ZZP-009 /// FANGE - Poisse

Beware of the Sun ! Fange's first ep "Poisse" is now available on tape. Get ready for +30mn of crushing sludge/noise plus an exclusive 10mn noise track on side B ! Heavy down-tuned riffs blaring from big amps, vicious drum-shagging, good old screams, yells & shouts (in french s'il vous plaît) and abrasives noise/drone sprinkled atop for good measure.

The tape version comes in an over-sized VHS-like case, with laser-printed lyrics insert. 6€, shipping out, limited to 50 copies. Get in touch at contact.zugzwang at gmail.com. Fange features Ben from Huata at the guitar, Baptiste from Brain Pyramid on drums, and myself on vocals and noise. Mixing by Kristian Keyboard Productions and Mastered by Sylvain Biguet.

Happy birthday me + SOON ! /// Reissue of Huata's two tapes.

Zugzwang Productions is now officially one year old ! Thanks to all the artists and people with whom I worked with/sold or traded stuff. Plenty of releases are planned for the months to come, with more retarded packagings. Stay tuned !

Working on the Open The Gates... packaging. My bedroom is a sweatshop. 

I can also announce that the two most famous ZZP releases are being reissued : Huata's Open The Gates Of Shambhala and Atavist Of Mann, both on tape with their original packaging. Listen here (EP and LP) and see pics of the tapes here (EP and LP). Those are still pretty limited so preorder yours now at the shop !

A lot of news.

Dinosaurs are ALWAYS cool. Don't ask.

Hi everyone ! Zugzwang Productions is almost one year old now, and I am very excited to see how things are going for 2012. As the title points out (because that's what titles are for, duh), we have a lot of ZZP related news ! Here's what's coming for the next months :

NEW RELEASES ANNOUNCEMENTS !

Yep, that's plural. More about that in a future post.

HUATA : First, thanks to anyone who bought a tape of Huata - Atavist Of Mann. With only 50 copies, we underestimated the success this album would meet, so the tapes are already sold out ! A reissue of 50 copies is coming soon, PLUS a reissue of 33 copies of their first EP Open The Gates Of Shambhala. Both reissues will be made with their original ZZP packagings. Another color of paper will be used, to help distinguish the two series.

PROUD FATHER : This release is a bit different from the others, as it wasn't me but Proud Father who took charge of the production process. I'm supposed to receive them soon, hopefully at the beginning of march (but you know what happens when I start setting deadlines). For those waiting for this release, be sure that I'll keep you updated.

LOCAL NEWS : ZZP is starting to infect the real world ! For the French lads and ladies living near Angers, France, you can find some of my products at Biblio Graphik, a small shop dedicated to posters, screenprints, alternative books and exposition. At the moment, only ZZP-003 // Resonance Of Spiral - DEVBLU EP and ZZP-004 // Zalhietzli - Sainte Rita are available there, but hopefully I intend to put a small amount of each release. Click the link above for address and contact.

Plenty of good stuff here ! Yummy for the eyes !

Also, on Feb. 10th I had the pleasure to be invited to the radio show Hors Cadre, aired on Radio G, and independent radio from Angers. The show is hosted by Simon Batardière, a very nice guy and great artist, performing with Jérôme Leclair under the moniker JLSB. Saxophone, field recordings, sound manipulations, improvisations.

You can hear the radio show here (in french). We talk about Zugzwang Productions and my solo musical project Zalhietzli. Concerning ZLTZ, I hope to release something for 2012, but I can't tell much more yet.

Stay tuned !

ZZP-006 /// Huata - Atavist Of Mann

This tape is sold out ! Thanks to everyone !

Quiver, mortals ! Quiver, impious ! The End is coming, and Huata is its herald. Accept its Light, or be crushed under the weight of its Doom !

Yes, I know, this is the cheesiest intro ever, but I was tired of starting all my release announcements with "finally".

But yes, FINALLY (dammit), the tapes of Huata long awaited debut Atavist Of Mann are available through Zugzwang Productions. This has been one all of ride with the fifth horseman of the Apocalypse, the one devoted to fuck up your deadlines. But, at last, here they are in my feeble hands, and hopefully soon in yours.

I am also tired of writing endless tirades about Huata music, so I will sum it up for you. Compared to their first EP : more Doom, more Satan, and the addition of a real church organ that brings a whole new dimension to their sound and songwriting. Or you could listen to the whole deal here.

The tape comes in a paper-made "book", with a witchboard. This handmade packaging is the most ambitious to date on ZZP, and the drawing on the witchboard is the work of our friend Zero Pixel Grind, who worked on the previous EP.

Along with the tape version, the album is also released on LP abd CD through De Arte Magica, a consortium of labels.

Here's a video showcasing the packaging, because "a blurry video is better than a thousand blurry pictures"* !

*Yes I know I am quoting myself. Now go away.

Cheap chouchenn all around !

ZZP is (slowly) gaining momentum ! 968 views on the blogspot this month, thanks mainly to the release of Huata's Atavist Of Mann ! From what I could gather, their january tour went smoothly (mainly thanks to some unholy honey-based beverage), and you have probably heard about their recent addition to the line up of Roadburn 2012 ! Hurray for them !

For all those who preordered some Atavist Of Mann tapes, please be patient. I know this release suffered some delay, but hopefully the wait won't be much longer now.

Same goes for Proud Father full length tape. The process of making these tapes has been pretty long and convoluted in both cases.

February should hopefully see the official release of those two albums, and maybe even some additional surprises... Stay tuned !

First news of 2012

It's always like this. You work for months. You plan ahead. But at the end, the planets align and mysteriously but inevitably, every deadlines fall at the same time and you have to finish several projects in a four days span.

This is why in a single post, I can announce that the two impending releases of ZZP will be available before the end of january.


ZZP-005 - PROUD FATHER - Hearu Shi no Proud Father
(The Glorious Death of Proud Father)

Proud Father's longest effort to date : 90mn tape of glimmering soundscapes, noise bursts and shoegazy wall of sound, from the ruins of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Due to the circumstances, the artwork, packaging, and digital version of the album will be probably be unveiled at the release date. Same goes for the pricing.

Proud Father will perform THIS GODDAMN SATURDAY 14th, at the Red House and The White House in New Orleans, LA.

This show will also feature Caddywhompus, B L A C K I E All Caps With Spaces, /fucks/, Habitat and Choi Wolf. More info here.

But more importantly, the first tapes will be available at this show ! Get in a plane ! Go there ! Get 'em !

Also, a first glimpse at the album artwork, made by myself. Hopefully more will be revealed soon.

ZZP-006 - HUATA - Atavist Of Mann

FINALLY, the long awaited first full length of Brittany, France gloomiest doom cult is available ! First, as a digital version via their Bandcamp. Then, the tape version will be carried by the band during their Mannus Millenium Tour in january (Nancy, FR. Tournat, BE. Lille, FR. Mudfest, ND), and soon after through your favorite sonic dope dealer Zugzwang Productions.

The 2xLP edition is still on preorders through De Arte Magica, a label conglomerate (Throatruiner Rcd, Boue Rcd, Odio Sonoro, Mordgrimm and Psychedoomelic Rcd).

As you may have seen during the small series of posts "Playing Peeping Tom", the making of the packaging for the tape edition has been very long, but is now nearing completion. We hope you'll like the result as much as we do ! Here's a last picture before the complete unveiling of this hell of a tape.

And for those wondering, ZZP is already working on other releases. I can't tell you much now, but stay tuned ! 2012 will kick ass !

Episode 2 of Playing Peeping Tom : Huata - Atavist Of Mann.

Episode 2 of our thrilling series "Playing Peeping Tom", where you can enter the creation process of Zugzwang Productions' trademark : customized packaging warfare.

Still working on the tape edition for Huata - Atavist Of Mann, which is probably the most complex design and creation process we made this far. Everything is going smoothly. Boxcutter and double-sided adhesive tape in hands. It should be available before the end of the year, and probably before the release of CD and vinyl version. Hope you'll like the result ! 

We also received the tapes, that we were lucky enough to find in a color that is pretty close the paper we're using. Those will enter homedubbing soon.

Episode 3 will be about the complete unveiling of the packaging. Stay tuned !

Click on the pictures to enlarge. Preorders still open : 5€ (Europe) / $8 (World), including shipping.

Preorders are over ! 6,66€ shipping out ! Visit the SHOP for more ZZP goodness !

The saucepan of Doom.

I had to paste over a thousand of these, so don't give me that look, okay ?

Thining the herd.

The Trimmer.

Hours of fun ahead.

Yay.

Episode 1 Playing Peeping Tom : Huata - Atavist Of Mann.

Hi people, today I have decided to try a little something. From now on, in a series called "Playing Peeping Tom", I'll try my best to document all the process needed in the creation of an album packaging. From the first draft made with cornflakes boxes to the luxurious final product, with all the mind-numbing paper cutting, folding, pasting that goes in-beetween.

Considering that I only have two arms and little to no impulse control, I probably won't be able to take pictures at every step of the production. So expect some gaps in the timeline.

So, to begin with our new series, here's as promised a first glimpse of the packaging for Huata - Atavist Of Mann on tape. This is just a part of the packaging, so expect some more surprises about it. And to make things clear, this is NOT silkscreened, but classic black/white prints. For those who own a Open The Gates..., we went to the same shop, so you know it's good. For those who don't, it's good, believe us.

Step 1 was about cutting and tracing the folding lines in these covers. Step 2 will be about abusing a roll of double-sided tape. Oh, the fun we're having.

Click on the pictures to enlarge. Pre-orders are still open : 5€ (Europe) / $8 (World), including shipping !

Preorders are over ! 6,66€ shipping out ! Visit the SHOP for more ZZP goodness !

SOON! /// Huata - Atavist Of Mann (C70 Cassette)

Second release with the fuzz-zealots of Huata, and this one is a mean baby ! Their first full-length, "Atavist Of Mann", will be available on tape on Zugzwang Productions !

This long awaited magnum opus will be released with an alternate artwork, embodied in a cool, handmade packagings. Limited to 50 copies ! More infos about this packaging soon.

Sonically speaking, Huata crawled their way up from the sewers, leaving behind cohorts of toothless, hysterically laughing tramps and giant cave rats, bathing and hunting in their waste. Their ascencion led them to emerge through the ruins of a collapsed church. Gazing at the sky, all they saw were waves of gleaming steel, vomiting fire on the terrified masses. Slowly, they gathered their instruments, even digging and old organ under the calcinated fragments of a broken cross. And then, began the mass.

And if my prose sucks, you can just listen to "Atavist Of Mann" in its entirety here on how it's about to kick your ass.

Preorders are open ! 5€ (Europe)/$8 (World) including shipping !
Preorders are over ! 6,66€ shipping out ! Visit the SHOP for more ZZP goodness !
Contact me at contact.zugzwang@gmail.com

By the way, the 2xLP vinyl version can also be preordered here.

ZZP-002 /// Huata - Open The Gates Of Shambhala

For its second release, Zugzwang Productions is proud to announce the re-edition of Huata's first EP, "Open the the Gates of Shambhala", on tape !

For the few lost souls who have not heard of the Mighty Huata yet, three words : Doom. Stoner. Satan.

The fantastic inner drawing is the work of the very pious ZeroPixelGrind. May Satan bless his soul.

This release is limited to 66 copies, with a special handmade packaging. Here you can catch a glimpse :

Now I know what you're thinking : "wow, those blurry, low-res close-ups sure aren't that informative about something that is probably fucking awesome, as Zugzwang ALWAYS does awesome stuff (even when he does nothing but slacking off)."

So that's why I decided to do a little demo vid of how that rocket science of a packaging works, as a blurry video is always better than a thousand blurry pictures.



You can get yours at the shop section, but be quick ! There's only a few copies left at my store. You can find more on Huata's blog, and soon at Quagmire, Psychedoomelic, Throatruiner and Boue Records.

Some news ! Huata & Resonance Of Spiral.

Hi there, just to let you know that I'm not dead. Now here are some news :

The release of the "Huata - Open The Gates Of Shambhala" K7 has suffered of some delay. Now I can't give you a precise release date, but I can assure you that we're working on it and we're making our best to make it available as soon as possible. I apologize for this inconvenience to those who preordered the tape, and remind you all that this preorder offer (4€, shipping including all over the world) is still available here.

On another subject, I am really proud to announce our next release :

Resonance Of Spiral - DEVBLU ep

Resonance of Spiral is a japanese two piece band delivering a devastating mix of hardcore and industrial. With only a MPC, a bass, and a vocalist, these guys are the MK ULTRA project in sound.
RxOxS drive their way into your cortex with their insane beats and samples and recondition it with thunderous bass assaults as the screams burn a litany of kill words in your subconscious.

Now you're ready.

This 23mn EP will be released on 100 miniCDs with a special handmade packaging. 30 copies will be available via the band and 70 copies via myself. The release is planned for August, and the preorder will be open a little while before.

SOON! /// Huata - Open The Gates Of Shambhala (K7 Re-ed.)

GUESS WHAT CAME IN THE MAIL LAST FRIDAY ?
That's right, 66 tapes for the next release "Huata - Open The Gates Of Shambhala" on Zugzwang Productions and Quagmire Records. Kudos to Tapeline for their customer support and professionalism.

Brace yourself for half an hour of a super-heavy doom/fuzz/satan combo coming straight from Brittany, France ! Fuzzy, muddy, sticky, fuzzy, stinky, heavy, fuzzy, oh and did I say it's fuzzy ?




First released on CD via Throatruiner Records and now out of stock, this critically acclaimed first effort gets reissued on tape with a very special silkscreened packaging by Headshot Laboratory. More info very soon.

SPECIAL OFFER : preorder for 4€. Shipping included, anywhere in the world !

Huata's next release "Atavist of Mann", on CD and LP, will be available via Throatruiner Records, Duplicate Records, Boue Records, Odio Sonoro and Psychedoomelic Records.