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When The Walls Talk is a fifty-five-minute documentary that takes us into the (supposable) very haunted rooms and corridors of Whispers Estate, which is located in the small Indiana town of Mitchell. The film blends together interviews with the houses staff, visitors, and paranormal investigators- as well as creepy photos of spirit activity & investigation footage. It’s certainly one of the more densely packed supernatural docs- and for the most part lets you make up your own mind up about both the evidence and the believability of the interviewees. Here on Shami Media Group here’s a region one DVD of the film.
Of all the films in the serial killer genre, Schramm stands as one of the more grimly heady, disorientating, and surreal. The film takes us into the mind of a middle-aged and balding German sexual serial killer, and his last few days on earth. Here from the folks at Arrow Video UK is a new two-disc set of this mid 90’s film-bringing together on the Blu Ray a high definition print, and a new short semi sequel, and few new extras.The second disc is a CD taking in the films sinisterly drab-yet-unbalancing soundtrack- with the set been topped off with a 60 page book.
Lux and Ivy Dig The Beatniks.. is the next in the series of compilations culled from the basement grates of Lux Interior & Poison Ivy of rockabilly/ garage punk/ Gothabilly band The Cramps. This time as the release's title suggests the focus is on Beatniks- that most coolly swinging ‘n’ groovy of the late 50’s/early 60’s youth movement. The tracks on this double CD forty five-track compilation both parody and celebrate the Beatniks- and I guess it’s fair to say that compared with the other two comps in this series 2018’s Destination Crampsville, and this year The Wild, The Weird and The Wang Dang Doodlin’- there a lot more focus on spoken word, playful skits, and relatively talky song craft.
Of the many lines of flight emanating from out of the Vaporwave moment, the one charting a hyper-dystopian reimagining of the Bladerunner soundworld is bearing much interesting fruit. Sebastien Martin-Schultz' Wuso 命 is one such entity mining the possibilities of post-Vangelis synthscapes. This record - originally released in 2016 on the now defunct Crystaltone imprint - gets the cassette treatment via new Dream Catalogue sub-label Eternal Fortune London.
Baltimore-based, psychedelic/experimental duo Darsombra return with their fifth LP, the self-released Transmission. Built around an experience for the senses, Darsombra's live show has become somewhat legendary, so capturing this in an album is a challenge. Cleverly, the album was released a little more than a week into their extensive tour across the US and Canada, so fans are able to experience Transmission in all its glory. Composed of one album length track, Darsombra's latest is a slowly moving, psychedelic treat for the senses.
Ato Vari's latest release Stele is a real gem of sound art! After the 2017 debut album Brevis, put out by Danish label Posh Isolation, with his mystical second release Louise followed on Holy Geometry in 2018. Now Ato Vari, also known as Mads Gravers Nielsen, returns with his third cassette release Stele on the wonderful Russian label Perfect Aesthetics. Three releases in three years - that means quality instead of quantity! .That alone awakens clear sympathies for me.
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.