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Het Zweet (Sweat) aka Netherlands, Breda-based Marien van Oers- were a primal-to-abstract industrial project that operated between the years 1983 & 1988. This self-titled CD release brings together the project's fourth album, along with five never released tracks from the same time.
Thecodontion and Ceremented are a pair of experimental metal outfits from Italy and the USA, respectively. Each has contributed just shy of fifteen minutes of music for this split release on I, Voidhanger Records. The style could be described as progressive, experimental metal of diverse flavors.
Returning from the depths with their third full length, South Dakota's Angerot blast forth into 2023 with The Profound Recreant. Coming via Redefining Darkness, this pounding, death metal chug-a-thon sweeps forth with a crisp, modern production proudly wearing its influences on its sleeves, Bringing in some big name guests to help rain death and destruction, Angerot's latest is a heavy riff-fest that will appeal to fans of both modern and old school death alike.
Scarlet Songs present a selection of five modern ensemble works, which are often weaved with electronics & quirky/ surprise other genre traits/ elements. All making for an often daring, and playful release that constantly keeps you on your toes.
PHASE_1_4 utilizers sparse and spotting piano work, set in a backdrop of spectral production elements which take in low-key texturing, hazed field records, and other lo-key sonic elements. It’s a release where the foreground & background often shift places in a most dreamy, at points disorientating manner.
The Utopia Strong are a progressive electronic trio consisting of former Cardiac and British/ Iranian musician and composer, Kavus Torabi (guitar and harmonium), Michael J York (formerly of Coil, on pipes, drones, synthesizers and electronics) and snooker legend, Steve Davis on a modular analogue synth. They released their first album in 2019, the self-titled debut was warmly received and David was thrust back into the limelight for an altogether different reason. There can’t be too many sportsmen who could go out and reinvent themselves in the way that Davis has, but fair play to him, he's created something that is a joy to experience, whether on record or in a live setting, The Utopian Strong, are currently wowing people across the country with their own brand of ambient electronic prog rock.
Playon Crayon is an improv-focused release that shifts between the playful, angular, and inventive. The eight-track release covers a fair bit of sonic ground, with some neat twists & turns within many of the track's length.
At some point or another, we got stuck – between the acoustic and the electric, a dichotomous and downright depressing state of affairs. This does not mean that all possibilities have been exhausted when it comes to threading some kind of musical twine through the eye of this bifurcating needle, but the point almost becomes moot. That's the point. Telepath is a chattering, sequencing symptom of this dynamic – improvised with violin and electronics – that rambles on, performing and re-performing the operations of signal capture, synthesis, and reconstruction, executed with near-surgical precision.
Electric Dragon 80.000 V is an audio-visual headrush distilled into a frantic ‘n’ overloaded cinematic form. The early 2000s Japanese film may be light on both plot & storytelling depth, but boy if you are in the mood to get seriously engulfed in non-stop intensity- this will more than fit the task. Here from Third Widows Films- is a recent Blu-Ray release of the film, taking in a new HD master of the picture, a commentary track, and a few other extras.
Three Between The Sheets is a Blu-Ray boxset that brings together three slices of 1980s softcore- all of which were produced by the infamous cult film producer Harry Alan Towers( 60’s Fu Manchu Cycle, more than a few Jess Franco films, etc.). The three Blu-Ray set is from the folks Severin, and is a bare-bone affair- with just the films & trailers on the discs.
Recent horror films to have received the majority of critical plaudits tend to have been the narratively ambitious and relatively ‘subtle’ creations of directors such as Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse), Jennifer Kent (The Babadook) and Ari Aster (Hereditary , Midsommar). Other directors choose to locate their works in a different, more disreputable tradition. This is the tradition of the splatter movie or gore film. The form reached its apotheosis in the 1980s, partly spurred by innovations in practical special effects technology, the beginnings of home video and, unintentionally, promoted further by a moral panic in the UK and elsewhere.
First released in the early 1980’s The Day the Country Died is one of the cornerstone releases of the Anarcho-punk genre, as well as a stone-cold British punk classic. Here we have as either a Vinyl LP, or CD release of the album from Pirates Press Records- I’m reviewing the latter of the two releases.
Who'll Stop The Rain is a moody-to-gritty blend of the thriller & drama genres. The late 1970s film regards two military vets/ buddies hoping to make it big, by smuggling a large quantity of heroin into the US from Vietnam, and things don’t go quite to plan. It features an accomplished cast, wonderful cinematography of ragged & unforgiving landscapes, and a rewardingly unfurling plot- that often goes not where you don't expect it to go. Here from Scorpion Films is a locked region A Blu-Ray release of the film, taking in a commentary track, and a selection of interviews.
Here from Poland’s Zoharum is next in their series of reissues from important euro ambient project Vidna Obmana. This CD set takes in two late 80’s collaborations with US ambient/noise/ electroacoustic PBK, and as the gloomy gothic archway photo artwork suggests- the sonic setting is largely shadowy, unsettling, and ornately hazed/ hidden.
Gintas K is a Lithuanian sound artist, formerly of industrial music group, Modus. Over the last 20 years, he has been incredibly prolific releasing a host of solo albums, and collaborations with other artists. He is joined on this release by Dublin-based Michelle O’Rourke on vocals, who has a background in baroque vocal music, but has a fairly diverse portfolio of work that includes contemporary classical music and a folk ensemble album.
Originally recorded in the fall of '89, Maschinenzimmer 412's Malfeitor has been out of print for over 20 years. Now back in CD and digital, fans both old and new can enjoy this dark, industrial classic mastered from the original 4-tracks. Grim, heavy, and driving, Malfeitor helped shape the sound of dark/black industrial and still stands as a benchmark of this genre. While Maschinenzimmer 412 may not exist in its original format (a member replacement and name change to MZ. 412 happened in 1995), their legacy lives on and Malfeitor once again rises to bring its grim industrial tones to a waiting world.
Here is the fifth entry in the V/H/S film series- the horror-found footage anthology series that started in 2012. And it’s fair to say that the quality of this series has been decidedly mixed over its run. This new 109-minute feature takes in five stories in all, and I am pleased to say that for the most part, it’s an enjoyable ride- with a fair bit of gore, some neat creepy atmospherics, and one or two effective jumps. Here from Acorn Media International is Blu Ray release of the film, taking in a commentary track, and a few other extras.
New Musik where an English project who existed between the late ’70s and early ’80s. They blended together synthpop and new wave elements, for a tuneful, at points quirky sound. Here from Lemon Recordings, one of the Cherry Red family of labels, is a new four-CD boxset, bringing together the band's three albums, and an odds ‘n’ ends disc.
Aubin is a recent two-track release from Arkansas-based wall noise creator James Nathan Powell. It takes in two twenty-seven minutes examples of dense & detailed static texturing.
Here’s the second book in the Gathering of the Tribe series, which sees lecture/filmmaker Mark Goodall looking at the mysterious power of sound and tone within music. This vol which is subtitled ‘Landscape’, finds Goodall looking at thirteen albums, from different genres, that are themed around or utilizer's landscapes in their make-up.
Here’s a two-way wall noise split severing up two densely battering 'n' terminally nasty examples of the genre. Each artist offers up a half-an-hour wall, and each is as punishing & unforgiving as the other. Featured here are two Indonesian projects Broken Cursór, and Torturewave- I was aware of/ reviewed past Broken Cursór releases, but this is my first taster of Torturewave work.
There are labels, genres, whatever you want to call them, but some are just plain misleading. In the case of Teksti-TV 666's sophomore release, Vapauden Tasavalta, Krautrock is a reach, at best.
From director Carolina Markowicz comes Charcoal, an Argentine-Brazilian drama which follows a small family who loses an ailing grandfather in the São Paulo countryside. As the family’s hard times grow worse they encounter a drug lord in need of a disguise and a place to hide; a request which comes with a heft pay-out if the family can keep him hidden from the authorities. But his presence causes the family deeper troubles than they could have thought.
Welcome To The Dollhouse is a mid-90s coming-of-age comedy-drama that pushes its levels of awkwardness to the max. All making for the cinematic equivalent of an itchy, ill-fitting & bad taste jumper that you kind of grow to love, though from time to time it still causes discomfort & embarrassment. Here from Radiance Films is a Blu-Ray reissue of the film, featuring an HD scan of the picture, a commentary track & a few other extras.