CHARALAMBIDES - "BRANCHES" LATHE CUT LP ON ECLIPSE RECORDS - ONLY 100 MADE

$

41

If you are a fan of Charalambides or of the entire New Weird America movement, then you will not want to miss out on this rare opportunity.  Up for sale is the insanely limited--100 copies for goodness sake!--lathe cut LP version of Charalambides' Branches album released over 10 years ago on Eclipse Records.  Label description:

Charalambides - Branches Lathe Cut LP (Eclipse, 2001) ºOut of Print
Edition of 100 copies. These recordings are from May 2000 and consist of four electric guitar/voice duets, one solo guitar track, and one solo vocal piece. Beautiful black and white artwork on front and back cover of jacket with insert, too, to go with this beautiful record.

One reviewer noted, "A rare document of a brief arc in Charalambides' 17 year (and counting) trajectory, somewhere between the extreme spatial attenuation of the long gone Crucial Blast CDR Being As Is and the gentle intergalactic trio sway of the kranky disk Unknown Spin -- and quite a distance from both the exclamatory exhalations of Joy Shapes and the layered songcraft of Likeness. These are spartan duets of formalistic near-symmetry, a reminder that there was a time when Charalambides swung as close to the axis of Incus and FMP as to that of Takoma and ESP. Christina (voice) and Tom Carter (guitar) improvise non-textual melodic lines around a locus of mirror clarity, occasionally overlapping various strands using two DAT machines and a mixing board, in a nod to the pre ProTools digital scrap heap."

Charalambides is one of the titans of experimental and underground psych.  The group has released albums on a number of groundbreaking labels, including Siltbreeze, Kranky, Eclipse, Time-Lag, and their own Wholly Other imprint.  Tom and Christina Carter, the founders of the band and the only constants throughout the years, have been involved in a variety of other recording outfits, including Badgerlore, The Friday Group, Scorces, and Zaika; have each recorded several solo albums; and have collaborated with such artists as Bardo Pond, Loren Mazzacane Connors, Yellow Swans, Robert Horton, and Heather Leigh Murray.

Included with the LP and the sleeve are the two inserts that accompanied the set: a tiny piece of paper providing contact information for Peter King (the New Zealand lathe cut legend who handled this one) and a two-sided sheet providing credits and song titles on one side and a stark, black-and-white image of branches on the other side.  I would characterize the inserts as near mint.  The LP--from what I can tell--is near mint to mint.  (I purchased this item from Yod.com many years ago, and it was described at the time as "near mint."  I have never played the LP.)  The sleeve is probably best described as very good, as the edges look frayed, there are a few small creases here and there, and the corners are dinged up.  The black and white artwork pasted to the front and back of the sleeve has held up very well, though.

NOTE: Lathe cut LPs tend to be somewhat noisier (e.g., more pops and surface noise) than vinyl LPs, although many people enjoy this additional sound.  Information on this subject abounds on the internet.  If you are interested, let me know, and I will direct you to some online resources.

SHIPPING: $12.00 will cover USPS Priority Mail, insurance, and delivery confirmation in North America.  $25.00 will cover Priority Mail and insurance to other parts of the world.  (The LP will be insured for the amount of the winning bid.)  Returns for bid refund only if item is not the one listed here.  I will ship the item domestically via Media Mail for $4.00 (as required by eBay) if you want me to, but I do not recommend this method due to longer delivery timeframes.

PAYMENT: Payment must be made within three days of the close of the auction.  PayPal only.  If you have questions, please contact me.

Thanks for looking!  Good luck!