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God damn-it Vinegar Syndrome have done yet it again- uncovered yet another great & distinctive horror obscurity from the past with the release of Hellmaster- a heady, at times gloriously confusing mixture of deranged Doctor horror, weird monster fed stalk 'n' slash action, with flits of action and subtle horror fed trippy-ness. Here we have a region free duel Blu Ray and DVD release of this 1990’s horror picture- featuring two different cuts of the film- both with directors commentary, the usual great VS print, and a neat bunch of other extras.
Originally released in 1975 Welcome Home was the 7th album from London based Afrobeat project Osibisa- it saw the band focuses in more pop/ populous sound that blended African beats/ percussion, funk, R & B and 70’s dance flavors. It also saw the band charting in the UK with one of the albums tracks "Sunshine Day". On Talking Elephant Records here we have a recent CD reissue of the album- taking in digipak presentation of the original bright ‘n’ buoyant jungle-based sleeve artwork.
The Circle Is Unbroken highlights two distinctively different sides of Scottish psychedelic folk/ haphazard genre blenders The Incredible String Band. This two-CD set appeared last year- and features demo sessions from 1967, and a full live show from 1972- with the release shifting between stripped-back creative, and quirky, to decidedly more formulaic and a little tired- so it’s certainly a more 'for fan' type release.
Grey is a 2015 split album between Ukrainian composer Edward Sol and prolific Parisian ambient electronic musician Brume (Christian Renou) that has been released on a rather lovely black/grey splatter vinyl from Sentimental records. Side one features five Brume tracks that have been manipulated and reimagined by Edward Sol, whilst side two see’s Brume repay the compliment by reimagining five Edward Sol tracks
During the 1970s there was a real sea-change in the worldwide horror genre. This saw new and upcoming directors stepping away from gothic styling's of Hammer, Roger Corman's Poe Films, and euro gothic horror- to move towards more modern-day set horrors- with characters often facing very real & brutal encounters. In the USA we, of course, had the likes of Tobe Hopper with Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Wes Caven with Last House Of Left. And back in the Uk, we had directors like Pete Walker & Norman J Warren offering up often gritty, sleazy and brutal takes on the genre, with more often-than-not present-day settings.
Vietnamization stands as one of the more fascinating, engrossing and meaningful noise releases in recent years. The release blends together elements of moody noise-scaping, harsh noise, and PE, with keen & cleverly placed weaves of news footage/samples based around the Vietnam war- all very much focusing on the how the American army both brutalized, maimed & destroyed both the landscape, the counties people, and their own soldiers.
Themed projects are fairly prevalent with-in the noise genre, and especially in the sub-genre of walled noise- as it often focuses in on obsessions- be they sonic, thematic, or literal. One of the longest-running and quirky curio projects of walled noise scene is Hoggle- the Florida based project has been active since 2011- and each and every one of its twelve-plus releases is focused in 1980’s children's fantasy film Labyrinth. The project takes its name from the grumpy and obstinate dwarf who leads earth teen Sarah through the Labyrinth. Here is the most recent release from the project, and it’s a double C81 tape set- that finds Hoggle doing a split & collaboration with Ludo- another recently formed Florida wall noise project, that you guessed it themes it’s work around the Labyrinth too.
Kicking off their new Tapetopia series, Play Loud! Productions rolls out the big guns with an underheard, freakwave classic from East Berlin, Ornament & Verbrechen. Handmade and handed out to 20 or 30 of their friends, their first tape is seen here, lovingly restored by Play Loud! Productions. Deftly mixing avant-garde and pop, Ornament & Verbrechen is a wonderful example of the vibrant music scene in East Berlin, and a perfect choice for the inaugural Tapetopia release. With the aim of releasing lost cassette classics on vinyl, Tapetopia is revitalizing the East German underground scene from the 80's, particularly the "Mauerstadt" scene, and making it more available than it ever has been.
Rigor Mortiss were originally formed in the city of Plock, Poland in 1990. After an initial split in the 1990s the band were reunited in 2015 after more than 20 years apart for the album Brud. The current lineup of the band is made up of multi-instrumentalist Malgorzata Florczak, who handles vocals, samples, synths, accordion and guitar, alongside Maciej Stolinski who handles vocals, guitar and gong duties. The rest of the lineup is made up of Jacek Sokolowski on drums, Maciej Wasilewski on bass and Hans Seved Akesson who adds vocals on the tracks "Cyborgernas Bon" and "Sorgens Stigar".
Hartlepool offers up four examples of grimy moody, and decidedly glum sonic fare that sits somewhere between subtle static texturing & bleak windswept ambience- think the soundtrack for several weeks after the bombs dropped, and you’ll get an idea of what you’re in for here.
Sex is an ear shredding ‘n’ head grinding example of long-form, extremely dense and nasty walled noise from Finland’s Circle of Shit. Here on Uk’s Void Singularity Recordings is a CDR/digital download of the release- the physical edition of the release is ltd to ten copies, and as of this review the label still have copies available by their Bandcamp.
Resurrected from the dusty VHS shelves of the early 1990’s here’s The Chill Factor, a more campier-than-scary blend of folks stuck in a snowy cabin, Ouija board shenanigans, supernatural slashings, and vaguely satanic vibes. Via Arrow Video- both UK and Stateside- here’s a Blu ray release of the film- feature a new crisp-if-in places still dark scan of the picture, commentary, and a few other extras.
Wormed are a brutal death metal band from Madrid, Spain with three full lengths to their name since forming in 1998. Their debut came out in 2003, followed by a long gap until their sophomore release Exodromos in 2013. My first experience with the band was the third album, 2016's Krighsu, which left me reasonably impressed, though not amazed.
From the early 1980s Play Dead is a haphazard, at times uneven mixture of killer dog action, old hag horror, and satanic silliness- that’s edged with soap bound bitch-ness, TV movie flow/feel, and big hair- both female and male. Appearing on Vinegar Syndrome here’s a duel Blu Ray and DVD of the film, taking in VS normal crisp and defined print, and a handful of extras.
Arcola was a sub-label of Warp records set up in 2003 that only put out a half-dozen 12"s before seemingly being shelved. Since it was revived last year it's released a series of records featuring lesser known but very forward thinking producers in contemporary electronic music, all of whom are exploring new territories on the fringes of the club scene. 2814 perhaps wouldn't ordinarily fall under such a description, their patented post-vaporwave sound being more appropriate for the headphones or a massage parlour in some dystopian novel. Nevertheless, here Luke Laurila of Telepath and the UK's own David Russo reform as 2814 for two sides of the most techno orientated work they've yet produced together.
From SRS Cinema here we have the definitive release of Killing Spree- the third classic underground horror film from Tim Ritter. Originally released in 1987 it’s an amusing, at times deranged shot of lo-fi 16 mm fun, with creative killings and effective moments of low budget splatter goodness.
Xièxie is a recent eleven-track album from one man US ambient project Celer- Will Long, who now lives in Japan. The album sees him bringing together heady-to-blurring drone-work & ambient studies, with subtle and subdued use of field recordings- all making for one of this year's genre highlights.
The Helen Scarsdale Agency imprint presents Lemegeton Party, the debut album from Junkie Flamingos. Formed in 2017, Junkie Flamingos are a collaborative venture by sound artists Luca Sigurtà, Alice Kundalini (She Spread Sorrow), and Daniele Delogu (Barbarian Pipe Band). While I can't profess to have much familiarity with Delogu's and Sigurtà's previous output, I am quite familiar with She Spread Sorrow. Writing quite glowingly of Kundalini's work in the past, I was intrigued to see this appear in my review pile. Available in vinyl and digital formats, Lemegeton Party is inspired by German poet Friedrich Hölderlin’s novel Hyperion.
After to the hints & slight returns to more focused Thrash sound on their previous album United Abominations, 2009’s Endgame saw Megadeath well & truly returning their past speed-metal and thrash stylings, but with the addition virtuoso and technical edges - to offer one of their most punchy & urgent records in many years. As part of BMG reissues of early-mid 2000s albums from Megadeth here’s a reissue of the album- which comes as either a CD or Vinyl version of the album.
When I got the album Pleasure -Voltage for a review, I was very hesitant what to think of it... The names of the artists seemed familiar to me (especially James Plotkin, but we'll get to that soon ...), but I didn't know quite what to expect. So I first had to weigh up: listening, then researching or vice versa? I chose the latter and started to get as much information as possible about this (strange?) Collaborative work.
Crafting their follow-up to 2017's Sibling Lovers, the percussive, industrial force of Kollaps returns in 2019 with their second full length, Mechanical Christ. Clearly inspired by the metallic, noisy industrial of the Einstürzende Neubauten album of the same name, this propulsive, pounding album propels the listener through the shrapnel filled mire with aplomb. Rough and grimy, Mechanical Christ is a fun, modern slab of noisy industrial.
After release one of last years Avant jazz highlights the excellent CD album The Last Man in Europe, London project The Remote Viewers(here as a trio) return once again with their distinctive blend of angular and often noir atmosphere focused jazz. Notes Lost in A field is fifteen track CD album which finds the project at it’s most fiery, noisy, angular and awkward. And once again it's another extremely worthy venture from the project, who really need way more exposure than they get.
After a few years of silence here’s the welcome return of Official Music Team- the original retro focused sample 'n' electronica project of long running Scottish noise maker & sonic experimentalist Lea Cummings( of Kylie Minoise, etc). Hidden Secrets In Famous Paintings is a sixteen-track CDR, which finds Cummings focusing more the retro electronica/ late 80’s/ early 90's dance music side of the projects- yes the once very prevalent samples are here, but they're a lot of tracks here completely sample-less.
Different State were formed in Ciechanów, Poland back in 1992 by founder member Marek Marchoff. Enormous Components of Motor Unit Vol1 is the band’s 10th full length studio release and their third for current label and experimental pioneers Zoharum. As previously mentioned, the band are the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Marek Marchoff, formerly of Eviscerate who is joined on this release by guitarist Jarek Szcyzglak, the mysterious Keith Rudolf and vocalist Laura Marchoff. The band take in a variety of styles along the way including drone, electronica, post-industrialism and kosmische blending them in their own unique way.