Our Registry

030 – The Country Hospital by
Depatterning & Delphine Dora

Wist Rec 30 examines the experimental therapies of the Weyburn Mental Hospital, a mid-century Canadian institution that pioneered humane and novel methods for treating psychological duress. It thematically follows the anguish of mental collapse and the hope for recovery.

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More details here

029 – The Last Things

On Oct 19th we release a new edition in our ongoing Jackdaw Series by Phil Tomsett and the Inventors of Aircraft. This multi-disc collection, “The Last Things” is inspired on the dystopian Paul Auster novella “In the Country of Last Things”.

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More details here…

028 – The 1951 Nautical Hum

If there was ever an appropriate time for the ‘home listening’ genre, this is it. A collection of whispered frequencies from the distant past (depending on the year you read this).

Cryptic note states: “Her talents not recognized at the BBC, Ms. Derbyshire bizarrely found herself surrounded by young acolytes and signed to a label which treated her like a goddess.”

026 – The Last Things (fragments) by Phil Tomsett

Fragments from the forthcoming multi-disc release “The Last Things” by Phil Tomsett & the Inventors of Aircraft.

Wist Rec 29 takes a psychogeographic tour of Paul Auster’s ‘In the Country of Last Things’ though set in a small village to which our protagonist ventures to. Released in a jackdaw edition in 2020.

 

025 – Dentistry, The Temporal Glaze

After a ponderously lengthy pause, we’re pleased to announce that the long awaited sophomore release by Dentistry, “The Temporal Glaze” is now available to order.

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024 – The Collapsing Barn Essay No. 1: What Hands Make

To read, click on image:

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023 – The Collapsing Barn Essays, Intro

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The aim of this series of essays is to give insight into the origins of the Wist Rec label whilst also giving context into the state of hand-made music since our inception in 2009. The heel grinding of DIY labels stand as testaments to the importance of albums as physical objects or pieces of art, this despite a sea change in the public’s listening habits. These essays might also be used as a guide for burgeoning artists and labels, looking at the logistics, pitfalls and ethics of running an independent label. This work will also give the first opportunity for my label cohort and designer Manfred Naescher to share his views on the design process.

While my preference would be to produce records as anonymous creators, letting our output speak for itself (and in regards to the musical contributions from our artists, I believe that we don’t have a place in disseminating their work), a nagging feeling has come over me over the last few years in regards to ‘home listening’ and the greater context of sound consumption.

In the last 18 months we’ve slowed down our release output due to various life changes. During our most prolific era of output, producing up to eight releases a year, I was also studying toward a degree in Horticulture and Manfred was working on significant commissions for the Liechtenstein government. Having a string of conceived and commissioned records tends to create a great inertia which pushes production along (perhaps at times to their detriment?). Now, since we’ve both have more breathing space in our careers, we’ve had more time to consider why we produce(d) what we produce(d).  As we’ve persisted in this project for 10 years now, it might be time to reflect on what we saw and learned.

Published next week and thereafter monthly, the first essay will delve into the path of our shaky establishment.

022 – Notes from the Long Now

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Where has the time gone? After a long summer… autumn… and winter snooze we are finally gearing up for some news and more obtuse releases:

1) “The Temporal Glaze” by Dentistry will be our next release, another long postponed record. This one’s artwork is based on the 19th century photo technique of the Van Dyke Brown Printing process (pictured). Sounds here:

2) A haunted return from the jackdaw series this time on a psychogeographic journey with Phil Tomsett and The Inventors of Aircraft. Details of this multidisc set… to be kept secret.

3) After almost 10 years, we’ve decided that it was time to look back at both the origin of Wist Rec and its development over time: its aesthetics, design process and situation in the micro label scene. This will take the form of an ongoing journal featuring discussions with both of the label’s originators: Gary Mentanko and his silent partner Manfred Naescher. Its hoped that this will act as a source for burgeoning artists and labels and create a dialogue on how we can stop drowning from the digital rain. I mean, is the rainfall ever going to end?

021 – The 1902 Syntropic Seasonal

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On July 30th we release another odd collaborative calendar boxset featuring interpretations of the cross-quarter days on the perpetual calendar by Elsa Hasselgärde, Christina Carter, Porzellan, Michael Duane Ferrell & Delphine Dora.

PRE-ORDER NOW

020 – Depatterning – The Community Pasture
on Analogue Chat

We’re please to share a release from our label cohort and promising plantsman, Gary Mentanko. “The Community Pasture” by Depatterning is released on cassette by the Analogue Chat, an independent record label based in Spain and The Netherlands which allows artists to interpret their own ‘medio ambiente’ (environment) and tell a personal narrative in the form electronic soundscapes or traditional song structures.

“The Community Pasture” features a collection of 11 songs of pastoral hums and aural traditions with a decidedly synth-ethic with snippets of family voices and field recordings from the past and present. On Side B, there is a 23 minute chat with Gary about the music, his inspirations and the wonder of the early electric age.

1. 48th Annual Ukrainian Festival Flood
2. What Came from Uranium City
3. Land Management Service Ballad
4. Wheat Lifter Her
5. 1928- Yield
6. The Power Commision
7. Canora, SK: Good Lake No. 274
8. Broadcasting Seed
9. 1932- Dust
10. The Power Corporation Act (1949)
11. End of the Programming Day

019 – Glowing Swords –
The Autumn Elegy

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We’re back with a botanical compendium to the previous season by Glowing Swords, a collaborative project between Zachary Corsa of Nonconnah & Lost Trail and Scott Cortez of Loveliescrushing.
Prepay available here
To sign up for a prepay reminder, please click here.

 

018 – 1918 Oncoming

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As we adjust to the quiet of the woods, we wanted to let you know about several planned releases for this year, some a long time coming:
 
• A botanical view of the approaching spring and increasing sunlight with Glowing Swords (Zachary Corsa of Nonconnah, Lost Trail & Scott Cortez of Loveslivescrushing) Available in March.

• The syntropic return of seasonal precipices with Christina Carter, Delphine Dora, Michael Duane Ferrell, Porzellan, and Elsa Hasselgärde. A sister release to the 1922 Analemma Fault.

• The intertwined relationship between our public and natural spaces with Dentistry

• A return of our Jackdaw Series examining psychiatric LSD usage in 1950’s Saskatchewan.

017 – Glowing Swords Fragments

From the forthcoming release “The Autumn Elegy” on Wist Rec by Glowing Swords (Zachary Corsa of Nonconnah, Lost Trail & Scott Cortez of Loveslivescrushing).

016 – Sub Loam The Unfolding Map

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We’re off on another orienteering journey of elevations, contours and terrain with Sub Loam. This three disc set is housed in recycled kraft boxes and contains individually cut raised relief maps of these islands for outdoor pursuits you might have one day.

“The Unfolding Map”. Shipping on Sept 25. Limited to 85 copies!
https://wistrec.com/wist-rec-025/

015 – Wist Rec Interview on Resonance FM

“This month on Analogue Chat we spoke with Canadian Gary Mentanko from his home in Dublin, who co-runs the label Wist Rec with his design partner, Manfred Naescher, based in Berlin.
 
Wist Rec is an independent label dealing solely in handmade music.  They proudly promote the importance of DIY releases and aim to frame new ways of listening. In their owns words they say that “We are devoted to quiet, scraggly, distant sounds and good home cookin’”.
 
The label has released music by Off the Sky, The Humble Bee, Tape Loop Orchestra, Loscil, Clara Engel, Sima Kim, Porya Hatami among others…
 
During the course of an entertaining chat, he talks about his love of short form music, the roots and influences of the label, the art of listening and how to use your ears, his thoughts on dark ambient, advice on running a micro label in 2017, and his sympathies for shop workers.
 
Hope you enjoy.
 
Date & Time:  Wednesday 23rd August 2017 at 10pm BST
Listen later on the Analogue Chat Soundcloud and Mixcloud pages.
 
Richard & Paul
Analogue Chat”
 

014 – Sub Loam Fragments

Forthcoming release on Wist Rec, “The Unfolding Map” is an orienteering journey of elevations, contours and terrain of these islands with Sub Loam.

013- The Tape Loop Orchestra LP

024_sleeve-no-guidesCelebrating the opening launch of the Panama Canal and the conclusion of last year’s Intenational Exposition in California this release presents commissioned music for the Panama Pacific Expo Autumn Music Festival in 1915.

Alongside the Tape Loop Orchestra these pieces were performed with members of the Exposition Orchestra and features the dulcet tones of the Opus 500 organ as performed by Edwin H Lemare.

Mastered by Miles Whittaker (Demdike Stare)

Each copy of the 1915-16 Panama Pacific Expo contains:

– 10″ vinyl housed in matt board
– 3″ CDr,  hand stamped
– Souvenir Guide to the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco
– Postcard of Festival Hall and Avenue of Palms
– Extensive Expo Grounds Map
– Cyanography image of the Scintillator

Limited to 200 copies.

012- “Songs for Leonora Carrington” by Clara Engel is Now Available
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The 4th release in our ongoing biographical series features a menagerie of lilting dark folk from Clara Engel based on the writings and paintings of the renowned Surrealist, Leonora Carrington.

“Songs for Leonora Carrington” is housed in a handsome booklet featuring text from Carrington and watercolour interpretations of her work by artist Manfred Naescher. More information here.

Limited to 120 copies on black CDR.

 

011 – The 1922 Analemma Fault
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On the first release of the new year Wist Rec brings you a unique 4 disc set which examines seasonal day length and the off-kilter solstice and equinoxical events of 1922 with Loscil, Talk West, Lost Trail & April Larson.

This release is available now. More details here.

To sign up for a reminder telegram please click here.

010 – The 1910 Rabbit Cull

A selection of past, future, imagined and failed releases on Wist Rec as originally given away as a limited promo disc in early 2016 (Wist Rec Negative 001). Alternatively referred to as “The 1901 Rabbit Cull” and “The 1911 Rabbit Cull”. Compiled at Indian Head Experimental Farm and Forest Nursery Station, SK.

Cryptic liner notes state:
“Please tell Harry Smith that we found 
the Celestial Omnichord on our last 
venture but it is functioning erratically.”

009 – Delay: “The Atlantic Cable”
by Being & the Humble Bee

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Due to personal illness the shipping of this jackdaw set has unfortunately been delayed until Nov 28th. As this release is now sold out (our fastest selling release yet) we hope the anticipation will colour the music even more once it arrives.
With sincere apologies, the Wist Label Staff.

To sign up for a reminder telegram please click here.

008 – Wist Rec 022

This autumn, Wist Rec is pleased to bring you a long waited release from Being & the Humble Bee (Russell Burden & Craig Tattersall).

“The Atlantic Cable” is a 3 disc jackdaw release detailing the first pulsing signals from Valentia Island, Ireland to Trinity Bay, Newfoundland in 1858. Including actual depth sounding maps and morse to note translation each artist interprets the electrical direction on separate 3″ discs while a third cd of muddled, brackish interpretations is handled by Andrew Hargreaves (Tape Loop Orchestra).

007 – Wist Rec Mix – Exiting Music

We were so very pleased to be asked by the radio program Its Just Music Baby and the likeminded label Shimmering Moods to come up with a mix of music which influenced us. There are traces of the themes and sound fidelity in here which can be found throughout our records. Oddly, there appears to be a niggling hint of thematic closure in there for some reason but no serious need to worry. Music from Rhue, Clara Rockmore, Slowdive, Grouper, Hood and others.

Bonus obscurity note: The image is likely the oldest surviving photograph by Nicéphore Niépce, taken in the late 1820s.

006 – Depatterning returns, or stumbles home?

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After a belated journey north, Depatterning returns to find the ancestral home quiet. “The Dimmed Homestead” is a 2 disc release (5″ & 3″CDr) featuring geneological trails of electricity, farm liminality and Ukrainian heritage in an isolated region of central canada (lowercase).

Initial copies include a microfiche of Massey Ferguson/John Deere part cataloges for reference. Things repeat into a second cycle (50-60 Hz).

 

005 – Week Long Jackdaw Promotion ENDED

Purchase all four jackdaw style editions for a discounted price. Includes the long out-of-print “Folkestone Lighthouse” by Being and featuring Craig Tattersall, Danny Norbury and Jez riley French. Sale ends midnight May 6th. More details on the various jackdaws here.

004 – “The Dimmed Homestead” Fragments

Researching the lost culture of Canadian pioneering, some fragments from our next release by Depatterning.  Includes vital tractor schematics.

Available in June 1916.

003 – The Crossley Heritage Preorder

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Wist Rec 020: The Crossley Heritage by the Sly & Unseen is now available for pre-order here.

002 – Wist Rec 020

This February, we release the Sly & Unseen’s “The Crossley Heritage”, a contrasting examination of Victorian industrialism and a separated nature. Available in a limited jackdaw edition. Details to follow.

001 – 1916 Oncoming

Is time slipping more than we here at the label pretend? Regardless, we would like to thank all of those who helped to maintain the co-op this year.
For the months ahead a scurrying of projects:
• A handsome jackdaw from the Sly & Unseen

• The worrying return of rural rhetoric from Depatterning after an unhealthy absence

• Our label’s first vinyl release by
the Tape Loop Orchestra

• A secret gift to our original homesteaders.

• Useful object for the recording the seasons with April LarsonLost Trail and others

• Other projects long delayed should come to light.

The Laborer – “Tide Changing” (feat. Elsa Hasselgarde) from Julien Lambrechts on Vimeo.

depatterning – branchel from broken machine films on Vimeo.