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AS 07 V2 | 60 copies on vinyl, with Centripetal Force (25), Cardinal Fuzz (25), and OCH each making their own homemade covers.

Originally released as part of the Altered States series. AS 07 | 100 copies on black vinyl. Released in partnership with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

When this was initially released last year as part of the Altered States series with Dave at Cardinal Fuzz, we ended up with an overrun of vinyl. The Altered States series is supposed to be limited to 100, but we had to pay for the overrun and figure out what to do.

It took a while to decide what to do with the extra copies, and we ultimately decided that offering them up with some handmade covers would be the way to go. So, on Friday we will be offering the album once again, both here at Centripetal Force and at Cardinal Fuzz. Dave and I will have slightly different variations in our handmade covers. I have 25. He has 25 as well.

Please do understand that this comes housed in a handcrafted sleeve and is limited to 25 hand numbered copies. Please be aware that the cover comes with all the variations and inconsistencies one can expect from such an endeavor. Don't expect all the lines to be perfect, etc. We wanted to come up with a fun and creative way to package these without raising the proce. It's all about the music anyways.

released November 15, 2024

CF.68cd | 75 copies on CD

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Tacoma Park is the collaboration of John Harrison (Jphono1, Lacy Jags, North Elementary) and Ben Felton (Pegasus, Blood Revenge, Jett Rink). By building single note drones, looping open-tuned electric guitars, and framing improvisations around skeletal chord progressions, Tacoma Park aims to create synthetic internal soundscapes with the intention of temporarily modifying the physical space they’re in. Basically, they play between one and three notes for an entire set; rhythms and melodies happen here and there. 

One of the most enjoyable experiences I have with music is being immersed into one of those mind blowing “a-ha!” moments when hearing an album for the first time. Well, in 2023 that moment came when I first listened to Tacoma Park’s self titled album. It popped up one day in my inbox as a submission for my radio program at WXNA in Nashville. I was captivated from the jump and was absolutely hooked by the time I reached the middle of the second track. 

If you’re at all familiar with Centripetal Force, you likely know the reason why. Tacoma Park’s mix of acoustic americana adjacent instrumentation and kosmische inspired improvisations are not only one of the label’s hallmarks, it’s a blending of musical worlds that I have enjoyed for years. The drones and the pulsing combined with the shimmering drifts place me in the most serene and magical natural settings, even if my physical location is miles from such a physical space. And after learning John and Ben were from North Carolina, it made perfect sense. After all, North Carolina is the home of Bob Moog and the birthplace of John Coltrane. The land of The Great Smoky Mountains and the expansive Outer Banks. A state rich in the history of traditional American music styles and Appalachian traditions. A place where music and nature seem to always commune.  

This an album that is best enjoyed while road tripping or while layingoutside in a peaceful and secluded place. Let your mind wander while the pair’s electric pulses and meandering guitars lull you into a calmed hypnosis. - Keith Hadad, Record Crates United

Tacoma Park is nothing short of monumental, and in my opinion, was criminally overlooked. The album was initially self released as a 2LP set, with only 50 copies pressed. In hopes of garnering more attention and getting more ears on these compositions, Centripetal Force is releasing a CD edition of the album. It is an edition of 75 copies, packaged in a high quality four panel LP gatefold style cardboard sleeve. It also includes a bonus selection not included on the original release, a song titled “Lizard Brain.”  

released November 15, 2024

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CF.65 | CF.65cd | 250 copies on black vinyl. 100 copies on CD. Released in partnership with Cardinal Fuzz (UK) and Ramble Records (AUS).

Yaryu is a Japanese musical collective known for their ability to seamlessly blend diverse genres and create music that resonates on an emotional and spiritual level. Formed in 2022 with the intention of bringing music and people together in their everyday environments, Yaryu holds improvisational music workshops with both experienced and inexperienced musicians and presents live music events that encourage participation by all of its attendees. As keyboardist/harpist Hyzo explains,

“Yaru helps people realize their ideas and perform. Rather than focusing on someone standing out in terms of creativity or instrumental skill, we place importance on the best expression possible among the members participating at the time and in the performance environment. Even if you have a weak sense of rhythm or pitch, we present ensembles that allow you to enjoy and appreciate the sound itself. Participants' motivations vary, and the members who participate in each project are fluid. Anyone who agrees with this philosophy can call themselves Yaru.”

Over 200 performers have participated in Yaryu through live performances, recordings, and workshops. For Damage is the essence of all those experiences, as well as the group’s favorite sounds: spiritual jazz, electric Miles Davis, Can, and traditional Japanese folk music. Yaryu began as a duo centered around keyboardist/harpist Hyozo (De Lorians) and Indian flute/harpist Hajime Orikawa. For Damage includes, amongst others, Shota Mizuno (Sunday & Cybele), Takuro Okada (Carlos Niño, Sam Gendel, Nels Cline), Makoto Kawabata (Acid Mothers Temple), Ryo Fushimi (Dhidalah), and Hyozo’s sister Jou.

In addition to their commitment to creating community, Yaryu’s mission is to also communicate their activities through recording and releasing their sessions. No fewer than seven sessions have been documented thus far, with For Damage being the latest, and thanks to Centripetal Force, Cardinal Fuzz, and Ramble Records, the most widely distributed.

Drawing on the rich traditions of both New Age music and jazz, Yaryu has crafted a unique sound designed to transport listeners to a place of inner calm and reflection, making it an ideal soundtrack for meditation, relaxation, or simply surviving the calamities of 2024. The album features lush, ambient soundscapes (“Up the Creek” and “Asobe”) and delicate instrumentation, all underscored by rhythmic flourishes (“Utena” and “Gandhara”), organic song structures (“Nagare”), and subtle elements of psychedelia (“Shirabe”).

Yaryu invites you to enter the transformative world of For Damage. Slip into the flow and immerse yourself in this harmonious musical journey. 

Released October 25, 2024

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CF.66 | CF.66cd | 500 copies on black vinyl. 100 copies on 2xCD. Released in partnership with Worried Songs (UK).

Prairiewolf make easy listening music for an age of fracture. They almost do it in spite of themselves. No one can seriously question the head music bona fides of the members of this Colorado-based trio. Guitarist Stefan Beck has already assembled a formidable discography of jewel-toned guitar zone-outs under his Golden Brown moniker. And keyboardist and guitarist Jeremy Erwin and bassist Tyler Wilcox have both made their reputations as chroniclers of the vast world of out music. Erwin helms the indispensable Heat Warps blog, a performance-by-performance archive of Miles Davis’s labyrinthine electric period. And Wilcox has been covering the ragged edges of psychedelia and experimental rock at Aquarium Drunkard and other publications, not to mention his own virtual basement for heads, the great bootleg blog Doom and Gloom from the Tomb. These guys come by it honestly. And yet, given their backgrounds, Prairiewolf’s self-titled debut last spring was remarkably free of face- melters, brown acid blowouts, and ascendant spiritual jazz odysseys. Instead, they dropped a record of beautiful, elegant, low-key cosmic groovers that sounded like the piped-in background music to a resort hotel on Jupiter. It was an unlikely psychedelia, brocaded with mid-twentieth century sonic threading from the hi-fi era: vintage synthesizers, smears of spaghetti western, luxe tropical details, the faint schmaltz of space age pop. Imagine something like a Harmonia residency in the airport lounge. And yet somehow it all worked brilliantly. Prairiewolf became last summer’s cool-down standard.

After a year woodshedding around Colorado’s Front Range region, the Prairiewolf boys have fired up their trusty Korg SR-120 drum machine for another outstanding collection of suborbital exotica. The appropriately titled Deep Time operates in its own chronology,

unspooling at its unhurried pace. All its incongruous period and stylistic references—the new age pulses, Hawaiian steel, shaggy hippie rambles, lysergic guitar spirals, and orchestral synthesizer flourishes—float atop the album’s own singular temporality. Deep Time makes its own time. From the moment Beck folds his slide guitar, origami-like, into a sound resembling the call of gulls on the tranquil album opener, “Peach Blossom Paradise,” there is a sense of departure from everyday life. The shimmering “Lighthouse” has a similar sunbaked nonchalance, like an afternoon passed day- drinking in a seaside bar. That they named their lush, kaleidoscopic downtempo track “The Meander” pretty much says it all. The ranging, propulsive “Saying Yes to Everything” seems like a nod in the direction of Rose City Band’s brand of wookie krautrock. And the motorik noir of “Demon Cicadas in the Night” also goes hard. Beck and Erwin’s intertwined guitar jam on the eerie album standout “The Cold Curve” evolves into something that sounds like primitive computer music. A genteel bassline from Wilcox on another album highlight, “Revisionist Mystery,” sets the stage for a loopy space jazz turn from guest clarinetist Matt Loewen of Rayonism. The title of post- rock cowboy tune “Another Tomorrow” might refer to the alternative future that so many critics heard in the music of Prairiewolf’s first album. Or it might simply refer to the persistence of time, however deep.

Either way, I’m thankful for the way Prairiewolf make each of their tunes a little oasis or sanctuary, each subsisting according to its own crystalline little logic for a few minutes. It is no simple task to filter out the omnipresent anger and anxiety of everyday life these days. But Prairiewolf are out here making it seem easy.

- Brent S. Sirota, Aquarium Drunkard

released September 20, 2024

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CF.63v1 | CF.63v2 | 150 copies on black vinyl. Released in partnership with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

"Jeffrey Alexander is a lifer. He has been flirting around the underground for the past thirty years - starting in Baltimore in the mid-90s and later percolating in Providence, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and, now, Philadelphia. Throughout this span, he has run various record labels, worked in a bunch of record shops, organized music festivals, managed live venues, FM deejayed, jammed econo, booked endless tours and performed in a gaggle of groups from Black Forest / Black Sea to Dire Wolves to Jackie-O Motherfucker to The Iditarod and points in-between. And now we have The Heavy Lidders.

Jeffrey Alexander + The Heavy Lidders takes the freaked improvisation of Alexander’s instrumental band - DWLVS / Dire Wolves Just Exactly Perfect Sisters Band - into the world of song. Heady songwriting, ethereal jazz and Trad Gras-y blues stomps all feature. Backed by members of Elkhorn and Kohoutek. This cassette you hold in your hands is a collection of live Lidders that will surely wax your stem, and how! When Record Crates United invited JA+THL to perform at their inaugural garden party, not only did the Lidders show up with a one-off Live/Dead cover as a surprise gift for Keith and Sarah, but they rolled in with the Jesse Sheppard mobile multi-track truck, as well. Fucking pros, mate.

Most of the material here was captured that sunny afternoon in suburban New Jersey - and thank the Godz that we have this plastic burner. I missed the set, but Kenneth Higney was there and gave it two thumbs up! I know them Lidders have a deluxe studio LP lined up for September, but til then, this little box will comfortably help you break on through. But don’t be fooled into thinking this is a mere EP. It’s SEVENTY SIX minutes of pure medicated goo. Try fitting that on one of yr vinyls kid! Tapes are the best anyway - flip it over, grip it tighter, smell the shell - do it. Now dose your capstan and pinch your roller. Shit is about to get Lidded."

- Glen Burnout (on Sun Ra’s arrival day 2023) 

Artwork - Jake Blanchard

Released September 20, 2024

CF.61 | 200 copies pressed on black vinyl

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A majority of the music Drew Gardner has made over the years has been deeply collaborative, in contexts where his skills with improvisation can shine: with Elkhorn, Jeffrey Alexander + The Heavy Lidders, and his own Flowers in Space band. Cygnus A, where Gardner is playing and multitracking all the instruments, marks a shift in his approach as well as his intention, drawing the audience closer for an inward listening experience.

With an earthy yet cosmic vibe, this multi-instrumentalist solo foray explores themes of distance and nearness. The album title Cygnus A refers to a distant galaxy that is one of the brightest radio sources in the sky. Its broadcast from space comes from a supermassive black hole generating energy as it consumes material, causing electrons to emit radio waves as they spiral outward in magnetic fields.

Recorded in Gardner’s home studio in Harlem, Cygnus A forms a suite of serene pieces that create a soothing, mesmerizing psychedelic flow. The songs are named for our closest stars, and the album is voiced using instruments best heard at an intimate range — the mbira and zither. And while his electric guitar still plays a role, Gardner has stepped away from guitar soloing on this effort in favor of celestial leads on the zither. Fittingly, Gardner’s ability to play a variety of instruments runs deep and serves him well in guiding listeners beyond this earthly sphere.

Released June 7, 2024

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CF.62 | 300 copies pressed on black vinyl.

Elijah McLaughlin, a Chicago-based guitarist who has released three well-regarded albums as bandleader of the Elijah McLaughlin Ensemble (Astral Spirits, Tompkins Square), and his long time friend and collaborator, Caleb Willitz, a recording engineer, producer, and sound artist, are in their element on Morning Meditations / Evening Abstractions, as each musician is constantly feeding off the other’s creativity.

Willitz, who also worked with the likes of Jeff Parker and Bill MacKay, and McLaughlin set up the ideal conditions to invoke the best of their abilities, allowing for even the recording process itself to take on a more spontaneous spirit. The duo set up camp in Willitz’s studio to work without the restraints of time, a move that allowed total freedom to create adventurously. Utilizing a refurbished 8-track tape machine, the pair was only restricted by the 25-minute limit of their analogue reels of tape. With McLaughlin playing an electric guitar routed through stereo amplifiers and various effects and Willitz playing piano while simultaneously controlling a tape delay with a foot pedal, the two developed ethereal and transcendental soundscapes that exist somewhere between free jazz, post-rock, and ambient music.

For those familiar with Elijah's guitar work, there is the welcome expansion of his sound palette. Sonically the textures have expanded, thanks to the integration of analog synths, tape loops, acoustic piano, and horns. His partnering up with Caleb has this album exploring the worlds of minimalism, jazz, improvisation, and creative composition. Fittingly, these are the musical elements that have put Chicago on the map over the past decade or so, something reflected by the list of guest contributors on the album, including Charles Rumback, Edward Wilkerson Jr, Jason Stein, and Josh Johannpeter.

Released June 7, 2024

CF.64c | 150 copies on cassette. Released in partnership with Transitory Tapes and Working Name Studio. An accompanying zine written by Agnes Martian members Benjamin Rodgers, Phillip Laurent, and Zekarias Thompson, and Gus and Patricio of Music for Connection in the months following the impromptu recording session was also prepared for this project.

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On September 17, 2023 the four touring members of Music for Connection joined with Agnes Martian at their downtown Oakland community art space, Beauty Supply Arts, for an impromptu recording session. Nothing had been rehearsed or planned, but the two groups had shared a bill earlier that week, and their mutual enthusiasm superseded any need for prepared material.

A quadraphonic sound system had been set up in the space for the groups’ previous performance, and its acoustics had been well received by all in attendance. As a result, the recording session adopted the same set up and was expanded in circular fashion with the goal of intensifying the immersive sonic experience. Additional amplifiers were placed at both ends of the room and patched into the stereo effects board servicing the bouzouki. Much to everyone’s delight, this resulted in a 30 foot wide swath of tremolo, delay, and reverb. A miscellany of synths were patched into the system in order to take further advantage of quadraphonic spatial cues and make space for density in the seven-piece combo.

After an explorative first take of “Early Light,” the group took a break and enjoyed a range of well-curated snacks brought in by the Agnes Martian crew. Word began to circulate that friends Emily and David of Hair and Space Museum, as well as Laraaji, would be stopping by. Laraaji, who had performed a few nights earlier at the Through the Looking Glass festival in Oakland, was a influential force for everyone in the room. Naturally, when this new trio did arrive at Beauty Supply Arts, they imparted a new spirit of energy and creativity into the session.

After some introductions, Patricio and Gus (Music for Connection) opened a wandering improvisation on bouzouki and drums, respectively, and Laraaji joined shortly after on the room’s resident upright piano. Over time the remaining members of the ensemble migrated

from the kitchen to their instruments, building and developing the arrangement into the 10- piece body of sound that would ultimately become “Leap of Interfaith.”

This opening piece lasted for about 45 minutes of continuous play, evolving from solemn drone to an exuberant mixolydian bounce, the latter section being excerpted and titled “Numinosity.” Even to those not present in the room, the synchronicity and shared energy of all involved is quite evident. Perhaps this is best heard in the space of silence at the conclusion of the piece, that brief hesitation that occurred as the players felt out the situation and weighed their desire to continue. Few words were spoken, but as several people exchanged or brought out new instruments, Laraaji spontaneously swiveled back to the piano and laid out the foundational progression of what grew into another extended free jam, included here as “Recurrent Dream.”

When it came time to part ways, the group gathered around a giant gong, and Laraaji struck it several times to close the evening. For all involved, it was a beautiful coincidence of fate to share these extemporaneous moments, and at the same time, it felt hardly coincidental at all.

About the Collaborators

Oakland, California’s Agnes Martian soundtracks an imaginary planetarium that charts undiscovered constellations of inner/outer space. The project was founded in 2019 by Benjamin Rodgers (guitar, synths) and Zekarias Thompson (saxophone). The duo collaborates with artists from various musical backgrounds, most recently with Philip Laurent.

Music for Connection is a free-improvisation collective organized by Gus Tomizuka exploring experimental and ambient sound collages. Collaboration is at the heart of their mission, and the group is often on the road creating connective musical narratives with different artists at each stop. The lineup for Music for Connection’s fall 2023 tour consisted of Gus, Patricio Coronado, Grant Beyschau, and Chelsey Trejo.

New Age pioneer Laraaji is a musician, mystic, and laughter meditation practitioner based in New York City. His career has spanned more than 40 years and includes over 50 releases, several of which are collaborative in nature. His music and spirit serves as an inspiration and mentor for many in the ambient and sacred music circles.

Hair and Space Museum is the duo of Emily Pothast and David Golightly, who are also the co-founders of the band Midday Veil and the record label Translinguistic Other. HaSM projects are multimedia meditations on the generative, cosmic properties of sound.

Released May 31, 2024

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CF.59 | 200 copies pressed on black vinyl, 25 of which came with artist prints of the front and back covers.

SOMA (Sacred Order of Mystic Apogees) is a group of musicians from central New Jersey who gather together to create eclectic devotional music. The members are multi-instrumentalists who play a blend of meditative soundscapes woven together with traditional Indian kirtan* music and inspired folk songs. SOMA builds on this traditional framework and incorporates amplified instrumentation and other added components to create an entirely new sonic experience. The result is a psychedelic tapestry of esoteric mantras, dynamic rhythms, and devotional prayers.

As you will hear on Burning is Learning, each song, vibration, and drone is treated with reverence, attentiveness, and respect - all of which acknowledges SOMA’s link in an unbroken chain to the ancient sounds. It’s a heady and heavy experience. It’s celebratory and reflective. The album is a unique approach to sounds that have been resonating for thousands of years. SOMA’s live performances are as intense as their recordings, landing them in temples, churches, concert halls, bars, and even cremation grounds. Plans to tour are in the works.

Burning is Learning is a reference to the Sanatana Dharma belief that cremation can help the soul achieve moksha, freedom from the eternal cycle of life, death, and rebirth. The album was recorded with Phil Caivano (Monster Magnet) at Studio 13 and Shorefire Recording Studios and mastered by John McBain (Monster Magnet, Wellwater Conspiracy, Desert Sessions).

*Kirtan is a word deriving from kirti, which means fame or glory. In general terms, a kirtan calls, chants, recites, praises, or glorifies. To perform kirtan is to make the mantras and names within them charged with one’s own energy and intention, as to have an impact on the listener. On this album the kirtans you will hear involve a great deal of call and response.

For listeners who enjoy everything from Alice Coltrane, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and Debashish Bhattacharya to OM and Mahavishnu Orchestra.

released March 19, 2024

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CF.60c | CF.60cd

Kevin Coleman is a boundless explorer within the world of American Primitive guitar music. The Nashville-based artist channels everything from Piedmont blues to improvised kosmische musik and Appalachian freak folk into his fingerstyle guitar compositions.

Coleman turned to guitar at the age of fifteen and has never ceased to evolve his artistry. Between 2017 and 2019, he served as a guitar player in the indie dreampop band So Badly, but he ultimately decided to shift his focus to solo guitar music.

Kevin Coleman’s current works are equally informed by his fingerstyle peers, like Joseph Allred and Matthew J. Rolin, as well as the grounding serenity of nature. Coleman has said about his music, “I believe our relationship with our environment can be just as emotionally affecting as any human relationship. So, I try to capture some semblance of how the natural world shapes my thoughts and emotions, as well as how I project my own emotions and ideas onto the natural world.”

Imaginary Conversations continues the new weird-Americana-folk vein he began to venture off into on his previous records—including a split cassette he released with Allred earlier this year. Throughout the album’s three sprawling tracks, Coleman weaves dazzling fantasias of fingerpicking acrobatics together with cosmic synth-infused soundscapes and rustic string ensembles. Fans of Magic Tuber Stringband, Eight Point Star, and Tacoma Park are surely bound to appreciate this dynamic and progressive-minded release.

released March 19, 2024

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CF.53 | 200 copies on black vinyl. Released in partnership with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

Originally released as part of the Altered States series. AS 05 | 100 copies on black vinyl. Released in partnership with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

Improvised live at Exploded View Microcinema on occupied Tohono O'odham land on April 1st 2015 by The Myrrors and recorded in the audience to digital handheld recorder.

Originally released as part of the Altered States series, an ongoing collaboration between the Centripetal Force (USA) and Cardinal Fuzz (UK) record labels.

"With this incantatory live recording, Myrrors create a sound that feels drawn out of the soil. Drone calls, avant-squall, swells of devotional psychedelia—whatever you want to call this music, it's entrancing and spiritually voluminous, rising and falling in majestic arcs, soundtracking an imaginary Herzog documentary playing exclusively in your mind's eye." —Jason P. Woodbury (Aquarium Drunkard)

Exploded Sound is a chemical reaction between two basic elements: rock'n'roll and the Avant Garde. Inspired by Terry Riley’s repetitive, long-form minimalism, the group’s extended, open-ended playing carries the spirit of Riley’s “all-night flights”, here The Myrrors sound just as expansive, indeterminant, and mind-blowing - confident enough not to force epiphanies and trusting that euphoria will grow. The communal nature of the playing also recalls Father Yod’s primitive psych-rock pioneers YaHoWha 13. The latter’s delirious 3am trips share an aura with The Myrrors in the playing of raw, ritualistic and seemingly-possessed musicians caught in the flow of the moment they are creating.

One crucial difference between Myrrors and YaHoWha 13, is their leaderless nature. With no particular member in charge, their music has a refreshing lack of ego; it feels like the only thing steering the ship is the momentum created by playing together, as all the sounds created coalesce into a single moment where linear time dissolves into the electrified bliss of the band’s excursions into psychedelic minimalism.

With Exploded Sound you get to hear The Myrrors stripped down minimalism and repetition unite and fuse into the most deadly musical combination of guitars, bass drums/percussion and viola.

Released March 1, 2024

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CF.55 | CF.55c | 350 copies on black vinyl and 100 copies on cassette

Patrick Sansone is a Nashville based multi-instrumentalist, composer, music producer, and photographer. He is also a member of Wilco, The Autumn Defense, and Mellotron Variations. Infinity Mirrors is his first album as a solo artist.

Sansone’s interest in synthesizers goes back to his teens in the 1980s when he was afforded the benefits and luxury of time, time to simply discover and enjoy the pure pleasures of sound. Meridian, Mississippi in the mid-eighties wasn’t exactly a synthesizer kind of town, but he did manage to get his hands on a Korg Polysix and an Arp Axxe and spent solitary hours creating sounds and blissing out. It was a foundational experience, one that has led to a life long passion for collecting and playing vintage synthesizers. Some of Pat’s favorites that were utilized in Infinity Mirrors include the Roland Jupiter-8, MiniMoog Model D, and Sequential Circuits Prophet-10, as well as the modern Mellotron D4000 and Teenage Engineering OP1.

The ideas behind what has become Infinity Mirrors have been brewing for several years. Patrick’s plan had always been to use his ever growing stable of synthesizers in some sort of project, but it wasn't until 2017 that these ideas really started to come together. His goal was not to sit down and record an album. It was more of a desire to engage with new creative processes, an effort to recapture the spirit and energy he enjoyed when he first discovered synthesizers. To accomplish this, Pat established a set of expectations around which he would record. Central to his expectations was the idea that all of the pieces would be spontaneously created. He decided the instruments needed to be the ones to lead the recording sessions. Pat arranged several synthesizers from his collection in the studio and set aside a series of evenings for recording. This would allow each composition to retain its own unique mood and identity. Pat simply entered the room and allowed his instruments to draw him in. There was no planning ahead. It was simply improvisation in its purest form, what he has called “sonic sand- painting.” And as a result, four of the six pieces on Infinity Mirrors were recorded during these sessions.

Because of Pat’s involvement in other projects, as well as a demanding tour schedule, the results from the initial recording sessions sat on Pat’s digital shelf until 2021. It was while on a night drive from Atlanta to Nashville that Pat decided to revisit his efforts, and it was upon that return listen that he felt a spark. The music spoke to him in very distinct ways. He felt both connected to and outside of himself as he listened. The experience was striking enough that he decided he would eventually share this music with others.

A few months later a friend gifted Pat a photography book, John Pfahl’s Altered Landscapes. Pat, a photographer himself, opened to a random page and was taken aback by the image, Pfahl’s “Salt Lake Angles.” There was a rush of excitement as Pat heard an inner voice proclaim, “This is the cover to your unfinished album!” Inspired by the image, additional compositions were recorded, and the pieces of Infinity Mirrors started to fall together. Pfahl had unfortunately passed in 2020, but with some help Sansone got in touch with the photographer’s estate. Serendipitously, the caretakers were already familiar with Sans one as supporters of Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival, as well as his own photography work, and permission to use “Salt Lake Angles” as the cover to Infinity Mirrors was granted.

released March 1, 2024

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CF.51 | 300 copies pressed on black vinyl

This is Jack's fourth appearance on Centripetal Force. He is the guitarist on both Nashville Ambient Ensemble releases and had his own Live at the 5 Spot album released by Centripetal Force in 2021.

The seeds of the Jack Silverman Quartet were planted in September 2020, when bassist Brook Sutton invited Jack and drummer Robert Crawford to Brook’s recording studio — The Studio Nashville — for an informal jam. After several months of no gigs due to the pandemic, all three were itching to play. Listening back to recordings of that session, they recognized a unique chemistry that had them excited to start a project together. They turned their energy towards rehearsals and stumbled upon their style, instrumental music that straddled several genres but didn’t really sound like anything else.

When playing live did resume, the trio invited Matt Glassmeyer to play some Wurlitzer at a show, and they immediately knew they’d found the final link, a simpatico musical force whose fearless sonic explorations took the music to another level. (Glassmeyer also plays sax, contra alto clarinet, flute, percussion and whatever happens to be lying around.) Over time the group’s sound continued evolving, weaving elements of psychedelic music, jazz noir, post-rock textural experimentation, and improvisation, while exploring the contrast between melody and dissonance, to create an immersive musical experience — what might best be described as a film soundtrack collaboration between The Lounge Lizards, Pink Floyd and Angelo Badalamenti.

In 2022, filmmaker Greg Mallozzi, after seeing the group perform at The Blue Room at Third Man Records, approached Jack about contributing music to the soundtrack for his upcoming documentary Mindtraveler, about the life of enigmatic parapsychology researcher Andrija Puharich. The group then went into The Studio Nashville, with Roger Moutenot (Yo La Tengo, Sleater-Kinney, Paula Cole, Lambchop) at the helm, to record what became Prince of Shadows. Some of the music was structured, including three vastly different takes on the title track, two of which feature titles that are anagrams for that title: “Phasic Fernwoods” and “ESP Fashion Crowd.” Two other tracks — “In Case of Emergency” and “Break Glass,” are radically different versions of the same composition, and in fact were taken from one continuous jam in the studio that morphed from the eerie minimalism of the former to the full on psych-rock freakout of the latter. The rest of the album was culled from various improvisations. (John Mailander from Bruce Hornsby’s band contributes fiddle on several tracks.) The final product is an apt representation of the group’s live performances, capturing the quartet’s transcendent, sometimes haunting, always original sound.

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AS 05 | 100 copies on black vinyl. Released in partnership with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

On March 1, 2024, a limited repress of Live at Exploded View (CF.53) will go up for sale from both Centripetal Force and Cardinal Fuzz.

Improvised live at Exploded View Microcinema on occupied Tohono O'odham land on April 1st 2015 by The Myrrors and recorded in the audience to digital handheld recorder.

The Altered States series is an ongoing collaboration between the Centripetal Force (USA) and Cardinal Fuzz (UK) record labels. Each Altered States release comes housed in a risograph printed sleeve and is limited to 100 hand numbered copies.

released November 3, 2023

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AS 06 | 100 copies on black vinyl. Released in partnership with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

The Altered States series is an ongoing collaboration between the Centripetal Force (USA) and Cardinal Fuzz (UK) record labels. Each Altered States release comes housed in a risograph printed sleeve and is limited to 100 hand numbered copies.

Eve Maret is a Nashville-based experimental artist and composer who employs a wide array of electronic media and techniques in her various disciplines, exploring the possibilities of personal and communal healing through creative action. Drawing inspiration from nineteenth-century orchestral and choral works, the Fluxus movement, Kosmische Musik and funk, Eve makes use of digital and analog synthesizers, clarinet, electric bass, acoustic drums, and more to create works that range from lush cinematic compositions to space techno.

Eve has released four solo albums since 2016, most recently The Zone on Curious Music. Her music has been reviewed by WIRE Magazine, Bandcamp Daily, and the Chicago Reader. Eve has toured across the US as well as internationally, where she has performed alongside Matmos, Lydia Lunch, Xiu Xiu, Sun Araw, and JEFF the Brotherhood, among others. In 2018, Eve co-founded Hyasynth House, an electronic music collective for femme and non-binary artists. She continues to organize events to amplify the voices of marginalized groups at Electric Shed in Nashville.

Earth and Space highlights aspects of Eve's playing that have always been present but may have been previously taken for granted. This album takes a more minimalist kind of approach, stripping away some of the propulsive rhythmic patterns of previous works and opting for more space and texture to take center stage. She shirks structure in favor of openness, allowing for her more subtle touches to push through the layers of sound. Her hypnotizing swirls, low-key rhythms, and moody ambience all come into focus in ways we have not experienced on previous releases. There are certainly nods to the practitioners of the Berlin School of electronic music, but those nods are more than efforts to pay homage, they are jumping off points for Eve to take her brand of ambient electronica to new limits.

released digitally November 11, 2022

released on vinyl November 3, 2023

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AS 07 | 100 copies on black vinyl. Released in partnership with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

OCH is a Swedish space / krautrock trio from Linköping, Sweden. Well known for their live performances, they soon caught the attention of Rocket Recordings and have since released two albums with the label. Most recently they released a split with label mates Flowers Must Die.

Live at Riksgränsen was recorded in 2015 and highlights the group's admiration for krautrock's early era and showcases their own ability to play within the rhythmic structures of repetition.

For those unaware, the Altered States series is an ongoing collaboration between the Centripetal Force (USA) and Cardinal Fuzz (UK) record labels. Each Altered States release comes housed in a risograph printed sleeve and is limited to 100 hand numbered copies.

released November 3, 2023

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CF.48 | 325 copies on black vinyl. Released in partnership with Cardinal Fuzz (UK) and Ramble Records (AUS).

In the autumn of 2022, the core of DWLVS got together for a recording session at Santo Studios in Oakland, CA, the same studio that birthed the three most recent DWLVS albums, Grow Towards the Light (Beyond Beyond Is Beyond), I Just Wasn't Made For These Set Times (Centripetal Force), and Paradisiacal Mind (Feeding Tube / Cardinal Fuzz). Because of the pandemic and group members relocating from San Francisco’s Bay Area to points all over the globe, DWLVS hadn't played together, or even seen each other in person, since their 2019 European tour. Band organizer Jeffrey Alexander had moved to Philadelphia, drummer Sheila Bosco set off for Amsterdam, and violinist Ajrun Mendiratta had moved to the more remote confines of Northern California, leaving only bassist Brian Lucas in the immediate Bay. Like their last gathering at Santo in 2018, this 2022 session resulted in hours of rich material, the first of which is coming to light with Easy Portals.

Outside of an odd cover song or two, DWLVS’ material has always been centered on improvisation and spontaneous composition. The making of Easy Portals was certainly no exception to this practice. And while the group’s layoff was long, their penchant for meditative and intriguing long form compositions has only strengthened in the interim. Even upon initial listen, you will hear the familiar tone and timbre of DWLVS. However, on this album there is also found a darker and more progressive slant to their communal approach, possibly the result of those pandemic days. Or the current geo-political state of the world. Or both. Whatever the case, and as reflected by the artwork, Easy Portals transports DWLVS to another musical dimension.

Consistent with their practice of collaborating with other artists, DWLVS was sure to include friends new and old to the 2022 recording session. Easy Portals sees the return of Taralie Peterson (Spires That in the Sunset Rise, Tekla Peterson) on saxophone, as well as the arrival of J. Lee and Marina Lazzara (both of the San Francisco band The Rabbles, as well as Warm Spell, which also includes Brian Lucas). Lee, who plays farfisa organ and modular synth, and Lazzara, who offers voice and percussion, are a defacto Keith and Donna to the DWLVS lineup and serve as a key element in setting the tone around the sonic portals that lay before you. Enjoy the journey.

released October 27, 2023

Cover art by Kamma Winther Kestner

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CF.43 | 199 copies on black vinyl.

Joseph Allred isn’t sure how many albums they have released. It is thought to be in the neighborhood of twenty-two, not counting collaborations, digital only, and split releases. Most of these are rooted in Appalachian folklore, mystic spirituality, a love for guitar soli, and a reverence for Robbie Basho. New Jerusalem is no exception, but with this album Allred has recontextualized these elements and presents them in grand fashion.

Sonically, New Jerusalem is a wide ranging and full experience that stands in stark contrast to Allred’s usual delicate minimalism. It’s a large ensemble kind of sound, with Allred composing all of the music and playing all the instruments. There is an almost post-rock feel to New Jerusalem, with nods to Labradford, Current 93, and Dead Can Dance, as well as hints of Hawkwind’s more psychedelic folk/pop/fantasy moments. Allred’s guitar is not at the forefront here. Their affinity for composition and talent on a wide variety of instruments is what’s on display. It’s a bold and jarring shift, one that is certainly more cerebral and reveals additional layers with each listen.

Allred’s interest in theology and spirituality has always been woven into their lyrics and a regular part of their on-stage dialogue. With New Jerusalem, Allred wishes to approach listeners in more direct fashion, a sort of exercise in philosophical engagement, as opposed to simply partaking in the storytelling tradition. As Allred puts it, “I’d like for people to pay attention to the words on this one and try to meet me in good faith as I explore some topics that can be uncomfortable. Religion makes a lot of us uncomfortable, but that seems to be a running theme for me.”

released October 27, 2023

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CF.49c | CF.49cd | 65 copies on cassette and 50 on cd.

Venal Twin continues Emergency Group’s frizzled free jazz explorations of their earlier releases, this time with the kind of tightened focus and maturity one expects from a band putting in the kind of hours Emergency Group does in rehearsal, on stage, and in the studio. Venal Twin is Emergency Group’s third release of 2023, following their debut Inspection of Cruelty on Island House Recordings and the self-released Crisis in Mono, a collection of their earliest work. Recorded shortly after the Inspection of Cruelty sessions, Venal Twin serves as a sort of antagonist, or perhaps more accurately, an evil twin, to its predecessor. The tone and mood is much darker, and the music more aggressive.

Spontaneity and improvisation are what drives Emergency Group through their modal jamming, fits of dissonance, and fortuitous accidents. There is no repertoire or songbook; the collective mood is what guides the band. The mood must have been a feisty one on the January evening of this recording session, for Venal Twin explodes straight out of the gate and does not let up. Comparisons of Emergency Group to electric era Miles Davis have already been frequent and with warrant, and such references are sure to continue, as this album recalls moments from Davis’ On the Corner, particularly with the aforementioned opening. These comparisons, however, are not indicative of any lack of originality, as Emergency Group offers plenty in the ways of texture, rhythm, and swing - hallmarks of the group’s sound that will carry them far into the future.

released October 20, 2023

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CF.52 | 100 copies on black vinyl. Released in partnership with Island House Recordings, who handled the cassette edition.

Aaron Dooley is a Denver-based composer and musician whose main playing focus is on the bass. Always intrigued by the more ethereal and otherworldly fringes of the music world, Dooley has spent much of his time and efforts on the art of improvisation. His efforts have led him to working with a wide array of musicians, all of whom Dooley considers to be masters of their craft. The International Disassociation Of: includes longtime collaborator Aesop Adams on guitar, Gabriella Zelek on saxophone, Zuri Barnes on vocals and violin, Diego Lucero on drums, Gavin Susalski on trumpet, and the pedal steel sounds of Cooper Dickerson. It marks the second release with this lineup, the first being Dooley’s well-received live album, Lake of the Lost, from earlier this year.

Much like Dooley’s Trapped in Purgatory, released on Island House in 2022, The International Disassociation Of: sees Dooley place emphasis on free-flowing improvisation, allowing for the musicians to explore and play over the loose forms he lays out on bass. He guides and directs in real-time, as none of the artists heard any of his ideas before coming into the studio. The clear strength of the album is the spontaneous nature of the recording session. The musicians are in tune with mind, body, and soul, thus raising the performance level with each turn in the round. It’s a goal that Dooley strives to achieve each time he performs and directs. As he says, “One person generating ideas for others to generate a hundred better ones, ricocheting off one another and so-forth. The Miles Davis approach of always surrounding yourself with the best players, whose intuitions need only the slightest gust to make your own ideas soar.”

Highlights abound on the album, but there are certainly a couple of moments that deserve extra attention, as they feature instruments interacting in spaces outside of their traditional genres. This includes Zelek’s saxophone playing on the country/Americana rooted “Westbound Alameda” and Dickerson’s pedal steel on the more jazz dominated “Jamais Vu.” These moves not only represent how adept Dooley and friends are in holding space for one another, it is also reflective of the kind of inclusive conversations to which the musicians are committed, which truly is an artistic accomplishment of the highest order.

released October 6, 2023

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CF.54d | Bandcamp digital only release.

The collection was compiled for distribution at the 2023 AmericanaFest in Nashville, TN and highlights artists involved in the worlds of ambient and ambient americana / ambient country / pastoral americana music. These genre labels, of course, are secondary to the music, but they do help organize this ecosystem of sounds, moods, and textures that we find ourselves in.

Most of the artists have releases on Centripetal Force, and there are a few that are included that do not. They are friends, acquaintances, and supporters who I thought deserved some exposure and recognition for their art. Please support them if you can.

Most importantly of all, enjoy. And spread the good vibes.

released September 12, 2023

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CF.50 | CF.50c | CF.50cd | 350 on black vinyl and 150 mountain mist (white). 150 copies on cd and 150 on cassette.

Centripetal Force is excited to announce It Is Solved By Walking, the second solo release from pedal steel guitarist Luke Schneider. The album is being presented in conjunction with Third Man Records, who will be handling digital sales and distribution, including a spatial audio Dolby Atmos mix of the release that will begin streaming on July 21. Centripetal Force is handling the physical release, including editions on cassette, compact disc, and vinyl.

Luke Schneider is a pedal steel guitarist based in Nashville. An Ohio native, Schneider moved to Tennessee to go to college with dreams of becoming a folk-rock stylist but has recently found his place in the landscape of New Age and pastoral Americana. His well-received debut solo album, Altar of Harmony (Third Man Records), is a collection of ambient compositions created entirely by pedal steel. His work on It Is Solved By Walking continues the recent experimental elevation of the pedal-steel guitar and delves deeper into the worlds of ambient sounds and moods.

Like Altar of Harmony, the inspiration for this new collection of songs is rooted in Schneider's daily meditation practices, as well as his own spiritual journey. The album reflects his deepened understanding of how sound can help listeners transcend their current space and guide them in directing their energies inward. There is a sharpened focus to the songwriting on It Is Solved by Walking, a move that unclouds the troubled eye and opens the doors of clarity. Where Schneider's initial works were offered at the altar, his space for inner contemplation, these compositions mark a step in Schneider's spiritual journey that sees him ready to direct his energies in more outward directions. He has done the hard work of examining his inner self and is now prepared to share his message with others. It Is Solved by Walking is an invitation to listeners to join him on the journey towards a better world, a stronger community, and the universal truths we all seek.

Amongst others, Luke Schneider has performed and collaborated with William Tyler, Margo Price, Orville Peck, Peter One, Kyle Hamlett Duo, and Nashville Ambient Ensemble.

released July 21, 2023

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CF.45 | CF.45c | 65 copies on cassette.

The Far Sound is a solo project of Rick Pedrosa, a multi-instrumentalist from Portland, Oregon best known for his pedal steel guitar work in both Abronia and Federale. His playing is informed by the worlds of bluegrass, country-western, jazz, and the Grateful Dead. His list of influences and favorite players ranges wide, from traditionalists like Buddy Emmons and Pete Drake to modern innovators such as Daniel Lanois and Susan Alcorn. One listen to The Far Sound, and you’ll quickly realize that Pedrosa’s style has also been shaped by more global steel players, including India’s Debashish Bhattacharya and Nigeria’s Demola Adepoju. The Far Sound is also deeply steeped in the world of Italian composers like Ennio Morricone, Alessandro Alessandroni, and Piero Umiliani. The sum of all these influences, in combination with Pedrosa’s unique approach to songwriting, makes this debut from The Far Sound a captivating listening experience. Or, as Pedrosa says, his intention is "to create something as if John Cale and Sun Ra wrote a song like "Sleepwalk" for an Italian soundtrack, using American country instruments."

All of The Far Sound’s instrumentation is performed by Pedrosa himself and includes pedal and lap steel, banjo, guitar, bass, percussion and his beloved Lowrey L2 Wandering Genie organ. Surprisingly, most of Pedrosa’s compositions start off as banjo pieces, with pedal steel guitar usually being added as a final layer. As unorthodox of an approach as this seems, it’s a move that serves him well, as it is on the pedal steel that Pedrosa can really expand the sonic reaches of his songs.The solos are improvised, and his ability to use these moments for boundless exploration is definitely a strength of this album, carrying the listener through soundtrack-like worlds full of sepia toned backgrounds and sparse landscapes.

The Far Sound is invested in creating dynamic narratives filled with drama, much like the Italian film scores Pedrosa greatly admires. Each song is a vignette, each one tapping into a different mood and emotion. Taken as a whole, the album comes together much like a film, each vignette contributing to the overarching plot line, complete with a rise and fall in action, a heady climax and a satisfying denouement.

Released June 2, 2023

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CF.44 | CF.44cd | 100 copies on black vinyl (first press) | 100 copies on hot springs green vinyl (second press) | 100 copies on CD.

Recorded 8,000 feet above sea level in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, Prairiewolf’s first long-player offers listeners a fresh and free-flowing slice of cosmic/organic Americana — spiritual instrumentals driven by Fender Rhodes, lap steel, Mellotron, guitar, synth, bass and an assortment of vintage drum machines. Sandy Bull communing with Alice Coltrane, Tangerine Dream finding common ground with Don Cherry, sweet kosmische jams rising out of the Continental Divide.

Together since early 2022, Prairiewolf consists of Stefan Beck (who has made recent waves in the underground as Golden Brown) on guitar and lap steel, Jeremy Erwin (the man behind the acclaimed Electric Miles blog The Heat Warps) on keys and Tyler Wilcox (a music writer with bylines in Aquarium Drunkard, Pitchfork and Maggot Brain) on bass.

The trio’s digital-only release Live at the Aztlan Theatre 7/16/2022 quickly earned raves from the aficionados:

"One of my favorite things from last year. Gorgeous high-altitude jams, an excellent place between calming & cosmic. Worth listening to at other altitudes as well."

– Jesse Jarnow, WFMU / The Good Ol’ Grateful Dead Podcast

"This Wolf’s song to the moon is a real swooner. Featuring a handful of originals from this Colorado trio alongside compositions by Kraftwerk, Golden Brown, and Don Cherry, a percolating drum machine pushes along the strands of steel, guitar, keys, and synth in this live set."

– Jason P Woodbury, Aquarium Drunkard

Drawn from sessions taped in the fall and winter of 2022, Prairiewolf’s self-titled debut is an eclectic-but-cohesive collection — 10 original compositions that drift beautifully from zone to zone, sometimes lush and lovely (“Lunar Deluxe,” “Technicolor Dream Hearse”), sometimes weird and woozy ("Cogs," "Labwerk"). Sometimes it’s all of those things at once. Mastered by Andrew Weathers and released on vinyl and compact disc by Nashville’s Centripetal Force, Prairiewolf is a welcome trip into higher sonic elevations.

RIYL: Sandy Bull, Alice Coltrane, Bitchin Bajas, Don Cherry

Released May 5, 2023

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CF.40 | 150 copies on black vinyl. Released in partnership with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

Originally released as part of the Altered States series. AS 01 | 100 copies on black vinyl. Released in partner ship with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

Pure Land Stars began as an exercise in improvisation involving David Johnson, Anthony Taibi, and Michael Dieter, all of whom are quite familiar with one another from their years together in White Manna. Their familiarity allowed these improvisations to quickly take on a life of their own and soon enough, with the help of Russ Thallheimer and Valerio Cosi on saxophone, an album took form.

There are nods to krautrock on this album, not only in sound but also in tone, a distinct kind of ominous feeling reminiscent of the Cold War vibes often emanated by German groups in the 1970s. Considering the recent state of the world, this makes sense. It seems hard not to have an ominous feeling in one's periphery these days. Whereas White Manna's sound is primarily based in guitar, Pure Land Stars prioritizes synthesizers and drum machines, so much so that the members felt a new identity was warranted. With that said, those familiar with White Manna won't be too surprised with Pure Land Stars' direction, as there has been an increasing presence of synthesizers and electronic sounds over the past few years.

And now it all exists in complete fruition.

Released May 5, 2023

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CF.36 | CF.36cd | 350 copies on sea glass green vinyl | 100 copies on CD.

The Nashville Ambient Ensemble is led by Michael Hix, an electronic composer and keyboardist whose artistic vision focuses on the spirit of collaboration and the art of improvisation. The group plays a unique form of music that has become loosely defined as ambient country or ambient Americana. Light and Space is the group’s second release, the follow up to 2021’s Cerulean, an album that received a number of accolades from critics, fans, and fellow musicians.

In early 2022 Michael Hix had just completed writing the material for the group’s sophomore release when the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, Tennessee reached out and asked the Nashville Ambient Ensemble to record a series of compositions to be featured in the exhibition, Light, Space, Surface: Works from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Inspired by eight artworks from the exhibit, Hix composed eight completely new compositions and immediately headed into the studio to record. Intended as an alternative to a traditional guided tour, museum patrons were able to pair their journey through the exhibit with the ensemble’s sounds, a feature for which the Nashville Ambient Ensemble and the Frist received overwhelmingly positive feedback, so much so that it was decided the songs deserved a traditional release as the group’s new album. The exhibition ran from June to September and was highlighted by a live performance from the Nashville Ambient Ensemble in the main gallery of the museum, directly in front of the stunning Norman Zammitt painting, Untitled, 1984, which adorns the cover of Light and Space.

Light and Space sees the return of Deli Paloma-Sisk (vocals), Jack Silverman (guitar), Kim Rueger (piano), and Luke Schneider (pedal steel), all of whom were part of the Cerulean sessions. This new album also introduces Alicia Enstrom to the fold. Enstrom, a classically trained and well-rehearsed violinist, adds an additional layer to the ensemble’s already rich sound. Her tone and style is quite captivating and is clear from the opening notes of the album’s lead track, “Band in Boston.”

Like the first album, the songs on Light and Space have a basic structure from which the members work, and in keeping with the Nashville “musicians in the round” kind of tradition, each player is provided the opportunity to take the lead and improvise their own musical passages. Unlike previous recordings, some of the foundational synthesizer elements on Light and Space have a distinct digital sheen. Michael Hix says he normally opts for warm, analog synth sounds in his music, but for the Frist Art Museum’s project he purposely chose to create a "clean, digital palette to complement the show's focus on industrial materials, light, and electricity." In Light and Space, the group hones in on what worked well on Cerulean, refining their improvisatory form and highlighting musicality.

Nashville Ambient Ensemble is scheduled to play their album release show on April 7th at The Blue Room at Third Man Records in Nashville, TN.

Released April 15, 2023

About the Musicians

Michael Hix is a composer and musician from Tennessee. His music incorporates synthesizers and electronics to build dynamic structures that evolve over time, delving into the human condition and the metaphysical dimension. His work draws upon classical minimalism, sacred music, analog techno & house, as well as popular music. He lives and works in Nashville.

Diatom Deli is the work of Deli Paloma-Sisk, a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist from Nashville. Her live performance utilizes classical guitar, layered harmonies, synths, and samplers to create powerfully moving melodic soundscapes.

Kim Rueger is a Nashville based keyboardist/recordist/sound editor. As Belly Full of Stars, she blends improvised synths, piano, and textural vocals with processed field recordings and mechanical elements to create experimental soundscapes that veer ambient.

Luke Schneider is a versatile pedal steel guitarist who has performed with a variety of artists, including Margo Price, Orville Peck, and William Tyler. His debut solo album of New Age pedal steel music, Altar of Harmony, was released by Third Man in 2020.

Nashville guitarist Jack Silverman has been a longtime sideman with a number of acts. He has also fronted an assortment of improvisational instrumental ensembles. In 2021, he released the EP Now What on YK Records, and the cassette Live at the 5 Spot on Centripetal Force, both of which included versions of his composition "Cerulean," which was the title track of Nashville Ambient Ensemble's 2021 debut LP. He's currently working on the soundtrack for Greg Mallozzi's documentary Mind Traveler, slated to begin screening in spring 2023. He also plans to release an accompanying soundtrack album.

Alicia Enstrom is a classically trained violinist, composer, producer and reformed circus runaway (Cirque du Soleil) who plays high and loud, tinkers with tech, and loves to use music to stir the pot of your subconscious. She is a unique artist whose work spans that of classical, orchestral, pop, and ambient electronic.

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CF.33 | 300 copies on black vinyl | Released in conjunction with Cardinal Fuzz (UK) and Ramble Records (AUS).

"Son of Buzzi’s music sings with a focused clarity even as the world around him disintegrates into a sonic mirage.“

-Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis

"This is the solo project of Zurich based guitarist Sebastian Bischoff, who plays in the American Primitive tradition, with slow, largely unadorned string choices and a steady grasp on bendable forms of beauty.“

-Byron Coley, The WIRE

Son of Buzzi is the moniker of Sebastian Bischoff, a self-taught acoustic guitar player now based in Zurich, Switzerland. He has been performing as Son of Buzzi since 2019 and has released several albums on his own tape-label, as well as on labels from Belgium (Dadaist Tapes) and the USA (fire is free). Also, he was featured on the critically acclaimed compilation Imaginational Anthem X on Tompkins Square Records. His main instrument is the acoustic guitar, sometimes accompanied by field recordings, synthesizers, no-input-mixer, or any sound making device that can fit the mood.

Die Hand Der Riesin was recorded in a living-room in Zurich, Switzerland during December of 2021 and January of 2022. It contains seven pieces for acoustic 6-string and 12 string guitar, electric guitar, upright bass, and a no-input-mixer. Parts of the album were composed in advance, while other sections were largely improvised. It was recorded live to 4-track with no overdubs. Mixing, mastering, and production was done by Michael Potter (The Electric Nature).

Released April 7, 2023

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CF.38 | CF.38cd | 220 copies on black vinyl | 108 copies on blue vinyl | 50 copies on CD. Released in partnership with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

The first sound you hear on prolific duo Elkhorn’s latest album, On The Whole Universe In All Directions, is Jesse Sheppard’s 12-string guitar. This is followed almost immediately by a single reverberating note on the vibraphone courtesy of Elkhorn co-founder Drew Gardner, before the piece unfurls to include skittering cymbals and tumbling percussion, overdubbed by Gardner, who in Elkhorn previously provided much of the Fender Telecaster yin to Sheppard’s big and beguiling 12-string yang. The absence of Gardner’s electric guitar is the first of many surprises on this, the first album of Elkhorn material since 2018’s Lionfish to feature only the group’s two founding members, and the first to introduce both the vibraphone and Elkhorn as a single-guitar unit. The nominally back-to-basics duo approach is anything but a backward step, and one hopes, listening to the marvelous On The Whole Universe In All Directions, it is no outlier.

While the band’s recent records thrillingly augmented the core duo with various players from the first-call directory of underground music A-listers, On The Whole Universe In All Directions, recorded at Gardner’s Harlem home studio of sixteen years, distills the Elkhorn sound into something as revelatory as it is unexpected. Despite the minimal set-up, the expansive album proves to be as enchanting as anything in the group’s discography.

The album sleeve features a striking and eye-catching painting, by artist Yosuh Jones, of a Red-tailed hawk. The image of this, one of the largest North American birds, seems significant: Gardner’s studio, which overlooks a park on 147th Street, is home to many of these raptors. Red-tailed hawks are known to hunt in pairs, often guarding both sides of the same tree to close in on their prey. You could say they’re known for their teamwork.

Elkhorn has long traversed the valleys between fried cosmic psychedelia and American Primitive, particularly the latter style’s reverence to a wide range of folk and blues idioms ranging from County Records compilations to the Mississippi Sheiks. Previous Elkhorn albums have confidently reconciled these influences, splitting the difference between Popol Vuh’s devotional drift and the outer reaches of deep-cut classic rock while constantly keeping one foot in the river of the Ever-Weird America; call it Six Degrees of Uncle Dave Macon.

Each of the four extended pieces on On The Whole Universe In All Directions (the title is derived from the work of 13th century Japanese Soto Zen poet Dōgen) are named for a point on the compass, a subtle but appropriate nod to the notion of ground coverage. Though the entirely improvised set could be described in similar terms as previous Elkhorn albums—extemporaneous, loamy, and dynamic—On The Whole Universe In All Directions adds a heretofore unheard tranquility to the Elkhorn sound. This is no coincidence: the album began taking shape in the midst of an altogether different project, commissioned by Buddhist media and arts group Psychedelic Sangha for its Sounds from the Bardo series, to which Sheppard and Gardner contributed an elongated, beautiful piece of music intended for guided meditation.

Far from the anodyne sound bath connotations such a pivot point might suggest, On The Whole Universe In All Directions is captivating, full of bold, jazz-rooted playing and harmonic twists and turns. Note the disparity between the pensive, scene-setting “North” and its flipside counterpart, “East:” while the former sounds like an alap or the kind of deep sigh that either precedes or follows a catharsis, the latter gestures toward the tense and vaguely ominous, Sheppard and Gardner probing the numberless possibilities of the minor key like an army determining the best method by which to storm the enemy’s castle (or—if you prefer—like a pair of Red-tailed hawks menacingly circling a cornered tree squirrel).

The instrumentation is limited to Sheppard’s 12-string guitar and Gardner’s vibraphone and drums. One wonders why, given his musical pedigree, Gardner hasn’t flexed these percussion muscles on an Elkhorn record until now. Gardner earned his jazz bonafides in the 90s while living in San Francisco and performing and studying with luminaries like John Tchicai and living legend Wadada Leo Smith, and his feel on both vibraphone and drums is as natural and supple as that tutelage would suggest. The sound of Sheppard’s acoustic guitar—a Gibson acoustic bequeathed to him by his late friend, the American primitive guitarist Mark Fosson—is, as ever, immediately recognizable: his robust tone possesses the sort of soul cavity-filling rumble you’d more readily associate with a celestial surbahar than anything ever played within 100 yards of the kind of performance space whose bill of fare might include chai lattes.

The dialogue between Gardner’s cascading cave-echo vibraphone and pulsing drums and Sheppard’s intricate spiderwebs of steel-string guitar creates a dynamic force that is more than the sum of its parts. The near-monastic confidence required to forsake easy psychedelic signifiers for something more capacious and minimalist is a testament to both Elkhorn’s imagination and the group’s refreshing instinct to declutter. The resulting music evokes Bobby Hutcherson and Jack DeJohnette covering Led Zeppelin III, or perhaps Robbie Basho’s “Cathedral Et Fleur De Lis” if it had been recorded for ECM.

On The Whole Universe In All Directions does, however, pose a conundrum: how do you follow up a record that sounds like an apotheosis? In Elkhorn’s case, the mind boggles. Since the duo has already been known to cover such un-coverable ground as John Coltrane’s “Spiritual,” I’d love to see them give Trane’s notoriously ego-destroying “Giant Steps” a go sometime. After all, Elkhorn is perhaps one of the only groups in the American Postmodern psych-volk scene you could imagine possessing the courage—not to mention the technical skill—to tackle such an endeavor. On second thought, let’s not get greedy; On The Whole Universe In All Directions feels a lot like a pretty giant step already.

-James Toth

Released April 7, 2023

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CF.28 | 300 copies on black vinyl | Released in partnership with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

By the time Rhyton unveiled Krater’s Call on Bandcamp in June of 2020, against the backdrop of a worldwide pandemic and the George Floyd demonstrations, four years had gone by since their last album, Redshift, had been released. These Krater’s Call sessions were tracked in November of 2017 as mere improvisations. It was simply three guys getting together in the studio and doing what they loved to do - jam.

This collection of songs, while clearly recognizable as Rhyton’s ever evolving brand of psychedelic meanderings mixed with European, Middle Eastern, and other worldly folk leanings, is a version of Rhyton we hadn’t quite heard before. The playing is quite loose and playful. Some of their past dissonance has been exchanged for warmth. Years of experimentation has led to a familiarity that allows each musician to open spaces in their playing and fall into comfortable grooves. They easily and effortlessly feed off each other’s exploratory wanderings in ways that recall Can or even the Grateful Dead. All of this plays out in a very entrancing fashion, and sees the band flirting within the space between blissful heady daydreaming and the desire to, gulp, dance - something they continue to develop and carry over to 2021’s Pharaonic Crosstalk.

Released March 3, 2023

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CF.42d | Bandcamp digital only release.

My Body, 'Tis Of Thee II is a sixteen song compilation benefitting Shout Your Abortion and their goal to normalize abortion and elevate safe paths to access, regardless of legality.

Organized in response to the United States Supreme Court decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion in June of 2022 - and driven by the need for an strong response with tangible results - Centripetal Force reached out to a number of artists in hope of finding allies to partake in this important project. The result is a collection of sixteen artists and bands, all of whom are united in the belief that the Supreme Court made a misguided decision, that women should have the only say of what happens to their own bodies, and that abortion is healthcare.

All of the songs on this compilation are previously unreleased, and all proceeds will be donated to Shout Your Abortion. Learn more at shoutyourabortion.com.

released December 2, 2022

Robbie Lynn Hunsinger is a classical oboist turned activist, multi-instrumentalist, improvisor, composer, visual artist and creative technologist. She plays synthesizer, Chinese oboe, and adds her voice to her newest protest song "RoeVWade22." She is currently based in Nashville and Chicago.

Eve Maret is a Nashville-based experimental artist and composer who employs a wide array of electronic media and techniques in her various disciplines, exploring the possibilities of personal and communal healing through creative action.

Abstract Black JayVe Montgomery is a Nashville sound artist and multi-instrumentalist of the Chicago school of Free, Creative, and Improvised musics, Sonic Healing Ministries sector. If you are lucky you'll see him around town testing out the acoustics of Nashville's open spaces.

Anne Malin is a poet and songwriter based out of Nashville, Tennessee. Her 2022 album 'Summer Angel' can be found on Dear Life Records. "Stories" was recorded by Will Ringwalt-Johnson.

Elkhorn is Jesse Sheppard on twelve-string acoustic and Drew Gardner on electric, interweaving the extended folk tradition with psychedelic improvisation, moving freely from pre-rock to post-rock and beyond. "Fuck Mitch McConnell" was recorded by Jesse and mixed by Drew.

Jim McHugh is a musician and producer from Greensboro, NC now based in Brooklyn. He is a member of the jazz-punk band Sunwatchers, as well as the founder of Property Is Theft aka P.I.T., a leftist-run community center, venue and info-shop in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY.

Total Wife is from Nashville, TN. "no-fi" was written, recorded, and produced by Luca Kupper and Ash Richter. Final mix by Luca Kupper and Thomas Luminoso. Mastered by Eric Kupper. Check out their Bandcamp page for more of their music.

Tekla Peterson is a new project from Taralie Peterson (aka Louise Bock). "Love for Sister" was written/produced by Taralie Peterson and coproduced by Rob Jacobs.

Ziona Riley is a folkcentric singer-songwriter from Nashville. "Lydia" features Austin Hoke on mountain dulcimer and Jim Hoke on clarinet. It was recorded live at Sun Dog Studio, 4/1/22.

Joseph Allred is a Tennessee-born multi-instrumentalist who initially garnered attention for their guitar playing but has recently expanded their repertoire to include a variety of vocal numbers and a wide array of instrumentation.

Gold Dust is from Easthampton, MA and is primarily the doing of guitarist and songwriter Stephen Pierce, once known for being much louder. "Candy Jail" was originally written and performed by Silver Jews.

John Condit hails from Santa Cruz, CA but now calls Nashville, TN home. "Being" was written, produced and mixed by John Condit. Recorded at HiLo Sonics (Nashville). Mastered by Mark Galup. John is responsible for vocals, guitar, drums, melodica, percussion. Robert Hudson plays bass, mandolin, and percussion. Ash Reiter and Will Halsey of Sugar Candy Mountain appear on background vocals.

Jeffrey Alexander is the wonderfully warped cosmic voyager responsible for such bands as Black Forest/Black Sea, Dire Wolves (in all of their incarnations) and Jeffrey Alexander + The Heavy Lidders. Somehow he has ended up living in Philadelphia.

Agnes Martian is from Oakland, CA, where they are active participants and organizers in the city's current experimental music scene. On "Third Axis" Benjamin Rodgers plays synthesizers and guitar and Zekarias Thompson plays saxophone.

Downer Beat is currently based in Philadelphia and is the musical persona of Jacki Sullivan. She makes songs in her bedroom with very little by way of gear or technology. And that's a good thing. "Cat Song" was originally written and performed by Gold Dust.

Abronia are an experimental/psychedelic band based in Portland, Oregon. "Wave of the Hand" was recorded July 10, 2022 at the Retro Bar in Manchester, UK by Dave Cambridge.

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CF.37 | First Pressing: 650 copies on black vinyl. 350 copies on green/white vinyl. Second Pressing: 500 copies on peacock green vinyl. Released in partnership with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

Upupayāma is the musical persona of Alessio Ferrari, an Italian multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who lives in a small mountain village above the city of Parma. Upupayāma’s music is rooted strongly in Eastern Upupayāma is the musical persona of Alessio Ferrari, an Italian multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who lives in a small mountain village above the city of Parma. Upupayāma’s music is rooted strongly in Eastern and Western folk traditions, an approach that Ferrari blends with his own modern sensibilities and style. In addition to playing guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums, Ferrari himself also incorporates a number of other instruments into his sound, including sitar, erhu, flute, and a variety of percussion instruments.

For Ferrari, Upupayāma's 2020 debut was all about the journey. The album served a series of musical vignettes that visited and weaved its way through a succession magical settings. The Golden Pond, conversely, is all about location. Inspired by his frequent visits to a small lake near his mountain home, Ferrari intentionally focused on the details of the place he inhabited, a practice he decided would translate well with his approach to writing music. This is something Ferrari feels is best exemplified with the album's opening companion pieces, "Cuckoos from the House of Golden Tin" and "Entering the Time of Wilderness."

The Golden Pond also continues Ferrari's practice of using "invented language" in his lyrics. Ferrari wants his voice to be heard as if it were an additional instrument, a tool that does not convey specific messages. His goal is to allow the listener to assign personal meaning to the music. He says, "I want my incorporating invented language is a way of breaking down the barriers that are sometimes created by language, by having to define something at all costs. Ferrari adds, "I think one of my unconscious dreams is not to have to define anything, but just to be carried away by our feelings."

released November 4, 2022

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CF.35 | CF.35c | CF.35cd | 200 copies on black vinyl | 150 copies on olive green vinyl | 50 copies on cassette | 50 copies on cd

In the months between wrapping up production on the first album and it eventually reaching the public, Stephen Pierce quickly began thinking about the follow-up. The reignition of a long-dormant interest in poetry brought a closer focus on lyricism and a deeper consideration of what the words were trying to express. The themes of isolation and self-doubt that floated in glistening clouds of reverb on the first album began to sharpen, and the language around these difficult feelings took on a new clarity. Pierce’s songwriting has always held a distant sadness, but with The Late Great Gold Dust, the melancholy cuts through, feels more present and alive within the songs. There’s a muddy narrative arc to these twelve songs, getting more harrowing throughout the album’s second half as screams echo in the void until an exhausted sigh that sounds something like acceptance rises out of the murk. This incremental ramp up from the album’s lighter material to its most depressive follows the same Side A/Side B mapping that made both Neil Young’s On the Beach and Black Flag’s My War different articulations of the same creeping intensity.

The Late Great Gold Dust steps into new dimensions musically as well. Pierce continues the layers of jangle, fuzz, and sunny vocal harmonies that made the first album equal parts tender and strange, but takes new risks with production, texture, and instrumentation. Album opener “Go Gently” erupts with near-metal doominess that fades into gentle folk softness, with layers of acoustic instruments and psychedelic fuzz melting together. “Proof of Life” builds around contemplative dulcimer parts, again stacking its instrumentation in thick layers. Throughout the album groggy synths and scene-setting field recordings work their way into dynamic arrangements that significantly expand Gold Dust’s depth. Pierce played every instrument and sang every vocal on the first album, and while he still handles the lion’s share of the performances here, he brings in several friends to add new angles to the tunes: guest vocals, moody Fender Rhodes, Hammond organ, damaged synth, and J Mascis lending his instantly-recognizable guitar with a “Maggot Brain” level solo on “Larks Swarm a Hawk,” the track that closes out side one. Eloquent weirdo Sean Yeaton of Parquet Courts contributes a short story for the liner notes, narrated from somewhere between the natural world and all the psychedelic computerized kitchens of the future.

released November 4, 2022

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CF.35L.3 | 50 copies on lathe cut 7” clear squares

The third of three lathe cut 7" square singles that preceded the album 'The Late Great Gold Dust'. All three had exclusive non-album B sides.

This is "Mountain Laurel" w/ "In a Misty Morning" (Gene Clark) as the non-album B side.

released October 24, 2022

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CF.34 | CF.34cd | 300 copies on black vinyl | 150 copies on cd. Released in conjunction with Cardinal Fuzz (UK) and Ramble Records (AUS).

TENGGER is a traveling musical family, made up of Pan-Asian couple, ITTA (from South Korea) and MARQIDO (from Japan), who create their brand of psychedelic New-Age drone magic through the use of voice, harmonium, toy instruments (played by ITTA), as well as synths and electronics (played by MARQIDO). The duo originally started out with the moniker “10” but, since the birth of their son RAAI (who joins them on tour dancing, singing, and playing synths and toy Instruments), they have called themselves TENGGER (meaning ‘unlimited expanse of sky’ in Mongolian) to mark the expansion of the family. The name also means ‘huge sea’ in Hungarian. Travel, as spiritual experience in real environments and the sound between the space and the audience have been central themes of their works. The family’s yearly pilgrimages inform every aspect of their art.

Earthing is TENGGER's seventh studio album. It was recorded during the pandemic distanced stretch of 2021 in their home studio, a space they have named Studio Kyurt. The family's homestead is located in the Korean highlands. They received inspiration for Earthing through their frequent walks around their home. They climbed mountains, gazed at waterfalls, and hiked to the ocean, observing and absorbing the natural world along the way. It was only then that they received a message through nature, "There is nothing divided and we are connected all in the life circulation." The family took the message to heart and recorded Earthing in nature itself, paying respect to the idea of being in the now and being present.

released October 21, 2022

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CF.32 | 200 copies on black vinyl. Released in conjunction with Cardinal Fuzz (UK) and NoiseAgonyMayhem (Canada).

Wasted Cathedral is the solo project of Saskatoon-based musician Christopher Laramee (Shooting Guns, The Switching Yard, and The Radiation Flowers). Release Into Fantasy Soundtracks is the follow up to 2021's I'm Gonna Love You 'Til The End Of Time, an album that captured the attention of minimalist music listeners, as well as followers of ambient and downtempo electronica. The album made Aquarium Drunkard's "2021 Year in Review" list, an accolade that reflects the kind of growth Laramee's music has made in recent years.

Wasted Cathedral's sound is best described as incidental music, improvised soundscapes that serve as musical snapshots or snippets of dream sequences. Release Into Fantasy Soundtracks, as with most other Wasted Cathedral releases, involved a lot of late night sampling and looping sessions. The result is a dubbed out take on soundtrack music, with films like Alan Pakula's paranoid 70's masterpiece The Parallax View a constant source of inspiration for tone and mood. As with his previous releases, the aim of Laramee's work is melody and texture. He takes simple phrases and broken loops, only to stereo pan them into infinity. The dub/ disco/ breakbeat aesthetic is submerged into an aquatic universe, where sound becomes indistinct, lines are blurred and erased as basslines and beats, and acoustic guitars and keyboards melt into a dank brew of smeared color and shadows.This is displayed to great effect on "Decadent Ambient", one of the album's many highlights.

released October 21, 2022

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CF.31 | 500 copies on black vinyl. Released in conjunction with Cardinal Fuzz (UK), Radio Khiyaban (Europe), and Ramble Records (Australia).

Mohammad Mostafa Heydarian is a young Kurdish tanbur player from Kermanshah, a city in the mountainous western Iranian region of Horaman. The son of a local instrument builder, he grew up surrounded by the local traditional music styles, studying with a number of well-known master musicians before recently entering university to study Persian classical music. Heydarian currently resides in Tehran and has deep affection for the land of his upbringing. Whenever he is feeling down, he thinks about Horaman and the role his home has played in making him who he is today. For Heydarian, it seemed only appropriate to title his album accordingly.

Recorded in the city of Karaj with the percussive assistance of family friend and long-time collaborator Behzad Varesteh, Heydarian's debut includes a mixture of traditional tasnifs and maqams - thrilling and gorgeous tanbur pieces centered in the two musicians' talent for extended improvisation and feeling.

'Songs of Horaman' was initially released on cassette by the European label Radio Khiyaban in November of 2021. It was immediately met with praise and positive energy, and it became clear that Heydarian’s music deserved to reach more ears. Plans to broadly distribute the album on the vinyl format came together quickly with Centripetal Force (North America), Cardinal Fuzz (UK), and Ramble Records (Australia) joining the project. In an era of production delays, supply chain shortages, increased shipping fees, heavy taxation, and other complications, these four labels hope this effort serves as a model for how DIY culture can continue to grow and thrive in cooperative ways. And they are all certainly grateful to be part of what Heydarian has to offer.

A special note of recognition and appreciation also goes out to musician and producer Valentin Portron, a friend of Heydarian who helped facilitate and coordinate this release- and who also mixed the results you hear on the album.

released October 10, 2022

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CF.35L.2 | 50 copies on lathe cut 7” clear squares

The second of three lathe cut 7" square singles that preceded the album 'The Late Great Gold Dust'. All three had exclusive non-album B sides.

This is "Larks Swarm A Hawk" w/ "Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure" (The Weakerthans) as the non-album B side.

released October 3, 2022

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CF.35L.1 | 50 copies on lathe cut 7” clear squares

The first of three lathe cut 7" square singles that preceded the album 'The Late Great Gold Dust'. All three had exclusive non-album B sides.

This is "Proof of Life" w/ "Something on Your Mind" (Karen Dalton) as the non-album B side.

released September 12, 2022

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AS 04 | 100 copies on black vinyl. Released in partner ship with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

The Altered States series is an ongoing collaboration between the Centripetal Force (USA) and Cardinal Fuzz (UK) record labels. Each Altered States release comes housed in a risograph printed sleeve and is limited to 100 hand numbered copies.

The origins of Agnes Martian go back to when the group would gather in their shared Oakland, CA home and partake in a weekly ritual of improvised and free form cosmic exploration. The house, appropriately dubbed Agneshaus, was a center of gathering and community, and these expansive sessions served as the musical extension of that community. Friends from a wide swath of musical backgrounds joined these exploratory jams and soon enough the pieces of what would eventually become The Future Light Cone started coming together. In March of 2020, mere hours before the Bay Area's COVID related shelter in place order took effect, Ben Rodgers (bass, guitar, synths, percussion), Pétur Eggerts (drums), and Zekarias Thompson (sax, guitar) began recording The Future Light Cone. The album slowly began to reveal its shape and direction over the course of the first pandemic year as the trio experimented with a wide variety of sounds to weave together its dense soundscapes. Once they could safely collaborate in person again, gin hart's (words, theremin) vocals gave the songs further definition. The Future Light Cone was initially released digitally by the band and then on cassette by Daturanation earlier in 2022.

released August 19, 2022

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AS 03 | 100 copies on black vinyl. Released in partner ship with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

The Altered States series is an ongoing collaboration between the Centripetal Force (USA) and Cardinal Fuzz (UK) record labels. Each Altered States release comes housed in a risograph printed sleeve and is limited to 100 hand numbered copies.

Spiral Galaxy hails from Chicago, IL and includes the talents of flautist/ painter Sara Gossett and guitarist/ machines manipulator Steven Krakow (aka Plastic Crimewave). Together they have created devotional sonic voyages and droney soundscapes with the occasional rhythmic pulse to conjure the textural and kosmische vibe of 70s German seekers like Yatha Sidhra, Emtidi, Popul Vuh, Achim Reichel, Sand, and early Kraftwerk. The duo's early live performances quickly set the tone for their future, as they were well noted and received for their meditative drones, captivating mantras, and Eastern influenced experimentation. After producing a handful of cassette recordings of live sets, collaborations, and studio improvisation, Spiral Galaxy released their self titled debut in 2020 on Lion Productions/ Cardinal Fuzz. It was around this time that Sara and Steve visited Rec Room Recording Studios in Chicago to record a set of new compositions, a collection they decided to simply title Live. Initially released digitally by the band and on CDr by Cardinal Fuzz earlier in 2022, Live receives a vinyl release via Altered States.

released August 19, 2022

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AS 02 | 100 copies on black vinyl. Released in partner ship with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

The Altered States series is an ongoing collaboration between the Centripetal Force (USA) and Cardinal Fuzz (UK) record labels. Each Altered States release comes housed in a risograph printed sleeve and is limited to 100 hand numbered copies.

Heavily toasted herbal psychedelia and ambient analogue folk, recorded by Bobby Lee, 2015-2016.

“Ancient Sunlight is the name I used between 2015-2016. Predominantly a solo home recording project, I also played a handful of shows under the name, including support slots with Sun Araw, Weyes Blood and Wolf People, where Luke Vesey and Mark Riddington contributed bass and guitar.

These songs sound a little different to the music I’ve gone onto release under my own name but there’s a common thread running through it all which I hope you’ll dig. I had limited tools; a cheap Telecaster copy and a Casiotone 403 mostly. It’s a little rough around the edges. It isn’t perfect. I was learning. This is the primordial ooze.”

released July 15, 2022

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AS 01 | 100 copies on black vinyl. Released in partner ship with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

The Altered States series is an ongoing collaboration between the Centripetal Force (USA) and Cardinal Fuzz (UK) record labels. Each Altered States release comes housed in a risograph printed sleeve and is limited to 100 hand numbered copies.

“ 'Trembling Under The Spectral Bodies' began like many of our improvised exercises- nothing is said, nothing is discussed, we just set up and play. Anthony, Dieter and I have been playing music together for a long time, and we don't really discuss what we're going to do. We did not have our usual instruments either. Organs, synthesizers and drum machines were at our fingertips first.”

“TUTSB was recorded in the summer of 2021, just when Covid made a real big comeback, and thus the ominous and doom laden feel of the album is not forced at all. I suppose it resolves on a disappointment, but it also should reflect the awe and overwhelmingness of the universe. Many nights in the mountains, lying on my back staring at the stars.” - David Johnson

released July 15, 2022

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CF.30c | CF.30cd | 50 copies on cassette and 50 copies on cd.

Jon Camp is a fingerstyle guitarist and composer from the Washington, DC region. In both ensemble and solo settings, he blends drone, twang, and melody into a coherent whole that is exploratory without forsaking the hook. Of Jon's 2019 release Headwinds & Tailwinds, writer Byron Coley said that it was fluent "in a wide variety of styles, from American Primitive to avant. Ace small group dynamism." For Jon’s self-titled release with Centripetal Force, he presents eleven new compositions for solo guitar and small ensemble, blending acoustic and electric instrumentation, American folk traditions with modern experimentation, and reflection with whimsy.

Jon plays with a reverence for tradition, while also demonstrating a style that pushes forward the sounds of American folk music. His forward thinking style is exceptionally demonstrated on "Habitat," a piece highlighted by its ambient swells of pedal steel, as well as the modern raga vibe of "17 Years." His traditional tendencies shine on the playful "Cursed Left Foot" and "Throughline," a composition featuring Mike Gangloff (Pelt, Black Twig Pickers, Eight Point Star) on fiddle.

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CF.27 | 250 copies on black vinyl. Released in conjunction with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

Slow Dawn is from Ottawa, Canada and have spent the past few years honing their craft with a series of self released titles, including 2020’s Experimental Farm, a rather angst-ridden and raw display of sonic power. They are led by guitarist Dan Druff, formerly of Holy Cobras, and are rounded out by Chris DiLauro on drums and Jesse Winchester (Masss) on bass and synthesizer. The band draws influence from the darker edges of the musical spectrum and places a majority of their energy on filling empty voids with as much sound as possible. Slow Dawn is a cacophony of reverberating distortion, swirls of echoing vocals, droning horns, and a steady din of plodding drums. Whether it’s Ottawa’s grim and cold winters or simply a sign of the times, the band’s sound is quite dystopian and is marked by a sense of solemn minimalism. It would be safe to say that with Slow Dawn, the glass is rarely half full.

With six songs clocking in at about 22 minutes, Into the Machine Haus moves quickly and efficiently through a range of territories that include post-punk, psych, krautrock, noise, and even a little bit of goth. It’s a unique amalgamation of sound that demands attention. The band’s influences are easily read but integrated in a way that they escape the dreaded “sounds like” tag. And, to their credit, there are no wasted moments or frivolous meanderings. Their approach is straightforward, primal, and succinct. In the case of this album, less is definitely more.

Slow Dawn is recommended for listeners of everything from Nest Egg to Spacemen 3, Velvet Underground to Bauhaus - and everything adjacent and in between.

released May 13, 2022

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CF.25 | CF.25cd | 150 copies on light blue vinyl | 200 copies on black vinyl | 50 copies on cd

Kungens Män hails from Stockholm, Sweden, where they formed in 2012. What started out with the sole purpose of hanging out as friends, occasionally with instruments in tow, has resulted in records on several labels and numerous European tours. The band is rooted in the psychedelic/drone rock tradition of bands such as Träd, Gräs & Stenar, and over the years Kungens Män has integrated influences from a number of genres, including krautrock, shoegaze, noiserock and free jazz. The fundamental idea has never changed though – to get immersed in sound, and let the drone be the main trail taking the band to inner space – may it be through folkish melodies, noise, sonic blurs, modal outbursts, motorik beats or just good old head melting rock. And of course, it’s all improvised on the spot.

2022 not only marks the ten year anniversary of the band, it is their first venture into the North American scene, thanks to Centripetal Force, who are to release a special edition of the new album Kungens Ljud & Bild. It also marks Kungens Män’s first vinyl release on their own label (for UK and European distribution), which, like the album, is named 'Kungens Ljud & Bild'. Why make things complicated?

released May 6, 2022

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CF.26 | 250 copies on black vinyl. Released in conjunction with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

Mirage is a project manifested from the mind of Rocco Freedman, who, before moving to the desert of the Morongo Basin, was a member of Boston psychpunkers, Banshee. Drawn to the desert by dreams of exotic lands since childhood, Freedman, also known as Cozmik, found himself in Twentynine Palms, just outside of Joshua Tree, and immediately felt a kinship with the land and set forth to bring Telepathic Radio to fruition. Inspired by the desert’s mysteries - the datura flower in particular - and driven by voices that existed in his head since his youth, Freedman single-handedly laid down hours of guitar, drum, and keyboard tracks and spent days recording excerpts from nature documentaries and canceled sitcoms. The end result, of course, being the album that sits before you now.

If nothing else, this album is a sobering reminder that the desert is more than just a weekend road trip destination. It is often a place that reflects the fears and paranoia that come with living in a surveillance society. It is, after all, the roaming grounds of social misfits such as Hunter S. Thompson and Charles Manson. It is a setting full of swirling contradiction, chaos, delusion, and madness, all of which serve as running themes throughout Telepathic Radio, revealing themselves through the music, dialogue, and layers of sound and samples. It’s not an easy listen, and it’s not supposed to be. It’s like waking up in a room full of AM/FM radios and old television sets, all of them broadcasting the sounds and colors of late night talk shows, nature documentaries, listener call-in programs, and music videos. It’s a well-crafted and unsettling experience, one that will reluctantly draw you in and yet somehow make you wish for more. Kind of like the desert itself.

released March 11, 2022

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CF.29c | 100 copies on double cassette

When this DWLVS rarities set was originally released, it was a sprawling monster - nearly 3 hours of music spread over 3 CDrs. Hand-packed in a tiny edition of only 40 copies, they disappeared immediately. There was some chatter about a re-issue in a more permanent analog form, but how? A ten LP box set? Many of the recordings extended well beyond the time constraints of an LP side anyway. Hmm, a cassette then - yes, the longtime DWLVS-favorite format. The CDr version was initially intended to be a collection of difficult to find compilation tracks, but the set quickly grew to include a massive amount of unheard live recordings. Rather than issuing those original comp tracks for a third time, what you have here is a Trancing Master stripped down to just the previously unreleased bonus scorchers. Plus those compilation tracks are still out there in the world anyway, released on a host of important underground imprints such as Eiderdown, Feathered Coyote, Centripetal Force and Aquarium Drunkard.

"We want you to get out of your heads" is the oft-repeated DWLVS mantra. And in Record Crates United, Keith Hadad responds: "Throughout this 3-CD set, Jeffrey Alexander and co. not only accomplish this, they blast listeners straight out of their COVID-isolated homes, up through the atmosphere and into another galaxy. (DWLVS) repeatedly display that they are one of the most sonically daring acts today, and one of the few bands that are truly inhabited by the same adventurously creative spirit that flowed through the kosmische artists of the 1970s." I can assure you that yes indeed, this ethos shines in this collection. The group blinds us with a barrage of audacious spontaneous compositions - highlights include the woodwind and vocal sorcery from Ka Baird and Taralie Peterson that hearkens back to the earlier cosmic sounds of Kelly Ann Nelson. The guitar snakes and the violin scrapes, but don't let them fool you - this is clearly a bass and drummer's band. Even amongst all of the free-form improvisation, it works because the rhythm section clears the path and drops the clutch.

In the Raven Sings The Blues recommendation of 'The Compleat Trancing Master', Andy French writes: "It's a lot to wrap your head around, but well worth a deep dive to let this one seen into your skin." Then, perhaps this distilled double cassette version is just the (brain) ticket we need - it's definitely easier to play in the van. So go on then, you masters of trance - lose yourselves, get out of your heads, as thee DWLVS want. You know you want it too. PSYCHIC ROCK for the mind and body: time to get in the faster van, man.

- Glen Burnout, January 2022

released March 11, 2022

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CF.23 | 500 copies on coke bottle green vinyl. Released in conjunction with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

White Manna's longevity as one of the leaders of the modern psychedelic movement is attributed to their willingness to introduce new elements to their sonic repertoire. Initially, these moves were subtle, but as the band has moved on through the years, these moves have become much more pronounced, always leaving listeners wondering what is in store for them as new releases are announced. So, here we are with First Welcome, an album that features warbled country leanings, airy blooms of ambience, and occasional hints of a German yesteryear, all implemented into the band's signature hazy and spacey mosaic of sound. None of these developments are unexpected, as they do build off of their previous album ARC, but here we see the band expand these elements and really make them their own.

It should be noted that First Welcome is a product of the COVID era, with much of the recording happening in quarantine or while socially distanced. The band's process relied on communicating via email and sending music files back and forth. For White Manna this made the world of COVID both more fun and challenging, and they used the opportunity to get friends in different places to overdub tracks. Backing vocals and slide guitar were recorded while camping in the Mojave Desert. The saxophone was recorded in Liverpool. England. The trumpet sounds and some of the passages on the Rhodes were laid down in Northern California, and much of the vocals, piano, and synthesizer tracks were recorded in Costa Rica. As a result, the sound of First Welcome is reflective of the circumstances of these contemplative times.

released December 10, 2021

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CF.22 | 300 copies on white.brown swirl vinyl and 200 copies on cream vinyl. Released in conjunction with Drone Rock Records.

Fanatism hails from Stockholm, Sweden and are part of the same collective that spawned the psych improv bunch Kungens Män, yet musically it is a different beast. You will find Fanatism somewhere at the crossroads between Stooges Street, Can Road, Sabbath Blvd and Morricone Avenue. You are in classic rock territory with a psychedelic twist.

Fanatism started out in 2013 after Tomas Bergstrand (guitar, vocals) and Mikael Tuominen (bass, vocals) decided to continue making music together after their old band Switch Opens disbanded after 13 years. Soon they were joined by synth wizard Peter Erikson and drummer Jonas Yrlid, and a few years later Gustav Nygren sharpened the edge with his guitar and saxophone.

After a couple of recordings under a different name, as well as some sporadic gigging, they finally released the debut album The Future Past on Drone Rock Records (UK) in 2018.

Now the time has come for the next treat – Inverted Evolution. Once again released by Drone Rock Records, this time around in collaboration with Centripetal Force (US). While the first album had some loose ends, this is a more structured and disciplined affair – but still in a mind bending way. Every song on the album has a strong identity and celebrates the almost forgotten art of making eclectic albums where every song fills a different function – or you could also call the album a house of mirrors in which the listener can get lost.

released November 12, 2021

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CF.24c | 50 copies on cassette

Recorded live at The 5 Spot in East Nashville, TN on April 29, 2021

In early 2019, Jack Silverman met Michael Hix, who at the time was just beginning to put together his Nashville Ambient Ensemble project. Hix was impressed with Silverman’s playing and invited him to join him in the studio. Silverman accepted and contributed a composition titled “Cerulean” to the recording session, which ultimately became the album’s title track. In March of 2021, Nashville label yk Records released Jack Silverman’s Now What, a three song EP that includes his own solo take on “Cerulean”. In April, with the pandemic still preventing audiences from attending live performances, SIlverman decided to celebrate the release of Now What with a live streamed broadcast from The 5 Spot in East Nashville. The audio of that show is what makes up this release, Live at The 5 Spot…. more than half of it being this epic take on “Cerulean.”

released November 12, 2021

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CF.20 | 300 copies on vinyl. Released in cooperation with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

Elixor of Life is the second album of 2021 for Jeffrey Alexander + The Heavy Lidders. The first, a self-titled affair, was released on Arrowhawk Records this past August and is well noted for its craftful songwriting and tight musicianship. For Alexander, someone known for his psychedelic meanderings in Dire Wolves and the experimental folk sounds of both The Iditarod and Black Forest/Black Sea, this was a departure from the norm. It is with the release of Elixor of Life that we see a different side of this Heavy Lidders project, one that is a bit more unbuttoned and relaxed. All of this isn’t to say that the sound and stylings of the group’s debut have been deserted, for the references to Neil Young’s Crazy Horse days remain omnipresent, as do the nods to Dinosaur Jr. and the Meat Puppets. This second album is a return to the wild abandon so to speak, albeit with a more mystical twist.

In 1694, the Transylvanian-born Johannes Kelpius, a man of great intellect and spirituality, settled in newly-founded Philadelphia. Joining him in establishing residence on the wooded hillsides overlooking Wissahickon Creek were dozens of other men who would become known as "The Society of the Woman in the Wilderness", a collective of meditational monks whose central tenets included the use of instrumental music as a mode for worship. It should come as no surprise then to learn that Jeffrey Alexander, who today lives mere steps from these mystic grounds, has tapped into the lore of this mysterious society. Alexander and his own band of spiritual wanderers not only practice the same kind of metaphysical transference with their music, a sort of elixor within itself, they also pay homage to Kelpius and his order with the aptly titled “Hermits of the Ridge”.

Alexander’s Heavy Lidders have always featured a variety of collaborators. Early iterations of the lineup included appearances from folks like Kryssi Battalene (Mountain Movers, Headroom), Marissa Nadler, and Jeff Tobias (Sunwatchers). For Elixor of Life, as well as the band’s self-titled album on Arrowhawk Records, The Heavy Lidders lineup has solidified and includes Jesse Shepherd (bass) and guitarist Drew Gardner (both of Elkhorn), as well drummer Scott Verrastro (Kohoutek). This core unit, like Alexander, is well-versed in the art of improvisation, and while Alexander and crew’s first album leans more towards a more structured and traditional songwriting approach, Elixor of Life plays into the group’s collective strength, the ability to create within the moment - and the willingness to expand their playing for the sake of making music a more devotional experience.

released November 5, 2021

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CF.18 | 100 copies on vinyl with hand stamped kraftboard covers

In the prose poem she reads over the hymn “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” Lou Turner (Styrofoam Winos) confides to painter and musician Peggy Snow of Nashville’s resident weirdo folk collective, The Cherry Blossoms, “I am always thinking of Venn Diagrams.” The visual of overlapping circles weaves across Turner’s brilliant sophomore album, Songs for John Venn, in the relationships between the spiritually transcendent and secular mundane, the solitary practice of songwriting and the communal experience of music making, traditional melodic song forms and experimental improvisation, and in two eggs frying in a skillet. Though rooted in lo-fi sensibilities, Songs for John Venn is clean and bright and warm, with a loose yet intentional communal folk rock backing band composed of members of Styrofoam Winos and other Nashville musicians, guests Ziona Riley (vocals on “Widening Venn Diagram”), Dan Melchior (guitar on “Measuring Tape,” album art), and Turner herself, who contributes guitar, percussion, mandolin, bass, and the most transcendent flute. Turner’s voice matches her songwriting—generous and inviting, even sweet at times—think Ruth Garbus, Dory Previn, or Bridget St. John (whose Songs for a Gentle Man inspired this album’s name). But there’s a poetic wryness too, sometimes with a spoken delivery at the end of phrases, reminiscent of Dave Berman or Bill Callahan or Patti Smith.

released November 5, 2021

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CF.21 | 250 copies on vinyl. Released in cooperation with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

Wasted Cathedral is the solo project of Saskatoon-based musician Christopher Laramee (Shooting Guns, The Switching Yard, and The Radiation Flowers). This new album is the latest in an impressive line of releases that have explored a variety of sounds, from ambient drone and electronic disco to experimental chaos and downtempo electronica. I'm Gonna Love You 'Til The End Of Time is made up of seven songs and is undoubtedly influenced by the starkness of the Canadian Prairie and long Saskatchewanian nights. It serves well as a soundtrack to the setting of any number of listening experiences, particularly when experienced with headphones. No matter the direction Laramee has chosen to guide Wasted Cathedral, the result has always been intriguing and captivating. I'm Gonna Love You 'Til The End Of Time is certainly no exception.

Laramee describes Wasted Cathedral as incidental music, improvised soundscapes created in passing moments, like musical snapshots. This makes perfect sense, considering the likes of Sarah Davachi, Peter Kember, Terry Riley, and Augustus Pablo inform Laramee's approach to composition, as well as tone-setting and mood. According to Laramee, this collection of songs is a continuation of his previous work, albeit in a more stripped down fashion.

released October 15, 2021

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CF.15 | 225 copies on black vinyl and 125 copies on pink vinyl

Please note that this is the US/North American edition of the album. Riot Season is handling the UK/European edition. The music and art are identical, with only the label logos and color variants being different.

This album marks the debut of Acid Mothers Temple & Infinity Rising Zero, a new member of the AMT family. This iteration features Kawabata Makoto, Higashi Hiroshi, and Satoshima Nani. It also includes frequent AMT collaborator Pika, drummer and vocalist of Afrirampo.

The album also marks the return of Perhaps, a collective of wayward souls brought together by cosmiche beats and motorik rhythms. Little is known about Perhaps. Internet sleuthing points to cult connections, and correspondence with the group is relegated to random bursts in the late hours of the night, usually via ham radio transmissions.

released September 24, 2021

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CF.19 | First pressing: 200 red copies on red vinyl and 150 on black vinyl | Second pressing: 150 copies on bone & black vinyl | Third pressing: 500 copies on oxblood & black vinyl | Released in cooperation with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

Informed by the wonders of nature that surround him high in the Northern Apennine mountains, Ferrari’s songwriting possesses a mystical quality, one that reflects the fantastical and surreal, yet simple, elements of the natural world. His use of imagery is strong and is communicated vividly through his music. This is especially clear in “The Blue Magician’s Fantasy” and “Hello Green Man, I am a Tiger,” both of which are songs in which he sings with his own invented language. True to the sense of magical realism his songs evoke, Ferrari is quick to point out that even the concept of Upupayāma, which means mountain hoopoe,“is surreal because the hoopoe is not a mountain bird.” As he puts it, “I like the fact that a mountain hoopoe and an invented language can live in an imaginative world.” That imaginative world is the five songs in front of you right now.

Initially made available on digital platforms in late 2020, this edition of the album has been remastered and includes a previously unreleased track, “Hopsa-japapé.”

released July 16, 2021

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CF.15 | CF.15cd | First pressing: 200 copies on black vinyl and 100 copies on transparent blue vinyl | 50 copies on cd | Second pressing: 100 copies on translucent yellow vinyl | There were also a handful of copies sold in stamped kraftboard covers with blue plastic sleeves. Of these there were 6 black and 11 translucent yellow.

The Nashville Ambient Ensemble is based, as you may have guessed, in Nashville, Tennessee. Organized and led by electronic composer Michael Hix, the ensemble’s lineup is made up of some of the city’s most creative and innovative artists, many of whom have been heralded by Bandcamp as being part of an experimental music movement dubbed the “New Weird South.”

Cerulean is comprised of six compositions that draw upon the strengths of all the musicians involved, particularly their ability to let space guide their path. This willingness to commit themselves to the margins of sound allows each artist the freedom to explore and develop the ethereal tone and character of each song. The resulting effect is most evident on selections like “Inga” and “Conversion,” as the ensemble’s careful balance of structure and improvisation carries over to the listening experience, transporting the listener to realms of mindful and meditative bliss.

In addition to being committed to a Nashville ethos that values collective collaboration, Cerulean explores musical pathways with a distinctive Nashville sound, a unique approach amongst similar artists and releases. We believe this is what sets the Nashville Ambient Ensemble apart from their contemporaries and think that you will agree.

released March 19, 2021

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CF.15 | CF.15L | 250 copies on black vinyl, 35 of which came with a 6” square lathe cut with a previously unreleased and untitled track. Released in cooperation with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

The Gerycz/ Powers/ Rolin trio is made up of Jayson Gerycz on drums and percussion, Jen Powers on hammered dulcimer, and Matthew Rolin on 12-string guitar. As a duo, Powers/ Rolin have a number of releases out on labels such as Feeding Tube and Trouble in Mind. Rolin, a respected figure in American Primitive music circles, also has solo material out on Feeding Tube and Garden Portal. Gerycz is a long time member of the indie rock band Cloud Nothings. The album also includes an appearance from Dylan Baldi, also of Cloud Nothings. All are proud Ohio natives.

Beacon was initially released on cassette in March of 2020 on the Garden Portal label. It was largely unmixed, and as Rolin recalls, he was so excited about the album that he sent it right off to Michael Potter at Garden Portal, assuming it had already been mixed. It wasn't. According to Rolin, "Jayson (Gerycz) didn't bother telling me that until the end of summer." This current edition of Beacon was ultimately mixed by Gerycz and then mastered for vinyl by Jack Callahan. It should be noted that because of the time limitations of vinyl pressings, the track "Songbird," which does appear on the cassette, was left off.

Once an instrument that enjoyed immense popularity in the United States, particularly in western New York, Ohio, and in the upper midwest, the hammered dulcimer today is rarely seen or heard, even in traditional folk music circles. This alone makes Beacon an intriguing listen, but it's Powers' unique interpretation that takes both the instrument and the album to incredible heights. It's her flowing drone that sets an enduring meditative tone, one that guides the listening experience. Gerycz's palpitating rhythms add depth; his textural approach adding an almost Eastern influence. Rolin's playing, which ranges from carefully fingerpicked melodies to off kilter chord phrasings, creates both harmony and near chaos. He plays with and against the grain, providing an ebb and flow to the music's dramatic stream.

Perhaps most impressive is the fact that Beacon is entirely improvised. There was no planning, no discussion, just a desire to play together and see what would happen. There wasn't even the intention to have the session made available for others to hear. Yet, here we are, taking in the brilliance and the beauty.

released March 12, 2021

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CF.17d | A digital Bandcamp only release

White Manna - Mythic Salon

Nashville Ambient Ensemble - Elegy [Redux]

Elkhorn - Neowise

Jim McHugh - Class War

Gerycz / Powers / Rolin - Untitled

Prana Crafter - Beggar's Tomb (Chopped Up Remix)

Sunwatchers - Noah Black Ark

ragenap - Is A Nod as Good as a Wink to a Blind Horse?

Perhaps - Mad Smiles (Top 40 Edit)

Dire Wolves - Deep Sunrise Energy

Mugstar - Zeta Potential

Tambourinen - Wollensak

The 20 year dystopian simulation we have come to refer to as 2020 is coming to and end, and here's a label sampler to mark the occasion.

Proceeds from the sales of this sampler are being donated to the DRKMTTR Collective here in Nashville, TN. They are the city’s only all ages DIY music venue, currently serving as a community resource center. drkmttrcollective.com

A humble bow and deep gratitude to Dave from Cardinal Fuzz for his guidance, collaboration, and hard work. Much love to you.

Hugs and appreciation to all of the artists that I've worked with over the past couple of years. Thank you for placing your faith in Centripetal Force and helping my vision come to fruition.

A huge thank you to all who have supported the label. I can't do this without you, especially those of you whose names I see multiple times a year on shipping labels. Seriously. Thank you.

released December 4, 2020

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CF.10 | 500 copies pressed on black vinyl w/ reverse board covers. Released in cooperation with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

Tambourinen is the project of Grant Beyschau, a multi-instrumentalist and part of the braintrust behind The Myrrors. Beyschau recorded, performed, and mixed the entire album himself. The album is dominated by deep grooves, trancing rhythms, and a massive swirl of sound that recalls the Kosmische era of German music and takes on an almost spiritual tone.

Tambourinen’s beginnings are quite inauspicious. Unable to secure The Myrrors for some dates with Weeed in late 2019, Beyschau offered up his new band as a replacement. Only, he didn't actually have a new band. He did, however, have fragments of ideas and song structures that he had been collecting in his head for much of the year and was able to put together a lineup to make the shows happen.

As Wooden Flower’s jacket suggests, Tambourinen's sound is informed by the drama and beauty found in nature, a captivating element for both eye and ear. Beyschau describes Tambourinen as a sort of a musical meditation, a process of giving one’s self and ego over to something greater, a sense of togetherness. And in the context of a year like 2020, perhaps even a shared social consciousness, one brought together through Tambourinen’s communal spirit.

released November 13, 2020

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CF.16d | Bandcamp digital only release

Jim plays in Sunwatchers and fights the good fight at PIT on Brooklyn, NY.

It doesn't really matter how this election turns out. Jim McHugh and Centripetal Force remain resolute in our support of progressive causes. Black lives still matter. Women's rights still matter. Workers' rights still matter. Election Day does not mark a beginning or end. It is simply a mark on the timeline of a continuing effort. Or, as Chuck D once said, "Neither party is mine / not the jackass or the elephant."

Thus, all proceeds of this release were donated to the Southern Workers Assembly, a network of local unions, worker organizations, and organizing committees, committed to building rank-and-file democratic social movement unionism (unionism with a social justice agenda, defined by and accountable to the rank-and-file) as a foundation for organizing, uniting and transforming labor power throughout the South. Find out more at southernworker.org

released November 6, 2020

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CF.08 | 250 copies pressed on black vinyl and 250 copies pressed on dark red vinyl. Released in cooperation with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

After experimenting with longer form compositions on 2016’s Magnetic Seasons, GRAFT’s six song journey sees Mugstar return to a more focused work ethic, a move resulting in a sound that is fraught with tension and caters to one of their biggest strengths, the ability to consistently create, sustain, and, ultimately, diffuse drama. This is an effect well-executed on tracks like “Zeta Potential” and “Star Cage.” And even on an album where a tighter approach was a priority, Mugstar still finds plenty of room to improvise and allow for creative exploration, as illustrated on “Ghost of a Ghost” and “Low, Slow Horizon.” Looking back at Mugstar’s catalog, it is remarkable to see the path they have travelled and how GRAFT continues their bold advance into the future.

released October 30, 2020

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CF.07 | 500 copies pressed on black vinyl, 25 of which came with a 5” square lathe cut w/ the non-album track “Neowise.” Released in cooperation with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

Elkhorn is known for their unique blend of psych/folk guitar music, with Jesse Sheppard on fingerstyle twelve-string acoustic and Drew Gardner on six-string electric. The Acoustic Storm Sessions, recorded the evening before The Storm Sessions, also features Turner Williams (Ramble Tamble, Guardian Alien) on guitar and marks the first time Elkhorn has created an entirely acoustic album.

The Acoustic Storm Sessions is comprised of two side-long tracks drawing on the trio’s intimate knowledge of each others’ playing as they immerse themselves in the spirit of improvisation and allow it to guide the music’s course. As a result, there are raga-like qualities to these pieces, a revolving array of melodies, rhythmic flourishes and subtle embellishments that not only entrance the performers but the listener as well. There is no doubt that the group’s meditative intensity on The Acoustic Storm Sessions is at an unprecedented level.

​The nature of these spontaneously composed pieces offers audiences an endless number of experiences and interpretations. A listen to either side of The Acoustic Storm Sessions today could sound completely different tomorrow. What seems like a page taken from the tomes of American Primitivism during one sitting recalls the motorik rhythms of early 70s Germany on the next. And, thanks to the constant intertwining of three spiraling guitars, the music on this album takes on an ever-shifting visual aspect. The perspectives are in flux, each guitar mercurially switching between foreground, middle and background, creating sharp and linear textures before receding to a more atmospheric realm. The experience is an ongoing kaleidoscopic shift in sound that adds detail and depth and colors the mind.

Perhaps the most important elements of The Acoustic Storm Sessions can be found in the circumstances behind its recording. Finding themselves snowed in to Gardner’s home studio after a massive storm forced the cancelation of a highly anticipated gig in Brooklyn, the trio decided to turn an unfortunate occasion into an opportunity to create and were able to record material for two records. Such endeavors are never easy, for mental and emotional release often requires a major shift in mindset. Instead of reaching outward for such release, one must find a way to reach within. These are the moments in which music becomes most valuable as a positive force for self-healing, and this album not only exemplifies the degree to which Elkhorn was able to make the necessary mental adjustments, it also serves as a tool for listeners to use in their own lives. In a pandemic year of isolation and turmoil, we are often left to our own devices to see ourselves through each day. The Acoustic Storm Sessions provides the kind of deep listening experience that can help transcend the noise and tumult of everyday life and make the necessary reach inward that much easier.

released October 2, 2020

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CF.07 | 300 copies pressed on black vinyl and 200 on cream colored vinyl. Released in cooperation with Cardinal Fuzz (UK).

Long recognized as one of the leaders of the modern psychedelic movement, White Manna's ARC builds upon an already impressive discography and further develops the band's always evolving approach to sound and songwriting. This nine song journey sees the band exploring new directions that are more meditative in nature, a welcome development in light of the current state of world affairs. The song "Mythic Salon" certainly demonstrates such intent, as well as growth.

ARC, the band’s first release since last year's Ape on Sunday, was recorded at guitarist Anthony Taibi's 3D Light Studios in Humboldt County, California. The songwriting this time around took on more of an inward process, both musically and thematically. This shift allowed for more spontaneity and improvisation than their previous efforts. This was especially true when it came to translating musical passages that had already become part of the band's live repertoire. ARC is not a concept album per se, but its focus on such an omnipresent icon certainly leaves the listener a variety of avenues for interpretation, making this the most daring and unique album in the White Manna discography.

released August 28, 2020

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CF.14d | Bandcamp only digital release.

The second in a series of quarantine-induced home recordings from Jim McHugh, written(practically in real time) in response to some of the most crucial social issues surfacing today. Whereas the first of the series - the two-song 'For Big Floyd' - borrowed from other artists, this collection contains all original compositions.

McHugh's folk and punk leanings are as present as ever, as is a deep reverence for his sonic heroes. Here they range from Albert Ayler to Peter Laughner, from Leadbelly to Sonny Sharrock to his great-grandmother Ada Mitchell, a gifted instrumentalist on guitar, banjo and harmonica, which she taught Jim to play. The day before her death she presented Jim with her harmonica, having had a premonition of her passing - thusly sealing his fate as a musician by age six.

released July 3, 2020

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CF.11d | Bandcamp only digital release.

Centripetal Force, in collaboration with Sunwatchers guitarist Jim McHugh, announce For Big Floyd, a two song release put out in response to the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25th, 2020. All money raised from this release will be donated to Reclaim the Block, a Minneapolis community coalition representing activists, organizers, faith and community leaders united by the demand that Minneapolis divest from policing and invest in long-term alternatives that promote healthier, safer, more diverse communities. www.reclaimtheblock.org

On this recording, McHugh takes a page from Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads and revisits the melody of “Vigilante Man” and repurposes the well known “Tom Joad,” transforming it into “George Floyd.” McHugh, in the same fine folk tradition Guthrie loved so much, has updated the lyrics of these songs to fit modern specifics and themes - the circumstances surrounding the killing of Big Floyd.

The second song, “Resist Control,” was originally written by New York hardcore band Life's Blood and was later covered by Born Against. There are subtle differences between the two in lyrical content, with McHugh opting for the Born Against version.

released June 2, 2020

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CF.07 | 350 copies pressed on black vinyl, 25 of which came with prints of the album art (Max Kaufmann).

Originally released in November of 2019 as a limited run of 60 cassettes on Baked Tapes.

No Ear to Hear is a split album project from Prana Crafter (William Sol) and ragenap (Joel Berk). The album is a sort of eulogy for longtime Grateful Dead collaborator and lyricist Robert Hunter. Sol and Berk, unbeknownst to one another, turned to their instruments after learning of Hunter's passing and recorded their expressions of grief and loss. It was only by cosmic chance that they learned of each other's sessions and decided to offer their recordings to the world. It is quite fitting that this tribute to a man who was masterful with his words would end up being two impassioned instrumentals.

"Robert Hunter's lyrics offered wisdom for many parts of life, including death, but sometimes there are no words, and mourning a musician isn't as easy as just performing their songs. 'No Ear to Hear' is less a tribute than it is a candle lit in a shared secret space. Curse the glare and remember the flame." --- Jesse Jarnow, WFMU / "Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America"

From Baked Tapes ---

When Robert Hunter, the poet and writer who provided the Grateful Dead with many of their vivid and enduring lyrics, passed away on September 23rd, 2019, many took to the internet to grieve, but for William Sol (Prana Crafter) and Joel Berk (ragenap), their sorrow required a wholly different outlet. Unknown to each other, they both respectively took to the solitude of their jams to express their mourning privately. The following morning, happening to compare notes, they discovered how they had both similarly sought and drank from the same fountain waters as tributes to such a pronounced loss.

Prana Crafter’s “Beggar’s Tomb” emerges from a cloaked light, with the stir of a brimming cauldron. Summoning drifting guitar textures that slowly interweave to open celestial doors, Sol quickly establishes a profound communication to channel the subconscious mechanism.

With Ragenap’s “NightFall” on the flip-side, Berk initiates an opening ritual to dilate the receptors for zone glossolalia. Seared tones slowly entwine, churning hypnotically as thick devotional haze envelope the senses, which Joel builds in deliberate detail.

released March 20, 2020

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CF.05 | 200 copies pressed on black vinyl and 100 pressed on sky blue vinyl.

Recorded during the same prodigious session that produced 2018’s Paradisiacal Mind (Cardinal Fuzz / Feeding Tube) and 2019’s Grow Toward the Light (Beyond Beyond is Beyond), this most recent dive into the Dire Wolves archive continues to demonstrate the band’s propensity for improvisation, as well as the ability to transport the listener's consciousness with their meditative vibes.

Previously only available on Dire Wolves’ recent Eurpoean tour as part of a 50 cassette run on the Ruralfaune label.

released February 7, 2020

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CF.03c | 175 copies pressed on cassette.

Centripetal Force presents My Body, 'Tis Of Thee, a ten song compilation benefitting NARAL Pro-Choice America and the fight to keep abortion safe and legal for all women. All profits from the sale of the cassettes (and digital downloads) will be donated.

Organized in response to states (Alabama, Ohio, Missouri, among others) passing restrictive and unconstitutional abortion legislation - and driven by the need for an immediate response with tangible results - Centripetal Force reached out in hope of finding allies to partake in this important project. The result is a collection of ten artists and bands, all of which are led by women or feature women in prominent roles within the band's lineup.

The artists on this collection cover a wide spectrum of sounds, from psych and folk to experimental and electronica. Artists include Big Blood, Diatom Deli, Abronia, Dire Wolves, Eve Maret, Village of Spaces, Marisa Anderson, Lou Turner, Vive La Void (led by Moon Duo cofounder Sanae Yamada), and Louise Bock (Taralie Peterson of Spires in the Sunset Rise).

released August 9, 2019

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CF.02 | CF.02c | 275 copies pressed on black vinyl | 60 copies pressed on cassette.

"Few bend quite as many techniques and traditions — or bend them quite as far — as Holy Mountain Top Removers." - Nashville Scene

Together since their days in Hellbender, the trio of Mikey Allred (keys/bass/trombone), Edmond Villa (drums), and Anthony Ford (guitar/vocals) have developed into a band that defies categorization. Their strength is the ability to combine elements of style from a variety of musical genres, ranging from soundtrack-like interludes to thundering outbursts and even moments of meditative ambience.

This release, the band’s first since 2016’s The Ones Disappearing You, sees Holy Mountain Top Removers retire their all-instrumental approach and incorporate vocals on two tracks, “God Said” and “Waterboarding the Entourage,” a move performed to great effect.

released August 3, 2019

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CF.01 | 300 copies pressed on black vinyl.

Carrying on in the traditions of bands like Amon Düül II and Träd, Gräs och Stenar, Dire Wolves and Headroom are dedicated to the art of free-form jamming and composition. Both bands share an organic collaborative approach to their craft, relying more on improvisational techniques than traditional songwriting methods. 

 Dire Wolves approach their music with a carefree ease, adopting much of the culture and psychedelic history of the Bay Area into their sound. Their drifting mantras create an almost spiritual experience, carrying the listener to new highs with each listen. 

 Headroom incorporates elements of minimalism into their music, using droning repetition, feedback, and noise to create tension within their songs. Their compositions waver purposefully between blissful exuberance and strained recklessness, always to great effect.

Previously released on cassette on Pome Pome Tones.

released November 30, 2018