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Trevor Shelley de Brauw's 20 year musical career has manifested as an exploration of the vast sonic possibilities of the guitar. Best known for his work with post-rock mainstays Pelican and other projects of varying frequency and notoriety, Uptown is his debut as a solo artist.
Synth ambient pioneer Steve Roach has continued with a relentlessly prolific stream of releases since the early 80's.
Burial Ground was one of the more silly, sleazy, yet atmospheric films of the 1980’s Italian zombie cycle. It blended together gut munching, haphazard latex zombie masks, soft-core moments, corny/ stilted dialogue, and a distinctly gothic atmosphere. Here we have, what I believe to be, the first ever Blu-ray transfer of the film. And I must say it’s one of the best transfers I’ve seen it sometime…literally blowing away past versions I’d seen.
Cathy’s Curse is head-scratching, bizarre, and at times nonsensical example of late 1970’s horror exploitation. It's a film that will have even the most seasoned connoisseur of so-bad-it’s-good movies, rolling their eyes in disbelief and chuckling. It truly is a film that has to be seen to be believed!
Here’s a cassette on Altar of Waste, released in a very limited edition of 10 copies. The inlay is dominated by a murky shot of a snowy forest (I think…), which is very evocative, and reflective of the sounds within. The tape has three tracks - two long, one considerably shorter - and amounts to just over an hour’s material.
This self titled C30/ digital download brings together two examples of worthy, subtle shifting & creative walled noise. The split features French female wall-noise maker Naughty, and Californian based She walks Crooked.
Blue Vocem offers up two thirty minute slices of walled noise from these two euro projects. As the releases title suggest the theme here is the colour blue and in particular blue noise- this is a high-frequency of white noise, which with each successive octave increases by three decibels.
Rakshas is an early 2017 tape release from Richard Ramirez’s Bigfoot themed walled-noise project. If you’ve been reading M[m] HNW reviews for a little time now, you’ll know that Fouke stands of one my favourite Ramirez projects- so when I saw this was out, I just had to hear it.
North Ireland native, Cathal Cully (Girls Names), presents his first solo album under the name Group Zero. Out on Touch Sensitive Records, Structures and Light is a fun piece of synth and drum machine electronica, that deftly switches between playful and brooding, light and dark. Riding on the current, synth heavy trend, Group Zero mixes odes to the past with hints at the future.
“Dendritic”, a collaboration between Gridfailure and Magalophobe which was released on Arbor Day (a day to encourage and celebrate the planting of trees) and has both of these two acts physically planting a tree for reach pre order of the album, has almost come about by accident. It was not intended to be recorded the way it was. Initially the two projects came together to record source material for an upcoming Gridfailure album, however it quickly became the album we are reviewing instead.
For anyone who doesn’t know The Great Annihilator was the ninth studio album of Swans career. Released shortly before Gira and co. elected to go their separate ways, at least until 2010 when Swans would reform once again. Anyway, this new deluxe edition comes packaged with Michael Gira’s solo album Drainland, a worthwhile purchase on its own.
Here’s a pro-CD and package from Hubro, containing works by the composer Laurence Crane, played by the asamisimasa ensemble. The group, six-strong, line up thusly: Kristine Tjøgersen - clarinets, Tanja Orning - cello, Anders Førisdal - guitars, Ellen Ugelvik - piano and electric organ, Håkon Mørch Stene - percussion, and Ditte Marie Bræin - soprano. There’s five works, over 13 tracks, amounting to nearly an hour’s worth of music. The CD comes with a booklet of extensive notes, which perhaps make virtues of the very things I found frustrating with these recordings…
Here’s a double CD reissue of two early releases from northern English perverse 'n' quirky noise-makers Smell & Quim. Both albums offer up an appealing, perversely moody, seared, and sometimes amusing blend of guitar & noise improv, power electronics, and general noise-bound perversion.
Spread over three DVD’s here’s a just over twelve-hour sleazy-athon of obscure, weird & bizarre porn from the early to mid-1970’s. So if you have a taste for strange, twisted, often weird–to- downbeat hardcore porn- this will be right down your grimy alleyway.
Crystal Machine was the first solo album from this British keyboardist, who had worked with the likes of Gong & Hawkwind. The album originally appeared in 1977- bringing together both studio & live recordings, that move between space bound ambience, early electronica & a blend of both. Here we have a recent CD reissue on Esoteric Records- which offers up new liner notes, and few bonus tracks too.
Slaves is a six CD set that focusing in on the more moody ‘n’ unsettling side of this British two-piece's sound. Bringing together elements of: psycho ambience, brooding-yet-building experimental jamming mixing elements of rock, electronica, avant & unwell soundtrack, electro/ acoustic texturing, as well as more subdued & uneasy noise treatments. Sutcliffe Jugend stared off in the 80’s as a purely a power Electronics venture, but over the years have expanded & grown their sound- to the point where it’s often difficult to put them under one genre label.
Here we have a 2016 CD reissue of the third (and arguably best) album from this British prog/ symphonic rock band. Originally released in 1974 the album offers a selection of four purely instrumental tracks- these effortlessly blend together worthy & event-full composition, memorability, virtuoso-yet- focused musicianship, and a real feeling of focus & point, which can’t be said for all 1970’s prog albums.
Portland guitarist Marisa Anderson plays a nostalgic style of Western blues guitar. "Mercury" came in 2013, the 3rd album since 2005, a solo guitar album. She the release of this has since recorded three other album.
Hailing from the mile high city of Denver, Colorado, Matthew Hunzeker's Of Earth and Sun finds its second release, Uncoiled, on Malignant Records. Dense, droning, and fairly hypnotic, Of Earth and Sun makes use of traditional and electronic instruments, all the while piling on layers and layers of thick tones. Over the nine track album, Of Earth and Sun makes its statement known, and draws the listener into its world.
Obscene Noise Korp have a highly brutish industrial sound. Active since 1997 this double Cd collects every recording this project of Peter Nystroms has ever made and adds new recordings from 2013-14.
If you don't already know Voivod then this is a chance to familiarise yourself with one of the most interesting and creative bands of the 1980s metal scene. If you are familiar then you are probably aware of their unique brand of progressive thrash metal, and are approaching this new release in much the same way as myself. These new reissues are very much about hearing the new remastering job and checking out the extra content. Rrröööaaarrr features a second disc of live audio recordings from Montreal in 1986, and a 3rd disc featuring a mix of live audio, video, demos and assorted artwork and photographs.
This is at least the sixth release by legendary German producer of "absolute music" Asmus Tietchens on Richard Chartier's often austere Line Imprint. This stark collection of five wispy, almost mysterious electronic compositions comes four years after his last effort on the label, Soirée.
It’s fair to say that Brain Damage is one of the more distinctive, bizarre & memorable horror films to appear out of the 1980’s. Here on Arrow video, we have a new dual format release of the film- this new reissue offers up a host of new & exclusive extras- all making this a must buy for fans old & new alike.
Boston's Replacire are back with Do Not Deviate, their follow up to 2012's The Human Burden. Replacire's first release on Seasons of Mist sees the quintet tearing through eleven tracks of well recorded, technical death metal. Honing their craft with extensive touring with genre heavyweights, Replacire use their finely tuned skills to bring an entertaining and pummeling piece of metal to the masses.