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Here we have a walled noise split bringing together Cincinnati’s Whore's Breath, and Uk’s Utterblight. Both sever up a twenty-minute wall, which offered up fairly different- brutalising takes on the genre.
Ensnare is a just over thirty-minute slab of grating, hissing, and cluttering walled noise from this highly prolific UK project. There is most certainly a decidedly busy and detailed industrial vibe to this wall’s focus, which never lets up in its unrelenting attack.
By rubbing specialized body parts together, insects are able to sing their song and communicate with others of their species, most likely to rub other specialized body parts together. This is stridulation, and while the word may be new to some, the sounds produced in this manner would be recognised by almost all. Robert Schwarz was inspired by this method of communication and set about resynthesizing these calls and songs for Stridulations 1-14. Continuing with his work on previous releases, Schwarz further investigates the "spatio-temporal sonic patterns" of these stridulations, most notably in "swarm behavior and synchrony." Entomological inspiration is strong in experimental synthesis, and Schwarz utilizes natural sounds from field recordings along with created electronic sounds with great effect.
All triptychs must come to end, though the form is not equivalent to a trilogy, where rely on narrative coherence to bind their respective parts. For Harvestman's (aka Steve Von Till) final instalment in his trio of EPs whose releases are coincident with a particular phase of the lunar cycle – this one is the harvest moon – all of the ingredients found on the first two parts are present: dubby bass from Al Cisneros, drums, guitars, recorded snippets of a man's voice, and synths.
Ottone Pesante are an Italian metal band with the unusual distinction of creating all of their instrumental tones with brass instruments (barring the drums). I've heard electric violin and cello before, but never distorted brass. The three-piece band person consists of two trumpet players and a drummer. Scrolls of War is a forty-three-minute affair, and the next in a series of several full lengths and multiple EPs since their debut in 2016.
The Edge of the Circle, from 2022, comes in a fancy CD digipack, illustrated impressively with abstract, and not so abstract, collages; it features five tracks from the Spain-based Susana López. These tracks are all drone-y in nature, with the shortest coming in just under eight minutes, and the longest just over thirteen minutes. López’s pieces are created with electronics and processing, presenting an immersive sound world that hints at deep space and cosmic themes.
Sounding Numbers brings together two modern ensemble works from South–Argentinian composer/ saxophonist/researcher Miguel Angel Crozzoli. The works blend ‘n’ blur together elements of horn/ string/ electronic ambience, Avant classical composition with female vocalising, ebbing jazz drifts, and electro-acoustic soundscaping
The Champions is a 1983 sporting comedy film directed by Brandy Yuen (In The Line of Duty III, Master of Zen and Three Against the World) and starring Yuen Biao (Project A, Once Upon A Time in China and Encounter of the Spooky Kind), Moon Lee (Fighting Madam, Mr Vampire and Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain), Dick Wei (Project A, Eastern Condors and Five Deadly Venoms) and Eddy Ko (Lethal Weapon 4, Rumble in the Bronx and The Bride with White Hair).
The idea of Samuel L. Jackson, he of Pulp Fiction and Snakes on a Plane, roaming the streets of Edinburgh on the hunt for an outrageously brutal serial killer aided in part by the enigmatic and incredibly charismatic Vincent Cassel is a rather mouthwatering prospect. Well, this is the premise of Amazon Prime’s new blockbuster flagship production Damaged, which sees Hollywood royalty join forces with British director Terry McDonough and Scotland’s own Gianni Capaldi who not only plays our put-upon lead but is credited with idea, screenplay and production duties.
Static Antics severs up five slices of crude, nasty, and ear-ripping ‘n’ tearing noise that sits between thick harsh noise and walled noise. The release appears as a CD on Germany’s Aussaat.
The brainchild of Poughkeepsie, NY"s James Oskarbski (Execrable, 8 Hour Animal), Odious Spirit takes form with its ambitious debut, The Treason of Consciousness, via I, Voidhanger.
The Valley of the Bees ( aka Údolí vcel) is a late 60s Czech historical drama set in the 13th century. The film has a fairly simple lead plot line/structure regarding a young boy joining a brotherhood of holy Knights- years pass, and he decides to leave & is pursued by his fanatical brother-in-arms. But it truly does whisk you back to the grim & moody Middle Ages, with a film full of stunning & haunting imagery, barren/ rundown landscapes & buildings, moments of jarring/ brutal violence, and pious discipline meeting doubt. Here from Second Run- one of the key label reissue Czech cinema- is a new region-free Blu-Ray release of the film, taking in a commentary track, two of the director's short films, and a twenty-four-page inlay booklet.
Cemetery Man is a heady and lightly surreal blend of horror, comedy, dark fantasy and ghoulish romance. The early 90’s euro cult film focuses on Francesco Dellamorte – played by British actor Rupert Everett- the guardian of a small, enchanted cemetery in northern Italy, where many of the dead come back to life in eight days being buried.
The Creature is a late 70’s Spanish martial drama with low-key thriller and horror touches. It regards a troubled couple who take a mysterious black dog into their lives. The picture was helmed by Eloy de la Iglesia- who created the likes of The Cannibal Killer (1972) a serial killer/ arty drama that landed up on the Video Nasty list. He also directed key Quinqui films- controversial/transgressive juvenile delinquency dramas- such as Navajeros (1980), El Pico (1983), and Pals (1983). Here from Severin is a Blu-Ray release of the picture- taking in a nice bright & bold scan of the film, and a few interviews.
Facets of Love is an early 1970s blend of period drama and light sex comedy. The Hong Kong-made/ Shaw Brothers-produced film is set in a Ming Dynasty brothel, taking in a few different stories with a young/non-fighting Jackie Chang appearing in one of these. The picture balances well enough drama & light humour- with fleeting moments of female flesh and low-key torture. Here from 88 Films is a recent release of the film, taking an HD scan of the picture- this makes the flamboyant & colourful costume drama elements really pop ‘n’ sparkly.
Between the early and mid-1990s British comedians Rik Mayall (The Young Ones, The New Statesman, Drop Dread Fred ) and Adrian Edmondson (The Young Ones, The Supergrass, Jonathan Creek) wrote/ starred in Bottom. The BBC’s crude ‘n’ chaotic comedy series, followed the life of two unemployed flatmates Richard "Richie" Richard (Mayall) and Edward Elizabeth "Eddie" Hitler (Edmondson). It blended smutty & nihilistic humour, with violent slapstick comedy.
Focus / Concentration is a three track journey into textured walled noise. The CDR/ digital download brings together Serbia’s Dosis Letalis, and Thailand’s Arboreal- both projects offer up a single twenty minute solo track, then we get a twenty minute collaboration- so in total the release takes in around a hour of noise.
Directed by Damiano Damiani (The Mafia, The Witch and The Devil is a Woman), A Man on His Knees is a 1979 crime thriller starring Giuliano Gemma (Tenebre, A Pistol for Ringo and The Leopard), Eleonora Giorgi (Inferno, Black Belly of the Tarantula and Story of A Cloistered Nun), Michele Placido (The Pyjama Girl Case, Plot of Fear and La Piovra) and Tano Cimarosa (Cinema Paradiso, The Witches and Delirium).
First released in the late 80s A Higher Form Of Killing is the second album from Nashville, Tennessee Thrash band Intruder. It’s a ten-track affair that blends the speeding & the breakneck, the meaty & the mid-paced, with a few more atmospheric moments, and a decidedly odd/ puzzling cover.
Classic Albums Vol 3: The 13th Moon Years is a five-CD boxset bringing together all of the studio albums from Alien Sex Fiend from between the years 1996 and the present day, as well disc taking in two EP’s, and bonus album tracks. Since the early 1980’s the UK two-piece has gleefully dodged genre labels & brackets. Their often darkly tongue-in (rotten)cheek sound blends elements of Goth, psychobilly, punk, electro-fired shock rock, and various brands of electronica.
Ambient music is not hard to come by, our ears are persistently inundated with new releases that tap into the ethereal, the otherworldly and the transcendent. It marks a dramatic shift from the early days when we had to make do with a handful of Obscure label recordings and the odd Basinski record to being in a place where it can be a wearying challenge to find the ambient record to suit our cosmic needs. But, for now, look no further, as New Dawns, the latest release from longstanding Israeli multi-disciplinary artist and musician Ran Slavin, is one that should absolutely be sitting at the top of the pile.
Vital (Vitâru) is an early 2000 Japanese drama regarding death & grief with a decidedly ghoulish, at points downright unsettling centrally premise. It regards a man who is in a car crash- he loses his memory, as well as his girlfriend in the accident. During his recovery he finds a grate full of medical books and decides to train as a doctor- he goes to medical school and ends up dissecting his girlfriend- who gave her body up to medical science. The film blends downbeat emotional drama, moments of grim dissection, off-kilter/ violent romance, and hopefully fantasy- so a decidedly tonal unbalancing, but certainly thought-provoking film. Here from Third Widow Films is a recent Blu-Ray release of the film, taking in an archive commentary track, and a few other archive extras.
Spiral- not to be confused with the 2021 Saw spin-off of the same name. Is an early 2000s jazz music-scored indie film, which attempts to mix awkward romance drama with dark thriller elements. It’s compelling enough if at points decidedly slow film- which features a wonderful awkward lead, and a few neat enough twists in its tail. Here from Ronin Flix is a Blu-Ray Special edition of the film- taking a new making-of and commentary track.
The Invisible is a free-jazz record that shifts between the expressive & moody, to manic and dense, through to the abstract and angular. This three-length track album brings together Belgian guitarist Dirk Serries, Portuguese sax player Rodrigo Amado, and English drummer Andrew Lisle.