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The greatly titled Big China & Little Trouble are not a quirky John Carpenter soundtrack cover band(as their name could suggest) but instead are best described as a more polished & musically take on Wolf eyes sound at it’s more cinematic less noisy end of the spectrum.
Spires that in the Sunset Rise are a female four piece from Chicago who make a heady, darkly/ haunted psychedelic and sometimes deranged otherworldly mix of folk, avant rock riffs, world music and classical elements.
Some very great things have come out of self released CDR’s but Isaiah 66.6 is certainly not one of them, actually I think this is the worst self release I’ve ever come across both in its presentation and sonically.
Andrew Duke is a sound artist/designer from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Aside from his work as a recording artist, he has worked in television, film and theater, creating sound design and scores. He is also a teacher of composition on the computer. The aforementioned information might scare off listeners who are more reticent of an academic, or dry, approach to music. Fortunately, Duke's music isn't at all stuffy or over-wrought. From the Deep End is, perhaps depressingly so, still available from afe records, though it's limited to 100 copies. Considering the quality of the music presented here, it should have disappeared instantly, because it's one of the most involving, genre bending electronica releases this reviewer has heard in some time. I say this with the caveat that, due to my regrettable lethargy as a writer, I am just getting around to reviewing this, despite the fact that it came out last year.
Don’t be fooled by Kuss Mich Meine Liebe(Kiss me my love) classy & romantic title and the packagings chocolate box appearance S&S have’nt gone all soft and mushy on us. This is their most noisy, fuck-up and sleazy take on their locked groove, churning and hypnotic riff worship thus far.
Vestigial are a project from Italy who offer up a mix of dark ambience, slowed industrial rhythms and bleak cinematic expanse. Translucent Communion is their first full length after a cdr, split Vinyl release and some compilation tracks.
After the excellent solo guitar album, this the second release on Steve Howe’s(Yes, Asia, ect) new label Howe sound show’s him presenting a collection of groovy, laid–back yet virtuoso played tracks for his trio of Guitar, Hammond and drums.
This ltd tour Split brings together Italian Noise Pervert Fecalove with fellow Italian electro Acoustic and noise maker Cris Ex. And much like the recent Hoor Paar Kraat split this is a rewarding and searing ride.
Pause for the Jet is the second solo album from Daniel Padden One part of Da-da pop and weird world music collective Volcano The Bear. And through you can hear the odd traces of The bears Sonics here and there through out Pause for the Jet, Padden often conjures up his own distinct magic. And Just like the Bears it’s nicely varied really leaving you unsaw were next he’ll touch down sonically.
Procer Veneficus Ghost Voices was one of my highlights of 2006 with it’s re-birth of black metal in ghostly and ambient tinged form, Saltwater and GlassMoon finds the project striped of guitar and vocals going completly ambient- yet still feeling somehow linked to black metal’s melancholy, hopeless and decayed grandeur side.
After been rather taken (and fried) by the relatively recent reissue of Live in Allentown Borbetomagus searing live album from 86. I was most egger to hear some more of their noise/jazz/ improv sound mix & This is their debut album from 1980 reissued in 95 and through it’s not as wall like and noisy in its sound as Allentown it’s still very rewarding in its own often searing and atmospheric way.
As the projects title suggest this really is an orchestra with in all 22 people involved in the chaos with-in & Through it stays in the noise genre fairly squarely for it's running time there are improv, electro acoustic & junk band elements at play too.
This three way collaboration is a real manic attack on the sensors, yet it also has great moments of alien beauty too. The album mixers deranged guitar runs, seemingly impossible and space funked bass patterns, complex and battering percussion, and the odd shot of demented vocal attacks too.
Highgate are a 3 piece doom project from Kentucky USA and this self titled album is their first grim sonic vomit onto the world at large. The albums made up of one long 54 minute track that for the most part makes an impressive, inventive and rewardingly grim apocalyptic doom listening.
From the heart of the town is the 2nd album from London based Gallon Drunk and their mix of psychobilly, garage rock, surf, jazzy noir sound-scapes. Originally released in 1993- here it’s given a reissue with 8 great extra tracks adding on.
Having been very taken with The Owl Service's wonderful debut album A Garland of Song and its refreshing and rewarding take on English folk and folk/rock, I was very egger to hear this collaboration with Alison O'Donnell (of Irish prog-folk group Mellow Candle).
Suzuki Junzo is a guitarist and vocalist known for his involvement in the Overhang Party, Miminokoto, Astral Travelling Unity, 20 Guilders, aside from his solo work and a couple of collaborative efforts. Pieces for Hidden Circles is volume 8 of Utech Records' "Arc" series, a consistently high quality line of recordings, most of which are guitar oriented. Each of these releases are appointed with classy and beautifully printed photographs by Max Aguillera-Hellweg, and the concept of the series is for each artist to tie the music to the photography. The fact that there is a distinctive personality to each volume is what makes this series so intriguing and artistically complex.
With Wasteland USA based Abhorrent strain kicks up one hell of a lot of noise debris. It’s the same mind behind Abhorrent Strain as the stalk and suffering noise project Thirteen fingers, but Abhorrent Strain has none of Thirteen Fingers atmospheric/ serial killer creepy edge. Wasteland goes straight for the throat and never lets go with it’s noisy junk meet crashing static tones.
Living underground is an ambient/ field recording cross breed, which as it’s title suggest takes all of it’s sound elements from field recordings of underground tube stations and other subterranean urban spaces then manipulates them into atmospheric and deep sounding expanses.
According to the late great Frank Zappa certain instruments have 'Humour Something' (HS in short), something inherently funny about the sound of the instrument. One instrument that has that HS for me is bass clarinet.
Passing out is the third album in the BJ Nilsen & Stilluppsteypa series of collaborative albums & much like the other albums in the series this is made up of deep drone textures and field recordings.
Commonwealth is a single long form piece of hypnotic, captivating and dense drone craft by US sound artist Brendan Murray- this is his forth full length release.
Letters Letters are a trio based out of Montreal consisting of Mitchell Akiyama, Tony Boggs and Jenna Robertson. Though Akiyama has worked with each artist in the past, this is their first collaboration as a trio. The album resists pigeonholing because it takes several different approaches to songwriting. The unifying factor is the production, which is somewhat unique; almost all of the instruments, and vocals for that matter, sound close-mic'ed and over-driven. The instrumentation consists of analog synths (I'm assuming, that's what it sounds like), acoustic and electric guitars, hand percussion, and possibly some real cymbals and drums. The over-driven production is not over the top, as you may imagine. It's gauzy and reverb drenched. You could tag it as post-rock if you wanted to over-simplify, I suppose.
Legends Act 3-Cults is an cinematic, strange and often rhythmically rich but always atmospheric journey into the sounds of eleven invented cults by Swedish based fantasy music project Za Frûmi.