{"title":"Charalambides","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCharalambides is a trio of Texas creative musicians known for their extended guitar and voice compositions and improvisations. Their music explores a range of tonality, utilizing volume, space, silence, folk and psychedelia. The group was initially formed as a recording project in 1991 and has since evolved into performing music of a more public nature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOriginally based in Houston before relocating to Austin in 1997, Charalambides has gone through various configurations over the years. The core duo of *Tom \u0026amp; Christina Carter* has been accompanied by guitarist *Jason Bill* from 1993 to 1996 and steel guitarist *Heather Murray* since 2000.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf you enjoy the sounds of artists like Fursaxa, Jackie O Motherfucker, or Steven R. Smith, then Charalambides' unique blend of experimental folk and atmospheric noise will surely captivate your ears.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"likeness","title":"Likeness","description":"\u003cp\u003echaralambides are the true originators of the us free-folk psyche movement. tom and christina carter aka charalambides have been recording and performing live in various configurations since 1991 and run their own highly acclaimed label wholly other. more recently christina has guested on current albums by thurston (moore) and dj shadow amongst others. 'likeness' is the newest release from the duo. recorded over a period of several weeks during the spring of 2006, the album is a return to the spontaneous composition of previous charalambides records such as 'houston' and 'union'. musically, the album departs from the warm psych of 'a vintage burden' (their album from 2006) in favour of the lush and layered vocal strata of christina's later solo works, and a chillier, more abrasive guitar sound that favours the velvets over the byrds. lyrical content largely derives from public domain american popular song from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, edited, rearranged, and largely deconstructed by christina into abstract 'protest' songs for the century at hand. on kranky.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50436204855627,"sku":"292276","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/7c261781-e9a3-4ff0-9532-9d3b503bd4ed_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726913714"},{"product_id":"exile-4","title":"Exile","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eExile\u003c\/em\u003e is the new album by the duo \u003cstrong\u003eCharalambides\u003c\/strong\u003e. Five years in the making, it was recorded between 2006 and 2010 in various locations in New Hampshire, Western Massachusetts, and New York City. The album was mixed at Black Dirt Studios and mastered at Sand with Paul Gold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe core duo of Christina and Tom Carter remain the driving force behind \u003cem\u003eExile\u003c\/em\u003e, with contributions on one track by the string section of Helena Espvall and Margarida Garcia. The album is deeply imbued with the full historical spectrum of American folk and blues song form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eExile\u003c\/em\u003e is a tapestry of suppliant invocations directed at the heart of the unseen spiritual forces surrounding us. Dense arrangements and thickly-overdubbed tracks sit side-by-side with material that ranks among the sparest and most skeletal the group has recorded.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis album gives \u003cem\u003eExile\u003c\/em\u003e the psychic scope of their classic \u003cem\u003eMarket Square\u003c\/em\u003e album while building on the refinements of the more recent \u003cem\u003eLikeness\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eA Vintage Burden\u003c\/em\u003e releases. Coincidentally, this album marks \u003cstrong\u003eCharalambides\u003c\/strong\u003e' 20th anniversary, as they first started playing in the fall of 1991 and made their live debut in December of that year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSince their last album, Tom Carter has released a series of collaborations and solo works on a wide array of labels, while Christina Carter has been steadily releasing her solo work through labels including her own Many Breaths imprint.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50436206199115,"sku":"343371","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50436207051083,"sku":"343370","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5998636e-7a23-4bfa-87d5-bcd049e579a6_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726913745"},{"product_id":"a-vintage-burden","title":"A Vintage Burden","description":"\u003cp\u003estunning new album from charalambides. christina carter (who along with ex-partner tom now forms the core duo of charalmbides) may well turn out to be 2006's biggest avant-folk star, following in the footsteps of devendra banhart and joanna newsom. this is an incredibly beautiful record bringing to mind a collaboration between vashti bunyan and six organs of admittance. this album is seriously melodic and ethereal, a total departure from their last album of jarring haunted improv, cosmic being the word! having exorcized some demons through the release of their last album 'joy shapes', here they have recorded a more melodic song cycle, reminiscent of their earlier albums 'union' and 'market square'. of particular note is the inspiring guitar work tom displays on the 18 minute instrumental 'black bed blues'. with 'a vintage burden', charalambides have delivered their most cosmic and beautiful album to date. the godparents of the whole freak-folk, free-folk, new weird america, whatever scene, charalambides were wandering alone in that arid wilderness when they started recording and releasing their music via cassette in the early 90s. charalambides is where it all started, and where it continues to innovate and evolve.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50436207968587,"sku":"271798","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/17e685cc-cee3-4cb7-b81c-0d7e43e5c9f9_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726913768"},{"product_id":"strangle-the-wretched-heavens","title":"Strangle The Wretched Heavens","description":"\u003cp\u003eFirst time vinyl release of Strangle. LP is pressed on 180-gram vinyl housed in a full color matte jacket (with download) and includes a foldout poster. Formed in 1991, Charalambides has always and will forever be the constant core duo of Tom and Christina Carter. Though music scenes and genre classifications ceaselessly change, this duo has stayed \"wholly-other\" dedicated to a \"vision of spiritual music (in all its forms) as transformative force.\" The sound of Charalambides is beyond unique. Personal and consistent, it moves forward and outwardly in radical shifts and strategies. Strangle The Wretched Heavens...\"We could get lazy and use words like 'spectral' or 'haunting,' but those words open neither ears nor hearts. This music is every bit as supernatural as it is grounded, and what it does, ultimately, is move according to its own internal logic, as our feelings move according to their own internal logic. That is what keeps Charalambides' music relevant, what makes it timeless. It doesn't prey on simple nostalgia or easily defined categories of manufactured emotion. It's proven time and time again that it's neither overly tethered to, nor an escape from, reality.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Drawing Room Records","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50438654624075,"sku":"401915","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/ead91da9-a0ed-4eca-b79e-75f6a695667e_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726946440"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_f48388c5_thumbnail_4096_c9babe31-aeaa-4a8e-9cb3-9a78617ee11e.jpg?v=1726913695","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/charalambides.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}