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Inter*Face, the eighteenth album from this German electronic legend appeared slap-bang in the middle of 1980’s. And it shows Mr Schulze trying to mix his trademark synth sound with more 80’s bound elements, such as New wave beats, instrumental synth pop, and more dance bound rhythms- it’s fair to say it’s somewhat of a hit & miss affair.
Expo 70 is the progressive drone/space/krautrock project of guitarist Justin Wright. Originally starting out as a solo project Expo 70 have morphed into a collective with the addition of a rhythm section, however Wright remains the group’s focal point. This collection brings together material recorded and previously released as singles between 2008 and 2011. The band’s label Zoharum describe it as a good entry point to a vast back catalogue that seems to have been continually growing over the last 14 years since the project’s inception in 2003.
Workhorses of the spoken arts world, Cadabra Records, are back again with another top notch horror release, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles. This deluxe, limited, vinyl-only release comes with liner notes by producer Anthony D. P. Mann, and haunting artwork by Adam Burke. Presented in the form of a radio play, this engaging tale is given vibrant life by a talented crew of voice actors.
Croatian band TeHom return with their fourth album, taken from TeHOMs performance for “The Keep Ambient Lodge” at 2016’s Brutal Assault Festival in Czech Republic. Live Assault is recorded directly from the soundboard and mixes the recordings from two microphones placed in the hall to capture the live sound.
Ambition, aspiration and deep soulful explorations are crucial for Zu, who have been broadly questioning and evolving their musical identity for almost two decades, developing their musical vocabulary with every release and collaboration. All of their strongest inspirations and artistic reference points have produced a very varied output, evolving from one album to another.
The Slayer is a slow, moody, though at times quite gory slasher film from the early 80's. And here from Arrow video(both in the US & UK), we have the first ever Blu Ray release of the film. And as we’ve come to expect from Arrow we get a mighty fine & crisp new transfer, as well as the nice lot of new extras.
Birmingham industrial/doom act, Khost, are back with their third full length on Cold Spring, Governance. Once again teaming crushing doom with the bleak fury of industrial machinery, the duo continues to make their mark on the industrial underground. Hot on the heels of their Godlfesh-remixed, 2016 album, Khost show up fully prepared to pummel the listener into submission.
Here’s a smart little package from Sub Rosa: a two CD set, in a fold out wallet, complete with booklet. The two discs are titled ‘Electronic Music’, and ‘Politic, Samplers, Ambient Music’, respectively, and the contents of each reflect these. The compilation covers a long period of time - 1961 to 2014 - but curiously, this actually translates into one piece from 1961, and then a huge gap chronologically until the next work in 1996. This isn’t really addressed in the liner notes, beyond pointing out that Bülent Arel (the 1961 composer) ‘did not have immediate followers’ - but there’s no further discussion or investigation. So, despite the title, the compilation really only covers a more modern, compressed, period of time.
24/7 presents the listener with two side long & untitled slices of noise mayhem. These move between searing noise-jamming, wall-noise like dwells, & sleazed 'n' slurred extreme industrial texturing.
Formed by Ian Arkley in May of 2005, My Silent Wake were born of the remnants of Ashen Mortality. The band have often been associated with the ‘Christian Metal’ scene due to Arkley’s previous work with Seventh Angel, however My Silent Wake choose to deal with faith, not as a product of one religion but as a universal issue affecting those of all faiths. Damnatio Memoriae, their 8th full length release was originally released in 2015, however this reissue on Minotauro Records adds 3 alternative versions of tracks already featured on the album.
From Intervision (Severin Films mainly SOV/ obscure VHS Imprint) here are two examples of cheesy, lo-fi, badly acted/ made–yet at times enduring horror cinema from the late 80’s/90’s. Dark Harvest is dumb tourist meets hillbillies & scarecrow film from 1992. And Escapes is a fairly tame horror anthology from 1986, featuring one of the last performances of horror legend Vincent Price.
Seeding Of A Ghost is a relatively recent release from French wall noise legend Vomir. It’s a C90, and features two lengthy side long slabs of unforgiving, raw, and terminally bleak HNW.
Kyle Motl is an American free jazz contrabass player who has released numerous recordings in past few years.Transmogrification is a daring hour long, 15 track album of improvised solo playing. The liner notes state that no editing or electronic processing was done to the music. There is nothing but the naked sound of the acoustic instrument.
Finnish avant-electro band Televisio saw their eponymous debut released this July from Ektro Records. Backed by a bold press release, this short, sparse, electronic offering does its best to worm its way into the heart and mind of a listener looking for something more than the standard synth routine. However, well worded statements and the best intentions aren't always effective.
The Portugeuse duo Beyond Enclosure write S&M inspired electronic music. The eight track Dungeon Of Total void is their debut album.
Even with-in experimental & extreme forms of sound/music there are not many projects/ artists that seem completely with-out peers or a scene. American noise jazz terrorist Borbetomagus are one of few that come to mind, with their overloaded, dense, and completely seared sound worlds - which seem to sit apart from simple genres labels, or definitions. Here we have a long-awaited doc about the projects 37-year existence, and fitting the projects intense & difficult sound- it’s far from easy, formal or approachable telling of their story.
Cousteau is a half-way house between lower case static texturing & set ambience. The release came in the form of either three C60 box set( which is now sold out), or a digital download.
Here’s a C60 release from June 2017, and it brings together two side long slices of dense, seared, and sleazed walled noise from this Russian project who theme all of their releases around kinky & darkly occult imagery.
Obsidian Outlander brings together haunting & unsettling ambience, with raw ritual percussive textures & subtle noise elements. It’s the fourth full length from this project that’s part of the mysterious Finish label/ collective Aural Hypnox/ Helixes.
Circle are difficult to pigeonhole. This genre defying outfit from Finland were founded as long ago as 1991 by bassist and vocalist Jussi Lehtisalo. Terminal is the latest in a long list of albums that the band have released over the years, influences range widely from krautrock and progressive rock, to ambient, and heavy metal, with a little bit of everything else in between. Terminal represents their first outing for new label Southern Lord and if ever there were a perfect fit between label and band then this surely has to be it. Southern Lord’s eclectic roster of bands seems to be the perfect breeding ground in which Circle will continue to thrive.
BJNilsen has been a familiar presence in the world of field recording and environmentally informed electronic sound art for over two decades. His last solo record, Eye of the Microphone released on Touch in 2013 captured London's sonic environs in unusual and surprising ways. Since then he has mostly worked in collaboration with others on spectral and freewheeling LPs with Jóhann Jóhannsson, Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson and others. On Massif Trophies he takes his recording gear and subtle electronic treatments up into Gran Paradiso in the Italian Alps.
Here’s an album consisting of two long tracks, both recorded live at Cafe OTO in London, one in 2014 and the other in 2015. Both are ensemble works, though the line-up differs greatly between the two pieces, and the ensemble is named Apartment House for each. Noetinger appears playing reel to reel tape recorders, and Chessex’s role here is the composer of both works. The CD comes in a cardboard, gatefold wallet, with quite stunning black and white artwork. I think it depicts massed bamboo stalks, cut and leaning in different directions - my words here really don’t do justice to the beauty of the images!
Ulsect is a new technical metal outfit featuring guitarist Honis Bonis and drummer Jasper Barendregt of Dodecahedron and Textures bassist Dennis Aarts. Their eponymous debut was released this year on Season of Mist. The sound of the group is close to the recent works of Gorguts, Sumac and Ulcerate.
Legendary technical death metallers, Dying Fetus, are back with their eighth full length, and sixth with Relapse Records. With over 25 years under their belt, Dying Fetus return better than ever with Wrong One To Fuck With. With 10 tracks of death metal fury, their newest album reminds us why we love the power of death metal, and will definitely strip away any summertime blues.