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This is the fifth album by Philippe Petit and Friends, and their first since 2012s Cordophony. Philippe is the co-founder of Strings of Consciousness and a long time collaborator of Lydia Lunch, he has worked with the likes of Jarboe, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Edward Ka-Spel and a host of others within the electronic music scene. The songs on this album were originally intended for the third in a trilogy of albums by String of Consciousness, however their subsequent split means that they have found their way out on this particular album.
Something of an event release this for Gruenrekorder; The Secret Life of the Inaudible is a double CD collaboration between the New Zealand born American composer Annea Lockwood (She of A Sound Map of the Hudson River and numerous brutalised pianos in the 1970s) and Christina Kubisch who's most recent release on Gruenrekorder was Unter Grund a record which made use of material collected appropriately enough beneath the earth's surface at various locations in the area of the Ruhr in Germany.
Cold Spring Recordings presents Midori, the third release by She Spread Sorrow. For those unfamiliar, She Spread Sorrow hails from Italy and is the moniker of one Alice Kudalini, previously known for her work in Deviated Sister TV. I reviewed her debut album Rumspringa a few years ago and was really floored by her deft melding of cold industrial and ritualistic power electronics. On Midori, Kudalini takes the template from the debut release (I sadly overlooked her sophomore effort Mine), but takes it in a dark ambient direction.
Return of Django & Eastwood Rides Again are the first & sixth albums from Lee "Scratch" Perry house band The Upsetters. Originally put in the late 60’s/ early 70’s they show the first shoots of sonic flair & invention from this respected reggae producer- who pioneer both creative production in the genre, and of course was one of the key minds behind the development of Dub. Here on Doctor Bird- a sub-label of Cherry Red we get a recent CD reissue of the two albums.
Here we have a CD box set reissue of three of the most important releases from with-in the euro ambient music scene. Originally released between 1991 & 1993 Passage In Beauty, Shadow In Sorrow, and Ending Mirage stand as not just important moments in development of this projects sound , but a huge influences on the wider experimental euro scene.
For Lisa is a recent-ish full-length CDR release from Swiss wall-noise project Labbra Di Lurido Blu. The disc presents us with five examples of traditional-yet-fairly creative & often active HNW.
Kyrylo Shablevsky is a Ukraine project walled/ static noise project, and this is the projects first physical release. I came in the form of a CDR on Russian Reason Art recordings, and it presents the listener with four fairly creative & varied examples of static noise texturing.
Synthwave terror GosT returns with Possessor, his third release on Blood Music. Mixing metal pacing and flourishes into his synthy composition, GosT brings some much needed grimness to an album dealing with Satanism and possession. Sometimes dancey, sometimes headbanging, Possessor is a synth fueled trip to the darker side of human nature.
The Soultangler is a shot of deranged 80's low-budget horror fare. It blends together elements of the mad scientist's genre, hooded killers, Zombies, & crazed/ bizarre gore, with moments of surreal dreaminess, and Lovecraft dread. This is the first ever DVD release of the film, and it's a joint release between those resurrectors of lost cult films AGFA, and Bleeding Skull- a website that charts obscure trash- fed-horror film fare.
Static noise - an interesting and varied style of sound art. Some may say the form is too monotonous and boring, but to my ears, it’s not. As in any genre of sound, there are several styles, which are often disputed by artists and fans. Let's not talk about classification. We will limit ourselves only to the fact that the noise project called Å is one of the most famous in the style of Ambient Noise Wall. A characteristic feature of this style of static noise is the almost complete absence of abrasiveness as well as a deeper, atmospheric sound.
Formed in 2005, the extremely prolific My Silent Wake have released 10 albums of gothic doom/death metal, as well as a bunch singles and EPs. Hailing from that bastion of metal greatness Weston Supermare, the band fronted by Ian Arkley have been steadily making a name for themselves during those years. Arkley himself has been around the metal scene for around thirty years making his debut with Christian thrashers Seventh Angel with their first album Torment in 1990, as well as number of other bands in the intervening years.
This Untitled 3inch CDR severs up a twenty minute slab of constricting ‘n’ crude HNW from Tampa, Florida based Sloth. The release appeared last year on Florida's Inner Demons label, it comes in a edition of 42 copies, and as far as I can see it’s still available
Serbian based Raven has been active since 2013 releasing a fairly large body of work that’s moved from harsh noise to all-out walled noise. According to Discogs the projects released nearing 40 full lengths, plus around the same number of shorter releases/ etc. Life In Ruins is a 3inc CDR from April of this year, and it presents us with a minute sixteen mintue example of ear-searing & seesawing harsh noise.
'Church of Still' is a digital HNW release from the Ohio-based project Valvan. The release takes in a single wall clocking in at 42'25.
After Cannibal Holocaust, and Cannibal Ferox 1980’s Eaten Alive stands as one of the classic examples of the Italian cannibal genre that flourished in the late 70’s to early 80’s. Here we have a much deserved first ever Blu Ray/ HD release of the film- it offers up a new, great & vibrate uncut print of the film, as well as a good selection of juicy extras.
Chamber And Field Works (2015-2017) is a two-disc CD set bringing together selection of four works from this French composer- who creates sourly droning-to-stripped back modern composition.
French sound artist Laurent Perrier has worked under many aliases in the past. He has chosen to release his newest, Espace d'incertitude under the Heal moniker. Working with two different styles of modular synths, his latest release offers up two varying approaches to his sonic attack. With one side more classically modular sounding, and the other leaning toward ambient, Perrier's newest is like two albums in one.
Scott Sherk is a sculptor who also works with sound, sometimes deploying both disciplines at the same time in his productions. Alentejo is the offspring of a series of recordings and a resultant installation at the castle of Evoramonte in the Alentejo region of Portugal. The recordings held within focus on the quiet, sparse surroundings of the castle and the sonic possibilities produced by the architecture within its walls.
Here we have a recently uncovered work from Merzbow that dates back to the mid-1990’s. And it shows the Japanese king of noise throwing into the mix drum machine textures, decidedly harmonic electronica, and dance beats- through the lose/ playful noise/ loop structure side of things is very much kept in place. Meaning the release works as a halfway house/ missing link between his 90’s analog work, and the later Merz-beat albums.
It must be around seven or so years since I'd last heard new material from this Italian two-piece who create star bound improv, galactic ambience, and atmospheric interplanetary experimentation. Here we have a new CD from the pair, released on their own label, and I must say it’s another moody & rewardingly building slice of sonic space-bound exploration.
Originally released in 1974, The Old Straight Track is the second studio album from these North East based folk rockers. Reminiscent of the more famous Lindisfarne, this similarity can be explained by the fact that three of their members had left that band in order to form Jack the Lad. This remastered release comes courtesy of Talking Elephant records who continue to revive oft forgotten classics for our delectation. This is one a bit of a treat.
Simon Šerc is a Slovene audio/ video artist, sound engineer, & owner of the Pharmafabrik label -he started his creative activity in the early nineties. And he is involved with a few other projects, such example Cadlag, PureH, Matrix441.
Barbed Wire Dolls stands as one of the moodiest, stark & grimly sleazed WIP films of the 1970’s. It’s also one of the most balanced & focused films Jess Franco made with Swiss exploitation producer Erwin C. Dietrich. Over the years it’s been one of Franco films I’ve returned to again & again, when I’ve been in the mood for pacey-yet-bleak sleaze. And it’s great to have this new digital restored & remastered version of the film in the form of a region free Blu Ray release on Full Moon Productions.
From the folks that brought us retro horror mag We Belong Dead, the excellent original Unsung Horrors, and Monsters?-We’re British Y’ Know!"-A Celebration of Peter Cushing. Here’s a new glossy & fact-packed tome bringing together reviews/ features on around 200 lesser known horror films- moving from dramatic 30’s/ 40’s chillers, onto 60’s/ 70’s creature features. Through to garish & weird giallo’s, onto flesh & moody vampire films, and beyond.