Loading
German female experimental duo Black Burst Sound Generator create a novel combination of rhythmic analog electronics and processed clarinet playing. This self titled album comes in the form of either screen printed vinly pressing(ltd to 100 copies), or a digital download.
From May last year here we have a two-way textured noise split- the C40/ digital release brings together two side long examples of worthy & fairly distinctive wall matter. This release appeared on Spanish label Marbre Negre, with copies still be available of this eighteen edition releases.
Eugene Critchley is a longstanding project from Cory Strand, the brains and body behind the celebrated Altar of Waste label; the once uber-prolific Strand has been quieter of recent, or at least entered my line of vision less, and this tape is a welcome sight. The cassette comes in a wee bag, with a glorious inlay featuring adapted art from the cover of a certain Slayer album. Although I consider myself to be a huge fan of Slayer, I’ll admit to not knowing their earliest albums very well - I doubt I’ve even heard Reign In Blood in the last five years - consequently I can’t comment on how precisely the Eugene Critchley tracks relate to Slayer’s Hell Awaits album, but they are strong enough to stand alone regardless.
Delightfully varied and at times zany, Turkish-Swiss Café Türk found their niche in 1980's Europe through very strange means. However, their commitment to their sound and convictions kept them from selling out and remaining true to their vision. While this may have cost them some fame and fortune, it assured that their sound would remain inimitable and still engaging decades after their break up. Zel Zelle teamed up with crate-digger Grup Ses to bring Café Türk back to a modern audience and give their intriguing sound a new life.
Burst City is an early 1980’s visually amphetamine-fuelled & futuristic trip into punk rock, car/motorbike chases, and sleazed gangster- with side roads into kinky sex, drugs, violence and depravity. There may not be much depth, plot, or at points sense to the whole thing- but as manic & heady visual overload- I can’t recall of many films like this. Here from Arrow Video is a new Blu Ray release of this overloading visually trip from Japan- taking in a new scan, commentary track, and a few other extras.
Primitives is an Indonesia take on the cannibal genre- the early 1980’s film shifts between campy cheesiness, low-budget action/ adventure, gruelling unpleasant-ness, and tripped-out wooziness. Here from the folks over at Severin is a region free release of one of the lesser-seen/known films of the cannibal genre- bringing the longest ever cut of the film, and a few extras.
Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century is a gloriously cheesy 70’s Italian knock-off. It mimics & mixers King Kong, Godzilla, and tacky US cryptid capers, with splashes of heroic dog adventure & lo-fi disaster action- all warped in a seemingly family film setting that often lurches into the inappropriate. Here from Dark Forces Entertainment is a new region free Blu Ray of the film, taking in a great new scan, though sadly no extras.
Häxenzijrkell, is a Black Metal duo from Essen /Germany, they’ve existenced since 2016, and have already caused quite a foggy stir in the underground with previous releases (Demo I, the EPs Des Lasters Der Zauberey and Von Glut Und Wirbelrauch). Now here’s Die Nachtseite the project’s debut album, which sees them making a descent towards Tartaros.
Machinefabriek is the alias of modern electronics pioneer and graphic artist Rutger Zuydervel. He began recording as Machinefabriek in 2004 and has since become a prolific force on the avant-garde electronic music scene working on a host of projects with other musicians both on stage and in the studio, from strictly musical collaborations to recording film scores and even in recent times a game score. Zuydervel is always busy, Amalgaam is one of four new Machinefabriek albums released in 2020 thus far, and you wouldn’t bet against him releasing another before the year ends. Anyway, let's get to the music.
--^^^--FRB--^^^--is a recent release from Eugene, Oregon based Root Cellar- who have largely in the past has put out nature/ landscape themed walled noise, though this two-track digital release is a departure from that trend. What we get here are two around forty-minute walls, that sever up dense battering blends of thickly weaved textured noise.
Ceremony is a C20 that offers up two side long examples of thick, blunt & pummelling walled-noise, which is decidedly one dimensional. The release appeared in January 2020, when the project was touring with Caleb Flood- a multimedia artist from Blacksburg, VA.
Taphephobia is the brainchild of Norwegian musician Ketil Søraker ( also Aural Whiteout, Mulm, Ex-Northaunt, A Cryo Chamber Collaboration) For his project, Ketil focuses is largely dark ambient- it's first album House of Memories appeared in 2007, and in 13 years of its activity- the project has released eight full-length albums and seven split albums. The latest album to date, Blue Hour, was released by the German label Cyclic Law, like several of the projects previous albums. It was released as either a four-panel Digipack CD, or digitally.
Spellcaster was directed by award-winning indie film director Rafal Zielinski (Screwballs, Baba, Fun and Ginger Ale Afternoon) and is probably most notable for featuring Adam Ant in a starring role, albeit for about five minutes of the film’s running time. Other than that, cheapo horror producer/director Charles Band (Parasite, Puppet Master and Trancers) pops up as executive producer, whilst legendary Italian cinematographer and Lucio Fulci’s former director of photography Sergio Salvati (Zombie Flesheaters, The Beyond, City of the Living Dead) was in charge of shooting this Italian set cheese-fest. An interesting bit of trivia, this was one of a succession of films Charles Band made in Italy that were all shot in the castle which he bought on the cheap, perhaps hoping to make it his very own Oakley Court, which had been home to several Hammer classics back in the 60s.
The Eleventh Commandment is another tonally unbalancing often whacked-out 1980’s genre picture from the folks over at Vinegar Syndrome. It liberally & at points jarringly switches between shoulder padded ‘n’ double-crossing soapiness, cute & sentimental kids drama, and stabbing ‘n’ slashing psycho action. Here we have a region A Blu ray of this oddity- bringing together a new 2K scan of the film, and a couple of interviews.
Bad Magic is a decidedly kooky voodoo revenge film from the Polonia Brothers- it might not be their goriest or most consistent film, but it still has their penchant for lo-fi invention & ghoulish humour. From SRS Cinema here have a recent region free DVD of the film, bringing together a new scan of the film & audio commentary from Mark Polonia.
Bringing their tech death fury to Moribund, Odem's second full length, Timeless Past Above, is 43 minutes of scorching tech/prog death. With evocative arwork by Matt Lombard, Moribund's presentation matches the madness within, and secures this album as one of the top death metal releases of 2020. Blisteringly fast, Timeless Past Above brings forth a fiery cleansing that many are looking for in this wild year.
Appearing in 1986 Flaunt It was the opening shot from Sigue Sigue Sputnik- and boy what an opening. The eight-track debut brought together elements of synth-ed up & futuristic pop-punk, sixteen-bit rock ‘n’ roll, and electro-pumped glam- all wrapped up in a tongue-in-cheek, though decidedly dystopian take on commercialism, modernism, & the future. Here from Cherry Red is the ultimate four-CD edition of the album- bringing together B-sides, remixes, unreleased tracks, and live recordings.
Here we have a seven-inch vinyl shot of searining 'n' densely intense walled noise. It brings together three of the scenes legends- Richard Ramirez( Werewolf Jerusalem, Black Leather Jesus, and many others), Sam McKinlay( The Rita), and Romain Perrot(Vomir).
Quarantaine pulls together elements of static texturing, layered & at points darting noise-craft, and improv- all making for a building-yet nicely unpredictable release that slips between genre tags. The release comes in the form of as a pre-pressed CDR, or a digital download- both options are available from the labels Bandcamp.
Thin Mountain is one of the more recent projects from American noisemaker Sean E. Matzus(Black Leather Jesus & Last Rape)- and what we have with the Thin Mountain II is two around fifteen-minute examples of atmospheric walled noise. This release appeared early on this year on Matzus own label The White Visitation- coming as either a C30 or digital DL- we’re reviewing the DL.
Experimental soundscape guitarist Mike Fazio has quietly self-released countless recordings on his Faith Strange label for decades now. Continuing a tradition of numerically titled releases, XXV - XXVI is another texturally rich chapter of the Mike Fazio narrative, under perhaps my favorite of his many aliases, A Guide For Reason. The album, at forty minutes in length, contains two pieces, twenty minutes each, with lengthy, descriptive titles. The first is "I Didn’t Like Having To Explain To Them, So I Just Shut Up, Smoked A Cigarette, And Looked At The Sea".
This CDR is part of a ten-release set from Harsh Noise London, and comes in a DVD case; Wolvestribe is a name I’ve seen crop up, often accompanied by glowing praise, so I was interested to finally hear them. The Early Years didn’t set me alight, but perhaps the clue to that lies in the title. The album appears to compile their first ’studio’ recording and a live performance, both recorded in 2019.
L'Impatience des Invisibles is a French collaboration between noisemaker/ da-da/ demented folk maker Romain Perrot- known to most for his nihilistic & unmoving wall noise project Vomir, and improviser/ co-owner of avant label Rectangle- Quentin Rollet. The five-track CD album is decidedly unpredictable-yet-often compelling blending & mix of throbbing-to- purring industrialized noise, active noise texturing, playfully harmonic- to avant-grade jazz, slurred improv, & warped organ/easy listening music.
The Cold Light Of Day certainly stands as one of the starker & more terminal bleak serial killer films ever made. The late 80’s very low budget British production roughly told the story of 1980’s London based killer Dennis Nilsen, with largely gore-less but very gruelling strangulation murders, sleaze( at times necro bound), and a grim ‘n’ grimy bed-sit setting. For many years this film has been one of the lesser-seen/ known films of the serial killer genre, which is a great pity- as yes it’s a real downer, but it’s both powerfully disturbing & harrowingly memorable. So it’s great to see this new Blu Ray release of the film from Arrow Video- bringing together two new commentaries, interviews & more.