Moon Glyph records (Lynn Avery, Cole Pulice, Loris S. Sarid, Vic Bang, et al.)

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Mostly tape-focused (though you can get digital files for everything) label originally out of Minneapolis but now in Portland iirc. I haven't explored much of their catalog yet, but I really like everything I've heard on this label so far. My entry point was last year's label sampler, which manages to sound like a fairly cohesive album in its own right: https://moonglyph.bandcamp.com/album/amethyst-new-sounds-from-moon-glyph-records

My absolute favorite release that I've heard so far is the lovely Carpet Cocoon by Iceblink (a Lynn Avery alias), which sounds kind of like if Movietone's The Blossom-Filled Streets was instrumental and released on Ghost Box: https://iceblink.bandcamp.com/album/carpet-cocoon-2

Avery's album with saxophonist Cole Pulice has deservedly gotten some attention here and elsewhere. I also quite like the most recent Loris S. Sarid album, and the new Vic Bang was interesting if not as immediate for me.

What else is good? And has anyone bought a tape from them?

rob, Monday, 22 August 2022 20:36 (one year ago) link

I bought the New Lines album they released (ex-member of Vitesse/Alsace Lorraine's current band) and then got Halasan Bazaar's How to Ever Be Happy which is frantic and fun sorta psych? Tara King Th. is also really good.

Jaime Pressly and America (f. hazel), Monday, 22 August 2022 21:11 (one year ago) link

(if you ever wished Broadcast were French, you'll like Tara King Th.)

Jaime Pressly and America (f. hazel), Monday, 22 August 2022 21:13 (one year ago) link

love vic bang, will check this comp, sounds great

nxd, Monday, 22 August 2022 23:12 (one year ago) link

“Arp Navigators” is one of my favorite ambient/ neo kraut rock records. Bought it on a whim from Aquarius in SF mainly because the back cover was a nod to Workingmans Dead.
https://www.discogs.com/release/4128892-Food-Pyramid-Roy-Orb-DMT-Arp-Navigators

mizzell, Tuesday, 23 August 2022 02:49 (one year ago) link

Yeah they're a good bunch, need to pick up more from them.

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 23 August 2022 03:00 (one year ago) link

I've bought lots of tapes - and a shirt, and an enamel pin, and vinyl - from the label. Everything shows up quick and in good shape. Moon Glyph Dude is on top of it.

I like the comp mentioned above, too, as well as the Grand Veymont tapes, Food Pyramid stuff and Omni Gardens - which is the music of label owner Steve. But my favorite release so far is probably this EP by SiP/Prezzano:

https://sip-groop.bandcamp.com/album/sip-prezzano

alpine static, Tuesday, 23 August 2022 06:33 (one year ago) link

I have never heard of this label but it certainly sounds promising

Loris S Sarid put out a nice tape with Innis Chonnel on 12th Isle last year. Scottish summertime ambient vibes

https://www.discogs.com/release/22062841-Loris-S-Sarid-Innis-Chonnel-Where-The-Round-Things-Live-

paolo, Tuesday, 23 August 2022 07:36 (one year ago) link

two weeks pass...

lots to catch up on here (started this thread with my usual poor timing w/r/t work deadlines & life problems), but I quite liked the SiP/Prezzano alpine static mentioned

rob, Wednesday, 7 September 2022 13:27 (one year ago) link

pitchfork has a review today of the Iceblink album I mentioned in the op

also I saw this album on Aquarium Drunkard and was slightly confused it wasn't on MG based on the look: https://seawindofbattery.bandcamp.com/album/ih-001-clockwatching

turns out it's their designer, Steve Rosborough, who def deserves some credit for my affection for this label. I should get a tape some time, though getting set up to play it would be a moderate pain

rob, Wednesday, 7 September 2022 13:31 (one year ago) link

Since I didn't really post anything or substance there, I should mention that the preview tracks for the forthcoming Cole Pulice album Scryare lovely: https://colepulice.bandcamp.com/album/scry

(heh, I see Ned has already preordered)

rob, Wednesday, 7 September 2022 13:36 (one year ago) link

maybe i am misinterpreting rob's comment, but Steve is not just Moon Glyph's designer, he is the founder/owner/everything. he's a one-man show. he is "Moon Glyph Dude" i mentioned above.

bandcamp daily has this: https://daily.bandcamp.com/label-profile/the-transportive-psychedelia-of-moon-glyph-records

alpine static, Wednesday, 7 September 2022 18:17 (one year ago) link

nope I'm just a dummy, thanks for the clarification!

rob, Wednesday, 7 September 2022 18:43 (one year ago) link

lol I've read this profile before just blanked on the name. I also now recall already knowing that the owner did the designs...oof.

Well, at any rate, allow me to say that he is a great designer apart from all his other talents

rob, Wednesday, 7 September 2022 18:49 (one year ago) link

all good, was just wanting to clarify, not call you a dummy, which you are not! i think we all have enough going on in our heads that it's OK to not necessarily retain the name of the owner of a small but mighty tape label.

alpine static, Wednesday, 7 September 2022 18:55 (one year ago) link

thanks alpine <3

rob, Wednesday, 7 September 2022 19:00 (one year ago) link

one month passes...

Oooh, Scry is very lovely. Electro-ambient jazz stylings. Might order the cassette, if my Walknan ever gets unstuck from transit.

Looking forward to Atoris Sea and Forest too.

Seconding the Omni Gardens recommendation. Moss King is great, lots of lo-fi ambience.

The Ghost Club, Thursday, 20 October 2022 05:34 (one year ago) link

So happy to see a Moon Glyph post! Anything with Steve's stamp of approval is something I know I'll like. Plus he seems like a super-nice guy (even gave me advice on what to buy when I was looking for my first synth).

As said above, Omni Gardens is great, and Moss King in particular is incredible. Mark Tester's Oblivion Rhythms Revisited ("propulsive melodic jammers, tripped-out moog/vibraphone/mellotron collages and contemplative space-outs"), Electric Sound Bath's Of This World ("a celestial wash of MIDI-driven modular synthesizers crafting slow, unfurling caverns of sound"), and Pome's IE ("sonic rituals from the future and ambient, desert soundscapes") also get a lot of play from me.

I'd say if you like any one album from the label, you're bound to like a lot of the other ones. They all share a similar something, which is why that compilation mentioned above sounds so cohesive. I wish Steve would make some more merch so I could spread the word about the label more.

illold3chordme, Thursday, 20 October 2022 23:41 (one year ago) link

Was digging around their Bandcamp late last night and ended up really enjoying You Belong by Turn On the Sunlight, sort of improvisational ambient folk with lots of acoustic instruments and percussion, great stuff

nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Friday, 21 October 2022 02:20 (one year ago) link

Moon Glyph is such a great label, and it's exciting to see they're finally getting their dues. Shame it's so expensive to get their tapes sent over here, but I do have the FWY! title they put out 10ish years ago which was the first cassette I'd bought since childhood!

They offer a Bandcamp subscription, $10 per month and you get the full discography on signing up. Don't always have the ready cash to make it a year round thing, but I sign up a few times a year and support for a 3-4 months at a time which I feel like I can generally justify...

bamboohouses, Friday, 21 October 2022 10:43 (one year ago) link

thanks for that post llold3chordme, I've added a bunch to my MG playlist. Sounds like I should listen to Moss King asap

But right now I'm halfway through that new Atoris album and it's completely entrancing: https://atoris.bandcamp.com/album/sea-forest

I also liked the Turn on the Sunlight album, though it went further into new age territory than I normally go (I was mostly iffy on the vocals/lyrics; the music was all quite gorgeous). It's worth mentioning Laraaji and Carlos Niño plus some other LA jazz people like Sam Gendel and Jamael Dean are on it. I also really liked the one Mia Doi Todd sings on, wordlessly iirc.

rob, Friday, 21 October 2022 14:17 (one year ago) link

Atoris - Sea & Forest is fantastic. Two extended slices of Japanese Kosmiche electronic goodness.

Also enjoying the new Turn on the Sunlight album. I really like the new agey aspects - they're hardly surprising coming from a label that sells 'New Age' badges, and features the words prominently on the founder's own records.

Ordered both on cassette along wth some other goodies (Iceblink LP reissue, Amethyst comp, Moss King). Take my money, Moon Glyph!

The Ghost Club, Wednesday, 26 October 2022 03:57 (one year ago) link

I bought the New Age enamel pin ... and a T-shirt. I'm in the tank for MOON GLYPH, lol.

alpine static, Wednesday, 26 October 2022 04:03 (one year ago) link

cosign the atoris album

nxd, Wednesday, 26 October 2022 09:50 (one year ago) link

tbc I wasn't surprised by the new age aspects on You Belong—just registering where it landed on my own taste barometer I guess. I was raised a deep skeptic/cynic, so some of the more woo-woo lyrics require effort for me not to roll my eyes (that said, if this was from the 70s I wouldn't think twice about it). I did think the jazzy inflections in her singing were interesting. Anyway, I only listened to it once, so don't mind me, and ftr I also like that pin!

rob, Wednesday, 26 October 2022 14:30 (one year ago) link

I see where you're coming from, as a humanist/atheist myself. I just see the hippy-dippy stuff as the price of admission to this type of music. I couldn't do a full guided meditation or ASMR or chanting record, but a few cringey lyrics here and there are fine. Helps recentre my heart chakra or whatever.

Full-on cultural appropriation is a different story, however. Not saying that's happening here; just as a general principle.

The Ghost Club, Wednesday, 26 October 2022 19:00 (one year ago) link

Two exciting new releases available for pre-order.

Matt Evans - Soft Science is very promising from the two available tracks. The first is a percussion and synth workout, the second a slice of late '70s ECM-style ambient jazz.
https://thisismattevans.bandcamp.com/album/soft-science

Erasers - Distance is a dreamy slice of dark synth drone pop/ambient from Australia.
https://erasers.bandcamp.com/album/distance

The Ghost Club, Friday, 28 October 2022 06:36 (one year ago) link

one month passes...

Listening to the Loris S. Sarid Seabed-Sunbath album for the first time in a while, and it's so good, kind of my ideal "ambient" music.

rob, Thursday, 1 December 2022 22:04 (one year ago) link

yeah thats one i return to a lot as well

waste of compute (One Eye Open), Friday, 2 December 2022 15:21 (one year ago) link


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