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This as it’s title and cover suggest original was a minidisk only release in 1998. Here it’s presented for the first time ever on cd, the original 44 tracks index down to a smaller 88, which frankly makes it rather frustrating trying to find certain element or track bits. Sadly this Frustration taints the whole thing, this is a very mixed bag of some great moments, some ok moments and some down right awful moments.
Why I remix women is the remix or reinterpretation of some of the tracks from this years why I hate women. Which turns out more successful than many remix album, this seemly has it’s own identity and it own air through out, and not really falling into the remix rut of just stick a new beat to songs, this works as an enjoyable companion to the excellent original album.
Skin Game for most of it’s running time finds as drowning in harsh oceanic, earth quake ripped, whirlwind torn noise. This is all out sonic storm, an attack on all fronts not quite wall noise but very close. Reel upon reel of sound roars towards you, bearing only slight traces of structure and the odd squeal of feed back. But through it all it has quite a claming almost womb quality, to me this doesn’t come across either nasty or evil sounding.
Storm is Chris Watson & BJNilsen take on sound painting with weather sounds and textures, Though they also use of various sea based animal noises too. All to make three tracks that go from soothing, to violent ,to down-right alien sounding. Though sometimes it does drift a little to close to too little happening, theres enough marvels of sound source and texture change, to make this worthwhile.
Volfurten is the new trip in to the odd and the strange from UK musically freaks Volcano the bear, its ltd to 300 copies each in a different hand painted cover. Which is a nice bonus,but what about the music- well this is as odd as anything they’ve done before, feeling like a very strange magic carpet ride- touch down musically in (their own) world music, jazz, odd metallic moments, dada sound tomfoolery, oh and no real vocals one this one either.
A stoner like group made up of member of legendary doom band sleep don’t seem at face value to be a particularly good choice for a collaboration with Current 93.
Skull Alcoholic brings together the complete discography of Japanese doom terrorists come psychedelic warrior’s Solar Anus. This is a wonderful produced and eye catching double disk set in a die cut out card sleeve and twisted and triped-out collage artwork with-in. It takes in all three of the bands albums from 1997 om to 2000’s Next world news, as well as an never before releashed track.
Calcutta Gas Chamber is a rather satisfying and grim mix of environmental recordings, dark ambient, noise and electronica. As the title suggest this takes it influence and source sounds from the Calcutta Gas Chamber before it was shut down in the early 1990’s. This is a reissue of the album original released in 1993, here with new grim artwork and it’s also been remastered, for more ghastly depth of sound.
A collaboration between tow of the biggest and most respected names in the modern guitar drone/noise genre, was always going to something to look foward to. And this certainly lives up to ones expectations. Togeather they've Creating an album of denser tones- that moves from brutal walls of sound, to more eerie undertones to even some frankly beautiful windswept melodies.
Micheal Cashmore has been a long time collaborator and musically complement to David Tibet folk come industrial apocalyptic rumblings of Current 93. Here he steps back from Mr Tibet to create a solo album of pleasant well written & tuneful guitar tracks,which will appeal beyond current 93 and neofolk fan base.
The punks make lo-fi guitar noise music, rippled with early Residents like rhythmic poundings, and all manner of lo grade effects.The album wonders drunkenly through haphazard rhythmic swaying, to more rich and mudded drone textures, and lo-budget crude space jams.
Calm sounds lure you into Sweetly Doing Nothing, a peculiar album from Los Angeles musician Tom Recchion, working in avant garde circles since the mid seventies. With its tambura drone and soothing sweeps The Elephant God makes you feel comfortable and relaxed.
Superuomini Superdonne Superbotte or Super Stooges vs. the Wonder Women is presented here for the first time ever. It’s the soundtrack from 1974 cheesy adventure movie based in ancient Greece. The music is a rather happy- go- lucky mix of quirky moogs, jazzy to funked up flared tones, angry electric guitar buzz and all manner of 70’s based sound fun.
The most amazing thing about this collection of ep’s that make up the Madlands trilogy is the of amount diffrent sound and textured on offer from; pumped up almost breackcore like beats, hip- hop nods,string led beat cinematics, to jazzy late night chilled beats. To more ambient drifts, to lo fi analogy synth dwell, to modern classic flourishers. As well as all manner of interesting tucks and fold of sound in nearly every track.
Notes of Obscure Origin was original recorded in 1996, but it has languished in some subterranean cave or sewer untill now. Brought to everyones ears on 140 gram black vinyl by Andy Ortmann and his lable Nihilst . What we have here is a mix of organic and plainly unpleasant tones, environmental sounds most of unknown origin, lo -fi choking synth sleaze, and unconformable electronics that hover in between the world of maggot crawling ambience and noise.
With a name like Chrome Hoof you know this is going to be a little tongue-in-cheek, when you see the bands picture, their song titles and of course their music- the humour seeps out. Their costumes seem to be a mix of sunn0)) via Sun Ra with a little 70’s campness thrown in. Musically I guess it’s a mix metal with doom edge, 70’s metal cheese, a sprinkling of jazz rock spacey vibe and 70’s schlock horror soundtrack .
Slumber Tides is a wonderful apt title for 18 year old Greg Haines debut album, with it’s lush and dramatic mix of classical droneing string work, heavenly voices and subtle electronics. The sound through out seems to glow with great gold and ornate wonder; Haines really bleeding all the beauty and sad grace from the sounds within.
Arktau Eos debut album is a journey into ritual and dark occultic ambience with guitar elements on a few tracks. But for the most part it’s stick to purely organic and acoustic elements such as piercing blasts of windbones, accelerating steel-plate rolls, singing bowl and various kinds of stringed instruments along with the human voice in all it’s eerier wonder, to summon up dark and often deeply chilling atmospheres
Horizontal Mover finds classical trained pianist,improviser and sound artist Claudio Parodi playing tribute to American sound artist Alvin Lucier and in particular his piece I am sitting in a room, which was based around recordings of recordings- that are built up untill they make there own drone form.
Welcomes debut feels like if you had a big white bowl and mixed in: Syd Barrett’s take on Pink Floyd, all manner of late 60’s psychedelic pop rock, The velvet underground’s sensibility to more churning avant guitar work, and The Pixies one of there more rough and ready days. All squeezed toothpaste like into your mind- a mix of juddering off angle guitars, quirky/ wonky harmonies, and songs that threaten to fall apart beneath you, like a trap door leading down a multicoloured Helter Skelter.
Francisco López paints hyper reality audio paintings or maybe huge more convincing versions of those 3D laser pictures from the late 1980’s. Sound and noise elements are cut up and throw back in your face,Or you drift on gossamer like threads, through slow unwinding caverns of sound, always weary you might drop to the caverns floor hundreds of feet bellow.
Andexelt is often as cited been one of Circle's best albums, dating from 1999 and been out of print for sometime- here it's been reissued by San Francisco tUMULt label. So what's all the fuss about, well Circle stand as one of the great instrumental bands period, in any genre.
As many long time readers of this site and my reviews, will probably know I’m more than a little bit of a horror movie geek. The reason I mention this is the first time I played Neronoia album, I was immediately hit by a moive and that movies characters that could well have Listen to this ,the movie in question was 80’s teen Horror vampire film The Lost Boys. Un Mondo In Me seems to fit pefectly into that world, with it’s mix of 80’s synth work, pop rock guitar elements, gothic undertones and a splattering of horror filmatic moments.
This Australia three piece really carve out a beautiful and sometimes aching sadly mix of guitar textures, piano and electronic drones. Always having an ear for sun-warming–the-skin melody or gentle leaf falling tunefulness. The sound here is much like the albums cover picture, which is of a hazy sunshine casting its light on a field of long grass, just as autumn dusk is edging in. It feels both tranquil, warmly mellow, with a slight shrug of melancholy.