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Stephen O’Malley
When early twenty-first century music becomes defined it is currently unclear what directions, genres or tropes will be set down in the history books. Experimental music genres seem to fragment themselves into oblivion, fuelled by technologies that enable pretty much anyone to record and distribute, leaving a stockpile of unheard digital files in its wake. But it is, perhaps, safe to cite Stephen O’Malley (SOMA) as one such artist whose repertoire will rise above the current confusion to firmly stand the increasingly difficult test of time.
Lasse-Marc Riek & Roland Etzin
Gruenrekorder is a German based field recording, sound art & soundscape label. The label was formed in 2003 by university friends Lasse-Marc Riek & Roland Etzin, and over the last ten years the pair have released a wide range of quality bound field recordings & sound art releases from all over the world, making Gruenrekorder one of the most known & respected names with-in this field. Lasse & Roland kindly agreed to give M[m] an email interview about the labels past & future.
Sux By Suxwest 3
March 17th was the 3rd Annual Sux by Suxwest Festival in Austin, TX; curated by Jonathan Cash and Austin Noise. Not to be confused with the festival of the same acronym where thousands of hipsters descend upon Austin, but a single day event where noise and power electronics take center stage.
Cory Strand & Altar Of Waste
Minneapolis based Cory Strand is one of the more interesting, creative & sonically varied artists to appear with-in the HNW/Drone scene in the last year or so. Strand is linked to various projects whose sound moves from grey ambience, HNW, doom metal, brutal noise drone retakes on black metal, and beyond. He also runs the excellent and highly prolific Altar Of Waste label, which has amassed nearing sixty releases in less than a year. Cory kindly agreed to take time out from his busy workload to give M[m] an email interview.
Concrete Threat
Concrete Threat were one of the most brutally uncompromising, bleak & darkly themed HNW/ Harsh noise projects to have ever appear from the European underground noise scene. The project started in 2006, and brought together long time Swedish friends Hannes Hellman & Christian Fagerström. The duo released coming on for 30 releases, and became a respected & influential project with-in the HNW/Harsh noise scenes. Sadly the pair decided to call it a day in early 2013, so I caught up with Hannes Hellman for a rare email interview.
Annual International Noise Conference 6th-9th Febr
February 6th-9th was the 10th anniversary of the annual International Noise Conference, A 4-day festival of weird sounds and characters, curated by noise legend Rat Bastard. With over 100 scheduled performers in the main venue along with many others playing on the back patio, during open mic nights, it is impossible to include but a small fraction of what I witnessed during the 3 days I attended. As my first I.N.C. (as either a performer or observer) I wanted to make sure to document some of my experiences. The rules for I.N.C. are pretty straightforward, no laptops and play 15 minutes or less. I’ve attended a few marathon noise shows now, but nothing on this scale. The short sets often gave little respite between aural pummelings, but definitely kept things moving and interesting.
Truchsess
Truchsess is a Canadian based HNW project that has a very thick & distinctive tonal based sound. The project appeared in early 2012 with the release of a full length CDR(Entreaty on Muzikaal Kabaal) & a 3inch CDR(Quisling on Claustrophilia)- both releases presented a very consistent & original sound. Behind the project is German noise artist Michael Toepfer who now resides in Edmonton, AB, Canada, he kindly agreed to give M[m] an email interview.
Aelter & Wolvserpent
One of the my most surprising & unexpected sonic discoveries of last year was the work of Idaho based Blake Green, and his two projects Aelter(solo project) & Wolvserpent( with Brittany McConnell). The two projects mix together droney & mellow doom, moody analogue synth scaping, subtle dark wave/ shoe gazing elements, stark acoustic guitar drifts & the odd heavy doom moments- all to create a very distinctive & original sound that is often highly cinematic & atmospheric. Blake kindly agreed to give me an email interview.
Best Of 2012
2012 was another great year for music & sound in all it’s many genres. Below you’ll find a list of releases that really meant something to our writers over the last 12 months
Various HNW projects
The third edition of the Italian Harsh Noise Wall festival 'Staring at Wall' took place in the new Centro di Cultura Contemporanea di Torino (CCCT, via Bogetto 4/g, Turin, Italy) on 10th of November 2012.
The Extreme Rituals: A Schimpfluch Carnival
The Extreme Rituals: A Schimpfluch Carnival was a retrospective and a celebration of Schimpfluch, a platform created by Rudolf Eb.er in 1987 for extreme and outsider artists and the generation of highly disturbing and irritating audio/visual works. The festival took place between Friday the 30th of November & Sunday 2nd of December at the Arnolfini, Bristol . Our intrepid writer Martin P took it upon himself to be submerged in the sights & sounds of this most unsettling audio/ visual experience.
Arktau Eos
Finland based Arktau Eos create some of the most authentic & chilling ritual/ dark ambient music you’ll have come across. The project has been in operation since 2005, and to date they have released five albums: Mirrorion(2006), Scorpion Milk(2006), Ai Ma Ra (2009), and Unworeldes & Ioh-Maera which have both recently released on Finland's Svart Records. I tracked down this most mysterious & elusive project for an email interview.
Elias C
Sleep Of Ages & Carrion Black Pit are two of the most creative & original noise projects to appear on the world wide scene in the past few years- Sleep Of Ages mixes up: Harsh noise, Melodic yet seared experimental electronica, blown out electro sounding tracking and HNW dwells. And Carrion Black Pit summon up a creative & horror bound take on HNW & ANW. Behind both projects is São Paulo, Brazil based Elias C, and he kindly agreed to give M[m] an email interview.
Mike Harding
It’s hard enough to think of an independent label that has lasted thirty years, yet alone one that has consistently behaved like a curator of modern art, publishing pioneering work that goes far beyond mere entertainment with an uncompromising regard for sound as the equal of any visual or literary medium for artistic expression. From its audio-visual magazines of the early eighties that juxtaposed electronic experiments with what is now known as world music, through the sonic rituals of the post-punk underground, to today’s polyglot parade of rarefied recordings, Touch seems stronger than ever.As its 30th birthday celebrations draw to an imminent close with their biggest event yet in London in early December, Musique Machine chats with co-founder Mike Harding (MH) to try to find out the secrets behind Touch’s peerless (though much imitated) prowess in the fields of music, art and design.
Supersonic Festival 19-22 Oct 2012 [Birmingham, UK
Contrast, without which we cannot perceive the world, is a phenomenon that defies homogenisation, where pleasure is relief from pain, and pain can be a prime for pleasure; where art is opposed to commerce, and the mundane is pushed back, often all too temporarily, by creativity. Capsule, the curators of the annual Supersonic Festival clearly understand this: from the coarse granularity of its urban, industrial environment so strongly set apart from the fallow fields of most other festivals, to the finer details of its handpicked programme of new music, installations, workshops, walks and talks, all deftly juxtaposed across a long weekend, the festival never fails to nurture new connections and rupture old ones.
Peter Cusack
One of the more fascinating & rewarding field recording/ sound art releases to appear this year is Peter Cusack ’s ‘Sounds From Dangerous places’, which brings together two discs worth of recordings from around the world & a 90 page book. Peter Cusack is a British artist, sound artist and musician who now lives in Germany- he has worked as a improvising guitarist, sound archivist, and sound artists since the late 1970’s. Peter kindly agreed to do an email interview with M[m] discussing ‘Sounds From Dangerous places’ project.
Female Harakiri
Female Harakiri is a Japanese HNW project, and it's one of the more elusive, mysterious, and erratic release wise to appear on the world wide wall noise scene. The projects been releasing work since 2007/2008, putting out a hand full of releases on various labels, and pretty much everything they've put out has been of a very high standard. I managed to track down the man behind the project Saigo I, for a rare interview by email.
Pumpkin Buzzard
Pumpkin Buzzard are a Missouri based multi- genre project that create a very one-off, wonky & weird sound. The project has been in existence since around 2003, and they have released 14 albums that brew-up an off-kilter mix of all manner of musical fair from wonky metal to unhinged pop and beyond. The band are extremely secretive, and always appear behind bizarre masks ect, it’s even unclear how many people are really involved with the project. I caught up with one ( or maybe more?) of the members for a rare interview. After my interview you’ll find a primer of the bands past back catalogue, with new reviews & links back to PB titles we’ve already reviewed here at M[m].
Pharaoh Overlord
Pharaoh Overlord is one of the more known off-shoot bands of Circle -the Finish genre shifting krautrock inspired rock band. Since 2001 Pharaoh Overlord have put out 10 full length releases, which have seen the band focus in on a mixture of metallic, stoner, or space rock sonic craft. In 2011 they put out ‘Out Of The Darkness’ the bands tribute to 80’s metal, NWOBM, & cheesy stadium rock. I caught up with Jussi Lehtisalo ( bass player & one of the main minds behind both Circle & Pharaoh Overlord) for an email interview.
Various HNW projects
The 3rd Eyes Behind The Wall fest took place on the 6th of September 2012 at Super Happy Land in Houston Texas. It saw a host of mainly US based HNW projects taking to the stage to offer up their own brutal, distinctive and sometimes quirky take on this most extreme of sonic forms. The fest was once again hosted/organized by Texas noise legend Richard Ramirez, and equally respected noise artist Sean E. Matzus.
Griz+zlor
Griz+zlor is one of the longer running HNW projects around. The project started in 2006, and since then it has released a steady stream of deeply dark ‘n’ bleak walled noise. Sadly early on this year it was announced the project was to finish. Behind Griz+zlor is Philadelphia based Paul Dever, and Paul kindly agreed to do an email interview with M[m] discussing the end of the project, it’s last release “Black summer”, and future projects.
Incapacitants
I don't really know where to start with the introduction of Incapacitants. This Japanese duo, comprised of Toshiji Mikawa and Fumio Kosakai, has been riding the noise scene for more than 30 years, I believe becoming the most widely and sincerely loved noise act in the world. Their sound is pure and brilliant, and it has been a big influence on pretty much everybody who plays any facet of this genre, from power electronics to straight noise. It's safe to say that noise would not be the same without Incapacitants. Roger and myself got together to pose some questions to Toshiji Mikawa via email
Carlton Mellick III
Carlton Mellick III is one of the most known & respected names in the Bizzaro literary genre. He writes trashy squishy child-like novels set in surreal fantasy versions of consumer America, with an emphasis on nightmarish absurdities, punk perversions, and social satire. In only a few short years, his surreal counterculture novels have drawn an international cult following despite the fact that they have been shunned by most libraries and corporate bookstores.. I first came across his work at the start of this year, and I was blown away by his imagination, his love of strange & often disturbing imagery, and his ability to write wild & enchanting fiction that reads quite unlike anyone else. Carlton very kindly agreed to give M[m] an email interview
Utech Records
In the last 8 years, Wisconsin based Utech Records has made a name for itself bringing recognition to avant garde musicians, veterans and new-comers in equal parts. The albums on their roster are daring hybrid of styles which have only rarely seemed so at home together before. One senses the disparate realms of metal, jazz, classical and noise drawing ever closer together. With high quality, distinctive packaging and a commitment to consistency and out-of-the-box thinking in their releases, Utech Records dispels all previous notions of what a small label should be capable of. Label owner/founder Keith Utech was kind enough to grant M[m] an email interview.