Collected from the Sounds Are Active and Joyful Noise record labels, Strata- A Young Person’s Guide To Experimental Music, presents both previously unreleased and downloadable tracks with album cuts.

Produced by Chris Schlarb and Karl Hofstetter
Artwork by Tim McMullen

Track Listing
01. Philippians- New Inspiration
02. Melk The G6-49- The Instantaneous Mobilization of All the Resources in the BURROW and All the Forces of My Body and Soul
03. Deneir- Charting Oblivion
04. Soul-Junk- Genesis 15
05. MakeShift:Shelter- Faux Hawk
06. Lafcadio- Noticing Drastic Changes in Individuality and Enlightenment at Such a Young Age
07. Bizzart- Nivek (outputmessage remix)
08. Patagonian- Cage
09. Create (!)- Durindana
10. Electric iLL- Funaise
11. Gratis- Means and Ends (instrumental version)
12. Abner Trio- One
13. Manners for Husbands- Lions
14. I Heart Lung- Moving Through Colour (excerpt)
15. Receptor Sight- Bagel & Green

Press
“A co-release between the Sounds Are Active and Joyful Noise labels, Strata: A Young Person’s Guide to Experimental Music lives up to its title pretty well — even if not a kid’s album in a classic sense, there’s often a gentle, merry playfulness about this 15-track selection which gives a number of creative groups a chance to show what they can do in a post-indie/IDM/everything else vein. The most well-known would doubtless be Soul-Junk, whose pursuit of any number of musical muses over the years has turned out to be a quiet triumph of dedication and art — their retelling of “Genesis 15″ makes most attempts at indie rap seem like the lazy mess it is; lead man Glen’s voice sounds like he’s broadcasting from the outer planets. But things are hardly limited to that, as everything from grinding feedback freneticism into haunted drone from Melk the G6-49 to Lafcadio’s semi-math/rap rock and I Heart Lung’s Mogwai-leaning instrumental mini-epic “Moving Through Colour.” Track times are all over the map as well — Deneir’s brief tone/beat collage “Charting Oblivion” is under a minute, Receptor Sight’s own take on post-rock reach and majesty, “Bagel & Green,” is almost a quarter-of-an-hour. The slyest track — Patagonian’s “Cage (Reenactment of More Encores)” — sounds about like what one would expect.”- All Music Guide

The first half collects the five sought after tracks from the much whispered of Vla Hemia (MC Vinch Kashmir and Siamese Sisters). Think Golden Age Hip-Hop (Blowout Comb, Midnight Marauders, Juggaknots EP) without a retro-wish to be fresh in ‘94. These tracks lack the stale same-ness of much of mainstream boom-bap.

Electric iLL is a sound for sore ears. Recruiting Soul-Junk’s Galaxalag and Slo-Ro for phoned in (literally) raps and NY’s JSRockit, who delivers a hilariously whimsical verse on “Non-Moley Yease”, the husband-half of the fantastical Viva Voce, Kevin Robinson lets his freak flag fly. On tracks like “Nurban Gowns” he duets with a Speak-N-Spell, and constructs lunchtray turntablism, elsewhere live saw and drumkit breaks collide and fedback guitars mask unwholesome lyrical patterns. Not to be missed.

Tracks 1-5 Recorded and Produced by Siamese Sisters
Tracks 6-10 Recorded and Produced by k.Rza
Mastered by Accident
Artwork by Jonathan Dueck

Track Listing
01. Today Tomorrow
02. Break Loose [mp3]
03. Sky Driftn
04. Stash Blvd
05. Stash Blvd (Remix)
06. Nurban Gowns [mp3]
07. Trodtadot
08. Au Yu Yae
09. Non Moley Yease
10. Funaise

Press
“One of my favorite hip hop releases this year, up there with Cyne’s Evolution Fight and Dangerdoom’s The Mouse and The Mask.”- Gorilla Vs. Bear