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Muddersten are a Scandinavian trio who create shadowy- yet–darkly playful brand of improv, electro-acoustic texturing, and drone matter. The trio formed in 2015 and Playmates is their second release, after their 2017 debut Karpatklokke.
As it’s title suggests this 1980’s film is a campy ‘n’ cheesy blend of sci-fi, comedy, & horror- paying a hearty tribute to fifties monster movies, but with a healthy dollop of neon & playful 80’s flare running right through the middle. Here we have a new Arrow Video release of the 1988 film- featuring a new 4K scan of the film, and a host of new& older extras alike.
Much like the film its scoring Johnny Greenwood’s soundtrack for You Were Never Really Here nicely plays & messes with one's perceptions to create a score that effortless darts from beauty, queasy uneasy & sleek tension. With Greenwood shifting all over the instrumental & genre map, blending together elements of formal & lush string scoring, avant classical texturing, electrionica, pressing ‘n’ sour ambience, and twanging guitar elements.
The Other Russian Tape is a C60/digital download from Stockholm based walled noise project Rien. It presents up two thirty minute slices of extremely tense ‘n’ tight static texturing- these really create both a feeling of airless tension & detailed texturing.
The eponymous split (or should I say the split album entitled "Split"[?] There has tended to be much deliberation within HNW on how to best represent 'lack' in this case, many writing "Untitled", some writing the artist aliases that appear in the release, and other simply writing "split" - or perhaps a combination of these, although I have never seen "Untitled Split by X and Y" so this culmination is ripe for the picking) by Dutch HNW project Uitgetschakeld and Russian HNW alias SP was released as a limited CDr run and digital album on the Russian label Reason Art Records in August 2017. CDr releases have been quite rare for the label, usually preferring tape, although the labelhead Sergey Pakhomov has long shown an interest in expanding the horizons of the label through an experimentation of plausible mediums - having released noise albums on both VHS cassette and DVD!
Forever Escaping Boredom release of a noisy four way split proves that it's not all sun and fun in Florida. With a side each from Novasak, Human Fluid Rot, Fail, and Vasectomy party, this double C42 blasts through the listener's speakers with a loving intensity and varied approach of style. Nicely compiled, this split is a great showcase of four acts from Florida's vibrant noise scene.
Dálava is an ensemble that works to ressurect an ancient style of 'Moravian' (Czech) folk song, augmenting traditional melodies with modern instrumentation. The group created one other album, self titled, in 2014, prior to this album "The Book of Transfigurations", which has been released on contemporary jazz label Songlines.
From the rather derivative title of this 2014 documentary, you’d expect it to be a fairly run-of-the-mill live concert footage doc. But instead it’s a touching & often charming film about friendship, family, and origin- sure you get some of your standard ‘concert’ footage, but this is only a facet of the film. Here we have a 2017 region free Blu ray of the film from MVD Visual.
Meet The Residents is one of the most unpredictable, outlandish & deranged debut releases of all times. The 1974 album is a decidedly lopsided, haphazard, and dada focused mix of wonky easy listening, show music, rudimental avant rock, off-color funk & other avant filtered genre blends. Here from Cherry Red/ MVD Audio, we have the double-disc reissue of the album- which presents both the mono & stereo versions of the album, alongside a slew of never released material from the time.
Israeli expatriate in Berlin, Yair Etziony's 6th album is his first since his relocation to Germany. This experimental composer harnesses the darkness for his latest, Deliverance. Using many instruments, both old and new, Yair's newest composition is a thick, dark, physical slice of industrial ambiance.
The sound of Central Asia’s melting glaciers is the jumping off point for “glaciermusic” a project propagated by the Goethe – Institutes in Almaty and Tashkent to raise awareness of the impending environmental catastrophe through the visionary work of artists and musicians. The compositions on this album are inspired by the ongoing environmental crisis of the Tujuksu glacier near to the Kazakh city of Almaty. This project came to pass after an expedition to the region made a number of sound recordings of the melting ice, highly sensitive microphones were placed in crevices of the glacier and recordings were made.
The Langham Research Centre sre a British four-piece that create moody, playful, cryptic & often concise modern musique concrete & modular work. Tape Works Vol. 1 is the projects first sonic statement, coming as either a 12 inch vinyl release, CD, or tape- I’m reviewing a CDR promo version of the release.
Here we have another classy & deluxe reissue from Crysalis label of a classic 1970’s Jethro Tull album. This times it’s 1977’s Songs From The Wood, which stands sonically as one of the more formal prog rock albums from the band- but of course, with that distinctively playful & clever Tull touches.
China’s Round Eye presents their latest album Monster Vision (Sudden Death) and it is quite the doozy. Despite residing in Shanghai, most of the members are from the states. The album evidently deals with 2016 U.S. Presidential election, but (as expats) from a unique outsider’s perspective.
The album 'Harsh Times' by N.I.H.L. came out on the Geräuschmanufaktur label in mid-2016. The German label, run by Jan Warnke of such inimitable projects as Sacred Climax and J.Adolphe, has been reviewed here before and given the due respect and appreciation it deserves. This album is the only release to date from the project, the initials of which stand for 'Noise Induced Hearing Loss'. The title of the project gives us a fairly good glimpse into what we can expect from the release.
2017’s Terrifier is a stab( pun very much intended) at taking the killer clown figure, and transporting it into grimy & murky 1980’s slasher-dom. Think Nightmares In a Damage Brain, or Maniac- but with a clown & you’ll get an idea of what to expect here.
PTRKLLR is a new ‘lower-case’ project from multi project linked Seattle based noise maker Peter Keller(Geißt, Condo Horro, Bacillus, Unser Verhängnis). Anatoma Tobeyoides is the first release from the project; it came in the form of either a pro-pressed CDR or digital download, and appeared on Russian label Reason Art Records.
Here we have another collection of Russian literature themed walled noise from Bitum- which of course is one of the projects of highly prolific noise maker Sergey Pakhomov from Elektrostal- of projects Train Cemetery, Leichen Kara, etc, as well as the owner of the excellent Reason Art Records. This audio DVD/ digital release offers up three hours worth of taut 'n' tense walled noise, themed around the searing satire Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov.
Since 2011 this US wall noise project has slowly but surely released a series of releases themed around the 80’s children fantasy film The Labyrinth. The project takes it name from the grumpy and obstinate dwarf that leads around human teen Sarah around the magical other-world of the labyrinth. The Wiseman And The Hat is the tenth, and most recent release from the project- it comes in the form of a c62 tape on Minneapolis based Altar Of Waste.
Humanity...Failing severs up two side-long slabs of battering ‘n’ blistering walled noise with a bomb-dropping & apocalyptic theme. This release appeared in early 2016 on Altar Of Waste- either as a C30 cassette, or a digital download- from Dosis Letalis band camp. I’m reviewing the physical version of the release.
November 17th saw the worldwide release of two previously Japan only Shakatak albums, Fiesta and Utopia. This 2 CD set from Secret Records is 23 tracks of British, jazz-funk-disco whizzes at their silky smoothest. Whether putting the listener in the mood for love or in the mood for dancing, Shakatak nails each approach.
This is a project hailing from the Polish port city of Gdynia. The project operates under the auspices of Artur Krychowiak, from the Polish post rock band God’s Own Prototype, and features two long tracks of ambient, experimental improv.
Canadian Jazz drummer/composer/bandleader Harris Eisenstadt has created a brilliantly intelligent hybrid of melodic and free jazz over the course of a long and prolific career, dating back to 1999. The new album "Recent Developments" is the first recording of his I've heard that isn't part of his 'Canada Day' series, which maintained a similar lineup for its four volumes. Many of the same collaborators are still present here, such as Nate Wooley on trumpet and Eivind Opsvik on string bass.
Early To Late brings together two lengthy works from two composers who blur the line between modern composition & detailed/ quiet improv. Each of the pieces here manager to be both lulling moody & angular soothing, as well as creatively eventful & involving in their unfolds.