released through Orphanology/Blue Sanct Records, available through Friends & Relatives)


"This immediately gets points for being recorded live in a library full of people talking about other things besides paying attention to the band. The first few minutes of the cd especially are full of voices and chatter from people who are more excited to talk than to listen. Maybe they don't notice as the audio from Man-0-gram for a Maa'm starts off sounding like backwards whale songs. It's pretty awesome. Then some breathing/grinding sounds start to overtake the waves or bass heavy drones. A couple samples peak through the din but they work pretty well in context so I am all for these ones. All the time you hear coughs and sniffs of people sick with colds as this was recorded in Maine during December. It's pretty awesome all the way through. I recommend picking this up, even with the band's silly and kinda lame name. Limited to 23 copies and packaged in a slimline cd case. The design is pretty nice as well."  -dead formats

http://www.devdformats.blogspot.com/2012/01/man-0-gram-for-maam-sorry-sorry-sorry.html

2 new cassettes available!

MILLION BRAZILIANS - "dyngia salon" TAPE
(Rolling forward tribal/dungeon jazz-jams from this Portland, OR based quartet. Two side-long numbers fill this 62 min. long cassette with fumes filling the head, and chains clanging through the slush from behind. Color insert and labels, clear/black norelco cases. Limited to an edition of 50 copies.)

$4 (ppd in the U.S.)
paypal to: friendsandrtelativesrecords@yahoo.com
or cash to: 114 S. Huron St., #4, Ypsilanti, MI 48197

LOUGOW - "king conversion" TAPE
(Jason, of Mt. Gigantic, presents a new perspective under his solo pseudonym "Lougow". 32 minute long tapes containing two tracks (that he recorded over a series of months in a northwestern recording studio) of music for prepared cassettes and percussion. Resembling a hi-fi, thrilling rendition of Cage's "Variations IV", with an allowance of personal input/control and an extended pallet of emotion within the cacophony. Covers printed onto 4 different shades of textured sand-toned paper, with printed/painted labels.

Limited to an edition of 50 copies.)

$4 (ppd in the U.S.)
paypal to: friendsandrtelativesrecords@yahoo.com
or cash to: 114 S. Huron St., #4, Ypsilanti, MI 48197

recent reviews...

Some recent reviews of
RYAN JEWELL - "radio: vol 1" cassette
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"Ryan Jewell is a percussionist and this is ostensibly a percussion record, but it's actually so much more. He uses very simple textures to work his magic across this tape's two 20 minute sides. From little crinkly sounds to more droned-out textures, Jewell's music fits into what I hear is being called the Reductionalist school of contempo "jazz" (think Bhob Rainey, Greg Kelley, Dave Gross, Forbes Graham and more recently Jack Callahan), but could just as easily be something else entirely. Both of these pieces were recorded on the radio. As Justin says "free of genre, pure of essence."  -Nick Williams, Cassette Gods


"This is subtle. Really minimal glitches and noise that have a pretty impressive amount of restraint. The second side is really beautiful work. Subtle (there's that word again) drones and strange bells mixed with quick bursts of quiet noise and some really surprising drums. Really nice. It's so subtle that at times you may think there is nothing going on... what you do hear is very measured and controlled minimal soundscapes."  -Dead Formats

Some recent reviews of

SEWN LEATHER - "blood runs down the drain" cassette

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"This is real out there. Aesthetically this looks like you might be getting some HNW or maybe some creepy doom. It's creepy but in a totally different way. Strange synth manipulations, odd beats and some really spaced out guitar playing and deranged vocals make up something that sounds like it would have definitely influenced David Lynch. I actually have this cassette tape of the cartoonist Al Columbia's music from the early nineties. It's amazing four track manipulated folk noise and it reminds me a lot of Sewn Leather… Oh yeah, Sewn Leather also sounds very eighties. In it's production and use of instrumentation. It is a different psychedelic animal all together. The artwork is fucked up and I am pretty stoked on this one. Bizarre and waiting for you." -dead formats

"This is the first time I've actually heard the music of Sewn Leather. I wasn't sure what to expect and in fact I'm not sure I've actually heard Sewn Leather at all. The note written by the artist to Friends & Relatives head honcho Justin Clifford Rhody is reprinted on the inner J-card and reads as follows: "Use as much or as little as you want. Dear Justin, I hope these recordings are satisfactory. I was on drugs, mostly hydrocodone, when I made them. I don't think it's Sewn Leather. I think it's 'Riz-La-Rink.'" Alright. This shit is all over the map. We've got some messed up Slang Tang, acoustic songs with variable tape speed and a number of other jams with hip hop undercurrents. Like the music of The Savage Young Taterbug, you can tell that this guy is more than a little "off". This is an aesthetic that really speaks to me. Some people might be turned off by a recording with such a variable nature, but for me it's like a golden nugget."  -Nick Williams, Cassette Gods

A short documentary-ish film by Neil Blakemore, created in early 2008.