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The Iron Rose was the fifth feature film from French director/ writer Jean Rollin. The early 1970s film saw him stepping away from his normal erotic & often vampiric-focused fare, for a very slow-burning & moody drama, come low-key psychological drama regarding two lovers lost/ trapped in a graveyard. Here, from Powerhouse, as part of their series of reissues of Rollin’s filmography, is either a UHD or Blu-ray release of the film. It takes a new 4K scan, two versions of the film, a new commentary track, and a selection of new and archive extras.
CRYO is a trip into gloomily bounding and ultimately very doom-laden modern composition for cello and piano. It’s a two-track album, with each track lasting around the twenty-minute mark, and each is as brooding & bleak as the last.
I think it’s fair to say that the use of scat singing/ jazz vocalising has a decidedly mixed/ often negative history- more often than not, it can sound either very pretentious, annoying, or just plain silly. So as a result, I usually avoid anything related/ connected to it the like plague, and this is where Hippo Road comes in, as I think it easily stands as one of the most rewarding, versatile, and creative examples I’ve heard of the form, along as been a great edgy/moody improv jazz release.
Challenging audiences for four decades, Icelandic duo Stilluppsteypa has delivered their newest LP, Schokolino Choco Loco, via Futura Resistenza. Experimental but very accessible, this duo creates an engaging composition of electronic indulgence that, while hard to put one's finger on, never gets unwieldy or overly bizarre. Its almost dreamlike construction allows the listener to get lost in its many tones, folds, drones, and layers, changing with each successive spin. Always playing to the brighter side of experimentation, Schokolino Choco Loco is a whimsical bit of electronics that will bring a smile to many faces.
Art Of Receiving is a twelve-minute trip into soothingly tunnelling, if lightly gritty ANW from Poland’s Olion. This is a self-released digital single/ EP.
Here’s thirty minutes of brutalising ‘n’ billowing walled noise from UK’s MDS ( Most Dangerous Soldier). This project's themes all of its work around macho/robotic sci-fi focused anime, and the like- for this release, we get an illustration of a futuristic/ violent ballgame, along the lines of Rollerball (1975).
Punishment For Rebellion ( რაჯანყებისთვის სასჯელი) is a three-track album from Mtskheta, Georgia‘s Owners Of Knowledge, who blend walled noise, dense ambience, and field recordings. As with other recent releases from the project, each of the tracks has a runtime of twenty-five minutes- the sound is set/ fixed
Private Club is a mid-70s French film that blends softcore sleaze with romantic drama, which regards a soon-to-be-wed Paris taxi driver who gets involved with an exclusive/secret sex club. It’s a decidedly tonal mixed affair, weaving together threads of drama, softcore action with light touches of comedy and mystery. Here from 88 Films is a recent, rather bare-bones Blu-ray release of the film.
Steppenwolf is a 2024 thriller from Kazakhstan, written and directed by Adilkhan Yerzhanov (Ademoka’s Education, The Gentle Indifference of the World and A Dark, Dark Man). The film stars Berik Aytzhanov (The Composer, The Liquidator and The Legend of Tomiris), Azamat Nigmanov (Konvoy, Inseparable and Vtoroe Zrenie) and Anna Starchenko (Mavr, Cadet and Nartai).
Long-running experimental industrial act SATØRI hit Cold Spring earlier this year for his latest slab of noise and destruction, Pillars of Salt. Blowing out eardrums and blasting brains over the last five decades, SATØRI bring their brand of industrial in a more rhythmic, beat-driven direction, all while staying true to their harsher, layered roots. Heavy in both tone and theme, the grim soundscapes on Pillars of Salt will be sure to darken anyone's day.
O A | F G takes in two very sparse/ spaced-out examples of modern ensemble work, from Belgrade-born, now New York City based composer Teodora Stepančić. These are works that need both patience( from the listener and players alike) and a good sense of memory, so very much a release that will take both time and effort to fully appreciate.
Chamber Works…1943- 1951 is a collection of pieces highlighting both the creativity and variation of John Cage's earlier work. It finds members of the highly regarded modern ensemble Apartment House playing the works, with such great flair, depth and clarity.
Motorpsycho! was the 11th film from American filmmaker/ writer Russ Meyer. It was made just before his first breakthrough/cult classic film Faster, Pussycat!, Kill!, kill! In the year 1965. Unlike much of Ms Meyer’s output, there’s no camp, cheese, or wacky plotting elements- as Motorpsycho! is more of a straight, dusty set and gritty action thriller- regarding a trio of bikers who go on rape and murder spree- with the unlikely pairing of a small-town veterinarian, and French Filipino ex-dancer looking for vengeance. The film feels of its time, with its brisk blend of noir thriller, gunplay ‘n’ chase-based action, and drama. Here, from Severin, as part of their series of reissued Meyer films, is a Blu-ray release of the film, taking in a new 4 K scan, a commentary track, and an interview.
Entertaining Mr Sloane is an early 1970s British seedy drama/ dark comedy regarding a manipulative pretty boy lodger who gets his claws into a quirky brother & sister duo. The film featured ahead of its time homo/hetero-lusting, innuendo tipped to bitchy laced dialogue, and bucket loads of campiness. Here from Severin Films is a Blu-ray release of the film, taking a 2k of the picture, a new commentary track, and a selection of new/ archive extras.
North Of The Viaduct is an example of a more layer active wall craft from Cincinnati’s Whore’s Breath. It’s a thirty-minute track that rewardingly weaves together several textual profiles and interesting tonal details for an engaging yet expertly controlled wall-noise ride.
765cJ finds this Bordeaux-based wall noise project presenting us with a rather mysterious/subtle unsettling wall. The single track runs for just eighteen minutes, moving from a jarring/uneasy start, to the dense swirling disorientation main.
Sinful Secrets is a recent bone-grinding and nerve-searing example of the walled noise from this long-running/ ultra prolific Californian project. The release features a single forty-minute track, which remains full, thick, and completely unforgiving throughout.
The Rapacious Jailbreaker is a 1974 crime drama from Japanese director Sadao Nakajima (A Savage Beast Goes Mad, Jeans Blues: No Future and The Seburi Story). The film stars Kōju Meguro aka Hiroki Matsukata (13 Assassins, The Shogun Assassins and Hanzo the Razor), Tomisaburô Wakayama (Black Rain, Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance and Lone Wolf and Cub: Babycart in the Land of Demons), Naoko Ôtani (Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, Zatoichi at Large and Kitsune no kureta akanbô), and Tsunehiko Watase (The Incident, Heaven and Earth and A Strange Beast Goes Mad).
Klasis, the latest EP from Ben Chatwin, houses four emotionally charged, lushly textured, engaging electronic pieces that quickly make their impact and don't let go until the album is over. Exploring the dynamic tension brought about by skillfully played synths, cello, and cinematic arrangement, Chatwin brings the listener on a quick but fruitful journey through mind, body, and soul. At just around seventeen minutes, Klasis works deftly to hit its stride and make its mark, and still manages to improve with successive spins.
Here’s another CDR from Inner Demons Records, decorated and packaged in their usual diy way; I’m always a fan of labels with a clear visual identity and style. Fog Baptism offers up five tracks, all mired in drone and murk, but all avoiding sounding standard or derivative.
Themroc is a French film from the early 70s regarding a middle-aged living-with-his mother house decorator, who suddenly flips from the day-to-day grind, turning his apartment into a cave. The film has no formal dialogue/language, but instead is built around the characters grunting or talking gibberish. It’s a film that sits somewhere between absurdist comedy, statical drama, and crude-dusty/ noisy art film. Here from Radiance is the first ever digital release of the film in either the UK or US- the Blu-ray takes in a 4K scan, mixed of new and archive interviews.
I Will Never Leave You Alone is an early 2020 film that blends creepy haunted house horror with an are-they-going-mad-or-not thriller. It’s a rather slow-burning affair, which is punctuated here and there with moments of brutal gore. Here from Arrow Video is a recently released Blu-ray of the film, including a few extras
O is a three-inch CDR bringing together the first four tracks recored by Burnaby, British Columbia’s Scrapping Young Bucks. I’d guess you’d discripe their sound as experimental electronica, with touches of skeletal new wave/ indie guitar playing, and uneasy Muzak weaved in. Quite a moody & original sound really.
A. Live Transmission is a single/developing twenty-one-minute track that blends purring ‘n’ rounding noise drone matter, dialogue samples, jarring tone drops, off-kilter keyboard additions, and wayward beats.