This compilation, themed around pessimism and nihilism, arrives courtesy of Cioran Records, named after Emil Cioran, the Romanian philosopher of pessimism and nihilism. It features ten tracks, amounting to 72 minutes of music. These sounds draw on harsh noise wall, power electronics, harsh noise, and more droney-y soundscape-esque elements, and the album is predominantly, decidedly noisy - even the power electronics contributions are based around scourging, blown-out noise rather than, say, synth loops. The tracks come from a mixed bag of names new to me and projects more widely known - most notably Vomir.

Bandaged Invisibility is a new release from highly respected and influential noise/ wall-noise legend The Rita, aka Canada’s Sam McKinlay. It’s a double C30 tape set, which comes presented in a classy/ deluxe laser-cut wooden box. Sonically the sound here finds McKinlay offering up several fifteen examples of wonderfully crafted textured noise-craft, as only he can.

Cinderella is a late 70’s softcore, musical, and bawdy-to-bumbling comedy take on the classic fairy tale. It’s a mellow, lightly romping, and groovy ride of a film- with not bad production standards, costumes, and presentation for an adult parody/ send-up. Here from Full Moon Features is a region free & bare-bones release of the film.

Πάθει μάθος (English translation He learned a lesson) is a disorientating and at points downright strange mixture of audibly set-back black metal, elegant piano playing, ambience, crude PE/ noisemaking, and felt, if at points off-kilter mood music- all fed through a prism of recording hiss & subtle noise hazes.

From the early 1970s Connecting Rooms is an unpredictable and often compelling drama/ character study featuring two acting legends in their later years- Bette Davis and Michael Redgrave. The film is set in and around a London boarding house, focusing on the lives of its occupants. Here from Powerhouse Films is a Blu Ray release of the film- taking in a new 4k scan of the picture, an inlay booklet with new writing on the film, and a selection of interesting archive extras.

Best known for his forty years working with Einstürzende Neubauten, Alexander Hacke originally released experimental, avant-garde music under the pseudonym Alexander von Borsig. His first two cassettes, 12" EP, and compilation contributions have been compiled by Mauerstadtmusik and released for the whole world to enjoy. What does the early work of the "musical director of [Einstürzende Neubauten]" sound like and how has it sat so long without being re-released?