Loading
Q is album number four from this progressive, at times free Jazz collective Krokofant- who come from Kongsberg, Bukserud, Norway. For the album the band expands from a guitar/sax/drums trio to a quintet adding in Keys and bass- all to offer up a propulsive & often urgent album that seemingly effortless & masterful shifts between jazz genres- moving from grooving-to- jam-based jazz-rock, through to free jazz, jazz fusion and beyond.
Buried within the dirt, Worm wriggles forth to put out their second full length on Iron Bonehead. Following 2017's Evocation of the Black Marsh, 2020's follow-up, Gloomlord, sees Worm once again returning to the grim, stagnant marshes of slow, bleak metal. Low, slow, and thoroughly doom laden, Gloomlord does its best to darken even the brightest days.
As part of Wild Eye Releasing Raw & Extreme series here we have a region free DVD of Erotic Nights of the Blind Dead- a 2007 Spanish cheapie that attempts to resurrect the skeletal & creeping Blind Dead franchise of the late ’70s, which saw living dead temple knights stalking the Spanish countryside. And it’s fair to say this is a very mixed bag- that moves from abject boredom, sexualized violence, back to boredom, then onto fairly competent limp ripping & ghoulish stalking.
Metallic is a six-CD boxset bringing together a selection of Merzbow recordings from the 1990's- the set features stand-alone albums, compilations, and a live album. With the material moving nicely from creative & at times moody harsh noise, dense loop-based material, and more noise jam-like material.
Kagami Smile (Ryan Hill) is one of a number of artists including the likes of 2814, Remember, Yoshimi and Subaeris, affiliated to the recent musicological neologism 'Ghost Tech'. For those of you who follow the mulching machine of musical microgenres, this is a marginally more "bangin" variant of 'Dreampunk', which itself is an extension of Vaporwave's ambient tendencies, distilling them towards a more sci-fi and dystopian form. Both terms have their origin in the Dream Catalogue label's output. Ostensibly drawing on the tradition of ambient techno, these artists take the latter's sense of space and introspection, wedding it to some of Vaporwave's notable tropes; not least the penchant for 80s and 90s synth sounds and a certain pan-Asian (though predominantly Japanese) consumer aesthetic.
Mythical and Magical is the latest reissue from English Doom Metal pioneers Pagan Altar, originally formed in Brockley in 1978 by father and son team Terry and Alan Jones.
Underworld Transmissions is a six-track CD release that complies together the three C20 tape volumes of Underworld Transmission series, which appeared on the Finish dark ritual ambient label Aural Hypnox between February 2014 and April 2015. The collection often shows the more abstract, loose & jam like side of the labels work, as well as their slightly more noise bound & experimental side too.
Around the mid-1990s, when my main sonic was all things Black Metal, one of my friends brought me a pirate cassette. On the photocopied cover were some geometric fractals or patterns. Written on the spine was Esoteric -Epistemological Despondency. My Friend told me - This is painful music, this is for the dead. I think it was the most intriguing and accurate definition of what was recorded on this tape. I thought that could well be the sounds of the dead. At this point, I wasn't aware of genre Funeral Doom, or of course Esoteric. Since then I have become a huge fan of this Birmingham band. In the early 2000s, another friend of mine interviewed the band for a Russian music magazine. He suggested that I ask a few questions because he believed that I had a deeper understanding of bands' work. Perhaps they influenced my perception of music in general and gave me an impulse to understand Dark Ambient, Industrial and Noise. So, this review is for me somewhat of like a test of my objectivity.
Orphans is a late 1990’s Scottish film that brings together decidedly grim ‘n’ glum family drama with strokes of coal-black humor, touches of sly absurdity, and fleeting moments of fairly intense violence. On Powerhouse here, we have a Blu Ray reissue of this grimly powerful, yet at times playful film- which stands with some of the best films Scottish cinema has to offer.
Sliding in four years after the first The Gallows, Act II largely dispense with the found footage format for a mostly enjoyable chillier that expands on the first film mythos, deepens & intensifies the hangman figure, as well as offering up some relatively well-written characters & a neat blend of creepy atmosphere, the odd jump scare, and more than a few noose based murders. Here on DVD from Lionsgate is a recent release of the film- bringing together a director/writer commentary, and a few extras.
Pneuma's Who Has Seen the Wind? is an odd, singular album on nearly all levels, defying classification with its unique instrumentation choices and sleepy, surreal pacing. All the members of the group play clarinets aside from vocalist Ayelet Rose Gottlieb, and the only other timbres used are the mystic drone of the shruti box and some faint electronic loops also sourced from clarinet.
Japan's Yoshimi (Yoshimi Hishida) began his recording career in the mid-90s as a techno producer and as part of the experimental trip-hop act Jobutsu Project. After several years of silence he reappeared in 2016 as part of what's come to be grouped under the umbrella term "post-Vaporwave". Hishida's take on this nebulous term deploys a wide range of styles in electronic music from drone, industrial and contemporary beats, to traditional Japanese instrumentation. Almost all of his output since 2016 has appeared on Dream Catalogue or their sub-label Pyramids.
From 1939 here we have a Bela Lugosi fronted thriller/ horror film, whereas its title suggests he plays a more mortal/ human monster- instead of more fanged, ghoulish or deformed roles he’s known for. Here on VCI Entrainment is a recent region free Blu Ray release of the film, featuring a 2k scan & two new commentary tracks.
Here we have a bucking, sputtering and nastily twisting take on the walled noise form from Thailand based project Unsignified Death. The CDR/ digital release presents us with a single slab of manic ‘n’ muddled textured noise, and I must say it’s one hell of an appealing ride- if you in the mood for nastily snaking ‘n’ sliding wall craft.
A Delicate System servers up two half-hour examples of creative and decidedly atmospheric walled noise from this Detroit, MI project. The release appeared in July of this year on Uk label Void Singularity Recordings- coming as either a C60 or digital download.
Textures Of Slag is a two track walled noise release themed around the industrial processes of melting elements- the release appeared late summer of this year, and appeared as either a art CDR edition, or a digital download. The two thirty minute tracks are suitable dense & roasting, which of course is prefect for the tracks themes.
The Limits of Control is a sleek, often puzzling & lightly humor tipped anti-thriller, that blends European & US art house sensibilities. The 2009 film follows a sullen, moody & barely talking man as he meets a series of strangers across Spain, gaining cryptic clues that may or may not reveal the point of the mysterious mission he’s been sent on. On Arrow Academy here we have a recent Blu ray release of the film, featuring a selection of new & old bonus material.
Industry has shaped our species and our world in immeasurable ways. From the first tool industries to today's landscape changing manufacturing processes, the impact of industry on the planet and its denizens is irreversible. Thomas Brinkmann's latest, Raupenbahn, explores the early days of modern industry by using old machines to create his soundscapes. While more of a fly on the wall approach to recording than traditional composition, Raupenbahn gives the listener something to consider.
Sasquatch Bloodlines is a c62 split bringing together two US walled noise projects- we have Fouke, one of Richard Ramirez's more beloved projects, and up ‘n’ coming Columbia, Missouri project CPTN Uzncwz. Each project, as the releases title suggests, severs up a Bigfoot themed wall.
From the late 1960s, Secret Ceremony is a decidedly haunting, at times unsettling and grimly moody psychological thriller. The film features a small if impressive cast taking in Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Mitchem, and Mia Farrow. Here from PowerHouse films is a much welcomed Blu Ray reissue of this lesser-seen film- taking in a high definition remastering of the film, a commentary track, and a good selection of other extras.
Skarbø Skulekorps are the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Øyvind Skarbø who formed the band when he became unsettled in his previous project, the jazz trio 1982. Skarbø Skulekorps is the band’s first album and features the following lineup: Signe Emmeluth on alto sax and electronics, Erik Hegdal on C Melody Sax and clarinet, Stian Omenás on trumpet, Anja Lauvdal on organ and synth, Johan Lindstrom on pedal steel and guitar, Chris Holm on bass and synth and of course Øyvind Skarbø himself on drums, percussion, vibraphone and banjo. The album was recorded, mixed and mastered between December 2018 and April 2019 in Bergen and Oslo.
Following on from their recent reissue of Nightbreed, here from Arrow Video is a reissue of The Exorcist III-another one of the few classic genre films released in the 1990’s-the decade that horror forgot. This recent two-disc Blu Ray set brings together two cuts of the film, a new scan of the theatrical cut of the film, and a good enough selection of extras.
Punishment of Luxury where/ are a five-piece post-punk band from Newcastle who initial existence between 1976 & 1984, reforming in 2007. The bands sound moved between jerking ‘n’ urgent guitar-led fare that flirted between punk & Post-punk, new wave/ art-rock with distinct Roxy Music leanings, guitar tipped synth-pop, and later more electronics & sample edged take on their sound. Puppet Life is a five-CD boxset collecting together all the recordings of this lesser-known, but still creative British band- who sadly seem to have largely slipped through the cracks of Punk/ Post Punk History.
Splitting from the trio Food People, Lila Matsumoto and Matthew Hamblin formed Cloth and sought out Chocolate Monk for their debut, Waggon. Soft and artistic, the duo mix spoken word, performance art with minimalist textures to create their delicate mark on the experimental scene. Sometimes whimsical, but often a bit over-serious, Waggon is a mixed bag of overlapping layers.