Rope Cosmetology: Casement Ledges Where Moss Has Grown...

Hello Again,

Finally. After months of adjustments, the fourth Rope Cosmetology album, Spezial Gedankengefüge, has been completed. Orders will ship tomorrow.



Here's the revised running order:

Week 1

101 Visit When in Sympathy (10:12)

102 Hamletmaschine (5:42)

103 I Must Mourn (5:30)

104 Otherwise She Agreed (5:36)

105 Grateful, But Some Fur (20:05)

106 All Is Lead, Corporeal (9:46)

107 Jean Heap Came Off His Pen (composite) (5:02)

108 Third Symbol May Stumble (12:41)

Week 2

201 Set Rehearsal (7 Apr 09) (52:07)

202 Dirges One Ruined (5:16)

203 Visit When in Sympathy (10:46)

204 The Cortege (8:07)

205 Rope Cosmetology (2:21)

The third disc, a 45-minute DVD of various short videos shot during (and around) the April sessions, will also be included.

Thanks very much for waiting on us to finish the album. It's a collection of rehearsal recordings, so there are occasional flubs, errors, missed beats, blown notes, etc., but THIS GROUP DESTROYS and I don't think you'll mind the odd imperfect moment.

Yours Faithfully,

Tom, for Tim, Ryan, Feri, and Balazs.

Brand New from Pándi Balázs!

TLASILA/Rope Cosmetology wonder Pándi Balázs has recently unveiled a new longform mega-mix. It shreds any and all shredders...

Grab it here!

(122 MB.)

TS

KSV Update...

Good Morning Lovelies,

Off to work in a few minutes, so while I'm murdering the fragile moments left before I bolt for the tram, I may as well give you the blood-flecked lowdown on the next raft of releases:

Careening toward you on August 1st, the long-delayed and much dithered-over Female Reggae Showcase album (Kid Traumgekrönt/U-Hölderlin Super-Clash!) will have mud all over its corsets, but will nonetheless be available. On August 15, you can finally get your mitts on the 2xCD Rope Cosmetology studio collection, Spezial: Gedankengefüge (Compound Thought). No need for hype on this one - those in the know know. Verstehen Sie? August 23 finds Katja Frigate's Coldplay Nancarrow Burzum Hines assemblage at last ready for public aring, and September 1 will mark the escape of our slightly delayed 25th disc (especially as we're already up to number 35!), the all-encompassing, all-knowing, all-deflecting mega-mix compilation Karl Schmidt Verlag: Was du nicht wissen wolltest? Also on this date, the 3xCD TLASILA set of recycled, re-positioned "hybrids," Die Fehde des Gemischs. We suggest you eat all your meds at once for that one...

As if all this weren't burden enough, on September 15 we'll begin our first, tentative steps into actual Verlag-ness with the publication of a new book of fellow traveler Tom Smith's photographs, and, on October 1, the release of Unpunished, an illustrated volume of TS's 2000-2001 reviews for the late, oh-so-great Bananafish.

Too pro for you? Well, many were reeling, swooning, coughing up clumps of bilious humors, nay, nearly dropping dead under the intense pace of releases. Engines have thus been reversed, and the gargantuan ship of state that is KSV GmbH will be steaming along - at least for the next few months - at a more regal clip.

SOLD OUT: Feinkost Lampe: 26. Februar (KSV 018); Tom Smith & Blue Sabbath Black Fiji - Ich werde nicht nackt sein (KSV 022); Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson & Tom Smith - Todesröcheln (KSV 026); Rope Cosmetology - Hinterzimmer-Apotheke (leibt) illegal Meztgerei (KSV 027); Silke Arp Bricht: 3. Juni (KSV 029); and Tom Smith - Hintergrundmusik (KSV 032). Many, many thanks.

ALMOST GONE: Three Resurrected Drunkards - Begriffsschrift (KSV 019) and Twenty Years of Sudden Infant: One Participant's Perspective (KSV 023). Get 'em while you can.

Coming later in 2009: 50 Karl Schmidt Fans Can't Have Jobs!?, a box containing all previously-issued KSV recordings and publications, two DVDs, three bonus CDs, and more, housed in a container ill-suited for stovepipe hat storage. A limited edition of ten units, and as each one will take a week or so to make, beware: the love will surely ooze forth...

Hope everyone is well.

Best,

Karl

Tending to the Flock...

I've been neglecting some of the related sites. Time, as always, is at a premium. ("Time management," a loathsome idea if there ever was one, isn't exactly my forte.) To address these crimes, I went into overdrive and added a blog update to the moldering Miss High Heel profile, uploaded three short videos, over 100 photos, and changed the layout of the Rope Cosmetology page (its Blogger counterpart is still woefully undernourished, but I'll be cross-posting updates and previous parallel entries soon), responded to long-standing friend requests at the TLASILA MySpace page (and there's still a lot of work to be done there, apologies in advance, etc.), added all the new and recently issued albums (and accompanying sound files) to the Karl Schmidt Verlag site (yeah, its Blogger doppelganger is also hurting - I'll get around to it, promise), even Twittered a few times yesterday, and responded to some follower tweets.

And one of these millennia I'll complete the latest revamp of the TLASILA web portal. Oy...

Happy Clattering,

Tom

Dioxins on the Wing...

Droogs!

KSV orders received through midday 7/7 hit Deutsche Post in the morning. Thanks, as always, for hopping aboard the Hellbound (albeit thoughtfully ergonomic) tram...



Clockwise from top left: Tom Smith - Hintergrundmusik (KSV 032); Three Resurrected Drunkards - Begriffsschrift (KSV 019); Schützenausmarsch: 5. Juli, Hannover (KSV 034); Silke Arp Bricht: 3. Juni (Rémi Groussin, Michel Henritzi & Junko Hiroshige) (KSV 029); Rope Cosmetology - Hinterzimmer-Apotheke (leibt) illegal Metzgerei (KSV 027); Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson & Tom Smith - Todesröcheln (KSV 026), and in the center, 27. Juni: Strict Sevens (A Dogma Diary) (KSV 033).

(Click above to view a larger version of the image.)

Until Tomorrow,

TS

Aufstieg in Fahrtrichtung verkehrt!

Hello Everyone,

I've been working quite a lot of late, traveling throughout Lower Saxony to various corporate strongholds where I parsimoniously impart the gnostic secrets of English. Apologies for falling behind in posts these last two weeks - I've been filling in the gaps whenever I have a spare moment.

Re KSV: still working out the kinks of the Female Reggae Showcase album. Chris Grier's parts are superb, as might be expected, but I'm being overly exact with the surrounding sonic elements. Just can't help myself... As for the long-delayed Three Resurrected Drunks opus, it's all done, save for a final round of dithering. Sometime next week?

In the meantime, I've completed two "instant" releases, both recorded on Saturday, the 27th of June. The first of these details the music I composed for a dinner party that began the evening, and the second documents a truly epic DJ party at that went down at favored hangout Silke Arp Bricht. Turntables were set up all over the club, and the inspired local jocks pulled out gem after coruscating gem. The howls of delight you'll hear were all too real...

I would have posted these new collections earlier in the week, but I reckoned it would be best to give everyone a respite from Karl's punishing regimen.

Here are the new releases:

KSV 032 Tom Smith - Hintergrundmusik



Recorded June 27, 2009. Mixed June 29-July 2, 2009 by TS at KSV HQ, Hannover. Initial playback (rough version), June 27.

01 Hintergrundmusik (68:45)

Composed and produced by TS.

Edition of 10.

--

KSV 033 27. Juni: Strict Sevens (A Dogma Diary) (2xCD)



Recorded by Karl throughout the evening of June 27, 2009, at Silke Arp Bricht, Hannover, on the occasion of their "Strictly 7" Vinyl Only" party. One of the best, least despairing, most engaging nights out I've enjoyed in ages...

DJs: Celler Loch, Major Marks, Stan das unausstehliche Ehepaar, David 7Lynch, Dr. Sleaze, Micha Phonem, Magnetfolie, and Ratte Bruns.

Edited, mixed and produced by yours truly at KSV HQ, June 28-30.

101 23:30 to 1:50 (61:05)

201 2:10 to 5:25 (67:53)

Edition of 10.

--

Pricing:

KSV 032 is € 8.49 within the EU, €10 outside the EU.

KSV 033 (a double disc album) is € 10.49 within the EU, €12 outside the EU.

Postage paid. Add € 1 for each additional album.

Send orders to: tlasila [at] gmail [dot] com.

Our sole distribution partner is Tochnit Aleph. Daniel is a brilliant fellow. Support him.

Coming soon, new releases from Rope Cosmetology, Katja Fregatte, TLASILA, and the Was du nicht wissen wolltest and Twenty Years of Sudden Infant compilations.

--

We're off to Hamburg tomorrow. Pix and sounds to follow!

The CP and I must soon turn in - work begins anew in the morning...

Love and Fortuitous Exits,

Tom

Commencing De-Icing...

The latest round of orders are aboard the KSV synchrotron and ready for accelerated delivery. Don't mistake the faux-oak outer shell of our ring collider for an ordinary living room floor!



(From bottom left, clockwise: KSV 026, Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson & Tom Smith - Todesröcheln; KSV 031, Fête de la Tourette: 21. Juni, Hannover; KSV 029, Silke Arp Bricht: 3. Juni (Rémi Groussin, Michel Henritzi & Junko Hiroshige); KSV 028, Kenou Boyd Fromberg vs. Der Wolfsburger 32,002Hz Chor - The Silent Din (Abgeklärt Pts. 1-4); and KSV 027, Rope Cosmetology - Hinterzimmer-Apotheke (lieben) illegal Metzgerei. Click above for a larger version of the image.)

More new releases on the way!

Love,

Tom

Hinterzimmer-Apotheke <3 illegal Metzgerei!

Just enough time to alert you all again to the release of the third Rope Cosmetology album, Hinterzimmer-Apotheke (liebt) illegal Metzgerei (or, absent the natural schwing of Deutsch, Unlicensed Pharmacy Loves Illegal Butcher Shop).



Here's the scoop, transplanted from TLASILA Blog:

The ensemble's second public performance, recorded by Pit Noack at Sirke Arp Bricht, Hannover, on April 11, 2009. Live mix by Olaf Voigt.

Tim Lane Seaton - bass and treatments
Ryan Parrish - percussion
Feri Kovacs - soprano saxophone, trumpet, and xylophone
Tom Smith - voice

Balazs Pandi was on assignment.

01 Complete Set (45:36)

Edited and mastered for release by Karl at KSV HQ, Hannover, June 2009.

Edition of 20.

--

Get it NOW while the getting ist gut!

Yours Faithfully,

TS, for Ropecosm

New Releases from Karl Schmidt Verlag...

Hello Droogs,

As promised yesterday, four new albums, available NOW!

Here's the rundown:

KSV 026 Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson & Tom Smith - Todesröcheln

Occasional Hanoverian neighbor Sigmarsson (from the titanic Stilluppsteypa) and yours unholy hang at KSV HQ and go glottal stop to thoracic implant in a sulfurous vocal battle royal!



Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson - voice
Tom Smith - voice

01 Untitled (6:54)
02 Untitled (7:37)
03 Untitled (10:08)
04 Composite (19:01)

Recorded Simmarsson & Smith, Hannover, May 2009; edited, mixed and produced by Smith, May-June 2009.

Edition of 20.

---

KSV 027 Rope Cosmetology - Hinterzimmer-Apotheke (liebt) illegal Metzgerei



The ensemble's second public performance, recorded by Pit Noack at Sirke Arp Bricht, Hannover, on April 11, 2009. Live mix by Olaf Voigt.

Tim Lane Seaton - bass and treatments
Ryan Parrish - percussion
Feri Kovacs - soprano saxophone, trumpet, and xylophone
Tom Smith - voice

Balazs Pandi was on assignment.

01 Complete Set (45:36)

Edited and mastered for release by Karl at KSV HQ, Hannover, June 2009.

Edition of 20.

---

KSV 028 Kenou Boyd Fromberg vs. Der Wolfsburger 32,002Hz Chor - The Silent Din (Abgeklärt Pts. 1-4)



Berlin-based composer Stefan Roigk's three-year-old son, Boyd, takes over KSV HQ for an afternoon of keyboard (and stuffed animal) debasement. Stellar doesn't cut it - this is post-galactic! Contrasted and abetted by the attenuated spokes and seat springs of the Wolfsburger 32,002Hz Chor, recorded during their May 2009 tour of Maschsee, Hannover.

01 Abgeklärt Parts 1-4 (60:37)

Composed and performed by Kenou Boyd Fromberg and Der Wolfsburger 32,002Hz Chor.

Edited, mixed and produced by TS, June 2009.

Edition of 15.

---

KSV 029 Silke Arp Bricht: 3. Juni (Rémi Groussin / Michel Henritzi & Junko Hiroshige)



A document of a fateful, fantastical evening. First, video artist Grossin thrummed his way into Silke lore, followed by a cartilaginous collab 'twixt Hijokaidan doyenne Hiroshige and guitarist Henritzi. Lives were either saved, spurned, or spared.

01 Rémi Groussin (12:03)
02 Michel Henritzi & Junko Hiroshige (27:01)
03 Critique (12:41)
04 Version (25:06)

Presented by Pit Noack. Recorded, edited, mixed and produced by Karl, June 2009.

Edition of 20.

---

There you have it! Sometime next week we'll have the Female Reggae Showcase and Three Resurrected Drunkards albums ready for issue.

Pricing:

€ 8.49 within the EU, €10 outside the EU. Postage paid. Add €1 for each additional album.

Send orders to: tlasila [at] gmail [dot] com.

The above-referenced new releases are ready to ship, with no waiting.

Our sole distribution partner is Tochnit Aleph. Seek and ye shall be consumed.

--

Best,

TS

KSV Orders Away / Coming Next...

All outstanding KSV orders were sent out this afternoon. Thanks again for your support and indulgence. I hope you'll find the additional weeks spent fine-tuning Ich werde nicht nackt sein were worth the effort...



(Click above for a larger version of the image...)

Back at HQ, eleven new releases are in varying stages of production. Here's the list:

KSV 017 Female Reggae Showcase - Ascendance Surged Red (Distorted in Hegel)

KSV 019 Three Resurrected Drunkards - Begriffsschrift 1999! (2xCD)

KSV 020 Rope Cosmetology - Spezial: Gedankengefüge (Compound Thought) (2xCD)

KSV 023 VA - Twenty Years of Sudden Infant!

KSV 024 Katja Fregatte - Coldplay Nancarrow Burzum Hines



KSV 025 VA - Karl Schmidt Verlag: Was du nicht wissen wolltest...



KSV 026 Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson & Tom Smith - Todesröcheln



KSV 027 Rope Cosmetology - Hinterzimmer-Apotheke vs. Illegal Metzgerei

KSV 028 Boyd Roigk vs. Der Wolfsburger 32,002Hz Chor - The Silent Din (Abgeklärt Pts. 1-2)

KSV 029 Silke Arp Bricht: 3. Juni (Rémi Groussin/Michel Henritzi/Junko Hiroishige)

KSV 030 TLASILA - Die Fehde des Gemischs (3xCD)

--

Please don't order any of the above until they've been formally issued, OK?

I'm still applying the final torque ratchet turns to the Female Reggae Showcase and TRD releases. Expect them shortly, along with the disc of highlights from the Sudden Infant 20th anniversary fête.

Best,

TS

Karl Schmidt Verlag: Forthcoming...

Liebe Freunde,

Spring has once again been beaten back here in Hannover. It's a cold, drizzly afternoon, and I feel more like curling up next to the dog than clattering in the kitchen...

Re KSV, one or two of the following may be ready by tomorrow:

KSV 017 Female Reggae Showcase - Kid Traumgekrönt/U-Hölderlin Super-Clash!

KSV 018 Feinkost Lampe: 26 Februar (RK2 vs. Liondialer)

KSV 019 Three Resurrected Drunkards - Begriffsschrift 1999! (2 discs!)

KSV 020 Rope Cosmetology - Spezial: Gedankengefüge (Compound Thought) (2 discs!)

KSV 021 Rope Cosmetology - Diffusion de la rue de la Double Identité (limited-edition, already sold out; a few copies possibly available through Tochnit Aleph distribution)



(Diffusion was created for attendees of Ropecosm's April 11, 2009 performance at Silke Arp Bricht in Hannover. Additionally, Tochnit Aleph received five copies of the album, and three of our most avid KSV supporters were mailed the collection, which documented RC's April 3rd debut concert in Paris. It was thus an edition of 18... They're gone, man, gone!)

KSV 022 Tom Smith vs. Blue Sabbath Black Fiji - Ich werde nicht nackt sein

Obsessively check back with us for developments, seen?

Bad news: prices are going to have to be raised a few Euro. Printing and postage costs are killing me.

I will compensate for your discomfort by raising the quality bar ever higher - these next releases are off the virus-spattered meathook...

Bis Bald,

TS

KSV Has Its First Distributor...

Tochnit Aleph is now carrying selected Karl Schmidt Verlag releases (including a few copies of KSV 021), so, if one of these micro-editions is sold out here, look for it there!



(Click above for a larger version of the image.)

From left to right: Rope Cosmetology - Diffusion de la rue de la Double Identité (KSV 021); TS - LRRH im Schimmel (KSV 014); Tom Smith - Vampire Weekend Is a Timeshare in Secaucus (KSV 010); Karl & die Leidenschaften - Unnötigerweise Auto-Getunete Klassiker (KSV 009); Rope Cosmetology - Discoteca Festival (KSV 011); and Karl Schmidt - Remediated and Decontectualized Field Recordings Vol. 1 (KSV 006).

Tochnit may also have one or two pocket squares of KSV 001 (TLASILA's Konstriktion und Narzissmus album) still tethered to cracked and battered mannequins. Seek, find, etc.

Love,

TS

Rope Cosmetology: Hour Five, April 9, 2009...

Here's Rope Cosmetology, running through "Grateful, But Some Fur," one of the eight compositions hammered out during our three-week recording marathon in Hannover. We assayed this, and six of the remaining seven, at our final April 11th performance at Silke Arp Bricht. A very intense show...

Rope Cosmetology:

Feri Kovacs - saxophone
Ryan Parrish - percussion
Tim Lane Seaton - bass guitar
Tom Smith - voice (and videography)
Balazs Pandi - The Wraith

The great Pit Noack, my partner-in-crime in the duo Three Resurrected Drunkards, is the fellow crouched over at the recording deck. The majority of our rehearsals were captured on Tascam four-track, courtesy of Herr Noack. German engineering rules...



Best,

Tom

A New Tinititus for the Unbridled Few...

And just like that, it's over...

Rope Cosmetology convened, composed eight songs, rehearsed for three weeks, performed a pair of gigs, attended various social functions, drank to excess on at least two evenings, and dispersed in a flash.

The plan is to mount a second, more extensive European tour in September, but for now, a few days of quiet are needed. I am drained from the effort.

I pity Ryan, who has a colossal slog with Darkest Hour to look forward to, and Feri, who's still on a bus heading for Budapest. Tim should be back in Topanga by now, doubtless hours into a deep and well-deserved slumber. CP and I feel like parents whose kids have trundled off to university. The flat is empty, and we're at that poignant junction between elation and melancholy.

TLASILA seems more of a textual exercise than ever, but of course such observations are natural, given the relative infancy of Ropecosm and the resistance to change exhibited by some within the old unit. Rope Cosmetology is the more difficult of the camel's eyes to thread, as it is necessarily bounded by the requirements of instrumentation. We have less room in which to maneuver. But, those restrictions presage immense freedom, as imagination must be more forcefully engaged.

Fuck it - no going back now.

Hope everyone is well...

Best,

Tom

Rope Cosmetology: Hour Three, April 7, 2009...

Below, Rope Cosmetology performing their version of the unreleased To Live and Shave in L.A. song "The Cortege" during an April 7th recording session at Silke Arp Bricht, Hannover.

Personnel: Tim Lane Seaton - bass guitar; Ryan Parrish - percussion; Feri Kovacs - xylophone; Tom Smith - voice (and videography). Pit Noack is the dude prowling around the periphery of the frame...



Cheers,

TS

Rope Cosmetology: Live, Silke Arp Bricht, Hannover, April 11, 2009...

Guten Abend,

Below, please find the photos I took from the Silke stage before, during and immediately after our performance last night. No self-portraits, but there were many cameras flashing, so it's possible that evidence of truly diabolical terrors will eventually appear... From the erratic angles chosen, the space might seem to be empty, but there were upwards of 200 patrons inside SAB, and you can spot many of them huddled to Tim Seaton's right. We scared the living shit out of the noise hippies who had plopped, cross-legged, on the dance floor. Disgusting... The first band sounded like an interoffice memo. The second, a middling bottle of Chianti that had been open for three weeks. The third clanged and hammered and achieved little more than meek tintinnabulation. Robbie Basho it wasn't...

At the conclusion of our performance, we received a few minutes of encore requests, all of which we refused. Not out of arrogance, but simply from a shared sense that less (in our case, 53 minutes) was sufficient. "We're all very sick," I said. "Something we ate." Then we collapsed.

Claudia, pictured in the first of the photos below, spun a fantastic, bass-heavy DJ set afterward. Consciousness soon gave way to exultant oblivion.

Rope Cosmetology returns in September!

Best,

Karl





























(Click each image for larger versions of same...)

Friss virágok Legyél csepp Savas eső ...

Feri Kovacs (aka Fifi Cent), and Karl Schmidt (aka Dustbin Timberlake), just feel posing for the final snap of the 2009 Ropecosm Invitational.



(Photograph by Claudia Franke at RCHQ, Hannover. Click for a larger version of the image.)

Best Birthday Ever...

It's been a glorious 10th. I turned 53 at 2:17 am, drunk and happily ensnared in a show-stopping smooch with CP at one of the three or four bars we thrashed through. Tobias Prinz and the Rope Cosmetology guys (Tim Lane Seaton, Ryan Parrish and the inimitable Feri Kovacs) joined us after dinner, and together we downed beer, wine, tequila, Prosecco, and five rounds of Russian Cocaine shots (vodka with a slice of lemon, smeared with coffee and sugar, atop the glass - extremely tasty but absolutely deadly). We didn't stop drinking until 4:50 or 5:20 or whenever it was. The hangovers were delightful... Just in from a picnic in a park located less than half a kilometer from our flat. Lots of friends showed up, and matted hair of dog was administered. There were gifts, too, most unexpected, and all very much appreciated: Frau F. gave me a beautiful vintage (and slightly pimped-out) bicycle, and Ilona and Andreas gave me a very cool four-leaf clover. Each frond was perforated by mandible slashes. Very cool... Michael presented me with a bottle of Havana Club rum, and Francesca and Steffan gave me an awesome marizpan beetle... We stayed for five hours until the park supervisor kicked us (and the other sun worshippers) out. Stamina was in short supply, so we blew off attending the Larvae gig and opted for oblivion. Which is where you'll find me, CP, Ropecosm, Tobi, and anyone else insane enough to have followed in our footsteps last night...



(Above, yours truly, on the afternoon of my 53rd, with Feri Kovacs' hand encroaching, and comrades Steffan and Francesca in the process of pouring espresso for everyone. Claudia Franke, whose painted toes emerge at the bottom of the frame, took the photograph. Click for a larger version of the image.)

After the Moments Have Capsized...

Rope Cosmetology, unwinding at the offices of Instants Chavires, minutes after their April 3 debut.

(Photos by Karl Schmidt. Click to view larger versions of the images.)











---

Cheers,

Tom

Montreuil-sous-Bois, 8:55...

We're slowly coming to our senses after the Rope Cosmetology's debut performance at Instants Chavires. Ryan seems to be in the shower, Feri's probably still in bed, Tim's downstairs making coffee, and I'm clattering ici. Here's the view outside my window:



(Click above for a larger version.)

OK, gotta run. More photos, clips, etc, as soon as I've recovered... Amazing first gig last night.

Best,

Tom

Rope Cosmetology: Rehearsals, Day #2...

Tim and I are freezing our asses off in the basement of Silke Arp Bricht, and despite the chill we've written two new songs. I have no idea if we'll be 100% ready by April 3rd, but knowing our crit-paranoiac bent we'll be riddled with at least 66.6% anxiety. The shit is good -- that's all I dare relate.

Ryan, Balazs and Feri arrive on April 1st. Complete ultra-mega fucking ur-chaos soon ensues...

TS

Knots (Un-)Coil...

Tim Lane Seaton arrived today from Los Angeles, and so the Rope Cosmetology experiment enters its second phase.

These are very exciting times, droogs - anything can happen! Rehearsals begin soon...

TS

An Absence of Energy at an Energy HQ...

Guten Tag,

I'm at work, posting through a corporate intranet as I wait on a very tardy pupil. Executives are allowed to blow off their English lessons, despite the hefty (and wholly reasonable) fee my company charges them for the service rendered. (Or, in this case, unrendered.) I get paid regardless, but it's always better to teach than not. My German improves, my English improves... No-shows are a drag. (Yes, I was late for every ethics and media class I ever took at VSU, but at least I managed to haul myself out of bed, brush a wolverine across my scalp, and take part in the inevitably absurd discussions.)

Lots of posts were written (and new mashups recorded) over the weekend, but I've been too distracted / disorganized to post them. They'll pop up, in chronological order, over the next few hours. It's cheating, I know, but I'm not writing for The Atlantic, so I can post whenever I damn well please.

Tim from Rope Cosmetology arrives in Hannover on Tuesday Wednesday afternoon for a two week stay. (Rather than moan about a too-abbreviated tour, we decided to refocus our efforts on recording a proper album, face-to-mottled-mug, and in the process prepare for the gigs in Paris and at Silke Arp Bricht.) Tim and I will be laboring over texts, rhythmic beds, etc. Can't wait to get into gear!

Updates to the TLASILA web, the Karl Schmidt Verlag page, and the Rope Cosmetology profile have all been posted. Much more material is in the works and will follow shortly...

Pit Noack and I made several hours of Three Resurrected Drunkards recordings on Friday at Silke. I'll upload photos from the sessions with the accompanying post that I've written but not yet midwived...

Hope all of you are well.

Cheers,

Tom

KSV Tally to Date...

Hello,

Many of the Karl Schmidt Verlag releases from December and January are either sold out or nearing extinction. Take note:

KSV 001 TLASILA - Konstriktion und Narzissmus

SOLD OUT

KSV 002 Analog Suicide / Hull Curve - Live at Pit's Salon

2 copies left!

KSV 003 Brüning/Schuhmacher/Schmidt - Extrakte und Deformationen

SOLD OUT

KSV 004 Tom Smith - Limmerstrasse Vol. 1

SOLD OUT

KSV 005 Tom Smith & Pit Noack - Lange Pause, dann noch eine Zigarette

3 copies left!

KSV 006 Karl Schmidt - Remediated and Decontectualized Field Recordings Vol. 1

4 copies left!

KSV 007 Azul-Cobalto - Patrocínio e Inibição

SOLD OUT (Strange, as this was one of our more aggressively abstract titles... Of course, many thanks!)

KSV 008 Carlos António Silva - Lissabon Lieder

3 copies left!

KSV 009 Karl & die Leidenschaften - Unnötigerweise Auto-Getunete Klassiker

3 copies left!

KSV 010 Tom Smith - Vampire Weekend Is a Timeshare in Secaucus

SOLD OUT

KSV 011 Rope Cosmetology - Discoteca Festival

SOLD OUT

KSV 013 Und Andere - 31. Januar

Should be around until mid-April...

KSV 014 TS - LRRH im Schimmel

Only 6 left! Our fastest seller to date!

KSV 015 Unbeabsichtigte Begleiter - Salon 6. Februar

Plenty in stock. This title is esoteric even by our rarified standards...

KSV 016 Drei Leselampe für ein Hallelujah - Ich tanze Go-Go

Purchase with confidence. This one looks to loiter in the virtual ledger through the end of April...

--

Sincere, grateful thanks to anyone who has ordered, listened to, critiqued, trashed, or slowly, tremulously licked these recordings.

Best,

Tom

Three New Releases on Karl Schmidt Verlag!

Dear Droogs,

Here are the latest communiques from Karl Schmidt Verlag. You know what to do...

KSV 014 TS - LRRH im Schimmel (CDR)



Herr Smith obsessively intones Sam the Sham's "Little Red Riding Hood" as wind whistles through a open bathroom window...

01 LRRH im Schimmel (52:53)

Recorded, performed. mixed and produced by TS at KSV HQ, Hannover, February 2009.

Sleeve by Prolegomenon.

Edition of 15.

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KSV 015 Unbeabsichtigte Begleiter - Salon 6. Februar (CDR)



Volker Zander - solo contrabass
U.A. - inadvertent and unintended sound

01 6. Februar (27:47)
02 Auto-Tuned, Partially Crushed, with Rain Gutter (18:36)
03 Staggered Blackout Overlay (27:47)

Recorded by Karl Schmidt at Salon Noack, Hannover, February 6, 2009.

Music composed and performed by V.Z.

Edited, mixed and produced by K.S.

Sleeve by D. Meier.

Edition of 15.

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KSV 016 Drei Leselampen für ein Hallelujah - Ich tanze Go-Go (CDR)



Permutated texts extracted from Go-Go: Neue Schönhauser Neun, Falk Richwien’s newly-published memoir of life in early 1990s Berlin.

01 Ich tanze Go-Go (55:13)

Read by: Sabine Olk, Olaf Jenk, and Claudia Franke.

Written and directed by Falk Richwien.

Recorded at Silke Arp Bricht, Hannover, on February 11, 2009.
Edited, mixed and produced by Karl Schmidt.

Sleeve by The Fourfold Root.

Edition of 20.

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Pricing:

€ 7.49 within the EU, €9 outside the EU. Postage paid. Add €1 for each additional album.

So, one disc ordered from Portugal = € 7.49. Two discs ordered from the USA = € 19. Three discs ordered from China = € 29. Four ordered from France = € 32.96. Et cetera...

PayPal: tlasila [at] gmail [dot] com

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COMING SOON!!

KSV 012 Aenne & Yr Langhorst - Hammond Studies

KSV 017 Female Reggae Showcase - Kid Traumgekrönt/U-Hölderlin Super-Clash!

(New duo project comprising TLASILA vets Chris Grier and Tom Smith!)

KSV 018 Feinkost Lampe: 26 Februar (RK2 vs. Liondialer)

KSV 019 Three Resurrected Drunkards - Begriffsschrift 1999!

KSV 020 Rope Cosmetology - Spezial: Gedankengefüge (Compound Thought)

(Second full-length album!)

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Hang loosely,

Karl

Rope Cosmetology Debut -- New on KSV!

KSV 011 Rope Cosmetology - Discoteca Festival



(Sleeve design by Jens Meier.)

Subsumed test tracks, August 2008 to January 2009.

Initial mixes by Pándi, Parrish, Seaton and Smith; final assembly by Smith in Lisboa, Portugal, January 2009.

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01 Untitled (40:34)

Feri Kovács - reeds
Balazs Pándi - percussion and electronics
Ryan Parrish - percussion and electronics
Tim Lane Seaton - bass guitar
Tom Smith - voice

additional electronics by Jason Hodges

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Edition of 30 in full-color, hand-folded sleeves.

Available now.

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Pricing:

€ 7.49 within the EU, €9 outside the EU. Postage paid. Add €1 for each additional album.

PayPal: tlasila [at] gmail [dot] com

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Many thanks,

Tom