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Monocoastal is Marcus Fischer’s sonic summary of his experiences of the Pacific Ocean as viewed from the west coast of America. It collects eight relatively short pieces delicately formed by a consistently minimal range of instruments and sounds from the explicit tones of acoustic and electric guitars to the implicit accompaniment of field recordings and unspecified home made instruments. Compositionally, each track seems to follow a similar tact in hanging its selection of sonorities and environmental evocations loosely together as a kind of mobile, letting the sea breeze suggest its sequence.
In 2010, Kindvriendelijk released "21 Februari 1916", 20 minutes of grey monochrome noise with WW1 themed titles and artwork. I'd advise against taking the packaging too seriously, since once the disk is playing, there are no samples or sounds to establish a theme or specific atmosphere, just meaty chunks of abstract static.
First off - this is an excellent, wonderful album, from the highly acclaimed Utech Records label, and one of the most intriguing and carefully considered explorations of the higher realms of experimental music that I have heard in a long time. Following on from their debut album Elegy For Native Tongues, from a few years ago, the three members of Tetragrammaton play and integrate a variety of more unusual instruments, from waterphones and crystal bowls, to gongs, hydrophones, hurdy-gurdy's and frame drums, but also the more familiar saxophone, rhodes piano and electric guitar. They have produced a near-perfect album which alternates between subtle, playful reveries such as the paradisaical waterbowls and tinkling bells of Portrait of Turab (Parts 1 and 2) to the discordant sax, drums and percussion which swirl up to a resonant, epic crescendo in the invigorating Disjecta Membra.
Whitewater Orgasm are a mysterious project from Finland who create overloaded, atmospheric and often high pitched seared Hash noise matter that’s littered with pained and disturbing screams. “Noisexual” is seemingly the projects third release and it comes in the form of 3inch CDR.
This no nonsense and straight to point entitled release is the fourth of twelve 3inch CDR releases that are been released by Irelands Bored Bear recordings. Each release in the series celebrates and pays tribute to one of the many projects of highly influential & respected Texas noise artist's Richard Ramirez
This is the first full length release from Polish HNW project Jake Halter, the only other release they’ve had out (as far as I’m aware) was a split with I’m A slut which was entitled "Hang'em High Slut" and appeared on Zvukovina last year. This full length release offers up three lo-fi and crude slices of walled matter that are themed around the life and death of 17th century Polish serial killer Melchior Hedloff.
It’s been over three and a half years since Clodagh Simonds’ Fovea Hex concluded its critically acclaimed trilogy of EPs, Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent.
Jazkamer’s “Failed State of Mind” CD offers up nine tracks each clocking in at exactly 3:20 a piece, recorded between 2008-2011, across three different countries (Norway, Agrentina, and Vietnam – all couldn’t be more different), and collaged together to a cohesive yet disjointed album of mellow, weird ambient noise.
Sleep Of Ages is São Paulo, Brazil based project who hammerout & boil up an often energetic mixture of: Harsh noise, Melodic yet seared experimental electronica, blown out electro sounding tracking and HNW dwells. “Peplum” is the projects first release, and it offers up seven very varied and shifting tracks.
Dead Voices on Air is the Experimental, Industrial and ambient project of Mark Spybey's (Zoviet France, Download, Reformed Faction) that was formed in 1992 after he left prolific post-industrial band Zoviet France. “Fast "Falls the Eventide” is a 2xCD collection released Chicago based Lens records. This double disc contains tracks previously released on a ’94 G.R.O.S.S. records tape and other tracks are also re-releases from that era
'Abuse’ is an early release by Chilean noise artist A.R.GH. on Chilean label Prime Unit records.
Nervous Corps is the HNW/thick and blacked Harsh noise project of William Grace aka WM. Rage whose one of the main minds behind Seattle based blacked noise collective Blue Sabbath Black Cheer. “Exclusion=Isolation” is a 3inch cdr that offers up a single track of thick yet shifting tar black noise/drone matter with wallish dwells.
I studied this cd for a while before listening to it, because the packaging sends out such mixed messages - I was curious to see what it would actually sound like. The front cover has a nice spartan image of a fiery cat, the titles have the scent of metal about them, and the name and title suggest something retro and psychedelic. So which would it follow?
"Fetish” is the second full length release from this French one man project whose obsessed with African tribal culture, myths and magic. On offer here are four untitled, lengthy and slow moving ‘walls’ that have a distinctive sludgy or burnt out tribal vibe about them.
This untitled c6o split brings together two side long tracks from two great European HNW acts. On side one we have Serbian’s highly prolific and brutal Dead Body Collection, and on side two we have Netherlands based Svartvit.
“Phase I” finds this London based & horror obsessed HNW project offering up a C40 that presents the listener with two side long tracks of atmospheric, active, imaginative and blood curdling brutal slices of Walled noise matter.
It’s not been a good 18 months for David Tibet. Less than a year after Baastorm Sing Omega, an album which chronicled the turbulent months during the breakup of his marriage to Andria Degens we have here an even more stripped down and melancholic collection of songs dedicated to the memory of Sebastian Horsley and Peter Christopherson.
This is the second album, following on from the 2008 debut 'Approach', by the self-styled audio-visual artist Kostas K, otherwise known as Subheim.
Italian duo Ovo are back again with their eighth release Cor Cordium (that’s Latin for Heart of Hearts). The project comprised of Stefania Perdetti (from Allun) and Bruno Dorella (of Wolfango, Bachi Da Pietra and Bar La Muerte label) graces us with 10 songs that bounce from Punk, Noise, Metal, Ambient and Drone.
You can’t help but feel sorry for New York’s Lee Bartow - on the evidence of this ‘offical’ debut under his new moniker of Theologian that he’s dedicated to “the heartbreakers and the broken-hearted”, he’s plainly got it bad. Although similarly themed to much of his extensive catalogue of sample-based power electronics released under the cheery name of Navicon Torture Technologies, this time the sound sources are all his own and, as such, have the power to invert Tennyson’s much quoted pearl of wisdom: “'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
This C60 tape offers up two side long tracks of raging static grain battering and seared walled noise texturing that’s abused/corrupted by noise chains and malefaction bound tape recorders . Ela Vuk is a female noise artist from Sarajevo whose most know for been part of harsh junk noise duo Idlness Distribution with N. Smrznik and helping run the Zvukovina label.
“Dauerlärm” means continuous noise in german which is a highly apt title for this c110 release, as the tape finds this always creative and rewarding USA based Harsh noise act trying out his hand at often quite active HNW and brutal static texturing.
There are two kinds of "good" HNW: the first is a sound so singular and uniform that it induces trance-like states, and the second is one that has multiple layers of sound hidden underneath each other, emerging in subtle ways. Discretion's "Sewer Meditations" c32 falls into both of these categories.
Mike Johnston, Mike Gilmore, Mike Khoury and Kirk Lucas have joined forces for "Impermanence", a work of hazy oneiric jazz that extends far beyond the bounds of jazz. Sluggish and incandescent, there is a patience to this recording, and a natural acoustic beauty. Vibraphone, gamelan percussion, string bass and viola sing out over a backdrop of velvet black.