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Sometimes something as simple as a paper can create highly detailed, busy yet nuanced sound work-and that’s what we have here with this 3inc CDR from PTRKLLR, one of the projects from the highly creative Peter Keller- a Seattle, Washington sound maker/ noisemaker.
Italian musique concrete and dark ambient composer Raffaele Pezzella works under the name Sonologyst. Since his debut in 2012, he has been quite prolific, releasing upwards of fifteen albums. His latest album, Ancient Death Cults and Beliefs, was released on famed dark ambient/noise/industrial label Cold Spring Recordings this year in 2020.
Adumbrâtus is album number five from San Jose, California one-black metal project Haeresiarchs of Dis. And what we have here is a fairly even & mostly coherent meeting between careering 'n' sinisterly bounding USBM, and symphonic Scandinavian BM- with touches of darkly grand cinematics, and some creative non-metallic genre-blending. It’s an album that swings between pummelling-to-stark grimness, & epic prog touched symphonic- and sometimes blends them both together in a balanced manner- which is not an easy feat.
Well, this album is quite a trip, and a rain-soaked labyrinthian trip at that. World Sanguine Report is a supergroup made up of members of bands I’ve never heard of (Sly & the Family Drone and Sarandon excepted), utilising drums, guitars, bass, and vocals as well as brass, woodwind, synths, and piano. As you might imagine, this gives Skeleton Blush a very colourful sound palette, which is deployed sometimes traditionally, sometimes more experimentally; many songs are founded in traditional forms like blues and cabaret songs, but then explode into and out of stretched mutations.
Old Dracula is a decidedly hammy-yet-enjoyable 1970’s comedy-horror, that blends farce, together with cheeky humour & mildly biting satire. It’s certainly more for your 70’s British comedy fan than your straight a-head horror/ exploitation lover, as there are only fleeting glances of blood, violence, or female flesh. So if your going into this expected a lost slice of Brit horror you’ll be disappointed- but as a quirky comedy with very much a parody/ send-up horror vibe you’re sure to get a kick from this. From the folks over at Vinegar Syndrome- here’s a Blu Ray release of the film, taking the companies always classy transfer & one interview.
Ümlaut is the sound-art project of the New York resident musician/artist Jeff Düngfelder, and here Audiobulb Records presents his new album Insight with the following statement: 'an inner journey of the self through the universe of sound'. A steep thesis!
Here we have the second release from Severin Kids sub-label, which sees the company release all manner bizarre, quirky, at times very impropriate family films- and this time it’s a dozy, 1983’s Carnival Magic the (supposable) children’s film from the king of wild ‘n’ wacky grindhouse fare Al Adamson. The film brings together a ladies underwear loving & mini Elvis jumpsuit wearing chimp, a talented-if-creepy died haired/wig wearing middle age magician, a boozing lion keeper, and rather mawkish-to-impropriate romances. On the extra front, we get a second Adamson family film 1989's Lost, as well commentary track on the lead film, and a few extras.
One of the most celebrated films from actor/director Paul Mazursky, Moscow on the Hudson tells the story of Vladimir (Robin Williams), a saxophonist with a Moscow circus, who are about to embark on a trip to New York to perform.
Originally released back in 1995 as part of a boxset, then in 1996 as a stand-alone C60 Hell is early work from US harsh noise collective Black Leather Jesus. It sees the then six-piece project moving between dense & moody noise/ambient cross-breeds, searing ‘n’ raging textured harsh noise, and murky/ thick PE edged harsh noise. Here on Deadline Tapes is a recent cassette/ digital reissue of the release.
Anna & Cynthia is the 3rd physical release from Les Cauchemars Naissent La Nuit- one of the walled-noise project from respected French noise-maker Julien Skrobek, whom of late has been rather darting & skating in ‘n’ out of the genre- so it’s nice to see him returning to a more formal/ straight take on the genre he’s most know celebrated for. This recent release is a self-release- coming in the form of a fairly elaborate bit of packaging.
Bizarre Activity Inside The Dream Factory is a 3inc CDR from Serbian HNW/ textured noise artists Dosis Letalis, and the single track here is very much in the lower case side of the genre. This is the third release to appear on Tatô- the recently launched lowercase noise wall and acostic texturalism label, who presents all of its output thus far in paper origami pouches- so certainly a rather original & distinctive bit of packaging.
First And Second presents us with just over fifty minutes worth of improv that’s highly angular, difficult-yet playful & somewhat curious. It comes in the form of CD release from New Wave Of Jazz, a Belgium based label who primarily focuses in all that’s abstract, noise-bound & deliberately difficult in modern composition.
From Vinegar Syndrome here’s another unpredictable-at-times-quirky 1970’s genre picture. Best Friends starts out as a largely mellow & playful drama/road movie, but as it goes on it slow-but-surely shifts into been first manipulative & mischievous relationship drama, before slipping into taut ‘n’ tense thriller. The film is presented here on a region free Blu Ray disc, taking in the companies always classy scan, and a few extras.
Made in 1948, three years after the end of World War II- Distant Journey was one of the first films to address the Holocaust & the Nazi's mass murder of the Jews. It’s a well made & powerfully acted Czech film that sits somewhere between troubling drama & grim wartime thriller, it follows the blight of a Jewish family as the Nazi power & propaganda grew, blending in news & German progander footage from the time to nicely chart the rise & fall of the persecution of Jews. Here on Second Run- the up & coming world cinema/ art-house label is a recent Blu Ray release of this important & at times harrowing picture, bringing together a new 4K scan of the film, a new commentary track, a few extras & inlay booklet.
Although I was certain I’d heard the name Flagg before in a Black Metal context before, I just couldn’t place it -the description from the bands label Purity Through Fire didn’t little help either "a brand new unit that comes from unknown parts". However, with a little research, I found out that this is the project of Flagg – the bass player from crude ‘n’ barbaric finish black metal Annihilatus- for this album he plays bass, guitar & synth , and is joned by the grimly ripped vocal talents of Tyrant of Infernarium, Kalmankantaja, Malum
Here from Arrow Video(in the Uk & US) is Bloodstone- the next in their series of reissues of the films of Nico Mastorakis- Greek B movie producer/director- who between the ’70s & early ’90s was involved in putting out all manner of horror, action, and adventure fare. Bloodstone is a decidedly pulpy & comedy edged 1980’s action/ adventure film set in Indian- and aside from the now rather dubious racial stereotypes & mocking tone, it’s an enjoyable enough romp. This new Blu Ray release features a new scan of the film, two commentary tracks & a few other extras.
During the late 80’s-to-early 90’s bands like Fishbone, Faith No More, and Red Hot Chill Pepper, were pushing forward genre-blending ‘n’ blurring with-in a rock & metal context….and while Fishbone may have not gained the same mainstream appeal as the latter two- they where equally important & distinct, coming from more of a ska/punk/ Soul angle. Here from BOG Records is a well-deserve reissue of the bands early work- taking their 1985 self-titled debut EP, their 1986 full-length album In Your Face, plus a selection of bonus tracks
German Doom-trio Eremit are a fairly young project, their discography only takes in one full-length album, Carrier Of Weight, released in 2018 on Indian label Transcending Obscurity Records. Their debut album & it’s take on atmopshric sludge/ doom caused quite a bit of resonance and earned a lot of positive reviews. And so, in 2020, the same label released the second release from the band, a EP entitled Desert of Ghouls- it’s released as an either Digipack CD, 10 "vinyl LP, or digital download.
After a five year hiatus, Zombi rises from the grave with their latest album, 2020. Continuing to grow and expand into new territory, the duo show how far they've come in the two decades since they first started. Mixing synthwave and heavy riffs, 2020 expands Moore and Paterra's oeuvre ever further and shows exactly why this talented duo has such longevity.
Appearing two years after their last full-length- the often creepily lo-key & off-kilter Intruders, here’s Metal, Bone & Metal the 47th album from The Residents. It sees the genre-shifting art collective offering up some of their most punchy, at times sneeringly aggressive work in many years- with the album slipping ‘n’ sliding between churning-at-times industrialized blues, galloping ‘n’ careering blends of electronics ‘n’ guitars, creepy & dramatically uneasy theatricals, and a few more lo-key moody points- though the main focus here on is a more urgent, angered & stabbing take on The Residents distinctive sound.
Lassitude severs up two twenty-minute slices of moodily simmer & subtle entrancing drone matter created by a 19th Century pipe organ. This new digital download album is from respected Australian sound maker/sound artist Lawrence English, who also runs Room 40 the label that put out this release.
As an avid listener of underground dance music, I was thrilled to receive this Various Artists compilation from Black Catalogue titled Next Lightyear - South African Underground House & Experimental II. South Africa may sound like an exotic prospect to some, but it's home to much of my favorite current psytrance, including internationally known titans like Sangoma Records, PsynOpticz Records, and Nexus Media. I know the Cape Town area to have a vivid and forward-thinking dance scene that influences the world over. Having thoroughly explored South African trance, I was curious to hear some underground house.
In recent years The Strange Vice Of Mrs. Ward has come to be seen as one of the top tier Italian giallo films- up there with some of Argento & Fulci's classic additions to the genre- and it’s easy to see why. We have everything you need for a great example of the genre- a creepy ‘n’ sinister black gloved killer, brutal-to-moodily jarring murders, lots of glamour & 70’s camp, a big dollop of kinky sleaze, and an effective enough twisting ‘n’ turning plot with some great suspenseful moments. Here from Severin is a recent Blu Ray/ CD release of the film- taking in a new scan of the picture, a new commentary track from giallo expert Kat Ellinger, some new meaty interviews with the films key players, and a CD featuring the film's soundtrack.
One of the joys & wonders of wading your way through Jess Franco’s truly vast filmography is your never sure what you’ll get next- will it be glum-yet-trippy horror,will it be crazed & psychedelic-tinged classic monster camper?. Or maybe stark ‘n’ kinky WIP fare, possibly a soft-core period fare, or even off-kilter takes on either the cannibal or slasher genre. 1983’s Night Of Open Sex is tonally & genre-wise all over the shop, making for one of Franco's most deranged & jarring creations- the film wildly swings from perverse strip ‘n’ tease, camp noir fed comedy, mystery-solving action, gruelling women-on-women torture fest, close to hardcore romp, and cheesy euro-camp- it literally at times leaves your head spinning. As part of their continued uncovering & reissuing of rare/thought-lost Franco films here on Severin is a recent Blu Ray release of the film- taking in a bright spanking new transfer, and a good selection of extras.