Zaius Tapes

Bunny & The Lakers

Numbers

Zaius Tapes

"Released into the ether sometime in 1984, Bunny & The Laker's sole release, Numbers has always been an LP that's as difficult to procure as it is to process. Much like John Bender's output on his own Record Sluts imprint, Numbers was one of those self-released records that was seemingly around, but localized. While attending McGill University in the mid 80's, I 1st encountered it being played in a record shop by the staff. At first I thought it could be Tuxedomoon, but as it progressed, it was even too strange to be them. A very personalized aura, dipping into occasional flashes of Industrial magnetism, all the while enveloped by minimal synth interludes, there was no way to accurately channel what was going on. I asked for it at the counter, but the clerk said it was his personal copy, purchased in Toronto & wasn't for sale. My next exposure was a year or so later, in conversation with Sordide Sentimental founder, Jean-Pierre Turmel. He cited Numbers as one his favorite & influential releases. All efforts by then to locate a copy had become futile, it was now a difficult purchase. Which only added heat to the flame of its mystery.But now some 40 years later, the Tanzanian label, Zaius Tapes, has seen fit to reissue Numbers in a one time edition of 300. By now much more has become known of its provenance, but it remains just as enchantingly polarizing in 2025 as it did in those nascent times...

House, Ron

Obsessed

Zaius Tapes

For the better part of five decades, Ron House has been dispatching his singular take on the musical landscape of Americana via bands such as Moses Carryout, Great Plains, Thomas Jefferson Slave Apts & Counter Intuits. Yet in 2002 he self released a solo CD, Obsessed, which is the most ambitious effort in his canon. And arguably his most ignored.Obsessed follows the front-to-back tale of an unnamed protagonist as he traverses the landscape of a disintegrating relationship.The honeymoon has long since past & life appears to be in freefall, but it's never over till it's over. It is an opus of maddening despair, wrapped around a Edward Albee-esque drama, played out enigmatically in The People's Court of song. Delivering key musical assists along the way are members of Movieola, TJSA, Jerry DeCicca & Noel Sayre. In the rarefied modus operandi of The Harrisburg Players, the tenor on Obsessed thread a needle through the sanguinity of Townes Van Zandt, Phil Ochs self immolation & the cracker barrel charm of Michael Hurley. And if that's good enough for God, surely it's good enough for you. Now finally made available on vinyl by the folks at Zaius Tapes, file alongside, Tommy Jay's Tall Tales Of Trauma, Mike Rep's Darby Creek Drifter, Don Howland's The Land Between The Mountains & Jim Shepard's, Picking Through The Wreckage With a Stick. Edition of 300 copies.

Reed, Terry

On Way To Alpha

Zaius Tapes

"Nashville's Terry Reed—he being neither Jerry Reed nor Terry Reid—self released his On Way To Alpha mini album into this universe sometime in 1975 as a 7". While novel in format, Reed's fantastical, solitudinarian take on inchoate, Psychedelic expression is uncannily impressive. Gentle psych, loner psych, however you choose to approach it, this aural nug is a giver of tremendous reward. Little seems to be known about Reed, or this release, via the interwebs & original copies rarely turn up. So I will roll the spiffiest of spliffs in homage to the keen, curatorial scholarship of Johann Klepp & Zaius Tapes. He says this is the second volume in an American Loner series (the 1st being the Hams 12") & I eagerly await volume 3. One time edition of 200. FFO; Bobb Trimble, Terry Brooks, Simones, S.T Mikael."—Ifand Orbuts, Durban Poison Sativa Institute, Corn Puss Gap, Jamaica.

Shepard, Jim

Picking Through The Wreckage With A Stick

Zaius Tapes

Zaius Tapes is proud to announce the repress of Jim Shepard's dark, cathartic masterpiece, Picking Through The Wreckage with A Stick LP. Originally released by Siltbreeze in 1995, it seemed no plans were in order to see it in print again, so we took matters into our own hands. And you will all be the better for it! "Wreckage bears little to no resemblance to Shepard's proto metal-prog rock band, Vertical Slit. If anything it follows the trajectory of his debut LP Slit And Pre Slit. Both albums were made in the midst of grievous personal trauma & play out like Burroughsian cutups, interspersing Shepard's gallows wit against his distinctive sense of forbode. Or in the parlance of these dark times, something for everyone. I cannot think of any particular release or artist with which to pigeonhole, but it is certainly in the orbit of other unassailable iconoclasts such as Jandek, Kenji Haino, & Jackson C. Frank. As Shepard himself writes in the liner notes, 'Space is deep, El Fukko.' Edition of 300."—Johan Klepp (For Zaius Tapes).

Sub Verse / Sole Sister / Petticoats

Scaling Triangles

Zaius Tapes

"Before I made my home in & became Tanzania's #1 acknowledged periodontist, I was a busking girl throughout the UK. From early 1978 until the mid 80's I squatted everywhere; Glasgow, Cardiff, Manchester, Hastings & finally London. Music was our currency-mostly crude folk, DIY punk or amateurish, Klaus Schulze inspired synthesizer buzzings echoed off the walls wherever I chose to lay my hat. Admirers of records from this time know all too well that many compilations-mostly regional-flooded Britannia in those lean years, perhaps my favorite being one entitled Scaling Triangles. It was the first female forward collection I'd come across; three women artists, each tracking three songs. Only The Petticoats I was familiar with as she'd released a 7" ep on her own. The other two-Sole Sister, Sub Verse-seem to start & end here (Sub Verse contributes a track to the 'Compilation 1' lp on Starforce Studios-4th Wall ed). And as such, it is a diverse panorama of 'Le Beau Sexe' flexing wooly muscles. If this is from a particular scene I cannot say, but if you want taunt (Sub Verse), aggro (Petticoats) & free (Sole Sister) moving tracks, look no further. Fans of Young Marble Giants, The Flowers, Udder Milk Decay could do worse. Thank you Johan Klemp, it is so great to hear these songs so many years later. Now reissued on Tanzania's #1 recording label! And don't forget to brush your gums!"—Bupi Ramadhani (Tanzania's #1 acknowledged periodontist, Esnan Dental Center, Dar Es Salaam)

Mag Amplitude

Wizards Of Today

Zaius Tapes

"If you ever thought Debris was Oklahoma's only entry into the bloodstream of feral, batshit rock, guess again. Mag Amplitude's, Wizards Of Today appeared in a miniscule, self released edition of 100 in 1983 & was the brainchild of a blind, guitarist-vocalist by the name of Matt Muncil. On Wizards Of Today, Muncil-considered by the psychedelic mafia to be the 'Higney of Heavy Rock'—& drummer Scott Roher proceed to lay down over 7 tracks an incredible wall of wildly fuzzed & primitive bash that is a singular testament to loner, outsider brilliance. Heavy on double tracked guitar riffs & growling, incomprehensible vocals concerning outer space, rocket ships & rock, Mag Amplitude's Wizards Of Today is a half hour slab of muzzed disorder of the highest possible recommendation. This Zaius Tapes reissue is in a one time pressing of 292 copies. Our first foray into (re) introducing fans & collectors into the cimmerian forest of American real people/outsider psych rock."—Johan Klepp, for Zaius Tapes

Hams, The

Giving Thanks / Thanks Giving

Zaius Tapes

Zaius Tapes opens 2023 with a reissue that few if any would have predicted. The Hams’ legendary and elusive sole release was promoted — as an exclusive — through Systematic via the backdoor in the summer of 1987 amidst the distributor’s fog of bankruptcy. The Hams’ label, Down And Out, was equally mysterious, having previously released one LP (Prominent Disturbance) and one cassette (The Turks) to little or no fanfare. Since none of the Systematic sales staff at the time have any memory of carrying these titles, the shroud of speculation only enhances their existence. The Hams 12" did receive a hale and hearty endorsement in the pages of Forced Exposure at the time, comparing them to (surprise!) The Smashchords. Accurate enough, let’s face it, there wasn’t a whole lot out there for this to stick to. However, there was no real way to get the thing. Adorned in a plain white disco sleeve, presumably the few that got out into the wild before the Chapter 11 axe came down were as in-store play copies. No one has an idea about how many were originally pressed, either. All of this helping to build its quiddity among collectors. The Smashchords comparison notwithstanding, The Hams 12" is every bit as much of an anomaly. Literally two dudes on guitar and drum, jamming. No vocals, just heart. It could have easily come out on SST in its waning, Byzantine era, sounding like Painted Willie collapsing into a black hole of Turkish barbarism. Or...

Mahogany Brain

Smooth Sick Lights

Zaius Tapes

Mahogany Brain forged their unique audio dialect with their debut release, With (Junk-Saucepan) When (Spoon-Trigger) for the legendary Futura label in 1971. More Avant-Garde than Prog, it spoke to the souls of the dedicated one percenters — such as the ESP Disk set — specifically patrons of The Godz and Cromagnon. But in early 1972, Mahogany Brain recorded Smooth Sick Lights, a follow-up release even more bewildering than its predecessor, yet this sat neglected until 1976 when it was issued by the Pole label. It's hard to know what sort of impression it made on anyone beside Steven Stapleton (as his NWW list is how many have been informed of its existence). It had enough allure that the Tapioca label reissued a botched mispress in 1977, which seems to be the version that most latent hep-cats, whom knew not better, got fooled into owning. Zaius Tapes comes to the rescue once again with a stellar reissue of this exemplary diamond in the rough. For fans of the further out '70s French Prog, it goes beyond Red Noise and Fille Qui Mousse. You can see how the brain-beams emitted from this release were studied by Heratius, Gutura, and others. It's possible Smooth Sick Lights even helped inform factions of the New York No Wave (lead guitarist Patrick Geoffois would go on to be a member of both The Contortions and James White & The Blacks). As the bard once penned, "conjecture is nine-tenths of the truth." RIYL; Frolk Haven, Mars, Jandek,...

Camp One

Revengeful Is The Mask Of Darkness

Zaius Tapes

Some 40 years after it’s release, Camp One’s sole album from ’81 remains as mysterious as ever, the quartet of D Jones, I Good, L Williams & P Sage still hiding in plain sight. Ask any deep digger you might know, it seems none of them can shed any light on this stunning, enigmatic LP. There are those who’ve never seen a copy, let alone heard it. Speculation here, an educated guess there, not exactly Captain Kidd's treasure map. ‘Revengeful' doesn’t fit neatly into any niched genre; its almost a Baroque-like, outsider take on Prog Rock & Postpunk at once, eccentricity crackling off it’s grooves. Imagine if you will, the fattier bits of A Moore’s oeuvre, the suet of L Voag + the gristle of Mark Perry, all baked into a most succulent Yorkshire pudding for the ears. Leave it to Zaius Tapes to bring it (back) into the world. Bravo. Edition of 250 copies. RIYL; the Canterbury scene, Murphy Federation, Fuck Off Records.

V/a

The Buntingford Long Playing Record

Zaius Tapes

At the dawn of the '80s, The United Kingdom was awash with regional compilations documenting the burgeoning local punk, postpunk, DIY movements that were rampant all over. Rough Trade's seminal, Wanna Buy A Bridge? may have started the fad, but it soon became quicksilver. From Portsmouth ('South Specific'), to Richmond ('The Snoopies Album') to Cardiff ('8 from '80), no local scene was too insignificant. So it should come as no surprise that Buntingford, a small market town in East Hertfordshire, would tag in with one of the strongest, yet most obscure, albums of the era. Comprised of about a dozen or so local youths under different monikers, The Buntingford Long Playing Record sidetracks the punk handle-which was surely a death knell in this bucolic civil parish-but expertly nails a brace of mod, powerpop & DIY tracks. And to a person, it would seem the works here were both their magnum opus & swan song. If this isn't a perfect example of the Protestant Work Ethic in action, I'll gladly eat a spotted dick. Without question, the greatest collection of one & done pop/punk masterpieces from that magical, bygone time. Originally released in 1981, now reissued by the estimable Zaius Tapes label, edition of 250. RIYL; The Messthetics series, the Matchbox Classics label, Johan Kugelberg's top 100 DIY singles list.

Negative Reaction

Negative Reaction

Zaius Tapes

Negative Reaction’s brilliant, lone album was originally released as a cassette for Terse Tapes (Tom Ellard/Severed Heads) then quickly pressed onto vinyl by Dogfood Production Systems (home of the estimable Slugfuckers) so you know the pedigree is tip-top. While you’d be correct in assuming the vibe here is experimental-merely by association-what you might not be prepared for is the most perfect example of dystopian malaise ever released by a band from the (then) burgeoning post-punk movement. It’s easy to forget-or simply not be aware-that in the nascent dawn of the 80’s, specific, niche genres hadn’t been painstakingly carved out. Negative Reaction’s album trods forth across the landscapes of industrial, experimental & minimal, gathering the Cold War gloom, the bleak threat of impending global nuclear holocaust, then forging it all into this S/T masterpiece. Done primarily with recitation, blurred guitar lines, echos & feedback, it’s a harrowing snapshot from the other side of an inevitable apocalypse. It’s beauty is in it’s simplicity; it doesn’t go for the jolt, like SPK, nor does it attempt to shock, like Throbbing Gristle. Negative Reaction go for the sublime, matter of factly & evenly laying down six tracks of impending doom that give “John" & The Book of Revelation a run for it’s money. One of the most pivotal records ever from a bygone era that was teeming with them. Edition of 250. RIYL: The Barons, Plast, Factrix, Prominent Disturbance, Vertical Slit-Slit & Pre-Slit.