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Naturstudium III is an eleven-track journey in the jagged, unpredictable, and at times uneasy world of Baschet sound sculpture, which utilises elements of metal, glass, and wood- oscillating between instrument and architecture. This is a CD release on Austria’s Kairos Music
RE:Wilding collects together five works from German-based Chinese modern composer Ying Wang. Her work often blends and blurs both formal instrumentation and electronics, as well as different genres, to an often dizzying effect.
Scream Therapy (2023) is a horror comedy written and directed by Cassie Keet in her feature directorial debut, produced by The Knights Young Productions and Treehouse Productions. Five friends, each carrying their own baggage, head to the desert for a weekend of restorative scream therapy after Avery's devastating breakup. What starts as therapeutic bonding quickly spirals into chaos when they cross paths with a misogynistic cult on a pressing human sacrifice deadline.
A Blow for Me, a Toot To You was the first album from this Parliament-Funkadelic spin-off group. Released in the late 70’s, the six-track album served up a very horn-heavy funk/ jazz/soul sound- with, of course, the normal P-Funk vibes and wackness running through it. Here from Ace Records is a recent(ish) CD reissue of the album.
The Angel Guts box is a Blu-Ray set that collects together five films based on the cult/controversial manga of the same name, which follows the sexual trials and tribulations of a female protagonist Nami, who shifts characters over the manga/ films. The films featured date from between the late 70’s and the early 90’s. They all sit in the Roman Porno genre, being originally released on Nikkatsu studios, focusing on troubling sleaze and tragedy, with an often arty/ creative spin. All the films have been given new HD remasters, with commentary tracks, and a small selection of new/ archive extras. The set appears on Third Window Films, who are one of the main labels in the West focusing on releasing Japanese film.
The Nightcomers is a mix of elegant period drama and uneasy psychological thriller- staring Malon Brando and Stephanie Beacham. The early 70’sBritish film blends a lush score, splendid costumes, and elegant countryside locations- with moments of physical & mental cruelty, sinister intentions, murder, and some rather troubling elements- which do sour the film somewhat, though this is a Michael Winner film, and his films have always been problematic. Here from Studiocanal’s Cult Classics is a new release of the film, coming as either a UHD or Blu-ray disc
Spinning Desolus' Dwellers of the Twilight Void without any knowledge of the band, one would think this is a reissue of a thirty-plus-year-old thrash album. However, this is the now four-piece's soon-to-be-released sophomore LP and follow-up to their acclaimed 2024 debut, System Shock. If one's old battle vest and bullet belt could form a band, there's a very good chance it would sound and look like Desolus. And while Dwellers of the Twilight Void may not break any new ground or end nuclear war, it's a fun thirty-six minutes of metal thrashing madness.
The Beast and the Vixens (aka The Beauties and the Beast, and Desperately Seeking Yeti) is a 1974 erotic/ comedy/ bigfoot horror movie from director Ray Nadeau (producer of Snakes, Ride the Hot Wind and The Midnight Graduate), The Beast and the Vixens remains his only directorial effort. The cast includes Jacqueline Giroux (To Live and Die in LA, American Sunset and The Sexcapades of Don Diego), Russ Meyer alumni, Uschi Digard (Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens, Supervixens and Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks), Marius Mazmanian (The Vanishing, Wham Bam Thank You Spaceman and Video Vixens) and Susan Westcott (Drop Out, Blood of Ghastly Horror and Hollywood Babylon)
Black Square finds this Izmir, Türkiye-based project presenting us with a slice of bleakly churning ‘n’ cluttering walled noise. Featured here is a single, around twenty-minute track, which manages to be both void-numbing and low-key choppy.
Tear Of Fire severs up a continuous rolling ‘n’ roasting mass of walled noise from this Polish project. The single ‘wall’ comes in at just under the twenty-minute mark- remaining firm and focused, with its constantly flaming flow throughout.
Nothingdreamer is a Russian wall noise project that focuses all of its releases around spiders. This three-track album is themed around Dolomedes- a species of spiders that live on water. They detect their prey via ripples, running across the surface to subdue using their foremost legs, which are tipped with small claws; then, they inject venom with their hollow chelicerae to kill and digest the prey.
Here’s a new two-track digital album from this respected and talented Cincinnati-based wall noise project. Each track hits around the fifteen-minute mark- the first is a decidedly textural, detailed affair. The second is more of a searing & layered take on the ‘wall form.
This is a good, albeit niche, set from Second Run, with two Blu-ray discs and a booklet with lengthy, in-depth writings on Zimmerman and their works. It’s a lot to take in, but those of you interested in video art, and indeed art itself, will find much here to mull on. The set has a few long films and then smaller pieces, all produced between 2009 and 2023, bound together by the numerous common threads and themes to be found in them.
Visiting Cloud (Two Translations) is a CD release featuring acoustic ensemble takes on two electro-acoustic works by Swedish-Finnish composer Marja Ahti. Each work runs around the twenty-minute mark and is performed by the Florence-based modern ensemble Blutwurst. There is a nice variation in tone/ atmosphere between the two tracks.
Here’s a CD compilation bringing together three scores from 1950’s sci-fi movies, each of which features dialogue/ sound effects from the films, as well as their trailers. So, the release works as a schlocky audio triple bill of glamorous moon women, demented robot monsters, and an invading alien dressed in tight leather.
From 2023, Watch Me Sleep is a mix of often shouty/emotional drama and slow-burning horror. The British film regards a middle-aged/ ex alcoholic taxi driver whose mother dies. And he insists a camera is put in her coffin- to make sure she is truly dead, as he was treated badly/ possible ritual abused by her. Here from Wild Eye Releasing is a recent DVD release of the film.
The Paranormal is a late 90’s SOV supernatural thriller, with light touches of action, humour & horror. It regards a paranormal team investigating an old movie house that has suddenly become haunted. As the SOV genre goes, it’s a well-produced / scoped affair, with a neat/ original plot, some clever effects, and a decent/likeable cast. Here, from Visual Vengeance, resurrectors of long-forgotten VHS fare, is a Blu-ray release of the film.
Twenty years of reflection. Twenty years of introspection. Twenty years of processing. As Yann Novak's Meadowsweet hits its twenty-year anniversary, its new remaster marks a more bittersweet commemoration than the surface celebration would suggest . The original album was recorded in the wake of Yann's mother's passing, a way for him to work through his loss, finding solace in his art and the exploration of sound, meaning, and self. Meadowsweet (Redux) not only marks twenty years of Yann's work, but also of the loss he suffered, making this remaster even more poignant and moving.
Music, like film, is a durational art. In the simplest of terms, something begins, and then it ends, regardless of how formally complex a given work is: this is Inescapable. Plastic arts like painting or sculpture are bound by other limitations. In music, or sound more broadly, what happens between start and stop often works to subvert the unavoidable temporal constraints circumscribed by the act of listening, as Leonie Strecker has done on Chroma: a patchwork of minimalist electronics, abstract but highly textured
First released in the late 1980’s, In Slaughter Of Natives' self-titled debut presented a dense & layered album which brought together elements of death industrial, martial classical, blacked EBM, dark ambience, and general flair for detailed/atmospheric production.
Originally released in the early 90’s, Thunder Perfect Mind was very much a yin/ yang album from long-running sonic surrealist Nurse With Wound. It features just two tracks- one focused on in detailed industrial sounds, and the other on dark ambience with later forays into rhythmic fare. Here on Austria’s Infinite Fog Productions is a two-CD reissue of the album- the first disc takes in the original album, and on the second disc is a 2016 compilation album- Various Industrial Adhesives And Lubricants
No Orchids for Miss Blandish is a 1948 British gangster/ noir movie directed by St. John Leigh Clowes (Grand Prix, Frozen Fate and Things Happen at Night) and based on the 1939 novel of the same name by writer James Hadley Chase. The film stars Jack La Rue (Special Agent, Road to Utopia and Bush Pilot), Hugh McDermott (Devil Girl from Mars, Lilli Marlene and ‘Pimpernel’ Smith), Linden Travers (The Lady Vanishes, Christopher Columbus and The Terror), Walter Crisham (Moulin Rouge 1952, Joe MacBeth and The Beachcomber) and there is even room for a cameo from a young Sid James (Carry on up the Khyber, Carry on Cleo and Carry on at Your Convenience) as a bar tender.
J-pop and J-horror combine in Takashi Shimizu’s return to his horror roots. Having shot to the top table of the genre by masterminding the menace-heavy Ju-On franchise in Japan and the United States, this time, the director spins out the horror from an old cassette tape, which haunts anyone who hears it with a mysterious melody before they vanish.
First released in 2005, Animal Lover was the twenty-fifth album from those avant-pop/ prime sonic experimenters, The Residents. It featured fifteen tracks, been a concept album focusing on the relationship between human beings, industry, and nature. With a sound that mixed uneasy nursery rhymes melodies, off-Broadway musical sinisterness, tolling gamelan percussion with elements of searing to wonkily moody guitars, and off-kilter electronica. From Cherry Red/MVD Audio, here is the next in the 'Preserved Series'- which sees the definitive release of classic Residents albums- that features unreleased/rare bonus tracks and a new remastering.