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Mass Hysteria is a rough ‘n’ ready noise split between west coast US harsh noise- makers SBTDOH, and French master of unchanging ‘n’ brutalizing walled noise Vomir. The release appeared on Portland Oregon based Shrouded Recordings- it came in two editions a C92( ltd to nineteen copies) and a CDR(ltd to seventeen copies), I’m reviewing the former- and both editions are still available
ผีแดง is an artily packaged CDR/ digital download from US female wall noise project Tissa Mawartyassari( aka Monica Sanchez). It features two ‘walls’ one running thirty-two minutes, and the other just over fourteen minutes- with each track offering up rewardingly textured-yet-atmospheric examples of the walled noise form.
Dragging Through The Dirt offers up two sides worth of constant ripping ‘n’ pulling bass bound walled noise from this respected Serbian project. The release appears on Pittsburgh based Laura’s Girls Label- coming as either a C60 or digital download.
You'd Be So Much Better Without Bones is a half an hour slice of gloomily churning ‘n’ creepily bobbing drone matter/ ANW from this new project- that brings together two respected figures from the US wall noise underground- Sean E. Ramirez-Matzus (theNIGHTproduct, Thewhitehorse, A Week Of Kindness, Red Hook), and Scott Kindberg( S. Schon, She Walks Crooked, Silver Moult). The release appears as either a cassette tape, or digital download with copies of either been purchased from here.
Terrified is a 2017 Argentina film that blends creepy supernatural horror with moments of gore, and a cop-out of his depth thriller action. It’s certainly a picture that severs up some shudder-inducing and bone-chilling set pieces/ set-ups, though it does rather runs out of steam towards its last quarter when it should really be ramping up. From Acorn Media here is a recent Blu Ray release of the film, which is a very bare-bones affair.
Total Exotica is the latest in the ongoing Lux & Ivy compilation series- that find respected music journalist Dave Henderson crate-digging for obscure 45’s from the ’50s & ’60s. It’s a double CD affair taking in thirty-nine tracks- and certainly, for the first disc, the focuses is squarely on Exotica/ ethnic tinged easy listening. The second disc often moves away from the firm and set exotica path into more general 50’s easy listening, but I’d say on the whole it’s another worthy addition to this great compilation series.
It’s likely that you’ve heard of William S. Burroughs, who has long held an esteemed position in industrial and electronic subcultures, and here some of his recordings are collected alongside those of his less famous collaborator Brion Gysin. Whilst a less feted name, Gysin was equally innovative, ‘inventing’ the cut-up technique (or perhaps rather concreting its now accepted form) and co-inventing the Dreamachine, and truth be told, on this album it’s the Gysin pieces that shine for me. To be fair, this is largely due to Gysin’s recordings being more sound orientated, whilst the Burroughs material is straight recitation of written works.
From the late 1960s, The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch is a creepy and bizarre Japanese fantasy film that was meant for kids, but is way too deranged, weird, and at times downright distributing for ankle-biters. It’s a film full of creative and tripped-out in-camera effects, moments of real unease and creepiness, and a general feeling of things getting odder and odder the deeper you get into the film. Here from Arrow Video- both in the UK and stateside- is a new blu ray release of this oddity, bringing together a new scan of the film, commentary track, and few other extras.
Suburbia is a punchy ‘n’ gob flecked slice of 80’s drama/ thriller focusing in on a group of young punks living in an abandoned housing estate on the outskirts of LA. The film largely stars none actors/ real punks, with in- your face performances from D.I., T.S.O.L. and The Vandals- and an appearance of a young Flea as a rat loving punk. The film is a largely charming and gritty blend of drama, adults trying to interfere thrills, with touches of sly humour and amusing cockiness. Sure the acting is decidedly mixed, and at points, it feels like there could have been a more even/detailed plot, but as a dramatized/ though real feeling look at the 80’s US punk scene it’s most worthy/ important. Here on 101 films, as part of their black label series, which sees definitive versions of cult/ genre films is a new Blu Ray release of the picture- featuring new interview with the director, and an inlay booklet featuring new writing, plus two archive commentary tracks.
Fear Of Rain is a rather creative and compelling mix of dealing with mental illness drama, and who’s living next door thriller. The film features a great/ believable cast, clever visuals, and an even blend of heartfelt emotional drama and tense thrills. All making the film one of my big surprises favourite pictures of 2021, which is at present only available as a streamed film via Amazon Prime Video.
Finnish sound artist, Tom Lönnqvist, brings forth his latest piece, Noir, centred around night (more specifically Kaamos-Finish for polar night). Using modular synthesis to induce bodily sensations, the tones present on Noir work together with constructive and destructive interference to tell a tale both aurally and bodily. Building a rich base of interaction, the simple effect of interacting layers creates an interesting composition that is, at times, as thick as the Finnish Kaamos night.
Jan Schelhaas rose to prominence in the 1970s as the keyboard player for Canterbury-based progressive rock legends Caravan before switching allegiance in 1978 and signing on with another legendary prog band, Camel. Schelhaas returned to Caravan in 2002 and has remained a member ever since, he has released three solo albums during his career, Living on a Little Blue Dot is the second, originally released in 2017 on Shell records.
Corruption is a British doctor-gone-mad horror film/ thriller from the late 1960s, which really pushed the level of sleazed violence- meaning it became highly controversial and censored in both its UK and US releases. The film featured Peter Cushing as a respected surgeon in the then present-day swinging 60’s, who rather goes off the rails after his younger model girlfriend gets her face badly burnt. Here from Powerhouse is a deluxe reissue of this sleaze 'n' gore envelope-pushing film- featured here are three cuts of the film, a good selection of extras, and an eighty-page book/ selection of art cards.
With a release title like Kairos & the Dwellers, you'd maybe expect some sort of obscure/ gloomy doo-wop band or something similar. But instead, what we get here is a five-track LP that blends largely water-based field recordings with simmering-to-droning electro scaping. All making for a decidedly mysterious, subtle uneasy, and at points rather creepy sound art album.
Wind And Light is a seven-track CD, which offers up extremely sparse and pared-back modern composition for piano and clarinet written by Greek composer Anastassis Philippakopoulos So it’s very much an album for both a quiet space and quiet contemplation.
Despite its title Welcome To Graceland has nothing to do with a certain Mr Presley, instead, it offers up a shamanistic 'n' often a tranced-out blend of electronica and world music, with lightly surreal and jazzy touches here and there.
Phobos is a largely low-key & shadowy blend of sparse-yet-detailed ritual percussion, hazed-yet-guttural chanting, and light synth-to-horn dark ambience- with traces of creepy-to-mysterious dialogue and other subtle unbalancing flotsam and jetsam here and there.
Somewhere, There Is A Light is a three-track release from British noise/ wall project The Night Porter. The digital release severs up three fairly different and rewarding ‘wall’s that move between the tight ‘n’ taut, onto the fizzing and uncomfortable droning, through to the huge ‘n’ rapidly rolling.
Here’s a thirty-two-minute slice of dense rip ‘n’ hack bound walled noise from Japanese wall noise project Psychiatrist. The release appears as a self-released download on the artists Bandcamp, and it's a nicely numbing example of overloaded HNW with some rewarding layer shifts.
Stries is a three-piece work for synthesizers and tape- it was originally composed back in the year 1980 by French electronic/ acousmatic composer Bernard Parmegiani. Here on Mode is a CD release of a 2016 recording of the work- and it certainly is some of the most panic-inducing, and anxiety racked modern compositions I’ve heard in some time.
Cannibal Man is an early 1970’s Spanish film that blends serial killer exploitation kills ‘n’ gory, with slightly arty drama, and thriller elements. It’s a film that features no cannibalism, and it is also a film that hit DPP 39 UK ‘Video Nasty’ list. Here from the guys at Severin is a much-deserved Blu Ray reissue of the picture- taking in two cuts of the film, and a few other extras.
Strike Commando is a 1986 action/adventure movie that rips-off of several classic genre movies of the time including Stallone’s Rambo, Schwarzenegger’s Commando and Chuck Norris’s Missing in Action. The film is directed by the master of cheap and cheesy Italian rip-offs, Bruno Mattei, the man who gave the world such trashy classics as Zombie Creeping Flesh, Zombie 3, Hell of the Living Dead, Rats- Night of terror and nunsploitation masterpiece The Other Hell.
Death industrial titans Nordvargr and Trepaneringsritualen team up to form the mega unit Det Kätterska Förbund. Taking nearly five years to finish, Lidaverken Del I: Att i Vådeld Förgås sees the light of day on Cold Spring Records. As bleak and dreary as one would expect from these frosty overlords, this collaboration also adds a bit of warmth with its oftentimes near-danceable grooves. With seven well put together tracks, this Swedish supergroup delivers the cold, metallic grimness we've come to expect from both its members and the label.
Invisible Death is a C50 collab that brings together respected UK noise drone maker Culver, with Haare a Finnish power industrial noise project. This is the second time the pair have collaborated, the first being 2007’s Rusted Zombie Mist. And as you’d expect with such a pairing this four-track release sits nicely between uneasy drone and washed-out/ creepy noise scaping.