Two new releases available now:
- Cyess Afxzs - No Bull One Left Behind CD
- Rick Potts - Don't Think 2CD
Further details, including ordering info, at
www.krimkram.com (or
https://krimkram.bandcamp.com/ ... cheaper to order direct though and I'll send you a Bandcamp code if you want it ... email
info@krimkram.com to order direct).
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Cyess Afxzs - No Bull One Left Behind CDCyess Afxzs is a relatively new harsh noise project from Belfast-born, Swiss-based artist, Stuart McCune. Over the past year, McCune has released a string of highly acclaimed tapes and CDs on many of the most vital noise labels currently active, including Rural Isolation Project, Satatuhatta, Abhorrent A.D., and White Centipede Noise. Much has been made of McCune's use of sounds and structural elements not commonly associated with contemporary harsh noise, and the project's conceptual alignment with abstract art (most obviously through releases directly referencing Max Ernst, Antoni Tàpies, Alfred Kubin, and Daniel Richter). While it is true that contemporary harsh noise has mostly shied away from overt art world influence (with some obvious exceptions), it is worth remembering that noise has a long and existential relationship with abstract art, Merzbow being perhaps the most obvious and literal example. And, although occupying a very different sonic terrain, the likes of P16.D4, Achim Wollscheid, and Rudolf
Eb.er, to name just a few examples, all have long histories of incorporating conceptual or abstract art practices in their work. All that is to say that there is nothing that warms my cockles quite as much as when this lowly genre called "noise" that we love so dearly (with all its inherent contradictions) reaches out of the gutter and pulls influence from otherwise "respectable" art forms. Whether that elevates noise or debases art is open to interpretation.
No Bull One Left Behind was recorded between August and October 2022 and expands upon techniques explored in previous releases, offering perhaps the widest palette of sounds and compositional approaches to date. The album opens with what my grandmother, as a lifelong harsh noise aficionado, would have described as an absolute banger, a roaring behemoth of joyous blasting, before subtly shifting gear to more experimental ground. There is a very singular musical quality to each of the tracks, each containing its own distinctive character. And while the album as a whole certainly falls within the harsh noise realm, the lines between noise and musicality are continuously blurred.
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Rick Potts - Don't Think 2CDRick Potts is a founding LAFMS member, active in experimental music since the early 70's, and enormously influential on five decades worth of musical practitioners with a penchant for outer/freakdom sounds. Don't Think is a 2CD compilation of rare and unreleased recordings, spanning 37 tracks and 2.5 hours, and covering the entire range of Potts' musical output - from song-based new wave/art rock to more abstract loop-based noise (note the lowercase 'n') and mutant disco (disco of the Dennis Duck variety that is). Also included is a 12 page booklet of art and notes.
"When I was a teenager I discovered research that the brain had two separate parts, a logical left side and a creative right side. I decided that the left, the logical, rational, critical side was filtering out too much of the right side's intuitive brilliance and cancelling out thoughts before I was aware of them. I wanted to tap into those discarded ideas so I developed ways to avoid the editing that the left side was doing to the right side's mysterious stream of consciousness. Spontaneity and improvisation in the early days of the LAFMS was one way. Making drawings without planning them sometimes brought surprising results. Creatures emerged before my eyes one shape at a time. I practiced speaking backwards, wrote the first thing that popped into my mind and spoke before I knew what I was saying. Experimenting with freeing myself from the critical inner voice let magical things happen. Creating this way puts me into a zone that feels like a high and it's addictive. It feels best when I don't know what I'm doing but I do it anyway. For me, reason is unreasonable."
- Rick Potts
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Still available:- Bren't Lewiis Ensemble 'Hand Signals' CD
- Dressing 's/t' CD
- Andy Heck Boyd 'blondie - thanks for sharing' CD
- Daniel & Fabian Löwenbrück 'Das Lebacher Orgelwerk - Weihnachtsoratorium (LWV 156)' CD
