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Violent Distillation is a CD compilation bringing together all the work of short-lived southern California harsh noise project Knives. The projects sound is a red-hot ear syringing blend of shifting & sliding textured noise, and more higher pitched cluttering ‘n’ cutting noise craft.
Here we have a recent three-CD set from creative US drone maker/moody noise creator Howard Stelzer. And though-out the releases two hours plus runtime he’s often pushing his sound down unexpected genre paths, as well as creating most entrancing & inventive sound-craft- so this stands as one of the more consistent & re-playable experimental/ drone release of 2020.
Whilst the notion of a duo both playing the same instruments might sound boring, restrictive, or monotone, I’m a big fan of such pairings; they can focus the performers - and listeners - on an instrument’s range and potential, resulting in a concentration that rewards both parties. Here, Guillaume Orti and Stéphane Payen both exclusively play alto saxophones - though Payen does also deploy a straight alto saxophone - across 14 tracks, amounting to nearly an hour of music.
Well, Vinegar Syndrome has done it again, uncovered another classy yet all-but-forgotten cinematic gem that’s both distinctive & highly worthy. The Caller is a splendidly twisting ‘n’ turning, tight as a knot 1980’s thriller, that blends in elements of Sci-fi, horror, with a wonderful growing sense of intrigue. And as usual with a VS release we get another stellar new print, and a neat selection of extras.
Originally released in 1980 A Safe Substitute was the debut release from London based experimental duo Storm Bugs. It offered up a selection of darkly woozy & grimly uneasy sound-scaping that moved between stark industrial texturing, lo-fi glitching electronica, surreal ambience, and bleak sonic collaring. Here from the guys over at KlangGalerie is a most needed CD reissue of this release- bringing together the albums original four tracks, with three bonus tracks.
With, without is a decidedly crazed, at point’s manic & deranged journey into odd vocalizing/weird mouth sounds, and scuttling/churning turn-tabling/ dada noise making. The CD release appears on Austrian experimental music/ sound label KlangGalerie.
Traditionally, people receive gifts in celebration of their birthdays. Russell Haswell decided to give for his 50th, and he did so with nine noisy tracks of electronic elicitations. Coming through Editions Mego, this is available both digitally and on 2x vinyl, with the extra 12" having exclusive tracks. This noise forward release is a fantastic celebration of life, and Mego and Haswell put it forth in a nice physical release.
One of the great wonders and joys of being a fan of highly prolific euro-exploration director Jess Franco is that there are seemingly always uncovering rare or largely unseen film from his huge back catalogue- and Bahia Blanca is one such film. It comes from his mid 80’s period, and I must say it stands as one of the jewels of this decade. The film is set in a small Spanish fishing village, and it’s nearby Islet- and is best described as a moody drama, with moments of humour & tragedy. Sure we have the expected sleaze & female flesh, but it’s largely played down for some of the best acting I’ve seen in a Franco film, a picturesque & grand setting that’s scoped wonderful, and a rewardingly-yet subtly twisting plot. Here from Severin- one of the key labels behind many of the rediscoveries/ reissuing of Franco films- is a Region free Blu Ray reissue- featuring a great 4k print, and some neat extras.
Cruel Jaws was Bruno Mattei’s spin on the killer shark genre. And it finds the king of mocking euro-trash going into overdrive as he liberally steals scenes, dialogue & effects from other shark films- then pads out the whole thing with clichéd, cheesy & at points sentimental characters, who spew often dumb & unintentional amusing dialogue. Here from Severin is a recent Blu Ray release of the film- taking in two slightly different cuts of the film, and a few extras.
The Crack in the Cosmic Egg started life as a print book back in 1996, looking at the Avant-Garde, experimental and progressive rock music that stemmed from Germany, particularly during the 1970s. It was a cornucopia of musical delights, featuring everything from the more well-known stars of the scene like Amon Duul and Tangerine Dream down to some of the less well-known bands like Thirsty Moon or Tomorrow’s Gifts. A chance to brush up your knowledge and discover new and interesting bands. At this time, the book was simply a discography of the Kosmische music scene and in the intervening years, the project has grown exponentially to become what it now is…an all-encompassing, highly detailed and expansive study of German progressive music.
Appearance is the new three-track album from respected Australian pianist Chris Abrahams- who will be known to most for his work with minimalist & trance-inducing jazz duo The Necks. This CD release appears on respected Australian experimental music label Room 40- with each of the tracks featuring contemplative, yet gently entrancing melodies and structures- all making for a release to slowly sink into.
The Way To Go Out servers up three truly spell-binding & moodily atmospheric examples of modern ensemble works by up & coming Australian-born, now residing in the UK composer Newton Armstrong.
With one foot in moody-to-elegant/ if basic piano composition, and the other in wonky-to-quirky keyboard/ percussive wonderings this CD release some what of a anomaly. So it’s certainly one of the more bizarre, if not wholly successful releases of the true odd year that has been 2020.
The French sludge /doom trio Subterraen are a relatively young band who started out in 2017. At the end of November 2020, Transcending Obscurity Records released the band's debut album, Rotten Human Kingdom. The album was released as a CD in afew variations - 8-Panel Digipak CD with Metallic UV Embossing and Sandalwood Scent, Coffin-Shaped Wooden CD Box Set with Laser Engraving (Limited to 50).
Righteous Indignation severs up two structurally unpredictably examples of the walled noise form. It’s a release that finds this respected & prolific Serbian wall-maker showing off the more experimental/ at points jarring side of his sound. The release appeared in January of this year as either a C40 (sadly out of print), or digital download on US based noise & industrial label Death Bed Tapes.
New Bottles Old Medicine is a striped-back, often mellow, sometimes passionate, but always charming record that brings together blues, acoustic rock, and folksy traces. It’s the first album form Stafford based Medicine Head, who at this point were just a duo, and it was originally released back in 1970 on John Peels Dandelion label. Here from Cherry Red, to celebrate the albums fiftieth anniversary is a recently released double CD edition of the album- with the first CD taking in the original album, and the second taking in single tracks, live recordings, etc.
Five years after their demo hit the world, Pneuma Hagion is back with their debut full length, Voidgazer. Again joining forces with Nuclear War Now!, this one man band (!) blasts and churns forth grim and bleak death worth gazing into the void for. From the hand drawn cover art to the grimy tracks within, Voidgazer shows that heavy, old school death is timeless and unstoppable.
Now here’s a most welcome deluxe/ extras packed Blu Ray release of mid-’80s seasonally slasher classic Silent Night, Deadly Night & it’s 1987 sequel. The boxset appears on UK’s 101 films, and as we’ve come to expect from the label we get nicely crisp scans of each film, and a bloody sleigh full of extras….though these are the same as those found on the Scream Factory releases of the films from a few years back.
Japanese cinema legend Takashi Miike’s (Audition, Ichi the Killer, Masters of Horror) take on the spaghetti western is a unique visual experience. Taking the character of the lone gunman, originally played by Franco Nero, in Italian cinema and supplanting him to 19th century Japan by way of the 12th century Heike/Genji clan wars.
Here we have a truly huge release from Flanders, Belgium based Damien De Coene. The digital download takes in thirty drone bound examples of walled noise- each lasting between forty five & forty eight minutes apiece, and accompany this are fifty photos taken by Begonona- jointly the pair hoped to create both an intimate and melancholic audiovisual work, and I can most certainly say they managed it & some.
Gargoyl is the new project of metal musicians Luke Roberts (of the band Ayahuasca) and Dave Davidson (of technical death metal band Revocation), a stylistic shift which retains the technical guitar work of their previous bands, but moves away from screams and blast beats for a midtempo progressive sound, with lightly overdriven guitar tones.
The Enigma Years is a four-CD boxset bringing together the early work from US Thrashers Death Angel. Featured here are two studio albums- their 1987 debut The Ultra- Violent, and the bands' follow-up 1988’s Frolic Through The Park. Their 1990 live album Fall From Grace, and Rarities, that appeared in 2005, but featured only early work from the band.
This charmingly titled release is an eight-track CDR from UK based Harsh Noise Movement (aka noisemaker Ade Rowe). And it’s a decidedly varied album- that both bombards & unsettles the listener in equal measures. I’ve been aware of the Harsh Noise Movement project for a few years now- hearing bits & bobs, and I must say this is most varied & largely worthy release I’ve heard from the project thus far- and it's certainly made me curious to dig deeper into it's discography..
This fifty-minute CDR sees the welcome return of great and often creative British walled/ textured noise venture Norfolk Trotter (aka Michael Ridge) - the project only utilizes stone & flit as its source material. And this time around the decidedly minimal, yet detailed ‘wall’ is built from a tape reel going through a lump of flint- so another fascinating concept, that severs up a most intriguing & entrancing example of wall-craft.