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‘Allonsanfan’ is a period epic directed by the Taviani brothers in the year 1974. Here from Radiance Films is a recent limited edition Blu-ray (single pressing of 3000 copies) release of the film. Featuring a 2K restoration from the original negative, and a selection of extras
Here we have a split between two US wall-noise creators- with each offering up a single-length track, and then one shorter collab between them. With the tone moving between the battering ‘n’ buffering, to the more textured/ entrancing.
Bereavement is just over a twenty-five-minute 'wall' from this UK project. It’s both crudely rumbling, yet rapidly cascading in its intent. It feels akin to being slowly buried in a landslide full of muddy clumps of turf, coarse boulders, and sandy stinging earthy grit.
Cold and dark, MoonBladder (Jason Walton - Agalloch and others) creeps forth from the world's speakers with his latest, Dark Sky Equilibrium. Engaging and entrancing, this 23-minute composition moves back and forth through the sonic landscape presented to the listener, all the while growing and expanding into various terrains to compile its final, dark form. The compilation of sounds weave together to define and describe a bleak atmosphere that wonderfully causes discomfort and disquiet.
Alive in the Forest of Odd arrives in a nice little fold-out cardboard wallet, with - importantly - a big enough space that the CD slides in and out easily, even with its accompanying plastic wallet! This might sound superficial, but the amount of times I’ve had to fight to get a CD out of one of these things… The wallet has some suitably arboreal imagery, and liner notes guiding you through the album by Theo May. May describes the influence of European folk-jazz, and specifically Bulgarian folk music, and makes clear his desire to blend classical and jazz musicians, and idioms. The album has ten tracks, with the shortest just over five minutes, and the longest just shy of eight minutes.
Leather Jackets And Diesel Smoke is the next in the seemingly unending 'Lux and Ivy' series of compilations from Righteous. The two-disc CD set finds respected music journalist Dave Henderson compiling together groovy, crude, and bizarre 45s from between the 1950s and 1960s. This time around it’s another suitable varied ride.
The Sex Machine (Aka Conviene Far Bene L'Amore) is a mid-70s Italian sex comedy Sci-fi set in a future where the Oil Supply has run out, with the world sent back to the Middle Ages with horse-drawn transport. But a plucky professor has an idea to create power by natural human sexual friction. It’s a film that blends comedy, sci-fi, satire & farce- for an entertaining, amusing, and at points rather thought-provoking venture. Here from Cheezy Movies is a region-free DVD release of the picture.
The Cat And The Canary is a late 1920s Universal horror film, which helped define/ set the tropes for the old dark house genre. It’s a blend of mystery, light comedy, and creepy/cobweb-covered horror- with some moments of clever/ interventive flare. Here from Eureka’s Masters Of Cinema is a new Blu-Ray release of the film- taking in a 4k scan of the film, two commentary tracks, and a good selection of other extras.
According to Wikipedia, “drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece” – a definition that captures the very essence of Finnish noise musician Haare’s latest album, Submagic
Mysteries From Beyond Earth is a mid-70s UFO/ mystery documentary- with a fair bit of charm & quirkiness about it. Here from the resurrectors of lost/ forgotten films Cheezy Movies is a region-free/ bare-bones DVD release of the film.
From the late 70’s Behind The Covent Walls is a lightly arty-tinged take on the Nunsploitation genre- with effective enough use of imagery, impressive/ at times hand-held cinematography, and a fair bit of sleaze. It’s an Italian production helmed by Polish painter and lithographer turned director Walerian Borowczyk- who was known for his often- provocative & perversely tinged art films such as Blanche (1971), Immoral Tales (1973), The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne(1981). Here from Arrow Video is a Blu-Ray release of the film- taking in a new 2k scan, a new commentary track, and a few other extras.
Metal is an endless genre – who would have guessed? – which seems to birth something parallel to something else nearly every calendar year. One thing much of this endless spawn of (insert your dark lord of choice) shares with one another is tempo, or, more precisely, a lack of one. Sure, there are riffs, but they march to their own beat, which, more often than not, means no proper beat at all. Enter the French outfit Epitaphe, progenitors of Eventide and their debut release, Waterline. The album apparently emerged out of the recording session for Epitaphe’s II, and Waterline can be thought of as a kind of amorphous, wayward offshoot of II. What transpires over four tracks – two long, one medium, and one very short – is meandering indeed, more of a muddied air than anything cogent or fully formed.
Crossing The Trail is the next in the series of Vidna Obmana album reissues on Poland’s Zoharum. Originally released in 1998 on Projekt- it’s a seven-track album that shifts from the bright & texturally active tribal ambient. Onto the slightly darker/ more introspective side of the genre, before shifting to the brighter & glowing side of the ambient form- so very much of a journey like album.
Brutal Aesthetics is the second album from Poland’s Harmony Of Struggle. It’s a twelve-track affair- that moves between taut, searing, and unwell PE, and dense harsh noise roastings.
Here we have release number two from The Man Who Drove The Hearse- the darkly atmospheric walled noise project of Sweden’s Johan Strömvall Hammarstedt (Rien, Gamiani, J S H, J.S.H., Marsh Croft Coven, Ominous Recordings). This C20/ digital download takes in two side-long tracks.
Here we have a walled noise c90/ digital release that attempts to put a series of eight different emotions into noise form. It’s certainly a challenging concept/ idea- but thankfully we have one of the masters of the form behind this release Dosis Letalis, so it's a wonderful skilled & varied trip.
Berlin-based, Chicago-native producer Ayjay Nils is previously unfamiliar to me. Microdosing is his new six-track EP.
Originally released in 1970 as Santo Contra Los Jinetes Del Terror, Santo Vs the Riders of Terror is a horror/ western in the popular Mexican wrestler series of movies. This instalment is directed by René Cardona (Night of the Bloody Apes, Neutron Traps the Invisible Killers, and The Bat Woman) who had already directed a handful of other Mexican wrestling movies in the same franchise. The movie stars Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta, better known as El Santo, in the titular role (Santo Vs Frankenstein’s Daughter, Santo in the Wax Museum and Santo in the Vengeance of the Mummy ) alongside Armando Silvestre (Two Mules for Sister Sarah, Night of the Blood Apes and The Bat Woman ), Mary Montiel (The World of the Dead, Santo in the Vengeance of the Mummy and The Witches Attack ) and Julio Aldama (Guns for San Sebastian, Tlayucan and Hermelinda Linda).
Snapshot (aka The Day After Halloween) is a late 70’s Australian drama featuring light touches of thriller and horror genres. It regards a naive & hen-pecked twenty-something hairdresser- who gets pushed into topless modelling and is been stalked by an ice cream van-driving ex. It’s an engaging enough drama- that’s well enough acted, with the other genre touches adding a few surprises to the mix- though in no way is this a fully realized horror film or thriller, as its other title may suggest. Here from Powerhouse as either a UHD or Blu-Ray, is a recent release of film- featuring two 4k versions of the picture, and a good selection of largely archive-bound extras.
Black Flies, also known as Asphalt City in some territories, is the latest medical thriller from director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire (Johnny Mad Dog and A Prayer Before Dawn). Fresh from the world of medical college, rookie paramedic Ollie Cross (Tye Sheridan) finds himself paired with hard-faced veteran Gene Rutkovsky (Sean Penn) as they trawl the streets of New York City helping where they can, despite their own prejudices. But how long can Ollie keep a strong exterior? How long can his mind hold up against the stress?
Maniera is the debut album from Italian Contemporary classical composer Marco Baldini. It features seven chamber pieces for strings played by the respected modern ensemble Apartment House. The album's tone moves from the forlornly rising, onto the soberingly grand & harmonically touched, to the shimmeringly & earthily droning.
Originally released in 1991 Psycho Savant was the third and to date final album from Nashville, Tennessee Thrash band Intruder. It’s an eight-track affair which sits on the technical and harmonic side of the genre. And if I were to compare their sound to anyone- it would be Anthrax, with maybe a few Death Angel touches- but with more soloing/ technical leanings.
Hot Spur is an extremely mean-spirited and nastily misogynistic late 1960’s US Western. It’s full to the brim with sleaze and abused female flesh, with more than a few touches of bloody ‘n’ whipping brutality. Here from the fine folks at Severin is the first ever fully uncut release of this true blue & nasty western roughie. With a new 4k scan of the film, and a few bloodily juicy extras.
Happy End (aka Šťastný Konec) is a late 60’s Czech dark comedy regarding a man's life moving backwards from his execution. It’s a wonderfully unbalancing, at points witty & clever film- which really gets the grey matter going, both in its structure and spell-binding use of backwards filming. Here from Second Run is a new region-free Blu-Ray release of the film- featuring a 4k scan of the picture, a commentary track, and a few other things.