GILGONGO RECORDS

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RACCOO-OO-OON - s/t 7" (GGGR-015). OUT OF PRINT.
one time pressing of 1000 copies.
994 or so on black; 6 ranging from white to near-black (were sold as a set to generate tour money for the band).

RACCOO-OO-OON.
Released along side their newest full length, "Behold Secret Kingdom", Iowa City's Raccoo-oo-oon's self titled 7" has three new and exclusive songs, going from dark, eerie broken layers of cello, vocals and percussion (Mud Mound), to the precise, triumphant and uplifting, post-everything feelings of the actual song, "Behold Secret Kingdom". MP3: RACCOO-OO-OON - "Behold Secret Kingdom"

select reviews:

Foxy Digitalis:
Followers of this tribes path have probably already nabbed this debut single. The first track “Mud Mound”, contains clattery kitchen style percussion reminiscent of Gilgongo house band Tent City. Light vocal mysticism and violin breach through the haze. The next track is the title track from the recent full length “Behold Secret Kingdom” (LP on Not Not Fun/ Night People, CD on Release The Bats). It begins with clockwork drumming and playful keyboard squeals. Around the one-minute mark guitar and vocals blast into the mix. At this point my head is bobbing as I type, I’m bummed when the side ends, but I’ve still got the memory of that blast (for those of you who haven’t seen Raccoo-oo-oon live, imagine that blast being 45 minutes long) to keep me satiated as I flip the record over. The side long B side track “Slobbery Masses” begins like the previous with jangle-y trinket percussion and midnight vigil whispers that grow into a steady double drummer beat with keyboard and guitar bringing back the head bobbing. A true 7” achievement acting as a perfect entry point to the band but also a necessary part of their discography.

Animal Psi:
This 7” arrived sometime in June (2007). According to the notes on the sleeve, it was recorded in August (2007). This has been happening a lot lately, and it’s making me think that this is no longer about dumb typos, but rather a brilliant coup by young artists attempting to wrestle control of musical fashion from the reigning class by denying the dominant theory of “time”.* Could be. I must admit that, while a huge proponent of their first two full-lengths, I haven’t been keeping up very well with Raccoo-oo-oon and their recent onslaught of releases (though I have caught some of the misguided dust-ups surrounding), and therefore cannot say whether this trio of songs (and yes, they are very much songs) fares worse/better/same as their other recent works, and then, if they indeed surpass time with some quantum leap of genius. However, it is appropriate for me to say that this is good, quite so, and bids well for present and future works (which may be one and the same).

The brief “Mud Mound” is a solid lead-in, collecting parts scattered around a guitar loop played beyond the fretboard, polyrhythmic hand percussion, charmer’s horn, and a group coo-chant – a Night People salute to sister-label Gilgongo, and a woodsian bait-and-switch for the relative top forty to come. Although queued second, “Behold Secret Kingdom” is the true single here (and the title-track of their newest LP, though appearing only here), with straight drum kit, walking synths, chikachik guitar and a moog (!) squeal over those melodic vocals so vital to ‘Cave of Spirits Forever’, now masked at the console instead of organically with adolescent production. The gay calamity of the track is all sunshine, some may say Animal Collective but the wintry colour and bold track-layering suggests more My Bloody Valentine and shoegaze pop. Very much the B-side - they’ve got this thing down! - the side-consuming “Slobbery Masses” returns to suit of the first track, a decreasingly free-form, proto-punk drum solo with faint horn bursts and a heavy synth drone. First rate production all-round by Mike Dixon suggests this wasn’t a cheap one to make, and that this is destined for re-release on Domino. Black vinyl adhered with pro labels (art by Shawn Reed) and nestled in full-color, pro-printed sleeves.

*Unwound was likely the first to do this when they post-dated ‘The Future of What’ an entire year ahead. Then again, they were never strangers to typo.

Sonic Troubadour:
Hot on the heels of their amazing LP “Behold Secret Kingdom", comes this excellent three song 7” EP from Raccoo-oo-oon. The A-Side features two outstanding tracks. “Mud Mound” opens the side with a dark, organic, acid folk vibe created with miscellaneous percussion, cello, and a murky, low-level mix of tripped-out electronics and patented Raccoo-oo-oon outro-vocalisms. “Behold Secret Kingdom” (which is not on the album of the same name) is probably the group's most "pop" sounding track ever, with waves of synths and joyous, soaring (and almost "normal"!?!) vocals propelled by a driving beat and guitar. The B-Side's "Slobbery Masses" is a less focused and, as a result, in my humble opinion, a slightly less successful affair. It begins with a segment of percussive racket and vocal moans which eventually evolves into a jammin’ basement psych groove. Stylistically diverse, while maintaining a fairly high quality level throughout, this is truly one of the best 7" slabs I've heard in quite a while. All hail another triumphant blast from Raccoo-oo-oon!!!!!

20 Jazz Funk Greats:
20JFG favourites raccoo-oo-oon convey the white heat white light flash of primal communion as the leaders of the different families of the animal collective arrive to the secret spot in the darkest recesses of the forest and stare at the nascent moon with shiny eyes, this bristling nugget of psyche noise wets our dry lips with the fragrant taste of Can and Oneida, find it enclosed in their self-titled 7 recently released by Gilgongo Records.

Dusted:
“Mud Mound” was recorded live at Philmont Reservation while the members of Raccoo-oo-oon were in Boy Scouts; give 'em a goddamn break. “Behold Secret Kingdom” lets loose of those teenage shackles with some video game-inspired free God pop at the end, invoking Dan Deacon and other hot-button ambassadors of weirdness first, even if its talents are pushed into the backseat, an area in which the worthy are outnumbered by the truly untalented and the imaginationally sedentary. “Slobbery Masses” starts out one more of the sort of primal scream jams that is just enough to put you off of this group forever, and of course, they redeem it with a nice, triangular slab of heavy riffs and ballistic drumming.

Aquarius:
A gentle dreamy little sonic addendum to one of this week's records of the week, the latest from the strangely named Raccoo-oo-oon. But is it really that dreamy and gentle? Well, sort of. Beginning with softly plucked atonal strings and simple pots and pans percussion, all of a sudden lurches into a strangely new wave-y synth jam, propulsive drums, fuzzy slithering synth melodies, sounds sort of like Avarus jamming with Mates Of State. Weird, but pretty dang cool. The flip side begins in a similarly laid back fashion, a super abstract percussion jam, lots of cymbals and bells, clangs and sizzles and clatter, with hollering and hooting way back in the distance, before the band once again explode in a frenzy of fuzzed out rock, this time though, it, a buzzy, slightly jazzy space rock freak out, all thick bass, pounding drums, throbbing synths and moaning and honking alien horns buried beneath the sonic swirl. Killer stuff, and just like the full length, it's impossible to figure out where in the world these guys are coming from, and equally impossible to predict what's gonna happen next, which is precisely why we're digging it so much.