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Dear Dead Delilah was US horror writer John Farris one & only foray into directing. The 1972 film is an often overtly talky southern fried murder mystery, with elements of proto-slasher & old hag horror. From Vinegar Syndrome here we have a recent duel Blu Ray & DVD issue of the film.
Kolobrzeg, Poland based Mothertape is a project who conjure up a subtle unbalancing mixture of micro beats, minimal moody-to-harmonic electronics, and often surreal field recordings. Seemingly it’s been active since around 2015, and Unexplained Mind Bruises is the projects second release- appearing in the form of a CD on Zoharum.
From Urashima, Red Box is the second CD box set of classic ghoulish 'n' violent Italian harsh noise & unpleasant electro psycho-moodscaping from Atrax Morgue. The five-CD set brings together a selection of eleven releases from the project, which all originally appeared between the early to mid-1990s & 2000s on the projects Slaughter Productions.
On Powerhouse films- here’s a four Blu Ray boxset of the William Castle films from between the late 1950s & early 1960s. The films here move from campy creature feature, onto playful haunted-house fair, through to psycho-drama, onto gothic horror. Castle was known for his gimmicks, and each film here has one, but what this set highlights most is his versatility, passion & flair for horror, in all its many flavours. And as we’ve come to expect from Powerhouse the release is literally bludging with extras.
Sol is one of the solo projects of the Danish musician and multi-instrumentalist Emil Brahe, who has several solo projects and is a member of the band Singvogel. The project started in 2004, with the first Sol album released in 2007 finding a mixture of Doom and sludge. In the period between 2007 to now, the project has released 7 full-length albums, 4 splits and 3 EP. Over time, Sol has transformed from a doom/sludge project into a more experimental and innovative project, combining more darker and apocalyptic moods in its sound. Sol is not a one-man project. Emil invites session musicians to record on each album. This new album, entitled Before We Disappear, was released on the German label Van Records as a limited edition on black or transparent vinyl LPs.
The name Charles Band has always been a byword for cheap and cheerful schlocky fun. During the 1980s and 90s he was the man responsible for producing/directing such wonderful trashy monster fare as The Ghoulies, Parasite, and The Puppet Master films. Most importantly for me he was the man who brought director Stuart Gordon to my attention when Gordon was to make Reanimator and From Beyond for Band’s Empire International Pictures. The two men have worked together on a number of occasions since that time and it’s a relationship that has always interested me. So, when Charles Band sets to work on a project I tend to take notice.
To any self-respecting metal fan US Trash titans Anthrax should need little or no introduction- since the early 1980’s the band has carved out their own thoroughly distinctive path in metal, offering up an often tuneful, buoyant & cheeky take on the Trash metal form. Since 1984 the band have released eleven studio albums, and while each have their moments, for me their fourth album 1988’s State Of Euphoria seemed the perfect refinement of their craft- blending together memorable melodies, great riff craft, & cheeky charm, with very effective moments heaviness, moodiness & a near perfectly flowing track list.
Recto-Verso is the latest selection of perversely singed-yet- creatively crafted walled noise from this Swiss project. The release came in the form of a CDR/ digital release on French label Required Rate Of Return- it takes ten fairly concise, yet artily tooled examples of wall matter.
Here we have a walled noise split- that brings together two unforgiving, through fairly interesting examples of wall-craft. This release appeared on the start of November 2018 on Ominous Recordings- in either the form of a C40 cassette or digital download.
Circle is one of the more recent releases from respected Russian wall-maker Sergey Pakhomov(Train Cemetery, Bitum, Leichen, ect)- who is known for his complex & often creative takes on walled noise & textured noise craft. This C60/ digital releases features two thirty minute examples of Mr Pakhomov textured sound craft- which is both highly detailed & inventive in its feel.
Oker is a four piece Norwegian improvisation ensemble who have released their first album Husene Våre Er Museer this year on the Sofa label. All four musicians have already been active in various other groups, recording for the Hubro label (where most of the Norwegian jazz I have heard comes from) and others.
Blurred Music is a three-CD release that offers up three separate performances that smudge the line between drone, modern composition, and improv. Each performance runs between forty minutes & just over the hour mark, and each is a fairly, shifting & eventful sonic trip.
Canadian band Blasphemy - one of the iconic bands within the black metal genre. Formed in 1984, they became one of the first within the genre. After releasing a demo in 1989 Blood Upon The Altar, they signed to Wild Rags, releasing their debut album Fallen Angel of Doom. Their second studio album, Gods Of War followed in 1993. After that, the band had a long break, reappearing in 2001, and have since released anotherdemo, as well as three live albums, last of these been this years Victory (Son of the Damned).
From 1965 Who Killed Teddy Bear is a groovy-to-grim psychodrama/thriller set to the backdrop of swinging 60’s New York clubland. Here from Network is a recent region B Blu Ray of the film.
It’s not very often that you come across a film that attempts to balance classy-to-lavish film-making and dramatic storytelling, with shocking depravity, gore and a growing sense oddness. But that’s exactly what this late 1960’s Japanese film attempts, and really succeeds in doing. Following on from their recent release of Horror Of Malformed Man, here on Arrow Video we get a much needed Blu Ray release of this early film from director Teruo Ishii.
Monk Illuminating A Manuscript is a relatively new wall noise project of Guatemalan artist Byron Muñoz, specifically focused on ambient/lowercase walls with largely linguistic and philosophical themes that stem from the history of the scribe.
Here we have a sourly slurred, decidedly moody, yet eventful new hour-plus composition from Stockholm based improviser/composer Magnus Granberg. The release comes in the form of CD, on the always rewarding & worthy Sheffield based Another Timbre- who really are the go-to label for the best & most intriguing in modern composition/ edgy improv fields.
From May this year here’s a reissue of one of the more popular & sort after titles on UK modern classical/ improv/ modern composition label Another Timbre. Originally released back in 2015 Two Pianos And Other Pieces, 1953-1969 is a two CD collection of relatively short, often piano-focused works by modern classical/ minimalist composer Morton Feldman.
Synthwave whiz-kid Ryan Shaw (Anachronist) is back with is follow-up to his 2016 debut, RGB, with Self-Titled Album. Originally self released, this sophomore effort is being released by Ektro Records on limited edition cassette. Capturing the feel and vibe of the synth fueled times gone by, the cassette adds to the aesthetic and makes a nice statement for all fans of retro synthwave.
Here's the third in the series of CDs featuring Avant Garde/experimental performers who have featured at the In progress live events that take place in Poland. These events feature a combination of music, theatre, dance, film and audio/visual arts. The tracks that feature on this third album in the series provide an interesting overview of the experimental musicians working in the Avant Garde music scene in modern day Poland.
German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen is seen as one of the most influential, daring, and revolutionary modern composers of the late 20th, to early 21st century. He is known for his ahead of its time electronic composition, Musique concrète blending with formal instrumentation, and generally daring modern composition. Unfortunately, unlike the likes of Cage, Feldman, or Glass- Stockhausen body of work is not widely available, as most of the rights for his it is owned by his trust- who often charge a pretty penny for releases. Here on El Records, one of Cherry Red Sub-labels, is a three-disc compilation focusing in on Stockhausen, and related early innovative modern composers. And while it’s far from the most definitive or focused Stockhausen releases, it does offering up some key early works from the composer
Proud Trash Sound is a noise release that is literally knee-deep in sonic Americana. The ten track album is a scatterbrain, but mostly fairly coherent bringing together of formal noise elements such as jarring electro noise stretchers & sears, noise guitar chugs & sudden feed-back engulfed vocals elements- with all manner of western/ American sound elements such as a galloping guitars, yea-ha vocals( both male & female), pig grunts, yodelling, gunfight sound effects, horse glip-glops, speed-up 50’s easy listening music, and all manner of decidedly American sonic debris.
As part of Artus Films growing ‘Collection Jess Franco’ series here’s a region two DVD release of this classic late 1960’s exotic thriller from Mr Franco. The films an extremely heady blend of arty sensuality & moody surrealism, with moments of 60’s grooving atmosphere & trippy revenge kills- all sound-tracked by a blend of smooth-to-darkly moody jazz.
Golden Temple Amazon is another slice of 1980’s jungle-bound sleaze ‘n’ cheese from Jess Franco- bringing together lots of female flesh, cheaply looking gold mine, PG humour & animal action, and an upbeat funky score. Here on MVD Classics is a recent Blu Ray release of the film.