Inspired by the grassroots ethics he learned as a kid in his local hardcore punk scene, New Haven, Connecticut resident Stefan Christensen started C/Site Recordings in 2016. Across almost 40 releases, he has highlighted both the closely knit experimental music scene in his town as well as artists such as the bombastic Australian duo xNo BBQx and the homespun hiss ’n’ drone of New Zealand’s Claypipe. “I release music from a varied spectrum of sounds,” says Christensen. “Most of it has an experimental nature to it, but more than that, it has a DIY nature to it. That is what draws me to it and connects the music together.”

Claypipe
“Colours, Dreams And Food”
From Sky Wells (2021)

Seven years since their first real-deal vinyl full-length A Daylight Blessing, the long-running New Zealand duo Claypipe made up of Anthony Milton and Clayton Noone emerge from the shadows with another arsenal of eerily intimate tunes. In the tradition of This Kind Of Punishment and other purveyors of gloomy bedroom rock from their country, Milton and Noone create a sombre aura from basic ingredients. Distant voices bounce around the background of “Colours, Dreams And Food” as the twosome’s deadpan doubled-up vocals and barely touched guitars evoke a hypnotic state – the kind that commands you to draw the blinds and stare blankly into the ceiling for the duration of the night.

Shirese
“Admiral Fission”
From Three Going On Four (2020)

The cover of this New Haven sextet’s vinyl debut resembles the type of privately pressed gem a bunch of crazy, backwater hippies would have released 50 years ago, and the music contained on it certainly exudes that same vibe. At its start, “Admiral Fission” is the type of lazy sunny day soundtrack custom-made for spreading out and lying back in the grass. That is until it segues into a string of random clicks and clunks and strengthens into an aggressive psychedelic jam with guitar flourishes reminiscent of Quicksilver Messenger Service’s John Cipollina.

Secret Treaties
“New Haven 6/3/16”
From Secret Treaties (2016)

Named after the third album by heavy art rockers Blue Öyster Cult, the guitar duo of Christensen and Mountain Movers member Kryssi Battalene project an impenetrable squall of feedback on “New Haven 6/3/16”. Throughout the 15 minute piece, Christensen and Battalene build layers upon layers of skronk into a dense roar that gradually simmers into a still fog of feedback; a perfect place to gather your bearings before the track’s sharp and sudden ending.

Alexander
“II”
From The Pale Light Over The Dark Hills (2019)

As a guitarist in the beer-soaked basement rock ensemble Headroom, David Alexander Shapiro provides the ample amount of fuzz needed to make the comparisons the group get to Crazy Horse seem worthy. Under the use of his middle name, Shapiro shuts off the amp and plays acoustic in the rambling, yet highly orchestrated manner of John Fahey, Harry Taussig and others signed to Fahey’s Takoma label. Although “II” is anchored by a series of bright and looping runs, there seems to be something dark and foreboding looming at its edges. It is these contrasting elements which make Alexander stick out from the continuous crop of Fahey-inspired guitarists the underground has to offer.

Stefan Christensen
“Commute”
From Nobody Knows This Is Somewhere (2020)

With last year’s compilation Nobody Knows This Is Somewhere, Christensen gathered up artists from his town of New Haven to showcase what outlandish sounds the locale has to offer. Christensen’s own submission to the album appears at first to be a blurry collage of radio broadcasts backed by randomly plunked strings until it bursts into a bracing and blustery collision of stuttering drums and shimmering down strokes from his guitar.

Ron Jon’s Surf Shop
“Every Deep Dream”
From Goop Scoops (2020)

As members of the shoegaze unit Landing, Aaron Snow and John Miller create blissful sounds that have the potential to reach a wider audience, but their side-project Ron Jon’s Surf Shop might be a harder sell to the common folk. Titling their project after a well-known and obnoxiously huge three-storey surf shop located on the New Jersey Shore, Snow and Miller seem sharply focused in the slow-motion soundscapes they create from guitar and electronics. Opening with a blaring drone, the duo never falter from their path of meticulously building “Every Little Dream” into an elongated, space-age pop song à la Cluster or Neu!.

Read more about C/Site Recordings in Tony Rettman's Unlimited Editions article inside The Wire 452. Wire subscribers can also read the feature via the magazine archive.