Thursday, May 23, 2013

Independent Project Records re-launches

Bruce Licher, founder of the innovative record label Independent Project Records (www.independentprojectrecords.com), also known as IPR, confirmed today the re-launch of the label with a career spanning 3xCD re-mastered package from the band Red Temple Spirits (http://www.myspace.com/redtemplespirits), on June 11. The package includes 1988’s Dancing To Restore An Eclipsed Moon and 1989’s If Tomorrow I Were Leaving For Lhasa, I Wouldnt Stay a Minute More..., bonus tracks and a third disc of demos, with reproduced artwork as it first appeared.
 
Founded in 1980, IPR will begin a reissue program of their extensive back catalog as well as new releases beginning with Red Temple Spirits, to be distributed worldwide by Revolver USA. As part of the reissue program, IPR will be creating physical releases on CD and vinyl utilizing the iconic hand-fed letterpress work of Independent Project Press / Licher Art and Design. All reissues and new releases will also be released digitally, many for the first time ever. Music from the 1980’s-era Savage Republic, Licher’s 1990’s-era instrumental group Scenic, mid-period albums from Lincoln, Nebraska’s For Against, plus new Bruce Licher solo material are all planned to be released in the near future.
 
“Independent Project Records was started as a UCLA fine art class project while I was studying under provocative conceptual artist Chris Burden, and has been my passion and creative outlet ever since,” said IPR Founder Bruce Licher. “What started out as an avenue to record my own music and release it in artistic packaging, not only with Savage Republic but also with my later band Scenic, grew into a label that released new music from other bands I loved. It’s a great feeling to be able to reissue these records years later on compact disc, vinyl and digital formats as well.”
 
The Los Angeles-based Red Temple Spirits were the perfect project to kick off the label relaunch via a comprehensive, career-spanning package. Fans of Licher’s innovative packaging will not be disappointed. The CD release features an over-sized 4-color hand-letter press Discfolio 3XCD set, complete with bonus and previously unreleased material. It also comes with full-color lyric inserts and gilded letterpress-printed glassine inner sleeves and will be limited to 1000 numbered copies.
 
Out-of-print for years, Red Temple Spirits’ two albums, originally released in 1988 and 1989, sound like nothing else from the period, deftly blending gothic post-punk sounds with pagan tribal psychedelia. Their debut has been described as a haunting masterpiece of psychedelic post-punk, laden with exotic musicianship and a deft blending of Native American and Eastern mysticism.  While shimmering guitar textures weave patterns over heavy hypnotic rhythms, the enchanting lyrical imagery of vocalist William Faircloth brings a trippy, shamanistic quality to the proceedings.  Easily some of the most mesmerizing and vital post-punk music ever created, Red Temple Spirits play with an austerity, grace, and pureness to form that remains fresh over two decades after it was originally recorded. Track Listing includes
 
Disc 1: Dancing To Restore An Eclipsed Moon
 
1. Exorcism / Waiting For The Sun  7:02
2. Liquid Temple  5:42
3. Dark Spirits  4:20
4. Bear Cave 4:19
5. Dreamings Ending  4:52
6. Electric Flowers  5:07
7. Moonlight  5:34
8. Where Merlin Played  5:56
9. Nile Song  3:18
10. Lost In Dreaming  4:50
11. Light of Christ / This Hollow Ground  13:36
+ bonus track:
12. New Land (demo)  4:05
 
Disc 2: If Tomorrow I Were Leaving For Lhasa, I Wouldn't Stay A Minute More...
 
1. City of Millions  3:50
2. Soft Machine  3:57
3. Dive In Deep  4:01
4. Alice 4:19
5. Wild Hills  6:56
6. A Black Rain  5:58
7. Meltdown  3:19
8. Confusion  2:26
9. Rainbows End  5:02
10. Set The Controls  7:02
11. Rollercoaster  4:01
+ bonus tracks:
12. Exodus From Lhasa  3:24
13. New Land  (second version) 3:51
 
Disc 3: original demo recordings
 
1. Moonlight  5:37
2. The Alchemists Stone  5:15
3. Dreamings Ending  4:50
4. The Light of Christ / This Hallowed Ground  10:58
 

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