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Il Suono Venuto Dall Spazio finds the Opalio Brothers on another long improvised and psychodelic trip to another world inside our self’s or outside our star system. This is a remarkable well recorded live performance is from last years FIMAV festival.
Allerseelen offer up a very distinctive audio environment- mixing ancient and modern into a invigorating, complex beat bound, harmonic mix. Hallstatt dips it's toes in electronic beat craft & organic percussion- with a mix of neo-folk/ traditional Germanic folk/world music influences, cinematics, krautrock, neo-classical, dark electroinca, inventive avant-garde pop touches that the likes of the Residents would be proud of & metallic elements that wander towards black metal.
This impressive Boxset brings together a selection of almost five hours of Norwegian noise maker/ soundsmiths Lasse Marhaug tape work over a nine year period. And it highlights his changing sound, different sound experiments and above all his inventive, clever, distinctive take on the noise genre that has made him one of the scenes most respected and critically acclaimed figures.
Sometimes the fact that a figure is such a ubiquitus prescense in the underground music community leads people to take their work for granted. Thurston Moore has performed on so many collaborations exclusive of his big time gig in Sonic Youth that it's sometimes difficult to keep up with the steady stream of releases. There's a varying level of success associated with them, mostly due to risk-taking performances.
This offers up five bone chilling, shudder making, creepy but your not quite sure why, Dark ambient/ edgy sound worlds. Each track seems to slide and creep its way out of your speakers, its shadowy form almost taking shape ready to pounce, but then falls away once more
The 1975 part of this title rather threw me, and had me wondering if this dates from then but it seems this was recorded this year or last year. Anyway on with music or sound, what we have here is one long and punishing mix of electronics and gitar weaved into a rock jam/noise storm.
Don’t be deceived by In Pink’s title, there's nothing pink, fluffy or cute about it. It really goes to the other extreme being a collection of pained, life worn down psychedelic rock/ synth scapes with high amounts of melancholy pop run through out its audio life.
The Thing make really stonking , punked-up and energetic take on jazz fronted by the always amazing, prolific and quality bond Norwegian sax player Mats Gustafsson. Along with Ingebrigt Håker Flaten on double Bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums and percussion, All making a hell of a lot of beautiful noise along the way.
Reformation!Post-TLC The fall’s 26th album starts up with great swagger and experimental rocking/ locked groove, firing on all cylinders for the first 5 or so tracks. Then sadly almost splutters to a stop with lacklustre ideas badly executed and worst of all it all feels too happy, joyful and high with a larking about air.
LiL goes under the more active and not so deep form of ambient bracket & been surprising swift for the often drifting Mystery sea label type release. It’s all the work of Norwegian Stig Berg, who has already released an album under the name of R|A|A|N some years back.
The Holy Kiss are a trio out of the San Francisco area who specialize in grimy blues based rock, filtered through a bit of a Nick Cave vibe. So it makes sense that a label named after a Birthday Party song have decided to lend their name to this release.
Every time I read anything about this band, it seems like much is made about their goofy name, as opposed to the musical content of their recordings. So, yes it is a silly name, but at least it's not one you're likely to forget. Quote Shakespeare's "what's in a name" blah blah blah, and let's get to the music.
La Double Absence is the perfectly balanced mix of eastern world music, electronics ‘n’ beats, jazz and the avant-garde. High with intricate, tuneful and moody instrumental and vocal detail, been atmospheric, fresh and exotic and at the same time very memorable and approachable.
Poly.Sci.187 is surprisingly rewarding for several reasons, firstly it’s an Anticon instrumental release that is consistent and entertaining through out, and a lot of their instrumental attempts in the past have been very mixed, to put it mildly. Secondly for those not in the know Mansbestfriend is Sole’s DIY project, which has always been very much a hit and miss affair, compared with his own named releases.
It easy to hear why Cold spring decided to re-release this edgy and pitch black death Industrial album from 1993, As it’s surprisingly undated and conjures up one hell of a dark vicious and blackly majestic atmosphere.
Roughly Six Twilights, a project by A Weather's Aaron Gerber, can be situated in the same 'digi-acoustic' section where Function resides. Six Twilights is more consistent in style though, think indie/folk digitally manipulated into ambient textures.
The extensive list of personnel on The Secret Miracle Fountain holds but a few somewhat famous names: Lakshmi Shankar, Ryan Teague and Stuart Dempster. Main man Matt Nicholson has been working on this album all over the world you'll find the reflection of that modus operandi in the diversity in sound.
Mourner is a grim often beautiful, jagged and tuneful mix of folk, indie, post-rock, black metal and the avant-grade. At times coming off with the inventive ear of a bizarre Scott walker led black metal/folk project, at others moving with morose,mischievous and deeply hurt spirit of Syd Barrett.
Endless Coast brings together two very different and distinct noise worlds into a on mass collaboration. We have the da da, jazz, improvised rock, aged dialogue and corrupted easy listening noise vibes of USA's Smegma, whom lock their sound into Norway’s Jazkamer’s more atmospheric and often guitar based take on noise.
Proof of powers brings together four new compositions from California noise maker and Misanthropic Agenda label owner Gerritt. It finds him mixing noise textures and sound elements in an interesting and often quite organic sounding way.
Yamaguchi is an excise in shrink wrapped audio dread and paranoid, with the three tracks here building up an suffocating mix of improvised dwellings and barely moving but deeply unsettling and uncomfortable aduio air.
CD-R technology has undoubtedly made it much easier for indepent musicians to offer to their music to the public. It offers possibilities for instant gratification and spontaniety, since the music can be released almost immediately after it's recorded.
In the process of making Surviving Death bandleader Bill Brovold suffered no less than five heartattacks in one year. Way too young and healthy but coming dangerously close to an untimely end of his life Brovold amazingly survived and managed to finish Surviving Death. Thinking up a title of an instrumental album doesn't seem all that difficult anymore.
Monologue is guitarist Takeshi Nishimoto first solo album, though he’s travelled the world playing with many fine musicians. The album is a brilliant mixture of accomplished, yet tuneful and emotional instrumental guitar playing that mixes together classical, jazz, blues and folk forms.