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House Of Bondage severs up two half-an-hour slabs of grinding ‘n’ searing walled noise from this ultra-prolific California project. With each being as unforgiving, yet appealingly intense as the other.
Composer and bassist Tony Elieh has created a new project with Arabic singer and songwriter Aya Metwalli called Los Panteros. Their debut album on Famous Grapes Recordings is 24 Ribs. Elieh was former bassist for Lebanese punk band Scrambled Eggs, while Metwalli's background lies in Egyptian traditional music. There are four pieces here, which range from seven to ten minutes each.
Directed by Eiichi Kudo (13 Assassins, Eleven Samurai and Shadow Warriors) in 1981, Yokohama BJ Blues is a Japanese neo-noir film starring Yusaku Matsuda (Black Rain, A Chaos of Flowers and The Killing Game), Hyôe Enoki (The Last Dinosaur, Shogun and Female Ninja Magic: 100 Trampled Flowers), Mari Henmi (Redlove: The Art and Consequences of Illusion, Memai and Kono Ko No Nanatsu No Oiwai Ni) and Toby Kadoguchi (The Execution Game, She Cat and The Black Battlefront Kidnappers).
The distinctions between modern/contemporary classical and the countless offerings that appear under the catch-all "ambient" are increasingly difficult to identify without a few helpful liner note or two. I suppose someone with a formal musical education could probably feign some deeper appreciation for the notational correctness in the former, or so I imagine, but not I. On the level of sonic expression and its recorded capture and manipulation, there does seem to be a shared interest in the arrhythmic, for whatever reason. I guess that how each artist in their respective genre ended up choosing that path probably says a great deal about the genealogy of their own concept of music. Enter Olga Anna Markowska, one of those classically trained instrumentalists who has crafted an elegant, and at times quite moving, ambient album, ISKRA, composed of electronics, cello, zither, and the like. In true classical fashion, ISKRA is essentially a narrative journey divided into 10 individual compositions, each with their own emphasis on a particular time of the day, from dawn until dusk
The Girl In The Pool is a recent take on the will-they-get-caught-or-not Thriller. It finds Tom (Freddie Prinze Jr) a middle-aged/middle-management father of two trying to retain a cool and calm demeanour, as the body of his dead lover is hidden nearby. Here from Signature Entertainment is a digital release of the film.
Slap The Monster On Page One (1972) is a political thriller from Italy’s Years of Lead (late 1960s – late 1980s) released on Blu-ray by Radiance. This is a 4K restoration from the original negative.
High Crime is an early 1970s Poliziottesco/crime action film focusing on drug smuggling. It features a great rage exploding-to-emotional performance from lead Franco Nero, a good shifting pace, some great/ tense action set-ups, and creative shot use. Here from Blue Underground is a three-disc release of the film- taking in a UHD, Blu-Ray, and CD. With a new 4k scan, three commentary tracks, a good selection of new/ archive extras, and the film's soundtrack.
Feed is an early 2000 Australian film that combines elements of crime thriller and body horror with light touches of twisted dark comedy. The kinetically edited and music-heavy film concerns a cybercrime investigator who discovers a website where seemingly women are being fed to death. Here from Unearthed Films is a Blu-Ray release of the film, which includes a good selection of extras.
Weak Spot is a rewardingly twisting ‘n’ turning 70’s thriller set in a dystopian Greece, where a middle-aged man is arrested on bizarre/jumped-up charges. It’s a film that hooks you in from the off, then holds you in its tense WTH will happen next unfold, with a nicely edgy-to-moody Ennio Morricone score. Here from Radiance Films- both in the UK and Stateside- is a new blu ray, with a new 4k scan, and a few extras.
Panic In The Year Zero is an American early 60’s post-nuke thriller/ drama focusing on a family unit in peril. Instead of going down the expected route of looking at the town/city damage and health issues caused by such an event. The film looks at how people might react/ interact with each other. Here from Radiance is a Blu-Ray release of the film- taking in both new and archive extras.
Bringing together two legendary Québécois electronic artists, Crucial Blast releases Possession Subcosmique on both digital and limited cassette. Compiling three songs each from Présence du Futur and Bête Lumineuse, this release represents both sides of the coin, with Presence Du Futur focusing on a more traditional synth-based approach and Bête Lumineuse bringing industrial soundscapes. Despite sounding too varied on paper, the triads complement each other in numerous ways and when played all the way through, almost feel like an evolution, or maybe more correctly, a de-evolution.
Negativity Positive Lullabies For The Malignant Vol 2 is a three-track affair from Tucson, Arizona Ennaythch. It finds the one-person project moving away from its more formal wall noise origins, for a blend of textured sound scaping, low-key beats, and gloomy post-industrial Sound craft.
Here’s a 3-inch CDR mixing choppy electro texturing, with slowly baying-to-warbling horn-based soundscaping. It’s a release that manages to be both eerily alien and lightly searing.
Hollyhock Way serves up three ten-minute slices of walled noise. Each of these sound fairly different, with a keen creative air present throughout.
Here’s a colossal three CD set from RogueArt, collecting several live recordings from Steve Swell's Fire Into Music, a quartet who explore freely but remain in recognisably jazz territories. The ensemble consists of: Steve Swell on trombone, Jemeel Moondoc on alto saxophone, William Parker on double bass, and Hamid Drake on drums. The recordings were made between 2004-2005, in Texas and Ontario, and have been released in memory of Moondoc, who passed away in August 2021 from complications of sickle cell anaemia. It is a large set, and dense with it, so I won’t attempt any kind of close review, rather I’ll just sketch out an overview of the album.
Watcher In The Attic is a mid 70’s Roman porno film set in the 1920s. The period set Japanese film regards, as its title suggests, a voyeur- weaving in elements of woozy disquiet, dark humour, and unsettling violence/ macabre-ness to its sleazy unfold. Here from 88 Films is a recent Blu-Ray release of the film- bringing together a new HD print, and a few extras
The second volume of music from Bear Family records looking at the heavier end of the Krautrock spectrum. This particular volume deals with the years 1977 – 1983 and looks at the hard rock bands that would go on to influence the explosion of heavy metal music that took place in the 1980s through the NWOBHM, Thrash Metal and beyond.
Ubiquity is a three-CD set compiling together five albums released by American vibraphonist, composer, and band leader Roy Ayers in the mid-to-late 1970s. It sees him embracing a blend of grooving jazz-funk, soul, and R&B. With the albums featured moving between more inspired/creative, and more commercial-focused fare.
Requiem For A Vampire was the 5th film directed by French cult director Jean Rollin, and his 4th vampiric-influenced production. It’s a film that rather defines and clarifies his ideas and themes well- with moments of creepy gothic unease, fanged threat, and more leering/ at points nasty sleaze- as well as darts into the crime thriller genre. Here from Powerhouse Films- who have been reissuing the directors' work is a release of the film- coming as either a Blu-Ray or UHD disc. Taking in a new 4k print, a selection of new and archive extras, and an eighty-page booklet.
Incubus is a mid-60s blend of myth-fired fantasy, moody Bergman-like drama, and horror. It’s a decidedly arty film starring a pre-Star Trek Willam Shatner and features the Invented language of Esperanto. Here from Arrow Video- both UK and Stateside- is a new Blu-Ray or UHD release of the film- featuring three commentary tracks, and a selection of new/ archive footage.
American trumpeter Nate Wooley was born into the craft - playing in his dad’s big band from the tender age of 13 and soloing with the New York Philharmonic before hitting thirty. But far from being bound by tradition, he has dedicated his career to pushing the boundaries of instrumentation alongside the cream of the avant-garde. And that’s not all, he also likes to write, so it’s only natural that the two pursuits collide from time to time as we find on Henry House.
As Kit Harington continues his valiant effort to distance himself from the career-igniting role that was Game of Thrones’ Jon Snow, we currently find him pairing up with the wonderful and largely underappreciated Scoot McNairy in this dark, noirish and typically minimalist crime thriller, Blood For Dust.
Amidst all the church burnings and cultural panic, it was easy to overlook the inherently theatrical nature of black metal. Corpse paint, fighting, rivalries, and satanic concert displays were like a soap opera for metal heads (although some made this all too real and unfortunately crossed the line). Hidden behind this "evil" façade were clever new modes of expression and rampant experimentation.
In Search Of Something That Doesn't Exist brings together elements of Power Electronics and slightly surreal post-industrial/ noisemaking. It’s the second full-length release from this Helsinki project, and appears in the form of a CD on Germans Aussaat.