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Put Through Glass Panes by Ellen Fullman on the headphones and what do you hear? A bit of Tony Conrad? Patrice Moullet? Achim Reichel? Sounds vaguely akin to the Aeolian harp, perhaps? Passing evocations of Alan Lamb-like sounds drifting down lonely wires? There may even be hints of those sonorities found in L. Shankar’s more pallid musical pieces. This is definitely a release which brings forth memories of many past drone/ experimental string explorations on cd and lp, some exciting and others not-so.
Ahnstern is one of the many sub-labels that branch out from the infamous and highly influential Austrian label Steinklang Industries. Playing out as a tribute to the equally infamous purveyors of Industrial/Neo-folk Allerseelen, this collection of interpretations of the aforementioned act proves to be an interesting relic in its own right.
One would imagine that after 30 plus years and near on 30 studio albums that The Fall would have creatively run out of stream & sonic invention, but taking on the evidence in hand i.e. “Ersatz GB”- their 29th record, this is far from the case, & actually their still bristling with heady surreal passion & inventive flair…there is indeed more than a few tricks left in this old dog.
This live release brings together the Japanese king of noise Merzbow, and respected Hungarian drummer/ Percussionist Balázs Pándi for a mixture of imaginative, psychedelic & seared noise matter, and punishing, detailed yet never too showy percussive attacks.
Being a cassingle, as they used to be known, this ten minute cassette takes less time to listen to than it does to try to discover who’s behind the release: All a search engine yields is that it’s brought to you by Lighten Up Sounds from the banks of the Mississippi that regularly produces short runs of new and diverse experimental music from the electro-acoustics of Andreas Brandal to the outsider cabaret of Sam Gas Can.
Alexander Tucker has been engaged in various forms of music in the last 20 years, and finally settled into an ethereal yet lively folk sound in the last few years. His eclectic music is still rich with the energy and drive of the rock and hardcore styles of his younger days, and his sense of melody is quite strong, drawing upon the meandering, intelligent structures and pure vocal tone of classic new wave bands like Eyeless in Gaza. He delivers 13 similar but melodically distinct songs on his latest album "Dorwytch", generally midpaced and contemplative / existential in mood.
Here is a fine, if spartan, package from Nordvargr. Its a tape with classy on-body printing; encased in an equally classy, stumptown printed, cardboard cassette box. The tape has three tracks of HNW and plays the same both sides; making it a monstrous c100 plus - not something I’ve seen for a while…
I will start by saying that Morte Incandescente is one of my favourite recent black metal bands so maybe I’m a bit partial on this one. I'm sorry folks!. "...Relembrando Um Tumulo Esquecido" is their third full length and from start to end it's just solid & classic black metal with some great and simple riffs, powerful and fast songs, and a few calmer moments where the hellish and slightly reverbered screaming duels with morbid guitar lines.
The segueway from the proprietary power electronics of Whitehouse to Cut Hands’ equally possessed afro noise has seemed a long slow fade.
Sam Rosenthal is one of those names that probably rings a bell. Know as the creator behind the darkwave group Black Tape For A Blue Girl, he is also the founder of Projeckt Records. His recording history is long (since 1986) and diverse; dabbling in darkwave, gothic, cabaret and ambient music. This is his most recent release, well kind of sort of, but we’ll get to that part.
“Attache À Ton Esprit Un Éternel Bourreau” is the second full length vinyl LP from the french master of brutal & unrelenting HNW. And it offers up two thick and punishing yet fairly different sounding slices of walled noise. The albums title roughly translates to “To your sprit an eternal torture is attached”, which of course is very apt as both sides of vinyl are deeply torturous & they seem almost eternal when your locked with in thier pummelling & unrelenting walls of noise.
Tomorrow I'll Shoot Myself in the Mouth is a mysterious Italian project who make bleak, off-kilter yet strangle rewarding piano music that’s laden with all manner of shrieks, wails, screams and muffled almost black metal like vocalising. “Useless” is seemingly the projects first release, though I cant be 100 % sure of this as the only place I can find any mention of the project is on Smell The Stenches website.
Is there an actual music for our times? What sounds reflect the world of 2011? Not really sure, but DOOM METAL definitely encapsulates some of the darker aspects of our world today. And there is a lot of it.
“This May be My Last Time Singing” is an varied, rewarding & mostly consistent three CD disc compilation of raw African American Gospel music dating from between 1957 & 1982. This is a sequel of sorts to the excellent 3 disc African American gospel collection “Fire In my Bones” which also appeared on Tompkins Square label in 2009, and both compilations are collected/Curatored by avid rare Gospel record collector Mike McGonigal.
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[Untitled] is the new moody & bleack HNW project from Richard Ramirez (of Werewolf Jerusalem, Black Leather Jesus, Fouke & many other projects) and Sean E. Matzus ( of Last Rape, A week of Kindness, The Whitehorse, Black Leather Jesus). This CDR offers up a single untitled track that comes in at just under the fifty five minute mark.
This new untitled release from Fairfax USA based Gluttoness finds the project offering up quite an untypical slice of lengthy, unmoving and boarding-on ambient HNW noise making. Usually this projects tracks are often short in length, and active /progressive in feeling so the near on 43 minute track that appears here is quite a departure for the project.
Well now, two worlds of obscuration meet on this one cd: black metal and academia. The former can often use vague, clouded, indistinct means to present itself; whilst the latter aims at total clarity, but in doing so often uses language so complex as to return it to obscurity.
The Thirteenth Assembly is an ensemble of New York virtuosos playing a sophisticated and expanded form of jazz that includes influence from a great many genres, as well as instruments atypical to jazz, such as the viola, which gives the whole their sound a somber Romanticism. Their new album, "Station Direct" is their second album in 3+ years of existence, and it's a dense, ambitious piece of work. It would seem they prefer quality over quantity.
The Pain Gallery was released in 2010 in the midst of Churner’s most prolific year to date. The one man noise generator from the Southern States released a total of 27 solo albums that year, not including numerous split releases, of which The Pain Gallery was the 18th. With such a high level of output it is unclear how to approach it all; and, with its often formless layering of relentless improvised noise, this isn’t a music that always rewards repeated listens despite its powerfully forceful mix.
I guess Controlled Bleeding don't need much of an introduction. Even if probably they don't like the definition, they've been among the prime movers in industrial music, crossing every imaginable genre during the span of more than three decades.Sadly they lost two members in the last few years, Chris Moriarty and Joe Papa, but the latter is still featured on some tracks of this CD.
"Winter Mind" is the debut tape of appropriately named American act Filth, aka Rob Buttrum who also runs Texas noise club House Of Tinnitus.
“Kill! Kill!” is c36 split that brings together two side long tracks of murderous, unforgiving & sleazed US based HNW. On side one we have West Virginia based Foul who have been putting thick ‘n’ horror fed walled noise since 2009. And on side two we have a side long track from relatively new Texas based project Snuff Film who offer up their pummelling and sadistic take on the HNW genre.
“Catoptrophobia” is the latest slice of seared 'n' battering sonic sickness from highly the prolific & unrelenting Serbian HNW project Dead Body Collection. This pro-pressed CDR offers up a single near on hour long track of bass ruptured & truly intense walled noise with a macabre & brutal flavour.
Sorry to say that I was unfamiliar with Huntsville until hearing their new album For Flowers, Cars and Merry War. From what I have been able to find out the band is an improvising trio from Norway. The music seems to be situated in some post-rock/ ambient context, with wide-ranging influences. This is the band’s third album, after Eco, Arches and Eras (2008) and For the Middle Class (2006).