Loading
White Slaver (aka White Slavers) is a mid-1970’s example of light roughie hardcore. The film is largely set on a boat with competently enough filmed fleshy action, rock bottom at points grim production values, and vague stabs at a human-smuggling plotting. From the guys at Impulse Pictures, here’s a recent region free DVD release of the film.
From the folks over at Eureka Entertainment here’s a recent three Blu ray set bringing together the three films in the classic ’60s/ 70’s spaghetti western Sabata film cycle. Featured on the set is 1969’s Sabata, 1970’s Adiós, Sabata, and 1971's Return of Sabata- the first and last films feature Lee Van Cleef as the largely silent, cool as a cumber and fast as a bullet gunslinger Sabata, with Yul Brynner stepping into the role on the second film. All three films are nicely pacy, playful/ fun, and action-packed examples of the spaghetti western form.
Plebeian Grandstand is a dissonant, disorienting experimental heavy act from France with an atmosphere of apocalyptic terror in their music. Their music stands between the glacial monuments to suffering created by experimental doom acts like Khanate and a further deconstructed version of the 'mathcore' style played by Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge or Daughters. Rien Ne Suffit, released this year in 2021, is their 4th album since debuting in 2010.
Legendary industrial composer Maurizio Bianchi sees his 1983 release, The Plain Truth, re-released to a modern audience through Verlag System. Originally on Broken Flag, this two-track LP wonderfully displays the strange, simultaneous juxtaposition (superposition?) of joyous and grim tones. Built around a very key turning point in Bianchi's life and recording career, The Plain Truth is an elegy to the past and symphonic welcoming of the future - light being born from darkness.
l'infini des possible is a two-CD/ digital download release that brings together twelve solo piano pieces from prolific French composer Bruno Duplant. Each is decidedly sparse, fragile and stripped, though there is a fair bit of variation over the disc's runtime- as the pieces scores are made lowercase letters (a, b, c, d, e, f, g) with spaces in between- meaning the pianist has an openness to their interpretation the work.
Here we have a seven CD boxset collecting together all of the solo work of Jonathan Briley- an enigmatic and decidedly mysterious US sound maker, who between the early to late 1980s carved out his own distinctive, ahead of its time, at points decidedly unnerving body of work that blended and blurred elements of industrial, noise, early dark ambient/ psycho ambient.
Originally appearing back in the year 1987 Fire is a great example of 1980’s noise craft- been rewarding in both its primitive wonkiness and its fairly varied/ shifting sound pallet.
Night Feeder is a late 80’s SOV cop thriller meets horror/ creature feature set in the post-punk scene of San Francisco. For an SOV picture, the film has high production value, with it initially had a look/ vibe of early SOV classic Blood Cult- though of course with a pronounced new wave/ punk setting. Here from SRS Cinema- one of the key releases of all things low budget horror/ SOV. It's a region free DVD release of the film, featuring a commentary track from the director and trailer reel.
Nieznane is a thirty-two-minute example of brooding layered and darkly churning ANW from Olion, who is seemingly a recently started Polish walled noise project. The release appears as a digital download on Polish label Gates Of Hypos- which are presenting one of the more active labels releasing wall material.
Scare Away is a twenty-five-minute wall from Brazilian project Niili. It’s a rapidly skittering ‘n’ skirting example of the walled noise form, with a decidedly static rip bound tone to the noise texturing on display.
Originally released in 1999 OX15 was the second solo album from British multi-instrumentalist/ record producer Maartin Allcock. And the twelve-track album is a largely mellow, laid back and seemingly largely effortless example of musical genre blending- where Mr Allcock blends 'n' blurs folk, classic rock, country, Adult pop, celtic music, prog rock, world music, and easy listening/ soothing mood music
From the year 1969, this self-titled debut release was the one and only release from Mel Collins( King Crimson, Camel) fronted band Circus, which saw the saxophonist/ flautists and his four-piece offering up a jazz-rock record with some progressive leanings. The album was an even mix of fairly decent covers, and Collins originals. And this is recent(ish) CD release of the album by Talking Elephant records.
Turning the tables on the male hunter trope so prevalent in power electronics/death industrial, She Spread Sorrow's latest, Huntress, tells the tale of a girl obsessed with another woman. Her fascination reaches a fevered pitch until the huntress can take it no more. Is it real? Is it all in her head? Is it a dream?
Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge! is a late 80’s stab at the slasher genre, and it’s a much more action-packed and soapy camp example of the stalk ‘n’ slash form. The film is set in a recently opened mall, where a badly burnt killer is stalking his victims via the ventilation shafts- with the film features some fairly inventive kills, and enough 80’s cheese to spread on a whole loaf of bread. Here from Arrow Video, both in the UK and Stateside, is a new double-disc Blu Ray release, featuring three cuts of the film, two commentary tracks, and some other extras.
Knocking (aka Knackningar) is a Swedish psychological drama/ thriller- focusing on a woman, who has just left a psychiatric ward after a nervous breakdown. She moves into a new flat and starts hearing knocking on her celling and becomes convinced there is a woman being held in one of the flats above her. The film plays with the 'are they mad or not trope', which has been used a fair bit of late, through the film managers to stand well enough on its own- with themes of losing a loved one, loneliness, and the largely isolated lives many of us live- even in the largest of cities. Here from Signature Entertainment, we have a digital release of this 2021 film- which is now available across most digital platforms.
The 1970s certainly was the decade of the disaster movie, be it man-made or when nature attacks. Literally, every situation, form of travel, building, or scenario had the possibility for the destruction, death, and the bonding together of a group of strangers that was the disaster genre tropes. Grey Lady Down took the disaster genre to the bottom of the sea, as a group of folks- including Charlton Heston get stuck in a nuclear sub, waiting for the weight of water to crush them. The film is an effective example of the genre, with the sub setting making for a great claustrophobic and tense location for disaster- the cast is filled out with some big names like Stacy Keach, David Carradine, and Ned Beatty. Here from Powerhouse is a recent blu ray release- featuring a new scan of the picture, a commentary track, a selection of old and new extras.
Histrionic Personality Disorder is a thirty-nine-minute example of layered and detailed walled noise from this Polish project. And as the release title suggests the theme is mental health, and the ‘wall’ here certainly suggests troubled thinking and at points confusion.
Ankle Socks Study I (Toxic Obsession) is the first release from Le Banbole DI Velluto in a few years. It’s one of the walled noise projects of swiss based Anto- most known for sonically active and kinky fetish focused wall project Anonymous Masturbaudioum.
From last year here’s a CDR release of La Mano Oculta De La Santa Muerte- an album that rather rewardingly blends ‘n’ blurs elements of walled noise, atmospheric harsh noise, and creepy drone/ ambient undercurrents.
Here we have the latest release in Righteous ongoing series of Lux And Ivy compilations, which see respected music journalist Dave Henderson crate-digging for 45’s. And this time around he goes even further back to the ’40s and the ’50s, to pull out some examples of noir/ crime focused jazz/ easy listening fare. The single-disc comp features twenty-four tracks, and is a good mix of the known/ lesser-known- making for a great little noir focused collection.
Re-Union is a CD album that finds Delaware born pianist Matthew Shipp joining forces New York Born double player William Parker. The album features four tracks and finds the pair moving between bounding and blues edged jazz improv, to more creative angular impov fare.
Xpujil is the 45th part in Crammed Discs on-going Made To Measure series, which sees electronic, cross-culture, and ambient artists creating psychoacoustic sound works. Nova Materia is a duo consisting of Caroline Chaspoul from France, and Eduardo Henriquez from Chile. The pair have seemingly been active since 2015- with one other full-length album to their name, and a selection of five singles/ EP’s. And what we find here is a single forty-minute slice of eerier ritual and field record edged ambient, that’s fairly eventful and active in its unfold.
Released at the tail end of the ’70s The Young Cycle Girls (aka Cycle Vixens), is one of the later and lesser-known examples of the popular ’60s/ 70’s bikersploitation genre. It follows three late teen girlfriends travelling from Colorado to California to see the sea for the first time. Unlike a lot of biker films, the girls manage to keep getting the upper hand- battering back a sleazy sheriff, stealing junkies, etc. Though there’s still a fair bit of leering flesh, drug use, and a shocking downbeat end- after a largely upbeat ‘n’ breezy film. Here on Dark Force Entertainment is a region free blu ray of the picture- which is a barebone affair, with just the picture with a new 2k scan and a trailer reel.
Classically-trained guitarist/musician Erin Dawson and artist/composer Geneva Skeen, have come together to form the new duo, Nasturtium. Mixing their many influences together to create a wonderfully rich, ambient based dreamy, lo-fi aesthetic, their debut, Please Us, is a treat for the senses. Built with many layers over a few tracks, this first outing for the pair easily engages the listener and eases them through the process of feeling their emotions through sound.