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One man black metal bands have been a thing since the beginning of the scene, and they show no signs of slowing down. Forming in 2018, Witchbones is Portland, Oregon's newest entry into the one man scene, and his latest album, The Seas of Draugen, comes this month from Iron Bonehead Productions. Capturing the grim, fairly lo-fi darkness that speaks to winters and witchcraft, this quick hitter of an album gets its message across without wasting much time, and here, brevity really is the soul of wit.
Time Without Pity is a 1957 British film noir about a father trying to save his son from execution for the crime of murder directed by American Joseph Losey after he was blacklisted in his home country due to McCarthyism. The film was written by another blacklisted American, Ben Barzman, and is based on the play Someone Waiting by Emlyn Williams.
Chameleon Body is a two-track CD album that dates back to the classic Merz-days of the mid 1990s. Part of the material here has been released official once before, but that was just a nine-minute snippet that appeared on Merzbox- the work here has given a 2019 remastering. The release offers up a seared ‘n’ shifting noise composition that brings together scorching electro texturing, choppy electronics, and forking/baying junk metal elements.
Gruenrekorder are a label with a reputation for bringing truly novel experiences in sound to the listening public and PLEIN AIR: Silva Datum Musica is no exception. It's ostensibly a multidisciplinary project bringing together artists Tim Collins and Reiko Goto with sound programmer Chris Malcolm to create an interface to "initiate an ethical consideration of trees, using sound to focus the attention and the imagination". This approach has been refined to a point where the whole "performance" is centred on a single leaf where sensors measure the rates of photosynthesis, transpiration and other plant biochemical processes. The data from those sensors is then manipulated and transposed by Malcolm into composed sound. The four pieces on side A of this handsomely presented vinyl were recorded live in Glasgow, Scotland and the side-long piece of side B in Cologne.
Bombshell is a recent collaborative project that brings together two key figures from today’s US walled noise/ textured noise scene- Peter Keller, of projects such as Geißt and Condo Horror. And Scott Kindberg of She Walks Crooked, and Ginger Cortes. US2292387A is the second release from this new project- and it appeared in the form of either a c60 or digital download. The sound here is best described of as drone hazed industrial-focused wall matter- and while you can certainly hear traces of both parties sound here, on the whole, the sound presented on this release is distinct.
Purple Haze is the second physical release from Stand Master- a Texas-based HNW project that themes all of its work around Jojo's Bizarre Adventure- an eight-part manga comic series based the adventures of the Joestar clan, a family whose various members discover they are destined to take down supernatural foes using unique powers that they each possess. This release from late October appeared on Stockholm based Ominous Recordings- coming as a C30 or digital download, and what we have here is two-quarter of hour examples of tight and urgent wall mater.
Fall Into The Abyss is the third full-length release from this Bradford Uk based walled noise project. It comes in the form of either a C60 tape or digital download. The release severs up two half-an-hour examples of wall-craft that is bleak, battering, and crude.
Juan Medrano "Cotito" is an Afro-Peruvian percussionist who passionately continues a rich tradition of music fusing the two cultures. Having never been to Peru, I was totally unaware of any sort of combination of the traditional music of Africa and Peru. This album is a refreshingly unfamiliar listen.
Cold Spring presents Trepaneringsritualen's latest offering: ᛉᛦ – Algir; eller Algir i Merkstave. For the uninitiated, Trepaneringsritualen or TxRxPx is the moniker of Thomas Ekelund, Sweden’s dark master of ritualistic death industrial music. I have thoroughly enjoyed many of his previous works including: Veil the World and Perfection & Permanence. ᛉᛦ – Algir; eller Algir i Merkstave is available in vinyl, compact disc, and digital formats.
The idea of cursed films as jumping-off points for horror cinema has been used to great effect in the last ten-to-twenty years. We, of course, had The Ring Films- both the Japanese originals and US remakes. John Carpenter’s Cigarette Burns which followed a movie theatre owner looking for a print of a film that caused homicidal madness. And The Hills Run Red, which saw a group of teens trying to track down a seemingly cursed slasher film. Here from Wildeye Release is a recent DVD release of Fury Of The Demon- a 2017 Mockumentary about an early French film-which each time it's played causes chaos, murder and insanity.
Suburban Grindhouse zooms us back to NYC suburbs of the 1980s for a trip around the lesser chronicled grindhouses of the decade. The book finds life long exploitation Nick Cato fan taking us on a trip down cinematic memory lane, as he recounts around seventy or so trips to local picture houses of the decade- to see crappy slashers, head- expanding monster movies, cheesy sex comedies, and lo-grade action films. Weaved in with these we get a few more modern cinematic trips, as well as a few interviews.
Our old friends at Zoharum records are back with another lovely slab of dark electronica. This time from Kryptogen Rundfunk, a noise project that hails from St Petersburg, Russia. Artyom (M.M.) is the artist responsible, and he has been recording and performing under the Kryptogen Rundfunk moniker since 2002, during that time he has also played with various other bands including Hattifatner, Lunar Abyss and Govorit Radio Kosmos to name just a few. Tales from the Mirrored Space represents the project’s fifth full studio album, but Artyom has worked with a variety of other artists over the years on a number of split releases and collaborations that mean Kryptogen Rundfunk’s number of releases are far in excess of those five full length releases. As well as recording, Kryptogen Rundfunk have shared the stage with such luminaries of industrial music as Einsturzende Neubauten and Clock DVA.
A Nickel If Your Dick’s This Big(1971-1972) is the next in the series of Preserved edition release- normally that would mean we get a deluxe and bonus material laden reissue of a classic album from Avant pop collective The Residents…this two-disc set is a little different, as it takes us back to the start of the project and before The Residents, became The Residents. And fair warning to all those who have only dabbled in this most unique and one-off of projects, this is the collective at their most crude, awkward and at times decidedly grating- so really, unlike the rest of the great Preserved series, this is very much a for-fan/ those-wanting-to-hear-where-it-all-started release.
Hot on the heels of his Extinction EP this year on -OUS, Simon Grab pushes forth a thoughtful, noise-scented potpourri of sound with Posthuman Species. Held together with pulses and oscillations, Simon's latest melds unstructured overtones with timed, propulsive sounds to create something that is both free but also grounded. Packed with many layers that surface upon repeated listens, Posthuman Species is a cleverly dense, yet fairly minimal slice of electronic experimentation.
Upgrade is an as tight-a-drum sci-fi thriller ribbed with suspenseful twists ‘n’ turns, high-velocity at times brutal action scenes, and a rather neat/ fairly original twist on the whole revenge thing- all making for of the more satisfying and edge-of-your-seat Sci-fi films in recent years. Here from Second Sight is a recent deluxe version of the film- bringing together a hard case slip, forty-page booklet, poster, and a good selection of extras.
Church Of No Religion is a darkly heady, at times dizzying journey into layered & detailed electro-beats, brooding-to- prime evil synth tones, and buried female/male vocals. This eight-track album feels like ritual music for some darkly hedonistic 1980s/ early 1990's club- yes retro synth releases are extremely common these days, but NNHMN are adding something a little different and distinct to the genre. I certainly see this appealing to those who enjoy the more darkly tinged beats ‘n’ synth work of the likes of Coil, or more energetic & beat focused goth music.
Bones & Drones is a example of long-form eventful and layered ambient, with subtle hints of ethno-ambience, lulling water sounds, and allusive/mysterious harmonies. The release comes in the form of a CD/digital download, with the single forty five minute piece moving along in a slowly developing organic manner.
Kozmik Bazaar is collaboration between Turkish free jazz three piece Konstrukt and respected Chicago horn player Ken Vandermark. The six track LP/ digital download moves from decidedly seared & rapid free jazz/ hard bop work-outs; onto slight dips into more mellow moments, before switched up to more psychedelic fare. The vinyl version of the album came in an edition of 300 copies, and appeared on Berlin based Karlrecords, as part of their Parnassus Series- which features more jazz and modern composition focused fare.
For me, the use of hand-made musical instruments and synthesizers, and/or the use of traditional musical instruments in an unconventional way, has always been the most experimental and extreme form of sonic creativity. Regardless of the musical genre - be it the classics of Musique Concrete to modern experimenters. So when received a copy Ventorgano for review, I was most keen to give it a play- as it finds Austrian artist Andreas Trobollowitsch utilizing his own home made electro-acoustic instrument.
Moodchangers severs up just over four hours of walled noise from this respected Serbian project. The release appeared in March of this year, as either a CDR boxset or digital download- both of these options offered four around hour-long ‘walls’, which as the release title suggests shift in mood and textures along their lengths.
Over the years there have been a vast amount of documentaries made about Charles Manson, his cult The Family, and of course the murders the cult carried out at the end of the ’60s, which put death to the summer of love. Manson: Music From An Unsound Mind- is a recent doc that covers a facet of the case that’s only really been glossed over in past docs- the more musical side of Mr Manson life- including his own songwriting, connections with The Beach Boys & the upper echelon of music industry in the 60’s, and the impact of the work of The Beatles.
REEL stands as one of the more involving and creative found footage films of recent years- it also has a rather nasty & brutal string in its tail as towards the end we drop into gruelling intenseness that goes towards August Underground territory. The film features a believable & relatable lead character, flashes of unease and tension building, with touches of more arty & sad imagery- all driving towards the gut-punch ending.
From early on this year here’s a C40 split release highlighting the walled noise talents of Frenchman Julien Skrobek- the tape sees him offering up a track apiece from four of his different projects, and as a release, it certainly shows both his flair for creating different takes and atmospheres with-in the walled noise form.
Svart Records once again hits the bins to dig up some synthy classics of Finnish disco with September's Cold War on the Rocks: Disco and Electronic Music From Finland 1980-1991. With varied styles spread over 20 tracks, this new compilation unearths some juicy bits from Finland's past, and opens up a new world to the uninitiated listener. Some right on line and some off the wall, Cold War on the Rocks provides a nice overview of a musically rich decade.