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Violetshaped is a pretty new act/collaboration between Berlin's Shapednoise and "mysterious" Violet Poison (yeah, another one of those). Coming into this knowing nothing of either (bad for Shapednoise, great for Violet Poison) allowed me to take in this project without comparing it to the acts of which its comprised. I was pretty excited, too, as the press release promised "Modern and Experimental Hybrid-Techno that moves between Cyberpunk, Industrial, Noise and EBM." Well, some of the statement is true.
I’m always a little suspicions of bands/ projects who dream up their own genre titles, as it often indicates huge egos & small talent. Cleveland based Pussy & Sorrow create what they’ve called therapeutic noise, and “Opening the Theta Door” is their debut release that’s available in pro printed CDR form, and direct from their band camp site.
This is a two C40 tape box set that brings together the brutal & often bass bound walled noise of Serbian project Dead Body collection, and the hindu/buddhist themed of Czech Republic based HNW project Static Mantra. The first tape offers up a solo track from each of the projects, while the second tape offers up two collaborative tracks.
Akhkharu are a rather mysterious project, who brew-up a dark & blackly ritual tinged sound that mixers together: layers of dark drone matter, creepy/ demonic / backward vocal textures, spoken word elements, gong & ritual percussive textures. Eerier field recodings layered & slurred string ribbed dark ambience, and warbling yet majestic guitar-less black metal keyboard marches. With darts into more up-beat song craft with neo-classical sampled horn textures & militaristic/ slight wonky ritual percussion.
“Takahe Collage” offers up three fairly typical (though mostly enjoyable) slices of psychedelic seared ‘n’ swirling noise making from Merzbow- the most prolific & instantly recognizable name with-in the world wide noise scene.
There’s a thin line between rewarding, captivating & interesting field recordings. And badly executed, edited & rather boring field recording work- sadly & rather frustratingly “Some Memories Of Bamboo” often cross back & forth over said line.
This seven inch, on white vinyl, is accompanied by a screen-printed booklet; containing a series of abstract, garish images, full of scribble and fluorescent shades. There’s an obvious comparison to be made between the colourful abstraction of the visual, and the high-speed splinters of noise in the audio. This audio is provided by MoHa!, a drums/guitar/electronics duo who’ve played in Noxagt and Ultralyd. Their music fits into that same territory of noisy, rock-influenced improvisation; though on “Kriiskav Valgus”, its almost more dance-floor orientated.
Murderabilia Records, recent brainchild of the guys behind excellent italian industrial/power electronics duo Deviated Sister Tv, has been constantly releasing great noise for at least a year and a half. One of their latest works is this split (pro) CDr between Japanese harsh noise legend K2 and Positive Adjustments from Sweden.
Southerlies collects together a series of field recordings each focussing on a single specific area in the South of England. Commissioned and originally broadcast by BBC Radio Solent, the artist, writer and lecturer Sebastiane Hegarty was sent to the eight locations on the suggestion of the station's listeners to "uncover a certain disposition, a particular relationship with time and place," as he puts it.
The dictionary definition of Tenebrious is something that’s dark, shadowy & obscured. So this two man US horror drone project have selected an extremely fitting name, as they create a fairly unique sound that’s disorienting, some times noisy, often black psychedelic, but always dark, unclear & shadowy.
Minneapolis based Cory Strand is fast becoming one of the most prolific artists with-in the underground HNW/stark ambient scenes- this year alone he has released around 50 releases(many multi disc sets)on his Altar Of Waste label. This recent release sees Strand trying his hand at soundtrack composing, and offering up a compelling & fairly varied collection of brooding & dramatic mainly synth based compositions.
This two disc CD set offers up a series of collaborative & solo recordings from American minimalist composer & performer Charlemagne Palestine, and industrial music pioneer, percussionist & sound artist Z’ev. For the recordings Palestine utilized Carillon(a huge small building sized instrument that consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are serially played to produce a melody, or sounded together to play a chord), and Z’ev plays a selection of different & various percussive matter.
This very professional looking package, decks out cd, insert and sleeve in grey on silver; giving the release a classier look than most plastic digipaks. The metallic shards and smashed car of the artwork, offer a complimentary image to the barrage of Harsh Noise Walls on the cd: one long track, just shy of eighty minutes, of mainly stinging textures.
Disperse are a Polish band that plays a melodic, existential blend of jazz fusion and progressive rock, inspired by such artists as Allan Holdsworth, Cynic (and Aeon Spoke) and Devin Townsend. For their use of syncopated, polyrhythmic permutations of staccato, sludgy downtuned chords, they may also deserve the 'djent' label, or simply be said to be influenced by Meshuggah. Their debut "Journey Through The Hidden Gardens" was released in 2010, and this album, "Living Mirrors" is their sophomore release.
“Dear Diary” is a four CDR set of mainly HNW recordings from this German based HNW/Harsh Noise project. This project started in summer 2009, and has since amassed: around 20 full length stand alone releases, a vast amount of split releases, and 20 to 30 singles or EPs. The projects all the work of Gag G, who also runs the respected German underground label Vomit Bucket Productions, which has been active since early 2007.
Montreal makes me think of underage, horny American kids getting drunk, going to strip clubs, and feeling anything they can get their hands on. I never put any thought into their music scene, and, apparently, I missed a monster. Since 2007, AUN has released a bunch of albums and EPs. Although their earlier output is mostly drone and ambient, AUN have released a synthy, spacey kraken of an album in Alpha Heaven. So, strap on your pack and helmet and get ready to soar.
Good Morning” was the first solo album Daevid Allen released after spliting with space rock/ cosmic hippy/ jazz /prog rock collective Gong.The album originally appeared back in 1976, and it found Allen abandoning the more dense & jam based sound of Gong's work for a mostly, stripped down acoustic hippy folk/ singer song-writer affair; though the album does still have the odd more biting ‘n’ spacey moments too. This reissue originally appeared in 2007, and it has recently been re-pressed.
“Re-mit” is the 30th album fromThe Fall, and it’s the second record in a line to be released by UK’s Cherry Red. I was very much taken with the bands first release on the label 2011 “Ersatz GB”- as it offered up a collection of rewarding & well put together tracks that had that distinctive Fall edge, yet added in a few new elements to their one off sound. So is “Re-mit” up there with “Ersatz GB”, and is it another classic Fall album?
What I'm holding in my hands is a c20 split tape between Lovebrrd and Su Sous Toulouse En Rouge, two noise projects from Florida, U.S.A. I'm not really familiar with.
This split HNW CDR brings together one half an hour track from Scottish wall noise project Death Frees Every Soul. And two eleven to fifteen minute walls from Werewolf Jerusalem, which of course is one of the more known of the many projects of Texas based noise artists & HNW originator Richard Ramirez.
Clive Henry offers up some of the most creative, thought- provoking, and cleverly put together HNW/ANW with-in today’s world-wide scene. Even on his lesser/not so rewarding recording there are always worthy moments. “Matting Rituals – II” is a full length CDR release that appeared on Netherlands based Muzikaal Kabaal in late summer 2012- it came in a edition of 18 copies.
“Enragement Contraint” finds the black bag wearing French master of HNW offering up just over an hour worth of un-relenting, crude & suffocating walled noise.
There are more than a few HNW acts who like to hide their identity, origins & make-up. This anonymous project (not to be confused with the historic war & atrocity based European project) seemingly has no name, neither has this release- so this I guess is the most mysterious HNW project yet.
Guapo is a veteran progressive / post rock / instrumental band that has existed since the mid 90's with an ever-changing lineup, centering around its founders drummer Dave Smith and guitarist Matt Thompson. They have collaborated with artists from the top of the experimental rock pantheon, such as Magma and Ruins. "History of the Visitation" is their first album since 2008's "Elixirs".