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It was back in 2018 that saxophonist Jean Jacques Duerinckx came together with guitar-vocalist Guillaume Cazalet to form the genre-defying, boundary-pushing collective Neptunian Maximalism aka NNMM. Pulling on the Sun Ra inspired concept of the Arkestra, NNMM blend drone with free jazz and doom metal predicated on a sense of ritual, primal rhythm and otherworldliness. Untethered by expectations, their works range in intensity and scale as its members switch between genres, while always leaning heavily into the power of live performance. As such, their latest release, Le Sacre Du Soleil Invaincu is a voyage through the world of raga revisiting and reworking three classical Indian pieces recorded over four nights at St John’s Church in London’s Bethnal Green.
From the late 70’s, Thirst is one of the more original/ distinctive takes on vampiric cinema. The contemporary set Australian film adds elements of kidnap thriller, drama, and sci-fi into its genre mix. It regards one of the descendants Elizabeth Bathory- been abducted by a high-tech blood sucking cult. Here, from Powerhouse- either as a UHD or Blu-ray- is a new release of the film. Taking in a new 4K scan, and an archive/ few new extras.
Booger is a coming-to-terms-with-grief drama, wrapped in elements of dark humour, body-horror, and indie artiness. The New York City-set film focuses on twenty-something Anna, whose close friend/ apartment mate has recently passed. She gets obsessed with finding ‘Booger’, the stray cat the pair had, who has recently disappeared. Here from Arrow Video UK is a Blu-ray release of the 2023 film, featuring a few extras.
Pyroclastic Sleep is a thirty-seven-minute slab of densely slipping, sliding, and searing noise craft, which sits somewhere between walled and harsh noise. It’s the first release from SADOPRAXIA- a new collaborative project between two Polish noise acts- Sado Riutals and ECHOPRAXIA.
Taking environmental recordings to the next level, Natasha Barrett utilizes 3D ambisonic microphones to capture the sonic imprint of various locations in exciting new ways. With this as a base, she then transforms the sounds and atmospheres into abstract works that will give the listener an entirely new approach toward the area as initially perceived. Toxic Colour is her latest work, with five pieces of intricately recorded and deconstructed soundscapes to tickle one's brain.
Here’s an Untitled split between two US wall projects- Chianti Ohio's Polyester Ghost, and South Carolina’s Absurd Reality. The former severs up two shorter/ tauter tracks. While the latter gives us a single slice of longer/ slightly harmonic/ densely moody wall.
Kawaii From The Edge is the very welcome return of Portland’s Hana Haruna, who is one of the more creative projects working within today's walled noise scene. I’m happy to report this new album is up to Hana Haruna's normal high standards, with each of the three twenty-minute tracks blending rewarding/distinctive layering, ambient elements, and a generally skilled/ creative approach.
Here’s a new four-track release from Tucson, Arizona’s Ennaytch- and as we’ve come to expect from the project, it’s another trip into interestingly/ creatively layered wall craft.
Girl With A Suitcase is a 1961 black and white drama directed by Bologna-born Valerio Zurlini. It is presented here in a crisp restored version from Radiance in a limited edition of three thousand copies.
Here is another mini-CDR from Inner Demons Records, featuring the work of Sven Phalanx whom I was completely ignorant of, I’m afraid. The packaging and artwork is very diy, and that’s great; in a time when noise releases can be increasingly professional or deluxe there’s something refreshing about a no frills, old school, ‘bedroom released’ noise album: those expensive Urashima vinyl reissues you buy started off like this. Navigation has five tracks, all reasonably different and all ranging from around three minutes to five minutes in length.
80 is a collage work of samples and snippets culled from the eponymous decade and worked into two long tracks, each with a rather telegraphic title, "80:81:82:83:84" and "85:86:87:88:89", respectively. This is the third and final installment in a trilogy that began with 60, and then 70. The source material is necessarily limited in the scope of such a copy-and-paste project, so the familiarity with the sampled sounds will certainly depend on where you spent your 80s, or how you came to acquire an affinity for said decade. Why the archive fever? The question seems to linger like the stale air of a basement room throughout, whether intended or not.
Drawings is a two-CD release bringing together five pieces from up-and-coming Berlin-based modern classical composer, whose work bridges the gap between atmospheric simmering and hauntingly harmonic.
Penumbra serves up four slices of low-key, pared-back, and glumly fragile modern classic minimalism. Think Morton Feldman at his more drifting & fragilely fraught- you’ll get an idea of what is on offer here.
Here, we have a recent, more grown-up cinematic retelling of the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale, which concerns a miller's daughter making a deal with a forest imp. This new version has a darker, more adult hue with swearier language, sexual suggestion, and fleeting nudity, though until its last quarter, it remains a period drama with fantasy edges...where, after more horror elements come in. Here from Miracle Media is a VOD release of the film.
Rats: Night Of The Terror is a campy, creepy, and action-edged slice of post-nuke sci-fi horror. The early 80s cheapie Euro cult film is a schlocky & enjoyable ride, with touches of gore, cheesy tough guy to OTT acting, and a moody-to-bounding electro score. Here from Severin is a three-disc release of the film, taking in a UHD, Blu-ray, and CD. The set takes in a 4k scan of the film, three hours of new/ archive extras, and the film's score on the CD.
Here, Severin brings us, for the first time on UHD, Antiviral- the award-winning 2012 debut feature from Brandon Cronenberg (Possessor and Infinity Pool). Brandon is not only the son of legendary body horror maestro David Cronenberg, but he is his father’s natural successor, creating smart, subversive body horror that harks back to David’s finest work from the 70s and 80s.
Originally released in 1992, this legendary compilation from the classic period of Japanese noise got a loving remaster and re-release through Cold Spring. Closing out 2024 with a bang, Noise Forest resurrects the limited, hard-to-find compilation featuring some of the heaviest of heavyweights to ever scorch feedback through their distortion pedals. Readers of Musique Machine will be familiar with Merzbow, Masonna, Incapacitants, C.C.C.C., and the others, but many most likely have never heard this compilation before. Like a wonderful time machine, Cold Spring's re-release of Noise Forest brings us back to a magical time when noise was starting to hit the world scene and opening the eyes (ears?) of extreme music fans across the globe.
Blue Sunshine is a difficult-to-bracket late 70s film that sits somewhere between a conspiracy thriller, drug-fueled drama, and deranged horror film. It regards a batch of bad acid, which, ten years after being taken, is causing those who took it to turn into bald & demented killing machines. Here from Synapse Films is a new classy three-disc set of the film, taking in a UHD, Blu-Ray, and CD soundtrack, taking in 4K restoration of the film, a good selection, inlay booklet, foldout poster, slip case/ sleeve.
Death Streamer is tech focused vampire picture regarding a group of blood suckers who stream their killings, but then things go somewhat askew when a group of YouTube vloggers tune into the stream by mistake. The film is the second in Charles Band’s ‘Pulp Noir’ series, which is all about creating edgier, darker and scarier sort of genre entertainment. The film ups both the gore & nudity of a typical Band production, with a more active use of CGI. Here from Full Moon Pictures- is a Blu Ray release of the film.
Blind Ambitions is a thirty-three-minute slab of rabid ‘n’ rapid walled noise. The track features a punishingly crude unfold, and as soon as it kicks in, you're pinned down- not let up until the track finishes.
Remember is a half-hour wall that retains a punishing and thick presence. The MDS( Most Dangerous Soldier) is one of the more recent projects of Leeds-based Peter Beswick( Carrion, Meanwood Beck, Utterblight).
Here from 88 Films, as part of their Nikkatsu studios Roman Porno series of reissues, is Yumeno Kyusaku’s Girl Hell. The late 1970s film is set at an elite girls' finishing school in the 30’s- it regards the relationship between two girls, and the male depravity/perversion that surrounds them. The picture shifts from sordid, at points, troubling/ brutal melodrama into a surreally edged ghost story in its last quarter. The release comes in the form of a region B Blu-ray- this features a new crisp HD scan, a new commentary, and a few other extras
During the early 80s- the golden age of the slasher film- as with any popular genre, it got its fair share of parodies/ send-ups, and 1982’s Wacko is one such film. It took a decidedly bloodless, bad taste to ridiculous humour-laden, and often manic take on stalking ‘n’ slashing form, sending up not just the genre, but other horror/ impactful cinematic fare of the period. Here, from 88 Films- as part of their slasher classic collection series- is a new Blu-ray release of the picture, featuring a new commentary track from the slasher-loving podcast The Hysteria Continues.
Black Cab is a 2024 film that attempts to blend together a kidnapping cabbie thriller, with an uneasy ghost story. Playing the films, at first happy-go-lucky, later unbalanced/ unpredictable, cab driver is Nick Frost( Space, Shaun Of The Dead, Paul). Here from Acon Entertainment is a Blu-ray release of the film.