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Here’s a walled noise comp from late summer 2015, which had a rather surprising & bizarre theme to it- Easy Listening!. The release came in the form of a C60 cassette, and took in three ‘wall’ artists per side of tape, with each doing their tribute to a genre, that is really at the other end of the sonic spectrum from their own.
Diazepam imprint presents a split cassette by Exu and Shiver. I’m well familiar with Exu, the power electronics/industrial project by Elias Cheika of Sleep of Ages/Carrion Black Pit fame. He released a full-length under the Exu moniker many moons ago, which I really enjoyed, but then the project seemed to lie dormant. This release isn’t particularly new (released in 2014), but it seems as if the project is still active, albeit intermittently. Shiver is Mauro Sciaccaluga (Diazepam label head), who toils in similar sonic territories.
This two CD set brings together three soundtracks from The Residents- taking in both film sound tracking, and art installation soundtracks. The release appeared late last year on Austrian experimental label Klanggalerie, who along with MVD Audio are becoming the labels for this long running sonic art projects output.
Iris Light's continuing series of digital re-releases of Aube's catalog brings us Fling. This release pulls together all of 1995's C46 Entangle Spirant, as well as the track from 1996 seven inch Monochordattune, and a live track from 1996. Although Akifumi Nakajima has sadly passed, his music still lives on and Iris Light is doing their best to bring some lesser heard releases to the public. Presenting these files digitally ensures that limited releases reach a wider, much deserved audience.
The HNW Quartet brings together four French wall noise artists, and this self titled release is the project first release. It comes in the form of a C40 tape, with each side featuring a great example of (mostly) reserved, skilful, creative, and captivating static noise texturing.
Another Timbre is a truly great label, and I’m not sure it ever gets the recognition it justly deserves. It’s associated with the more ‘cerebral’ end of improv, and is especially entwined with the Wanderweiser group of composers. This CD has two long pieces, Hull Not Continent at 22:14 minutes long, and Treader Always In Station at 34:21 minutes; it comes wrapped in a sombre, sparsely decorated card wallet.
Iam You, Dragging Halo is the third full length slice of sonic puzzlement, shifting sound scaping, and creative genre melting composition from this collective headed up by British experimental artists Anthony Donovan. I guess sonically it’s close to something like NWW, but with a more finely homed improv edge & more lose/ shifting compositional feel.
Robin Storey's Rapoon project is one of the most well known and prolific in all of the soundscape genre. Having enjoyed Volume 03, I was pleased to receive the 4th installment in the 'Seeds in the Tide' series, another collection of rare compilation pieces and obscure tracks from Rapoon's long history. To the completist fan, this likely ties up a lot of loose ends.
Here’s an early 2016 split between two US walled noise projects, with each party offering up an around half an hour track. The release brings together Kansas City Phantom Cadaver, and Chicago, Illinois based Inanition.
German imprint Geräuschmanufaktur presents Die zwei großen europäischen Narkotika, the first cassette release by Uitgeschakeld. German-based label Geräuschmanufaktur, has a rather respectable back catalog of experimental and harsh noise heavy-hitters, such as: Vomir, Dead Body Collection, Fouke, Shurayuki-hime, and Tanner Garza. On this outing the label continues their exploration of the HNW form with two tracks by Dutch newcomer Uitgeschakeld.
Gore soaked, hooded thrash maniacs, Ghoul, are back to bludgeon your ears with their fifth LP and second on Tankcrimes, Dungeon Bastards. Continuing to assault with their brand of death laden thrash, Ghoul remains at the top of the heap not only with their fun, horror filled imagery, but with skillfully played, well written heavy metal. Containing ten songs of sadistic bliss, Dungeon Bastards will get you reaching for your blood soaked hood.
Gilli Smyth was one of the founders & key-minds behind celebrated Psychedelic rock/spacey jazz/ ambient band Gong. Here we have a CD reissue of her first album from 1978-She passed away this year (just after this reissue appeared)- so this is a great celebration of this sadly missed & strong female sonic presence.
The last two Current 93 releases - I am the Last of All the Field That Fell (2014) and The Moons at Your Door (2015) left me considerably underwhelmed. The latter in particular being completely bereft of Tibet's mystical autobiographical musings and falling back on cheap audio thrills was something of a low point in their recent output. So it was with some reservation that I listened to this collaboration between the mystagogue of Hastings and Killing Joke's Youth who actually appeared on Current 93's debut album Nature Unveiled way back in 1984. Given this apparent 'return to the origin' it's perhaps fitting that this partnership has produced an album that represents a genuine revival of both Tibet's voice and his musical fortunes.
Stavros Gasparatos plays a spacious, minimalist and thoroughly considered style of modern classical music, sure to lull the mind into a restful, contemplative state. The album title "Expanded Piano" brings with it expectations of new usages or creative realms from the piano, and therefore brings to mind prepared pianos and John Cage.
Here is a two way CDR split between two of the more interesting & creative projects operating with-in the US walled noise/ static noise scene. Each artists offers up a thirty five minute track, and each track is equally nerve- grinding/brain-searing excise in taut static texturing/ wall-craft.
Star Wars: Chaos Theory is a C100/ C80 two tape set that brings the audio component of an experimental film/gallery installation, that took place in Milan in 2013. The idea of the project was to bring together all six films from the Star Wars Saga, and layer batchers together to create a shifting sonic/ visual installation. As I’m not too much of a fan of the series of films, I’m not sure what film is mixed with what & which tape, but I can certainly say that this tape set is a oddly compelling sound journey, which shifts from layered & psychedelic, to moving & haunting, onto quirky & playful. The project brought together- Roadside Picnic( for the sonic elements) & Piratehairwaves( the visuals)
Here’s a very simply packaged CDR from D.S.W.A.C.V (Distorted Souls Within A Corrupt Vision), representing part III of the Flora Series. The card insert has the barest details on the back, whilst the front depicts a painting of a woman partially submerged in blossoms - I suspect it readily signifies a certain artist or movement, but my ignorance prevails here. Hera is one long 70 minute track of harsh noise wall, plain and simple.
Door Four is the third release from this Gloversville, New York based project, which produces dense industrialized walled noise. The release comes in either physical form as a CDR on Australia’s Knife & Needle Records, or as a digital download from the projects bandcamp site- I’m reviewing the downloadable version.
Zoharum presents Last, the appropriately titled, last album by Genetic Transmission. Last is Chapter 9 in Zoharum’s IYHHH series. I couldn’t quite discern what the acronym stood for, but the theme of the CD series is to present unusual Polish sound artists in unconventional ways. Genetic Transmission is the moniker of long-running industrial artist Tomasz Twardawa, who on this recording, focused on creating sonic miniatures from acoustic/electro-acoustic sound sources.
Cadabra Records, the spoken arts label, presents five of Clark Ashton Smith's poems set to audio for the first time. Read by literary critic and novelist S.T. Joshi, Inferno follows in the footsteps of previous Cadabra releases by featuring a score by Theologian. Released in a limited run of three color variants, fans of the label would do well by snapping this up as soon as they can.
Argentinean Lalo Schifrin was most known & respected as a soundtrack composer in the late 1960’s through to the 1980’s. Composing classic US TV themes such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E & Mission Impossible. And celebrated & recognisable soundtracks for the likes of the Dirty Harry films, Enter The Dragon, The Amityville Horror, Bullitt, and many others. Here we have a reissue of two of his none soundtrack albums from the late 1970’s, and they are great/ classy blends of disco, jazz, and fusion.
Dorei Recordings presents Negative, the fifth full-length album by L’eclipse Nue. Released in 2015, this pro-pressed CD was recorded while the artist was living in Japan. I’m fairly familiar with this project of Daniel Sine’s, who has released a couple splits with artists in my neck of the woods, namely: Tree and Lovebird. While in Japan, Sine collaborated (both live and recorded) with a number of heavy-hitters including: K2, Hiroshi Hasegewa, and T. Mikawa. Sine is now back in the states to continue their noisy activities.
Debuting on limited vinyl and wav DL, drøne comes to Pomperipossa Records with Reversing Into The Future. Making use of modular synths, field recordings, and even short wave radio, Mark Van Hoen and Mike Harding combine their talents to make a luxurious soundscape that captures our modern era. Desolate but still somehow comforting, reversing into the future is a slow burner that grows with repeated listens.
Toronto Drummer Harris Eisenstadt and his band play an immediately pleasing variety of smoky, chilled lounge jazz centered around his drumming and the complimentary voices of saxophone and vibraphone, an instrument with a luminous timbre that is always welcome to me. This album "Canada Day IV" is the 4th in a series which began in 2009. Eisenstadt has a vast number of albums dating back to 1999.