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From the early 1980s The Return of Captain Invincible is a wacky and charming superhero parody, that aptly and largely evenly blends comedy, action, musical, and satire. The film features Alan Arkin as a gone-off-the rail’s superhero, and Christopher Lee wonderfully hamming it up as evil mastermind Mr Midnight- with a good selection of Australian supporting cast. Here from the guys at Severin is a deluxe three-disc release of this lesser-seen/lesser-known superhero pictures- with the set taking in two Blu-Rays featuring two cuts of the film/ host of extras, and a CD taking in the film's soundtrack
Perverts In White Shirts is a duo hailing from Zürich, Switzerland and consists of Dave Phillips and Nathalie Dreier. I’ve been aware of David Phillips for many years, initially from his metal and noisecore days with Messiah and Fear Of God respectively, and then from his experimental works since the middle 80s; a prolific and radical artist. Nathalie Dreier on the other hand contributed vocals on two of David Phillip's previous albums 2012’s Abgrund and 2016’s Selective Memory / Perception, as well as visual art in four other releases. On top of that, Misanthropic Agenda constantly delivers amazing releases, so I was positively adjusted, even before listening.
Nils Økland is a Norwegian Hardanger fiddle player, and the brother of Torbjørn Økland of the Norwegian folk/rock band Vamp, who just so happens to play trumpet and mandolin on the album. The Hardanger fiddle is similar to a violin, although it has 8 or 9 strings, 4 of which are plucked or bowed whilst the others resonate under their influence, thus giving it its unique sound.
Thin Ice is the twelfth solo album from respected and creative California noise maker Jason Crumer. It’s a ten-track affair, available as either a CD or c68 cassette, and it finds Mr Crumer utilizing the sonic polar opposite of noise and ambience in such an inspired, skilful, and at points highly memorable/ affecting manner.
Propan are an Oslo-based female vocal duo, and Swagger is the pair’s third full-length release. And it’s fair to say it’s a genre and mood darting ride, that moves from the alienly playful, onto the groovy and manic, through to lushly to eerily ambient.
Avalanche is a recent two-track affair from Cincinnati-based wall noise project Whore’s Breath. Featured here are two twenty-minute examples of the HNW form- both are taut 'n' battering baying in their tense/ greyly unrelating attack.
Here’s a CDR split that focuses on the more ambiently brooding/ slowing building side of the noise genre. Both parties offering up an around eighteen to nineteen-minute track a piece, with each having their own sound- but working well together as a rewarding/ worthy split.
Sonic poststructuralists Matmos (M.C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel) have returned with Regards/ Ukłony dla Bogusław Schaeffer, an album featuring reworked material culled from the archive of late Polish composer and experimentalist, Bogusław Schaeffer (to whom the release is dedicated).
Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle is a 2021 adventure/ war film from French actor/ writer/ director Arthur Harari. Onoda is only his second feature-length release, following on from his debut feature, Dark Diamond in 2016 as well as a handful of short films back in his native France, however, Onoda has thus far been well received by fans and critics alike, yet remains a little off the radar of the vast majority of cinema fans.
Occlusion is a French wall noise project who have a rather original/ if a rather stomach-churning theme to all of their release, and that is medical operations. With each of their releases featuring a still from( what I’m presuming are) real operations. 56(21 juin) is a digital self-released affair, which features a single twenty-one-minute example of spluttering ‘n’ sucking wall-craft, which prefect fit its theme.
From the late 1980s, The Edge of Sanity is a mash-up between two Victorian horrors- one fictional & one real. It blends together the classic gothic tale Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and the still-unsolved 1888 serial killer case Jake the Ripper. The film features Psycho’s Anthony Perkins, as the switching between a mild-mannered Dr and depraved killer- it's a blend of period drama/ mystery and sleazily-edged horror. Here from Arrow Video, both in the UK and stateside, is a new blu ray release of the film, featuring a new 2k scan of the picture, a new commentary track, and a few extras.
Aliens, Clowns & Geeks is a wacky ‘n’ deranged pulp sci-fi fantasy comic made into a live-action-comedy film. It’s based in Hollywood's present-day, though it has more than a few retro/ noir touches. It follows a luckless outwork actor, who becomes aware of a secret invasion by aliens and clowns from out of space- who are after an Intergalactic key to the universe, which has been secretly placed up his backside. Here from MVD Visual/ Elfmaniac Media is a region-free release of the film, with a few extras
Monopoly of Child Star Searchers' Prince of Parrot Shooters / Aqueducts of Channel Island is an LP of lo-fi psychedelic tribal ambient loops recalling groups like Black Dice, Tuluum Shimmering or Rapoon. Apparently, it is a vinyl re-issue of two minor releases from 2008-2009- which came out on limited editions of CDr and cassette, but never vinyl.
Macabre Damp is a prime example of wonkily raw ‘n’ grimly unwell blacked metal. It’s a six-track affair- that stumbles, unevenly gallops, bleakly rattles, and at points lurches on with its crude BM path- making it both a darkly pained, and unbalancing experience.
Chronicling the lost treasures of the Finnish metal scene, Svart now unearths the many demo tapes of Thromdarr. Comprising their six demos from the start of the band up until their debut album, Midwinter Frost offers an in-depth look at an impressive extreme metal act. Untainted and un-remixed, the music on display is as raw and primitive as when they were released nearly thirty years ago. Keeping true to this vibe is important and makes the rediscovery of these tapes even more enjoyable.
Transcendental Radiations II is the latest sonic transmission from the Finnish ritual dark ambient label/ collective Aural Hypnox. It comes in the form of a C45 cassette, which features two side-long foreboding & unease sonic rituals.
Appearing in the early 1930’s German film Vampyr stands as one of the defining and important films in early horror cinema. The film tells of an obsessed-with-all-things-supernatural young man, who arrives at a strange and isolated inn. Here he observes all manner of low-key creepiness and unease, before being guided to a mansion house- where a teenage girl may/ or may not be in the thrall of a vampire. Here from Eureka is a new Blu Ray release of this creepy and haunting classic- taking in a new 2k scan of the film, two new commentary tracks, and a few other extras.
Here we have a just shy of forty minutes worth of darkly shredding ‘n’ sludge bound walled noise from this Polish project. The release takes its name from the fourth and final age of mankind as told in Hinduism, which is meant to be full of conflict and sin.
Here we have a chest-pressing 'n' atmospherically unsettling slab of bass ribbed walled noise, and a droned-out version of the same track. With the ‘main’ track sliding just under the twenty-nine-minute mark, and the remix hitting just under the ten-minute mark.
From October last year here, we have an HNW C51/ digital split- which brings together two dense and pummelling examples of wall-craft. Featured here are Arizona’s DNOC, and Submachine Gun- which was one of the projects from recently departed Missouri-based noisemaker Emily/ Cory Aideen.
Ichion is the brainchild of Jason Hobman, a sound artist based in Tokyo, Japan. The project takes a sophisticated approach to the most minimal side of techno, refined and arranged as perfectly as a spider web.
Mondkopf’s (aka Paul Régimbeau) latest release is a feast for the ears, packed with lilting loops and infernal doom. This is all accompanied by ringing, high-pitch sine tones, which keep the space of Spring Stories as full as possible without ever negating the duality of foreground and background.
Here’s a CD set bringing together the two 1980’s albums from Peekskill, New York Trash band Toxik- that were originally put by Roadrunner Records. There’s their 1987 debut World Circus, which focused on a more formal Thrash/ speed/ power metal sound. And its follow-up 1989 Think This, which was a more creative mixture of Thrash, prog metal, and power metal. The set appears Dissonance Productions, part of the Cherry Red family of labels, which focuses on releasing all things metal bound.
In March 2021 we lost one of the great British horror directors Norman J Warren. During the mid-70s to early 1980s, he helmed a series of films that darted in and out of the chilling, camp, and horrifying- be it emotional or physical. His films utilized both classic horror tropes and more violent/ sexualized content, in line with the time they were created. He was an all-around talented filmmaker who created approachable, and populous work that both shocked and entertained. Norman J Warren-Gentlemen Of Terror is a beautiful and glossy picture/ text-filled celebration of his output.