Friday, December 27, 2019
Thursday, December 26, 2019
VA - (2019) 20 Years Of Experimental Music 10xCD
Fibrr Records – 001
Nantes trio Formanex celebrates 20 years of activism in experimental
music with a 10 CD edition full of amazing collaborations with ONsemble
(contemporary music group from Nantes and Saint-Nazaire) and composers
they have worked with. The box set includes early works by Formanex’s
own Julien Ottavi, unique compositions created by Keith Rowe, pieces by
Kasper T. Toeplitz, Ralf Wehowsky, Seth Cluett, Michael Pisaro, Radu
Malfatti, as well as other giants of contemporary music from the last 50
years; such as Phill Niblock and Christian Wolff.
A rare collection of CDs, this box set represents a broad vision of experimental music from noise to electronic abstract composition, radical minimalism, contemporary and improvised music.
A rare collection of CDs, this box set represents a broad vision of experimental music from noise to electronic abstract composition, radical minimalism, contemporary and improvised music.
S.P.K. - (2008) Dokument III0 1979 - 1983 6xLP
Vinyl-on-demand – 050
SPK was an Australian industrial band formed in 1978 in Sydney by Graeme
Revell and Neil Hill, being one of the earliest, most extreme and most
influential industrial, noise, post-punk art projects. By 1983 the band
was joined by other artists such as Sinan Revell, Brian 'Lustmord'
Williams, John Murphy, Karel Van Bergen, Mike Wilkins, James Pinker.
Without any doubt S.P.K.'s early stage from 78 to first half of 1983 and
its releases such as Information Overload and Leichenschrei can be
considered as ground-breaking and protagonistic for a whole
industrial-music-movement to come.
SPK can be considered as influencial as other Industrial-Super-Groups such as Throbbing Gristle, Clock DVA or Cabaret Voltaire and there is no way to come-around this band when talking about the Industrial-Music-Movement.
Drawn from mixing desk masters, found recordings and studio takes, this Box Set covers the band’s nascent, exploratory phase of grimacing noise and cold, hard rhythms shot thru with chilling samples and the kind of blackened electronics which placed them in the same category as TG, Cabaret Voltaire or Clock DVA, all before band-member Graeme Revill began driving the group toward synth-pop and dance music post-1984.
The 1st disc features the brute, primal jabs and cranky sample textures of Information Overload Unit (1980) and disc 2 compiles their trio of nigh on impossible-to-find punk 7”s Factory / No More / Mekano (1979 - 1981) for a fascinating and very rare run-out.
Disc 3 stars their seminal, nightmarish Leichenschrei (1982) album which really pricked the wider Industrial consciousness upon original release, and appears here alongside a full disc 4 of roiling, spitting, buzzing Backing Tracks for Leichenschrei (1982) exclusive to this compilation.
Also of interest to completists, historians and SPK über fans, disc 5’s Other Studio and Compilation Tracks (1981-1983) reveals some of their choicest, harder-to-find highlights such as the slow, sexy Metal Field alongside straight essentials Another Dark Age and Twilight of The Idols or their US studio recording of The Sickness.
Disc 6 contrasts mixing desk recordings made in London’s Heaven and Electric Ballroom (1982-1983), whilst disc 7 serves a previously unheard haul of backing tracks for those shows including some amazing component parts for Another Dark Age among a brace of skeletal proto-techno and tribal steppers.
SPK can be considered as influencial as other Industrial-Super-Groups such as Throbbing Gristle, Clock DVA or Cabaret Voltaire and there is no way to come-around this band when talking about the Industrial-Music-Movement.
Drawn from mixing desk masters, found recordings and studio takes, this Box Set covers the band’s nascent, exploratory phase of grimacing noise and cold, hard rhythms shot thru with chilling samples and the kind of blackened electronics which placed them in the same category as TG, Cabaret Voltaire or Clock DVA, all before band-member Graeme Revill began driving the group toward synth-pop and dance music post-1984.
The 1st disc features the brute, primal jabs and cranky sample textures of Information Overload Unit (1980) and disc 2 compiles their trio of nigh on impossible-to-find punk 7”s Factory / No More / Mekano (1979 - 1981) for a fascinating and very rare run-out.
Disc 3 stars their seminal, nightmarish Leichenschrei (1982) album which really pricked the wider Industrial consciousness upon original release, and appears here alongside a full disc 4 of roiling, spitting, buzzing Backing Tracks for Leichenschrei (1982) exclusive to this compilation.
Also of interest to completists, historians and SPK über fans, disc 5’s Other Studio and Compilation Tracks (1981-1983) reveals some of their choicest, harder-to-find highlights such as the slow, sexy Metal Field alongside straight essentials Another Dark Age and Twilight of The Idols or their US studio recording of The Sickness.
Disc 6 contrasts mixing desk recordings made in London’s Heaven and Electric Ballroom (1982-1983), whilst disc 7 serves a previously unheard haul of backing tracks for those shows including some amazing component parts for Another Dark Age among a brace of skeletal proto-techno and tribal steppers.
Dome - (2019) 1 LP
Editions Mego – 001
With the demise of the group Wire in 1980, founder members Bruce Gilbert
and Graham Lewis joined forces to create Dome. With the assistance of
engineer Eric Radcliffe and his Blackwing Studio Dome took the ethic of
“using the studio as a compositional tool” and recorded and released
three Dome albums on their own label in the space of 12 months: DOME
(July 1980), DOME 2 (October 1980) and DOME 3 (October 1981). A final
fourth album, WILL YOU SPEAK THIS WORD: DOME IV was released on the
Norwegian Uniton label in May 1983.
These albums represent some of the most beautifuly stark and above all timeless exercises in studio experimentation from early 1980s alternative music scene.
These albums represent some of the most beautifuly stark and above all timeless exercises in studio experimentation from early 1980s alternative music scene.
Dome - (2019) 2 LP
Editions Mego – 12345.2
With the demise of the group Wire in 1980, founder members Bruce Gilbert
and Graham Lewis joined forces to create Dome. With the assistance of
engineer Eric Radcliffe and his Blackwing Studio Dome took the ethic of
“using the studio as a compositional tool” and recorded and released
three Dome albums on their own label in the space of 12 months: DOME
(July 1980), DOME 2 (October 1980) and DOME 3 (October 1981). A final
fourth album, WILL YOU SPEAK THIS WORD: DOME IV was released on the
Norwegian Uniton label in May 1983.
Dome - (2011) 4 Will You Speak This Word LP
Editions Mego – 12345.4
The fourth Dome reissue sees Wire’s Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis
solidify the styles of their first 3 x LPs into a mutant form of folk,
jazz, no wave and avant-songcraft that ranks among the ‘80s most
important experimental recordings.
Again recording with Eric Radcliffe and an early Fairlight-weilding Vince Clarke (THE ’80S) at Blackwing Studios in London - only this time released by Norway’s Uniton label - 1982’s album ‘4’ is just as singular as their first trio, but feels less disjointed, as though they took a few steps back and let the last few years experiments marinate in the mind before returning to their studio-as-instrument.
A big highlight of their catalogue, ’To Speak’ goes first with extended folk fiddle drones and jazzy sax blurts that saddle up around 10 mins in and trek off somewhere between the VU, Peter Zummo and Current 93, while the palate cleansing battery of ‘To walk, To Run’ and unsettling skronk of ‘To Duck, To Dive’ almost sound like abstractions of Scott Walker. ‘This’ is perhaps the trippiest piece here, with Clarke’s Fairlight used to sample and morph Gilbert’s vocals and lay some of the earliest techno roots, while ‘Seven Year’ trades in loopy noise repetition that resonates with earliest Steve Hitchcock records, and ‘Atlas’ could be considered an eldritch echo of The Residents, or a nightmarish Talking Heads piece.
Again recording with Eric Radcliffe and an early Fairlight-weilding Vince Clarke (THE ’80S) at Blackwing Studios in London - only this time released by Norway’s Uniton label - 1982’s album ‘4’ is just as singular as their first trio, but feels less disjointed, as though they took a few steps back and let the last few years experiments marinate in the mind before returning to their studio-as-instrument.
A big highlight of their catalogue, ’To Speak’ goes first with extended folk fiddle drones and jazzy sax blurts that saddle up around 10 mins in and trek off somewhere between the VU, Peter Zummo and Current 93, while the palate cleansing battery of ‘To walk, To Run’ and unsettling skronk of ‘To Duck, To Dive’ almost sound like abstractions of Scott Walker. ‘This’ is perhaps the trippiest piece here, with Clarke’s Fairlight used to sample and morph Gilbert’s vocals and lay some of the earliest techno roots, while ‘Seven Year’ trades in loopy noise repetition that resonates with earliest Steve Hitchcock records, and ‘Atlas’ could be considered an eldritch echo of The Residents, or a nightmarish Talking Heads piece.
Hijokaidan - (2009) The Noise ザ・ノイズ - 30th Anniversary - 1979-2009 30xCD
Released in a sturdy gloss laminated cardboard box (13,5 × 15,0 × 11,5
cm), CDs are housed in triple jewel cases, all 10 jewel cases packaged
in a box together with 32-page b/w booklet, which contains liner notes
in Japanese and English, photos, discography and live events data.
New boxes comes sealed, with info-sheet attached to the back side. Jewel cases sealed with small stickers.
Limited to 500 hand-numbered copies.
All material is previously unreleased, except:
CD 5 which is a the whole 蔵六の奇病 album from 1982. Except for track 3, which is the full-length version.
CD 17 & CD 18 which are disc 3 and 4 from 雑音伝説 (The Neverending Story Of The King Of Noise) box set from 1992.
CD 28, track 5 which is the A-side of the Sleeping Beauty LP from 2002.
Digital remastered, LM Studio 2009.
New boxes comes sealed, with info-sheet attached to the back side. Jewel cases sealed with small stickers.
Limited to 500 hand-numbered copies.
All material is previously unreleased, except:
CD 5 which is a the whole 蔵六の奇病 album from 1982. Except for track 3, which is the full-length version.
CD 17 & CD 18 which are disc 3 and 4 from 雑音伝説 (The Neverending Story Of The King Of Noise) box set from 1992.
CD 28, track 5 which is the A-side of the Sleeping Beauty LP from 2002.
Digital remastered, LM Studio 2009.
The Gerogerigegege - (1994) Hotel Ultra CD
Kubitsuri Tapes – 59-001
One of the twisted giants of Japan's noise scene, Juntaro Yamanouchi's
Gerogerigegege has been working out his particular obsessions with a
flood of releases since his debut in 1985. In Japanese, Gerogerigegege
is onomatopoeia for simultaneously vomiting and expelling diarrhea, and
the sound of Yamanouchi's work often sounds like this played on
instruments or as if it's meant to induce such behavior in the
unprepared listener. Gerogerigegege's releases usually fall into two
categories: noise and senzuri. Noise work is relying on feedback,
processing, and distortion, sometimes using pop culture as a source,
sometimes not. Senzuri work is pieces that include the sounds of a man
masturbating -- all exaggerated moans and groans that last interminably.
Even stranger, Yamanouchi has been able to reproduce both styles live,
with the latter using Gero-30, a man who loves to masturbate in front of
people -- leading to some notorious concerts in the Japanese
underground scene. It's also one of the reasons his work has made it to
the West -- it's everything one could hope for in a Japanese noise band,
something so strange and transgressive that it demands attention.
===============
"another quite interesting release that has nothing ultra about it nor anything to do with a hotel. basically 2 tracks, "original hotel ultra" and "gay hotel ultra" that make absolutely no sense. at almost any given point, there is the sound of a saxophone in the back ground playing nothing in particular. a recording of a gay porno movie is playing (the police officer pulling over the speeding leatherboy type scenario) during the 1st track, along with some moaning and screaming and lots of japanese 70's funk and pop music playing in the background. the reoccuring sounds of various amounts and types of static also show up throughout both songs. some whipping sounds come in as well. fairly interesting production throughout that leaves a rather disorienting feeling to the listener. the 2nd track starts off fairly quietly and gets back into the same groove as the first track, sans the gay porn. the sounds of the sax and the static return along with some more melodramatic classical music that fades out into some electronic fidgetiness that breaks into some super funky santana type funk jam. this lasts for a bit before we are left with nothing more than just the electronic tones, static and that damn saxophone. the sounds of airplanes, a large crowd singing inside of an arena, and a man giving some sort of a speech also bleed in and out of the songs as it progresses. more talking and some piano playing in the background get thrown into the mix. i guess the fact that i do not understand any japanese keeps me from finding the hidden gem that might possibly lie in this mix somewhere. cover and back art are both dark green and red cartoon drawings that are hard to make out. definately an interesting piece, but not a great starting place."
===============
"another quite interesting release that has nothing ultra about it nor anything to do with a hotel. basically 2 tracks, "original hotel ultra" and "gay hotel ultra" that make absolutely no sense. at almost any given point, there is the sound of a saxophone in the back ground playing nothing in particular. a recording of a gay porno movie is playing (the police officer pulling over the speeding leatherboy type scenario) during the 1st track, along with some moaning and screaming and lots of japanese 70's funk and pop music playing in the background. the reoccuring sounds of various amounts and types of static also show up throughout both songs. some whipping sounds come in as well. fairly interesting production throughout that leaves a rather disorienting feeling to the listener. the 2nd track starts off fairly quietly and gets back into the same groove as the first track, sans the gay porn. the sounds of the sax and the static return along with some more melodramatic classical music that fades out into some electronic fidgetiness that breaks into some super funky santana type funk jam. this lasts for a bit before we are left with nothing more than just the electronic tones, static and that damn saxophone. the sounds of airplanes, a large crowd singing inside of an arena, and a man giving some sort of a speech also bleed in and out of the songs as it progresses. more talking and some piano playing in the background get thrown into the mix. i guess the fact that i do not understand any japanese keeps me from finding the hidden gem that might possibly lie in this mix somewhere. cover and back art are both dark green and red cartoon drawings that are hard to make out. definately an interesting piece, but not a great starting place."
Zeta Zeta - (2019) Dream Hotel LP
Blank Editions – 019
Work within our community continues as we wholeheartedly welcome back our friend, neighbour and Housewives associate, zeta zeta
and his new album, Dream Hotel.
After his 2017 Blank Editions debut Bird, Daf Lloyd left his London studio to write a dream diary, experiment with hypnosis and make space (rather than time)-oriented music, before temporarily moving to the Russian forest, where he started the construction of the Dream Hotel. Built over the period of a year, Dream Hotel explores the space experienced in dreams, memories and altered states of consciousness. Dense textures, ethereal tunings and rhythms created with a mix of electronic and analogue instruments guide the listener through deep corridors and reveal doors to hallucinatory environments and other dimensions.
Mastered by Rupert Clervaux, Dream Hotel features stunning cover art and design by Patrick Savile and welcomes a stay from dear friends Ben Vince and Sally Evans whose unique performances lure the unsuspecting guest further into a strange world suspended in broken time. Not a mirage! IT’S REAL.
Eluvium - (2019) Virga I
Temporary Residence Limited – 340
Virga I is the first in a series of ambient albums made from generative
music and long-form loops. Matthew Cooper, who we know as Eluvium, had
begun to play around with long-format looping, evoking patience within
their minimal designs but also searching for other layers of depth. This
is even reflected in the title: Cooper named it Virga after ‘the
drifting of rain we sometimes catch drooping on the horizon,
disappearing before it reaches the ground’.
As such, the music has the feel of older Eluvium music; music that was felt and not overtly composed or thought over. This makes the music relax, and it feels loose; elemental music which, despite the supposed cage that a loop may bring, feels all the more freeing because of its loop. It isn’t shackled to any demands or expectations, but it is chained to slow-motion moments and obscured memories.
Eluvium’s new series enables him to explore emotions and sensitivities, and the music also reflects the period in which it was recorded: during a snowstorm, and in a garage studio, when both he and his wife were forced to move from their home into their garage as they had work done on their house. The music feels comfortable and intimate, as cold as ice but strangely comfortable and cosy, and still lit by the pale embers of the sun.
The album relaxes and is perfect for those long and deep evening hours, with the slow, elegiac quality of Static Nocturne and the melancholy of rainfall. The expansive ambient soundscapes unfold over a long period of time. Like Moby’s recently released Long Ambients 2, the music echoes and resounds with very little movement, but that’s not a bad thing. The world craves instant karma and on-demand access, so patience is indeed a virtue. Perhaps patience is needed now more than ever and in more ways than one. Loops are predictable by nature, and these sounds lull the listener with their repeating mantras. It’s the sound of a dream in suspension, drifting eternally, a weightless returning to the womb. The mesmeric music will pull you under.
As such, the music has the feel of older Eluvium music; music that was felt and not overtly composed or thought over. This makes the music relax, and it feels loose; elemental music which, despite the supposed cage that a loop may bring, feels all the more freeing because of its loop. It isn’t shackled to any demands or expectations, but it is chained to slow-motion moments and obscured memories.
Eluvium’s new series enables him to explore emotions and sensitivities, and the music also reflects the period in which it was recorded: during a snowstorm, and in a garage studio, when both he and his wife were forced to move from their home into their garage as they had work done on their house. The music feels comfortable and intimate, as cold as ice but strangely comfortable and cosy, and still lit by the pale embers of the sun.
The album relaxes and is perfect for those long and deep evening hours, with the slow, elegiac quality of Static Nocturne and the melancholy of rainfall. The expansive ambient soundscapes unfold over a long period of time. Like Moby’s recently released Long Ambients 2, the music echoes and resounds with very little movement, but that’s not a bad thing. The world craves instant karma and on-demand access, so patience is indeed a virtue. Perhaps patience is needed now more than ever and in more ways than one. Loops are predictable by nature, and these sounds lull the listener with their repeating mantras. It’s the sound of a dream in suspension, drifting eternally, a weightless returning to the womb. The mesmeric music will pull you under.
Dome - (2019) 3 LP
Editions Mego – 12345.3
With the demise of the group Wire in 1980, founder members Bruce Gilbert
and Graham Lewis joined forces to create Dome. With the assistance of
engineer Eric Radcliffe and his Blackwing Studio Dome took the ethic of
“using the studio as a compositional tool” and recorded and released
three Dome albums on their own label in the space of 12 months: DOME
(July 1980), DOME 2 (October 1980) and DOME 3 (October 1981). A final
fourth album, WILL YOU SPEAK THIS WORD: DOME IV was released on the
Norwegian Uniton label in May 1983.
These albums represent some of the most beautifuly stark and above all timeless exercises in studio experimentation from early 1980s alternative music scene.
These albums represent some of the most beautifuly stark and above all timeless exercises in studio experimentation from early 1980s alternative music scene.
Hogg - (2016) Solar Phallic Lion 12''
SCRAPES – 003
Hot band alert! Hogg are stationed in Chicago, although I think they may
have moved from Atlanta or something, as gross semi-drifter noise crews
are wont to do (sick of Baltimore? move to Oakland for a few months!).
Anyway, they’re one of my new faves, as this five-track 12″ EP is
hitting all the right notes. I can’t help but think of the early heyday
of San Francisco’s damaged art-punk scene circa 1982 when I listen to
Hogg; they’ve got a strong Live At Target vibe, combining the best
elements of Nervous Gender, Factrix and Flipper, where punk rock became
so slow, evil and drugged that keyboards, rhythm boxes and effects
replaced the guitars. Of course, the bassist was allowed to stay, so
long as they stick to repetitive, lugubrious melodies, which naturally
Hogg do. There’s a bit of inherent awareness of the Hanson Records /
Wolf Eyes scene, but Hogg strike me as more of a “band” than a noise
project; closer to Throbbing Gristle than Panicsville, let’s say (the
latter of whom released their debut cassette in 2015, pressed to vinyl
earlier this year). They really nail that “legit” creepy feel in a
German Shepherds way (see the disturbing “I’m Henry The VIII, I
Am”-sampling “Conform Or Die”), and I still can’t tell if the group is a
duo or the full crew of post-apocalypse freaks photographed for the
insert. No matter who is in the band, I’d happily join their garbage
fire under a bridge any day of the week!
Special Friend - (2019) ST LP
Howlin' Banana Records – 061
Special Friend is a French-American pop lo-fi duo, composed of Guillaume
Siracusa on guitar and Erica Ashleson on drums. They began recording
and mixing songs themselves in a studio in Montreuil, then a year later,
the duo is about to release their first EP.
Stumpwater - (2019) Motel in Saginaw LP
Drag City – 739
Until now, thee secret pride of Aurora Illinois only had one blissfully
stoney single to represent —1976's "Watcher's Brawl" b/w "White Washed
Afternoons" 7" single. Now comes the unreleased opus, a song-cycle
straight out of the early seventies, examining the lives of their fellow
man with CSN-levels of compassion and dispassion.
Osees - (2019) The 12'' Synth LP
Castle Face – 122
Both cuts are ambient and mechanical in nature with tasteful
fluctuations throughout. Overall feeling is spacey and ethereal which is
to be expected for a band that often produces awesome spaces to
explore. If you enjoy this you should try the more recent departures
from the typical album format like Dead Medic, or Clearly Invisible. Cindy Lee - (2020) What's Tonight To Eternity
W.25TH – none
For Patrick Flegel, Cindy Lee is more than just a recording music project. It is the culmination of a lifelong exploration of art, the electric guitar, queer identity and gender expression. "Singers like Patsy Cline and The Supremes carried me through the hardest times of my life," explains Flegel, "and also provided the soundtrack to the best times."
Following the dissolution of Canadian experimental indie band Women, Flegel would delve deeper into songwriting that bends further toward high atmospherics and bracing melodies – a unique space where splendor naturally collides with experimentation. Delivering moments of sheer beauty through somber reflections on longing and loneliness, Cindy Lee is something to hold onto in a world of disorder.
What's Tonight To Eternity, Cindy Lee's fifth long-form offering, showcases the project's most entrancing strengths: ethereal snowdrift pop and sly nods toward classic girl-group motifs. Recorded at Flegel's Realistik Studios in Toronto and featuring younger brother Andrew Flegel on drums, the album travels hand in hand with a spectral guide.
Flegel found inspiration for Cindy Lee in the form of Karen Carpenter, drawing on the singer / drummer's early recordings as well as her look and style. "I found a deep interest and comfort in Karen's story, which is a cautionary tale about the monstrosity of show business, stardom at a young age and being a misfit looking for connection. The darkness and victimizing tabloid sensationalism she suffered is easily tempered and overwhelmed by her earnest output, her artistry, her tireless work ethic. Something utterly unique and magical takes shape in the negative space, out of exclusion. What I relate to in her has to do with what is hidden, what is unknown."
What's Tonight To Eternity remains a mix of pop culture indoctrination, pain and suffering, hopes and dreams, fierce confrontations and wide-open confessional blurs. Closing with the song "Heavy Metal" (dedicated to the memory of former Women bandmate Chris Reimer) and adorned by Andrea Lukic's Journal of Smack artwork, the album continues the bold and rewarding path on which Cindy Lee has embarked.
The Liminanas - (2019) Le bel été
Because Music – 565
Taken from the movie ‘Le Bel Été’, written and directed by Pierre
Creton, this new album from The Limińanas is the first OST written by
Lionel Limińanas. The main theme ‘One Blood Circle’ features French pop
legend Etienne Daho.
Lionel Limińana about writing this soundtrack: “We met Pierre during the Shadow People tour, he came to the concert and wrote to us asking for music for his film “Le Bel Été”. Pierre sent me the script. I thought I didn’t have time to work because of the tour but I took a three-day break to give it a try. I wrote a theme and then two, three…… I had a work base and I was able to continue at the hotel or in the band’s van, which explains why the music is very electronic. I invited Ivan Telefunken, Pascal Comelade’s Catalan guitarist, to play on some melodies. When we arrived in St Malo for La Route du Rock festival we met Etienne Daho with whom we had wanted to work for a long time. We played the script to Etienne and the demo of “One Blood Circle”, the main theme of ” Le Bel Été”. Etienne worked on the text and quickly returned to the studio in Paris to record his voice and choirs. The O.S.T. was done.”
Lionel Limińana about writing this soundtrack: “We met Pierre during the Shadow People tour, he came to the concert and wrote to us asking for music for his film “Le Bel Été”. Pierre sent me the script. I thought I didn’t have time to work because of the tour but I took a three-day break to give it a try. I wrote a theme and then two, three…… I had a work base and I was able to continue at the hotel or in the band’s van, which explains why the music is very electronic. I invited Ivan Telefunken, Pascal Comelade’s Catalan guitarist, to play on some melodies. When we arrived in St Malo for La Route du Rock festival we met Etienne Daho with whom we had wanted to work for a long time. We played the script to Etienne and the demo of “One Blood Circle”, the main theme of ” Le Bel Été”. Etienne worked on the text and quickly returned to the studio in Paris to record his voice and choirs. The O.S.T. was done.”
The Kiwi Animal - (1984) Music Media LP
Massage Records – 002
Digital Regress's foray into the fabled NZ underground hops over to the
North Island for two exquisite pieces of acoustic DIY and shadowy,
cracked pastoralia.
After a few years spleen venting at the front of Wellington art brutes Shoes This High, Brent Hayward struck out on his own, self-releasing a few EPs as Smelly Feet before forming The Kiwi Animal with Julie Cooper in 1982. The duo released their first album, Music Media, on Massage Records (their own imprint) in 1984.
Billing itself "New Acoustic Music," the Kiwi Animal's debut is a set of introverted and austere yet lambent folk songs. Textural, gently hypnotic guitar chords anchor minimal arrangements, as Hayward and Cooper's entwined vocals – think Pip Proud meets The Vaselines - project paranoia and forlorn, diffident cool. Wry, imagistic lyrics somewhere between the stoned political economy of D. Boon and the head-fuck soliloquies of Robert Ashley complete The Kiwi Animal effect.
The music of The Kiwi Animal, moody and intelligent and often abruptly gentle, works subcutaneously, propelled by guitars that churn and weave – no jangle here – and a his 'n' hers vocal delivery for the ages. Digital Regress is happy to make these essentially perfect records available again.
After a few years spleen venting at the front of Wellington art brutes Shoes This High, Brent Hayward struck out on his own, self-releasing a few EPs as Smelly Feet before forming The Kiwi Animal with Julie Cooper in 1982. The duo released their first album, Music Media, on Massage Records (their own imprint) in 1984.
Billing itself "New Acoustic Music," the Kiwi Animal's debut is a set of introverted and austere yet lambent folk songs. Textural, gently hypnotic guitar chords anchor minimal arrangements, as Hayward and Cooper's entwined vocals – think Pip Proud meets The Vaselines - project paranoia and forlorn, diffident cool. Wry, imagistic lyrics somewhere between the stoned political economy of D. Boon and the head-fuck soliloquies of Robert Ashley complete The Kiwi Animal effect.
The music of The Kiwi Animal, moody and intelligent and often abruptly gentle, works subcutaneously, propelled by guitars that churn and weave – no jangle here – and a his 'n' hers vocal delivery for the ages. Digital Regress is happy to make these essentially perfect records available again.
Grim - (2019) Factory Ritual
Tesco Organisation – 133
The post-industrial music pioneer from Japan surprises once again with
simplistic purity in noise and sound. field recordings, junk noise and
rhythms, organs and distinctive vocals – a mixture towards another great
GRIM experience.
Grim - (2019) Lunatic House
Steinklang Industries – 120
Jun Konagaya’s music—both the material released under his own name as
well as his long-running output as Grim—has been an important part of my
life for a long time, from my initial discovery of his debut Folk Music
to falling in love with 2015’s Maha to the release of Memento Mori a
few years ago. Throughout his eclectic, multitude work, there are
recurring motifs that appear again and again, and Konagaya cements his
singular style with a distinctive way of integrating melody into
crushing abrasiveness; these elements are so recognizable that it’s
always immediately clear it’s him (there’s even a consistent organ
melody that repeatedly crops up and links different releases together).
The opening moments of Lunatic House are so distinctly Konagaya that it
brought a smile to my face. I haven’t been able to get ahold of the tape
that preceded this release, Body, but Lunatic House is a fascinatingly
diverse and unique progression from the artist’s recent output, melding
Grim’s dual faith to beauty and aggression into a more cohesive style
than ever before. Sublime, soothing guitar strumming is overcome by
cycling waves of distortion assaults on “Luna,” music-box like reversed
notes evolve into a seething rumble on “Tarantula,” and on “Voodoo
Drive” a meditative field recording of a humanity-filled public place
gives way to one of the most consuming and terrifying amalgams of sound
I’ve ever heard, a restless mass of tortured, throat-tearing yells and
crushing noise. Lunatic House is a new favorite from Jun Konagaya’s
excellent discography, and with a classic, tear-jerking closing track
that makes me recall every bittersweet lonely night I’ve spent with
Travel or Love Song, definitely made my day.
Schloss Tegal - (2019) Psychometry
La Esencia – 023
Normally, when we use the word ‘haunted’ as a descriptor it often
applies to a place like a house or a mansion. In the case of Czech
outfit Schloss Tegal, and which is especially apparent on this, their
latest LP release, ‘haunted’ feels as if it refers not to a physical
thing, but to an inner state of mind. It’s a deep dive into an interior
world where everything is out of balance, where madness and neurosis
have physically manifested, and malign atavistic entities have
infiltrated the deepest parts of the consciousness and subverted the
normal processes of mental cognition to affect behavioural patterns.
We all live in fear, to one degree or another, of one day becoming lost to ourselves, or losing any kind of connection to the ‘real’ world. The veil separating madness and sanity is thin, and here it appears that that veil has become even more insubstantial, as if a mere touch of a metaphorical finger will tear it down. Using the edged weapons of sustained blankets of bass graininess and rumblings, frigid far off whistlings and deceptively quiet winds blowing from distant mountains and ridges (and which are sometimes accompanied by strangely distorted utterings that appear to emerge from some other dimension), Schloss Tegal set the unsettlement meter reading to 11 – it’s a deeply dark, alien, and desolate environment, a perfect place for paranoia, anxiety, and psychosis to be seeded and take root. It’s inhabited by entities inimical to sanity and order, to reason and logic, and their only purpose is to bend perceptions toward a world seen through a dark prism.
Terror does not need to broadcast itself loudly; all it has to do is to find a way to get under your skin and bury itself deep within, by deception if necessary. That’s exactly what Psychometry does: superficially at least, these sometimes gentle swathes of sound lull one into a false sense of equilibrium, only for an unsettling industrial grind to emerge out of the blizzard and drill into the skin and thence to our consciousness. This isn’t just noise for noise’s sake; this is narrative through sonic manipulation, twisting perceptions and expectations as its hold becomes deeper and stronger. It takes us to places most of us fear to tread or at the very least try not to think about. And, despite the negative connotations I have gleaned from listening to it, it’s a magnificent and beautiful record, one that deserves to be in every dark ambient fan’s collection.
We all live in fear, to one degree or another, of one day becoming lost to ourselves, or losing any kind of connection to the ‘real’ world. The veil separating madness and sanity is thin, and here it appears that that veil has become even more insubstantial, as if a mere touch of a metaphorical finger will tear it down. Using the edged weapons of sustained blankets of bass graininess and rumblings, frigid far off whistlings and deceptively quiet winds blowing from distant mountains and ridges (and which are sometimes accompanied by strangely distorted utterings that appear to emerge from some other dimension), Schloss Tegal set the unsettlement meter reading to 11 – it’s a deeply dark, alien, and desolate environment, a perfect place for paranoia, anxiety, and psychosis to be seeded and take root. It’s inhabited by entities inimical to sanity and order, to reason and logic, and their only purpose is to bend perceptions toward a world seen through a dark prism.
Terror does not need to broadcast itself loudly; all it has to do is to find a way to get under your skin and bury itself deep within, by deception if necessary. That’s exactly what Psychometry does: superficially at least, these sometimes gentle swathes of sound lull one into a false sense of equilibrium, only for an unsettling industrial grind to emerge out of the blizzard and drill into the skin and thence to our consciousness. This isn’t just noise for noise’s sake; this is narrative through sonic manipulation, twisting perceptions and expectations as its hold becomes deeper and stronger. It takes us to places most of us fear to tread or at the very least try not to think about. And, despite the negative connotations I have gleaned from listening to it, it’s a magnificent and beautiful record, one that deserves to be in every dark ambient fan’s collection.
Sewer Election - (2017) Malign
iDEAL Recordings – 156
Swedish noise agitator Dan Johannsson bothers his good pals at iDEAL
with a brilliant new LP following his Aska split album with Puce Mary in
2013. Malign by nature and intent, his overdue return to Joachim
Nordwall’s label is a sorely strung out and decayed thing, a dank space
hankering to be inhabited by listeners who want or need to be pushed
into uncomfortable headspaces. If you're into anything from Jandek to
Wolf Eyes to The Caretaker - this one's for you.
Malign trades in a sense of depression and negativity that draws strength from the vacuum behind hope, vacillating forlorn, Loren Connors-like guitar melodies and rubbled shellac samples that recall The Caretaker with passages of fierce distortion and slurried atmospheric textures that project hellish images of waterboarding and abject terror on the mind.
The guitar pieces are almost Jandek-like in their awkwardness, often morphing mid sentence into the kind of shuddering knots that Aaron Dilloway would be proud of, steadily toeing away hope in favour of full depressive immersion and feelings from the brink.
Ultimately, though, the record wouldn’t be so convincing without its severe sense of sincerity, honestly conveying that pall of darkness without any ironic distance. It’s a proper downer in the best way.
Malign trades in a sense of depression and negativity that draws strength from the vacuum behind hope, vacillating forlorn, Loren Connors-like guitar melodies and rubbled shellac samples that recall The Caretaker with passages of fierce distortion and slurried atmospheric textures that project hellish images of waterboarding and abject terror on the mind.
The guitar pieces are almost Jandek-like in their awkwardness, often morphing mid sentence into the kind of shuddering knots that Aaron Dilloway would be proud of, steadily toeing away hope in favour of full depressive immersion and feelings from the brink.
Ultimately, though, the record wouldn’t be so convincing without its severe sense of sincerity, honestly conveying that pall of darkness without any ironic distance. It’s a proper downer in the best way.
Sissy Spacek / Smegma - (2019) Ballast
Helicopter – 088
Ace Farren Ford, Dennis Duck, and Ju Suk Reet Meate (three original
members) are joined by Rock ’N’ Roll Jackie (35 years in the band), John
Wiese (approximately 10 years), and a cast of others form the current
third phase Smegma. Personnel of this album, “Ballast”, consists of this
line-up plus Charlie Mumma, a member of Sissy Spacek since 2008.
The source material of “Ballast” was recorded at home and on the Los Angeles radio station Dublab, but what we hear is not exactly Smegma and Sissy Spacek performing together as a live group. Wiese’s production of the recording is a kind of un-doing of the live group playing, forging it into a new collage of sound. It reminds us of genome editing which results in diversity, and sometimes in mutation, of organisms.
The title of the album, “Ballast”, refers to a weight on a ship which improves it’s stability, but it is also a term for an electrical component that regulates electricity so as to not destroy the other components. It’s double meaning fits between the cover art and the collage process which is constantly partitioning and interrupting the elements of sound.
The source material of “Ballast” was recorded at home and on the Los Angeles radio station Dublab, but what we hear is not exactly Smegma and Sissy Spacek performing together as a live group. Wiese’s production of the recording is a kind of un-doing of the live group playing, forging it into a new collage of sound. It reminds us of genome editing which results in diversity, and sometimes in mutation, of organisms.
The title of the album, “Ballast”, refers to a weight on a ship which improves it’s stability, but it is also a term for an electrical component that regulates electricity so as to not destroy the other components. It’s double meaning fits between the cover art and the collage process which is constantly partitioning and interrupting the elements of sound.
VA - (2018) Punk From Medellin, Colombia 1987-92 CS
Not On Label – none
There are moments in which art perfectly reflects the surroundings in
which it was born. This is the case of the entire hc/punk/metal scene in
late 80s/early 90s of Medellin. It was, at the time, the most violent
city in the world because of drug cartels, corruption, oppression and
poverty. This violence was the reality of daily life and is reflected in
the music that flourished in Medellin during the time period. It is
some of the most authentically violent, aggressive, noisy, raw and
abrasive hc/punk/metal to ever exist. This tape is a sonic snapshot of
those times, featuring 27 songs by 16 bands in 1 hour.
VA - (2011) Life In The Future: Swedish Post-Punk & Synth Wave 79-87 LP
Not On Label – none
Tracklist
A1 –Hörförståelse Förläst Jävel
A2 –GPJ Tristess No. 3
A3 –Kitchen & The Plastic Spoons Happy Funeral
A4 –Modern Art Envy
A5 –Cortex Jesus I Betong
A6 –Njurmännen Chinese Junkies
A7 –Odd Stories Dance
A8 –Mats Olofsson Rekordmagasinet
B1 –Reason To Live The Gift
B2 –Friz Be I Throw Punches
B3 –Unter Den Linden Vända Inåt
B4 –Vitality East People
B5 –Elektriska Cellskapet She's A Waitress
B6 –Tres Operator
A1 –Hörförståelse Förläst Jävel
A2 –GPJ Tristess No. 3
A3 –Kitchen & The Plastic Spoons Happy Funeral
A4 –Modern Art Envy
A5 –Cortex Jesus I Betong
A6 –Njurmännen Chinese Junkies
A7 –Odd Stories Dance
A8 –Mats Olofsson Rekordmagasinet
B1 –Reason To Live The Gift
B2 –Friz Be I Throw Punches
B3 –Unter Den Linden Vända Inåt
B4 –Vitality East People
B5 –Elektriska Cellskapet She's A Waitress
B6 –Tres Operator
"Life in the Future compiles 12 rare singles (and 2 album tracks) from
the golden era of Swedish synth and post punk. From the DIY madness of
Horforstaelse to minimal classics by Reason to Live and Friz Be, via the
dark post punk of Cortex and Unter Den Linden, LITF only scrapes the
surface yet paints a complete picture of the countrys fertile scene. 500
copies on white vinyl, with screened covers and insert." Highly
recommended!
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