hi there,
time to welcome a new member to the morc-family. welcome to Linus Vandewolken! his lp 'Oude geuze uit Niemandaal' came out on june 20th.
As an American in Belgium, McCloud Zicmuse developed a deep love for some of the customs of his new-found homeland: a specific kind of archery (‘staande wip’), celebrating carnaval, aging geuze-beers, and not in the least: playing de ‘hommel”, the Flemish cousin of the apalachian Dulcimer. With the persona Linus Vandewolken, Zicmuse took a deep dive into these traditions. His love for the hommel is very real, yet he breaks out of the narrow framework in which the instrument is often handled. The additional use of homemade flutes, percussion instruments and some humming definitely add up to the experience.
'Oude Geuze uit Niemandaal' is an album that at the same time sounds very traditional and very impulsive. a fearless exploration of the sounds and melodies the hommel is capable of creating, alternated with double reeds, recorders and the occasional humming, and points of silence rising like small bubbles in the glass of a freshly poured geuze. the lp comes in a gorgeous full colour sleeve with screenprinted insert. order a copy, for the cheap price of 18 euro. (do know that this one is also available via a nice selection of distros all over the globe)
time to welcome a new member to the morc-family. welcome to Linus Vandewolken! his lp 'Oude geuze uit Niemandaal' came out on june 20th.
As an American in Belgium, McCloud Zicmuse developed a deep love for some of the customs of his new-found homeland: a specific kind of archery (‘staande wip’), celebrating carnaval, aging geuze-beers, and not in the least: playing de ‘hommel”, the Flemish cousin of the apalachian Dulcimer. With the persona Linus Vandewolken, Zicmuse took a deep dive into these traditions. His love for the hommel is very real, yet he breaks out of the narrow framework in which the instrument is often handled. The additional use of homemade flutes, percussion instruments and some humming definitely add up to the experience.
'Oude Geuze uit Niemandaal' is an album that at the same time sounds very traditional and very impulsive. a fearless exploration of the sounds and melodies the hommel is capable of creating, alternated with double reeds, recorders and the occasional humming, and points of silence rising like small bubbles in the glass of a freshly poured geuze. the lp comes in a gorgeous full colour sleeve with screenprinted insert. order a copy, for the cheap price of 18 euro. (do know that this one is also available via a nice selection of distros all over the globe)
believe it or not, morc is turning 25 this year. i know, there are a few dates i pick as the official start of morc, but in general, i tend to go for when the circle brothers tape 'seesaw' was released. and that was in 1999. i think shortly before the summer, but i might be wrong. anyway: that was the first release we put out in an edition of more than one copy. don't count on a double lp reissue of this classic. there will be a few festivities though. like the morc-labelnight in De Koer in Gent. and the release of a 'real' labelsampler.
yes, we've always been really fond of compilations, as a way to introduce us to new artists, and to document a scene/label. and in general, these were priced about the same as a cd-single. value for money! in an attempt to put ourselves in that tradition, here's the morc sampler 2024. we've asked a few members of the morc-family to select some of their favorite tracks, and they contributed an exclusive too. so here's a selection made by Gayle (Pefkin), Elisabeth (Luster), Wio (wio, de Portables), Ellen (The Puddle Parade) and Wim (circle bros, pernath). it ended up being a neat, pretty representative overview, though we couldn't include all artists, of course. anyway: a great, great listen.
we printed 150 copies on cd. outer sleeves screenprinted in three colours, inner sleeve one colour. printed on spare record sleeves. a lot of work, but a pleasure to make them for you. and: these are 'pay what you can'. just pick a price that's reasonable for you, and we're fine with it! same goes for the digital version, up on bandcamp.
yes, we've always been really fond of compilations, as a way to introduce us to new artists, and to document a scene/label. and in general, these were priced about the same as a cd-single. value for money! in an attempt to put ourselves in that tradition, here's the morc sampler 2024. we've asked a few members of the morc-family to select some of their favorite tracks, and they contributed an exclusive too. so here's a selection made by Gayle (Pefkin), Elisabeth (Luster), Wio (wio, de Portables), Ellen (The Puddle Parade) and Wim (circle bros, pernath). it ended up being a neat, pretty representative overview, though we couldn't include all artists, of course. anyway: a great, great listen.
we printed 150 copies on cd. outer sleeves screenprinted in three colours, inner sleeve one colour. printed on spare record sleeves. a lot of work, but a pleasure to make them for you. and: these are 'pay what you can'. just pick a price that's reasonable for you, and we're fine with it! same goes for the digital version, up on bandcamp.
We repressed a couple of albums that were out of print for a while.
- soccer Committee's lp '♥/Lamb' is Mariska Baars' fourth release on morc - so, we're fans of hers. and if you heard her earlier work: sure you are as well. Mariska Baars has been relying on just her vocals and subtle guitar touches for over fifteen years. Her output has been as sparse as her music itself, so every new release is quite an event. this one is -slightly- different. sounds a bit more impulsive, and with an overdub here and there (one bit by wouter van veldhoven even!). still very much soccer Committee.
- Luster took approx 10 years to get their debut lp ready, but did that hit a soft spot right away! The lp put them on a unique spot at the crossroad where ancestral doom folk, heady dronerock and spacious pop seamlessly meet. Often repetive, always mesmerizing and evocative. Kind of the missing link between Mazzy Star, Pentangle, Broadcast and Enhet for Fri Musik.
- 'Eclipse...' is where people got to hear Roxane Métayers unique sounds for the first time. Eclipse des ocelles is/was a mind boggling exploration of the sonic possibilities of violin, field recordings and folk oriented orchestration and melodies. The album is back in print, and on the occasion of her japanese tour, this repress comes on red vinyl - looks and sounds perfect.
this might be a good moment to remind you:
- in the past few months, we've completely ran out of copies of the the lise barkas & lisa kauffert lp, the Roxane Métayer/pefkin split lp, the lowered cd, the edgar wappenhalter lp, the karina esp cd and lp, the iditarod cd... and we don't have huge quantities left of all of the other releases either. don't say we didn't warn you. however: some distro's probably have a few copies in stock. get in touch if you need help on locating one of our sold out releases.
- full overview of what's still in stock: www.morctapes.com/store . do know: you only pay for shipping the first (largest) item - EG when ordering an lp, all additional cd's and lp's are with free shipping. when ordering a cd, additional cds go along for free. this way, most orders with lps in Belgium ship for around 7 euro, europe for 15 euro, usa 21 euro. ROW is a bit more expensive: around 25 for the first item, and 4 euro per additional lp (sorry!). cd's are shipped via letterpost.
don't forget to listen,
wim/morc
- in the past few months, we've completely ran out of copies of the the lise barkas & lisa kauffert lp, the Roxane Métayer/pefkin split lp, the lowered cd, the edgar wappenhalter lp, the karina esp cd and lp, the iditarod cd... and we don't have huge quantities left of all of the other releases either. don't say we didn't warn you. however: some distro's probably have a few copies in stock. get in touch if you need help on locating one of our sold out releases.
- full overview of what's still in stock: www.morctapes.com/store . do know: you only pay for shipping the first (largest) item - EG when ordering an lp, all additional cd's and lp's are with free shipping. when ordering a cd, additional cds go along for free. this way, most orders with lps in Belgium ship for around 7 euro, europe for 15 euro, usa 21 euro. ROW is a bit more expensive: around 25 for the first item, and 4 euro per additional lp (sorry!). cd's are shipped via letterpost.
don't forget to listen,
wim/morc