Prison Tatt distribution - a select and ever-growing group of titles from other artists and labels, specially chosen to be available here as part of the P-Tatt universe. All prices are postpaid. PayPal ONLY to wmmberger@comcast.net - please inquire to that email address, or to solitary@prisontatt.com, as to availability before ordering.

Primal Vomit Records (FL, USA)

These are pro-duped cassettes, with printed, colorful shells, all very expertly done, and the music is choice and diverse and sounds great. Many titles come with pins and/or stickers as well. All titles $7 ppd within USA, $9 World.

Vomikaust - Punishment of Existence - Super-hard, raw, punked-out, catchy black metal of the highest grade, perhaps the pride of this distro. Highly recommended, comes w/ sticker and pin.

No Pleasure in Life - Happiness Is Not an Option - The name says it all. Complex, modern black with a depressive edge. Two sidelong, crushing epics. Comes in poly bag with sticker.

NRIII - $ - Anguished, misanthropic bedroom black. One man's tortured vision, with drum machines and screams. Take that, society! Wonderfully printed, with purple, black and white motif.

4-Way Split - Ives, Hot Graves, Nak'Ay and Cellgraft - Four different views on extreme metal, all great. Ives are terrific songwriters, obsessed with cannibalism. The other three bands run the gamut from grind to screamo. Smart, hard metal for discerning ears.

Ill-Tolerance - Prospects of Terror - Another excellent release from the eclectic metal universe of Primal Vomit, this project best described as world-weary punk-grind, with echoes of Nasum and Napalm Death, and the most hopeless lyrics I've yet heard from the PV crew. As with all Primal Vomit titles, highly recommended.

Ov - Pleasure - Intense metal workouts for drums, bass and vocal, great songwriting and powerful, full-throttle execution. Comes in a tall bag with a sexy sticker!

Pest - "Pest" - A deluxe, red-shell cassette reissue of some now out-of-print vinyl-only material, essential for Pest fans and another great release from PVR.

Black Lands - s/t cassette - More amazing, crunchy black metal in the PVR tradition. Three ass-kicking, very-well-written songs. A must have for fans of the label, and underground bm fans in general.

Ives - Ugliness and Its Proud Bearer - Two, new monster tracks from the great Ives. The title track features clean vocals in an indescribable style, gloomy and tough, only adding to the Ives mystique.

 

Paragon Records (Middle Island, NY)

Since the early 2000s, Paragon, as a label and distributor, has specialized in all things good and metal, from hometown favorites like Ash Pool and Castevet, to European pros like Faust (see below) and Diamatregon. Prison Tatt is proud to offer two of Paragon's CD releases; the recent full-length by Faust, and Aetherius Obscuritas' 2009 twisted masterpiece, Black Medicine.

Faust - From Glory to Infinity CD - Not the 70s German art-prog masters, but a ferocious, melodic, tight-as-a-fist death metal band from Italy, somewhat akin to the 90s Florida sound, but possessed of their own, European thrash stylings. Great songwriting, fluid and flawlessly executed. Faust will be a definite hit for fans of Dismember, with shades of Immolation, and their timeless traditional-metal groundwork. Cover insert features a nun with the most perfect, uh, habit. ($10 ppd within the continental US; contact for world postage rates.)

Aetherius Obscuritas - Fekete Orvosság / Black Medicine CD - It's tough to toss off easy comparisons for this masterful Hungarian black-metal outfit, in business since the early 2000s, though Horna, Judas Iscariot and Celestia all come to mind, even Emperor (though the latter stripped of their several protective layers of reverb.) I simply love the songs, so much so that even though most of my bm favorites these days are of the more grime-laden, punk-influenced variety, stylistic preferences fly out the window when presented with a band of such high quality. This is probably AO's most consistent and flawless full-length. ($10 ppd within the continental US; contact for rates outside the US.)

 

Opposite Records - (Suffern, NY, USA)

Our friend Don Sigal has made it his business for many years to present the best in complex noise, hard improv and electronic music. These three titles represent Prison Tatt's favorites from the Opposite discography.

Merzbow - Merzzow CD ($12 USA, $16 world; prices are ppd) - In the massive and impressive canon of recorded works by Masami Akita, Merzzow (from 2002) remains one of this label's favorite Merzbow releases. By culling source material from (sometimes even recognizable) old jazz, rock and classical records, looping, sampling, and layering the chaos, Akita created 11 new, brainwashing head trips that repeat, hypnotize, shudder, blast and crack their way through your consciousness, similar to the Door Open at 8 AM full-length, which was crafted a few years earlier (another Prison Tatt house favorite.) Upon meeting Opposite Records' Don Sigal, I was pleased and impressed to find that it was he, an all-around good guy and Prison Tatt supporter, who had released this mini-masterpiece by the Japanese maestro some years earlier.

Lap Dancer - Noise for Skirt Manipulation CDr ($6 USA, $9 world, ppd) - Three tracks of unrelenting, vocal-free power electronics, with layers of blast and the highest possible listener-immersion factor. Comes in a vinyl sleeve with a sexy insert that will get your blood pumping while your mind slowly blows. An example of this sound done right, and a Prison Tatt favorite.

OPPONENTS - Temple of Decadence pro-press 2 CDr ($12 USA, $16 world, ppd) - It's no secret that OPPONENTS are one of Prison Tatt's favorite contemporary electronic bands (as we released the epic Together We Will End the Future CD in late 2010.) OPPONENTS are at the peak of their powers, and are possessed of great strength and creative intensity with reference points all over the musical map - dub, soundtracks, 70s-80s electronics, Sky Records, Cluster and Schnitzler; but ultimately OPPONENTS are just OPPONENTS, and sound like no one else. This pro-pressed double CDr is the latest impressive chapter in the ongoing saga of a truly great electronic combo.

 

House of Alchemy (Buffalo, NY, USA)

House of Alchemy make great-sounding cassettes, with heavy duty, attractive inserts, and color-appropriate tape shells. The label has quickly established itself as a home for exquisite, intense, spooky instrumental music.

York Factory Complaint - Remorse of Conscience CS ($8 USA, $11 world; these prices are ppd) - One of Prison Tatt's favorite YFC releases, though they are simply ALL GOOD. Remorse of Conscience features two sidelong, mindbending high-volume improvisations.

the circle and the point, Sleepwalkers Local, Chapels - 3-way split double CS ($10 USA, $14 world, ppd) - This release was a must-have for the distro, four sides of utterly engaging, horror-house, melodic, creepy-crawl improv, like soundtracks to horror films that don't yet exist. Two sides from tcatp, one each from Sleepwalkers' and Chapels. Dynamite, dreary dirges for the disillusioned.

 

Teen Action Records (SF, CA, USA)

Teen Action Records specialize in gloomy, psych-informed noise by some of America's best improv ensembles. Great tapes, compiled with care.

Al Qaeda (SF, CA, USA)/ Demonologists (Indiana, USA) split CS - This one TAR release (more to come in this distro) represents the label well, and is one of their best releases, in P-Tatt's view. Two sidelong, dark jams; though the Al Qaeda side is actually comprised of five shorter pieces, it works as one suite-like continuum, and the Demonologists side is on a par with that band's best work. A Demonologists one-sided LP is coming soon on Prison Tatt.

 

Arvo Zylo (Chicago, IL, USA)

Arvo Zylo - Chicago's Delirious Insomniac, and wearer of many hats, including Saint Street and Mister Fuckhead. Arvo, self-described "Rodney Dangerfield of noise," really does deserve your respect, especially considering the breadth and variety represented in his work, his zeal for collaborations (with everyone from Cock E.S.P. to Dan Burke), and his sheer unstoppability as a writer, curator, compiler, visual artist, noise musician and radio DJ.

Arvo Zylo - 333, pro-pressed CDr ($9 USA, $12 world, prices ppd) - Prison Tatt considers the sprawling 333 to be Arvo's finest hour, and the CDr digital format to be its most worthy representation available (this same set of pieces was also released on ltd. cassette under the alias Mister Fuckhead.) 333 combines full-on hard electronics with Ralph Recs./LAFMS tuneful extrapolation, and it's clear from listening the incredible and meticulous amount of work that went in to the layers of action, beauty and barrage. 333 is experimental, experiential, progressive and aggressive all at once, a masterwork that will provoke, get the blood pumping and downright entertain. Prison Tatt could not be happier to have a few of these for sale and subsequent enjoyment.

 

Sleeping Giant Glossolalia - (Denver, CO, USA)

Our friend Mt Reisinger presents a unique cross-section of music he fancies, from the pounding, hypnotic monochrome of Shit and Shine, to the dank and eerie psychedelic horrorscapes of Epileptinomicon (aka ECON), and the dense, progressive noise-rock of Mjolniir DXP. Somehow, it all fits nicely under this Denver native's sun-burnt vision of a label.

Shit and Shine - SXSW Showcase LP ($15 USA, $20 World; prices ppd) - Recorded live in Austin, Texas, March 2010 for the Aquarius Records / WFMU Showcase. Two sides of boiling, one-note hypno-rock recorded live; the Krautrock mythos Americanized, and reduced to its barest elements.

Mjolniir DXP - Great Skin & St. Amina CS ($5 USA, $9 World) - Two sides of experimental-rock fury, amps overdriven, but not without ace player communication and just the right amount of finesse. Rumble, rumble.

Epileptinomicon - Changeling House Summer CDr ($6 USA, $9 World) - One of Prison Tatt's favorite releases of 2010. Music for a horror-happening, with rock instrumentation employed in the most unique of ways, until "instrumentation" ceases to have any meaning. A black-and-white American classic; cinematic to the core and creepy as church ruins.