New release: Maximilian Torsten - Namoon

Happy Puppy is proud to announce the re-release of a very rare LP from 1972 by unknown German electronic artist Maximilian Torsten.

Originally a privately-pressed vinyl record, Namoon is an ambient and minimalist sonic treat composed of two long songs, split up into movements. Recorded in his basement studio with home-made equipment, Max created the music during late-night sessions from 1970-72 inspired by his heroes Jon Appleton, Tangerine Dream, Silver Apples, early Kraftwerk and White Noise.

Less than 100 copies were made of Namoon, given to friends and family. Due to his extremely introverted nature, he never sent any copies to radio stations, magazine or record stores.

Fast-forward to 2010.... after meeting online in a forum dedicated to early 70s electronic music, Happy Puppy's owner Lee Rosevere shared original music back and forth with Max, introduced him to the world of netlabels. In turn, Max introduced Lee to Max's library of original unreleased albums - all recorded as a hobby - just gathering dust on his shelf.

Luckily, Max still had the original master tapes for Namoon, and thanks to him, we are able to make the remastered album available for free download on its 40th anniversary. It is our hope to bring you more of his music in the future.

new release: Dudley Whitemud sings Aqua's Aquarium

We're big fans of the program Amateur Hour, heard on CKUW out of Winnipeg, hosted by Kent Davies (you should consider a donation to their fine station).

A few months ago, Kent had Joe Stover on his program from Cuif Media, a underground collective of artists from Winnipeg in the late 90s to mid 2000's.

At the end of the show, they played one of the most popular items in the Cuif Media library: Dudley Whitemud Sings Selections From Aqua's Aquarium.

Since Happy Puppy's own Fudge had recorded a cover of "Barbie Girl" in surf style, we know that Aqua were capable of writing some really great melodies that could be heard past the dance-pop production.

So we were very curious to hear this album, featuring acoustic folk-country renditions of Aqua's debut album. After the broadcast, we contacted Kent and Cuif Media to see if we could re-release this album officially.

Big thanks to Kent who puts us in touch with Dudley (aka Brock Unger) and provided us with a copy of the album for release here on Happy Puppy, and also to Brock and Cuif Media for giving us permission. Free download!