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Formerly half of Zombi, Steve Moore has made quite a career for himself after going solo. Scoring more than twelve feature films and TV show, Moore made his return to non-soundtrack work for the first time in five years. Marking his first album with Temporary Residence Ltd, Beloved Exile is a contemplative, ambient synth work pretty distant from Moore's earlier catalog. Reflective and meditative, bordering on New/Age, Beloved Exile is a wonderful experience for mind, body, and soul.
Hungarian percussionist Balazs Major has teamed up with guitarist and instrument inventor Kevin Kastning to create their first collaborative album of free improvisation, titled Kismaros, released last year in 2018 on Greydisc. The liner notes state that it includes a 30 string Contra-Alto guitar, immediately making me curious about the timbres to be heard within. I am wholly unfamiliar with the previous works of both musicians.
Here we have a two-way wall-noise split themed around grueling ‘n’ sleazed 1980’s house invasion thriller The House On The Edge Of The Park- it brings together US Horror themed wall brutality of Burial Ground, & seared wall noise crudity of Germanys Bloodcraving. Originally released back in 2008 in the form of a C40 on Black Graves Tapes, here’s a 2018 CDR reissue of the release.
Released in 1987 by George Harrison’s Handmade Films, Bellman and True is the gritty, British, crime drama directed by Richard Loncraine (Brimstone and Treacle (1982) and Band of Brothers). The films stars Bernard Hill, who is most famous for his roles as Yosser Hughes in Boys from the Blackstuff and Theoden in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This new Bluray from Powerhouse films features two different cuts of the movie, the original theatrical cut that runs for 114 minutes and the longer pre-release version that was screened at the film’s London premiere and ran for an extra 8 minutes.
Negative to the Power of Infinity is a decidedly moody & space-bound walled noise release- it offers up three twenty minute tracks that blend together static texturing, with a darkly interstellar ambient backdrop. This release appeared in March of this year on Bangkok label Perpetual Abjection- who focuses in on art edition walled noise releases.
From March last year Fluidity In Despair is a pro-pressed CDR wall noise split, with a toad/ frog theme. The release brings together two tracks a piece from respected & prolific Serbian project Dosis Letalis, and Maryland US based Phyllomedusa.
Here we have a four-way wall noise split, that brings together fairly different-yet equally intense examples of this most extreme of genres. This split appeared in March of this year, in either the form of a CDR(15 copies) or digital download- and as of this review writing the label still have copies of CDR available for purchase.
Foot Fetish severs up two sonically roasting ‘n’ searing slabs of walled noise from this Florida project, who themes all its work around pigs & pork products. The release comes in the form of a C30/ digital download- with each 15-minute wall been equally nastily appealing, like munching down on a extremely grease & crunchy side of pork roast.
WOMB is the first full-length release from Swedish composer and sound artist Kajsa Lindgren. She studied Western contemporary art music as well as electroacoustic composition, has a Bachelor (2015) and a Master (2017) in electroacoustic composition from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. In her work, she mainly uses field recordings, which she presents in different ways and often reflects through spatial multi-channel distribution. Her work includes electroacoustic compositions, sound installations, and compositions for acoustic traditional instruments.
Screen Off is a searing, often noise-bound, at times playful journey into the jazz form- at it’s most virtual, jarring & fiery. The twenty-one track CD finds respected Norwegian bandleader/ drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, joining American Avant/ free Jazz saxophonists Ken Vandermark for a release that literal jumps ‘n’ bucks all over the place- the album consists of snippets of live recordings of the pair from youtube, and these are edited together into a gapless & fiery flowing forty two minute runtime.
From Stockholm based improviser/composer Magnus Granberg Nun, es wird nicht weit mehr gehn is another lengthy, but very worthy slice of modern composition that moves from gloomily eventful, sourly shrill, to atmospheric- yet angularly darting. This is the seventh CD release of Granberg’s work, on the always worthy Another Timbre.
Black metal, originating from the Scandinavian coasts, has always been the object of close attention to fans of this genre. Nordjevel is a fairly young Norwegian black metal band that has existed since 2015. The debut album was released on Osmose Productions in 2016 and was a self-titled affair. In 2017, a mini album Krigsmarkt was released on the same label. At the moment, Nordjevel are a quartet of musicians, hiding under the names Doedsadmiral, DzeptiCunt, Dominator and Destructhor. Some band members have already been involved in bands such as Morbid Angel, Myrkskog, Dark Funeral, Ragnarok, and so on. So, there can be no doubt about the professionalism of the musicians involved.
The Corruption of Chris Miller is a moody, at times slowly paced & drama filled Spanish Gallio from the early 70s- it's not the goriest, or gruelling of the genre, but it does feature some chillingly memorable & fairly bloody set pieces along its nearing two-hour runtime. Here on Vinegar Syndrome is a duel Blu Ray/ DVD reissue of the film, which apparently is released here for the first time in digital format- and as we’ve come to expect from VS, you get a nice new scan of the film, along with a splattering of extras.
Any cult/ horror fan worth their salt will be aware of the Toxic Avenger franchise, and Melvin the mop boy- who morphed into the Toxic Avenger in the first classic Troma film. Toxic Tutu finds Mark Torgl, aka Melvin The Mop Boy reappearing after 30 years- the films a mixture of mockumentary, Troma like cheesy & crudity, and convention footage- here is a recent DVD release of this 2017 film.
With Mark Mark Bokowiec’s album Visitations we have something you don't often get: a surprisingly great dark-ambient release- with all the perfect ingredients you need for the genre. Unusually I was very impressed, even after a few play-backs of this seven tracks affair- through the artwork of the CDR does not really live up to my expectations and the music… but more on that later.
Lithuania has never had an easy time. Sandwiched between East and West and often caught in the struggles between empires, theirs has been a history of conquest, liberation, adsorption and finally independence; most recently from the Soviet Union. The country's location on the margins of both the Western Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches was a significant factor in it being the last bastion of European paganism well into the second millennium. Traces of volkish animism in the form of anthropomorphic wood carvings and other folk-art can still be found in rural areas. This compilation situates itself in direct opposition to the country's insular past, instead highlighting the relationship between processes of globalisation and artistic production within a small mobile community of composers.
Following on from last years Destination Crampsville, here’s another compilation of crude Rock & roll, gimmick led rockabilly, & devilishly delinquent 50’s anthems from the basement grates of Lux Interior & Poison Ivy of rockabilly/ garage punk/ Gothabilly band The Cramps. It’s another double CD affair offering up a selection of 50 tracks- many rare & decidedly quirky.
Here we have a three-CD box set bringing together material from two easy-listening/ light jazz artists of the ’50s & 60’s- there’s pianist, vocalist and cool jazz Icon Blossom Dearie. And Jazz flautist Bobby Jasper- with collaborations between the pair, and others names like Bill Evans, Milt Jackson, and Donald Byrd
Mariska Baars has been releasing wonderful sonic minimalism since 2005 under the moniker of “Soccer Committee” and so she is no light weight when it comes to bringing sonic atmosphere to her work. Rutger Zuydervelt aka Netherlands Machinefabriek also stands out as a prolific artist in the drone and minimalism genre, releasing a vast catalog of very capturing audio escapes. They have been collaborating for years.. so this release is actually just the latest in an ongoing sound flirtation between these two amazing artists.
Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen is a songwriter/musician hailing from Ålesund, Norway, and the spearhead of the Hedvig Mollestad Trio. The band is made up of Hedvig on guitar and vocals, with Ellen Brekken handling bass duties and Ivar Loe Bjørnstad on drums. The trio have developed a reputation over the years both as top notch live performers and as studio performers. They play 1970s style progressive hard rock that is shot through with a jazzy, psychedelic vibe. Smells Funny is the band’s fifth full length studio album, a run that was begun back in 2011 with their debut album Shoot!
Necropolis is a trashy, often decidedly silly slice of NYC based 80’s horror- which tells of a satanic witch reborn three hundred years after she was banished, as a blonde haired biker punk. As part of Full Moons Grindhouse series, here we have a region free DVD reissue of the film.
After making around ten or so low- budget adult films in the early 1980’s Dreamaniac was the first horror film directed by B movie Auteur David DeCoteau- who went onto 80’s make cheesy cult classics like Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, Creepozoids, and Dr Alien. And while Dreamaniac, doesn’t rise to the often cheesy/ bad glory of his late work- it’s a serviceable enough, if at times slight slow 1980’s slasher- that in it’s promotion/ title very much nods towards a certain Elm Street, and a Mr Fred Krueger. Here from Full Moon, as part of their Grindhouse series is a region free DVD of the film.
Oregon are an Avant Garde Jazz/World music group formed in Eugene, Oregon in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Ralph Towner and Paul McCandless, bassist Glen Moore, and sitar/tabla player Collin Walcott. Their debut album, Our First Record was recorded later in the year and lay unreleased until 1980 when Vanguard finally picked up and released it. The band were originally named ‘Thyme – Music of Another Present Era’ but changed their name to the shorter/snappier Oregon in 1971. The lineup has changed over the years, however Towner and McCandless have remained mainstays of the band throughout their career.
Ümlaut is a U.S. electronic project from Queens, New York founded by composer Jeff Düngfelder. His work appears to be thematically & conceptual focused on the elements of sound and silence, and the random interaction between both. Finding more in the spaces between and expanding on those to help the composition have a more minimalist presentation & feel.