Grouper/Inca Ore - Split LP (2nd pressing) - no label/self-released
Very happy to have these in stock -- like many of you, I'm sure, I didn't grab a copy of this guy in it's first LP edition, glad to have a second chance (originally a self-released tape, it's also been an import CD in addition to the two LP pressings). The Inca Ore side is a collection of murky fragments of audio, some textural, some voice-based. The haziness gives it the aspect of something half-remembered or seen in a dream, which is nice even if many of the pieces don't ever quite gel. I have to admit, I've never been much of an Inca Ore fan and while this side is a pleasant enough duration of audio, it doesn't do much to sway me one way or the other.
The Grouper side is a treat to finally get to hear. Among its four tracks are some of the clearest and song-y-est in the Grouper catalog. "Poison Tree" especially is a pleasant surprise in its overt flirtation with pop music. I wonder, too, if the sound of this record will ultimately come to represent the Grouper "sound" -- compared to the feedback explorations and guitar driven work -- as it is more of a piece with A I A and the Roy Montgomery split than say Cover The Windows or Wide, even, in its foundation of electric piano and hazy reverb. These four songs are as good as anything in the Grouper catalog, and I would say this LP is a "must" even for those fans who are not as stoked on Inca Ore's stuff.

$16, email eggyrecords@gmail.com to order.